2021 MLB Season

[CameronDuke]

Cardinals take 3 of 4 from the Cubs at Busch Stadium. The lone loss the Cardinals suffered in the 4 game series they were up 6-1 in the top of the 9th and surrendered a 6 spot to lose 7-6. The Cardinals are now 49-48 and the Cubs are 47-50. It will be interesting to see if the Cubs deal Baez, Rizzo or others before the trade deadline. I think the Cubs have officially solidified themselves as sellers now.

The Cardinals are still 7 GB in the NL Central but with 65 games left, there are still many games to be played. Getting Flaherty and Mikolas back in the starting rotation will help their cause hopefully in August towards a playoff run.

Let’s Go Cardinals!

[budwom]

Detroit City Tigers are ripping up the American League...

[jv001]

Detroit City Tigers are ripping up the American League...

The Detroit Tigers have quietly put together some up and coming talent. I guess getting early draft choices is finally paying off. Al Kaline would be proud. I'm rooting for them to get the franchise back to what it once was.

GoRedbirds!

[CrazyNotCrazie]

The Indians are changing their name to the Guardians. Which immediately makes me think of a) Guardians of the Galaxy and b) Guardian Life Insurance.

Not a huge fan of the name but it could also be worse.

[CameronDuke]

The Indians are changing their name to the Guardians. Which immediately makes me think of a) Guardians of the Galaxy and b) Guardian Life Insurance.

Not a huge fan of the name but it could also be worse.

This one came out of left field to me. Not a fan of the name “Guardians”. Legal custodians would have been better .

Speaking of the baseball franchise in Cleveland, one of the seemingly least talked about topics in recent baseball history is that they blew a 3-1 lead in the 2016 World Series vs the Chicago Cubs. And they had home field advantage, losing game 5 at Wrigley before losing games 6 and 7 in Cleveland.

[CameronDuke]

Do other Native American sports team mascots follow suit now? The Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Braves, etc?

[budwom]

The Detroit Tigers have quietly put together some up and coming talent. I guess getting early draft choices is finally paying off. Al Kaline would be proud. I'm rooting for them to get the franchise back to what it once was.

GoRedbirds!

and I think our own Mr. Rothenberg has signed with them...yeah, they have some young power pitchers, just good to see they aren't as utterly hapless as they've been in recent seasons.

[Rogue]

New Padre , All Star, Adam Frazier , started his San Diego career by going 2 for 5, scoring 2 runs in his debut . Be batted leadoff , giving the Friars All Stars with the first 4 bats in the lineup. Padres take the first game of the series from the A' 7-4.
Giants beat the dogers.

Padre starting pitching has been struggling for the last month. I am still holding out hope that " we" ( like I'm apart of this brain trust lol ) pick up another starter.

[CameronDuke]

Cardinals take the opening game in Cleveland last night 4-2. 39-year old Adam Wainwright turned in another fantastic game atop the bump. The crafty veteran threw 7 innings, allowing just 4 hits, 2 earned runs, while walking 2 batters and striking out 8. He improved his record to 8-6 this season to complement a 3.51 ERA. Among his most impressive season statistics is that in his 20 games started, he’s accumulated 125.2 innings pitched. He’s averaging 6+ innings each time out. Not bad for someone in his 16th season in the big leagues.

Harrison Bader slugged a HR and 2 doubles last night. His stats recently are insane. He is now slashing .301/.368/.548 in 163 plate appearances this season with 9 HR and 25 RBI. He returned from the IL on July 1 (fractured ribs) and went 0 for 4. Since then? He’s hitting .406 with a 1.185 OPS. He has five homers and 16 RBIs in those 76 plate appearances.


The win pushed the record of the Cardinals to 51-50 with 61 games remaining. They’re now 8 GB of the NL Central division leading Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cardinals go for the series sweep today in Cleveland at 12:10 pm CT. The Cardinals will send southpaw Kwang Hyun Kim to the mound opposite Zach Plesac.

Let’s Go Cardinals!

[accfanfrom1970]

The win pushed the record of the Cardinals to 51-50 with 61 games remaining. They’re now 8 GB of the NL Central division leading Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cardinals go for the series sweep today in Cleveland at 12:10 pm CT. The Cardinals will send southpaw Kwang Hyun Kim to the mound opposite Zach Plesac.

Let’s Go Cardinals!

Flaherty and Mikolas started pitching/rehab in the minors this week. Their return and degree of success will determine how far the Cards can come back.

[budwom]

Tigers win by a field goal, besting the Twins 17-14..Twinkies had seven homers, Tigers none, nearly blew a 10-0 lead.

[CameronDuke]

Flaherty and Mikolas started pitching/rehab in the minors this week. Their return and degree of success will determine how far the Cards can come back.

