2023 MLB thread

[Underdog 28698]

Any and all wins over the Reds feel good. 

I thought they had a bigger comeback vs the Phillies back in the late 70s, IIRC, it was an NBC GOTW broadcast. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19196]

5 hours ago, Underdog said:

Any and all wins over the Reds feel good. 

I thought they had a bigger comeback vs the Phillies back in the late 70s, IIRC, it was an NBC GOTW broadcast. 

I'm just going by what Joe Block stated in the broadcast.

 

Looks like the one you are thinking of was an 8-run comeback

Sat, Aug 11, 1979

@ Philadelphia Phillies

8

0-8, Top 5th

14-11

Edited September 24, 2023 by Fudge Nuggets

[Fudge Nuggets 19196]

@Underdog yesterday's game was actually 9-0 going into the top of the 6th.  The Pirates have comeback from 8 down four times previously.

[Helobious 9454]

Gerrit Cole is gonna finish this year with a 6.8 WAR. Highest of his career. 

[Beau Vine 54246]

 

[Beau Vine 54246]

Pretty gotdam dusty in here...This is what an old dude seeing his craziest dream come true looks like.

 

Edited September 25, 2023 by Beau Vine

[Beau Vine 54246]

Holy shit, Kerkering was a 5th rounder in 2022 from USF, where he had a 5.75 ERA his junior season.  He started the season in low-A Florida State League, went to high-A, AA, and AAA all this season with a 1.51 combined ERA.  He threw 10 filthy sliders this game, plus two fastballs clocked at 100. 3 up 3 down. 

[Vic Mackey 47058]

.

[Beau Vine 54246]

lulz...

Edited September 25, 2023 by Beau Vine

[Vic Mackey 47058]

.

[Helobious 9454]

19 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

lulz...

It’s almost like it was a makeup game on a weekday afternoon. Couldn’t have been that though.

49 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

.

Wasn’t he the dude with all those racist tweets? What a pussy

[Helobious 9454]

First postseason since 1993 to not have the Yankees, Red Sox, or cardinals. You’re probably going to see the lowest playoff ratings in baseball history.

[TonyTexas 10515]

 

[TonyTexas 10515]

20 minutes ago, Helobious said:

First postseason since 1993 to not have the Yankees, Red Sox, or cardinals. You’re probably going to see the lowest playoff ratings in baseball history.

The Yankees absence certainly won’t affect the World Series ratings. 

Edited September 26, 2023 by TonyTexas

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

Greinke vs Miggy for the 44th time ever and maybe the last. Sharp lineout to the RF corner. 

[Vic Mackey 47058]

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

Greinke induced a weak grounder to first for the 3rd out in the 5th, asked for the ball and waved to his wife in the stands. Royals lead 2-0. I think he’s done. One of a kind. 

Edited September 27, 2023 by Shoxthemonkey

[VirginiaLonghorn 4775]

15 minutes ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

Greinke induced a weak grounder to first for the 3rd out in the 5th, asked for the ball and waved to his wife in the stands. Royals lead 2-0. I think he’s done. One of a kind. 

Not nearly as good, but to me, Greinke reminds me of Greg Maddox.  A guy who knew how to pitch and capably used every tool in the box.  He was fun to watch.

[TonyTexas 10515]

5 minutes ago, VirginiaLonghorn said:

Not nearly as good, but to me, Greinke reminds me of Greg Maddox.  A guy who knew how to pitch and capably used every tool in the box.  He was fun to watch.

I really enjoyed his brief tenure with the Astros. It was likely that you’d see something you’ve never seen before whenever he pitched. Highly entertaining. 

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

4 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

I really enjoyed his brief tenure with the Astros. It was likely that you’d see something you’ve never seen before whenever he pitched. Highly entertaining. 

I’m hoping that they will let him play SS in the last game and let him hit. He could have been a star there, too. 

[Beau Vine 54246]

He was a fantastic fielder and a very good hitter for a pitcher, too.  Paul once told me that he always asked the manager if he could play SS in spring training.  

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

Zac has been penciled in to start the last game in KC against the Yankees. Guess I was premature with the postmortem. 

[Beau Vine 54246]

JoePos:

Spoiler

Dad’s favorite ballplayer was born left-handed. Think about that for a minute: Brooks Robinson, the best who ever played the hot corner, was born with the one physical quality that should have prevented him from ever playing third base. All his life he would do everything else left-handed — he shot a rifle lefty, he played tennis and ping pong lefty, he signed autographs left-handed.

When Davey Johnson saw his hero sign an autograph left-handed, he decided to try writing left-handed too, hoping it would make him into the same sort of heavenly defender.

It did not. But how could it?

