2008 Regular Season Discussion Thread

zuutroy · 24-03-2008 9:40pm #1

Maybe it'd be good to have a thread where we can just blab about day-to-day stuff that doesn't deserve a full thread?

Anyway...13hrs to go...I'll have the opener playing on my PC in work while I'm 'working'

Kinda32 · 24-03-2008 10:24pm

hoping to get lots of work done early tomorrow morning and then watch the game at 11.. here's hoping that i won't be too busy!!! Think Dice-K will throw a good game and Sox win 5-3!!

zuutroy · 25-03-2008 10:54am

Ah yes, turn on the game only to get the usual address verification bull**** that doesn't work for international credit cards that I get at the start of every year....looks like I won't be watching as their support are so useless.

zuutroy · 25-03-2008 11:21am

Working now, just in time to see Ellis go deep!

Redsoxfan · 25-03-2008 2:57pm

Not a bad game for starters. Matsuzaka showing some of the same bad tendancies as last year.

zuutroy · 25-03-2008 3:23pm

Amazing that he only gave up two runs. He was throwing the curveball like he had is hand in the freezer for an hour! Change-up looks good though.

Kinda32 · 25-03-2008 4:11pm

I was really impressed the way he dug in during the tough first 2 inns.. It could have easily slipped away from him and left the sox down like 6-0 and Synder coming in for the 3rd!! He was nervous but once he found some stuff looked good. We'll take his line for starters anyway, no problem with that. Agree with the changeup.. was nasty to the lefties, just think he could throw it a bit more to righties..

Kinda32 · 26-03-2008 11:36am

Rich Harden is throwing very impressively, he is blowing it by them at the moment. I hope for his sake that he finally has a full season and shows everyone what an ace he is... p.s Lets hope Jon Lester can keep throwing well, nice 1st but still bit to go!!

christeb · 26-03-2008 1:57pm

Right now it looks like the Sox might rue not going all-in for Johan Santana pre-season, could have done with him out there today, Lester was less than impressive.

PS: I was obviously "watching" the whole thing on ESPN GameCast, so no actual pitches viewed!

Kinda32 · 26-03-2008 3:45pm

christeb wrote: »

Right now it looks like the Sox might rue not going all-in for Johan Santana pre-season, could have done with him out there today, Lester was less than impressive.

PS: I was obviously "watching" the whole thing on ESPN GameCast, so no actual pitches viewed!

I dont think there is need to panic too much after 2 games!!! The offence was very lack-lustre today, something like 12/13 K's in the game..

Lester got into his old habit of throwing too many pitches, nibling on the corners and left one ball up in the zone for a 3 run homer.. His pitch count rising so early still bothers me, but his stuff is there to see..

Redsoxfan · 26-03-2008 11:17pm

2 games essentially means nothing in the greater scheme of things, but I do worry about the Sox pitching this season (for reasons outlined elsewhere in the baseball forum). One thing I like-Manny is being Manny and playing for his contract.

Would Santana have made the Sox a better team. More than likely. But, the Sox won a WS easily enough last year with essentially the same pitching staff as this year. The Tigers look stronger on paper than last year, and the Cleveland pitchers may be a year older and wiser, but that's about it. Barring a shock, one of those teams is your AL champ.

I didn't see the game today-but it sounds like Haren looked good. Wasn't he rumoured to be a Sox target in the offseason?

Mad_Max · 27-03-2008 2:46am

ruling yankees out altogether then?

Kinda32 · 27-03-2008 12:02pm

There was talk about Harden to Sox, but the main stories had him going to the Yankees.. Possible that both will go after him before trade deadline if he stays healthy.. Although if thats the case, his price will be very high...

Dont think you can ever rule the yankees out, they have too much experience to be ruled out, and if the need arises, they are always just a trade away from getting a proper ace for that pitching staff.. (sorry but nobody in their right mind should/would call Wang an ace).. The lineup is outstanding and i reckon Phil Hughes will have a big year..

Redsoxfan · 27-03-2008 6:03pm

Mad_Max wrote: »

ruling yankees out altogether then?

Yes. And the Angels.

