2018 MLB Season

[CrazyNotCrazie]

It's opening day so time to kick off a thread on this season. Very sad news that Rusty Staub passed away this morning - an under-rated player and by all accounts a very classy guy.

As a Yankees fan, I am eager to see how the all-time great top half of the lineup balances with a lot of questions at the bottom half, as well as how our pitching staff holds up.

[pfrduke]

First pitch of the season goes for a home run.

[pfrduke]

And all the rest of the pitches go wild - two walks and THREE HBPs bring in two more runs for the Cubs in the first.

[weezie]

As a Tigers fan, I'm wondering if we could just call a rain out of the whole season?

[mr. synellinden]

It's opening day so time to kick off a thread on this season. Very sad news that Rusty Staub passed away this morning - an under-rated player and by all accounts a very classy guy.

As a Yankees fan, I am eager to see how the all-time great top half of the lineup balances with a lot of questions at the bottom half, as well as how our pitching staff holds up.

Well, Stanton is off to a pretty good start with a huge home run in his first Yankees at-bat. And oh by the way, it had the fastest exit velocity of any ball hit at Rogers Centre since they started measuring in 2015. AND:

According to MLB.com, that was also the hardest exit velocity for any home run hit to the opposite field since Statcast has tracked such things

[Bob Green]

Cardinals lost to the Mets in today's opener. There goes our perfect season.

[duke74]

Cardinals lost to the Mets in today's opener. There goes our perfect season.

And ours begins.

Thor with 10Ks and 0 BB. Passes Doc for second place in our history for such performances. Tom Seaver first with 10...think Thor with 7 now. Wicked stuff, but gave up 2 HRs and 4 ER in 6 innings. Only 85 pitches, but good move to take him out on a coldish day and a big lead. We will sink or swim on the health of our SP.

Just watched the SNY Gary Carter special on the day we lost Rusty. Feeling sad... Eras pass but memories don't.

[weezie]

Never gets old!

Go ahead called safe at the plate in extra innings, yay Tigers win opener but no! Lengthy review, 15.78 minutes, and nosiree Robert, he's out!

Resume game, call players back, let's hang around three more innings and lose. Much better that way.

Refs, umps and weezie do not mix well.

[weezie]

Who watched Ohtani's pitching debut?

The young man seems very familiar with the strike zone.

Oh, MLB admits the call was wrong and the umps SCREWED Detroit in their pitiful home opener last week. Not that anyone cares.

[Mal]

Who watched Ohtani's pitching debut?

I caught his last two innings. Didn't see any of the Spring Training outings, which reportedly were horrific.

I understand his slider and splitter weren't under control early and he hung a slider that got crushed to hang 3 runs on him, but he'd found his groove by the 5th and 6th, for sure. The A's aren't a good lineup, but a 98-99 mph heater with those two breaking pitches could take a guy a fair distance in the bigs. Will be interesting to see what happens (a) as he gets more and more comfortable with the MLB mound and ball, (b) what happens once a scouting book is established on him, and (c) what effect, if any, playing DH or in the field on other days has on his pitching. But there was front of rotation stuff there.

Could just be seeing what I want to see, of course. I really want this two way player thing to work, not because I know anything about Ohtani or am a fan of his personally, but just because it's cool, and a reminder that more and more specialization doesn't have to be an unending linear march in one direction.

From what I've seen so far, I think the biggest hurdle will be that he could probably use 3 or 4 months batting against high minors pitching to acclimate himself, but instead he's been thrown into the deep end.

[Blue in the Face]

Well, Stanton is off to a pretty good start with a huge home run in his first Yankees at-bat. And oh by the way, it had the fastest exit velocity of any ball hit at Rogers Centre since they started measuring in 2015. AND:

According to MLB.com, that was also the hardest exit velocity for any home run hit to the opposite field since Statcast has tracked such things

The honeymoon's over - Stanton dons a golden sombrero for the home opener, and then adds one more K for good measure. And receives a Bronx cheer for his troubles. On the bright side, Didi Gregorius sets the franchise record for a shortstop with 8 rbi's.