When Dad’s favorite ballplayer was in the second grade, he broke his left arm and collarbone in an accident. Neither Brooks Jr. nor his father, Brooks Sr., had time to wait for the injury to heal. There was baseball to play! So Brooks Sr. put a ball in his son’s right hand and taught him how to throw right-handed. He put a sawed-off broomstick in his right hand and taught him how to swing right-handed. By the time the injury did heal, Brooks Jr. was uninterested in relearning the game as a lefty.

And, anyway, lefties don’t play third base.

This was the charmed American life that Brooks Robinson lived; even childhood accidents led to wonderful things. Brooksie lived a jukebox, varsity jacket, summer picnic, golly-gee, hula hoop, drive-in movies, apple-pie, baseball-on-the-radio kind of childhood in Arkansas. His first date was at a malt shop. He strengthened his arm throwing newspapers on his route; one of his customers was the great Yankee catcher Bill Dickey. “I threw the paper just a little bit harder when I threw it to his house,” Brooksie would say.

“As a boy,” Brooks Sr. would say of his son, “he was happy all day long.”

In high school, he was voted “Best All-Around.” You may ask: “Best All-Around what?” but there was no need for qualifiers with Brooksie. He was simply the best all-around. He was the quarterback who led his team to an undefeated season (then stopped playing football because he didn’t want to get hurt and not be able to play baseball). He was every teacher’s favorite student who in the eighth grade wrote a paper titled, “Why I Want to Play Professional Baseball.”

And he was a ballplayer, a Cardinals fan who idolized the nicest of ballplayers, Stan Musial. Later, Brooksie himself became the nicest of ballplayers. “Compared to this guy,” the writer Jim Elliot said of Brooks Robinson, “Stan Musial was hard to get along with.”

He made it to the Baltimore Orioles when he was 18 years old but bounced up and down between the majors and minors until 1960, when he was 23. The truth is, the Orioles didn’t quite know what they had. Robinson wasn’t much of a hitter. He had little-to-no power. He couldn’t run at all. Even his throwing arm seemed weak, as you might expect from a natural left-hander who taught himself to throw right-handed. There were those who thought he should play second base.

But at third base, he was Nureyev. He was Astaire. He was Wallenda. He was Sawchuck. He was Slydini. No matter how hard a ball was hit down the line, no matter how wickedly it was hit into the hole, no matter what sort of bad hop the ball might take, Brooks Robinson somehow was there. He had a way of contorting his body so that the ball always ended up in his glove. It would then magically appear in his right hand, and while he did not have a cannon arm, he had the quickest release imaginable and he could throw falling backward, falling sideways, falling forward, across his body, and somehow, no matter how he threw it, the ball ended up chest-high in the first baseman’s glove.

Defensive numbers can tell half a story, but it’s something that Brooks Robinson not only had more assists than any third baseman in baseball history, he had almost A THOUSAND more assists than any third baseman in baseball history.

The rest of his game, though, came along slowly. But in 1960, he began to hit a bit, he added a little power, he finished third in the MVP balloting and won his first Gold Glove. From 1961 to 1964, he played every single game for the Orioles. The last of those years was his crescendo as a hitter — he hit .317 with 28 home runs and led the league with 118 RBIs. He won the MVP award.

Two years later, in 1966, Frank Robinson joined the Orioles, and the two would often call themselves brothers. Brooksie used to say they were both 6-foot-1, both about 180 pounds, but you could tell them apart pretty easily. “We wear different numbers,” he said.

“I used to stand in the outfield like a fan,” Frank would say of his baseball brother. “I’d watch him make play after play. I used to think, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this.’”

In the six years that Frank and Brooks Robinson played together, the Orioles won four pennants and two World Series. Frank was the MVP of the first World Series they won, in ’66, after he hit two home runs, the second off Don Drysdale in the 1-0 victory that clinched the World Series.

And Brooks was the MVP of the second World Series they won, 1970, when he hit .429 against the Reds, but more, much more, made several of the most dazzling and impossible defensive plays anyone had ever seen. The one that stands out most, even now, was when he backhanded a ball, his momentum carried him into foul ground, he threw the ball off his back foot and somehow got Cincinnati’s Lee May by a half step.

“Great day in the morning!” Reds announcer Jim McIntyre shouted out. “What a play!”*

It was after that series that Pete Rose said that Robinson belonged in a higher league.

*I love that — “Great day in the morning!” is a super-old Southern expression along the lines of “Holy cow!” It’s kind of perfect for Brooksie. There was a 1950s western called “Great Day in the Morning,” starring Robert Stack.

