#6.2 innings of great pitching

[dinosaurwithablog]

Nestor Cortés comes into today's game after throwing two 7 inning shut out games with no walks allowed!! This is very rare. The last person to do this was Ron Guidry. That's how rare it is. Great job, Nestor!!! Do it again, my friend!! 😍 Let's go Yankees!!!!!

Nestor has a 19 inning scoreless streak going. That's his best record to date. If he can finish the 6th today, he'll have 20 scoreless innings!! He just needs one more out. The bases are loaded. No pressure. 🤣 Let's go, Nestor!! I believe in you!! One more strike.... the pitch.... he did it!!! Spectacular pitching, Nestor!! Striking out the top of the order with all those men on base!!! Great job!! Thank you, Nestor!! That was a nail biter, indeed. You just proved how great you are!! Let's go Yankees!!!!!

Boone let Nestor pitch the 7th, but unfortunately, pitch number 88 was a home run. Nestor pitched a great game. This is the first home run that he allowed since August 8th. Hold your head high, Nestor!! You did a great job!! Let's go Yankees!!!!!

[theultimatefan]

Fireworks, Community & Pop Culture: Ten Things to Know in the American Association This Week

The American Association of Professional Baseball (@AA_Baseball) season continues with a full slate of series this weekend, all available for free live viewing at aabaseball.tv.

Here are 10 (or so) Things to Know about the AAPB this week:

Because one fireworks show just isn't enough -- and maybe some Cleburne fans might miss the Biggest Fireworks Show of the Season on the 4th -- the Railroaders will host the Second Biggest Fireworks show on the 5th.

July 4th doesn't mean fireworks north of the U.S. border, but that's not stopping the Winnipeg Goldeyes from having a celebration of their own, and the team's Field of Dreams Foundation will benefit. Next Thursday is the first-ever Bike-In Movie Night at Blue Cross Park, where for $4 fans can ride their bike or walk onto the field for a screening of lsat year's film Next Goal Wins.

The Kansas City Star wrote about A.J. Alexy (Honey Brook, Pa), a two-year Major Leaguer with the Texas Rangers, standing out for the Monarchs. Alexy has struck out 12 batters over 6.2 innings in six hitless, scoreless appearances at press time.

One of the great things about the AAPB is that player movement goes the other way, too. Victor Vargas (Catagena, Colombia) who was signed by the Reds and assigned to AA Dayton, was 4-1 with a 2.11 ERA in seven starts with the Milwaukee Milkmen and picked right up where he left off, earning a win with a two-hit, four-strikeout performance over five innings in his debut vs. Fort Wayne on Tuesday.

Thomas Dillard (Oxford, Miss.) is on pace to shatter the AAPB record for walks in a single season for a player. The Cleburne infielder has drawn 50 free passes in 43 games at press time, which includes as many games (11) in which he has walked in multiple plate appearances as he has games (11) in which he has failed to draw a walk. TJ Mittelstaedt set league the record at 94 back in 2014 for Kansas City (then the T-Bones). Not coincidentally, Dillard tied the Ole Miss record with 135 career walks drawn.

Sioux Falls Canaries skipper Mike Meyer has 299 career managerial wins at press time, seeking to becoming the second Sioux Falls manager to reach 300, behind only Steve Shirley (Mike was Steve’s pitching coach with the Canaries for many years). Meyer has the team tied for first place (24-15); the Canaries had not been nine games over .500 at any point since finishing the 2010 season at 63-33.

The Gary SouthShore RailCats continue to work on uniting the local community in Northwest Indiana. The team will host NWI Chamber Night on July 17 at the SteelYard, with 14 chambers of commerce scheduled to attend. The goal of the event is to help the chambers in their aim to further the interests of small businesses in the community as well as provide education and networking opportunities.

Kane County infielder Josh Allen (Fort Meade, Fla.) has spent the majority of the last seven seasons in the AAPB, the last four with the Cougars after three in St. Paul. He is now four shy of 100 home runs in his pro career after hitting 12 last year, second best on the squad.

