MLB 2022 Season Thread

[MRP]

Wow Trevor Story hits 3 home runs, 4 hits and 7 RBI. Then steals a base....and the Sox win.

The Sox are not going anywhere this season but I at least hope they can pick it up and make it fun to watch. After the Celtics games are done I need baseball in my life

"As part of a 4-for-4 night that included five runs, seven RBIs and one stolen base, Story belted three homers -- the latter two of which soared over the Green Monster and onto Lansdowne Street -- at an aggregate Statcast-projected distance of 1,163 feet" - MLB.com

The Red Sox are starting to play just well enough that they will be able to once again break the hearts of Red Sox nation come August or September.

-M

[InfamousBG]

The Red Sox are starting to play just well enough that they will be able to once again break the hearts of Red Sox nation come August or September.

-M

I agree with you on this one.

[achilles]

Interesting, Pujols is only 13 behind A-Rod for 4th on the all-time HR list, and he hit two today. I think he has a chance to do it this season.

[InfamousBG]

Red Sox win with a walk off Grand Slam. 5 wins in a row. Not getting excited yet but they look good.

[MRP]

Red Sox win with a walk off Grand Slam. 5 wins in a row. Not getting excited yet but they look good.

The extra inning grand slam hides the fact they blew the save by giving up a home run with 2 outs in the ninth, and this is the first time this season they haven't lost when the game has gone to extras. They do not have a bullpen arm they can count on to lock down the ninth inning. They're going nowhere until they find someone reliable in high leverage situations out of the bullpen. They had 1 arm that fit that, Garrett Whitlock, and they are using him as a 3 inning starter instead.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

My Phillies avoided a sweep at the hands of the Dodgers with a 4-3 10 inning win today. Whew!

[Kirby101]

Here in NY, everyone is very pleased with the way the Yankees and Mets are doing. I can tell you before the season, no one thought they would be this good. There were questions about Cole and Judge for the Yankees, and people thought the Mets would have to wait for Degrom to get back. But here we are, both at the top. Let's see if the can keep it up.
And as an aside, the Yankees should have signed Judge long term. They offered him the yearly money he wanted, but not the extra year. To keep him will now be more expensive.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Here in NY, everyone is very pleased with the way the Yankees and Mets are doing. I can tell you before the season, no one thought they would be this good. There were questions about Cole and Judge for the Yankees, and people thought the Mets would have to wait for Degrom to get back. But here we are, both at the top. Let's see if the can keep it up.
And as an aside, the Yankees should have signed Judge long term. They offered him the yearly money he wanted, but not the extra year. To keep him will now be more expensive.

The Mets figure to have the tougher time staying atop NL East, what with deGrom and Scherzer both out, so, it’s a good thing they have a large lead, but, can they keep it without their top two horses? Meanwhile, the Yankees are looking tough, even though they were swept by the Pale Hose yesterday, however, not doing all they could to lock up Judge is going to hurt them when he asks for THE largest contract for a position player.

[achilles]

The Mets figure to have the tougher time staying atop NL East, what with deGrom and Scherzer both out, so, it’s a good thing they have a large lead, but, can they keep it without their top two horses? Meanwhile, the Yankees are looking tough, even though they were swept by the Pale Hose yesterday, however, not doing all they could to lock up Judge is going to hurt them when he asks for THE largest contract for a position player.

He certainly has earned a huge contract. Part of me wants the Yanks not to sign him so the Dodgers could steal him. Bellinger's looking...ordinary, very ordinary, and that's not cutting it. Judge to the Dodgers and it would be all over bar the shouting.

That said, the Yankees would be crazy not to lock that contract in to his terms.

[C_Miller]

I'm pretty pleased with the Mets. deGrom, Scherzer and the surprising Megill all being out creates some pretty questionable depth in the rotation, but Carrasco, Bassitt, Walker and Peterson have proven themselves to be good enough to get us through if the bats can stay awake. We're definitely not going to dominate over the never few weeks, but I'm hopeful that we can maintain our lead in the division.

It's going to be a really tough day when we have all of our starting pitchers healthy.

[Kirby101]

True about the Mets right now, but the second half of the season with deGrom and Scherzer back, they will be formidable.

[achilles]

And in the sleazy side of MLB...the mayor of Anaheim, where the Angels play, has resigned as part of the stadium land scandal. He allegedly offered team owner Moreno the city's negotiating stance in exchange for a huge campaign donation. Others have also resigned. The deal, whereby Moreno would pay some huge but probably cut rate amount of money for the land around Angel Stadium, is on hold per the CA Department of Justice. That deal was probably one reason why the team didn't go on a bigger shopping spree off-season for talent. No word on criminal charges yet.

Edit: The team itself seems in the clear.

[InfamousBG]

I am actually interested in the Red Sox/White Sox game today. I do believe Pivetta can pitch.

