May
06
Sunday Night Open Thread
By
Nice win today, I think we all really needed that. The Yankees hadn’t had a real blow-out win yet this season and given their recent struggles, it was nice to see them get out and punish some baseballs in the early going. Plus it didn’t rain even though it was totally supposed to. Hooray for not having to give up a future day off.
Anyway, here is tonight’s open thread. The ESPN Sunday Night Game is the Phillies at the Nationals (Hamels vs. Zimmermann), and the Devils are playing as well. There’s also some NBA playoff action going on. Talk about whatever you like here, go nuts.
[gif via Chad Moriyama; here's the MLB.com video]
103 Comments»
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Sox and Orioles going into the 13th now. This day has been awesome so far.
Knicks win!
It’s frustrating watching Yankees on Deck and seeing Mark Tiexiera talking about hitting the other way and using a level swing, then see him uppercut and pull everything in games.
On my fantasy team, should I drop Mike Trout or Gerardo Parra and pick up Brian LaHair, who was just dropped by another team for some unknown reason? I’ m weak in stolen bases.
I’d say Parra for LaHair just on principle, but I’m getting shellacked right now in my league, so you probably shouldn’t listen to me.
LaHair > Trout > Parra.
I agree the only thing is I’m 2nd to last in SBs and I’m first in BA, HRs and RBIs. With like 5 more SBs, I’d move up 5 spots.
waaaaay too early in the season to worry about 5 SBs. Power hitter > SBs.
You’re weak in stolen bases, so you want to drop Trout who is perhaps as fast as any MLB player?
What am I missing?
LaHair is off to a hot start, but he’s a AAAA hitter.
That’s what I think. Thanks for reassuring me.
I always second guess my self to death with these things.
So you do want speed? I thought what you might be saying is you have no chance in SBs so you were going to to tank the category and go for power.
In fairness, LaHair is probably better than an AAAA hitter, but I think he can go stone cold. I just couldn’t cut Trout who is playing every day for LaHair, especially if you need speed.
With 7 more SBs, I’d move from 11th place (in a 12 team lead) to 4th place so I don’t think I should just give up on SBs.
I just replaced Logan Morrison with Trout, who really hasn’t done anything yet but like you said, he can fly and he’s batting lead off for the Angels so he may be able to do well in that column.
Do you want to be winning the league after 2 months, or do you want to win the league?
SBs are cheaper than HRs, and easier to find. Power hitter > speed-demon.
You will also need to take into account the depth of your league, categories, and the quality of talent freely available. Taking LaHair over Trout is not something that would happen in highly competitive, deep leagues.
How are you doing in your other categories and how are you doing overall? Where are your strengths? If SBs are a weakness, you need to address it sooner rather later because the gap only becomes greater and balance across categories is critical. Yet this is all based on the style of your league.
Okay. I just went back up and read what you wrote earlier. You’re already strong in the other hitting categories and you need to address what you’ve identified as your hitting weakness now. Speed. The answer is Trout.
I have grabbed LaHair in one of my leagues too.. I would grab him for Parra but keep Trout.
LaHair is an awesome target for a very short-term boost, but he’s going to drop off and fall quickly once his luck runs out.
I’m sticking with Trout myself, even if he’s not always in my lineup. Kind of a juggling act between Swisher/Joyce/Markakis/Morrison/Trout/Cespedes/Rasmus, even though Rasmus is good as gone once Gardner returns from the DL. What the hell is wrong with that guy? He’s been shitty at the plate ever since Toronto got him.
Orioles have banged into 6 double plays
Go Jim Johnson Go!
Top 16
Orioles aren’t going to win, I think.
Their bullpen is empty
Ball rolls to the monster, they send the runner from 1st to score the winning run….
Thrown out. And it wasn’t close.
This game is great.
Whoops.
B-b-b-ut I th-th-thought you said the Orioles were for realz.
The Orioles are bringing in a position player for the 16th? Depressing.
Chris Davis strikes out Saltalamacchia. Nothing but strikes outs from Davis, either hitting or pitching.
Darnell McDonald warming up for the Sox.
This is not going to last long.
Holy Shit, Chris Davis is pitching. He’s 0-7 with 5 Ks. He’ll probably give up 10 runs this inning.
I just picked him up to replace an injured Evan Longoria.
If he gets the wins, I wonder if I get credit for it.
Ha, I picked up Davis to replace Longoria on one of my teams too.
You know he’s gonna fall off a cliff any day now. I hope today’s 0-7 isn’t the beginning
Davis is a guy you can easily replace though. Brett Lawrie is actually still available in my league. I’ll probably claim him soon depending on how Davis holds up.