Lake Country was the perfect way station for Austin Davis last year, as the lefty who has played for four MLB teams, last with the Twins in 2022, finished out 2023 with the Dockhounds. It was enough for the San Diego Padres to take a flier on him, and he hasn't disappointed, moving in to the closer role for the AAA El Paso Chihuahuas, notching eight saves and fanning 37 in 29 innings at press time. The El Paso Times chronicled his comeback story.

Pop culture hits the AAPB with these fun theme nights coming up:

Tonight - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Night at Fargo-Moorhead

Friday - Seinfeld Night at Sioux Falls

Friday- Pirate and Princess Night at Gary SouthShore

Friday through Sunday - Classic Movies Weekend at Lake Country

Sunday - Minions at the Park at Milwaukee

[tigermike]

YANKEES WIN The Yankees defeated the Dodgers tonight 4-1 & won the series 2-1. They had 5 hits including 1 double & 1 home run. Anthony Volpe was the Yankee batting star of the game. He was 2-4 including his 9th home run & 2 RBI's. Kyle Higashioka was 0-4 including 1 RBI on a fielders choice. Oswaldo Cabrera was 0-1 including 1 RBI on a fielders choice. Domingo German started & pitched a great game. He went 6.2 innings & gave up 4 hits & 1 run. The Yankees used 2 relievers who were lights out. Clay Holmes (4-2) got the win in relief. Wanda Peralta got his 4th save. The Yankees improved their record ro 36-25. They will play their next game on Tues against the White Sox at 6:05. LET'S GO BRONX BOMBERS.

[ravensale46-blog]

Did The Cubs Miss Their Chance To Be A Dynasty?

In addition to being one of the great sports stories of the 21st century — breaking a 108-year championship drought in extra innings of World Series Game 7 — the 2016 Chicago Cubs were legitimately one of the best baseball teams of all time. With a championship core of young talent that included Kris Bryant (age 24),1 Anthony Rizzo (26), Kyle Hendricks (26), Addison Russell (22), Javier Baez (23), Kyle Schwarber (23), Willson Contreras (24) and Jason Heyward (26), Chicago seemed poised to follow up that magical run by becoming a dynasty in the coming seasons.

That’s not quite how things have played out. The 2017 Cubs stumbled out of the gate and never quite clicked, eventually losing to the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. The 2018 version squandered the five-game division lead they held over the Brewers on Sept. 1, lost the division tiebreaker in Game 163 of the regular season and then promptly lost the wild-card game against Colorado. And the Cubs’ grip on the Central figures to loosen even further this season. According to a preliminary version of our 2019 MLB Projections, we give Chicago only the third-best projected record (84 wins) in the division, with a mere 24 percent chance of winning it.

The NL Central has caught up with the Cubs

How our preliminary Elo ratings are forecasting the 2019 NL Central race

Avg. Simulated Season Chance to… Team Elo Rating Wins Losses Run Diff. Make Playoffs Win Division Win World Series Cardinals 1528 86 76 +42 45% 28% 4% Brewers 1525 85 77 +33 41 25 4 Cubs 1523 84 78 +31 40 24 4 Pirates 1502 79 83 -15 25 13 1 Reds 1497 77 85 -32 20 10 1

Based on 100,000 simulations of the 2019 MLB season.

Sources: Baseball prospectus, Fangraphs, Clay Davenport, Caesar’s Palace

How is it possible that the Cubs went from dynasty in the making in 2016 to a team struggling to stay atop its own division in less than three years? The answer lies in part with the team’s declining core and team president Theo Epstein’s inability to supplement it with effective reinforcements from the outside — particularly when it comes to pitching.

Few teams have ever undergone an overhaul as extreme as the Cubs did in the four years leading up to their championship season. Chicago improved from 16.6 wins above replacement2 during their dreadful 61-win 2012 to 56.8 WAR in 2016, with essentially all of those gains coming via newly acquired talent (rather than improvements from existing holdovers). As part of that process, Epstein made a number of shrewd trades, drafted several key contributors and increased Chicago’s payroll by 169 percent relative to the MLB average.

