Due to the EPIC nature of this season we are going to start this thread a bit earlier this year. For comparison sake the 2017 edition was started on 23-August.
Current ALE standing
BOS 81-34 (best record in baseball)
MFY 71-42 (9 GB)
With 47 games to go we are 9 games up for the division.
Win ALE: 91.6%
Projected Wins: 109
Who's on board the train this year? something tells me there will be a lot more than last year.
LETS GO!
other names i have posted under: none
This is going to be a different post season than last year.
A rested Sale
A dialed in Price (hopefully)
A strong bullpen, with help from 4th & 5th starters
A strong defense, particularly in the outfield.
A killer offensive lineup.
It's going to be a fun October, Slasher.
“The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
"When you're dead, you don't know you're dead.
It's only difficult for other people.
It works the same way for stupid."
This team is going no where with it’s current bullpen issues .
Let's put it this way - since July basically, the AL is essentially Sea vs Oakland ... with the other 4 spots more or less clinched
As I always caution - there is no team I'd ever pick in a "Team X vs the field" ... not even the 1998 Yankees. Baseball is just too fluky and pitching hot streaks are so impactful.
But we have a really good team - and this has been a special season already. I mean, the team only has to go 13-35 the rest of the way to match last year's total. This pace is absurd. The AL race could really go in any direction, more than another.
The Yankees are only 7 games up on Seattle. With about 50 games left, that's not insurmountable. We've all seen larger leads get lost in September alone...Originally Posted by sk7326
Seattle is also playing 11 games over their Pythagorean W-L record. They simply aren't that good.
That said, stranger things have happened. We can all hope.
I'd really love to see the As at least overcome the Yankees to win HFA. Having to travel to the west coast for one game would be an added disadvantage not only for the wildcard game, but then also for the division series if they happen to make it there.
11-0
Magic Number: 40 for division, 40 for best record in mlb
Why 109 projected wins? They're on pace for 114
They are going to play a minor league roster that last few weeks of the season and coast while resting the big dogs.
Half the lineup now is minor leaguers .
The relief pitching is a disaster , devers stinks and Bradley can’t hit to save his life .
Stick around for awhile longer and you will be trained to see it differently.
Yeah, let's just come right out and say it - 50 games over .500 but they're still a pile of shit.
Just curious, which players constitute the minor league portion of the line-up?
The guys playing now are pretty much the guys who have played all year. That half minor league line-up has scored 44 more runs than any other team in baseball.
The bullpen has slipped a little the past few weeks but overall they’ve done the job. For Pete’s sake, they are 86-36. They must be doing something right.
The Yankees could go 0-162 and it wouldn't be enough
Last night's game was winnable and had some lessons for the front office, management, players and fans. First of all, Eovaldi threw the ball very well He had excellent velocity and was mainly hitting the conrners and his cutter was moving very well. He should have gone six innings and perhaps given up one run. The most damaging hit he gave up was a fast ball slightly out of the strike zone, high and away. Hats off to the hitter when he gets one of those. Devers made one of his frequent errors in that inning to force Eovaldi to the stretch delivery, which probably resulted in his giving up 3 runs insteead of one.
Devers is in the game, with a mouth full of sunflower seeds making the same error he has made all season. A poor throw from third on an easy chance. He also continues to swing at balls out of the zone. The kid has talent but doesn't seem to learn quickly. Maybe a rest and some tough love are in order to try to bring him around. We will have a big plus in Kinsler back soon which will free players who can sub in to 3rd to give Devers some time off. The kid is 21 and hopefully will make an improvement with perspective and time.
Pomeranz showed again that he is unable to help the Sox. Staying with him has not improved the results and while Cora has more patience than I would have, the writing is on the wall. Pomeranz cannot help us this season. Cora essentially gift wrapped this game for the Phillies by sticking with him far longer than he should have.
Kelly also seemed to have an issue in the game. He was throwing hard and his breaking ball was working. He got well ahead in the count and appeared to try and get a swing outside the zone, going to 3 and 2. He then went to a changeup which was clearly out of the zone, for a walk. Seems like he doesn't trust his stuff enough to hit the plate. To me he isn't thinking in terms of situational baseball. He is still a keeper but needs to be coached and told the obvious.
From what the aqnnouncers said last night, even though Moreland got the big hit last night, he has some on going injuries, particularly to his knee, which is chronically sore and will need surgery in the off season. He hasn't been as solid lately and that coould explain some of it. Good that we have Pearce, who can give him a rest which might restore some of his play.
I know it is a heresy to say this, but Beni has not really been hitting the ball with authority for some time. He has that beautiful swing, but fouls balls off time and again and seldom really pulls the ball. Most of his hits are to left and center and are more and more singles. He is such a good bat handler, I think he could make adjustments to help the club even more than he does.
We go into the later part of the season with and excellent team and with Cora's strategy of resting players, which has worked extremely well this season, presumably because we have such a strong cadre of players. The starters will be used more sparingly and we may lose a few winnable games but with Swihart, Kinsler, E-Rod. Vaz and possibly Wright back, we should be very formidable. Some tough decisions will need to be made regarding catchers, starting pitchers and relief pitchers but we have all the elements on the team to make a long run in the post season.
And then everybody is 0-0. Ask the 2001 Mariners.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote