He's awful in every way

Well the Braves had a lineup with three guys hitting around .160, and I think that was their 7th loss via a shutout this year. Feast or famine for their offense.

Wonder if RP got a chance to see Travis Wood's grand slam.

http://nbchardballtalk.files.wordpre...ng?w=962&h=741

Replay monitor at an anonymous nl ballpark.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Jacoby Ellsbury has set a single game Red Sox record with 5 stolen bases.</p>&mdash; SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/340283307784814592">May 31, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<font color=goldenrod>HOLY FUCK. Mets sweep the Subway Series for the first time ever.</font>

the Rockies are about to lose a series to the Astros

so that's where I'm at

Bad, bad baseball week.

<font color=goldenrod>The Cardinals and Royals had rain in the middle of the 9th inning, and had to finish the game at 4 AM EST. This happened right after the Royals scored 3 runs in the 9th to take a 4-3 lead.

They couldn't suspend the game because of a rule that states games can't be suspended if two teams aren't scheduled to play again the rest of the season. If they weren't able to complete the game tonight, the score would have reverted to the end of the last full inning, wiping out the Royals' 3 runs for a 2-1 Cardinals win. That rule is beyond terrible.</font>

Ugh, R.A Dickey. What compounds it is that Arencibia can't catch him worth shit so the the Jays have Henry Blanco who is a guaranteed out every single time.

Although Arencibia can't catch anybody and might be the worst defensive catcher in baseball.

Lol Ankiel had one good season and got busted for PED's. He strikes out a ton. How he is still hanging around is a shock.

Fuck this team frustrates me. Hoow does Esmil Rogers and two AAA pitchers in the first game shut the Braves out and their supposed ace goes out and the team allows 11.

He's on his third or fourth team and keeps getting chances. I was just saying that He's an athlete that keeps getting chances and there's no chance that just any pitcher that starts falling apart can just swap positions and thrive.

So this is what Deep Blue has been relegated to in this age of modern tech.

Ankiel was always a good hitting pitcher though. Lots of guys are good hitters at some point in their amateur careers at other positions. (Carlos Marmol was drafted as a catcher, which is comedic to think about) Micha Owings is another example. Brooks Kieshnick switched to being a pitcher after being a left fielder for something like 8-10 years in the bigs. Doesn't mean they are major league regulars though. In Ankiel's case, he is a dominant outfielder with a cannon for an arm and pop in his bat which does qualify him as a 4th or 5th outfielder. Someone obviously thinks they can fix something in his approach to make him a more selective hitter, but that ship has probably sailed.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...67255906_n.jpg

Say hey.

Is this some sort of new or recent rule?

Should have kept the previous thing of taking whatever convenient off day both teams shared as the day to finish the game.

Top of the 3rd inning and the Nationals are already warming up their bullpen. They really have no faith in Strasburg do they?

HEY KATE, WHERE YA GOIN'?

Chris Dickerson walk off 3 run hr with 2 out off valverde to win 7-5

Woo

Todd Helton game tying two run home run in the 9th

yay

Rafael Betancourt giving up two more runs in the 10th

boo

Pirates lost, and I picked them to swipe a wildcard, but damn they've looked impressive. Just hoping they don't blow their wad early like the past two years.

What to do about "The Curious Case of B.J. Upton"?

Read that Freddy Gonzalez talked to Upton about sending him down. We'll see.

I have zero faith the Pirates will hold. Don't think the offense will improve much unless they make a move, and outside of Burnett, I have.zero faith in their rotation.

Hammel just got blown up in Baltimore

Love Todd Helton

The Condor concurs

<font color=goldenrod>33% of the Marlins' wins this year have been against the Mets.</font>

Have no fear, Home Run Hughes is here.

Kinda wishing Pineda gets back ASAP.

:cool: Red Sox beat the Yanks 11-1 today. Doubront pitched well and Nava was amazing tonight.