It all came together as a textbook example of tearing down and rebuilding a franchise. The 2016 Cubs had baseball’s third-most-valuable pitchers by WAR (including the No. 1 starting rotation) and the best defense by a country mile, on top of an offense that tied for the NL lead in adjusted on-base plus slugging percentage. The pitching side was expensive and creaky — one of the oldest ever to win a World Series, in fact — but Epstein and the Cubs seemed to be winning the battle of ideas about where to invest in order to build a ballclub with perennial championship aspirations.

Since 2016, though, the formula has broken down. The team’s net WAR on arrivals and departures — in which Chicago topped baseball from 2012 to 2016 — has dropped to eighth-worst in MLB. The Cubs haven’t added very many new faces, and what few acquisitions the team has made have largely flopped, particularly on the mound. Starters Tyler Chatwood, Jose Quintana and Yu Darvish all badly underperformed their established performance levels as members of the Cubs, for instance. As a result, Chicago has mainly had to rely on its existing core to keep the team in contention.

This makes some sense, to a certain extent. The natural maturation process of a championship team is to add talent in the lead-up to contention, then shift toward maintaining it once the roster finally reaches the top of the heap. But that hasn’t really happened, either. Not only have the new players underperformed, the team’s nexus of homegrown talent has, too. The Cubs’ holdovers are a net -14.8 WAR since 2016, which ranks fourth-worst in MLB. The multiyear plan to build a great core and then set it loose doesn’t work when that core regresses.

The rise and stall of the Cubs

Chicago Cubs’ net wins above replacement (WAR) added/subtracted by season from incoming/outgoing and existing players, 2013-18

Net WAR from… Season Previous WAR + Arrivals – Departures + Holdovers = Season WAR 2013 16.6 + 10.1 + 2.2 – 2.9 = 26.1 2014 26.1 + 7.8 – 6.1 + 2.2 = 30.0 2015 30.0 + 19.8 – 3.4 – 2.0 = 44.5 2016 44.5 + 10.8 + 0.5 + 1 = 56.8 2017 56.8 + 8.3 – 9.5 – 13.1 = 42.5 2018 42.5 + 7.5 – 6.2 – 1.8 = 42.1

Positive net WAR for departures means departing players cumulatively had negative WAR the previous year.

Sources: Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs

The 2018 Cubs shared some of the strengths of the 2016 club — both had top-5 defenses by WAR — but Chicago slipped to 14th in WAR from its starting rotation and was basically average offensively according to adjusted OPS. An injury to Bryant cost him 60 games, while Rizzo’s performance declined for reasons mostly unknown.

Bryzzo wasn’t alone in its combined downturn. Sixteen players appeared on the 2016, 2017 and 2018 Cubs. Some of them — such as Contreras, Baez and Schwarber — have flourished in expanded roles since 2016. But in more cases than not, this core group has produced less despite being asked to carry more of the load over time:3

The Cubs are relying on the same core … and getting less

For players who were on the 2016, 2017 and 2018 Chicago Cubs, share of team playing time logged* and wins above replacement (WAR) by season

Playing time WAR Player Pos 2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018 Anthony Rizzo 1B 6.6% 6.8% 6.4% 5.2 4.2 2.8 Kris Bryant 3B 6.8 6.5 4.4 7.6 6.4 2.1 Ben Zobrist 2B 6.2 4.8 5.0 3.8 0.4 3.4 Jon Lester P 5.7 5.1 4.9 4.9 2.0 2.4 Javier Baez IF 4.4 5.0 6.2 2.7 2.6 5.7 Jason Heyward RF 5.8 4.7 4.7 1.1 1.6 1.8 Kyle Hendricks P 5.3 4.0 5.4 4.8 2.8 3.0 Addison Russell SS 5.8 3.8 4.5 3.7 1.9 1.7 Willson Contreras C 2.8 4.2 5.2 1.9 3.6 2.7 Kyle Schwarber LF 0.0 4.8 4.9 -0.1 0.8 2.3 Albert Almora CF 1.1 3.2 4.6 0.6 1.1 1.4 Mike Montgomery P 1.0 3.8 3.1 0.2 1.9 1.2 Pedro Strop P 1.5 2.1 2.2 0.8 1.0 1.4 Carl Edwards Jr. P 1.1 2.4 1.8 0.4 1.2 1.2 Tommy La Stella IF 1.7 1.5 1.8 0.6 0.5 0.1 Rob Zastryzny P 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.5 -0.2 0.0 Total 56.3 63.0 65.3 38.7 31.8 33.2

* Through plate appearances or (leverage-adjusted) innings pitched.