In all, Brooks Robinson won 16 consecutive Gold Gloves, the first when he was 23, the last when he was 38, and the defensive numbers bear out that he was great every one of those years. He was more sporadic as a hitter, mixing good years and tough ones, but with Robinson at third base, the Orioles were always good, every year. They called him “the Human Vacuum Cleaner.” They called him “Houdini of the Hot Corner.” They called him “Mr. Perfection.” George Brett wore No. 5 in his honor.

He didn’t drink. He wouldn’t watch TV for fear it would strain his eyes. He liked good steaks, history books and spending time with his family. Everybody admired him. Everybody loved him.

“Robbie goes 0-for-4,” Boog Powell once said with wonder in his voice, “and he’s dressed and out of the ballpark in 15 minutes, whistling and telling everyone tomorrow will be better.”

“Brooks never asked anyone to name a candy bar after him,” sportswriter Gordon Beard wrote, “In Baltimore, people name their children after him.”

By the way, do you know how Brooks Robinson met Connie, his future wife? She was a flight attendant on the Orioles team plane from Kansas City to Boston — once voted the most beautiful flight attendant working for United — and he was immediately smitten. He showed his affection by ordering and reordering iced teas until she noticed him.

For me, though, what I think about now, in the hours after Brooks Robinson died at age 86, is simply and only that he’s Dad’s favorite player. My parents came to the United States three years before I was born, and Dad wanted nothing more than to be an American and to raise his sons as Americans. That, to him, meant learning baseball.

And baseball to him was Brooks Robinson, the way he played, the way he carried himself. In our stamp-sized backyard, Dad would throw me ground balls and shout out, “Get in front of it like Brooks Robinson!” When I would make a diving stop, he’d shout, “There you go! Just like Brooks Robinson!” When I would throw the ball over his head, he’d remind me to not overthrow, to hit the first baseman in the chest, just like Brooks Robinson.

So many years later, I told all of this to Brooksie himself. He smiled; he’d undoubtedly heard some version of this same story ten thousand times, but he still smiled. Then he said, “Dads are the best, aren’t they?”

 

[Scraps 13561]

Still sucks Greinke won't get to 3000Ks

So close

[WBT 20586]

ESPN crawl just showed that Brooks had 10 rbis in 1-0 games, most in history

[shadow_operative2.0 15988]

Whoops. 

 

[Shoxthemonkey 1981]

10 hours ago, Scraps said:

Still sucks Greinke won't get to 3000Ks

So close

If that is important to him, and I'm not sure it is, there will probably be some team that would sign him as a reliever. Hell, I wouldn't mind if the Royals brought him back in any capacity.

I'm not sure I really mean that.

[Dutchrudder 11139]

Season grades for each MLB team:

Spoiler

Full regular-season grades for all 30 MLB teams

David Schoenfield, ESPN Senior Writer
Sep 27, 2023, 07:00 AM ET

It's been a wildly unpredictable season across MLB. Just consider the top eight teams most likely to make the playoffs, according to preseason odds: the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals. Four of those teams aren't going to make it to the postseason -- and two of them are guaranteed losing records.

On top of that, the Mets, Yankees and Padres have the three highest payrolls, with the Mets shattering the previous record, making this just the second time in the wild-card era (since 1995) that the top three teams in payroll will all miss the postseason, matching 2008 with the Yankees, Mets and Tigers.

We have a few games left, but as we hand out final grades to all 30 teams, considering some of those disappointing teams, it's not surprising then that we have a lot of bad grades to give -- but there's another team sitting at the bottom of our list.

Baltimore Orioles: A+

No matter what happens in the postseason, it's been a stunning year for the Orioles -- from the star turns of Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Kyle Bradish to Grayson Rodriguez's second-half breakout to Jackson Holliday's rise to the best prospect in baseball in reaching Triple-A at age 19 (and don't sleep on catcher Samuel Basallo, who has reached Double-A as a teenager).

Baltimore has been more clutch than dominant in its run to the top of the AL East, posting a fantastic record in one-run games and a great average with runners in scoring position. Sure, there's room for improvement in the rotation, but the Orioles are poised for a long run at or near the top of the American League East for the foreseeable future. It will be fascinating to see how they look to address the rotation or if they trade from their prospect depth this offseason.

---

Atlanta Braves: A

OK, there was a little hiccup after they clinched the division, but when you have arguably the greatest lineup of all time and win 100 games, you earn a top grade, even if you're just essentially matching preseason expectations. Matt Olson, Ronald Acuna Jr., Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna became the first foursome of teammates to all hit 35 home runs, with Olson setting a franchise record and Acuna the likely MVP.

