Series Thread: Rangers vs Yankees April-25- 26-27

[Nightcrawler]

AJ can't be the odd man out. Another team would snatch him up so fast if he keeps pitching this well.

 

[saddles]

No way they tinker with him this year, they're going to let him focus on getting healthy and getting back into a routine at SS

I had mentioned he would probably stay in AAA most of this year unless we had an injury to Elvis or Roogie. Next year was when I was considering the possibility of him going to a different position.

 

[saddles]

And apparently we forget how awkward he looked playing LF in small sample, I just can't see CF even being a remote option

Desmond looked awkward in rhe OF at first also. I am sure when Odubel Herrera switched to the OF he looked awkward at first as well.

 

[Kelleyman]

AJ can't be the odd man out. Another team would snatch him up so fast if he keeps pitching this well.

AJ has options left. We Weill not lose him. He is ours in minors or bigs

 

[Kelleyman]

Desmond looked awkward in rhe OF at first also. I am sure when Odubel Herrera switched to the OF he looked awkward at first as well.

Profar could play a lot of positions but I am looking forward to a guy who has sweeping range, plus sped , a plus arm and who can climb the wall in CF. Profars best value is not there. Makes me think they may have not let Herrera go if they did not have such minor league depth in CF

 

[Xx srs bsns xX]

AJ has options left. We will not lose him. He is ours in minors or bigs

This.

 

[Xx srs bsns xX]

Gosselin: Nomar Mazara is looking more and more like Mike Trout with every swing | SportsDay


I like Maz.... but come on... really?

 

[RevSader]

This.

If he's pitching this well that isn't happening.

 

[RevSader]

Gosselin: Nomar Mazara is looking more and more like Mike Trout with every swing | SportsDay


I like Maz.... but come on... really?

Right...he doesn't strike out like Trout at all.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

AJ has options left. We Weill not lose him. He is ours in minors or bigs

That's good to know but if he keeps pitching like this I think Perez could be the one to keep working on his stuff at RR as he will be in the rotation at some point again.

 

[saddles]

Lewis Brinson is back in the lineup for Frisco today.

 

[saddles]

Profar could play a lot of positions but I am looking forward to a guy who has sweeping range, plus sped , a plus arm and who can climb the wall in CF. Profars best value is not there. Makes me think they may have not let Herrera go if they did not have such minor league depth in CF

They let Herrera go because of depth in the infield. They didn't think very strongly about him playing CF or he would be here and they would have never needed DeShields.

I am not saying they would ever even consider Jurickson for CF. I am saying if they thought Brinson wasn't ready next year that Profar would be a very good one year stop gap in CF while waiting on Beltre to move from 3B. That is just one option, but there are many. Of course, anyone moving to the OF from the infield is going to look awkward for awhile though.

 

[saddles]

AJ has options left. We Weill not lose him. He is ours in minors or bigs

We wouldn't lose him to another team. What we would lose is the difference between him and whoever is our 5th starter. That difference could be a deciding factor on going to the postseason or not.

 

[jta4437]

Desmond looked awkward in rhe OF at first also. I am sure when Odubel Herrera switched to the OF he looked awkward at first as well.

Actually both those guys have looked far more natural in the OF than Profar did at any point

Profar to CF in the way you are talking about makes little to zero sense, especially if you aren't talking about a long term move and its just a stop gap

 

[Bmurph]

Actually both those guys have looked far more natural in the OF than Profar did at any point

Profar to CF in the way you are talking about makes little to zero sense, especially if you aren't talking about a long term move and its just a stop gap

That would be the kind of experiment type BS I have been hoping the Rangers stop doing w the prospects. Figure out where a guy is going to be best suited and let him play and stay there until a spot opens up on the ML roster or he can be traded at his highest value. I see Pro best suited for the IF at SS or 3B possibly. Tinkering with young players vs going out and signing a FA to fill a void for a year or so, never made a ton of sense to me

 

[Bmurph]

This marathon is still just getting started.

