2019 MLB Season Thread

[WestPhillyPunisher]

With Mets-Nationals in the NL and Orioles-Yankees in the AL underway, the 2019 baseball season has officially begun! HOORAY! Let's chat up the great American pastime here! While a goodly amount of focus will be on Manny Machado in San Diego and Bryce Harper here in Philly after the monster free agent deals they signed, there's still plenty to chat about:

--Will the Red Sox repeat?
--Can Jacob deGrom excel as the NL's best pitcher again?
--Can the low budget A's return the playoffs?
--Will the rebuilding Orioles avoid another 100 plus loss season?
--Is NL East the best division in baseball?
--Can dual threat Shohei Otani dazzle just as a batter?
--What team will come from left field and be a surprise playoff contender?

And that's just off the top of my head! So much to discuss, and six months to do so! Let's get in the box and swing away!

[Scott Taylor]

The AL will still feature the same mix as last year in the playoffs. Nothing so far has convinced me it will be otherwise. The A's will get back in by the hair of their chinny chin chin.

NL, different story. Its quite a puzzle. Philly, San Diego and Cincinatti have gotten remarkably better and will be a factor during the year, but probably not make the playoffs. If any of those teams are going to be a left-field surprise it will be Philly. The Dodgers might get challenged by the Rockies this year, but not enough for them to miss the playoffs. NL Central and East will be very interesting this year, actually.

[Joker]

Mariners are currently the best team in all of baseball!

Our rotation is pretty garbage, but the bats decent enough, if we can hold a decent rotation I wouldn’t sleep on this team having a chance at the 2nd wild card. It’s a slim chance...

Main thing will be if Félix can figure out his mechanics and be effective at all. Last year of his contract, so it’s pretty important for him to pull it together if he wants to keep playing. It’ll be a shame if he can’t. We really squandered his career.

[Kirby101]

Mariners are currently the best team in all of baseball!

Huh?!!

Not really.

[BeastieRunner]

Huh?!!

Not really.

2-0! It's the best week of baseball they've had in 17 years.

[Kirby101]

2-0! It's the best week of baseball they've had in 17 years.

Oh, I get it. Best record today, not best line up.

[Joker]

Yes, best record, because the two games in Japan counted. Let us have what little glory we can.

[Scott Taylor]

2-0! It's the best week of baseball they've had in 17 years.

Stupid Tokyo Dome! The A's should have gotten Buster Douglas to give them a pep talk.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The Braves were the first team to make the mistake of walking Bryce Harper, which they did in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases for Rhys Hoskins who promptly cleared them with a grand slam and a 10-3 Phillies lead over Atlanta.

[BeastieRunner]

Stupid Tokyo Dome! The A's should have gotten Buster Douglas to give them a pep talk.

It's the only time the M's will lead all year ... let them have it.