Sources: Baseball-Reference.com, Fangraphs

It also bears mentioning that Epstein and the Cubs have been hamstrung in how much outside talent they can add by a massive payroll bill, which has affected the team’s depth all across the diamond. In terms of marginal payroll per WAR, Chicago went from being the second-most cost-effective playoff team of 2016 to the least cost-effective playoff team of 2018.

Trade pickup Cole Hamels was one of the few pitchers who didn’t underwhelm in Chicago (he was very good upon joining the Cubs at last year’s deadline). And in the field, rookie David Bote was a pleasant surprise last season. Both will be back for 2019, along with practically all the rest of the aforementioned core.4 The Cubs were briefly rumored to be in on the Bryce Harper derby, but for now Chicago’s biggest offseason acquisition is utilityman Daniel Descalso. And the lack of upgrades is part of the problem heading into 2019.

Although FanGraphs projects the Cubs to have a top-5 lineup, the site sees the pitching staff dropping outside MLB’s top 10 — and with an 88-win prediction for the Cubs, FanGraphs is one of the forecasters most bullish on Chicago’s chances. If the Brewers caught the Cubs on talent last season, the Cardinals might have passed them both by now. Meanwhile, manager Joe Maddon is in the final year of his contract, with no extension in place going forward. From team leadership to the core of the roster, many of the factors that played a key role in Chicago’s rise now look shockingly uncertain three years later.

The good news for Chicago, though, is that the potential still exists for an exciting summer at Wrigley Field. Even if 2016 was an outlier, a team as talented as the 2017 and 2018 Cubs — which was, after all, good enough for an average of 93.5 wins per season — remains a contender. It might not be the kind of dynasty that either Epstein or fans on the North Side had in mind when they were celebrating their curse-breaking World Series victory. But hey, at least it’s far better than all the bad Cub teams of the 1980s and ’90s that many of us grew up watching on WGN.

Jay Boice contributed research.

Source: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/did-the-cubs-miss-their-chance-to-be-a-dynasty/?yptr=yahoo?src=rss

[woundepoxy53-blog]

Bauer throws no-hitter through seven innings, sets MLB record

Trevor Bauer has been virtually unhittable this year and that continued in the Cleveland Indians' MLB win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Indians right-hander no-hit the Blue Jays through seven innings in Cleveland on Thursday before exiting after 117 pitches. While he had control issues, including five walks, he punched out eight hitters.

Fastball, breaking ball, change-up, everything worked for Bauer against the Blue Jays.

Indians relievers lost the no-hit bid in the ninth, but Cleveland won 4-1.

Coming off his best season in 2018 (12-6, 2.21 ERA), expectations were high for the 28-year-old Bauer, but he has far exceeded those in his first two starts.

In his previous appearance on March 30 against the Minnesota Twins, Bauer allowed only one hit in seven innings, walked one and struck out nine, although he got touched for an earned run. Bauer currently has a streak of 10.2 hitless innings.

Bauer becomes the first pitcher in MLB history to pitch five or more innings in back-to-back starts to open the season and allow only one hit.

 Torres torments Orioles

Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres hit two home runs and went four for four with four RBIs in New York's 8-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles. He became the youngest Yankee to have a four-hit game with three extra-base hits since Joe DiMaggio in 1936.

Athletics right fielder Stephen Piscotty had four hits, including a homer, and five RBIs in Oakland's 7-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Braves lefty Max Fried gave up one hit in six scoreless against the Chicago Cubs (he was perfect through 5.2 innings) in a 9-4 win. Atlanta slugger Nick Markakis had three doubles, five hits in five at-bats and five RBIs to key the offense.

Stephen Strasburg struck out nine and gave up only three hits in 6.2 scoreless innings for the Washington Nationals to earn the win against the New York Mets.

 Dreadful Davis

Orioles first basemen Chris Davis struck out in all three at-bats and is now 0 for 17 with 11 strikeouts this year.

 Laureano shows off arm

Oakland center fielder Ramon Laureano showed off his incredible arm.