POWER RANKINGS

1 They are 15-5 with the biggest run differential in baseball by a landslide. This has come with the following batting averages: Jason Heyward .244, Anthony Rizzo .205, Ben Zobrist .246, Addison Russell .234, Miguel Montero .208, Jorge Soler .185. (1)
2 They've won seven of their last eight, which includes five straight against 2015 division champions (Rangers and Blue Jays). They're doing it every which way -- coming from behind, winning late and close games, taking pitcher's duels or blowing teams out. 2016 belongs to Chicago so far.
3 The Royals at Mariners series this coming weekend seems like a great early-season battle. Boy, wouldn't that have sounded weird a few years ago?
4 On April 23, Tanner Roark struck out 15 hitters in seven innings. Dipping back into his last start in 2015, he had struck out 15 combined in his previous four starts (23 innings). Baseball is fun.
5 They've now won 10 of their last 12. It could be argued this has come against mostly bad teams, but they play in a top-heavy division and beating up on bad teams is what good teams do.
6 Andrew McCutchen's .351 on-base percentage ranks dead last among regular Pirates starters. The league average is .327, the Pirates are at .375.
7 The first-place Seattle Mariners? Yes, the first-place Seattle Mariners.
8 Nomar Mazara's 21st birthday was Tuesday. He celebrated by upping his rookie slash line to .365/.426/.519. He was forced into action with Shin-Soo Choo's injury, but it would be pretty difficult taking him out at this rate.

 

[Bmurph]

MLB Power Rankings: Reasons to worry about Giants, Astros and Jays
by Matt Snyder | Baseball Writer

April 27, 2016 11:29 AM ET

So here we are. Late April. Not yet through a month, but with at least some substantive baseball in the books. It's too early to panic, absent extended slumps like, say, the 0-21 Orioles of 1988. Is it too early to worry, though?

I'd say no, so long as we can all agree that to "worry" means to show concern over the start to the season, in that some of the problems should have been a bit more predictable and could continue as the season progresses.

Three teams in particular stand out as those who entered the season believed to be strong playoff contenders but have disappointed so far. We could probably lump in a few others (Yankees, maybe Tigers) if so inclined, but these are the three that stick out to me.










Is there reason to be worried about the Giants, Jays or Astros? (USATSI)








Giants: There's been some surprising inconsistency overall from Madison Bumgarner(though he'll be fine) while the back two spots in the rotation have combined for a 6.64 ERA. After storming out to a 6-2 start, they sit 11-11 thanks to losing eight of nine in one stretch.

Concern Level: None. Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija form a fine top three in the rotation, they've already started to right the ship -- having won four of five -- and they aren't even two games out of first place.

Blue Jays: A 10-12 start for a team many expected to be a powerhouse. They're 2-5 in one-run games, so those could start to even out. One would expect Russell Martin and Troy Tulowitzki to start hitting better, but there are problems at first base (Edwin Encarnacion -- who could stand to get on base and hit for power better himself -- is their DH) and with the rotation. Specifically, Marcus Stroman isn't pitching like an ace and R.A. Dickey is totally cooked. Overall, though, being two games under .500 when the team clearly isn't playing well isn't a huge deal.

Concern Level: Slight. No one is running away in that division and the Jays started slow last season. The rotation is of some concern for the time being, though.

Astros: Here are the rotation ERAs so far:

Dallas Keuchel: 4.13
Collin McHugh: 7.56
Mike Fiers: 5.73
Doug Fister: 5.56
Scott Feldman: 4.58

Lance McCullers could help, but he's still working back from a shoulder injury.

Concern Level: Moderate. That is the highest it should be at this point in the season for a team with this much talent. I shouldn't say this, but I'm a loose cannon: If I had to re-do my postseason picks right now, I'd leave the Astros out of the playoffs. They're already 5.5 games out of both the AL West and the last wild card. It's workable for sure -- it would be workable even at the All-Star break -- but it's a decent-sized hole to dig while trying to snap out of a funk.

