AL Central Discussion

[broncosmitty]

Twins and Guardians have two 5 games series in Clevland this year due to the late start but both of those are 4 day series with a double header.

The 6 in a row for 6 days all at home is wild

Will be interesting to see if its a big edge or not. On one hand KC sucks and at that point might literally quit. But on the other hand, really hard do super well against the exact same team 6 days in a row.

Highly unlikely they will need to win anything more than 4 anyways(which is probably a stretch as well.)

One of the six is dollar dog night too.

 

[WiggyRuss]

 

[WiggyRuss]

@tlance

If you were to revise your "less than 80 wins" predictions for the Guardians- what would you change it to?

 

[WiggyRuss]

Trevor Stephan was actually a Rule 5 pick from the Yankees. Last year they kept him on the roster even though he was not quite ready. Well- he is def. ready now.

 

[WiggyRuss]

whoops

 

[WiggyRuss]

What's The Secret With Cleveland's Stellar Bullpen?

The best bullpen in Major League Baseball is absolutely blowing teams away right now. Here's how they're doing it.

www.si.com

What's The Secret With Cleveland's Stellar Bullpen?​

The best bullpen in Major League Baseball is absolutely blowing teams away right now. Here's how they're doing it.

 

[WiggyRuss]

2 front end starters and an elite bullpen is not a bad way to win some games.....

too bad the Guardians just dont have one or two more hitters because this team is starting to really play some ball.

Just a season ago- the Guardians hitting was not good and there were so many question marks---- but so many talented young players and prospects

Naylor got healthy and can hit
Kwan has established himself as a legit leadoff hitter and elite defensive left fielder (likely to win the gold glove in LF- by far most DRS in baseball for the position)
Gimenez is going to finish top 12 in the AL MVP voting it looks like if he can keep it up for another 5-6 weeks
Jose Ramirez is doing Jose Ramirez things- 25 bombs, over 100 rbi's already
Oscar Gonzalez was hitting- got hurt- and now is back, finding his rhythm and hitting again
Amed Rosario has his warts- but he also has the 2nd most hits in the American League

After the trade deadline, with the Twins moves, and with the White Sox payroll/talent I would not have picked the Guardians to win the division

Right now- with a 4 game lead, their bullpen dominating, their starting rotation rounding into shape with McKenzie and Bieber looking like legit front-line guys, and Civale, and Quintrell coming around- and the young guys scoring just enough runs- I think they have to be the favorites in the AL Central right now.


They can be streaky- at different points in the season they have lost 7 in a row, 5 in a row, and had a streak where they lost 9 of 12..........its a young team that can look lost at times -- but right now they are 10 games over .500 for the first time all year and the pitching has been great.

Lets see if they can keep it up and win the central

If they can do that-- I have no illusions that they are an elite team- but Bieber, McKenzie and a lights out bullpen is not a team to be taken lightly if they can scratch a few runs across.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Twins still scare me though. They still have a lot of talent- but with Mahle and Buxton on the DL right now- they need to keep their head above water the next 2 weeks and get those guys back.

It will likely come down to 8 September games with the Twins and Guardians.

White Sox are the most talented team of the 3- I dont want to throw dirt on them- but they just seem to be playing uninspired baseball. No one can say the Sox are not the most talented though- Cease is an ace. Lynn, Giolito, Koepech, Cueto.....that is a deep and talented rotation. Eloy and Robert are back. Andrew Vaughn can hit. Abreu can hit. Hendricks is a very good closer.

Grandal and Anderson on the DL hurts though......especially Anderson. Grandal had fallen apart after a spectacular year last year.....

Geez- so many hitters on the White Sox when healthy and rolling- and such a deep rotation.

It will be a fun run to the end.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Last year Grandal had a .420 obp and 23 bombs from the catcher spot. In today's game- that is big time for a catcher.

This year? injury prone.....307 obp, 3 hr's. He has killed them.

White Sox do scare me more I look at them.

Abreu has not had the homers- but .390 obp and .850 slugging in a "down year"

If they do not win the division this year- I have little doubt they will still be the favorite next year- like i said- Cease, Koepech, Lynn, Giolito.......Vaughn, Abreu (if they bring him back which I think they will), Grandal, Anderson, Robert (I think he turns into one of the best players in the AL), Eloy, ......they have at least 6 legit very good hitters when they are rolling. Not many teams can say that in all of baseball.

They do need 3rd base and 2nd base help though. Might be time to turn the page on Moncada- though ESPN had him as a 4 win player last year.

 

[navamind]

Last year Grandal had a .420 obp and 23 bombs from the catcher spot. In today's game- that is big time for a catcher.

This year? injury prone.....307 obp, 3 hr's. He has killed them.

