2022 MLB Thread

[HouWarrior]

Guessin'...Astros Win the AL West, again. The As dismantled/dropped back, Rangers got better and Angels...will be the Angels. Seattle will be hard to call...but clearly near the top w/us.

Going into opening days there a just a few Astro story lines;;

Will Justin Verlander return from TJohn surgery to dominance?
Not likely as history shows it takes more time...maybe he does late in the year

Will Lance McCullers return from the gruesome forearm injury suffered in the ALCS?
Well yes but dont rush...All Star time is what we should hope for

Will R SSJeremy Pena coming up maybe a year early perform ok and have Houston thinking it will be survivable to let Correa go for the big bucks/ Twins ?
Maybe...Pena's 2022 spring line is : .389/.421/.778 through 19 plate appearances. He slashed .287/.346/.598 with 10 homers and five steals in just 30 Triple-A games last year. First time through the league will tell a lot.

The rest of last years WSeries team returns...Tucker will be one to watch, as he and Yordan Alvarez are heading into their big$$ contract years

(also Why Correa couldve never gotten $35mil/Year here... we needed it for these two, in the longer run)

Astros continue true to form as we saw it in April (including the Angels being the Angels..the Phillies of the AL)
Verlander came back from Tommy John way better than expected
Jeremy Pena is a solid rookie SS and leaves us with no regret on letting Correa go chase big$
Astros used part of that $ to lock up Yordan Alvarez one whom a team is built around
Need to sign Tucker long term too, with the rest of the leftover Correa $
Bregman struggled but seems to have come around Gurriel may be done
Pitching has been great Deep starting staff and VG Bullpen
The Yankees are the greatest, as they will be quick to tell you, but I am guessing the Astros will take their October ALCS

[Uncle Rico]

Would you trade Yadier Molina for Juan Soto?

[JWags85]

Would you trade Yadier Molina for Juan Soto?

The best player since Babe Ruth who still has a good decade of top tier baseball left for a flash in the pan young player?  Nah

[Dish]

I think Seattle ends up trading for Soto.

[The Sultan]

Toronto is currently beating Boston 27-3 in the sixth. They scored 11 runs in the fifth after Boston got the first two outs of the inning.

[JWags85]

I think Seattle ends up trading for Soto.

That would be incredibly interesting.  Griffey/Buehner 2.0 with him and Julio Rodriguez, except a way better 2nd option.

[Dish]

Goldschmidt & Arenado aren't vax'd, can't go to Toronto this week.

It'd be really funny if those two games cost the Cardinals a playoff spot.

[Lennys Tap]

Goldschmidt & Arenado aren't vax'd, can't go to Toronto this week.

It'd be really funny if those two games cost the Cardinals a playoff spot.

The ban is stupid. Why is MLB allowing the Blue Jays to play against reserves and minor league players? How many games will Toronto win because the other team was short handed? If Canada wants to act like it's April 2020, fine - but assuming that they give a sh!t about the integrity, MLB should force the Blue Jays to play their home games at venues that don't discriminate based on vaccination status.

[The Sultan]

The ban is stupid. Why is MLB allowing the Blue Jays to play against reserves and minor league players? How many games will Toronto win because the other team was short handed? If Canada wants to act like it's April 2020, fine - but assuming that they give a sh!t about the integrity, MLB should force the Blue Jays to play their home games at venues that don't discriminate based on vaccination status.

Or maybe the players should just get vaccinated so their teams aren't put at a disadvantage.

[shoothoops]

Goldschmidt & Arenado aren't vax'd, can't go to Toronto this week.

It'd be really funny if those two games cost the Cardinals a playoff spot.

They would have only themselves to blame. (Mikolas had to be talked into doing it too but he did do it.)

Amazing that July 22, 2022, there are still MLB players and org. members not completed vaccinated and boosted. KC just had ten, TEN players unable to play Toronto. You can insert any team here.

And this goes for other players on other teams, as well as in other sports too, Djokovic and the U.S. Open etc...

[PGsHeroes32]

I'm gonna just squeeze in a brief comment on the actual baseball season here.

1 weekend into the second half.

I think the AL Central is Sox vs Twins.

Did not realize how soft the Sox schedule is for most of the remainder of the year. They could make up the 4 games fast.

I think Guardians are in big trouble. They really need to play well in their 6 games remaining this week and hope the Twins dont pull a 4-1 vs Brewers and Padres out of their ass.

