And Arizona's top 2 starters start the next 2 days.

I don't know why you don't like Arizona, but with the pitching they have- or more like it- the pitching that Colorado doesn't have- it's going to be tough for Colorado to pass Arizona. Arizona's team ERA is over 1 run per game less than Colorado- and their FIP is a good 0.76 runs per game less. Give me the far better pitching staff. Plus, Arizona is getting guys back from the DL- which will help their offense.

1 thing that's kind of interesting, looks like Sale is now projected to start a day later than originally projected this week. Extrapolating that out means that he's only got 13 starts left including this week. Meanwhile, Kluber is scheduled for 14. (now, it probably would have still been like this, as originally Sale was scheduled to start on last day of regular season).

Part of it is that there's going to be a period in August where the Red Sox schedule will have it where Sale will pitch on August 6, August 13, and August 20. They have 2 straight weeks where they play Tuesday, Wednesday, and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Unless they do some skipping of the rotation(which I consider unlikely)- Sale will lose a start there.

1 bad thing with this- Sale and Kluber won't face each other in a game now as scheduled.

(07-18-2017 07:19 AM)stever20 Wrote:  And Arizona's top 2 starters start the next 2 days.

I don't know why you don't like Arizona, but with the pitching they have- or more like it- the pitching that Colorado doesn't have- it's going to be tough for Colorado to pass Arizona. Arizona's team ERA is over 1 run per game less than Colorado- and their FIP is a good 0.76 runs per game less. Give me the far better pitching staff. Plus, Arizona is getting guys back from the DL- which will help their offense.

I do think they're good, in fact at least as good as the Rockies. I just think they're still a tad overrated and I don't fully believe in this miraculous turnaround. That said, they're likely to grab one of the WC spots and will certainly be a threat to whichever team they might face in the NLDS. Although the Dodgers, Cubs and Nats are all appreciably better

(07-18-2017 08:34 AM)stever20 Wrote:  1 thing that's kind of interesting, looks like Sale is now projected to start a day later than originally projected this week. Extrapolating that out means that he's only got 13 starts left including this week. Meanwhile, Kluber is scheduled for 14. (now, it probably would have still been like this, as originally Sale was scheduled to start on last day of regular season).

Part of it is that there's going to be a period in August where the Red Sox schedule will have it where Sale will pitch on August 6, August 13, and August 20. They have 2 straight weeks where they play Tuesday, Wednesday, and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Unless they do some skipping of the rotation(which I consider unlikely)- Sale will lose a start there.

1 bad thing with this- Sale and Kluber won't face each other in a game now as scheduled.

I'm not really that concerned. At this rate I don't see Kluber winning. Sure, Sale could slump and Kluber could continue to dominate. But you're the one who always gave Kluber sh*t for turning in the occasional clunker and I don't see why that can't still happen.

(07-18-2017 10:51 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 08:34 AM)stever20 Wrote:  1 thing that's kind of interesting, looks like Sale is now projected to start a day later than originally projected this week. Extrapolating that out means that he's only got 13 starts left including this week. Meanwhile, Kluber is scheduled for 14. (now, it probably would have still been like this, as originally Sale was scheduled to start on last day of regular season).

Part of it is that there's going to be a period in August where the Red Sox schedule will have it where Sale will pitch on August 6, August 13, and August 20. They have 2 straight weeks where they play Tuesday, Wednesday, and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Unless they do some skipping of the rotation(which I consider unlikely)- Sale will lose a start there.

1 bad thing with this- Sale and Kluber won't face each other in a game now as scheduled.

I'm not really that concerned. At this rate I don't see Kluber winning. Sure, Sale could slump and Kluber could continue to dominate. But you're the one who always gave Kluber sh*t for turning in the occasional clunker and I don't see why that can't still happen.

Yeah, Kluber could turn in the clunker. But Sale is JUST as likely to do so. That's the thing about both of them- don't know that we've seen 2 higher level guys who when they are awful, they are really awful. Not to this level.

Now, the one advantage for innings- if both have a same bad start, it'll impact the ERA for Kluber much more than it would Sale.

(07-18-2017 10:49 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 07:19 AM)stever20 Wrote:  And Arizona's top 2 starters start the next 2 days.

I don't know why you don't like Arizona, but with the pitching they have- or more like it- the pitching that Colorado doesn't have- it's going to be tough for Colorado to pass Arizona. Arizona's team ERA is over 1 run per game less than Colorado- and their FIP is a good 0.76 runs per game less. Give me the far better pitching staff. Plus, Arizona is getting guys back from the DL- which will help their offense.

I do think they're good, in fact at least as good as the Rockies. I just think they're still a tad overrated and I don't fully believe in this miraculous turnaround. That said, they're likely to grab one of the WC spots and will certainly be a threat to whichever team they might face in the NLDS. Although the Dodgers, Cubs and Nats are all appreciably better

Cubs are still 5.5 games back of Colorado and 4.5 back of Milwaukee. Cubs still have work to do to just make the playoffs....