Even if he does get back soon there is no guarantee of performance from him. Dude has been out so long I simply cannot have faith in him until he proves something

Can't believe he had the fucking gall to argue the call. Clearly he didn't just accidentally throw an outside breaking ball and happen to hit Tuiasasopo like he and Buck Showalter ridiculously claimed. He was pissed that 3 consecutive of our batters got HR's against him.

I wouldn't even have a problem with the situation had he just left the field, but no, he had to put on a side show for the home crowd. Because of that he should (but likely won't) be fined and suspended by the Commissioner.

Karma bit them on the ass quick enough later in the 4th when Cabbie hit a GS, though. :cool:

http://www.sporcle.com/games/alexand...active-players

<font color=goldenrod>Got 30 out of 32 on this one, but it took me the full time. Some of those names shocked me.</font>

Got em all.

I got them all.

Some of the guys you don't hear about anymore got me hung up.

Red Sox win! Three game ALE lead.

Sad sight watching Ramon Ortiz blow out his elbow and leave the field crying. Guy is 40 so this was probably it for him.

#2 rated prospect for the upcoming Rule 4 Draft got busted for a banned substance. Current MLB rules means he won't be punished or suspended but does have to do more testing once he's actually drafted.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/draft/2013/st...-test-adderall

Chris Davis #1 votes at 1b, Adam Jones #2 in OF behind trout, JJ Hardy #2 (10,000 votes back) at SS behind Andrus. Manny Machado is #2 behind Cabrera at 3b but has 1/2 of his 1.5 million votes.

Would be crazy to see Davis, Jones and Hardy start and Machado as a reserve.

Lol white sox. If they lose this one, good luck against Felix and Iwakuma.

Is Iwakuma getting enough credit for the season he's had so far? Thinking he's one of the more forgotten about guys out there who's putting together an all star season.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BL5hNj-CYAAd7gK.jpg:large

Where I consistently sit, no place I'd rather be than in San Francisco watching the ballgame.

They spent a lot of money on him. He's batting, what, .188 or something?
I'd say wait it out...

the case is that he isn't very good

McLouth isn't that far behind either and may be there as a reserve as well.

at the moment.

Schlomey rates an old Droford post and mocks him for poor life choices. see below.

I was lured into picking the dodgers by listening to Ben maller for 10 hours every weekend who is a Dodger fan. Same reason I picked the clippers in the NBA..

i'm sorry for your loss.

Everyone who picked the Rockies to finish last sucks.

hey I picked the Rockies to finish last

(for jinx purposes)

Well you are naturally exempt.

JJ Hardy has a fucking 286 on base. He shouldn't be anywhere near the all star game.

I think the Rox having both Tulo and Cargo healthy and in the same lineup is a huge reason they are at the top of the division.

JJ has the 6th best fielding % (5 errors) of al shortstop but he's also played in every single game.
For those geeks out there his war (1.8) is 2nd to peralta's (2.2)

So Dom Brown best player ever? I think so.

He's also the ninth worst in the AL in fielding percentage.

See what I can do with stats?

I LOVE MLB.TV. Yeah it's expensive but I'm watching 5 games at once. 4 on the MLB site and 1 on regular TV. Wife is away so I'm in heaven.

So because he's durable, he should make the all star game, despite being abysmal at the plate? Yeah...

WAR is great, but it's, as Brian Kenny states, an approximation, not a be all end all. Hardy's WAR is where it's at because he's playing a position that is thin on talent league wide and he's slugging over 400, at the moment. If you put Miguel Cabrera back at first base, or keep Trout in left field, their WAR will likely dip because it's easier to find first baseman (Fielder, Votto) and left fielders (Braun, Upton) who put up similar numbers to those two in otherwise historic type seasons. Nice try, though.

