Baseball 2013 (5 Viewers)

[Fusilier]

Been keeping an eye on them. With all that talent they should be winning, no question. Could just be slow starts by all concerned, or maybe a chemistry problem. You are probably right about Sciosia. If he can't get this bunch turned around in a little while, LA should act. Have to say though, the loss of Weaver is a big blow to the pitching. -- Al

It's hard to replace Weaver I agree Al but I finally got to watch a game last night and they look dead. Trout is hitting under 250 and was arguing with the umpire. Not good. Obviously, the pitchers have adjusted to him (I think you could see that starting to happen somewhat last year) and he needs to re-adjust. The owner is not a very patient man so a change in managers wouldn't surprise me.

As you guys allude, it is hard to figure out the Angels at this point. You would think with all the talent they have brought together, they would be a little more engaged when playing. I agree, they seem a little dead. Or maybe they are just shocked they have spent so much money and are in the basement right now....

Noah

 

[lancer]

Sure am glad that the weekend is over. Was a lost one for the Nats, who were swept at home, by the Braves (boy, they look good), and the O's, who dropped 2 of 3 to the Yanks. Time for a deep breath and a regrouping.{sm2} Neither team has been able to get any consistency. The Nats have played 4 series so far and have gone 3-0, 1-2, 3-0, 0-3. The O's have been just as up-down, going 2-1, 1-2, 2-1, 1-2. Talk about Jeckle and Hyde personalities. Uh, regular season has started, time to wake up. -- Al

 

[sammy719]

Sure am glad that the weekend is over. Was a lost one for the Nats, who were swept at home, by the Braves (boy, they look good), and the O's, who dropped 2 of 3 to the Yanks. Time for a deep breath and a regrouping.{sm2} Neither team has been able to get any consistency. The Nats have played 4 series so far and have gone 3-0, 1-2, 3-0, 0-3. The O's have been just as up-down, going 2-1, 1-2, 2-1, 1-2. Talk about Jeckle and Hyde personalities. Uh, regular season has started, time to wake up. -- Al

Agreed Al, glad it's over, but being that the O's played Tampa, Boston, New York all on the road to start the season and we are only 1 and a half games out, I can live with that, now they have a nice long homestand coming up on Tuesday, just need to string some wins together in this stand, got to give it up to George's boys there in Boston, playing decent ball, and maybe the evil Yanks will realize, "hey..maybe we don't need salaries of 1 billion a year to win" not sure what has happened to the 2013 world champ Blue Jays but after dumping tons of coin in free agents thought they would be playing better, hope it doesn't change though, but the AL East looks like it's going to be a fun summer to watch 3-4 teams battle it out, just hope my O's are one of those teams at the end...Sammy

 

[lancer]

Agreed Al, glad it's over, but being that the O's played Tampa, Boston, New York all on the road to start the season and we are only 1 and a half games out, I can live with that, now they have a nice long homestand coming up on Tuesday, just need to string some wins together in this stand, got to give it up to George's boys there in Boston, playing decent ball, and maybe the evil Yanks will realize, "hey..maybe we don't need salaries of 1 billion a year to win" not sure what has happened to the 2013 world champ Blue Jays but after dumping tons of coin in free agents thought they would be playing better, hope it doesn't change though, but the AL East looks like it's going to be a fun summer to watch 3-4 teams battle it out, just hope my O's are one of those teams at the end...Sammy

I think the O's will be there, Sammy. It's early and they haven't found their stride yet, but what I have seen doesn't look bad. All the components are still there and working, just a matter of some confidence and momentum. -- Al

 

[Warrior]

Classy, classy move by the Yankees last night, the banner outside the stadium was awesome, as was the moment of silence and "Sweet Caroline" playing after the third inning.


Very classy of the fans to sing along as well, some of the signs were nice too.


As Jon Stewart said, there is a rivalry between the two cities, but it's a sibling one and today, we are all brothers and sisters.