This Sox game is fantastic. Chris Davis is in to pitch for the O’s. He hasn’t pitched since High School. Came out throwing a 90MPH fastball and a knuckle-change. Just struck out Salty.
Its beautiful here in the bottom of the 16th.
Had this argument with my brother, who is the better player over their careers using everything, Jeter or Honus Wagner?
Unless your argument is based on the difficulty of the game today, then Wagner wins easily.
Agree totally. Jeter’s a great player, but Wagner was apparently greater.
Jeter in a landslide in a Time Machine comparison where both players are magically transported to the same diamond to play against each other in the same game.
Probably Wagner in an alternate reality comparison where they were born in the same region, in the same era, with the same upbringing, etc. but that one’s debatable.
Wagner in a landslide when comparing them to the peers of their era.
Wow, that kid that stole all the cars in The Wire is getting booed!
My AL-only team has two hitters in this game (Gonzalez and Davis). Both are 0/7. I also have Middlebrooks (2/7) on the bench.
Ball rolls to the monster, the Sox send the runner from 1st to score the winning run….
Thrown out. And it wasn’t close.
This game is great.
wtf is betemit doing?
Red Sox fans booing their own position player because he’s forced to pitch. Loser fans.
If a Yankee ever got caught stealing with a position player on the mound who hadn’t shown he could get anybody out yet, I would go absolutely ape shit.
That was one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen in a baseball game.
Yeah, that was terrible. Especially him in that situation. One of their two or three slowest runners.
Sox/O’s now in the 17th.
Chris Davis (Orioles DH) pitched a scoreless 16th inning. Darnell McDOnald (Boston OF) on to pitch for Boston.
Gave up a 3-run homer to Adam Jones.
This makes me bat shit happy….
BOOM!
Darnell McDonald apparently couldn’t channel Chris Davis. 3 run homer over the monster. 9-6 O’s.
The problem is that the Orioles now need a save from a position player
If I was Showalter and was just given a three-run lead, I’m having a regular starter pitch an inning. Someone’s got to be available for an inning.
It would be douchy of him because supposedly Valentine put in McDonald because Showalter brought in Davis. The Red Sox still had a guy in their bullpen
Then Valentine was an idiot. He wanted to not win and extend the game potentially by not bringing in his reliever just because the other guy ran out?
Not buying that!
more likely it was because the only guy left in the pen threw 57 pitches yesterday
Okay, now that makes sense. So he didn’t have the last guy in the pen.
It worked out for the Orioles, but I would have found whatever starter I had who was scheduled to start one or two days out to give me an innings, bank the win, and then figured out the rotation moving forward.
Showalter knows this, so he clearly didn’t want to risk it.
The thing of it was, Matzsu or whatever his name is was in the pen and, because they had an off day during this turn through the rotation, they could have used him and started Arrieta tomorrow on regular rest with no problem. So it made even less sense. I would have gone so far as to use a starter instead of Johnson for those 3 innings and just ride his arm until the end of the game or a save situation for Johnson.
But I am a layman, and it probably would have backfired horribly.
That guy threw 57 pitches yesterday.
I’m still impressed that he had two pitches he could throw for strikes. For 90 and 83 MPH no less.
His knuckle-change was filthy.
Chris Davis can throw 90 with seeming ease.
Davis should get a look as a RP, he was cool as the other side of the pillow out there.
Ha. swaety Freddy should take note.
How does Schowalter not use a starter with a 3run lead? Isn’t it someone’s throw day?
I know it’s not the same, but it seems like you should take this win and bank it.
Nice, ultimately meaningless Heat-Knicks game today. At least Knicks fans can say they weren’t swept.
Not meant as a reply here. Sorry.
Second heartbreaking loss for the Sox this season.
They’ve had many, many, many more than two of those this year. It’s fun to watch.
That’s what I just wrote.
No matter. Chris Davis, we discovered, is a better reliever than many on the Red Sox.
He struck out Adrian Gonzalez. That’s embarassing.
oops – didn’t notice it above.
Great minds think alike? (or poor minds think alike?)
Well apparently I didn’t realize Chris Davis was the lockdown bullpen arm….
Strikes out AGon and induces the game ending double play with the tying run at the plate.
it’s possible whoever had a throw day today already threw their normal bullpen session
Even then, they had an off day this week. Matzus(sigh) was on regular rest for today and Arrieta could have taken his start on regular rest tomorrow.