White Sox do scare me more I look at them.

Abreu has not had the homers- but .390 obp and .850 slugging in a "down year"

If they do not win the division this year- I have little doubt they will still be the favorite next year- like i said- Cease, Koepech, Lynn, Giolito.......Vaughn, Abreu (if they bring him back which I think they will), Grandal, Anderson, Robert (I think he turns into one of the best players in the AL), Eloy, ......they have at least 6 legit very good hitters when they are rolling. Not many teams can say that in all of baseball.

They do need 3rd base and 2nd base help though. Might be time to turn the page on Moncada- though ESPN had him as a 4 win player last year.

Abreu's .851 OPS ranks 10th in the AL. The last time you had < .900 OPS hitters in the top 10 was 2014. Prior to that, 1992. There's only 8 players with an OPS above .900 this year.

 

[Picklerick 2.0]

You guys are the best team in this shitty division, congrats. The great take away from this of course is how young your team is, your future is very bright.

 

[WiggyRuss]

You guys are the best team in this shitty division, congrats. The great take away from this of course is how young your team is, your future is very bright.

I still think, unless the Guardians or Twins make some huge moves, that the White Sox are still the division favorites next year.

 

[Picklerick 2.0]

I still think, unless the Guardians or Twins make some huge moves, that the White Sox are still the division favorites next year.

The twins just aren't that good of a team. They got extremely hot for a few weeks at the same time the teams they were facing were having cold streaks. It happened early in the season so they looked much better than they were. The rest of the season they have been what they are, a slightly under average team slowly coming back to reality.

 

[Shanemansj13]

lol what

J-Rod: .266/.326/.466, 129 wRC+, .341 wOBA, 21 SB/6 CS, 3.0 fWAR in 436 PA
Kwan: .301/.374/.397, 124 wRC+, .342 wOBA, 12 SB/4 CS, 2.8 fWAR in 447 PA

You know that J-Rod is also a leadoff hitter, right? And while Kwan does have a much better OBP, J-Rod still has a higher wRC+. And if we're going to get into the whole role discussion, J-Rod has as many runs scored as Kwan anyway. Also Rutschman has a higher wRC+ and he plays a far more difficult position than either of them, though he does have fewer PA (but leads all rookies in WAR). I think those three are pretty tight but above everyone else (maybe Pena).

Not trying to shit on Kwan either, he's having a great year. He seems like he could be another Brett Butler type. But I don't see how he's demonstrably better. It is a pretty strong rookie class.

Not shitting on JRod he is a phenomenal talent but for a leadoff hitter that is a bad obp .326. Kwan is a far better hitter. Everyone gets caught up in HR's and OPS yes the kid has a ton of power but Kwan is a far better hitter. That's on the manager. He is trying to treat him like Betts. Julio has speed too but he shouldn't be leading off, I'm sure down the line he will become the 2 or 3 hitter. Kwan also has more walks than K's.

I was strictly just talking about those two but I did say Kwan should win it that was without considering the other candidates. Rutschman has been extremely important to the O's, wouldn't have any problem with him winning it, he's a stud.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Seasons over

Embarrassing.

Far from over

 

[Shanemansj13]

Kenny Lofton accused in lawsuit of sending pictures of penis to co-worker

Kenny Lofton is being sued for exposing his penis to a female co-worker.

nypost.com

My favorite player of all-time lol.

Sending your pics to chicks, fairly common. Sending your pics to co-workers, cmon man you are asking for trouble. Stupid decision.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Twins still scare me though. They still have a lot of talent- but with Mahle and Buxton on the DL right now- they need to keep their head above water the next 2 weeks and get those guys back.

It will likely come down to 8 September games with the Twins and Guardians.

White Sox are the most talented team of the 3- I dont want to throw dirt on them- but they just seem to be playing uninspired baseball. No one can say the Sox are not the most talented though- Cease is an ace. Lynn, Giolito, Koepech, Cueto.....that is a deep and talented rotation. Eloy and Robert are back. Andrew Vaughn can hit. Abreu can hit. Hendricks is a very good closer.

Grandal and Anderson on the DL hurts though......especially Anderson. Grandal had fallen apart after a spectacular year last year.....

Geez- so many hitters on the White Sox when healthy and rolling- and such a deep rotation.

It will be a fun run to the end.

Far from over with 40+ games. I mean I get the excitement bc of the young team and how they are winning. Francona is a master but still A TON of games left and overall a tough schedule. White Sox and Twins are veteran teams so this is gonna be close.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Far from over

Its a lock

 

[WiggyRuss]

Its a lock

how dare you say that to a Cleveland fan(s)!!!

 

[PnkPanther]

Far from over

For the twins it is

I don't think they finish over 500