Very well put.

Sports are a great source of civic pride, they bring cities together in times of crisis, I'm going to the Bruins game tonight, doubt if there will be a dry eye in the house during the national anthem.

 

[lancer]

We are now 15 games into the long season, but somethings are beginning to trend for the 2 teams I follow. Keeping in mind that it is still very early and any trend can easily be reversed, I don't like the way the O's starting pitching is performing to this point. The starters are only averaging about 5.1 innings, which is bad news for the bullpen in the long run. There is not a starter with an ERA under 4 and 2 important starters, Arrieta and Tillman, have no quality starts and only 1 win in the 6 games they have started. None of the starters has been real impressive as the staff only has 6 quality starts in the 15 games to this point. The hitting and the bullpen look good to go but the starters must step up and do their part. Don't want to wreck the bullpen before the all-star break.:rolleyes2:
The Nats also have been a little inconsistent. Last year everything fell into place and clicked. So far this season it has been a little less smooth as there have been some failures in all aspects, at different times. The hitting has been good, but has also been shut down on 3 or 4 occasions, as will happen. Less impressive is the fielding which has made some bad errors, costing the Nats at least 3 games. The bullpen has also been hit or miss. Last year the bullpen was a lock, this year less so as some of the relievers have done a good impression of being arsonists. This will hopefully right itself as these guys are all proven and reliable. The starting pitching has also been a bit hit or miss. I figured the Nats would have the best starting 5 in baseball, and I still feel that way, but a couple of them are off to slow starts. The 2 aces, Strasburg and Gonzalez, haven't been bad, but they haven't been real sharp in all their starts and are thus a combined 2-3. The number 3 and 5 starters, Zimmermann and Detwiler, have been lights out, with 6 quality starts in 6 tries, and a 4-0 record, combined. It should be 6-0, but the fielding and bullpen cost Detwiler 2 wins he should have had. Detwiler has a .90 ERA, while Zimm's is 2.45. Hard to beat that. The real disappointment, so far, has been Dan Haren, the vet brought in to anchor the rotation as an upgrade at the #4 spot. He is 1-2, with no QS, and an ERA of 8.10. He has been hit hard in each start. He has to come around. Like I said, it is still real early, so patience is neccesary. Serenity now.:wink2: I'll be interested to see if these early trends, ie., problems, iron themselves out over the next 30 or so games. -- Al

 

[maddadicus]

Classy, classy move by the Yankees last night, the banner outside the stadium was awesome, as was the moment of silence and "Sweet Caroline" playing after the third inning.


Very classy of the fans to sing along as well, some of the signs were nice too.


As Jon Stewart said, there is a rivalry between the two cities, but it's a sibling one and today, we are all brothers and sisters.

Very well put.

Sports are a great source of civic pride, they bring cities together in times of crisis, I'm going to the Bruins game tonight, doubt if there will be a dry eye in the house during the national anthem.

We New Englanders are hard as nails and never cry, but I must admit a tear or 2 when you guys rocked the auditorium. :salute:: Do not tell my family in R.I. about my shameful behavior.:redface2: Michael

 

[lancer]

At the 15 game mark there have been some surprises. Biggest is the superior play of the Red Sox. I sure wasn't expecting them to show this well. For that matter, I wasn't expecting the NYY's to be as good as they have been with all their players on the DL. Oakland is a big surprise on the plus side as much as the Angels are on the negative. NL pretty much as expected with the exception of the Rockies being up and the Dodgers down. Atlanta was going to be good but they have been even better than good so far. Find myself really impressed that the NYY's have been able to win with that thrown together line-up. -- Al

 

[lancer]