It worked, so whatever, but I don’t think this was the optimal way to handle it. But I, as I said above, don’t really know what I’m talking about.
Davis just stuck out A Gon. Oh, the humiliation
Got McDonald to roll into a DP. First position player to win a game in the AL since Rocky Colavito in the 60s
Davis gets the win! Best last-minute fantasy pick up ever!
O’s win! I don’t believe it!
That was the best non-Yankee game of the season. Second best overall.
Beautiful.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
And we’re worried about the Yankees right now.
What a way to lose Sox! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Awesome game!
Over the Monster is glorious right now. That game thread is worth reading if you get bored tonight.
http://www.overthemonster.com/.....e#comments
AGon went 0-8 and got struck out by Davis….epic
Hilarious ending to the Sox-Os game!!!
The last time the Orioles swept the Red Sox at Fenway was 1994.
Are the O’s “that good” or are the Red Sox “that bad”?
The O’s have been playing over their heads, it’s mostly just the Red Sox’s awful pitching staff.
Their pitching staff looks real solid right now. Especially if Matuz improves on his last start in NY. Hard to predict whether or not they’ll keep it up all year but they’re going to win a lot of games if their pitching success continues.
I’d love it if they finished third in the AL East.
They have been winning because of their pitching. If it hangs together they’ll be tough, but I do expect some heavy regression.
Who expected Jason Hammel to pitch so well? He wasn’t exactly turning heads in Colorado.
Somehow he added 5 mph to his fastball since last season. Not sure how but his success so far doesn’t seem flukey. He just has better stuff than last season.
Steroids? Stem cells? P90x?
Not according to FanGraphs. It’s up half a mile since last year. His pitch selection has changed some, perhaps based on getting out of the high altitude of Colorado, which impacts breaking pitches.
My guess is he will be hit hard soon. On a nice streak and in a new leauge. Adjustments coming.
Jason Hammel? He’s throwing maybe half a mile hour harder this year. The big difference is that he’s now relying on his two-seam fastball, and he’s seeing an insane groundball rate which is likely unsustainable, but it’s also helping him mix his four-seam and slider for strikeouts.
We shall see. It’s hard to say he won’t regress soon based on his past performance but having watched him pitch a few games(I live in the Baltimore area) he looks like he has good stuff. He wouldn’t be the first guy to finally figure out how to pitch in the MLB in his late twenties.
He’ll certainly regress from a 2.09 ERA, but I’m probably higher on him than most people here. He’s probably a mid-3 ERA pitcher right now. His 61.0% groundball rate is absurdly high, and it should increase that 13.0% linedrive rate.
Just love what Bryce Harper did. Stole home. He really just stuck it to the Phillies after hit him.
Yeah, that was a great play.
“oh, you’re throwing to first again? K-bai!”
Ha, awesome.
Can’t believe this kid Harper. His baseball IQ is like 170
Bryce Harper is good at baseball.
Few things in life bring me more smug happiness than this sequence:
Intentional BB
HBP
Walk-off walk
(from the Dodgers-Cubs game)
This has been such an odd day in the MLB.
Given that I’m a rookie at fantasy, I’m convinced I’m doing well because there are idiots everywhere across my league. I’ll join an RAB league next year to actually challenge myself.
4-0, and I more than doubled up my opponent this week. There’s only one other person in my league who’s a threat (also 4-0). This shit is too easy right now.
Here’s the best way I can articulate idiocy:
Last week, I get an offer of Todd Helton and Manny Ramirez for Bryce Harper.
HAHAHA
Two days later, I get an offer of Paul Konerko and Yoenis Cespedes for Harper.
From trying to rob me in daylight to drastically overpaying for someone who will not be his best in this first season of what will be a great career. Unreal.
No way did Werth not break that forearm. Damn thing flapped when he lifted his arm.
I haven’t watched any of the non-Yankee games today, but I read through this open thread and now wish I had. Thanks for the thorough updates guys. At Havok’s suggestion, I will be spending the rest of my night with a beer in one hand and the other for scrolling down the OTM thread.
Okay, that was crazy. Bryce Harper bloops a ball barely over the SS’s head and turns turns it into a double, and it wasn’t even close.
Most of the way through that OTM thread…and so far all I have to say is this:
I love you guys. I love RAB, and I love our commenting format. OTM has a very annoying format. I thought we had trolls and bridge-jumpers? They have many commenters that endorse a fire sale! Yankee fans may talk shit about the roster, or dream of trading a player or two, but a bad start has OTM commenters calling for trade of Beckett, Youk, Pedrioa, Ellsbury, and others by the trade deadline.