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Gretzky's Mullet

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Well,another disappointing year for the Twins at this point I'm just hoping we don't hit 100 losses. Pitching from the start of the year has been brutal, and our hitters have never gotten into a rhythm. Personally, I think Morneau should take all or atleast a significant part of next season off so hopefully he can get some of his form back. Mauer had a major off year, and with Denard Span not even on the big team it sucked. Valencia & Nishioka played well under the circumstances. Me and a friend are making the trip out to Camden Yards for opening weekend next year so it should be fun

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I think Jacoby Ellsbury will be a frontrunner for the MVP award in 2012. Even this year he will be on the fringes of the vote, being 6th in OPS and homers in the AL, over 100 RBI despite not hitting in the middle of the batting order, 4th in stolen bases, and a solid defensive player at a difficult position.

He may also have just saved the Red Sox season. Frankly, if they can't beat the Orioles then they have no business being in the postseason anyways.

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Predictions for tonight?

Boston at Baltimore, Jon Lester (15-9) vs Alfredo Simon (4-9)

Lester's been ineffective lately, but in a big game could bear down, especially against what should be an inferior opponent. Simon has started (and lost) one game this year against the Red Sox, though that was at Fenway. Lester has won his only start against the Orioles this year, at Camden Yards, and in fact is 7-0 there in 9 starts with a 2.47 ERA. Ryan Lavarnway, last night's hero, is expected to start at catcher for the Sox. I think Lester should be the stopper here and the Red Sox will clinch at least a share of the Wild Card tonight.

New York Yankees at Tampa Bay, unnamed vs David Price (12-13)

Girardi not doing the Sox any favours by throwing a rookie or fill in out there, though why should he when the Yankees have nothing to play for. David Price is capable of brilliance, though has dropped off late in the season. The Yankees also used most of their good relievers in yesterday's game (the recently reliable Rafael Soriano was tagged with the loss), so I doubt the Yankees bring in any of them, save maybe Rivera in a save situation, so that will further help the Rays. Tampa has been getting contributions from a number of hitters (yesterday it was Zobrist), and would seem to have the upper hand over an unmotivated Yankees team. It looks to me like a one game playoff could be in the cards.

Philadelphia at Atlanta, Joe Blanton (1-2) vs Tim Hudson (16-10)

Blanton is most definitely Philly's 5th starter (if even that), and won't start in the postseason, so a meaningless game is a great time to throw him out there. Atlanta conversely has their ace going at home, and Hudson has beaten the Phillies in Atlanta already once this year, but that was in April. In his most recent meeting with them, he took the loss in Philly a couple of weeks ago. I wouldn't be shocked if Philly played a lot of backups in this game, while the Braves will be out in full force. I think Atlanta should take this one at home.

St Louis at Houston, Chris Carpenter (10-9) vs Brett Myers (7-13)

This one might actually be interesting. Chris Carpenter hasn't won in Houston since 2005, though his last couple of starts there have been good in a losing cause. Conversely, Myers comes in on a roll, having won his last 4 starts. However, he's 0-2 against St Louis this year. Matt Holliday won't play, but Allen Craig was excellent in yesterday's game and will hope for a repeat performance. I wanted to pick the Astros to shock here, but I just have a vision of Albert Pujols heroics, and I just don't see the Astros matching it.

So there you have it, the bold and possibly foolish predictions that all 4 teams with their nuts to the grindstone will prevail and force a pair of one game playoffs to see who will move on. Making it doubly interesting is the fact that who plays whom in the DS will be completely at stake tonight. The Texas Rangers lead the Tigers by one game in the overall standings, but went 3-6 against them during the regular season. Therefore, I believe that a Texas loss combined with a Detroit win would put the Tigers up against the winner of the Red Sox/Rays at home, and the Rangers against the Yankees on the road, whereas either a Ranger win or Tiger loss would send the wild card winner (whenever it should be decided) into play at Texas, with the Tigers instead hitting the road for the Bronx.

In the NL, it's even more interesting because the wild card is being contested across divisions. Here are the possible scenarios:

The Brewers play tonight against the Pirates, and if they win, they will finish with a better record than Arizona (who plays the Dodgers). In that case, the Brewers will await the winners tonight (or in a potential tiebreaker), and would play the Braves should they win, or the D'Backs should the Cardinals win, in both cases at home. In those scenarios, the D'Backs would either travel to Philly or Milwaukee, respectively, and the Phillies are automatically at home to Arizona or St Louis respectively. However, if the D'Backs beat the Dodgers tonight, and the Brewers lose to the Pirates, then they would end in a tie, and the D'Backs went 4-3 against the Brewers to carry the tiebreaker. In that situation, Milwaukee would be pulling hard for the Cardinals, because that would send them on the road against Arizona, whereas a Braves' win would send the Brewers to Philadelphia. In that situation, Arizona would play at home to the Brewers with a St Louis win, or the Braves should they win, and Philly would be at home to the Cards should they win, or the Brewers should the Braves win.

Deep eh?

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Shocking!

If the Jays hold on here in the bottom of the 9th they will finish 81-81. I'd like to know what their total wins and losses are in say the last 5 years. It seems they finish right around .500 every year.

Edit: if I added it correctly the jays record dating back to 2006 is 410-400.

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Here are the Blue Jays' won loss records in the last 10 seasons. In that span they have not been more than 6 games over or under .500 except for the dreadful 2004 season, where they were 14 games over. They haven't gotten more than 90 wins since their last World Series year. This season will seem like a bit of a regression from last year, but I think one could argue that the team made a lot of progress this year in grooming young players and building for the future.

2002 78-84

2003 86-76

2004 67-94

2005 80-82

2006 87-75

2007 83-79

2008 86-76

2009 75-87

2010 85-77

2011 81-81

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