MLB 2023

[The Buscher]

49 minutes ago, damhausen said:

He just gave up a 3-run bomb

The stuff is pure filth at least.

All told, I’m not too surprised Japan are down right now.  They are obviously very good, but the tournament structure pretty much gave them a bye to the semi-finals and Mexico are the first team they’ve played that even remotely resemble a big league team.

A more balanced format would be to abandon the geographic restrictions and do World Cup-style pods when drawing the pools, but that increases travel and you run the risk of more teams playing well outside their time zone.

[The Buscher]

Holy shit, what a game

That first pitch double to Ohtani was all she wrote, Gallegos was rattled beyond measure after that 

[KJE]

Incredible game, incredible finish. I can't wait for tomorrow!

[gunnar hendershow]

This shit rules, let's do it every year instead of spring training.

[The Buscher]

Ohtani strikes out Trout to win it for Japan.  Unbelievable tournament.

[gunnar hendershow]

That was really everything the WBC promised us when they started it up. Hopefully we can get just a few more of the top pitchers to participate next time around. 

[Meacon Keaton]

Yeah, before it started, you looked at our line-up and knew it'd be hard for us to come up with a better one.

But that rotation felt more like a 2009 Chicago White Sox rotation than a 2023 Team USA rotation. 

[The Buscher]

A memo from MLB to teams today confirmed that they will not be altering any of the clock rules before Opening Day.  It had been speculated that they might decide to add a couple of seconds for the first pitch of any AB rather than the first pitch of the inning, but nothing major.  In any event, what you see in spring now is what you'll get.

The memo also included this:

Quote

New standards will be enforced for batboys and batgirls, whose ability to quickly retrieve equipment will help efforts to speed up the game, according to the memo. The league will evaluate the performances of batboys and batgirls and could ask teams to replace them if it's considered substandard.

MLB:  won't ever hold umpires accountable for anything.  But batboys and batgirls?  Absolutely.

[GhostMachine]

If they held umpires accountable, Angel Hernandez wouldn't have lasted one season, and Joe West would have retired years ago.

[Meacon Keaton]

Rhys Hoskins was carted off the field today while fielding a grounder. It's presumed he is likely done for the year, showing that shit happens, WBC or Spring Training one week from Opening Day.

[The Buscher]

Yankees announce Anthony Volpe has made the Opening Day rosteR

Cardinals announce Jordan Walker has made the Opening Day roster

White Sox announced Oscar Colas has made the Opening Day roster

Mets…announce Brett Baty has been sent down despite hitting .340 this spring so they can start Eduardo Escobar who had one good month last year and is a bottom quartile defender at 3B.

I like Escobar as a utility backup and the short side of the DH platoon with Vogelbach.  Great bench guy to have in the clubhouse.  But man, this sends a shit message to demote Baty when he’s got nothing to prove in the minors.

Alas, Buck Showalter and Billy Eppler love their veterans.

[gunnar hendershow]

 

[The Buscher]

Happy Opening Day!  Gonna ring in the new year with some predictions.

National League

Division Winners
East - Braves
Central - Cardinals
West - Dodgers

Picking all repeat division champions isn't exactly bold but it feels like the right call. Braves eked out the division last year but are packed with young talent that will get even better. Cardinals are the model of consistency year-in, year-out and it just always seems to work out for them. Everyone is jumping on the Padres as the trendy West pick and I do think it'll be a closer division race than most years, but the Dodgers, while not a 111-win team anymore, still have a hell of a roster and farm even in a year where they are resetting the CBT.

Wild Cards
WC 1 - Padres
WC 2 - Phillies
WC 3 - Mets

OK I'm fully taking the chalk here by having all 6 teams back into the playoffs. Padres look loaded and you never know if that crazy bastard Preller will swing another deadline deal. Even after the Hoskins injury the Phillies offense feels top tier and the 1-2 punch is as good as any.  Not trying to sound like a downer on the Mets but they do have an old roster centered on two 38-40 year old pitchers and a bunch of guys who had career WRC+ years, they should be a good team but the regression potential is there.

Moreover I look at the rest of the NL and don't see another obvious playoff team. Brewers almost made it last year but their offense seems meh and they've pissed off Corbin Burnes who feels like he might be a sell-high trade candidate. Giants are OK but have two behemoths in the division. Marlins and D-Backs strike me as teams that could make strides this year even if they're not quite there yet.

