Monday, March 27, 2017

#60

NL East
1.      Nationals             89
2.      Mets                     83
3.      Braves                  77
4.      Marlins                 76
5.      Phillies                  71

NL Central
1.      Cubs                     99
2.      Pirates                  90
3.      Cardinals             84
4.      Brewers               74
5.      Reds                     64

NL West
1.      Dodgers               94
2.      Giants                   90
3.      D’Backs                85
4.      Rockies                80
5.      Padres                  59

AL East
1.      Yankees               90
2.      Red Sox                89
3.      Blue Jays              85
4.      Orioles                 72
5.      Rays                      70

AL Central
1.      Indians                 95
2.      Royals                  90
3.      Tigers                   81
4.      Twins                    72
5.      White Sox            65

AL West
1.      Astros                   95
2.      Mariners              85
3.      Rangers               84
4.      Angels                  73
5.      A’s                         69

ALCS: Astros over Indians
NLCS: Cubs over Pirates
World Series: Cubs over Astros

NL MVP: Bryce Harper
AL MVP: Francisco Lindor
NL Cy Young: Gerrit Cole
AL Cy Young: Kevin Gausman
NL Rookie:  Dansby Swanson

AL Rookie: Frankie Martes

Sunday, July 3, 2016

#59

Dayton's All Stars

AL
C- Salvador Perez, Stephen Vogt
1B- Chris Davis
2B- Jose Altuve, Robinson Cano, Ian vKinsler
SS- Francisco Lindor, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa
3B- Josh Donaldson, Manny Machado, Evan Longoria
LF- Ian Desmond
CF- Mike Trout, Jackie Bradley Jr, Adam Eaton
RF- Mookie Betts, Mark Trumbo
DH- David Ortiz
SP- Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Jose Quintana, Masahiro Tanaka, Danny Salazar, Steven Wright, Aaron Sanchez, Cole Hamels, Ricky Nolasco
RP- Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, Zack Britton, Roberto Osuna

Just missed:
Kyle Seager, Michael Fulmer, Adrian Beltre, Todd Frazier, NelsonCruz

NL
C- Buster Posey, Wilson Ramos, Jonathan Lucroy
1B- Wil Myers, Anthony Rizzo, Paul Goldschmidt
2B- Daniel Murphy, Ben Zobrist
SS- Corey Seager, Brandon Crawford
3B- Nolan Arenado, Matt Carpenter, Jake Lamb
LF- Starling Marte, Carlos Gonzalez, Christian Yelich, AdamDuvall
CF- Marcell Ozuna, Dexter Fowler
RF- Bryce Harper, Gregory Polanco
DH- Kris Bryant
SP- Jose Fernandez, Clayton Kershaw*, Noah Syndergaard, Johnny Cueto, Jake Arrieta, Stephen Strasburg*, Madison Bumgarner, Aaron Nola, Julio Teheran, MaxScherzer
RP- Jeurys Familia, Kenlry Jensen

Just missed:


DJ LeMahieu, Trevor Story, Jacob deGrom, Jon Lester, Aledmys Diaz

Bold: starter
Asterisk*: injured

Thursday, March 31, 2016

#58

AL East
Red Sox- 90
Rays- 89
Blue Jays- 83
Yankees- 79
Orioles- 70

AL Central
Royals- 92
Indians- 89
Twins- 82
Tigers- 78
White Sox- 68

AL West
Astros- 95
Rangers- 87
Mariners- 77
Angels- 69
Athletics- 65

NL East
Mets- 98
Nationals- 92
Marlins- 75
Braves- 63
Phillies- 60

NL Central
Cubs- 101
Cardinals- 98
Pirates- 92
Brewers- 65
Reds- 64

NL West
Dodgers- 95
Giants- 93
D’Backs- 83
Padres- 74
Rockies- 64

NLCS: Cubs over Dodgers
ALCS: Astros over Royals
World Series: Cubs over Astros

NL MVP: Jason Heyward
AL MVP: Manny Machado
NL Cy Young: Jacob deGrom
AL Cy Young: Chris Sale
NL Rookie of the Year: Corey Seager      

AL Rookie of the Year: Blake Snell

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

#57

At a Braves game in Minneapolis in 2010, I had Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen sign a ball together. I figured somewhere down the line it would be a cool keepsake of the young cornerstones of the Braves rotation.

Tommy and Meds were best friends coming up through the Braves system. Both from Southern California and signed weeks apart in 2006, they were roommates as they ascended through the Atlanta minor leagues. In a surprise at the time, Kris, a good, but not great prospect made it to the majors a few weeks before Tommy, who burst on to the scene as the best pitching prospect in the game.

Both had early success in the majors, pitching the Braves to playoff appearances in 2010 & 2012. Both seemed to be smart, funny, decent young men. Both had a series of injuries befall them. While Medlen's right arm allowed him to return and succeed after each setback, Hanson's did not. In a one year span, Hanson was traded, released, and had his brother suddenly passed. His life and baseball career never seemed to recover.

A week after Kris Medlen became a World Series Champion, Tommy Hanson passed away. I've been trying to make any sense of the situation, but can not, other than to say to treasure every second with the people you love.

#57

At a Braves game in Minneapolis in 2010, I had Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen sign a ball together. I figured somewhere down the line it would be a cool keepsake of the young cornerstones of the Braves rotation.

Tommy and Meds were best friends coming up through the Braves system. Both from Southern California and signed weeks apart in 2006, they were roommates as they ascended through the Atlanta minor leagues. In a surprise at the time, Kris, a good, but not great prospect made it to the majors a few weeks before Tommy, who burst on to the scene as the best pitching prospect in the game.

Both had early success in the majors, pitching the Braves to playoff appearances in 2010 & 2012. Both seemed to be smart, funny, decent young men. Both had a series of injuries befall them. While Medlen's right arm allowed him to return and succeed after each setback, Hanson's did not. In a one year span, Hanson was traded, released, and had his brother suddenly passed. His life and baseball career never seemed to recover.

A week after Kris Medlen became a World Series Champion, Tommy Hanson passed away. I've been trying to make any sense of the situation, but can not, other than to say to treasure every second with the people you love.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

#56

My view on the Hall of Fame: The institution is as imperfect as its members and voters. To pretend it is holy, or that letting some player in would ruin the Hall’s purity is laughable. For instance:

·       Whitey Ford and Gaylord Perry admitted to doctoring baseballs throughout their careers.
·       Willie Mays and Mike Schmidt admitted to using amphetamines for much of their careers. Hank Aaron admitted to trying them.
·       Ty Cobb beat up a handicapped man. Juan Marichal beat an opposing player with a bat during a game. Paul Molitor admitted to cocaine use. Orlando Cepeda did jail time for smuggling drugs.
·       Paul Waner, Grover Cleveland Alexander, and Hack Wilson all admitted to playing drunk and drinking during games.
·       Scores upon scores of racists, segregationists, womanizers, addicts, game fixers, doers of unsavory deeds (alleged, implied, or generally acknowledged) and numerous all around awful human beings. All of this was public knowledge before they were elected.
·       Most notably, it’s impossible to know who *didn’t* do what. We’ll never know for 100% certainty that Griffey or Ripken or Maddux or anyone didn’t do bad things.

Playing the morality police or pretending to know who did or didn’t do what when is sanctimonious and pointless. All we can truly know is what happened on the field, and that’s all we should focus on. Let individuals draw their own conclusions. 

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

#55

Wild Card Games: Astros over Yankees, Pirates over Cubs
NLDS: Dodgers over Mets in 3, Pirates over Cardinals in 5
ALDS: Blue Jays over Rangers in 3, Royals over Astros in 4
NLCS: Pirates over Dodgers in 6
ALCS: Royals over Blue Jays in 6

World Series: Pirates over Royals in 5

NL MVP
1. Bryce Harper
2. Clayton Kershaw
3. Jake Arrieta
4. Joey Votto
5. Zack Greinke
6. Paul Goldschmidt
7. Andrew McCutchen
8. Kris Bryant
9. Nolan Arenado
10. Anthony Rizzo

NL Cy Young
1. Clayton Kershaw
2. Jake Arrieta
3. Zack Greinke
4. Garrit Cole
5. Max Scherzer

NL Rookie of the Year
1. Kris Bryant
2. Jung Ho Kang              
3. Matt Duffy


AL MVP
1. Josh Donaldson
2. Mike Trout
3. Lorenzo Cain
4. Manny Machado
5. Dallas Keuchel
6. Mookie Betts
7. David Price
8. Kevin Kiermaier
9. Adrian Beltre
10. Nelson Cruz

AL Cy Young
1. Dallas Keuchel
2. David Price
3. Chris Sale
4. Chris Archer
5. Corey Kluber

AL Rookie of the Year
1. Francisco Lindor
2. Carlos Correa
3. Lance McCullers

Monday, July 6, 2015

#54

I followed the rules/standards given to each manger. 34 players, at least one from every team. . For outfielders I picked one from each specific spot- LF/CF/RF- this was made much more difficult by the fact NL left fielders really suck. 

Without further adieu… the Dayton All Stars.

NL Starting Lineup
C- Buster Posey
1B- Paul Goldschmidt
2B- Joe Panik
3B- Todd Frazier
SS- Brandon Crawford
LF- Starling Marte
CF- Andrew McCutchen
RF- Bryce Harper
DH- Anthony Rizzo
SP- Max Scherer

NL Reserves
Giancarlo Stanton (injured)
C- Francisco Cevelli, Derek Norris
1B- Joey Votto
2B- Dee Gordon, Kolten Wong
3B- Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant, Justin Turner
SS- Troy Tulowitzki, Jhonny Peralta
OF- AJ Pollock, Joc Peterson, Ryan Braun

NL Pitchers
SP- Clayton Kershaw, Jake Arrieta, Zack Greinke, Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom, Shelby Miller, Madison Bumgarner, Cole Hamels
RP- Aroldis Chapman, Trevor Rosenthal, Drew Storen

Just missed: AJ Burnett, Johnny Cueto, Michael Wacha, Andrelton Simmons, Matt Duffy, Matt Carpenter, Justin Upton, Adrian Gonzalez

AL Starting Lineup
C- Russell Martin
1B- Albert Pujols
2B- Jason Kipnis
3B- Josh Donaldson
SS- Xander Bogaerts
LF- Alex Gordon
CF- Mike Trout
RF- Jose Bautista
DH- Nelson Cruz
SP- Chris Sale

AL Reserves
Miguel Cabrera (injured)
C- Steven Vogt, Brian McCann
1B- Mark Teixeira, Prince Fielder
2B- Brian Dozier, Jose Altuve
3B- Manny Machado, Evan Longoria
SS- Jose Iglesias
OF- Lorenzo Cain, Kevin Kiermaier, George Springer, JD Martinez, Brett Gardner

AL Pitchers
SP- Corey Kluber, Chris Archer, Sonny Gray, Dallas Keuchel, David Price, Felix Hernandez, Michael Pineda
RP-  Dellin Betances, Wade Davis, Glen Perkins, Cody Allen

First five out: David Robertson, Clay Buccholtz, Mookie Betts, Carlos Carrasco, Logan Forsythe, Yoenis Cespedes, Alex Rodriguez

Saturday, March 28, 2015

#53

NL East
Nationals- 95
Marlins- 86
Mets- 79
Braves- 74
Phillies- 61

NL Central
Cardinals- 89
Pirates- 88
Cubs- 83
Brewers- 75
Reds- 68  

NL West
Dodgers- 94
Giants- 89
Padres- 85
Diamondbacks- 69
Rockies- 62  

AL East
Red Sox- 90
Blue Jays- 88
Rays- 81
Yankees- 77
Orioles- 71  

AL Central
Indians- 89
Tigers- 87
Royals- 86
White Sox- 85
Twins- 69  

AL West
Mariners- 95
Angels- 85
Astros- 81
Athletics- 79
Rangers- 68  

NLCS: Dodgers over Nationals
ALCS: Mariners over Blue Jays
World Series: Dodgers over Mariners

NL MVP:
AL MVP: Josh Donaldson
NL Cy Young: Zack Greinke
AL Cy Young: Hisashi Iwakuma
NL Rookie of the Year: Yasmani Tomas
AL Rookie of the Year: Carlos Rodon

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

#52

Difference in singles, doubles, triples, strikeouts, sacrifices is within margin of difference. Big drop off in walks, cataclysmic decline in homers. That's how you go from 4th to 14th in runs. 

  2013 2014             diff
runs 688 557 -19.0%
hits 1354 1316 -2.8%
1B 905 931 2.8%
2B 247 240 -2.8%
3B 21 22 4.7%
HR 181 123 -32.0%
BB 542 472 -12.9%
K 1384 1369 -1.1%
SB 64 95 48.4%
OBP 321 305 -5.0%
SLG 402 360 -10.4%
GIDP 119 121 1.7%
Bunts 58 53 -8.6%


Braves actually had a better OPS this year vs. LHP than they did in 2013. Another interesting note is the Braves did slightly better with runners in scoring position than without. Also, our pinch hitters stunk. 


2013 2014
RISP 732 680
Pinch hit 687 487
1st Half 736 686
2nd Half 705 634
Vs LHP 701 712
Vs RHP 731 651
overall 723 665






babip 300 296




By wRC+, Braves only get better at one position- both in raw number and in MLB rank-  between 13 and 14, and that gain was marginal. Freddie Freeman pretty much stayed the same, every other position got worse. 

  2013 wRC+   rank 2014 wRC+   rank
C 115   5th 95   12th
1B 139   4th 140   1st
2B 90   17th 72   24th
3B 114   7th 82   27th
SS 91   13th 71   25th
LF 111   8th 107   14th
CF 71   28th 67   29th
RF 115   12th 98   17th
team 110   10th 86   26th