Wrestling Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

MLB: ONE WEEK!

126K views 4K replies 126 participants last post by  DesolationRow 
#1 ·
The Cubs are so awful.

Discuss.
 
#3,230 ·
Rios did a lot better last year, because the people around him were actually hitting. Konerko was getting on base consistently, Dunn was getting walked (and K'd), then Rios would be up to bat with 1 or 2 people on. You have to pitch to him, unless you want the bases to be loaded for the next batter or two.
 
#3,232 ·
Is David Dombrowski being a bit too blase about the Detroit Tigers bullpen? I like Bruce Rondon as an in-house piece, but even if he pans out magnificently, I'd consider the Tigers' bullpen a bit thin, especially near the back end.

Speaking of Rondon, however, he had his first outing in spring training yesterday against the Toronto Blue Jays... Here's the story: http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2013/02/detroit_tigers_bruce_rondon_2.html

Detroit Tigers' Bruce Rondon displays 'electric stuff,' good dose of wildness in first outing of spring

By Chris Iott
February 23, 2013

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Bruce Rondon threw hard. He was wild at times. But he settled down and got the job done.
The rookie right-hander for the Detroit Tigers got himself into trouble Saturday afternoon in the fifth inning of a 10-3 loss to Toronto, but he bailed himself out by striking out the final two batters he faced with an overpowering fastball.

Tigers catcher Alex Avila has caught Rondon before, but never in a game. He was impressed with what he saw.

"There were a few fastballs that I did not see that ended up in my glove -- I don't know how," Avila said. "He's got electric stuff. I'm sure he was a little nervous his first time out. He was a little wild, but he really settled down those last two guys.

"He's so explosive. It was fun to catch. By far, he's probably one of the best arms I've ever seen."

After retiring the first batter he faced on a weak foul ball to Miguel Cabrera at third base, Rondon went to 3-2 counts on the next two hitters he faced. He surrendered a walk to the first and a double to the wall to the second. That put runners on second and third with one out.

Rondon struck out J.P Arencibia on three pitches to bring Josh Thole to the plate.

"When Thole came up, he's like, 'Man, he looks like he's throwing hard,' " Avila said. "I was like, 'I have no idea where it's going.' As a hitter, you don't want to hear that, especially with a guy throwing that hard."

Rondon fell behind 2-1, but he battled back to strike out Thole, who swung and missed at a fastball for strike three. Rondon did a bit of a skip as he left the mound and headed to the dugout.

"He threw mostly fastballs," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "As we get into it a little deeper, he'll make some adjustments and have to throw some other stuff. For his first time out, I thought he did fine."

Rondon said he felt good about his first outing and didn't feel any nervousness even when he got into the jam. He threw 24 pitches, 14 for strikes and 10 for balls. He threw 21 fastballs, two changeups and one slider, Avila said.

"When you throw that hard, it's hard to mix those pitches in there, because he has such a good fastball," Avila said. "He has an above-average changeup and an above-average slider. But the thing is, he will have to use those in the big leagues.

"Professional hitters, when he's a little wild like he was the first couple hitters, they can hit 100. That's when his other pitches are going to be very valuable to him."

Avila made one trip to the mound to go over signs, but other than that said he was planning to let Rondon sink or swim.

"He was pretty jacked up," Avila said. "I didn't want to go out there and say anything. I just wanted him to get this first outing out of the way. He made the adjustments he needed to and he got composed after that to get the last two outs and really did some nice pitching."
 
#3,233 ·
God, I need baseball back... I need baseball back... I need baseball back... :mark: :mark: :mark:























 
#3,234 ·
This morning, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria took out ad space in multiple South Florida newspapers to pen an open letter to fans of the club. In addition to defending the club's expensive new ballpark, Loria battled back against those who have been critical of the team's personnel decisions. "The controversial trade we made with the Toronto Blue Jays was approved by Commissioner Bud Selig and has been almost universally celebrated by baseball experts outside of Miami for its value," said the owner.
:rolleyes: His problem is giving a shit about the fans, when revenue sharing pays the entire payroll.
 
