2019 MLB Thread

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

The Cubs and Diamondbacks have both gone 8-2 over their last 10 games, and both teams now sit in second place in their division, and in the top 4 in the NL in run differential. Arizona's only two losses during that stretch were in Chicago.

After starting the year 2-7 in their first three series, all on the road, the Cubs have since gone 10-3 and not lost a series since. They'll go for the sweep vs LA tomorrow afternoon with John Lester back from the DL.

I'm thinking that the Mets might be a fun watch all season. They're in first place but have allowed the most runs in the NL, and the third most in all of MLB

Thats mainly cause of 4 horrific starts, 1 by matz (gave up 6 or 7 runs without an out...like 6 runs in his other 4 starts combined), degrom, wheeler and vargas and inconsistency from Noah. Also their bullpen era is fire when leading and trash when trailing. A few things will straighten themselves out such as noah and jake..wheeler and matz mostly have already.

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

The Cubs and Diamondbacks have both gone 8-2 over their last 10 games, and both teams now sit in second place in their division, and in the top 4 in the NL in run differential. Arizona's only two losses during that stretch were in Chicago.

After starting the year 2-7 in their first three series, all on the road, the Cubs have since gone 10-3 and not lost a series since. They'll go for the sweep vs LA tomorrow afternoon with John Lester back from the DL.

I'm thinking that the Mets might be a fun watch all season. They're in first place but have allowed the most runs in the NL, and the third most in all of MLB

Anytime the Mets have a good season they dominate the First half of the season and are sittting in first place at the all star break. Then August and September happen and they give the lead away in epic fashion and fall out of the playoffs altogether. They are cursed that MLB uses a 162 game schedule. If it was 100 game season the Mets might have ten World Series titles by now

If they weren't in the NL Central, I'd feel bad for the Pirates.

12-6 and in first place on April 20th.

12-14 and in 4th place, 4.5 games back in April 28th.

Meanwhile, the Brewers were also 12-6 at one point, and are now 15-14.

This is basically how I pitch with Kyle in MLB The Show on the PS4. :chuckle:

The Cubs have the third most wins in their division, but are alone in first place.

Baseball! :knucks:

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

The Cubs have the third most wins in their division, but are alone in first place.

Baseball! :knucks:

My fantasy team would like to know when i can plan on having Kris Bryants power back? Thanks.

"Boik14 wrote:

My fantasy team would like to know when i can plan on having Kris Bryants power back? Thanks.

Grand slam last night is a good start. But hes still not right and fully healthy. Effected him in the field last night too. At the moment, hes about the Cubs fifth best hitter. Lots of Cubs fans are really worried.

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

Grand slam last night is a good start. But hes still not right and fully healthy. Effected him in the field last night too. At the moment, hes about the Cubs fifth best hitter. Lots of Cubs fans are really worried.

He's definitely off, but at least Rizzo is starting to rake again. Heyward still performing above expectation is a boon as well, and the pitching has finally come along. That Hendricks game was crazy.

Well, I'd say Bryant is healthy and back. After one HR in the first three weeks of the season along with a poor batting average, he's hit six homers in the last two weeks and is getting on base at a .423 clip over that span.

Things were really, really grim early. They've been rocked by injuries to their most important relievers all season, but they're working through it.

Next 2 weeks the Mets play all under 500 teams. This will go a l9ng way if the Mets go 12-3 or so over the these next 15 (including today vs the Nats). Philly has been playing all trash teams while the mets and braves have had much harder schedules.

"Boik14 wrote:

Next 2 weeks the Mets play all under 500 teams. This will go a l9ng way if the Mets go 12-3 or so over the these next 15 (including today vs the Nats). Philly has been playing all trash teams while the mets and braves have had much harder schedules.

Good for you guys that the Phillies have slowed down and have the worst record of any division leader in MLB right now.

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

Good for you guys that the Phillies have slowed down and have the worst record of any division leader in MLB right now.

Fact of the matter is all 3 teams. The mets braves and phillies have extreme strengths and weaknesses. For the mets we know SP is their strength but until the last 4-5 games it really hasnt been good. Matz and Wheeler were basically the 2 best starters through the first month + save for 1 awful outing for each (wheeler vs ATL and Matz laid a deuce vs philly). And their hitting which should be based on balance and moving away from Alderson era dependency on homers hasnt neen there partially because 3 of their most important pieces either havent performed (Cano. Nimmo) at a level that helps or have been hurt (Lowrie). And their fielding has been bottom 1/3rd of the NL still in part because Rosario has had too many mental lapses. Dont even get me started on what a mistake it was to bring back Familia for 3 years. Id rather have kept Swarzak. Shoot, id rather have Armando Benitez and Braden Loopers straight fastballs back. He cannot handle pressure or NY. If BVW has a pair he will realize his mistake asap and get him out of here and sign Kimbrel and move Diaz to the 8th.

So, things have been good in Wrigleyville lately.

After the first full week of the season, the Cubs have been on a pace that would equate to 125 wins over a full year. They haven't lost a series since dropping two of three in Milwaukee April 5-7.

Yeah they have rebounded nicely. Yu's work will be important though - they just can't leave that kind of production on the mound, but they don't really have much of a choice with that contract. His mentality imo is not built for relief work either, even if his stuff might be.

They will probably need to add a piece or two to the bullpen as well, though it has been better this stretch.