Hardy's an automatic out. He doesn't get on base. Because he doesn't get on base, he doesn't give his team a chance to score runs, and because he doesn't give his team a chance to score runs, he's not a particularly good player. His batting average, and more importantly, OBP, is below league average. His OPS is below league average. And, at 30 years old, he's slugging 30 points over his career number, which is league average over the course of his career. You expect a guy who can't spell the word "walk" to continue blindly running into homeruns? I don't, because, logically, it doesn't make any sense.

But then again, your touting a guy who's a below league average player as a leading all star candidate, so making sense must not be your specialty.

Speaking of Downtown Domonic Brown, where the fuck is screech so I can yell "I TOLD YOU SO" at him after a mini convo we had last year where I backed Brown. WHERE YOU AT, SCREECH!!!! :rant:

According to ESPN's Outside the Line report, MLB is ready to suspend A-Rod, Braun, and anyone else who's names showed up on the Miami clinic list. They finally were supplied with enough proof/evidence that any appeal would likely be rejected or a waste of time.

The official outing of players is expected to occur next week and suspensions the following week.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/...-investigation

Fuck me, Everth Cabrera and Yasmani Grandal are both on that list. Cabrera has been a huge contributor this year. Losing him as starting shortstop for 50 games would be devastating. There's no one in the system to come up and replace his production, either.

Grandal already served his 50 games, so I don't see why he'd get another suspension.

I hope to holy hell Braun gets suspended. That fucker was guilty and he should have served his suspension the first time.

Watching the Pirates/Braves game and they mentioned Braun and A-Rod. Interested to hear who the other 18-20 are. They said it best during the broadcast: In this day and age and knowing all that players know after seeing all the other men fall from grace....why??? and just how stupid can you be?

Oh I saw the list.....Only ray of light is that Gio only got "legal" drugs.....He's one of my favorite guys right now.

Not sure if everyone would get 50 games. Isn't that for failing the league substance drug test? Technically they didn't fail a drug test.

Yeah, jj not getting on base is totally killing the orioles offense which as it stands now is ranked 1st or 2nd in every offensive category. 12 homers and 30+ rbi for a guy that's been hitting in the 6 or 7 hole most of the season is terrible..he had 30 homers for the O's in 2011 in 129 games...

Because there's immense amounts of money involved. Melk Man got a two year, $18 million deal out of it. If you knew taking a substance would not only make you better at you're job, but would offer financial opportunity and security that could potentially set you up for life, and maybe your family, would you not at least contemplate it?

I know I would. Not to mention, look at all the weight loss supplements that are out there for general consumption. Fat burners, muscle builders, testosterone boosters, workout powders for endurance. We're always trying to put something in our bodies to get that extra step. Pro athletes are no different, they're just dealing with incredibly high stakes.

Pedro Alvarez of the Pirates = He gets a LOT of shit and a lot of heat from the Pirates fans. He's batting 188 to 199 BUT the dude leads the team with homers and comes in there and steps up and hits in the power spot that is sorely lacking otherwise.....Fans are dumb.

He hit a homer as soon as I finished typing that.

Sounds like MLB is going for a hybrid punishment to ensure everyone gets hit with something. 50 games for the roid penalty (regardless of 1st or 2nd strike) and another 50 for lying.

Someone could pull a "Braun" and weasel out of the roid punishment but still be hit with the lying punishment.

El Toro is one dimensional but he is the dimension they need most offensively

The astros stadium is depressing me..

sure it's not the team?

No..its too quiet..

Best crowd I have heard all year is the fans in Baltimore. Ole Ole chants and tons of interaction....I want to see a game there some day.


Pirates crowds blow as well. Beautiful stadium but it's filled with douchebags and crickets.

Way to use what his team is doing as a collective as an argument for him. You're talking about the all star game, where individuals who are at the top of the game at their positions are showcased. Hardy is no where near the best shortstop in the American League. Whatever the Orioles are doing as a unit has zero to do with his case as an all star.

