Major League Baseball: 2017 Season

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We managed to avoid getting swept by the Kansas City Royals thanks to a walk-off walk. 5-4 in 12 innings was the score in Houston today. My Astros lost Friday and Saturday's games in this three-game weekend series. Chris Devenski was Houston's winner. The losing pitcher for Kansas City was Matt Strahm.

So how does it feel hanging 12 on one team in just one inning? Just ask the Washington Nationals on Saturday as Philadelphia let out all of their frustration on them in one single inning. They'd go on to win that game 17-3. The Phillies won today's match 4-3 after Washington led 3-0 for most of the game.


Congratulations to all other winners from today, including the Reds blanking some redbirds in St. Louis big time.
 
Nice win today for the Reds, but it's still too early to tell just how good the team will be. Encouraging start nonetheless.
 
I mean, with baseball, early April results mean literally jack due to the length of the season, but with this 1-6 start, it smells to me like the Jays are suffering from the penny pinching and nebulism of the dog days in the early 2000's by Rogers.
 
How you all like the 2017 season after all the Opening Week material?

Latest Houston Astros Baseball Club report... we played our first Away game of the season when the Seattle Mariners kindly hosted us. And well... we failed. So the Mariners gave my Astros an ugly 6-0 hammering this afternoon in beautiful Seattle. So far, so bad. The Astros were terrible on the road last season and the season before last. James Paxton was the winning pitcher for SEA, and HOU's loser was Charlie Morton. We'll try it again Tuesday hoping for a better outcome.


Congratulations to all winners from Monday afternoon and Monday evening.
 
I'm not sure what's going on, but the Reds are now 6-2 after taking the first two games from the Pirates. That's three straight series wins to start the season.
 
Now a sweep of the Pirates? Is this seriously the same Cincy team? The pitching has been great, especially the bullpen which was atrocious last year. And not only are we hitting, we're getting the hits when they actually matter. All of this with Votto batting .171.

Yep, somehow the Reds lead the NL Central, nay! the entire Majors with a 7-2 record. The only other team with that good of a record is Arizona, also having a surprising season so far. Now we're bound to fall back to earth at some point. How badly is the question. Let's hope we can keep it up.
 
My Houston Astros aren't playing today. We just avoided getting swept at the Mariners in our latest series. The Houston Astros Baseball Club's next series is at the Oakland Athletics starting tomorrow. Only the Astros and Angels have winning records so far among AL West teams.

So since my Astros aren't playing, let me make a few musings.


* If you were to take account of the leaders of each division as of today, here are your leaders heading into today's/tonight's games: Baltimore (5-2, AL East), Detroit (6-2, AL Central), Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (6-3, AL West), New York Mets (6-3, NL East), Cincinnati (7-2, NL Central), and Arizona (7-3, NL West). Yes- this is not a typo, and April Fool's passed long ago- the Reds lead the NL Central presently. I do wish Dolph Drago's Reds well in support of my good mate.

* As of this post, the Los Angeles Dodgers are playing at the Chicago Cubs. However, it's much different since Vin Scully retired. I even sometimes care about Dodgers' baseball just to hear Vin Scully. But of course, he retired after decades of fabulous calls. The Cubs lead 1-0 against the Dodgers in the Bottom of the 3rd as of the time of this post.

* Also as of this post, the Detroit Tigers are having a tough time hosting the Minnesota Twins. The cats from MoTown are losing 6-2 to the Twins in the Bottom of the 5th.


There's still a whole lot of baseball left. It's extremely early to predict certain teams being somewhere. You also don't want to overreact to things in mid-April. Show epic praise or epic rage when your favorite team(s) make the playoffs or fail miserably.
 
JohnBM01
There's still a whole lot of baseball left. It's extremely early to predict certain teams being somewhere. You also don't want to overreact to things in mid-April. Show epic praise or epic rage when your favorite team(s) make the playoffs or fail miserably.
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In the case of the Jays, you overreact to things in April because management obviously didn't plug any of the holes that were clearly visible from the International Space Station, and instead went for cheaper options because ownership are a bunch of ****ing cheapskates.

Related, live look at me watching this Jays game:

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Since he's made his return to the Reds, Arroyo has struggled a bit. The Reds' win streak was broken by the Brew Crew while Arroyo dropped to 0-2 on the season after a 5-1 loss tonight.
 