But even beyond that. Guardians schedule is more comparable to Twins in terms of difficulty. So if anyone makes up ground itll be the Sox who are same distance back but way softer schedule.

[rocky_warrior]

WTF is wrong with you people?  Forget to take your no-politics meds?

Cleaned up - but next time I might not be so nice.

[Jockey]

I'm gonna just squeeze in a brief comment on the actual baseball season here.

1 weekend into the second half.

I think the AL Central is Sox vs Twins.

Did not realize how soft the Sox schedule is for most of the remainder of the year. They could make up the 4 games fast.

Your logic sounds good, but the Sox have a losing record against teams with a losing record.

Plus they will be without Robert for a while and Eloy plays about as often as Buxton.

[PGsHeroes32]

Your logic sounds good, but the Sox have a losing record against teams with a losing record.

Plus they will be without Robert for a while and Eloy plays about as often as Buxton.

Sox have played really well on the road though. So if they can start winning home games at even a decent rate thatll change a lot.

At this point im convinced the Twins finish 7 to 9 games above .500. We have been .500 team for like 3 months now since the hot streak after the slow start.

So ultimately I'd put the magic number at the division around that. If Sox can get to 10 games above .500 they win the division imo anything else favors Twins.

Buxton actually playing everyday now(aside from the two Tigers games for the injection that he prioritized all star game for) issue is.............its still like 50% DH.

Which causes us to start Kyle Garlick vs a righty today. Me and you are better options at the plate(when a righty starts), in the field and on the bases than Kyle Garlick

[PGsHeroes32]

Twins are cooked if they are gonna keep starting Archer and Bundy and using relievers like Cotton.

Just bad baseball players.

[BM1090]

Twins are cooked if they are gonna keep starting Archer and Bundy and using relievers like Cotton.

Just bad baseball players.

I only watched the first inning but I was shocked by how pedestrian Archer's stuff was. You could see Rowdy's HR coming.

[JWags85]

I only watched the first inning but I was shocked by how pedestrian Archer's stuff was. You could see Rowdy's HR coming.

Its SHOCKING how bad he's been since leaving Tampa.  He was a really solid pitching with great stuff at times and he just imploded.

[BM1090]

Its SHOCKING how bad he's been since leaving Tampa.  He was a really solid pitching with great stuff at times and he just imploded.

Agreed. I'm normally pessimistic about the Brewers offense on a given day, but after the first two batters of the day I thought to myself "they are going to score a lot of runs today". Sure enough....

Never have been a huge Archer fan and was happy the Brewers didn't get him in 2018, but I'd be lying if I said I saw this coming.

[Uncle Rico]

Agreed. I'm normally pessimistic about the Brewers offense on a given day, but after the first two batters of the day I thought to myself "they are going to score a lot of runs today". Sure enough....

Never have been a huge Archer fan and was happy the Brewers didn't get him in 2018, but I'd be lying if I said I saw this coming.

Probably maximized his potential early in his career.  Would be curious if he was better suited to be pitching on a rebuilding team to rebuild stamina and his stuff.  This is his first full season since 2018

[Jockey]

Watching the Sox is like watching a sitcom.

I said it earlier. Clueless. Fundamentally, they are less sound than the Packers' Special Teams.

That is ALL on Larussa. Jerry deserves everything he is getting from this team.

[Dish]

I can't even count anymore how many times I've texted my Sox fan friends and said "this is as bad a loss as any this year".

Today's loss was brutal. Garcia picked off third, Graveman walking the bases loaded, this team did everything they could to lose today.

[MU82]

Do y'all think the Sox players know how bad their manager is?

[Lennys Tap]

Do y'all think the Sox players know how bad their manager is?

Every one of them not named Leury Garcia.

[Dish]

Sneaky big series out west starts tomorrow with a really struggling Toronto team visiting a surging Seattle Mariners team in a 4 game set. Blue Jays hold last wild card spot, with Seattle 4 back. Mariners this morning we're +340 to make the playoffs.

Mariners last 20 games of the season:

4 @ Angels
3 @ A's
3 @ Royals
3 vs Rangers
3 vs A's
4 vs Tigers

Mariners trade for Luis Castillo.

[PGsHeroes32]

Mariners trade for Luis Castillo.

They were already gonna make the playoffs.

This and any other move was to increase the chances of damage.