Nor, outside of his homeruns, does he have anything to do with scoring runs because he's not creating situations for them to do that. Throw that RBI shit out of here. McClouth, Machado, Jones, Markakis and Davis have been excellent at getting on base. Any asshole with as many opportunities as Hardy regularly gets could drive in that many runs hitting 6th and 7th. He's hitting 240/308/379 with RISP. He's tallied the RBI because of number of opportunities, not because he's any good.

Getting on base is important. When you get on base, you don't make outs. Outs are bad. Hits and walks are good. How you cannot process that and put it together that Hardy making lots, and lots, and lots of outs does not constitute him being a good player, let alone an all star, is beyond me.

McClouth has been good. Jones, Davis and Machado have been good. Go toot your homer horn for them, because they deserve it. JJ Hardy does not. He's one of their two weakest regulars, i.e., one of their worst starting players. How is that an all star again?

I enjoyed him as a Brewer. Not so much as a Oriel at the moment.

Think fans are tired of him being an auto out. He has tons of pop, but hitting 201/267/414 isn't very good. Like, at all. He's literally not doing jack shit when he's not going yard. I get why they get on him.

I get what you are saying and I sometimes cringe when baserunners are on and he comes up. I just read too many nasty comments on how he sucks when after looking at the numbers he is one of the few guys that somewhat consistently go yard. (or river in this case)

It's because he makes a fuck ton of outs. Mark Trumbo is pretty bad at the on base thing, but he tallies just enough hits and walks that it's worth running him out there every night. He's not a centerpiece guy or someone you want to build around, but Trumbo is productive enough in between homeruns to be valuable.

Pedro hasn't been. At least this year. But his avg/obp/slg last year was right up there near Trumbo's last season, so I wouldn't be shocked to see him pick it up in between homeruns as the season goes on.

I'll take JJ hitting .260 with 30 hr and gold glove calibre defense over most of the scrubs teams are trotting out at SS. The O's worst players are the DH and 2b platoons..and unfortunately Weiters who is also 2nd in AS voting. Wieters value anymore comes from his defense..

I watch 95% of Pirates games and as many other games per week as I can....I hope to one day be able to hold an intelligible conversation with Damian Rey away from Pirates lore.

I watch or listen to every o's game live except when they play 10pm west coast games and I have to get up at 4 am next day...

I catch as many O's games per week as I can. The MLB At Bat subscription has this awesome thing where you can watch a 16-20 minute condensed game the next morning so I get up an hour before I have to start moving so I can watch a few games that way.

They are fun to watch this year especially when they are playing the Yankees!

He's hit 30 homers once his entire career. Gold gloves don't mean jack shit. It;s an award voted on by managers who are literally guessing and playing favorites more times than not.

I don't count the O's DH or 2b spots because there was no clear regular there prior to the season started. I don't think anyone was counting on poor Brian Roberts. Hardy was a regular going into the season.

Weiters isn't that good defensively to defend. He's not Yadier Molina. I think he's heavily underperforming. Shouldn't be near the ASG either.

You can take Hardy all you want. Never said you were wrong for liking him. I've liked less than stellar players a plenty. Just don't act like an ass, toting him around like an all star when he's clearly not, and clearly is one of the worst everday guys on the squad.

So the Inquisition finally begins. Now we wait to see what the Yankees do with A-Rod. We all hope they proceed with voiding the contract, but the Union's gonna have their say.

Cervelli being on that list will hurt us since we're getting Steward who's less than your average catcher and Romine who's still getting his sealegs. Which makes me wonder if we're going catcher shopping when the trade deadline comes around.

Damian Rey - Thoughts on Brewers shortstop Jean Segura? please and thank you.....I think if he was on a better team he would have a shot at the All Star Game.

You could always PM me, sweetheart.

I think he's a fucking stud. Brewers raped the Angles on that trade.

Definitely should be there. I don't think he's going to be hitting 350 all year, but as of right now, he's been the premier shortstop in the national league. Shame where he plays and his teams standings can hurt his chances.