After watching tonight's game:

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Seriously, you get a guy like Jimenez who shows promise and you burn an option on moving him back to AAA in favor of William Cuevas, who's now sporting a solid 108.00 ERA. Could be worse though, he could be Guthrie and his killer 135.00 ERA...or you know we could be the Blue Jays.
 
I don't know how it happened, but the Houston Astros went from getting no-hit down 5-0... to beating Oakland 10-6. We basically had eight unanswered runs scored until Oakland finally got themselves a run in the Bottom of the 8th. Lance McCullers started for the Astros but got a No Decision. Instead, HOU's winner was Will Harris. For OAK, Santiago Casilla was the loser. We have a chance to sweep the A's with a win tomorrow. The Astros won the first game of this series 7-2 back last night.


Elsewhere...

* I saw a few innings of Detroit at Cleveland. This Midwestern showdown today wasn't too good if you're a Tigers fan. I even saw Cleveland bang a three-run jack to begin the scoring. The Cleveland Indians smacked up the boys from MoTown 13-6. Corey Kluber was the winner for CLE. DET's loser was big bad Justin Verlander.

* How did the other Ohio team do today? Well, they did good. The Cincinnati Reds sobered up the Milwaukee Brewers 7-5. Rasiel Iglesias picked up the win for the Redlegs along with a Save from Michael Lorenzen. For MIL, Carlos Torres was the loser.

* It was 3-2 in The Bronx as the New York Yankees grounded the St. Louis Cardinals. Winning for the Yanks was C.C. Sabathia with a Save from Tyler Clippard. The Cardinals' losing pitcher was Carlos Martinez.

* What's wrong with the Washington Nationals? The Nats drop another one- 4-2 to the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. Jeremy Hellickson won for Washington and gets a Save from Joaquin Benoit. Joe Blanton was Washington's losing pitcher.

* The only remaining Canadian MLB team won today. This battle of birds went to the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 over the visiting Baltimore Orioles. Toronto's winning pitcher was Roberto Osuna. The O's loser was Tyler Wilson.


Congratulations to all other winners from today and tonight up to and beyond the time of this post.
 
4 series for the Pirates so far, 4 sweeps. Swept by Boston and Cinn, and swept ATL and Cubs so 6-6. A special shout-out to the Cubs fans who heard the all-aboard the bandwagon leaving Wrigley today after the Cubs went down 6-1. :lol: Also a :cheers: to Bucs color guy John Wehner who was proud to say he was happy he didnt have to listen to that terrible song after a Cubbie win.:D

Off to STL for 3.
 
You know, I like Atlanta's new stadium. The previous stadium even was very nice looking. Seems like the Atlanta Braves' new digs has energized and possibly invigorated this franchise. Great job by the Braves.

We didn't win today. But then, we didn't lose either. The game between HOU at OAK was rained out. So the Houston Astros Baseball Club will be coming back home to welcome Patrick's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for a four-game series.


Congratulations to all winners from Sunday's games, including Seattle holding off and keeping down the Texas Rangers in Seattle.
 
I always knew this guy was playing with less than a full deck but he just screwed his team and cost himself $2.47 million.

 
Jung-ho Kang's DUI and inability to enter the U.S. put the Bucs in a situation where we have no true power hitter (at least right now with Polanco's cold bat). Marte's suspension takes away the ability to get on base and steal bases, and means that if we somehow make the postseason this year, Marte cannot play.

So whereas last year the Pirates' struggles came from injuries, this year their struggles will be caused the players being dumbasses by drunk-driving and juicing. I'm not counting out a team this early in the season but losing two core players before the season and early into it is a crushing blow. The only good news that comes from this is that Adam Frazier has a guaranteed spot in the lineup. I like his speed and ability to get base hits (as if he is a mini-Marte) but his defense needs worked upon.
 
The Bman
Jung-ho Kang's DUI and inability to enter the U.S. put the Bucs in a situation where we have no true power hitter (at least right now with Polanco's cold bat). Marte's suspension takes away the ability to get on base and steal bases, and means that if we somehow make the postseason this year, Marte cannot play.

So whereas last year the Pirates' struggles came from injuries, this year their struggles will be caused the players being dumbasses by drunk-driving and juicing. I'm not counting out a team this early in the season but losing two core players before the season and early into it is a crushing blow. The only good news that comes from this is that Adam Frazier has a guaranteed spot in the lineup. I like his speed and ability to get base hits (as if he is a mini-Marte) but his defense needs worked upon.
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Did you see Cutch make that catch at the wall last night and act like he had just killed a dragon with a Weber grill fork? His swing is terrible right now trying to pull everything, and its clear from his reaction to making a nice but in his job description catch in CF that his attitude is even worse. I hope he hits .300 until the break so we can trade him and the chip on his shoulder and get some talent in return.