Redsoxfan · 27-03-2008 6:13pm

Kinda32 wrote: »

Dont think you can ever rule the yankees out, they have too much experience to be ruled out, and if the need arises, they are always just a trade away from getting a proper ace for that pitching staff.. (sorry but nobody in their right mind should/would call Wang an ace).. The lineup is outstanding and i reckon Phil Hughes will have a big year..

Their bullpen sucks. Mussina and Pettite are on the way down. Wang was awful in the playoffs. They have Hughes and Kennedy, the Red Sox have Lester and Bucholz.

They have made enemies of Tampa Bay-bad move when you have to play them 19(?) times a year. All those games will mean something for the Rays.

Barring a trade for the injury prone Haren, I don't see who they would get this year that would scare me-but its early yet.

Their owner/president/whatever is clearly insane.

Who knows-maybe the Jays beat them into second in the AL East

?

Kinda32 · 27-03-2008 6:56pm

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Their bullpen sucks. Mussina and Pettite are on the way down. Wang was awful in the playoffs. They have Hughes and Kennedy, the Red Sox have Lester and Bucholz.

They have made enemies of Tampa Bay-bad move when you have to play them 19(?) times a year. All those games will mean something for the Rays.

Barring a trade for the injury prone Haren, I don't see who they would get this year that would scare me-but its early yet.

Their owner/president/whatever is clearly insane.

Who knows-maybe the Jays beat them into second in the AL East ?

I agree Harden is probably someone they could get, not alot else seems to be out there, but it is essentially the same team that made the playoffs last year and they have Hughes for a full year and Joba in the bullpen for the full year.

I would love nothing more than them to finish 3rd in the east but you write them off at your peril.

Tampa Bay RAYS will be out to prove a point with everyone this year. They feel they can be a .500 club this year (and quite possible too), they are no longer the canon fodder for the rest of the division. Their rotation looks good (albeit with Kazmir out for a bit) and the lineup is very impressive (even if they sent Evan Longoria back to the minors with a business decision to stop him becoming arb eligible a year earlier)

Mad_Max · 27-03-2008 8:00pm

Kinda32 wrote: »

(sorry but nobody in their right mind should/would call Wang an ace).. The lineup is outstanding and i reckon Phil Hughes will have a big year..

Why wouldn't you? I mean he's won more than beckett over last two seasons. Although in saying that i don't think he'll be that hot this year based on spring training. Girardi says he's working on different pitches but he's been leaving his sinkerball up and if he keeps doing that he'll get hammered like playoffs.

I agree on hughes though. Think he'll be big this year, him and cano for big years.

On sox rotation i'm not sure how good lester will be. Not entirely basing this on yesterday just think he'll struggle a touch. I like bucholz (spelling

) though he might be similar to kennedy in terms of innings. I mean he's only thrown 22 innings! less than joba out of the pen. So he might tire.

Reckon if bucholz tires and lester doesnt perform then theres pressure on dice-k to support beckett and dice suffered from tiredness himself last year!

Either way gonna be great season

Roll on sunday!

Kinda32 · 27-03-2008 8:18pm

Not to knock Wang too much but in fairness, wins for pitchers are a very biased stat.. you can get knocked around for 6 runs in 5 inns and your team has a 10-6 lead and you qualify for the win.. hardly a measurement for quality.. I think Wang proved he is no staff ace when it really mattered (playoffs), end of.. Beckett received generous run support in the year but produced a solid ERA (better measurement) and got his 20 wins (with help from a huge run support ave per start).. but in the playoffs he proved without a shadow of a doubt that he is an ace..

Mad_Max · 27-03-2008 11:54pm

true, theres really no defending that postseason!! I take the point on the wins aswel, especially with a bat happy lineup behind him.

How you reckon johan will do this season? I've read a few scouting reports saying he might (and its a big might) get touched up a bit. being trying to find them again but cant.

btw i wasnt for a second suggesting because wang has more wins it made him better than beckett, or beckett not an ace!!!

Kinda32 · 28-03-2008 12:08am

Its a tough one. On the one hand i reckon Johan will prob win the cy young (not exactly a bold prediction).. but his stuff is in decline, reports were saying he wasnt throwing his off-speed stuff as much/well and thats his killer punch .. I'm actually happy we didnt get him.. In a couple of years i reckon the mets are going to be stuck with a big salary guy who is in serious decline.. just as with Pedro..

