Series Thread: Rangers travel to cellar dweller A's 6/13-6/16

[saddles]

Well if he's on the verge of imploding like he was in the 6th last night, then you're lucky you get 7, I agree if he's cruising along and has 90 pitches through the 7th but that's not the way last night broke down

I will defer to you guys on this because I didn't get an opportunity to watch or listen to the game. I was just going by his number of pitches and because it looked like he looked fine in the 7th.

As a general practice I would like the starters to be able to go around the 110 mark when they can unless it is Darvish for the next few starts.

How many innings did he struggle to get through?

 

[jta4437]

I will defer to you guys on this because I didn't get an opportunity to watch or listen to the game. I was just going by his number of pitches and because it looked like he looked fine in the 7th.

As a general practice I would like the starters to be able to go around the 110 mark when they can unless it is Darvish for the next few starts.

How many innings did he struggle to get through?

From what I saw he was playing with fire most of the early innings, I ended up falling asleep for a couple innings but I'm not sure how his pitch count was so low, he was scuffling early on, I was surprised to see him go 7

 

[True Rangers Fan]

From what I saw he was playing with fire most of the early innings, I ended up falling asleep for a couple innings but I'm not sure how his pitch count was so low, he was scuffling early on, I was surprised to see him go 7

He had two troublesome innings out of seven.

 

[Bmurph]

He had two troublesome innings out of seven.

Yeah I believe the 1st and the 6th everything he threw was getting hit real hard. I remember the bases were loaded in the 1st with less than 2 out I'm pretty sure and similar in the 6th and he managed to wiggle out of it both times. Both innings could have been much worse with just one more hit pretty much

 

[DT LUNA]

Barnette was in the pen as well. Nonetheless, any MLB pitcher ought be able to get three outs with a 6 fucking run lead. That's not on Banister. It's on Claudio.

This is the best and only way to put it. Should have been an easy assignment and ended uo an abortion.

 

[Bmurph]

MLB Power Rankings: Blue Jays re-discovering last season's magic
by Matt Snyder | Baseball Writer

June 15, 2016 12:21 PM ET

An Internet/radio friend of mine, let's call him Steve, likes to say "embrace the grind" on a daily basis regarding Major League Baseball. That is, this is unlike any other sport in that broad-sweeping conclusions should very, very rarely be drawn from one game or even a series. We love this game because it happens pretty much daily but is still a war of attrition where the big picture should not be judged on a daily basis.

Case in point: It feels like we've been watching the 2016 season for a very long time, right? Yet we aren't that close to the halfway point. Of the six-month season, we're only two weeks into the third month.

The message? There's probably still time for your favorite team.

Yes, building a foundation to this point is greatly important. Let's look back at last June 15 and where teams stood heading into the day of play. The first place teams: Yankees, Royals, Astros, Mets, Cardinals, Dodgers. The wild cards: Rays, Twins, Pirates, Cubs.

That picture shows us some very important things. First of all, eight of those 10 teams did make the playoffs. So, yes, the standings right now do matter. You can't credibly say it doesn't mean anything yet, because it absolutely does.

The other thing that sticks out to me? The teams that jumped into playoff position, of course. The Rangers and Blue Jays. We covered the Rangers last week and they continue to hold down number two spot in the rankings.

How about those Blue Jays, though? We've seen this movie before. Last season, they started 23-30 before going on a season-altering hot streak. They would go 69-39 the rest of the way, jump-started by an 11-game winning streak -- one they would replicate almost exactly two months later -- making them the best team in baseball from June 2 through the end of the regular season.

This time around, the Jays were sputtering as late as May 18, sitting 19-23 and seven games out in the AL East. Since then, they've gone 17-8. The only team in baseball with a better record in that time? The Rangers! The two seem connected in so many ways.

In this span, the Blue Jays have gone 4-2 against the Red Sox and 3-1 against the Orioles, the two who appear to be their chief competition in the AL East. If you wanted to loop in the Yankees, the Jays went 5-1 against them in this span as well.

So while I'm not going to say the Blue Jays will definitely win the AL East -- I honestly think it's going to be a great three-team race -- I'm also definitely not backing off my preseason Blue Jays prediction any time soon.

Please feel free to contact me with comments either on Twitter (@MattSnyderCBS) or via email: [email protected]. Please make sure to mock the people who take my obviously-sarcastic Reds comment seriously in the comments section.