I dont know what to make of Frazier. His defense in the OF is at best weak and his hitting is erratic. When he commits early in the count he ends up hitting a weak FB but when he works the count he looks a batting champion.

Starting pitching,starting pitching, starting pitching. So far, so good but Cole to me is the weak link. 98mph FB and it plays like 88 and he is too easily triggered. I see the same attitude traits in Glasnow too but he has better stuff. Taillon is the future #1 of this team with Nova a strong #2 and Kuhl could become a solid 3-4.

I'd like to see Bell in RF and Osuna at 1B. Bell doesnt have the instincts to play in the infield, he always seems to be out of position.
 
The Houston Astros wrapped up their series at home hosting the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The series began with a 3-0 win on Monday. We failed Tuesday night to a 5-2 loss. Back-to-back wins (5-1 win on Wed., 2-1 win today) made us take the series 3-1. We are now 11-5 on the season and atop the AL West.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... two road series come up. Where do your orange juice loyalties lie? It's the Houston Astros of Minute Maid Park going to Tropicana Field to take on the Tampa Bay Rays. Yep- Astros in the Sunshine State for a three-game weekend series.


Congratulations to other winners from Thursday's games. How is/are your favorite team(s) doing so far?
 
After their strong start, the Reds are really scuffling now...somewhat predictably. We lost 3 of 4 to the Brew Crew, then dropped the last two against the Orioles to lose the series 2 games to 1.

Aside from a scoring frenzy in the first game against Baltimore, we've struggled mightily to put runs on the board, scoring a grand total of 1 run the past two games. Two great efforts by our pitchers tonight and last night were completely wasted. Rookie Amir Garrett had a strong performance last night, pitching 7 innings of 2 run ball with only 1 walk and a whopping 12 strikeouts. Despite that, he took the loss as the Reds fell 2-0. Scott Feldman gave 7 innings himself tonight, allowing only 1 run off of 4 hits with 4 K's and no BB's (Reds lost 2-1).

Other than the Baltimore series, starting pitching has been an issue this season. While the starters haven't necessarily been giving up many runs, they aren't making it far into games, forcing the bullpen to work overtime night after night. Coupled with the sudden decline in run production by the offense, it's been tough sliding as of late. We're falling more to where I and many others were expecting this year, midpack or lower when things start to get sorted out.

I hope we can turn it back around, but I'm not holding my breath. If I'm not mistaken, I believe we've got the youngest ball club in the Majors. It will get better, but there will still be some tough times ahead.
 
Dolph Drago, your Redlegs are going to have to deal with the Chicago Cubs this weekend in Cincinnati next. Good luck to your Reds trying to take down the defending champs.
 
Silver Arrows
I mean, with baseball, early April results mean literally jack due to the length of the season, but with this 1-6 start, it smells to me like the Jays are suffering from the penny pinching and nebulism of the dog days in the early 2000's by Rogers.
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I know this post is a couple of weeks old, but sadly it is still relevant...

Anyhow, how is the bad start due to penny pinching? Smoak, who got that universally panned $8m extension last year has been one of the few decent bats. Morales, who is nominally replacing Edwing, currently has a better stat line that Edwin. Meanwhile, the 'solid' parts of the lineup (Bautista, Tulo, Martin, JD) have had starts of rubbish, decent, rubbish and injured.

Then you have the pitching, which was supposed to be amazing. It has been pretty good, but while the offense is in hibernation it doesn't matter much.
 
The Astros' latest series is over. Houston won Friday night's game 6-3. In Game 2, however, we failed losing 6-3. So today was the Rubber Game of this 3-game set. The Houston Astros won 6-4, but this one required extra innings. We won in 10 innings. To take this series two games to three.

Up next for the Houston Astros... after a day off, we're at the defending ALCS champions- the Cleveland Indians for a three-game set at Progressive Field.


Congratulations to all other winners today and of the weekend series, including the Detroit Tigers destroying the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis and the Cincinnati Reds taking down the Chicago Cubs in Cincinnati.
 
The Reds managed to avoid the sweep from the Cubs thanks to good pitching by Arroyo. He's been better each time he's gone out there. And we finally had some hitting, not that it helped us last night though.
 

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