AL Central Discussion

[PnkPanther]

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.

I appreciate kind words

But twins are cooked

 

[navamind]

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.

Depends on your definition of hitting... I think the definition of hitting is some combination of getting on base and being able to hit for power. And in which case, I'm not sold that is the "better hitter", especially when J-Rod's wRC+ is 10 points higher.

A .328 OBP for a leadoff hitter isn't gaudy, but it's still above average for a leadoff hitter (league average is .316 for #1 hitters; the overall league OBP is .312). So I disagree about him being a bad leadoff hitter. Kwan is much better at his job of getting on base, but scoring runs is also part of the job. Getting on base is the most important thing offensively, but how you get on base also matters (i.e. double/triple versus single/walk, home runs) and those 17 more home runs that J-Rod's hit accounted for runs. It's not like those home runs count less simply because he's a leadoff hitter.

 

[molsaniceman]

its actually a pretty good rookie class depends on what u like

3 royals too bad they trade them away in 4 years

 

[molsaniceman]

Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com reports that the Mariners and Julio Rodríguez are finalizing a contract extension which will guarantee the outfielder more than $200 million and could be worth more than $450 million.​

Jeff Passan of ESPN has more specifics, saying that Rodríguez is guaranteed $210 million over 14 years and that there are player and team options in the deal. It's not clear how exactly the contract could expand beyond the $450 million mark, but more details should come out in time. The commitment from the Mariners is a huge one when considering Rodríguez has less than a year of service time under his belt, but he's also just 21 and is already a major league star. The likely American League Rookie of the Year winner is batting .269/.328/.471 with 20 home runs and 23 stolen bases for a Mariners club trying to break a 20-year postseason drought.

 

[navamind]

its actually a pretty good rookie class depends on what u like

3 royals too bad they trade them away in 4 years

View attachment 306358

It is a strong class. That's also not accounting for Strider or Kirby, who have been pitching well as starters. Munoz and Schreiber have been very solid relievers as well.

 

[molsaniceman]

It is a strong class. That's also not accounting for Strider or Kirby, who have been pitching well as starters. Munoz and Schreiber have been very solid relievers as well.

i was only doing the AL
SP close race between kirby/ryan/detmers
RP its bautista but i do like schreiber

NL its strider for sure 151 Ks in 100 IP w/2.95 era
his competition is his team mate Harris 13 hr 15 sb w/.835 ops
Braves are building something special

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Julio Rodriguez even a lead off hitter?

Sure most of his starts at any spot in the order are at lead off. But its only 34 of his starts.

Hes absolutely raked when batting 3rd.

 

[catman]

This is the sort of game that Emilio Pagan needs to pitch in. 8-0 going into the 7th.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Tyler Freeman kicking the ball around. fuck.

 

[WiggyRuss]

couple brutal losses for the Guardians- and they have Castillo vs. Plesac tomorrow. Not looking good

This is what I am worried about- a young team can be very streaky.....they were just on a hot streak, and it looks like its turning back now....for the last 2 months they take a step or two forward and a step or two back.

 

[catman]

Walk-off walks are better than losing games. Celestino showed a little bit of patience at the plate.
The Twins need to win games that they should win and not worry about how anyone else does. They have 37 games remaining and could win 23 or 24 of them.

 

[broncosmitty]

Julio Rodriguez even a lead off hitter?

Sure most of his starts at any spot in the order are at lead off. But its only 34 of his starts.

Hes absolutely raked when batting 3rd.

There is an 18 home run gap between the two.

If it’s not JROD that wins ROY, Kwan will still be third.

 

[Shanemansj13]

couple brutal losses for the Guardians- and they have Castillo vs. Plesac tomorrow. Not looking good

This is what I am worried about- a young team can be very streaky.....they were just on a hot streak, and it looks like its turning back now....for the last 2 months they take a step or two forward and a step or two back.

Hell of a comeback. This series has been close and low scoring. Any team could have any of those games. They need to take game 4 tomorrow

 

[Shanemansj13]

There is an 18 home run gap between the two.

If it’s not JROD that wins ROY, Kwan will still be third.

He probably does win ROY but bc of HR’s is ridiculous. Kwan could very easily add a gold glove too and it wouldn’t matter. It’s all about power in this league, it you don’t have it you will get overlooked

 

[WiggyRuss]

He probably does win ROY but bc of HR’s is ridiculous. Kwan could very easily add a gold glove too and it wouldn’t matter. It’s all about power in this league, it you don’t have it you will get overlooked

Kwan has been such a great addition to this team.

Sparks the offense, plays an amazing LF, almost certianly going to win a gold glove, gets on base. He is going to be the leadoff guy for this team for a long time it looks like.

Nice comeback tonight- they needed it. All of those games were close- could easily have come out with 2 of 3, or a sweep for either side---- but avoiding the sweep and beating Castillo with our 5th starter on the mound was big- especially with the Twins winning and making their own comeback.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Clase and Karinchak are incredible to watch.

Clase is not a high strikeout guy- but people just cannot hit him. His cut fastball just cannot be squared up. Obviously he is no where close career wise and never will be- but that cut fastball reminds me of Mariano Rivera's. People know its coming, but just cannot get a good swing on it.

Clase's pitch counts are often incredibly low- guys just cant get hits- hence the 0.65 WHIP.

 

[catman]

Again, the Twins win a game they should win.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Solid series right there that they have no had in forever. 2 games where they basically dominated and then another where they somehow found a way. The game Saturday was looking like it was gonna be the standard brutal game of no hitting and an L.

As much as Jake Cave has sucked, he saved us this weekend with two big games.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Bundy survived tonight. Base runners galore. Bello similar.

Ursehla got the big blooper into the corner against some side armer I hadnt heard of.

That was enough.

 

[navamind]

Bundy survived tonight. Base runners galore. Bello similar.

Ursehla got the big blooper into the corner against some side armer I hadnt heard of.

That was enough.

Bello unraveled after looking pretty good the first few innings. More annoyed at this lineup being incapable of capitalizing with runners on.