Posted on 09/25/2005 8:19:55 PM PDT by ken5050
Good Sunday evening to you, fellow Freeper baseball fanatics. Great week just past, and an unreal last week to the season upon us..I wanted to get the thread up now, since I may not have a chance to do so tomorrow..The races are wilder, and tighter, than ever..
I'm glad I could be of help.
There will be much booing, but since the place is sure to be lousy with MFY fans I doubt I'll be heard.
I don't think that's quite what he was saying, though Gagne sure doesn't have what it takes to be a starter, as shown by his toxic 5.00 ERAs whenever he pitched in that role. Moving those guys to the bullpen would probably be best for them, though many seem to think Greinke has potential to be quite a good starter, and perhaps he will be.
Also, Gagne certainly was not the best pitcher "far and away" two years ago; Prior and Schmidt both had better seasons.
Relievers are almost always guys who can't start effectively. Think John Smoltz and Curt Schilling after their injuries, Dennis Eckersley because he was losing it, Eric Gagne because he sucked.
Nonsense.
and 1st Basemen often can't run. Doesn't mean they aren't critical.
AL MVP, Ortiz-- better OPS in September (1.118 vs. .997), same # of homers, more RBI.
AL CY, Mo-- having a career year in ERA and WHIP (has had more positive influence on wins and losses as a pitcher for a top tier team than any other pitcher)
AL ROY, Gomes-- has hit for average, power, and gotten on base. Has had a great season so far, and has had a better September than Manny Ramirez. There are several pitchers who could take this award, too (Street, Kazmir, Chacin, and Blanton). Cano is the second best position player rookie.
AL MOY, Wedge-- gets credit for how unbelievably the team has played since the ASB.
NL MVP, Pujols-- should have gotten some of Bonds' juiced MVPs. Consistently excellent. Future HOFer.
NL CY, Carpenter-- #4 in ERA, #3 in K, #3 in WHIP, #6 in BAA, #4 in OBA, #2 in IP, #1 in CG, #2 in Shutouts.
NL ROY, Howard-- .904 OPS in 266 ABs (not a bad sample size). Team is in the playoff hunt, so pressure is on him to produce-- like with Cano.
NL MOY, Cox-- should be called the Bobby Cox award.
Well, Eric Gagne would probably still suck if he hadn't started ingesting all those 'enhancers' that puffed his face up as big as Bonds', while adding about 7 mph to every pitch he throws.
I guess everything's critical one way or another, if you want to look at it that way.
Oops. Howard's OPS as of this morning is actually .912-- better than when I last checked.
His breaking pitch and change up are damn good though but if he was juicing then being able to throw it 97 and then dial down 15 MPH, that would explain a lot.
Yes, Philly is like a mad train right now. The 'Stros have been uneven lately--they needed to take that series from the Cubbies and they couldn't get the job done. It's not like they didn't have chances--they had more LOBsters than New England.
That said, I think Houston will hold out for the NL Wild Card. I'm hoping for a Tribe-'Stros series, both my teams (Cleveland was hometown, Houston my adoptive city). If either one of them makes it into the Big Show, I'd be happy.
Well, save for this guy, maybe...
I thought the word was out on that a couple years ago?
He's been pulling the 110 pitches in 6 innings thing all year. Most of the time he manages to pull it off okay.
8) Jay Gibbons is a less expensive and more productive version of Trot Nixon
No question about less expensive ($7.5 vs 2.6), and Trot does tend to get hurt, but when healthy he's a consistently better hitter than Gibbons. 860 career OPS vs 776, not even close. This is the first year Gibbons will break .800 OPS, unless he slumps in the final week. Trot has never had a season below .800.
5) Hanson has a damn good fastball but until he learns a good offspeed pitch that can be relied upon for strikes, he will get lit up.
My hunch is that his slider is a fine one, but that he's not confident in throwing it to major leaguers, knowing what they'll be able to hit and what they won't, considering he's pitched only 1 2/3 innings above AA. Basically he needs Spring Training to be at full effectiveness.
Good teams will work Clement's pitch count and once they get a man on base he works from the stretch and it gets even worse. Movement is a good thing to have but if the ball is going to break inside/outside/down then you either have to figure out how to get close enough to get them to swing at it or be able to spot a straight pitch that gets you a strike and makes them have to wave at your off plate stuff.
The differences between the two guys comes down to walks and the fact that Nixon has been in the majors 4 years longer than Gibbons. Gibbons has more pop in his bat and he plays every day whereas Nixon has to sit against lefties. I like Trot but he is overpaid for what he provides.
Hanson doesn't have his slider right now and won't likely get it back until next year. He also needs to be able to throw a change or split to support his fastball. There's talk that they might like him as a starting pitcher in the future and if he can master a 3rd pitch he's going to be pretty good in that role.
What's up with Pujols? Is he hurt?
A's are dead.
Yes, he's playing hurt. He has chronic plantar fasciitis in his feet, and then on top of that, a couple of weeks ago he strained a muscle in his leg. And he's been getting very little protection surrounding him in the order. He's been getting singles and walks, but the power hasn't been there lately.
That they got this far is rather amazing onto itself. Next year they should win at least 95 games and make the playoffs.
Good starting pitching, good relief corps and a bunch of young guys who will only get better.
Plu, Billy Beane will be able to spend more money than he ever has before.
You're right. Basically, the A's peaked a year early.
NL ROY: 1) Ryan Howard, 2) Willy Taveras, 3) Zach Duke
Honorable mention: Garrett Atkins, Clint Barmes, Gary Majewski, Chad Qualls, Jeff Francouer, Cory Sullivan
AL ROY: 1) Huston Street, 2) Jonny Gomes, 3) Robinson Cano
Honorable mention: Tadahito Iguchi, Dan Johnson, Joe Blanton, Gustavo Chacin, Scott Kazmir, Jesse Crain
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