We are now 15 games into the long season, but somethings are beginning to trend for the 2 teams I follow. Keeping in mind that it is still very early and any trend can easily be reversed, I don't like the way the O's starting pitching is performing to this point. The starters are only averaging about 5.1 innings, which is bad news for the bullpen in the long run. There is not a starter with an ERA under 4 and 2 important starters, Arrieta and Tillman, have no quality starts and only 1 win in the 6 games they have started. None of the starters has been real impressive as the staff only has 6 quality starts in the 15 games to this point. The hitting and the bullpen look good to go but the starters must step up and do their part. Don't want to wreck the bullpen before the all-star break.:rolleyes2:
The Nats also have been a little inconsistent. Last year everything fell into place and clicked. So far this season it has been a little less smooth as there have been some failures in all aspects, at different times. The hitting has been good, but has also been shut down on 3 or 4 occasions, as will happen. Less impressive is the fielding which has made some bad errors, costing the Nats at least 3 games. The bullpen has also been hit or miss. Last year the bullpen was a lock, this year less so as some of the relievers have done a good impression of being arsonists. This will hopefully right itself as these guys are all proven and reliable. The starting pitching has also been a bit hit or miss. I figured the Nats would have the best starting 5 in baseball, and I still feel that way, but a couple of them are off to slow starts. The 2 aces, Strasburg and Gonzalez, haven't been bad, but they haven't been real sharp in all their starts and are thus a combined 2-3. The number 3 and 5 starters, Zimmermann and Detwiler, have been lights out, with 6 quality starts in 6 tries, and a 4-0 record, combined. It should be 6-0, but the fielding and bullpen cost Detwiler 2 wins he should have had. Detwiler has a .90 ERA, while Zimm's is 2.45. Hard to beat that. The real disappointment, so far, has been Dan Haren, the vet brought in to anchor the rotation as an upgrade at the #4 spot. He is 1-2, with no QS, and an ERA of 8.10. He has been hit hard in each start. He has to come around. Like I said, it is still real early, so patience is neccesary. Serenity now.:wink2: I'll be interested to see if these early trends, ie., problems, iron themselves out over the next 30 or so games. -- Al

No sooner do I post this then last night's game between the Mets and Nats highlights my points. The Nats weren't sharp defensively, again, and the Mets score 2 unearned in the 1st. The Nats starter (Strasburg) is good, but not real sharp and leaves after 6, trailing 4-0. The Mets starter (Harvey) does a great job shutting down the Nats offense and leaves after 7, ahead 4-1. The Nats then get a scoreless inning from the bullpen before bringing in the arsonist of the night (Storen) who proceeds to give up 3 runs in the 9th, including 2 Hr's. Mets win, going away, 7-1. This combination of problems needs to be rectified or it is going to be a long season without the expected payoff of the WS. The Nats are good enough to get to the WS, but they have to wake up. -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

Al,

Harvey is the real deal, possibly one of the better pitchers to be developed by the Mets, although I don't want to get carried away. He and Strasburg will be dueling for years.

Brad

 

[lancer]

Al,

Harvey is the real deal, possibly one of the better pitchers to be developed by the Mets, although I don't want to get carried away. He and Strasburg will be dueling for years.

Brad

I was really impressed by Harvey. The Nats couldn't touch him for 6 innings and then when they did dent him in the 7th, he worked his way out of a bases loaded, no out situation without yielding a run. Can't get better than that. Harvey is good! Will look forward to the coming duels.^&grin -- Al

 

[Louis Badolato]

No sooner do I post this then last night's game between the Mets and Nats highlights my points. The Nats weren't sharp defensively, again, and the Mets score 2 unearned in the 1st. The Nats starter (Strasburg) is good, but not real sharp and leaves after 6, trailing 4-0. The Mets starter (Harvey) does a great job shutting down the Nats offense and leaves after 7, ahead 4-1. The Nats then get a scoreless inning from the bullpen before bringing in the arsonist of the night (Storen) who proceeds to give up 3 runs in the 9th, including 2 Hr's. Mets win, going away, 7-1. This combination of problems needs to be rectified or it is going to be a long season without the expected payoff of the WS. The Nats are good enough to get to the WS, but they have to wake up. -- Al

Al, it is too early in the season to look for patterns. I doubt any hitter has even 100 at bats yet. When you get 50 games played, barring injuries you can begin to see patterns, but I generally don't really get a feel for the season until August.

 

[lancer]

Al, it is too early in the season to look for patterns. I doubt any hitter has even 100 at bats yet. When you get 50 games played, barring injuries you can begin to see patterns, but I generally don't really get a feel for the season until August.

Hi Louis. I agree that it is way to early to worry, but I am a little concerned that maybe the Nats have let the pre-season hype go to their heads. They just aren't playing sharp ball, a little sloppy here, a little sloppy there. Nothing to panic about but just a little annoying. It's like there is a lack of concentration. It's up to Davey Johnson to wake them up. The Nats are just in one of those phases where one or another aspects of their game seems to fail and costs them the game. It is just frustrating to watch when I know they are better than how they are playing.:wink2: -- Al

 

[rekp]

Re: Baseball 2013 - who needs hamilton and young ....

I know its early but I'm liking the look of those Rangers

 

[lancer]

Re: Baseball 2013 - who needs hamilton and young ....

I know its early but I'm liking the look of those Rangers

They are hot. Darvish has looked real good. Cruz, Kinsler, and Pierzynski could make the loss of Hamilton a mute point.:wink2: -- Al

 

[sammy719]

Hope the O's can pull off a sweep today of the Jays, after that comes a West Coast swing that is going to be a tough one starting with Oakland...Sammy

 

[Fusilier]

To Al and the other Nationals fans, I have to say, I am surprised by the last couple days. If someone would have said on Monday that the Cards would sweep the Nationals after only scoring a combined nine runs, I wouldn't have beleived it. The Nats were rather flat the last couple days, albiet against good pitching, especially Wainwright yesterday. St. Louis certainly did not bust oout the offense in this series either, so I am surprised by the sweep.

Noah

 

[lancer]

To Al and the other Nationals fans, I have to say, I am surprised by the last couple days. If someone would have said on Monday that the Cards would sweep the Nationals after only scoring a combined nine runs, I wouldn't have beleived it. The Nats were rather flat the last couple days, albiet against good pitching, especially Wainwright yesterday. St. Louis certainly did not bust oout the offense in this series either, so I am surprised by the sweep.

Noah

Noah, the Nats have been flat all year. The good teams we have played, Atlanta, St. Louis, Cinncy, are a combined 8-1 against us. We have showed no fire and every aspect of our game is misfiring right now. Our shoddy fielding has cost us 4 games. Our lack of hitting has off-set the good pitching performances we have gotten from our starters. Strasburg has pitched well but is 1-4 from lack of support. Detwiler should be 4-0 but is 1-1 for the same reason. Zimmermann is 3-1 and doing alright, but Gonzalez is off to a slow start and Haren has been disappointing. Add to this that our 'can't miss' bullpen has been a real rollercoaster and you have a team with a 10-11 record that obviously is underperforming. Maybe they believed all the pre-season hype about the WS. Johnson needs to start chewing butt and light a fire under them. {sm2} -- Al

 

[Fusilier]

I can sympathize with you Al when it comes to a lack of run support. The Cards' lefty Garcia is in much the same boat, as he has pitched great in his starts, but has only two wins. I can't imagine how frustrating that must be to a starter...

Still, the Nats will come around. The same basic line up got them to the NLCS last year, and I feel they will be there again despite Atlanta's current success.

Noah

 

[lancer]

I can sympathize with you Al when it comes to a lack of run support. The Cards' lefty Garcia is in much the same boat, as he has pitched great in his starts, but has only two wins. I can't imagine how frustrating that must be to a starter...

Still, the Nats will come around. The same basic line up got them to the NLCS last year, and I feel they will be there again despite Atlanta's current success.

Noah

I sure hope so, Noah. I think they just need to wake up and play ball and not worry about the pre-season predictions. -- Al