I think Arizona is good. My thought on Colorado is their pitching is questionable, and the pitching they do have are young rookies. I mean, They're moving their top starter of the year- Kyle Freeland to the pen to manage his innings. Sentzatela has worked nearly triple the number of innings this year vs last year- and has struggled. Marquez hasn't been great. Gray hasn't been great since returning from injury(his highlight was that homer he hit himself). If Colorado doesn't improve their pitching, they aren't going anywhere.

(07-18-2017 11:11 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 10:51 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 08:34 AM)stever20 Wrote:  1 thing that's kind of interesting, looks like Sale is now projected to start a day later than originally projected this week. Extrapolating that out means that he's only got 13 starts left including this week. Meanwhile, Kluber is scheduled for 14. (now, it probably would have still been like this, as originally Sale was scheduled to start on last day of regular season).

Part of it is that there's going to be a period in August where the Red Sox schedule will have it where Sale will pitch on August 6, August 13, and August 20. They have 2 straight weeks where they play Tuesday, Wednesday, and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Unless they do some skipping of the rotation(which I consider unlikely)- Sale will lose a start there.

1 bad thing with this- Sale and Kluber won't face each other in a game now as scheduled.

I'm not really that concerned. At this rate I don't see Kluber winning. Sure, Sale could slump and Kluber could continue to dominate. But you're the one who always gave Kluber sh*t for turning in the occasional clunker and I don't see why that can't still happen.

Yeah, Kluber could turn in the clunker. But Sale is JUST as likely to do so. That's the thing about both of them- don't know that we've seen 2 higher level guys who when they are awful, they are really awful. Not to this level.

Now, the one advantage for innings- if both have a same bad start, it'll impact the ERA for Kluber much more than it would Sale.

Except Sale has a cushion

(07-18-2017 11:22 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 11:11 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 10:51 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 08:34 AM)stever20 Wrote:  1 thing that's kind of interesting, looks like Sale is now projected to start a day later than originally projected this week. Extrapolating that out means that he's only got 13 starts left including this week. Meanwhile, Kluber is scheduled for 14. (now, it probably would have still been like this, as originally Sale was scheduled to start on last day of regular season).

Part of it is that there's going to be a period in August where the Red Sox schedule will have it where Sale will pitch on August 6, August 13, and August 20. They have 2 straight weeks where they play Tuesday, Wednesday, and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Unless they do some skipping of the rotation(which I consider unlikely)- Sale will lose a start there.

1 bad thing with this- Sale and Kluber won't face each other in a game now as scheduled.

I'm not really that concerned. At this rate I don't see Kluber winning. Sure, Sale could slump and Kluber could continue to dominate. But you're the one who always gave Kluber sh*t for turning in the occasional clunker and I don't see why that can't still happen.

Yeah, Kluber could turn in the clunker. But Sale is JUST as likely to do so. That's the thing about both of them- don't know that we've seen 2 higher level guys who when they are awful, they are really awful. Not to this level.

Now, the one advantage for innings- if both have a same bad start, it'll impact the ERA for Kluber much more than it would Sale.

Except Sale has a cushion

Sale doesn't have that much of a cushion. If he gave up 4 runs with no innings pitched, their ERA would be the same.

I don't understand why you think that Kluber is so much more likely than Sale to have the clunker. Because they've shown they are equally likely to have the clunker.

And the ERA cushion could be gone real easily...

Sale- 2 ER in 6 innings. his new ERA- 2.61
Kluber- 0 ER in 9 innings. his new ERA- 2.63

(07-18-2017 11:34 AM)stever20 Wrote:  And the ERA cushion could be gone real easily...

Sale- 2 ER in 6 innings. his new ERA- 2.61
Kluber- 0 ER in 9 innings. his new ERA- 2.63

But Kluber needs to be better by a decent amount, not just end the year with a similar ERA.

(07-18-2017 11:32 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 11:22 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 11:11 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 10:51 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 08:34 AM)stever20 Wrote:  1 thing that's kind of interesting, looks like Sale is now projected to start a day later than originally projected this week. Extrapolating that out means that he's only got 13 starts left including this week. Meanwhile, Kluber is scheduled for 14. (now, it probably would have still been like this, as originally Sale was scheduled to start on last day of regular season).

Part of it is that there's going to be a period in August where the Red Sox schedule will have it where Sale will pitch on August 6, August 13, and August 20. They have 2 straight weeks where they play Tuesday, Wednesday, and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Unless they do some skipping of the rotation(which I consider unlikely)- Sale will lose a start there.

1 bad thing with this- Sale and Kluber won't face each other in a game now as scheduled.