[devildeac]

The honeymoon's over - Stanton dons a golden sombrero for the home opener, and then adds one more K for good measure. And receives a Bronx cheer for his troubles. On the bright side, Didi Gregorius sets the franchise record for a shortstop with 8 rbi's.

Learn something new almost every day on the DBR. That extra K apparently earns him a platinum sombrero or Olympic Rings.

[A-Tex Devil]

Everyone is still just chasing the Astros, right?

[JBDuke]

Well, the Nationals' hot streak to start the season came crashing to an end. AJ Cole gave up 10 ER in 3.2 innings tonight. That's only 4 less than the rest of the staff has given up combined in the other four games played so far. Cole's history in Atlanta is pretty ugly, but I'm not sure how many more chances they'll give him, especially with Jeremy Hellickson getting stretched out to 80-90 pitches tonight in his extended spring training.

[Mal]

Learn something new almost every day on the DBR. That extra K apparently earns him a platinum sombrero or Olympic Rings.

Yes, platinum. 3 K's earns you a sombrero, 4 makes it gold and 5 platinum. The rare 6 K game is evidently a titanium sombrero.

When I was in high school, we didn't know the provenance of the term (it's a play on the idea of a hat trick), so we went with escalating Olympic medal colors combined with mostly alliterative terms from south of the border culture. So, 3 strikeouts was a bronze burrito, 4 a silver sombrero, and 5 was the dreaded golden pinata. I remember one game when our talented but hot-headed and totally undisciplined at the plate catcher whiffed for the 4th time on the day, and we all threw our hats on the ground and started dancing around them while singing the Mexican Hat Dance. He was livid and said something, but he was also a sophomore playing up on the varsity team and no one liked him much, so my co-captain said "Just be glad you won't get up a fifth time for a chance to be a pinata - everybody here has a metal bat."

[Mal]

From what I've seen so far, I think the biggest hurdle will be that he could probably use 3 or 4 months batting against high minors pitching to acclimate himself, but instead he's been thrown into the deep end.

https://twitter.com/statcast/status/981577418044526595

Yet more evidence that it's quite possible I don't know a d@^^ned thing.

[SoCalDukeFan]

Not sure how much coverage he is getting nationwide.
Shohei Ohtani is the player from Japan signed by the Angels who both pitches and hits. The Angels are using him as the DH and as a starter. He is rested the game before and after he pitches and does not bat when he pitches. While it is very early, here is his season so far.

As a batter in four games - 3 home runs, .389 BA.

As a pitcher - 2 starts, 2 wins, ERA of 2.08.

Today was his second start, both against Oakland which means the Oakland batters saw him before. 7 innings, 1 hit, no runs, 12 strikeouts.

Mrs. SoCal thought about going to the game but did not and one reason was to watch the Masters. May be hard to get a ticket to his next game.

SoCal

[Blue in the Face]

Obviously it's extraordinarily early, but Mike and Dog had this all the way.

https://twitter.com/JimmyTraina/stat...05856387538944

[weezie]

...Shohei Ohtani ...May be hard to get a ticket to his next game.

Oooo, thanks for the reminder. At oriole, 6/29-7/1. Time for a steamed crabs feast, too!

[Blue in the Face]

So it's early, but Texas seems to have been on to something with their signing of Bartolo Colon (for next to nothing). Big Sexy has been terrific, with a 1.45 ERA and 0.7 WHIP across 2 starts and 2 relief appearances. Last night he went toe to toe with Justin Verlander, taking a perfect game into the 8th before giving up a run (the Rangers won in extras). Among qualified starters, he's 9th in the AL in ERA and 5th in WHIP. Not too shabby for a 44 year old coming off a rough 2017.