Mind you, the Mets wont mind one bit if Santana can lead them to a title.. Should be interesting.

Again, didn't mean to sound tough on Wang, i reckon he's a good pitcher, absolutely.. I also have big hopes for Lester and was very happy that he wasn't traded.. Maybe its a bias of watching him grow in the minors over the years, but really think he'll win 15 this year!! Also think that of Hughes, should have a big year (might even go so far that if he has the solid year as expected, he will open in the playoffs if ye get there!! theres a shot in the dark!!). I rate him big time..

Redsoxfan · 28-03-2008 12:41am

Kinda32 wrote: »

Its a tough one. On the one hand i reckon Johan will prob win the cy young (not exactly a bold prediction).. but his stuff is in decline, reports were saying he wasnt throwing his off-speed stuff as much/well and thats his killer punch .. I'm actually happy we didnt get him.. In a couple of years i reckon the mets are going to be stuck with a big salary guy who is in serious decline.. just as with Pedro..

Pretty much +1 to that (subject to the rumours about the injury being true and Dice-K delivering). I can see him winning a Cy Young, but he should have serious competition from a couple of guys in Arizona in that respect.

I don't necessarily think he can lead the Mets to the promised land either.

Kinda32 · 28-03-2008 2:44am

I agree with you, dont think he will be able to lead them there either on his own.. He needs help from Pedro and Oliver Perez (both are capable of 15 win seasons).. As you said Arizona have a couple of big pitches on their team. I picked them to win NL in another thread cause with that pitching i also reckon guys like Conor Jackson and Justin Upton are going to break out this season. Should be interesting.. Looking forward to a treble header on Nasn next Monday evening!!!!

Mad_Max · 28-03-2008 4:29am

Personally have a feeling pedro will have a comeback season! Seen one of his spring starts and he looked sharp. Tried to draft him in the fantasy but missed out

What you guy's think of Joba's stint as starter in spring. I wasn't overly impressed..guess i was dreaming when i thought he could throw 90-100 of them 95+ sliders

Definately think he'll be better for the team as the set-up.

Kinda32 · 28-03-2008 10:40am

Its hard to judge someone in spring i guess. He will always be more dominant over one plus inns rather than over 5 or 6 inns, cause Batters will always adjust. Its just like Paplebon, he wouldn't be able to just blow it by people for 6 inns like he does for one. You really need 3 pitches to start effectively, but Joba has all the tools there to be a good starter.. I wonder though are some in the yankee organisation thinking about going a similar route to Red Sox and instead groom him as their eventual closer. I mean someone will have to replace Mo eventually..

zuutroy · 31-03-2008 2:03pm

Jays-Yankees in 4 hours.....go Roy go!

Kinda32 · 31-03-2008 4:42pm

zuutroy wrote: »

Jays-Yankees in 4 hours.....go Roy go!

What you reckon?? Halladay produce a good outing and the Jays take it?? After my bashing of Wang above, he will probably throw a great game this evening and make me look silly!!!! I reckon a close game that falls to the relievers and yankees win in 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth!!!! Should be a good game either way though. The opening series sees a good test of The Jays rotation, one that is probably better than both Sox and Yankees IF healthy...

zuutroy · 31-03-2008 5:46pm

Rain Delay. Dammit...5 months and I'll have to wait a little longer. Hard to know which Halladay will come out, certainly looked good in ST.

WATPOAE · 31-03-2008 6:48pm

I rush home from work and theres a bloody rain delay! And Americans slag this country off for its weather!

The FAN590 in Toronto are saying they are definitely going to play at some stage but I guess that depends on the weather gods.

zuutroy · 31-03-2008 7:10pm

Jesus, just tell us whats happening, this a joke...sounds like ESPN say its not happening today.

WATPOAE · 31-03-2008 7:42pm

Game officially off. To be made up tomorrow at 7.05pm. God damn it, I have to watch the Tigers vs Royals instead.

Verlander looking very good. And as I type, Cabrera has just belted a solo shot to LF. 3-0 Tigers.

You guys should pay me for this commentary!!

zuutroy · 31-03-2008 7:59pm

This sucks a lot...won't be able to watch the opener now.

2008 Regular Season Discussion Thread

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