[MRP]

I am actually interested in the Red Sox/White Sox game today. I do believe Pivetta can pitch.

Pivetta is a very good pitcher when everything is correct with his mechanics. If even the slightest thing in those mechanics is off, he is utterably hittable because he leaves everything in the middle of the plate. He has to locate his pitches to be effective, and that is entirely reliant on his mechanics being exactly where he needs them to be. It seemed like he never found that with the Phillies and no one on their staff was able to recognize what he needed. The Sox staff were able to identify it and when he's firing on all cylinders, he has had some dominant stretches. However, he's had stretches where he is absolutely terrible when his mechanics have gotten out of whack, even slightly. He wasn't ready to start this season, with the shortened spring training, he never got his mechanics right. He looks like he's finally found it and pitched really well his last 4-5 starts. However, things fall apart for him easily. Sometimes it's as simple as he doesn't get a call on a close pitch, he gets frustrated and his delivery goes slightly off until he calms down, but by the time he does he's given up a crooked number on the score board, or he has to cover first on a tough play and tweaks something and that sets his mechanics off, or whatever.

He can pitch, and pitch well, but he's not reliable. He's a very good #3 or 4 starter who can have some dominant starts, but he's not a top of the rotation started because he still has too many days where he chews through the bullpen because he's off that day. The problem is the Sox have a lot of #3 starters on their staff, and not a lot of #1 and 2 starters. Combined with a bullpen that leads the league in blown saves, and it's not a good combo and has a lot to do with their slow start. Early in the season they had to win games 1-0 because that's all the offense was going to give them and they don't have the rotation or bullpen to do that on a regular basis. Their offense is picking up, so they've been on a hot streak, but they're still no better than a .500 team, and even with extended playoffs, that's not good enough to make the postseason. They're good enough that they could beat any team on a given day, but they also have enough holes in their roster that they can lose to any team on any given day. They can't win the games they're supposed to on a consistent basis, which is the difference between good teams that make the playoffs (who can and do do that) and also rans. I've seen a lot of Sox teams since I started following them in '73 as a 4 year old. There's nothing about this team that they've shown so far that makes them look like anything but an also ran this season. And from the way things look, with all the expiring contracts and their inability to reach extension agreements with key players, that roster is going to be completely different next year than it is now, but there's no telling it that will make them better or worse.

-M

[InfamousBG]

Pivetta is a very good pitcher when everything is correct with his mechanics. If even the slightest thing in those mechanics is off, he is utterably hittable because he leaves everything in the middle of the plate. He has to locate his pitches to be effective, and that is entirely reliant on his mechanics being exactly where he needs them to be. It seemed like he never found that with the Phillies and no one on their staff was able to recognize what he needed. The Sox staff were able to identify it and when he's firing on all cylinders, he has had some dominant stretches. However, he's had stretches where he is absolutely terrible when his mechanics have gotten out of whack, even slightly. He wasn't ready to start this season, with the shortened spring training, he never got his mechanics right. He looks like he's finally found it and pitched really well his last 4-5 starts. However, things fall apart for him easily. Sometimes it's as simple as he doesn't get a call on a close pitch, he gets frustrated and his delivery goes slightly off until he calms down, but by the time he does he's given up a crooked number on the score board, or he has to cover first on a tough play and tweaks something and that sets his mechanics off, or whatever.

He can pitch, and pitch well, but he's not reliable. He's a very good #3 or 4 starter who can have some dominant starts, but he's not a top of the rotation started because he still has too many days where he chews through the bullpen because he's off that day. The problem is the Sox have a lot of #3 starters on their staff, and not a lot of #1 and 2 starters. Combined with a bullpen that leads the league in blown saves, and it's not a good combo and has a lot to do with their slow start. Early in the season they had to win games 1-0 because that's all the offense was going to give them and they don't have the rotation or bullpen to do that on a regular basis. Their offense is picking up, so they've been on a hot streak, but they're still no better than a .500 team, and even with extended playoffs, that's not good enough to make the postseason. They're good enough that they could beat any team on a given day, but they also have enough holes in their roster that they can lose to any team on any given day. They can't win the games they're supposed to on a consistent basis, which is the difference between good teams that make the playoffs (who can and do do that) and also rans. I've seen a lot of Sox teams since I started following them in '73 as a 4 year old. There's nothing about this team that they've shown so far that makes them look like anything but an also ran this season. And from the way things look, with all the expiring contracts and their inability to reach extension agreements with key players, that roster is going to be completely different next year than it is now, but there's no telling it that will make them better or worse.

-M

Well with the Celtics over in a few weeks I need something to watch. I will watch an MLB game if its on and I have the time. With the Sox I just want them to be entertaining. I believe they could still turn it around but maybe not enough to make the playoffs. Even if they make the playoffs there are far better teams out there.