The Old Guys Have It #1: With 30-somethings all over the place, Jacksonville puts up the 2nd-best record in the National League. Everyone's been expecting top to win it all for years now...does he win it this year when no one expects it?
The Old Guys Have It #2: Vegas' Ruben Maradona had one of the best seasons by a 40-year-old you'll ever see. 10-4 in 161 innings, with a 2.74 ERA (if he had pitched one inning to qualify for official ERA status, that ERA would have come in 2nd in both leagues).
Unusual Infielders: Buffalo got 40 HR's each from their primary SS and 2B (Esmailyn Reynoso and Jair Costilla)
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Friday, July 29, 2016
Assorted Musings On The Regular Season
The "Tough Way To End The Season" Award goes to, of course, Texas. Up 7 with 10 games to go, the Choades went 1-9 to Charlotte's 9-1 to lose the division by 2 games. Let's give the Steam credit for a great streak at the perfect time, but josepaco, we feel for ya'.
Biggest hit of the season? Salem and Scottsdale waited until the 7th inning of Game 162 to decide the NL West crown. That's when Salem CF Arthur Bryant slammed a 3-run HR that proved to be the game-winner.
MVP Finally? The AL MVP looked like another Itou-only affair for most of the season. But Itou faded a bit late even while producing his best RBI season (170), and Joshua Monahan surged to nearly equal Jin-Chi's offense and posting 31 + plays on defense. This may finally be his year.
What The Hell Happened To...Dover? The defending NL Champ and big preseason mover and shaker was the overwhelming choice to get to the WS again, but fell flat to fourth in the NL East (with Wilson and Eovaldi both contending for the NL Cy Young no less). Even with the good years from their 2 big starters, their pitching fell back some - from 3rd to 9th in Team ERA. And the offense really fizzled, scoring only 707 runs versus last year's league-leading 895.
A Big Scoring Year: Hobbs averaged 769 runs per team this year, up from 756 in Season 30 and 758 in Season 29.
New Fashion Trend?: Will Sam Stock's 40 wins and 195 IP change the way big STA/DUR relievers are used? Is he more valuable throwing 195 innings mostly in the 3rd-6th innings, or 90 innings in the 8th & 9th?
Got more Regular Season Musings? Post them as comments here or pass them along on trade chat and I'll post.
Biggest hit of the season? Salem and Scottsdale waited until the 7th inning of Game 162 to decide the NL West crown. That's when Salem CF Arthur Bryant slammed a 3-run HR that proved to be the game-winner.
MVP Finally? The AL MVP looked like another Itou-only affair for most of the season. But Itou faded a bit late even while producing his best RBI season (170), and Joshua Monahan surged to nearly equal Jin-Chi's offense and posting 31 + plays on defense. This may finally be his year.
What The Hell Happened To...Dover? The defending NL Champ and big preseason mover and shaker was the overwhelming choice to get to the WS again, but fell flat to fourth in the NL East (with Wilson and Eovaldi both contending for the NL Cy Young no less). Even with the good years from their 2 big starters, their pitching fell back some - from 3rd to 9th in Team ERA. And the offense really fizzled, scoring only 707 runs versus last year's league-leading 895.
A Big Scoring Year: Hobbs averaged 769 runs per team this year, up from 756 in Season 30 and 758 in Season 29.
New Fashion Trend?: Will Sam Stock's 40 wins and 195 IP change the way big STA/DUR relievers are used? Is he more valuable throwing 195 innings mostly in the 3rd-6th innings, or 90 innings in the 8th & 9th?
Got more Regular Season Musings? Post them as comments here or pass them along on trade chat and I'll post.
Playoff Spots Still In Play With 2 Games Left
With 2 games to go, there are still playoff berths up for grabs.
The AL decided its division winners long ago, and Nashville has secured the first Wild Card, but Jackson, Santa Cruz and San Diego are still battling for the #6 seed. The schedule prefers San Diego, which has 2 with Cheyenne, while Santa Cruz has to face Vegas. Santa Cruz has the tie-breaker with Jackson (via division record) and San Diego (via season series); and the Jackson-San Diego tiebreak is unclear - the division record could go either way.
In the NL, Texas had a comfortable lead in the South as recently as 7 games ago, but they've taken a 7- game nosedive at the same time that Charlotte has posted a W8, so the Steam now leads by 1. Texas has Santa Fe and Charlotte faces San Juan in the last 2. The teams tied their season series and the division-record tiebreak could go to either. If a tiebreak goes all the way to run differential, Charlotte is going to have it.
