Men's Baseball MLB 2020

[bmo 194]

9 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

 

Not a fan of this. It just waters down the playoffs because average teams get rewarded by making the playoffs. 

[Topicmaster1010 4,252]

It's finally opening day! So let me get in on the predictions as well.

 

A.L East

 

x's mark playoff teams

 

1. Yankees (x): Should be clear division favourites. Added arguably the best starting pitcher in Gerrit Cole to an already stacked lineup and bullpen.

2. Rays (x): Very underrated starting rotation with a lot of promising youngsters. Offense isn't as dangerous but the pitching should help them lock up a wildcard spot. 

3. Blue Jays: Obviously I'm biased here but I think they have what it takes to finish ahead of the Red Sox. I'm hoping their young stars in Guerrero, Biggio, Bichette and Gurriel take a big step this year and help them finish with a respectable record. Plus they completely revamped their starting rotation this offseason so that should help a lot too. Bullpen is still a big red flag though.

4. Red Sox: Losing Mookie Betts and Chris Sale will definitely be a big blow for the team. Although the offense is still decent, the pitching does not look pretty at all.

5. Orioles: Clearly still the worst team in the divison. Not many names jump out from their roster and the rebuild should still take at least a couple more years.

 

A.L Central

1. Indians (x): I believe the top 3 teams all have a shot to win the division. However, I picked the Indians because they have by far have the best pitching in the division. Alongside a superstar in Lindor, that should help them secure the division title.

2. White Sox (x): Might be the most exciting team to watch this season. They feel like the braves from a couple of years ago. Clearly a team on the rise with young players like Robert, Jimenez, Moncada and Giolito. Plus they added guys like Grandal and Encarnacion to a already great lineup that's deep from 1-9. Starting rotation is also on the young side. A shortened season should help the White Sox a lot.

3. Twins (x): I expect a bit of regression from the Twins this year. I don't think they'll maintain there crazy homerun pace that they relied so much upon last year. Pitching also isn't the greatest. 

4. Royals: While they are still in rebuilding mode, they do have some players with upside in their lineup like Merrifield, Mondesi, Dozier and Soler. That should help improve their record and keep them out of last place in the division.

5. Tigers: The rebuild is still in the beginning stages and won't finish this season.

 

A.L. West

1. Athletics (x): Always that team that on paper doesn't look but plays well when on the field. A very good all around team and I think they can get the job done and win the division.

2. Astros (x): Definitely the deepest team in the division but I predict they cheating scandal will get to them and they will regress a bit.

3. Angels (x):  Got a big boost to there offense this past off season and they have the best player in the game. That should help them improve this year and get in this year's expanded playoffs.

4. Rangers: They've changed a lot over the past few years and are moving in the right direction but at the end of the day, don't believe they have as much depth and upside to contend with the top 3 teams in the division.

5. Mariners: Not much to see here. Just started there rebuild last year and probably one of the candidates to finish last in the league.

 

N.L. East

1. Braves (x): Won the division last year and should still be favored to do so this year even with the defending champs in the division. Well rounded team with a elite young offense lead by arguably the game's biggest rising star and they improved their bullpen a lot this offseason with signing Smith and Melancon. Starting isn't as deep but Soroka is a good pitcher to have as an ace that is still very young.

2. Nationals (x): Losing Anthony Rendon will hurt a bit but the offense still has superstars in Soto and Turner. They have arguably the best "top 3" in the league as well.

3. Mets (x): Was debating between the Phillies and Mets at number 3 but ultimately decided to put the Mets here cause I think they have the slightly better roster. DeGrom is one of the best pitchers in the league and McNeil and Alonso lead a very good offense. 

4. Phillies: See above

5. Marlins: The only bad team in the division. It'll be really tough for them jump one of the other four teams.

 

N.L. Central

1. Reds (x): And here's where the controversy is. Every year, there's always one surprise team that makes the playoffs and sometimes wins the divsion too and the reds could be that team this year. The division is wide open and the Reds have arguably the best starting rotation in the division. They also added Castellanos, Moustakas and Akiyama to there already decent offense that had a guy with 49 home runs last year and the guy that's been best at getting on base for the past decade. The Reds should be one the teams that benefit from having a DH this year too. Combine all that and you get arguably the deepest team in the division. 

2. Cardinals (x): A very well managed team that always finds a way to do well. They should be in the division hunt all year round with very good pitching and a more than capable offense.

3. Cubs: The cubs have been disappointing the last few seasons and they didn't make many changes this off-season. Still a very good team and will be in the division hunt with it being wide open.

4. Brewers: Still a very good team but aside from Yelich and an emerging player in Hiura, the offense doesn't really stand out all that much and their starting rotation wasn't that great to begin with. I'm predicting some regression.

5. Pirates: Not the worst team in the league but on paper are definitely weaker than the four teams above them.

 

N.L West

1. Dodgers (x): Deepest team in the league. They have guys on their bench and starting rotation that would easily be starting at least 20 teams. Should easily win the division.