That’s exactly right. With Mikolas and Flaherty joining the starting rotation hopefully sometime in August, the Cardinals will hopefully be positioned to go on a run.

They’re 51-51 with 60 games left. Going 35-25 in the last 60 would put them at 86-76. Not a bad season, but I’m not sure it it would get them into the playoffs. I think going 40-20 in their last 60 and getting to 91-71 would likely make them a playoff contender.

[CameronDuke]

Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are out of the lineup today for the Chicago Cubs as they host the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field.

This would indicate the two will be traded soon likely. The tandem were cornerstones on the Cubs infield for the 2016 Chicago Cubs team that brought the organization just its 3rd World Series title, the first for the organization since 1907-1908 when the Cubs won back to back World Series titles.

Looks like the band is finally breaking up on the north side.

[CameronDuke]

The Chicago Cubs dynasty appears to be approaching its final days. I think their window to win a World Series was 2015-2020. Winning one was amazing, and a tough thing to do. They were among the MLB’s elite organizations during that timeframe. However, they’ve lost 3 in a row, 6 of 10, and sit at 50-54 with 58 games remaining. That puts them 11 GB of the NL Central division leading Milwaukee Brewers. With Baez, Rizzo, Kimbrel, and Bryant all rumored to be on the trading block, I’d be shocked not to see them unload a few if not all of those guys before tomorrow’s trade deadline. I think they’ll be back in rebuild mode the next few seasons if that occurs.

The fewest wins the Cubs have had in a non-pandemic shortened season since 2014 occurred in 2014 when they won 73 games against 89 losses. In order to match that win total, they must go 23-35 in their last 58. They’ll have to do that playing a schedule which includes 20 total more games vs teams currently ahead of them in the NL Central: the Brewers, Reds, and Cardinals. They also play the AL Central leading Chicago White Sox in a city rivalry series and the NL West leading San Francisco Giants.

Count me as someone who will be surprised if the Cubs end up with a record better than 81-81 (.500) to end this the 2021 MLB regular season.

[CameronDuke]

The New York Yankees are finalizing a deal to acquire first baseman Anthony Rizzo from the Chicago Cubs, sources tell ESPN.

In the last 24 hours, the Yankees have gotten Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo.

[acdevil]

The New York Yankees are finalizing a deal to acquire first baseman Anthony Rizzo from the Chicago Cubs, sources tell ESPN.

In the last 24 hours, the Yankees have gotten Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo.

And they aren’t paying them at all. Cubs and Rangers are picking up all of their salaries.

The Yankees will have 4 players on the roster after these trades that they aren’t paying at all.

[CameronDuke]

And they aren’t paying them at all. Cubs and Rangers are picking up all of their salaries.

The Yankees will have 4 players on the roster after these trades that they aren’t paying at all.

They can use the offensive firepower.

They got blanked by the Rays today and lost by two touchdowns. Both extra points were good, too …

They’re not likely going to win the AL East this year (they’re currently 9 GB of the Red Sox) and winning a wild card is going to take a lot of work, too …

[CDu]

Cubs doing a much-needed reboot. They weren’t going to win the division, so moving their pending free agents for prospects. I would expect Bryant and Kimbrel to be traded too, and those guys (Kimbrel especially) should bring a haul.

The Cubs will then have an offseason with deep pockets again (they reset their tax line and will have VERY little salary on the books next year) to bring in players.

Certainly still possible that Rizzo, Tepera, Chafin, and Bryant return in the offseason (a la Aroldis back to the Yanks and Jason Hammel back to the Cubs back in the mid-2010s).

This season feels like an arms race between the West Coast teams on the NL side, so I think it is the right long-term play rather than trying to sneak into the playoffs in the worst division in baseball.

[CameronDuke]

BREAKING: The Dodgers are finalizing a deal to acquire star right-hander Max Scherzer and star shortstop Trea Turner from the Washington Nationals for a massive prospect haul, sources tell ESPN. The blockbuster of blockbusters is going to happen.

Courtesy Jeff Passan’s official Twitter account @JeffPassan

The 2020 World Series champions are reloading their arsenal.

The 2019 World Series champions are having a breakup of the band …

[CDu]

BREAKING: The Dodgers are finalizing a deal to acquire star right-hander Max Scherzer and star shortstop Trea Turner from the Washington Nationals for a massive prospect haul, sources tell ESPN. The blockbuster of blockbusters is going to happen.

Courtesy Jeff Passan’s official Twitter account @JeffPassan

The 2020 World Series champions are reloading their arsenal.

The 2019 World Series champions are having a breakup of the band …

Yep, arms race in the NL West. The Padres and Giants are likely to try to counter. The rest of the NL feels like an also-ran this year.