Baseball 2012 -- The In-Season Thread

[throatybeard]

TV made it pretty clear Decalso was safe, Hoss. I ain't hustlin. For real. He got there "late" but avoided the tag. Easily.

The Cardinals' early jump has hit a wall lately. The Padres have cushioned the blow. And finally, Waino es bueno.

I'm out of town for about 12 days starting tomorrow evening. I'm considering buying the mlb.com package.

[Jim3k]

TV made it pretty clear Decalso was safe, Hoss. I ain't hustlin. For real. He got there "late" but avoided the tag. Easily.

The Cardinals' early jump has hit a wall lately. The Padres have cushioned the blow. And finally, Waino es bueno.

I'm out of town for about 12 days starting tomorrow evening. I'm considering buying the mlb.com package.

That's why the ump is on top of the play and why fans down the line, like me, can't really see from our vantage point. But if the ump was clearly right, then catcher John Baker really showed his ineptitude and why Hundley is the starter.

[tommy]

I know we're only 45 games or so in, but that's not an insignificant number. I simply can't believe the standings as I look at them. So of the following, which is the most surprising to you at this point in the season, and why?

1. The O's are in first place, playing .622 baseball
2. The Yankees and Red Sox occupy fourth and last place in the AL East
3. The Tigers, after adding Fielder and with Verlander again pitching at an elite level, are below .500 and in the middle of a lousy division
4. The Angels, after adding Pujols and CJ Wilson, are below .500 and in last place
5. The Nationals are in first place
6. The Phillies are below .500 and are in last place
7. The Dodgers are playing almost .700 baseball, despite having strong MVP candidate Matt Kemp on the DL for a couple of weeks, and are 7 1/2 games clear of the second place Giants.

[tommy]

Just want to point out that the Cards are doing something incredible with their hot start. Their run differential is +62 right now. To put that in perspective, the next best in the NL is the Braves at +17. Texas, at +49, is the only other Major League team with a run differential of better than +25 right now. To do this after losing the legend/Hall of Famer who defined your team for a decade is truly remarkable. Props. -Jason "this may be as good a story as Albert's Angel (Mis)Adventure right now" Evans

While the Cardinals' run differential is still a very impressive, and second-best in the big leagues +64, in the last three weeks the Rangers have blown by them to take the lead at +79. They're just a juggernaut. The Reds, who currently lead the Cards by a half game for the division lead, are doing so with only a +8 run differential.After Texas and St. Louis come the best record in the league Dodgers at +44, the middle of the pack Blue Jays at +35, and then the second place Braves at +32.The Indians are on top of the extremely mediocre AL Central with a differential of only +1. Has a team ever won a division with a negative number???

[Blue in the Face]

Has a team ever won a division with a negative number???

'87 Twins

Edit - and the 2005 Padres were even worse.

[throatybeard]

It's nuts. Cincinnati leads the division at 25-19 with a run differential of +8. Their pythagorean expects a record of 23-21. Saint Louis trails by half a game at 25-20 with a run differential of +64. Their pythagorean expects a record of 29-16.

[luvdahops]

It's nuts. Cincinnati leads the division at 25-19 with a run differential of +8. Their pythagorean expects a record of 23-21. Saint Louis trails by half a game at 25-20 with a run differential of +64. Their pythagorean expects a record of 29-16.

That at least partly reflects the extent to which the Reds lineup, save for Votto and Bruce, has underachieved YTD (.238 BA, .702 OPS, 3.9 runs per game). Pitching depth has largely made up for it (3.37 ERA), though the bullpen has shown a few cracks lately.

By contrast, I would argue that the Cardinals lineup has overachieved (.280, .809, 5.3), as I don't think those levels will be sustainable, given that Beltran, Freese and Holiday are all on pace for 115+ RBI, and Molina is on pace for 22 HR and 85 RBI, totals which would blow away his previous career highs. The Reds' early season success in tight games could very well wind up being the determining factor in the division race.

[throatybeard]

That at least partly reflects the extent to which the Reds lineup, save for Votto and Bruce, has underachieved YTD (.238 BA, .702 OPS, 3.9 runs per game). Pitching depth has largely made up for it (3.37 ERA), though the bullpen has shown a few cracks lately.

By contrast, I would argue that the Cardinals lineup has overachieved (.280, .809, 5.3), as I don't think those levels will be sustainable, given that Beltran, Freese and Holiday are all on pace for 115+ RBI, and Molina is on pace for 22 HR and 85 RBI, totals which would blow away his previous career highs. The Reds' early season success in tight games could very well wind up being the determining factor in the division race.

Not to mention, it seems like the Cardinals entire lineup is on the DL.

This is only a slight exaggeration.

[JBDuke]

Not to mention, it seems like the Cardinals entire lineup is on the DL.

This is only a slight exaggeration.

Lots of clubs are having injury problems. In the NL East, the Phillies, Braves, and Nationals have all had key players out with injuries. The DL list this year looks like an All-Star team.

Meanwhile, despite the continued absence of their clean-up hitter, closer, and starting catcher, and despite having several other players miss long stretches already, the Nats have taken two in a row in Atlanta, now lead the division by 2.5 over the Mets and the Marlins, and have pushed Atlanta down to 4th place. The Braves should take heart, though, in the Nats' inability to complete series sweeps this year. This bodes well for a Braves' win tomorrow in the finale between Gio Gonzalez and Brandon Beachy.

[dukebsbll14]

In other news, Adam Jones is about to get paaaaaid.

"The Orioles have scheduled a news conference for 11:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, at which time they're expected to announce a six-year, $85.5 million contract extension with Jones, making him the second-highest-paid center fielder in the game behind the Dodgers' Matt Kemp."
http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/new...s_bal&c_id=bal

[Olympic Fan]

As noted above, the Braves are in free fall -- dropping six games in a row to fall from first to fifth in the NL East.

The absence of Chipper Jones, who recently went on the 15-day DL with a bruised leg, has been devastating. It's amazing how important this 40-year-old third baseman is to the team's success this season. Look in the numbers:

In the 29 games that Chipper has appeared in this season, Atlanta is 21-8.
In the 19 games that Chipper has missed, Atlanta is 5-14.

Is that a coincidence? A fluke caused by a small sample size?

Or is it evidence of how valuable Chipper's presence is to the Braves. We've got two weeks (at least) of Chipper-less baseball to add to our sample size.

[luvdahops]

Not to mention, it seems like the Cardinals entire lineup is on the DL.

This is only a slight exaggeration.

No disagreement there. Cards YTD production is all that much more impressive when you consider that Berkman has contributed next to nothing.

[luvdahops]

As noted above, the Braves are in free fall -- dropping six games in a row to fall from first to fifth in the NL East.

The absence of Chipper Jones, who recently went on the 15-day DL with a bruised leg, has been devastating. It's amazing how important this 40-year-old third baseman is to the team's success this season. Look in the numbers:

In the 29 games that Chipper has appeared in this season, Atlanta is 21-8.
In the 19 games that Chipper has missed, Atlanta is 5-14.

Is that a coincidence? A fluke caused by a small sample size?

Or is it evidence of how valuable Chipper's presence is to the Braves. We've got two weeks (at least) of Chipper-less baseball to add to our sample size.

Chipper may be past his prime, but is still plenty dangerous at the plate, and losing a switch-hitting, middle of the lineup batter of his caliber would be a big blow to any team.

[tommy]

Lots of clubs are having injury problems. In the NL East, the Phillies, Braves, and Nationals have all had key players out with injuries. The DL list this year looks like an All-Star team.

Meanwhile, despite the continued absence of their clean-up hitter, closer, and starting catcher, and despite having several other players miss long stretches already, the Nats have taken two in a row in Atlanta, now lead the division by 2.5 over the Mets and the Marlins, and have pushed Atlanta down to 4th place. The Braves should take heart, though, in the Nats' inability to complete series sweeps this year. This bodes well for a Braves' win tomorrow in the finale between Gio Gonzalez and Brandon Beachy.

The Dodgers have had as many injuries as anyone really. Matt Kemp, who has been the best player in the National League, has been out for a couple of weeks and should've gone on the DL earlier than he did. Juan Rivera, Mark Ellis, and Juan Uribe have all been out for awhile too. Jerry Hairston just came back after his stint on the DL.

Yet, thanks in no small part to their excellent pitching, the Dodgers sit at 32-15, 7 1/2 games up on the Giants.

[Blue in the Face]

Roy Oswalt signs with the Rangers. That team could reasonably be considered pretty f'ing good.

[tommy]

Don't look now, but Big Albert is coming alive. In the last 20 games, he has raised his averaged from .190 to .238, while hitting 7 HR and driving in 19 runs. The Halos have 111 games left. If Pujols plays in, say, 100 of them, and hits at the same level he has in these last three weeks, by my calculations he'll end up at .285 with 43 HR and 123 RBI's. Not bad for a guy who was hitting .190 with 1 HR and 9 RBI through the first 31 games of the season.

With Mark Trumbo playing like a surefire all-star, and rookie outfielder Mike Trout hitting .300 and looking like he completely belongs, plus a number of other solid veteran bats in the lineup, the race with Texas could still get interesting, starting with this weekend's series at the Big A. Only dark cloud is Monday night's back injury to ace Jared Weaver, which is of unknown severity. With Dan Haren pitching lights out his last two outings, plus CJ Wilson and Jerome Williams combining for 11 wins already, if they can get Weaver back relatively quickly, the team could really take off.

[sagegrouse]

In the fifth inning, the Settle Mariners are leading Texas 17-0. All nine batters have hits (17 in total) and all have scored at least one run. Gotta be a record for starters in a MLB game. I don't know how many other times both have happened.

sage

[Reilly]

In the fifth inning, the Settle Mariners are leading Texas 17-0. All nine batters have hits (17 in total) and all have scored at least one run. Gotta be a record for starters in a MLB game. I don't know how many other times both have happened.

sage

All the starters had multiple hits, and all but one had multiple runs, in this game:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bo...00708221.shtml

[Olympic Fan]

Wow .. as of this morning (May 31), the five teams in the AL East are sperated by two games in the loss column. And the five teams in the NL East are seperated by four games in the loss column -- with the preseason favorite (Phillies) in last place.

We're coming up on the one-third mark in the season (most teams have played 50-51 games) and I don't have a clue how those two divisions come out. The two leaders are Batlimore and Washington -- two young teams in contention for the first time. I really don't believe the Oriloles can stay up there (they're already slumping), but I'm not sure about the Nats -- they just might do it.

There are good races in the other four divisions (the Reds/Cardinals are going to be a great race), but nowhere else where every team in the division is still in it.

[Reilly]

... the five teams in the AL East are sperated by two games in the loss column. And the five teams in the NL East are seperated by four games in the loss column ...

Also, all 5 teams in the AL East, and all 5 teams in the NL East, are over .500.

I believe I heard a commenter say that this is the latest in the year that two 5-team divisions have had everyone over .500.