2. Padres (x): Another young and exciting team. They made a lot of moves to bolster their offense this off-season and they have a great bullpen and underrated starting rotation. That should help them place 2nd in the division and land them a spot in the playoffs.

3. Diamondbacks (x): A team that's solid at every aspect of the game. Could surprise some people this year and should contend for a playoff spot.

4. Rockies: As always, playing at Coors Field will be a nightmare for there pitchers and I don't think the offense is that strong to overcome it.

5. Giants: With Posey opting out, the Giants lose a valuable leader, one of their best players and their starting catcher. Also have a new manager as well so there should be a learning curve for the giants. Can't see them being higher than 4th in the division.

 

Don't know the playoff format just yet so I'll just get into the CS's.

 

ALCS: Yankees over Rays (4-2)

NLCS: Dodgers over Braves (4-2)

World Series: Dodgers over Yankees (4-3)

 

[Monzanator 4,530]

Blue Jays reliever Sam Gaviglio gave up 2 hits & 3 runs on 21pitches allowing Rays to win 4-1. The mighty bullpen strikes again. It takes 1/3 inning to undermine all the job around. With all these minor levels in baseball it makes you wonder how bad are some of these bullpen guys who can't even survive one inning without a major mess like this?

 

@Topicmaster1010  That red flag is flying high & proud tonight

[NearPup 3,083]

4 hours ago, Monzanator said:

Blue Jays reliever Sam Gaviglio gave up 2 hits & 3 runs on 21pitches allowing Rays to win 4-1. The mighty bullpen strikes again. It takes 1/3 inning to undermine all the job around. With all these minor levels in baseball it makes you wonder how bad are some of these bullpen guys who can't even survive one inning without a major mess like this?

 

@Topicmaster1010  That red flag is flying high & proud tonight

There is a minimum of 330 pitchers in the major leagues at all times. So it figures that some of the minor league guys are pretty bad.

[Monzanator 4,530]

19 minutes ago, NearPup said:

There is a minimum of 330 pitchers in the major leagues at all times. So it figures that some of the minor league guys are pretty bad.

 

I was talking about the MLB bullpens though. The relieving system where some guys barely play a full inning before they're pulled on purpose is a joke. Days of complete games are gone and perhaps the league wants more runs at any cost but it's clear most of the bullpen arms are not good enough to play in MLB.

[NearPup 3,083]

4 minutes ago, Monzanator said:

 

I was talking about the MLB bullpens though. The relieving system where some guys barely play a full inning before they're pulled on purpose is a joke. Days of complete games are gone and perhaps the league wants more runs at any cost but it's clear most of the bullpen arms are not good enough to play in MLB.

With few exceptions the people in the bullpen are failed starting pitchers.

[Monzanator 4,530]

1 minute ago, NearPup said:

With few exceptions the people in the bullpen are failed starting pitchers.

 

And we're gonna have more of these failures going forward, I wonder how long it takes before MLB pitchers will only throw fastballs because they can't learn anything else? It feels like the league is heading towards the Home Run Derby fate. I wonder when will a team score more runs across the season thru home runs only rather than actually running the bases? Is that even probable?

[Quaker2001 251]

On 23/07/2020 at 17:15, bmo said:

Not a fan of this. It just waters down the playoffs because average teams get rewarded by making the playoffs. 

 

As long as it's this year only, it's fine.  This is a 60 game regular season.  Not a true 162 game test that we normally have.  And it's going to make for a lot more relevant baseball games in September which will help keep teams and players motivated when they'd otherwise be playing out the string in empty stadiums.

 

My concern is the randomness of baseball, especially in a shorter series.  Very easy for a lesser team to catch a few breaks and knock off a better one.

[Quaker2001 251]

22 minutes ago, Monzanator said:

 

I was talking about the MLB bullpens though. The relieving system where some guys barely play a full inning before they're pulled on purpose is a joke. Days of complete games are gone and perhaps the league wants more runs at any cost but it's clear most of the bullpen arms are not good enough to play in MLB.

 

10 minutes ago, Monzanator said:

 

And we're gonna have more of these failures going forward, I wonder how long it takes before MLB pitchers will only throw fastballs because they can't learn anything else? It feels like the league is heading towards the Home Run Derby fate. I wonder when will a team score more runs across the season thru home runs only rather than actually running the bases? Is that even probable?

 

If these guys supposedly aren't good enough, who is good enough then?

 

This is the nature of baseball these days.. it starts with younger kids who aren't brought up as well as they used to be.  They'll be rewarded for throwing as hard as possible (often until they need Tommy John surgery) because they see that it's possible to make big money in the majors if you're a good middle reliever.  The "relievers are just failed starters" line of thinking isn't as true now as it was 10 or 20 or 30 years ago.

 

But sure, let's judge the entire system because 1 guy had an off night and a team pulled him after 1/3 of an inning

[Olympian1010 7,999]