#3,246 ·
Yeah I know. I was being facetious. I know Hal is anal about the 189 mil luxury tax threshold. That's still no excuse for signing these warn out bums, especially Hafner :jay

It's Hal running things now. Much more frugal than his father, George.
Yeah. I never thought I'd see the day a number cruncher would rule the yanks. Even with The Boss gone, Hank tried to carry on his spend at will style, but just doesn't have the passion for baseball to care as much anymore
 
#3,247 ·
No doubt. Blue Jays ownership saw one of the luckiest teams in MLB history (based on the Pythagorean diagram) contend for the AL East to the last day or two of the season in the Baltimore Orioles (gotta give Buck Showalter a good deal of credit for how he handled their bullpen, too) last year. Red Sox are in rebuilding mode (by their standards, anyway), Yankees are old, fat and lazy (philosophically as a team) and severely banged up. AL East could definitely be more of a race between the Jays and the Rays than anyone else this season, at least if all of their respective pieces fit right (and of course there's always that "if").

What's the Yankee lineup probably going to be Opening Day? There's legitimate concern over whether or not Jeter can make it back, despite his comments to the contrary (knowing him, though, he'll probably just make it... maybe he can DH the first week or two of the season, heh). A-Rod's situation seems cloudy as hell. Now Granderson out until probably mid-May.

If Ichiro has anything left to offer, Yankees might end up being happier about that re-signing than they thought when they went through with it.

Yankees are wise to escape the heightened luxury tax penalties. Ownership realizes that they have to tighten their belts at least a little bit this year if they truly want to keep Robinson Cano wearing pinstripes beyond 2013, just for starters.
 
#3,248 ·
Good grief, this Spring Training game between the A's and Angels is going to break records for its length of time.

It took them an hour to play the first inning. Stupid feckless pitchers.
 
#3,249 ·
Honestly, if Jeter is able to play from the beginning and Teixiera doesn't have his trademark opening-month(s) slump, I'm not sure how much the Yankees will really miss Granderson. He's certainly a loss, yes, but if they obtain a replacement that is able to get on base well enough, they'll be fine. The lineup will miss the pop that Curtis can bring, but if they can get a player with a solid OBP, they'll be alright.

With that said, their only real internal options are Juan Rivera and Matt Diaz, so things don't look very good.
 
#3,254 ·
I'll take Texas, Angels, and Oakland over all them. Baltimore won't be as good this year...there's just no way. Yankees are on the decline for now (just because of injuries). Rays I just don't know anymore. Boston is done. Blue Jays should win the division.
 
#3,253 ·
The Os will fall back down..they won so many one run games last year that the laws of averages will bring then down. But the rays and Jays will kill it this year.The angels, rangers and As will all fight for the two wild card spots cause of the extra wins they get from the astros

Sent from my DROID RAZR using VerticalSports.Com App
 
#3,258 ·
I definitely am.

Predictions

AL EAST

1. Blue Jays
2. Rays (WC)
3. Yankees
4. Orioles
5. Red Sox

AL CENTAL

1. Tigers
2. Royals (WC)
3. Indians
4. White Sox
5. Twins

AL WEST

1. Angels
2. Rangers
3. Athletics
4. Mariners
5. Astros

NL EAST

1. Nationals
2. Braves (WC)
3. Phillies
4. Mets
5. Marlins

NL CENTRAL

1. Reds
2. Brewers
3. Cardinals
4. Pirates
5. Cubs

NL WEST

1. Dodgers
2. Giants (WC)
3. Diamondbacks
4. Rockies
5. Padres



AL cy young: Jered weaver
AL MVP: Jose Bautista

NL CY YOUNG: Clayton kershaw
NL MVP: Justin Upton

WORLD SERIES: Nationals defeat the Tigers in 7 games.
 
#3,275 ·
WORLD SERIES: Nationals defeat the Tigers in 7 games.
Fantastic predictions, brother. (Y)

Just going to go with playoff predictions here.

ALCS: Angels over Tigers
NLCS: NATIONALS over GIANTS (Hopefully Brother CP, Brother Deso, and I finally get our seven game series between these two ELITE teams).

World Series: NATIONALS :mark: over Angels.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top