Out West, Scottsdale and Salem are dead even. Even better, they're playing each other in the last series. Salem's up 4-3 in the season series, so the Cardinals have to win both to take the division...if they split the last 2, Salem takes the tiebreak.
So the playoff pairings are going to be something like this
AL
Philadelphia vs. Nashville, winner plays New Orleans
Las Vegas vs. Jackson, Santa Cruz or San Diego, winner plays Huntington
NL
Scottsdale or Salem vs. Chicago or Rochester, winner plays Buffalo
Charlotte or Texas vs. Chicago or Rochester, winner plays Jacksonville
The AL decided its division winners long ago, and Nashville has secured the first Wild Card, but Jackson, Santa Cruz and San Diego are still battling for the #6 seed. The schedule prefers San Diego, which has 2 with Cheyenne, while Santa Cruz has to face Vegas. Santa Cruz has the tie-breaker with Jackson (via division record) and San Diego (via season series); and the Jackson-San Diego tiebreak is unclear - the division record could go either way.
In the NL, Texas had a comfortable lead in the South as recently as 7 games ago, but they've taken a 7- game nosedive at the same time that Charlotte has posted a W8, so the Steam now leads by 1. Texas has Santa Fe and Charlotte faces San Juan in the last 2. The teams tied their season series and the division-record tiebreak could go to either. If a tiebreak goes all the way to run differential, Charlotte is going to have it.
Out West, Scottsdale and Salem are dead even. Even better, they're playing each other in the last series. Salem's up 4-3 in the season series, so the Cardinals have to win both to take the division...if they split the last 2, Salem takes the tiebreak.
So the playoff pairings are going to be something like this
AL
Philadelphia vs. Nashville, winner plays New Orleans
Las Vegas vs. Jackson, Santa Cruz or San Diego, winner plays Huntington
NL
Scottsdale or Salem vs. Chicago or Rochester, winner plays Buffalo
Charlotte or Texas vs. Chicago or Rochester, winner plays Jacksonville
Friday, July 1, 2016
Big Single-Season Records Under Assault
Ruth-Gehrig. Mantle-Maris. McGwire-Sosa. Nothing lights up the fans like an attack on the home run record. In this presumably "dead-ball era," that's exactly what we have this season.
Bob Tucker and Jin-Chi-Itou, after 83 games, have 38 and 36 homers, respectively. That puts them on pace for 74 and 70, with Sidney Fabregas' 73 standing as the record since Season 2.
To put this in time perspective, teams averaged 4.93 runs per game in Season 2. We're down to 4.67 the last 2 seasons (not down as much as I thought...this may be a young enough world that we didn't get much of the "steroid era"), although up a bit to 4.73 so far this year.
Itou also has a great shot at Fabregas' RBI record of 189, set in Season 8. He has 101 through 83 games - 197 for the season if he can maintain the pace.
Neither Tucker nor Itou has taken a day off yet, so that may factor into the chase as the season wears on. But in a "pitcher's era" it's fun to see this generation's top sluggers reaching the pinnacles of greatness.
Speaking of pitchers, Sam Stock has 21 wins and is on pace for 41. That would shatter the previous wins mark of 34 set by the gold standard of prolific middle relievers, Orlando Fernandez, back in Season 22.
Bob Tucker and Jin-Chi-Itou, after 83 games, have 38 and 36 homers, respectively. That puts them on pace for 74 and 70, with Sidney Fabregas' 73 standing as the record since Season 2.
To put this in time perspective, teams averaged 4.93 runs per game in Season 2. We're down to 4.67 the last 2 seasons (not down as much as I thought...this may be a young enough world that we didn't get much of the "steroid era"), although up a bit to 4.73 so far this year.
Itou also has a great shot at Fabregas' RBI record of 189, set in Season 8. He has 101 through 83 games - 197 for the season if he can maintain the pace.
Neither Tucker nor Itou has taken a day off yet, so that may factor into the chase as the season wears on. But in a "pitcher's era" it's fun to see this generation's top sluggers reaching the pinnacles of greatness.
Speaking of pitchers, Sam Stock has 21 wins and is on pace for 41. That would shatter the previous wins mark of 34 set by the gold standard of prolific middle relievers, Orlando Fernandez, back in Season 22.
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