Baseball is Here!! MLB 2012!!!!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Wow, the Braves swept by the Reds in 4 and the NL East is getting pretty tight.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Just to make Tiger fans cry a bit more

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index...-ricky-vaughn/

Fernando Rodney‘s 2012 season is redefining relief domination. The veteran flamethrower is turning into the real life version of Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn, transforming from a wild pitcher who never harnessed his stuff into one of the surest ninth innings in baseball. Rodney will carry a 38 FIP- and an incredible 11 ERA- into his next appearance. It’s only 22.2 innings, but Rodney would need to walk 25 batters and allow 15 runs in his next 9.1 innings to equal his totals from 32 innings last season.

Chances are that Rodney’s shift on the mound is but a small piece of a larger reworking of the way he pitches. But much like Rick Vaughn’s spectacular spectacles, it is by far the most noticeable. This is not just the same Fernando Rodney who could never hit his spots simply showing up and magically popping the zone again and again. The Rays have changed something fundamental about Rodney’s approach, and now at age 35, he’s showing the stuff that makes him among the best relief pitchers in the league.

The former Tigers and Angels fireballer with no control is now 2-0 with 14 saves and a 0.40 ERA (a 920 ERA+!!!) with a 0.750 WHIP, 8.7 K/9, and only 1.2 BB/9 (a 7.33 K/BB when his career number is 1.76 K/BB ) for the Rays.

[OzzyKP]

Bad for the Tigers.

Good for my fantasy team.

[Guynemer]

Always liked him. Hated to see him go.

Especially ****ing now.

[OzzyKP]

Well, Detroit is 6 games behind Cleveland, and at this point last season they were 5.5 games behind Cleveland. Especially with V-Mart possibly/probably coming back at the end of the season another late season surge is certainly possible.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Always liked him. Hated to see him go.

Especially ****ing now.

Well obviously Tampa Pitching Coaches >>>>>> Detroit Pitching Coaches

[SlowwHand]

Rangers will take it all this year.

[Guynemer]

That seems as safe a bet as possible when talking about World Series champs in late May; which is to say, not very safe at all, but relatively speaking, as safe as possible.

[OzzyKP]

I'll be rooting for them. Hopefully Texas will get it out of their system, and then Detroit will be ready to win it all next year.

[Fistandantilus]

Well, Detroit is 6 games behind Cleveland, and at this point last season they were 5.5 games behind Cleveland. Especially with V-Mart possibly/probably coming back at the end of the season another late season surge is certainly possible.

Expecially since the Indians seem to drop like flies as last year... Hafner, Cabrera and Santana to the DL in a few days

[-Jrabbit]

White Sox on fire at the plate!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Speaking of streaks, the Nats sweep the Braves for Atlanta's 7th straight loss. They went from 1st in the NL East to 4th. Ouch!

[demonbinder]

They must have read my post in another thread about how to do replay:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...ation/related/

[-Jrabbit]

Gentlemen, allow me to present:

the First-Place Chicago White Sox!
WhiteSoxLogo.jpg

Rapid Reaction: White Sox 7, Rays 2
May, 29, 2012

By Scott Powers | ESPNChicago.com

Chicago White Sox win 7-2 over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Tuesday.

Philip Humber picked up his first win since throwing a perfect game on April 21. Humber allowed five hits and two runs in seven innings. The White Sox were trailing 2-1 after five innings, but five different players drove in runs off Rays starter James Shields in the sixth inning. Alexei Ramirez had his third multi-hit performance in four games and drove in two RBIs. Dayan Viciedo also had three hits, including a home run, for the White Sox. Paul Konerko had his hitting streak snapped at 14 games.

What it means: The White Sox moved into first place in the American League Central with the Cleveland Indians’ loss on Tuesday. The White Sox also extended their winning streak to seven games. It’s their longest win streak since 2010.

This time, however brief, will be savored in Chicago.

[OzzyKP]

Sux

[-Jrabbit]

Hey, we dragged Cleveland back to the pack. You're welcome.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Don't be too sure about "brief". Apparently Chicago has an 81.2% chance of making the playoffs, which is second in the AL (to the Rangers).

[OzzyKP]

Hey, we dragged Cleveland back to the pack. You're welcome.

Eh, the only team in the AL Central that can beat the Tigers is the Tigers.

[Guynemer]

And they are doing a damned fine job of it, too.

[OzzyKP]

[rah]

Just be happy you're not a cub's fan.

[OzzyKP]

[OzzyKP]

Santana

[-Jrabbit]

I, for one, am shocked. Wrote him off.

Bravo, Johan.

[Imran Siddiqui]

JOHAN!!!!

First Mets No-Hitter!!!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Interesting Jayson Stark article. 2012 Ryan Braun is virtually identical so far to 2011 Ryan Braun:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/blog/_/name/s...011-ryan-braun

Begging the question, what PED?

[-Jrabbit]

Working hard to retain the benefits?

Or maybe he's just that good...

[Guynemer]

It seems like you guys have never heard of masking agents.

[Imran Siddiqui]

So what... he only takes the masking agent once? Or forgets to put it in right once? It would seem to be a very silly mistake to make. Perhaps the sample was simply tainted. Seems like Occum Razor to me - not like he had a burst of power that came out of no where.

[Fistandantilus]

Didn't he hit 30+ homers as a rookie too? He's been very consistent throughout his entire career, I'm much more inclined to believe something went wrong with that sample than he somewhat managed to cheat all these years (and current season too) going undetected.