Still, let's maintain some perspective. The Astros have played 21 games. They have 141 games left in the season.

 

[Bmurph]

A little class from Arod and the Yanks here!

Yankees, A-Rod, CC Sabathia meet Texas teen battling kidney failure
By Mike Axisa | Baseball Writer

April 27, 2016 12:18 pm ET

Tuesday night, the Yankees were blown out by the Rangers (TEX 10, NY 1) in the second game of their nine-game road trip. The two teams wrap up their series with the rubber game Wednesday night at Globe Life Park.

Prior to Tuesday's game, Yankees players and coaches met with 13-year-old Tracen Visage, an eighth grader from nearby Coppell, Texas. As Marc Ramirez of the Dallas News reports, Tracen is awaiting a kidney transplant and one of his dreams was to meet the Yankees, his favorite team.

The meeting was arranged by Kevin Brand, Tracen's baseball coach and the son of former big leaguer Ron Brand. They were able to contact the Yankees and arrange Tracen's visit. Here's more from Ramirez:

“It's pretty amazing,” he said. “It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I just look up to these guys so much.”

And then there they were in the dugout with the mitts and bats, the water jugs, buckets of bubble gum and endless supplies of sunflower seeds.

“Oh my gosh, how cool is this?” (Tracen's mother Crystal Fisher) said.

A stream of Yankees players and staff came over to meet the boy: outfielder Brett Gardner, catcher Brian McCann, first base coach Tony Pena and broadcasters Ken Singleton and David Cone.

They shook his hand, traded fist bumps, asked him questions.

Carlos Beltran brought Tracen on to the field to stretch with the team before the game as well. He also got to meet CC Sabathia, his favorite player. Here's a photo of Tracen (center), his brother Blake, Sabathia, and Alex Rodriguez:



(Photo via Ramirez on Twitter)

Tracen was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure in 2009 and has been going for regular dialysis treatments. As a result of the disease, he hasn't grown and is much smaller than other 13-year-olds. Blake is actually a year younger than Tracen even though he's much larger.

The hope is Tracen will have a new kidney before he starts high school. Doctors want him to gain some weight in the meantime. For now, he's playing baseball and rooting for the Yankees.

"He's been talking about this nonstop,” Fisher said. “This is just a dream come true for him.”
Bravo to the Yankees for taking the time to meet with Tracen and his family. That's what this is all about. Making people happy and helping others.

 

[saddles]

Actually both those guys have looked far more natural in the OF than Profar did at any point

Profar to CF in the way you are talking about makes little to zero sense, especially if you aren't talking about a long term move and its just a stop gap

Profar played 4 games in LF in the middle of a season to start his time there and he was only 20 years old. He had 34 innings and 48 chances. The two guys I mentioned began before the season started. They did look awkward when they started playing in the OF. They got to get their awkwardness out of the way before the season started.

I don't think Profar ever had a ball bounce off of his head the way Desmond did and he didn't have the luxury of preparing in Spring Training. Every player transitioning to the outfield will look awkward in their first 34 innings and 8 chance.

Thinking those guys looked natural in their first 34 innings and in their first 8 chances in the OF makes little to zero sense. lol

 

[jta4437]

Profar played 4 games in LF in the middle of a season to start his time there and he was only 20 years old. He had 34 innings and 48 chances. The two guys I mentioned began before the season started. They did look awkward when they started playing in the OF. They got to get their awkwardness out of the way before the season started.

I don't think Profar ever had a ball bounce off of his head the way Desmond did and he didn't have the luxury of preparing in Spring Training. Every player transitioning to the outfield will look awkward in their first 34 innings and 8 chance.

Thinking those guys looked natural in their first 34 innings and in their first 8 chances in the OF makes little to zero sense. lol

I've seen those guys pretty much from the moment they started taking flyballs, and they always have looked more natural than Profar,

Hell Napoli almost looked more natural than Profar out there,

Profar is an IFer, that's all I'm trying to say, and any attempt to put him in CF is foolish ESPECIALLY as a one year stopgap