Award Winners
MVP: Ronald Acuna
Cy Young: Zack Wheeler
Rookie of the Year: Corbin Carroll
Manager of the Year: Skip Schumaker

American League

Division Winners
East - Yankees
Central - White Sox
West - Astros

East feels tight and the Yanks are starting off banged up but I think once their rotation is intact it'll be one of the best in the league. White Sox have lots of young talent getting better and now that fossil Tony La Russa won't hold them back. Astros feel like probably the biggest slam dunk.

Wild Cards
WC 1 - Blue Jays
WC 2 - Rays
WC 3 - Angels

The East in both leagues is gonna be fun, Jays lineup is one I'll be wanting to catch a lot of on MLB Network. Rays just seem to find a way to figure it out every year even if you couldn't name half of their roster. Maybe my boldest prediction is the Angels...their organization is a joke for not being able to figure out how to get into the playoffs with Ohtani and Trout but I just wonder if something will finally click and they'll get to play in the postseason together. Would have some fascinating ramifications for the offseason if Ohtani now views the Angels as a team he could win on.

Guardians also look pretty good, if anything the White Sox as division champs is a somewhat against the grain pick as many think it's Cleveland's to lose. In theory Seattle should be really good but it would feel kinda on brand for the Mariners to finally make the playoffs only to drop right back out again despite all the young talent.

Award Winners
MVP: Shohei Ohtani
Cy Young: Gerrit Cole
Rookie of the Year: Anthony Volpe
Manager of the Year: Pedro Grifol

Playoffs

Well, last year's playoffs demonstrated more than ever that it's a crap shoot. You just need to make it in and see where things take you. So I have no real convictions with any of these picks, just pure guesswork.

For purposes of figuring out the bracket I've got the Braves and Astros as the 1 seeds, Dodgers and Yankees as the 2 seeds.

Wild Card Round
-Mets over Cardinals
-Padres over Phillies
-Angels over White Sox
-Blue Jays over Rays

Divisional Round
-Braves over Mets
-Padres over Dodgers
-Astros over Angels
-Yankees over Blue Jays

League Championship Series
-Padres over Braves
-Astros over Yankees

2023 World Series
-Astros over Padres, first repeat champion since 1998-2000

[Gabriel]

I see a lot of people worrying about the Jays rotation depth, but if Kikuchi can even perform somewhere in the middle of his last season and spring training results, we're in good shape. There are guys coming back later in the year from injury that can add to that depth or throw long out of the bullpen for us down the stretch, and if there's an injury or two, I'm actually pretty confident in the arms in Buffalo, especially with the knowledge that if a more impactful arm doesn't emerge, there's always Drew Hutchison, who performed admirably last year on a team with significantly weaker defense. He's not going to light anyone on fire, but Hutch knows how to do his job.

My bigger area of concern is keeping George Springer healthy. His bat plays almost every time he steps up to the plate. Moving him out of center was a great idea, but I'd like to see him DH more too if there are any signs of wear and tear. Keep that bat in the lineup.

 

Outside of Toronto, the thing I am most interested in this season is Ohtani. If the Angels fall out of it before the deadline, which team goes Phillip J Fry to bring him in for the post-season run?

[The Buscher]

Aaaand just like that, Verlander is suddenly going on the IL with a "mild" shoulder tear before he pitches in a single game for the Mets.  Whatever, it's a long season and who knows how much time he'll actually miss.  But shit like this just takes the wind out of my sails two hours before first pitch.

And of course, I take one look on the baseball subreddit and see that fans of the other 29 teams are flat out laughing about this.

Fans of other teams love to rip on Mets fans for generally having a negative outlook whilst simultaneously going "LOLMETS" all the time and kicking them while they're down.  Yep.  No idea why the Mets fans are such a negative bunch.

It's like saying, to borrow from a Weird Al song: "work a little bit harder on improving your low self esteem, you stupid freak"

[Your Mom]

Always nice when your team scores first and we got 4 runs off of Burnes already!  

[Your Mom]

Only need 161 more wins to go undefeated!

[Meacon Keaton]

Cole with 11 K's, Judge with a 422-foot bomb (in 38 degree weather, no less), and my baby boi Volpe with his first MLB steal makes a 5-0 win.

2 hours and 38 minutes too!

[gunnar hendershow]

Hard to see Adley Rutschman not batting 1.000 this season.

[The Buscher]

Having all 30 teams playing on Opening Day was awesome. Should really be that way every year.