Think catcher is the last place they should look. They would probably be better served getting another solid starter.

I'm interested to see how far Selig takes this witch hunt on roids. It would be amazing if Selig and the Yankees could somehow find a way to void that albatross of a contract and send ARod back on the free agent market.

Nationals with a killer comeback win. Damn fun 9th.

Once in his career was 2 years ago in 129 games..and he got that gold glove for only making 6 errors..

BoSox are clobbering the Rangers 15-3 in the bottom of the 7th. Jackie Bradley Jr. looks like he's going to be an exciting player to watch once he figures things out.

Nats need to get it going. It's getting to a point where last year is looking a little flukey. A lot did go right; Ian Desmond, Adam LaRoche having career years, Harper tearing shit up, Strasburgh having a great year, etc.

I know they got a ton of shit for shutting down Strasburgh last year, and, with hindsight being 20/20, got more shit when they blew their chance at the NLDS last year. But that won't be anything compared to the shit storm brewing if they don't even get into the playoffs this year. Playing around .500 ball isn't going to get them there.

Went to the Nats vs Pirates game last month. They won 6-2 I think. Sad that Burnett nor Strasburgh were not on the mound. Andy LaRoche got a nice round of boo's every time he came up.

Since that game I've caught a few others. They have potential and heart ....I just can't pinpoint their biggest weakness.....yet.

Might also be Dempster's best game so far as a pitcher for the Sox. He's had games with fewer hits but either didn't last beyond 4-5 innings or gave up more runs than tonight.

In regards to the Nationals, looks like the team is treating him similar to what the Rays used to do with Kazmir. In the Rays case, they were really restrictive and cautious towards him pitching a lot but unlike Strasburgh, he didn't have a major injury until after leaving them for the Angels I think. They are struggling a bit record-wise but the big difference is the Braves being a lot better this year than last year.

Not a complete stat my friend. Errors are so rarely made and judged so individually that they're almost needless to this point. Errors also don't tell you how many times an infielder was bailed out by his first baseman making a nice dig, coming off the bag and tagging the runner, or keeping their foot on the bag while stretching to field an errant throw.

If errors were the only measuring stick for gold gloves, David Eckstein and Kevin Kouzmanoff would've won gold gloves when they played for the Padres. Kouzmanoff set the fielding percentage record for third baseman in a single season. It doesn't mean he was the best defender, just means he didn't boot or throw away balls that were hit at him.

If Hardy averaged 30 homeruns a year, you could say, with complete accuracy, you'd take his 30 homeruns per. Problem is, he doesn't. If you said 20 plus, yeah, that's about right. But you're stating it like he's a lock for doing something he's done once in his career, in his late 20s, which was followed by a poor season at the plate. Maybe he hits 30 this year. He's a third of the way there. But don't act like it's business as usual for him, because it's absolutely not.

Dempster's strikeouts are good. I think he may just be getting a tad unlucky. I'm looking at his stats, and it seems like he's been a little more homer prone than usual. If that normalizes, he'll be fine.

The thing that worries me about Stras, and what makes the Nats look like they new what they were doing is that he keeps running into these little injuries. Also, they did the same with Zimmerman, and he's a stud now. I don't blame them for being cautious.

Number of things. Dan Haren hasn't been as good at the back end of the rotation as Edwin Jackson was last year. Adam LaRoche had a career year last year and has been struggling this year. Ian Desmond, outside of the power surge, has regressed back to his pre 2012 self. Gio has regressed, strikeouts are down, walks are up. Strasburgh hasn't been nearly as dominant. I think these things might change, but it's June. It needs to upswing soon.

David Murphy has just taken the mound against the Sox, who are attempting to score in every inning.

Munehori Kawasaki is the best all around shortstop.

Edwin Encarnacion is really heating up. Just hit a bomb for his 17th.

Tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuulooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo