Major League Baseball: 2014 Season

[Dolph Drago]

And Chapman may have injured his foot. 🤬

 

[Patrick]

Mike Trout with his 1st of 3 MVPs this season.

Man, Adam Wainwright is an idiot. Why would you even say you piped one??

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Mike Trout with his 1st of 3 MVPs this season.

Man, Adam Wainwright is an idiot. Why would you even say you piped one??

He would have been way better off saying something like saying he was intimidated by Jeter instead of that. I was just like "come on man" when I heard that he said that.

 

[JohnBM01]

Back to work this weekend for the teams. But for now, we're free to look ahead to all the action between now and whatever team hoists the championship trophy at season's end.


How do you assess your team at this point? Here's my latest assessment...

By last year's All-Star Game (according to baseball-reference.com), the Houston Astros Baseball Club was 33-61. This year's Astros sit at 40-56 at present. This is a team of the future as opposed to a team of the present. Lots of prospects are hopeful to give the Astros the lift they need to return to some sort of relevance. Their biggest problem besides the on-field play is the fact that not as many people (myself included) have CSN Houston for Astros fans to see their team on TV. Unless they want to somehow build up funds so that Houston fans can watch their beloved team on TV, lots of fans are not being able to see what the buzz is about. Players like José Altuve and George Springer have been solid contributions to the Astros on offense and defense. Secondary support is provided by the likes of players like Dexter Fowler, Chris Carter, and others. Dallas Keuchel has been a solid pitcher. I just hope he can keep up his solid form. Same goes for other pitchers like Brad Peacock and Scott Feldman.

I don't really know what to think of this team moving forward. I, of course, want my team to win as many games as they can to help aid in becoming a relevant contender. Question is... can they hold down opponents enough and exude as much offense to be anything of a contender? I still think back to the promotion challenge of if the Astros can get to 63 or more wins this season. The team is 23 wins away from that mark, but whether or not they can get there- even with that hot streak they went on earlier this season, remains to be seen. Either way, I think the 2014 Astros is a much better Astros team than they've been the past few years.


Want to assess your team or talk about some other team? Feel free to do so if you want to.

 

[ildd]

I'm still confident that the Astros will go 64-98, if not better. Even if they end up trading Carter, Fowler and/or Kuechel before the deadline.
Speaking of which, I'm going to the Astros/Blue Jays game on my birthday, Aug. 1st. Last time I went to a game on my birthday, they had just traded away Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence the day before. I'm hoping they can at least trade Carter.

 

[KM964]

How do I assess my team?

Done. That's how I assess them.

 

[JohnBM01]

It's back to work time. Back to making a playoff push. Here are the standings at the All-Star Break, in case you missed them or in case you want a reminder:


--- AMERICAN LEAGUE ---
AL EAST: Baltimore (52-42), TOR (49-47), NYY (47-47), TB (44-53), BOS (43-52)
AL CENTRAL: Detroit (53-38), KC (48-46), CLE (47-47), CHW (45-51), MIN (44-50)
AL WEST: Oakland (59-36), LAA (57-37), SEA (51-44), HOU (40-56), TEX (38-57)

--- NATIONAL LEAGUE ---
NL EAST: Washington (51-42), ATL (52-43), NYM (45-50), MIA (44-50), PHI (42-53)
NL CENTRAL: Milwaukee (53-43), STL (52-44), CIN (51-44), PIT (49-46), CHC (40-54)
NL WEST: Los Angeles Dodgers (54-43), SF (52-43), SD (41-54), COL (40-55), ARI (40-56)


--- WILD CARD ---
It's a bit too early, but here are the WILD CARD standings:

* AL WILD CARD (Top 5 only): Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (57-37), Seattle (51-44), TOR (49-47), KC (48-46)
* NL WILD CARD (Top 5 only): San Francisco and Atlanta (52-43 each), STL (52-44), CIN (51-44), PIT (49-46)


--- OTHER OBSERVATIONS ---
RECORDS...
...Best Winning Percentage: Oakland (.621, 59-36 record)
...Worst Winning Percentage: Texas (.400, 38-57 record)
...Best Home: Oakland (30-15)
...Best Away: Los Angeles Dodgers (29-19)
...Worst Home: Arizona (17-31)
...Worst Road: Colorado (16-30)

STREAKS...
...Longest Winning: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (5 straight wins)
...Longest Losing: Texas (8 straight losses)

CURRENT TEN GAME STRETCH:
...Best: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (9-1 stretch the past ten games)
...Worst: Texas (1-9 stretch the past ten games)


Teams currently leading are trying to stay on top. Teams down the order are trying to work their way up. Some teams WAY at the bottom have a chance to make a serious push... or just concede defeat and look forward to next season. ANYTHING can still happen between now and when playoff time comes. So just because your team(s) may be way out of it, nobody is technically or mathematically eliminated or anything. I'm just trying to offer hope and positivity to you all whose teams may be on the outside looking in or may not have any chance the rest of the way.


Here are some of the many series lined up for this weekend:
* Houston Astros at Chicago White Sox
* Texas Rangers at Toronto Blue Jays
* Milwaukee Brewers at Washington Nationals
* Cincinnati Reds at New York Yankees
* Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers
* San Francisco Giants at Miami Marlins
* Chicago Cubs at Arizona Diamondbacks
* Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals (SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL)

All of these are, as I mentioned, among other series this weekend. Good luck to all of your team(s) moving forward.

 

[JohnBM01]

The Astros led 2-0 at times in the game before the White Sox tied it up. In this series that served as the 2005 World Series, we failed tonight- a 3-2 loss at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. The Astros didn't sign Aiken, so we're getting the 2nd Overall pick in next season's First Year player draft.


Elsewhere...

* The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will pick up right-handed pitcher Huston Street of the San Diego Padres. So Street gets to stay in the same state and in the same half of California... just going up the coast and to the American League.

* On MLB Network's "Intentional Talk," there was a little game of Biggest Number between the losing streak of the Texas Rangers and strikeouts for Yu Darvish. Turns out, the Texas Rangers won 5-1 at Toronto. The losing streak ends at 8, and Yu Darvish struck out 12 Blue Jays in this game.

* St. Louis held serve at home to Villain's Dodgers 3-2. This game was televised on MLB Network.

* Dan Uggla was released from the Atlanta Braves. The Atlanta Braves took down the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 at home.

* The Giants didn't take too kindly to Miami's hospitality. The Marlins were grilled well done by the Giants to the tune of a 9-1 beat down in this battle in Miami.

* It was 4-3 at [New] Yankee Stadium in the Bronx as the Yankees took down Dolph Drago's visiting Cincinnati Reds. This is goos news for NYY compared to the sad news of C.C. Sabathia needing season-ending right knee surgery.


To all other winners, congratulations on winning tonight.

 

[KM964]

Well, a nice way to start the second half of the season. A win!

 

[Patrick]

So the Angels now have one of the better bullpens in baseball. Never though I'd be saying that.

 

[JohnBM01]

How much of a difference do you think Huston Street will make or could make for the Angels, Patrick?

 

[JohnBM01]

The Astros fail again, and like last night... losing by one run. This time, we accepted a 4-3 defeat. The Astros are stuck in Fail Mode even with the Oakland Athletics coming up on this road trip after the Chicago White Sox. Astros have yet to win after the All-Star Break. Will it change tomorrow, or will the Astros be heading into Oakland being swept by the White Sox (to likely be swept by Oakland)? Final game of the series is tomorrow afternoon.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Arizona manages to win their first two after the all star break. Funny that as much as we suck this year, we're only 1.5 games out of 3rd place in the NL West.

 

[Patrick]

Fernando Rodney shoots his arrow at the Angels' dugout after ending the 8th inning. Then the Angels score twice to walk off. Eat one Rodney.

 

[Dolph Drago]

Reds get swept by the Yankees to start the second half of the season. Yay.

 

[Blitz24]

Mets lose 2 of 3 in San Diego. The last one was to a person that if you rearrange the letters in his name, you get San Diego Padres Rime. We lost to a rime.

 

[CodeRedR51]

3 wins in a row to start the second half. I hope we keep this up, but not expecting it.

 

[JohnBM01]

The Houston Astros played to avoid being swept, and we did so today with an 11-7 victory at the Chicago White Sox. Unless our next series opponent get bored and LET us win, our next series at the Oakland Athletics should prove plenty daunting for the Astros.


Congratulations to all other winners from Sunday.

 

[KM964]

Texas loses 2 of 3 to Toronto.

 

[Blitz24]

Texas at this point will be lucky to finish in 4th in the West. Awful luck in a truly forgettable season.

 

[Schwartz]

I've about reached the end of my wits as a Rockies fan. It's the same God Damn thing every year. Please trade Cargo and Tulowitzki. It's painfully obvious (to me, at least) that they don't want to be on this team anymore, and frankly, I don't want them anymore. They take way too much money from a small market team to be injured so damn much. Watching them play - Yeah, they can still hit over .300 and be all-stars, but they are not leaders. It's not like we have a clubhouse guy like Helton or Giambi anymore. It's apparent that at this point they are just playing for themselves. Now we waste millions of dollars on two all-star caliber players who can't make us win. For the sake of the franchise, send them away. Maybe we could put some more money into the bullpen, hmm?

This is the most uninspired baseball I've seen in a long, long time.

 

[Blitz24]

I've about reached the end of my wits as a Rockies fan. It's the same God Damn thing every year. Please trade Cargo and Tulowitzki. It's painfully obvious (to me, at least) that they don't want to be on this team anymore, and frankly, I don't want them anymore. They take way too much money from a small market team to be injured so damn much. Watching them play - Yeah, they can still hit over .300 and be all-stars, but they are not leaders. It's not like we have a clubhouse guy like Helton or Giambi anymore. It's apparent that at this point they are just playing for themselves. Now we waste millions of dollars on two all-star caliber players who can't make us win. For the sake of the franchise, send them away. Maybe we could put some more money into the bullpen, hmm?

This is the most uninspired baseball I've seen in a long, long time.

Blackmon fell of a cliff, Cuddyer is hurt, Morneau is a refreshing surprise but there is no pitching period with the team (which is the same problem every year). Tulo could land pretty much any group of prospects but both he and CarGo constantly are hurt.

 

[Schwartz]

Well now Morneau is on the DL and Tulowitzki is out with a muscle strain, so there's that.

 

[CodeRedR51]

We swept the Cubs, and now I fully expect us to get swept by Detroit. Woo.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

We swept the Cubs, and now I fully expect us to get swept by Detroit. Woo.

Well, IF the D'Backs can knock out Verlander early (which is possible cause he has been inconsistent this year) Arizona has a chance since the Tiger's bullpen really is terrible. I want to turn off the TV any time I see Coke in particular because he has blown a bunch of leads this year. Six innings of baseball is still plenty of time to score three runs.

In a side note, I know of one Arizona resident (my brother in law) who should be happy about baseball results tonight since the Red Sox won 14-1 against Toronto. I'm still not exactly sure how a guy that grew up in Texas became a fan of the Red Sox.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Well, IF the D'Backs can knock out Verlander early (which is possible cause he has been inconsistent this year) Arizona has a chance since the Tiger's bullpen really is terrible. I want to turn off the TV any time I see Coke in particular because he has blown a bunch of leads this year. Six innings of baseball is still plenty of time to score three runs.

1 fail down, 2 to go.

 

[Blitz24]

Pablo Sandoval had issues tonight. He kept falling down for no explicable reason. First he hits a double in the top of the first inning and while getting out of the batter's box, managed to have his torso move faster than his legs. Result? He falls down.

In the bottom of the first inning, he attempts to catch a foul pop up behind 3rd base and he slides and..... faceplants. There is no way he meant to faceplant but he somehow did it (he also didn't catch the ball). Thankfully he wasn't injured on either attempt but it's becoming comedy to watch his foibles.

 

[Dolph Drago]

5 straight losses to start the second half for the Reds, with 3 of the losses being by 1 run. Just like earlier in the season. Offense can't do crap, and we lose a 1 run ball game.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Well the Rockies have lost 7 in a row so don't feel too bad.

 

[JohnBM01]

Pleasant surprise... we defeated Oakland last night. Nine innings wasn't enough, though. After having heard Michael Wilbon trash my Astros over getting the second overall pick in next year's draft (call me when your Cubs lead/win the NL Central) on PTI yesterday, Houston won 3-2 at Oakland in 12 innings. So we will NOT be swept in this series.

Neither, for that matter, will the Diamondbacks in their series. They took down the Detroit Tigers 5-4 to force a Rubber Game. Texas lost at the Yankees 3-2(?) in 14 innings. San Francisco also needed 14 innings to ice the Philadelphia Phillies 9-6. Tim Lincecum pitched in relief for SF on the win.


Congratulations to all other Tuesday winners.