I'm not really that concerned. At this rate I don't see Kluber winning. Sure, Sale could slump and Kluber could continue to dominate. But you're the one who always gave Kluber sh*t for turning in the occasional clunker and I don't see why that can't still happen.

Yeah, Kluber could turn in the clunker. But Sale is JUST as likely to do so. That's the thing about both of them- don't know that we've seen 2 higher level guys who when they are awful, they are really awful. Not to this level.

Now, the one advantage for innings- if both have a same bad start, it'll impact the ERA for Kluber much more than it would Sale.

Except Sale has a cushion

Sale doesn't have that much of a cushion. If he gave up 4 runs with no innings pitched, their ERA would be the same.

I don't understand why you think that Kluber is so much more likely than Sale to have the clunker. Because they've shown they are equally likely to have the clunker.

That scenario seems highly unlikely

(07-18-2017 02:56 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 11:32 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 11:22 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 11:11 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 10:51 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  I'm not really that concerned. At this rate I don't see Kluber winning. Sure, Sale could slump and Kluber could continue to dominate. But you're the one who always gave Kluber sh*t for turning in the occasional clunker and I don't see why that can't still happen.

Yeah, Kluber could turn in the clunker. But Sale is JUST as likely to do so. That's the thing about both of them- don't know that we've seen 2 higher level guys who when they are awful, they are really awful. Not to this level.

Now, the one advantage for innings- if both have a same bad start, it'll impact the ERA for Kluber much more than it would Sale.

Except Sale has a cushion

Sale doesn't have that much of a cushion. If he gave up 4 runs with no innings pitched, their ERA would be the same.

I don't understand why you think that Kluber is so much more likely than Sale to have the clunker. Because they've shown they are equally likely to have the clunker.

That scenario seems highly unlikely

(07-18-2017 02:56 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 11:34 AM)stever20 Wrote:  And the ERA cushion could be gone real easily...

Sale- 2 ER in 6 innings. his new ERA- 2.61
Kluber- 0 ER in 9 innings. his new ERA- 2.63

But Kluber needs to be better by a decent amount, not just end the year with a similar ERA.

The thing is, just between this 3 inning gap and the extra start that Kluber will have- that closes the gap in innings by around 10. So now, only a 25 inning lead for Sale- along with only a 3 start lead.

And my example shows how things can change so quickly. Lets say Sale instead of giving up 2 in 6 gives up 4 in 6. His ERA is now up to 2.73.

Sale can't coast. I think he's got to keep his ERA around the 2.50 to 2.60 mark to be close to a favorite. If he got up to 3, it really opens the door realistically for Kluber.

Kluber battling a stiff neck and could skip his next turn, as Salazar returns to the rotation. I feel good about sale

Bartolo Colon for AL Cy Young. 3 shutout innings so far vs Yankees for the Twins....

(07-18-2017 08:11 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Bartolo Colon for AL Cy Young. 3 shutout innings so far vs Yankees for the Twins....

now that's a stever pick that I can get behind

Also, JD Martinez to the Dbacks. He's a god awful fielder, but one of the best RHH in the game. Gives them an immediate boost against Kershaw, Hill and Wood

Yankees with huge trade getting Frazier and Robinson from the White Sox. Huge move- one that the Red Sox will have to respond to....

Speaking of Red Sox- man they've been grinding here last few days. A whopping 58 innings pitched since start of Saturday. Which makes their decision to not start Sale until Friday that much more questionable to me. You would think you would want your top guy starting on normal 4 days rest instead of throwing Fister out there, exposing your pen.

(07-19-2017 08:21 AM)stever20 Wrote:  Yankees with huge trade getting Frazier and Robinson from the White Sox. Huge move- one that the Red Sox will have to respond to....

Speaking of Red Sox- man they've been grinding here last few days. A whopping 58 innings pitched since start of Saturday. Which makes their decision to not start Sale until Friday that much more questionable to me. You would think you would want your top guy starting on normal 4 days rest instead of throwing Fister out there, exposing your pen.

yeah it's been one helluva grind for them

FYI, JD Martinez has a league best 1.661 OPS vs LHP. That's nuts

(07-19-2017 07:12 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(07-18-2017 08:11 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Bartolo Colon for AL Cy Young. 3 shutout innings so far vs Yankees for the Twins....

now that's a stever pick that I can get behind

Also, JD Martinez to the Dbacks. He's a god awful fielder, but one of the best RHH in the game. Gives them an immediate boost against Kershaw, Hill and Wood

Which is what we need. If we had Martinez for the series in LA before the All-Star break, good chance we win at least 2, if not all three games (lost each by a run).


We have a god-awful fielder out there now, so defense will likely improve :)

man what the heck is up with all these hand injuries...

first it was Trout. Then this week Carlos Correia from the Astros who is out for 6-8 weeks- and now Kris Bryant gets hurt with what sounds like a similar injury.