"texanphinatic wrote:

Yeah they have rebounded nicely. Yu's work will be important though - they just can't leave that kind of production on the mound, but they don't really have much of a choice with that contract. His mentality imo is not built for relief work either, even if his stuff might be.

They will probably need to add a piece or two to the bullpen as well, though it has been better this stretch.

If Yu can't get through five innings without throwing 100 pitches and walking seven guys, they're going to have to do something. Mike Montgomery or even Tyler Chatwood might be better options as the fifth starter right now. The Cubs moved Ryan Dempster to closer for three years, then back to the starting rotation. And when he couldn't start anymore, they got a couple of really effective seasons out of Kerry Wood in the bullpen too. You do what you need to do. They have four more years and about 80 million bucks tied up in Darvish, so he needs to be out there doing something productive.

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

If Yu can't get through five innings without throwing 100 pitches and walking seven guys, they're going to have to do something. Mike Montgomery or even Tyler Chatwood might be better options as the fifth starter right now. The Cubs moved Ryan Dempster to closer for three years, then back to the starting rotation. And when he couldn't start anymore, they got a couple of really effective seasons out of Kerry Wood in the bullpen too. You do what you need to do. They have four more years and about 80 million bucks tied up in Darvish, so he needs to be out there doing something productive.

That was my point though, I don't know if his mental makeup is suitable for relief work. It may come to it eventually, but I think he would struggle as bad or worse in that role.

He's having an OK day right now at least. I watched him a lot on the Rangers, and he's got electric stuff. Just needs to get himself right in the head.

The Cubs have four players with 10+ HRs before the end of May for the first time in team history, and there's plenty of month left to add to those totals. At the moment, Bryant, Rizzo, Baez and Contrares are all on pace for about 40 HRs on the season.

No MLB team has ever had more than two 40 HR players in any one season, but it would be cool to see if they can tie the team and MLB record of four 30+ HR players. The 2004 Cubs did it with Sosa, Lee, Alou and A. Ramirez, and the most recent team to accomplish that was the 2009 Phillies with Howard, Utley, Werth and Ibanez.

Mets need to fire mickey. This team cant hit or field and when they do they dont pitch. The roster needs a shakeup in a significant way. But lets start with step 1 and get a manager who can at least inspire, lead and teach fundamentals.

RIP Bill Buckner. As a rabid Mets fan and small kid in 86 I'll never forget that playoff run.. Buckner got a raw deal and I always felt terrible for the blame placed on him, even though it was a series of bad moves by McNamara that led to the game being tied, before the infamous Buckner error. He shouldn't have been on the field with those hobbled legs.

In honor of an all time MLB great

Sorry to read Buckner passed so young. Dimentia is a *****. But I’m sure Mookie Wilson still sends him holiday cards every year.

Its funny with Buckner, he was a good player for the Cubs for six years, but then they traded him in early 1984 to Boston, and later that season got closer to the World Series than they had been in over 40 years without him with the help of Dennis Eckersley, whom the Red Sox sent back to Chicago.

Then he of course is a member of the Boston team that nearly wins the Series two years later. He was a blink away from being part of breaking both curses within a three year span.

The Cubs are apparently going hard after Craig Kimbrel, now that there won't be any draft pick loss consequences. The money is now available due to the fact that Ben Zobrist seems to be retiring due to personal issues relating to his divorce.

The pen has been a real rough spot at times this year. Closer Brandon Morrow hasn't played since last July after suffering a setback in his recovery, and setup man Pedro Strop has only pitched 11.2 innings this season as well. But Strop just came back off the DL, and if they can pair him with Kimbrel on the back end, it would be a huge boost. And then if Morrow can eventually come back this season too, they should be awesome for the stretch run and the playoffs.

"Unlucky 13 wrote:

The Cubs are apparently going hard after Craig Kimbrel, now that there won't be any draft pick loss consequences. The money is now available due to the fact that Ben Zobrist seems to be retiring due to personal issues relating to his divorce.

The pen has been a real rough spot at times this year. Closer Brandon Morrow hasn't played since last July after suffering a setback in his recovery, and setup man Pedro Strop has only pitched 11.2 innings this season as well. But Strop just came back off the DL, and if they can pair him with Kimbrel on the back end, it would be a huge boost. And then if Morrow can eventually come back this season too, they should be awesome for the stretch run and the playoffs.

Cubs get Kimbrel, Braves get Keuchel. Not the way I would have picked it. I didn't think the Braves were going to be seriously in on either of those guys. I'm happy they were and hope now they're going to do what they can to bring in Mad Bum and Will Smith from the Giants next month. We still have an embarrassment of riches in the farm system, so I feel like they can get them depending on what the Giants ask and what they're willing to part ways with. I'd package Camargo with a mix of prospects and hope they bite, he's pretty blocked out of the lineup right now and is getting nowhere as a bench player.

Given the issues that the Phillies have had, I think that really going for it this year is a great idea for Atlanta, too. Do what you need to do. Has Carmago been injured? He was really good a year ago, but his stats have fallen off a cliff this season.

The Cubs don't really have prospects to trade away, having used those chips the last few years already. So signing Kimbrel as a FA was a real necessity if they were going to make a big move. Anything else the rest of the way will likely me very modest for them, unless a team falls out of contention and is basically giving an older guy away at the deadline.

They have a desperate need for an offensive catalyst at the top of the order who can regularly get on base to set the table, but that's not likely to happen until the offseason, when they likely look to move Kyle Schwarber and Addison Russell.