The rotation is suddenly a concern as Max Fried (blister) and Charlie Morton (finger) landed on the injured list in the past week, with Morton definitely out for the division series. The Braves are still hoping Fried is ready for Game 1 or 2, but it's unclear who the fourth starter might be after Spencer Strider and Bryce Elder. The bullpen ... well, the bullpen may be the key to the World Series, just as it was in 2021, when it stepped up big time and helped deliver a championship. The Braves' pen needs to turn things around, however, as it's struggled in September.

---

Milwaukee Brewers: A-

The Brewers took advantage of the Cardinals' fall in winning a soft National League Central. There's no shame in that, and they've done about as well as possible given their less-than-stellar offense. Give them credit for their resiliency as well. Brandon Woodruff missed most of the season and Eric Lauer, part of the Opening Day rotation, struggled, but Milwaukee managed to fill the holes there and the bullpen has been outstanding. The offense has been better the past two months with the additions of rookie Sal Frelick and Mark Canha via trade, so combined with a big three of Corbin Burnes, Woodruff and Freddy Peralta on the mound, the Brewers have the components to be a surprise team in October.

---

Los Angeles Dodgers: A-

The Dodgers won their 10th NL West title in 11 seasons -- and they won 106 games the one season they didn't win the division -- but this one was arguably the biggest surprise of the 10 given this was the worst Dodgers pitching staff since 2014, especially in a rotation where nobody will get to 140 innings. The Dodgers even enter the final weekend with a chance at a third straight season of 100 wins, tying a record done by just six previous teams. You can definitely call this Dave Roberts' best season yet in getting the most out of an imperfect roster.

He can thank Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, of course, as the pair became the first Dodgers position players to get to 6.5 WAR in the same season since Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella in 1953. The Noah Syndergaard idea didn't work, Julio Urias' absence due to administrative leave will hurt the team in the playoffs and Clayton Kershaw is on a limited pitch count, so the Dodgers will be reliant on young starters and the bullpen in the postseason.

---

Tampa Bay Rays: B+

Nothing sums up how the Rays just find ways to win better than the performances of relievers Shawn Armstrong and Robert Stephenson, two journeyman types who have been lights out with incredible strikeout-to-walk ratios, adding depth to the bullpen -- which was much-needed given all the injuries the rotation suffered, from Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen early in the season to Shane McClanahan late in the season. As good as the Rays are at finding and improving pitchers like Armstrong and Stephenson, they also have trouble keeping them healthy -- and they need to be docked a little for all those injuries. The Wander Franco investigation also puts a chill over the entire season.

---

Texas Rangers: B+

After roaring out of the gate with a 40-20 start and incredible plus-155 run differential, the Rangers looked like they might cruise to the AL West title, but they haven't made it easy on themselves -- especially as the bullpen has teetered with disaster much of the second half. At one point, Texas fell completely out of the playoff race, only to bounce back, and it's now on the brink of winning the division. The lineup has been the best in the AL and Corey Seager would be challenging Shohei Ohtani for MVP honors if he hadn't missed 40 games (Seager currently has the third-highest OPS ever for a shortstop); he might steal some first-place votes anyway. Max Scherzer's injury hurts the Rangers' playoff chances, but they still have the firepower and rotation to go all the way -- if the bullpen can step up.

---

Cincinnati Reds: B+

Look, nobody expected the Reds to be playing meaningful games the final week of the season a year after losing 100 games and making no significant offseason additions. Given that, I suppose you can argue for an A+ grade, especially when factoring in such a productive and exciting rookie class.

Still, not everything is roses here. Elly De La Cruz fizzled more than sizzled in the second half and Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo (who got injured and made just seven starts) didn't prove themselves to be rotation anchors like the Reds had hoped heading into the season. With all the young talent, the future is bright, but the front office will have to figure out how to configure the surplus of infielders and perhaps turn some of them into pitching or outfield help.

---

Arizona Diamondbacks: B

The Diamondbacks are kind of what we thought they would be: a .500-ish team with a chance at a wild card if everything breaks right. I wrote heading into the season that Arizona's playoff hopes would rest on the young starters -- Ryne Nelson, Drey Jameson and Brandon Pfaadt -- and even though that trio hasn't been that productive, it looks like Arizona will nonetheless make the playoffs. Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly have carried the rotation while Kevin Ginkel (9-0 in relief) has been the right reliever at the right time. The biggest highlight, of course, has been dazzling rookie Corbin Carroll, who reached 25 home runs and 50 stolen bases and should finish in the top 10 of MVP voting. With Gallen and Kelly, excellent defense (rookie catcher Gabriel Moreno has a cannon) and some offensive depth in Christian Walker and Ketel Marte, the D-backs are a playoff sleeper.

