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After 2 starts as a pitcher and a handful of home runs batting as a DH I'm already getting sick of the Shohei Ohtani hype. Yesterday's headlines were "Ohtani nearly perfect" which is a bit misleading as he was only perfect through 6 1/3, which I would hardly classify as "nearly perfect" but who knows maybe some of you do , but I judge "nearly perfect" as 8 1/3, 8 2/3, 8 innings hell I'd probably agree on 7 1/3 or 7 2/3 too on a good day but 6 1/3. Puhlease! You have to get into the 8th inning before you get into the "nearly perfect" headlines. And really let's be honest here if this was anyone other than Ohtani and maybe a couple of other guys from high profile teams, 6 1/3 perfect innings would barely get a paragraph in the paper and Ohtani gets an entire article. If let's say Jose Urena, who's the scheduled starter for the Marlins this evening pitches 6 1/3 perfect innings tonight are we getting a "nearly perfect" article on that?? I'll bet my house on no! Is he good?? So far in the regular season it looks like he is. Is he the next Babe Ruth?? Come talk to me when he's made more than TWO FREAKING STARTS!!!!!!!!!!! And he's faced the same team (a bad offensive team at that) in his only 2 starts. Let's see how he does against a real offensive team!
Ok how in the hell is Pittsburgh doing this? 7-2 so far.
It has not been their pitching. The NL ERA is 3.79, while the Pirates staff has compiled a 4.13 mark, 10th among the 15 teams.
Their hitting? Yes, robustly so. While the NL is collectively batting a feeble .240, two teams stand way above the others. Atlanta, which leads the NL in runs, has a collective batting average of .285, Pittsburgh is just behind at .283. The next highest NL mark is .247 by the Giants, and they have scored the fewest runs in the league.
The Brewers and Cardinals are on ESPN right now. They have finished two innings and the Cardinals have had two hits so far. In the first Fowler singled and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. In the second inning Ozuna doubled and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. (the latter with no one out)
AL East is going back to 2 team race (Sox & NYY) long-term.
MLB, in general, IMO will again be a battle amongst the teams with REAL Major League total payrolls, and the rest will serve the role the Washington Generals did playing the Harlem Globetrotters.
When win totals dip below .333, and I expect to see that more often, interest dips amongst the "have nots". People recognize the giant gap between a "rebuilding to compete period" and "can never compete teams".
Yes, rebuild. THIS is a rebuild year. 2017 was not, by any definition. They are saving up for a breakout year to coincide with their new stadium. Any owner/GM who wouldn't do the same this year doesn't belong in the game.
Don't confuse the Rays "losing" Price, Crawford, Upton, Cobb, and multiple closers to free agency and bloated contracts as cheap, greedy, or poor decision making. Despite BucFan's constant whining, they were all wise non-moves. And the last time I checked, the Rays had the best win-rate in all MLB arbitration cases. Cheap, they are not. Attendance is the only problem and Tampa residents have proven that they won't show up even in a (winning) post-season race. The new park is their only hope to get the payroll up.
Not that an extra payroll guarantees anything. Boston and New York have outspent TB by well over $100 million per season multiple times and still finished behind them in the standings.
Cleveland has gotten four hits in each of its last two games, both wins, and now their slashline drops to .159/.252/.274. Lonnie Chisenhall and Rajai Davis lead the team, both with a .235 batting average. Tyler Naquin is batting .214, and everyone else on the roster is sub Mendoza.
rays win 2 in a row, now 3-8......have to say it, if you're a Chisox fan, that team looks really bad -- the errors made today you rarely see at the MLB level -odd seeing the empty stands for the 2nd game a row
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, but I judge "nearly perfect" as 8 1/3, 8 2/3, 8 innings hell I'd probably agree on 7 1/3 or 7 2/3 too on a good day but 6 1/3. Puhlease! You have to get into the 8th inning before you get into the "nearly perfect" headlines. And really let's be honest here if this was anyone other than Ohtani and maybe a couple of other guys from high profile teams, 6 1/3 perfect innings would barely get a paragraph in the paper and Ohtani gets an entire article. If let's say Jose Urena, who's the scheduled starter for the Marlins this evening pitches 6 1/3 perfect innings tonight are we getting a "nearly perfect" article on that?? I'll bet my house on no! Is he good?? So far in the regular season it looks like he is. Is he the next Babe Ruth?? Come talk to me when he's made more than TWO FREAKING STARTS!!!!!!!!!!! And he's faced the same team (a bad offensive team at that) in his only 2 starts. Let's see how he does against a real offensive team!