Are we seeing a repeat of 2015 for the Toronto Blue Jays? (USATSI)


RANK TEAM

MOVE (LW)
1 On May 21 in San Francisco, Jon Lester allowed five earned runs and couldn't even make it out of the third inning. If we take out that start, he has a 1.41 ERA this season. What's that? I can't do that? OK, fine. On the year, he's 8-3 with a 1.89 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 85 strikeouts in 85 2/3 innings. Is he still overpaid? (1)
2 The bullpen ERA is still north of 5.00. There have only been four teams in MLB history to make the postseason with a bullpen ERA over 5.00: The 1921 Yankees (before the bullpen was a huge deal), the 1997 Mariners (huge offensive era), the 1987 Twins (huge offensive season) and the 2005 Red Sox (huge offensive era). (2)
3 Dan Kolko of MASN Sports tells us that Max Scherzer has taken a no-hitter into the sixth inning in 15 percent of his starts with the Nationals. He's taken a perfect game into the sixth 11 percent of the time. 3(6)
4 I realize I talk a lot about Manny Machado, but I refuse to slow down until he's mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. My latest attempt? Manny is on pace to hit .307/.375/.606 with 64 doubles and 44 home runs. He's 23 years old. He's one of baseball's best defenders. This is ridiculous. 1(3)

 

[donaldson79]

I would have used Tolleson before Claudio.

Boy....ain't that a note. ha ah

 

[DT LUNA]

Boy....ain't that a note. ha ah

Tolley pitched 2 the night before

 

[donaldson79]

I don't want to see Claudio pitch any more.

I've been saying this for 2 years now.

 

[donaldson79]

getting close to time to make it happen before he has a fall off in production again

Gee....he's just now starting to hit a good stride isn't he?

 

[DT LUNA]

I've been saying this for 2 years now.

You probably won't.
Hey did you run out of bait? Little early on the board aren't ya?

 

[donaldson79]

You probably won't.
Hey did you run out of bait? Little early on the board aren't ya?

I got on early this morning. Early enough to trick romeo anyway.....ha ha ha.....easy and cheap shot bro.

Had to go into big D and do some running around, bills, etc.

 

[donaldson79]

Yeah I believe the 1st

That first inning had REAL UGLY written all over it, although he only threw like 12 pitches. But they hit the crap outta the ball 3/4 times. A's could have easily had 2/3 runs.

IMO the pitch count and even innings do not matter as much as the stress level when/how those pitches are thrown.

 

[saddles]

That first inning had REAL UGLY written all over it, although he only threw like 12 pitches. But they hit the crap outta the ball 3/4 times. A's could have easily had 2/3 runs.

IMO the pitch count and even innings do not matter as much as the stress level when/how those pitches are thrown.

I have an honest question. I have heard a lot of people reference innings or pitches being stressful. What is your definition of stressful and how can it be measured? To me getting hit hard, but only throwing 12 or 13 pitches in an inning doesn't necessarily equate to stressful. It is very stressful for the fan, but how stressful is it on the pitchers arm? I am not trying to be a smart alek or anything, but this seems like something that would be extremely subjective. I am curious what your definition would be and how you would measure or guage it. I am curious as to how others would answer that also.

I have heard Banny reference this subject in relation to Darvish, but I never read where anyone asked him to go into detail about it. Of course our local press is lacking in questions like that most of the time.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Tolley pitched 2 the night before

Still preferred him over Claudio.

 

[jta4437]

I have an honest question. I have heard a lot of people reference innings or pitches being stressful. What is your definition of stressful and how can it be measured? To me getting hit hard, but only throwing 12 or 13 pitches in an inning doesn't necessarily equate to stressful. It is very stressful for the fan, but how stressful is it on the pitchers arm? I am not trying to be a smart alek or anything, but this seems like something that would be extremely subjective. I am curious what your definition would be and how you would measure or guage it. I am curious as to how others would answer that also.

I have heard Banny reference this subject in relation to Darvish, but I never read where anyone asked him to go into detail about it. Of course our local press is lacking in questions like that most of the time.

That's something you would have to ask a major league staff (medical included) as far as specifics go, but you can generally tell when a pitch is having a "stressful" inning... as far as what the specific negative effects of those type of innings on a guy are, once again, I have no clue

I also think "stress" is a misnomer, but its a term thats stuck

 

[Nightcrawler]

He's probably still kicking himself for turning down that offer from the Rangers a few years ago. I'm glad he turned it down tho.

 

[WilltheThrill]

What is going on with Vegas and their lines with the Rangers? Are they really that down on the betting public's perception of the Rangers?

The Rangers have been Vegas underdogs in 45 out of their 65 games this year and in 9 out of their last 10!!! Wtf?!

I know we're not exactly the most publicized/covered team, but I guess I didn't realize just how bad the level of disrespect toward the Rangers was.

I'm seriously going to open an account on Sportsbook just to make a ton of money off this ignorance. The team with the 2nd best record in baseball with the opportunity to bet on them as an underdog in the majority of their games? Thanks for the free money.

 

[Xx srs bsns xX]

Fielder back at 4 tonight?!