---

Minnesota Twins: B

Nobody is going to complain about a division title, and while it was hardly smooth sailing, the Twins were out of first place only five days all season. The rotation was the best they've had in a long time, with Sonny Gray and Pablo Lopez leading the way. Gray should get some down-ballot Cy Young votes while Lopez made the Luis Arraez trade a win-win for both teams. The best offensive highlight has been Royce Lewis, FINALLY getting a chance to play after all his injuries and averaging nearly an RBI per game, including an incredible five grand slams. Injuries -- including, yes, Byron Buxton, who never played a game in center field -- didn't help as not a single position player will get to 140 games on the season and Carlos Correa (plantar fasciitis) and Lewis (hamstring) may be hobbled heading into the playoffs. Now comes the big test: Can the Twins end that 18-game postseason losing streak?

---

Chicago Cubs: B

It's been a roller coaster of a season for the Cubs, who dug themselves a hole with a 10-18 record in May but got to within 1.5 games of the Brewers for the NL Central lead in early September -- only to lose 10 of their next 13. Luckily, nobody behind them made a big run to overtake them. The Cubs actually have the best run differential of any of the NL wild-card hopefuls, showing that they do get a lot of blowout wins when the offense is clicking. The front office's roll of the dice on Cody Bellinger turned out to be one of the best moves of the offseason. The Cubs are certainly happy with the Dansby Swanson signing as well, while Nico Hoerner (solid OBP, great defense, 40-plus steals) quietly leads the team in WAR. There are some good things happening in the farm system, too, with late-season call-ups Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ben Brown plus pitcher Cade Horton (and 2023 first-round pick Matt Shaw tore up the minors and reached Double-A already).

---

Toronto Blue Jays: B-

The season was verging on crushingly disappointing until the Blue Jays gained a foothold in the wild-card race over the past week -- mostly because of Houston and Seattle losing, but they did win consecutive series against the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays (following an ugly four-game sweep by the Rangers at home). In the end, the Jays will finish with around 90 wins as expected, although finishing third in the division while going 3-10 against Baltimore is perhaps a sign that the Orioles have passed them for the present as well as the future -- which was certainly unforeseeable a couple of years ago when the Jays looked like the team of the future in the AL East.

The offense has been middle of the pack all season and struggled to hit for power at home (Matt Chapman's torrid April seems long ago). Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette remain interesting case studies that not all 21-year-old hitters get better; Vladdy has been unable to repeat his 2021 monster season while Bichette has remained the same. Both are good hitters, mind you, but they haven't separated themselves like once expected. The key to Toronto's success has been a healthy and effective rotation with Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi all making 30-plus starts (the only team that will do that).

---

Philadelphia Phillies: B-

The Phillies' biggest problem is that they're a veteran team in win-now mode -- playing in a division with a much superior and younger team, so they appear relegated to a bunch of wild-card finishes in upcoming seasons. Like last year, their star power will give them a chance in the playoffs, where they'll again face the Braves if they get past the wild-card series. At various times, Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner -- and even Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott early on -- have carried the offense, but they've rarely had the entire group clicking at the same time. The Braves won the season series 8-5 with a plus-16 run differential, but it's about getting hot at the right time and the Phillies have that ability.

---

Miami Marlins: B-

The Marlins are still hanging in the wild-card race and will finish with their first winning record in a full season since 2009, so this is progress -- especially if they do make the playoffs. Still, they've been outscored on the season and relied heavily on a ridiculously good record in one-run games (32-13), so I have my doubts about whether they're ready to become a consistent contender. Sandy Alcantara's season-ending shutdown due to forearm tightness was obviously a huge blow these final weeks -- even if he was nowhere near as dominant as in 2022. Indeed, an ongoing issue with the Marlins is getting their entire rotation healthy and productive in the same year. Besides Alcantara's down season (and worry about potential Tommy John surgery), Trevor Rogers made just four starts. Offensively, the Marlins are last in the NL in runs even with the wonderful Arraez hitting .350 and there doesn't appear to be much immediate help coming from the farm system.

---

Seattle Mariners: C+

The Mariners began the season as a chic pick to reach the World Series, let alone contend for the division title, but suddenly just making the playoffs is the task. . Of course, back in July, even that seemed unlikely as the team never got going in the first half (thanks in part to an unproductive offseason from Jerry Dipoto). Then came a 25-6 run with Julio Rodriguez leading the way and they even climbed into first place for a few days.

They needed a win on Tuesday against the Astros and got it behind George Kirby and can leapfrog the Astros with a win on Wednesday. Then four games against the Rangers - a team that has beat them up all season. Indeed, the Mariners are 16 games over .500 against the A's and Royals and under .500 against everyone else (although they are 9-3 against Houston, which means they own the tiebreaker against them - making Wednesday's game one of biggest of the season in the MLB.

---

Houston Astros: C

This grade has a chance to go down if the Astros end up missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016 - or up half a grade if they manage to hold off the Mariners for the final wild card. The season has been one of frustrating inconsistency, sloppy defense at times and a poor record in extra innings (1-8). It looked like they would win the AL West after crushing the Rangers in a three-game series in early September, only to go 2-7 against the hapless A's and Royals, including last weekend's embarrassing sweep at home to the Royals. The offense is still stellar with Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman, but the bullpen hasn't been as lockdown as last season and the rotation has been plagued by longball problems. Sure, we can expect the Astros to turn it on in the postseason (if they get in) - but if they couldn't turn it on against the A's and Royals, why should we expect another trip to the World Series?

---

San Francisco Giants: C

The Giants are a case study in that it's almost more difficult to go from mediocre to great than it is from awful to great (see the Orioles). They're kind of stuck in the mud these past two seasons: too good to fold, not good enough to win, and perhaps too reliant on thinking they can get the most out of flawed players. The inability to land a franchise free agent hasn't helped, although they probably ended up escaping a bad contract with Carlos Correa given his performance with the Twins this season. But the guys they did bring in -- Mitch Haniger, Michael Conforto, Sean Manaea, Ross Stripling -- didn't help much, leaving president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler with the same dilemma: How do you turn a .500 team without any stars (except maybe Logan Webb) into a World Series contender?

---

Washington Nationals: C

I'll give the Nationals a reluctant middle-of-the-road score since we're grading on a curve and I thought they had a chance to be the worst team in the majors coming into this season. Some young players showed promise, although I wouldn't say CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore and Keibert Ruiz are surefire future stars. The farm system had mixed results -- positive for James Wood and Brady House but not so good for Elijah Green and Robert Hassell -- and the early returns are that the Nationals might have drafted the wrong SEC outfielder in taking Dylan Crews over Wyatt Langford with the second pick of the 2023 draft. Manager Dave Martinez and GM Mike Rizzo were rewarded with extensions, so they'll get a couple more seasons to polish this rebuild.

---

Pittsburgh Pirates: C-

It was fun when the Pirates were in first place in mid-June, but for the most part they've been "not terrible," which I guess is a modest step in the right direction. Still, they're last in the NL in runs scored, none of the starters have an ERA under 4.00 and the top prospects who got an opportunity in the second half -- Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, Nick Gonzales -- didn't exactly tear it up. Rodriguez got the innings at catcher over Davis, who looked out of place in right field, so the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft really has to hit if he's not going to stay behind the plate. Indeed, that points to the degree of luck involved in a rebuild: The Orioles had the first pick in 2019 and 2022, selecting Adley Rutschman and Jackson Holliday, while the Pirates had it in a year without a clear top talent. They did have the No. 1 pick in 2023 and selected LSU pitcher Paul Skenes. Pitchers are inherently risky, but the Pirates believe they have a future ace on hand.

---

Cleveland Guardians: C-

A frustrating season given how winnable the AL Central was, but injuries to the rotation and a lack of power doomed the Guardians' chances. There's no doubt about their ability to develop pitching and rookies Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Logan Allen and Xzavion Curry all stepped up and performed, with Bibee and Williams looking like potential All-Stars. That's countered by the organization's complete inability to develop any power hitters; relying on the likes of Kole Calhoun and Ramon Laureano was a sign of desperation (indeed, the Guardians outfielders will hit the fewest home runs since the 1989 Astros). Ownership's seeming indifference to winning limits what the Guardians can achieve, no matter how much pitching comes through the pipeline.

---

Boston Red Sox: C-

I guess owner John Henry would probably give this a failing grade as he fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom after four seasons on the job -- four seasons in which Bloom inherited an aging, bloated payroll; was forced to trade Mookie Betts; and was tasked with improving a depleted farm system (which he did). Apparently he was supposed to mix in a World Series appearance or two in there along the way? Hey, it's not easy competing with the Orioles and Rays!

Bottom line: The Red Sox are headed for their third last-place finish in four seasons and that's not going to cut it. They will have to improve their starting pitching, but the offensive foundation appears set for the foreseeable future with Rafael Devers, Triston Casas, Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida and late-season call-up Ceddanne Rafaela (plus shortstop Marcelo Mayer and outfielder Roman Anthony in the minors).

---

Detroit Tigers: C-

On the surface, it was another losing season, Detroit's eighth in a row, but at least it came with reasons to be optimistic. For the first time in a long time, the offense showed signs of life as Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson improved in their sophomore seasons, with Torkelson having a strong second half and excellent numbers overall on the road (he continues to struggle at Comerica Park). Kerry Carpenter may also be something. The brightest spot was a rotation that was top 10 in ERA in the second half. Tarik Skubal returned from his injury and was outstanding, pitching like a front-of-the-rotation starter. Prospects Colt Keith and Jackson Jobe had strong seasons. The Tigers will remain patient, but in this division, they may not be that far away from contending.

---

New York Yankees: D

This grade has time to flip: If they do end up with their first losing season since 1992, we have to give it an F, right? These are the Yankees. Losing is not acceptable. Still, against all odds, the Yankees recovered from the depths of despair when they were 62-68 in late August to give themselves a chance at a winning record. Of course, that doesn't cover up what has been a miserable offensive season -- for the second time in three seasons, sandwiched around the year Aaron Judge was all-world.

Has general manager Brian Cashman suddenly lost his touch? That's the feeling among Yankees fans, even though the team won 99 games last year and 100 and 103 in 2018 and 2019. The rotation still has a chance to be good next year with bounce-backs from Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes, but given the lack of premium offensive players in free agency, the Yankees won't be able to buy themselves out of this mess (well, unless they sign a certain DH).

---

San Diego Padres: D

Given the preseason level of expectations, you could give the Padres an even lower grade, but (1) They were probably a little overrated to begin with; and (2) They've had one of the unluckiest seasons in major league history with that 0-11 record in extra-inning games. That's not to dismiss what happened in 2023, as they just didn't hit in those games and the bullpen lacked depth, but it was mostly a fluke thing. It's easy to pinpoint when things went south: The Padres were 18-15 in early May when they lost the final two games of a series against the Dodgers, lost two of three to the Twins, lost three in a row at Dodger Stadium (scoring just four runs), and then lost four of six to the Royals and Red Sox. They never got back to .500 and showed a surprising lack of resiliency. They have some key free agents -- Blake Snell, Josh Hader -- and maybe the chemistry is just off, but there's clearly enough talent here to compete next season.

---

Kansas City Royals: D-

Needless to say, it was an ugly, unwatchable season in Kansas City and the results weren't any better in the farm system, where most of the top prospects failed to impress. The Royals remain way behind in player development compared to other organizations -- at both the big league and minor league levels. So why not an F grade? First, Bobby Witt Jr. did improve, especially with a monster offensive breakout in the second half and much better defensive metrics. Second, lefty Cole Ragans, who came over in the Aroldis Chapman trade, was a revelation as a starter after scuffling in relief for the Rangers and might be a potential ace. It looks like an absolute robbery of a deal for the Royals ... and when was the last time we could say that?

---

New York Mets: F

Our first F grade ... of many. It was that kind of season across MLB. The Mets began the season with a record-shattering payroll, two future Hall of Famers in the rotation and World Series aspirations. Edwin Diaz's knee injury in the World Baseball Classic was clearly a sign of things to come.

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The Mets were actually OK in April (15-12) even without Justin Verlander, but then everything fell apart. The rotation was awful, the bullpen had no depth and the lineup lacked power outside of Pete Alonso. They made the reasonable decision to trade Verlander and Max Scherzer at the deadline (although, I think it would have also been reasonable to keep both to make another run with them in 2024). I like the hiring of former Brewers GM David Stearns to run baseball operations and he has some tough decisions in the offseason, starting with the futures of manager Buck Showalter and Alonso, who is eligible for free agency after 2024.

---

St. Louis Cardinals: F

It was the first losing season under John Mozeliak, who took over as GM in 2008, and it was well-earned: The Cardinals had talent but didn't have a plan on how to deploy it, leading to eight different starting left fielders, five center fielders, eight right fielders and a bunch of different shortstops and second basemen. Even if they had been smarter on the position player side of things, the rotation was a mess and fixing that is the obvious offseason priority. In recent seasons, I've thought an issue with the Cardinals is that they've been too content to build 90-win clubs because that's usually been good enough in the NL Central. The risk is a 90-win team can fall apart a lot easier than a 100-win team and that finally happened in 2023. The Cardinals are certainly in better shape than the other teams down here at the bottom, but they have work to do.

---

Colorado Rockies: F

You know who doesn't get enough credit? Rockies fans. They show up year after year, supporting a faceless, losing team, and draw more fans than many teams in playoff contention. The offense was dreadful. The pitching was dreadful. The most interesting player was ... Nolan Jones? He still averaged more than a strikeout per game, so I'm not even sure his breakout is sustainable. OK, shortstop Ezequiel showed promise. The farm system was better, although former first-round outfielders Zac Veen and Benny Montgomery lost some shine and three top pitching prospects had their seasons end early for Tommy John surgery.

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Like so many of the teams down here, it starts with ownership and the Rockies still seem way behind everybody else in developing a modern organization. Except in the ticket department. They're very good at selling tickets.

---

Los Angeles Angels: F

Let's not sugarcoat this: That second half was the "Howard the Duck" of second halves. The Angels decided to keep Ohtani -- to be fair, probably the right decision at the time -- but then everything fell apart. Mike Trout got hurt. Ohtani injured his elbow. Then he missed the final three weeks. It's almost unfathomable the Angels have suffered eight consecutive losing seasons with the two best players in baseball over that span, first Trout and then Ohtani. They've never been Royals bad or Rockies bad and they've clearly tried to win, unlike other organizations, but nothing ever works out as hoped. With Ohtani almost certain to sign with a new team, it's reasonable to also ask: Will the Angels ask Trout if he wants out?

---

Oakland Athletics: F

Well, on the bright side, the rotation got a little better as the season progressed. Remember April? A's starters went 0-15 with an 8.51 ERA. But, hey, the starters won twice in May, three times in July and twice in August. There was that small miracle in June when the A's somehow won seven games in a row, but there appears to be no miracle in sight to keep the franchise in Oakland as the club moves forward with its application to relocate to Las Vegas. Owner John Fisher recently promised the club would invest more in player payroll when the team moves. Vegas "demands a winner," he said, apparently not in irony.

---

Chicago White Sox: F

The White Sox weren't the worst team of 2023, but they surely can be considered the organization in the most disarray. Longtime executives Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn were fired in August with Chris Getz, the club's assistant general manager the past three seasons, getting promoted to the big job. The on-field problems are immense with only Luis Robert Jr. and Dylan Cease (who regressed from his near-Cy Young season in 2022) the only real building blocks in place.

 

 

[Beau Vine 54246]

 

[Helobious 9454]

Piss missile if I ever saw one

[Vic Mackey 47058]

[shadow_operative2.0 15988]

 

 

[Vic Mackey 47058]

[Dondrysdale1 363]

4 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

That is great and all but they changed the game so he could accomplish this. Pitchers forced to go home, bigger bases, and even pitch clock as you can’t hold the runner really before delivering pitch. He is a great player and it’s cool to see but not exciting as it changed the game. I’d be excited if it was 40-40 with old rules and bases.

[Beau Vine 54246]

Really interesting:

https://www.mlb.com/news/lessons-learned-from-first-season-with-pitch-timer-new-mlb-rules

[TonyTexas 10515]

On 3/30/2023 at 10:13 AM, TonyTexas said:

You want to do an avatar bet on the season? Yankees vs Astros. Whoever goes farther in the playoffs gets to chose the other’s avatar for a month. In the off-chance neither make the playoffs or both get knocked off in the same round, then best regular season record wins. 

 

On 3/30/2023 at 10:37 AM, Helobious said:

Low stakes, I like it. You’re on. Mathematically I’ve got the advantage, no way Astros can make 7 straight ALCS. Only variable is how good the Yankees can do

Here’s your avatar for the month of October 

 

[Helobious 9454]

38 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

 

Here’s your avatar for the month of October 

 

Super clever. Does it make you feel better? Does it change the fact that you guys are not going to win the AL West?

[Beau Vine 54246]

[Helobious 9454]

I’ll give tony credit this is a lot more annoying to look at than I thought it’d be so far. Whatever. Still swept their asses at Minute Maid. 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Helobious

[Beau Vine 54246]

Testing

[TonyTexas 10515]

11 minutes ago, Helobious said:

I’ll give tony credit this is a lot more annoying to look at than I thought it’d be so far. Whatever. Still swept their asses at Minute Maid. 

Mission accomplished but I appreciate you paying off in such a timely fashion. You went up a notch in my book. Of course, it would have been hard for you to go down much further. 

[Helobious 9454]

41 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Testing

I hope wimberley, texas state, and UW all lose on the same day at some point this year and goldschmidt gets busted for PEDs the next morning.

[BigOrange1 6441]

7 hours ago, Dondrysdale1 said:

That is great and all but they changed the game so he could accomplish this. Pitchers forced to go home, bigger bases, and even pitch clock as you can’t hold the runner really before delivering pitch. He is a great player and it’s cool to see but not exciting as it changed the game. I’d be excited if it was 40-40 with old rules and bases.

it's amazing how the rule change only affected acuna and no one else.

[shadow_operative2.0 15988]

 

[VirginiaLonghorn 4775]

[shadow_operative2.0 15988]

Could be a long night in Queens. 

 

[UTexasFight 9457]

On 9/27/2023 at 6:04 PM, Vic Mackey said:

They turned away Wally?

But don’t they know he’s world famous!

 

and if I had an alligator service animal you know I’d be rocking some alligator ropers

[UTexasFight 9457]

[shadow_operative2.0 15988]

 

 

[WBT 20586]

3 hours ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

 

The helmet over the net into the crowd is fun