The Cubs' Kyle Schwarber made a great diving catch.

Thursday's results

Detroit Tigers 5-4 Kansas City Royals Washington Nationals 4-0 New York Mets New York Yankees 8-4 Baltimore Orioles Oakland Athletics 7-3 Boston Red Sox Cleveland Indians 4-1 Toronto Blue Jays Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 Cincinnati Reds Atlanta Braves 9-4 Chicago Cubs Texas Rangers 11-4 Los Angeles Angels

 Cubs at Brewers

The Cubs (1-5) are off to a rocky start, while Christian Yelich (four home runs) and the Milwaukee Brewers (6-1) look ready to repeat their success from last season. Lefty Jose Quintana gets his first start for Chicago. He was both good and bad in his only other appearance this year, a four-inning scoreless stint on March 30 against the Rangers where he gave up five hits and three walks but struck out eight. The Brewers counter with Brandon Woodruff, who won his first start of the year.

Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/bauer-throws-no-hitter-seven-060146229.html?src=rss

[andresonphlip-blog]

Atlanta Braves Spring Training Stats

Spring training says a lot when it comes to what player is doing what for the teams. Although the wins and losses in the spring training don’t count much for the regular season it does give us an individual idea on player’s potentials and if he makes the team or not.

Cheap Atlanta Braves Tickets are available at Bbtix. Get them now so you can be part of Atlanta Braves’ next game.

So I thought why not give you some stats on offense and pitching of the team so far in the spring training and as for the wins and losses, the team is doing pretty good.

OFFENSIVE STATS:

The offense of the team I might say is staggering a bit their .246 average puts them at the 25th Rank in the league with .328 on-base percentage they are 19th which isn’t good. Get the Cheap Atlanta Braves Match Tickets, to how they are doing now.

They are averaging 4.53 runs per game and are 26th in the league for scored runs, but their home run does look pretty good they stand 15th in the league with 22 home runs. they are also 10th for stolen bases in the league with 13.1 but still need to amount to quite a bit considering they were 10th in the league with 90 stolen bases last season.

They have not played many games as the other 16 teams but still rank 23rd in strikeouts.  The only threat in Ronald Acuna striking out 9 in 22 at-bats. Though Christian Pache has made some huge contributions with 10 hits, .455 batting average and a couple of home runs. Watch him play in the next Braves Game with these Discount Braves Match Tickets on Bbtix. Adam Duvall also made a solid on-base percentage of .379. With Austin Riley hitting just .233 with no home runs who has the most at-bats this spring.

PITCHING STATS:

The pitching side of the team has more to look at with all the young players looking to make an impression.

Atlanta apparently has the best ERA this spring at 3.59 in 148 innings pitched. However, they still mark the 27th spot in the league with 131 strikeouts somewhat because they have played fewer games than the other 16 teams. Get the Cheapest Atlanta Braves Match Tickets if you want to see them play live.

With 1.22 WHIP, they are 2nd in the league, and the best part is they have scored the 4th fewest walks which is 3.1 walks per nine innings quite better than the last season.

Touki Toussaint, Kyle Wright, and Teheran combined have walked just four batters in 25 innings. Sean Newcomb maybe the only starter who struggles with the walks so far.

Even Sam Freeman looked great spring with a 1.29 ERA in seven innings pitched with seven strikeouts and two walks. Kolby Allard is the most worrisome giving up six hits and six walks in 6.2 innings pitched.

Only the time would tell what becomes of the team we have so many hopes on. To cheer them while they play buy Discounted Braves Tickets at Bbtix.

[yahoo-roto-arcade-blog]

Starting pitcher ranks: Robbie Ray puts it all together in latest Shuffle Up

Robbie Ray has been a right answer thus far (AP)

Here’s the big one, the starting pitcher shuffle up. It’s going to look absurd in a day or a week because that’s how pitching is. This position is erratic, fickle, humbling.

[Fantasy Football is open! Sign up now]

What’s happened to this point is merely an audition. We’re trying to calibrate 5×5 value from here on out.

Players at the same price are considered even. The prices are used as a tool to compare the players, but they are not scientifically derived. I study the numbers as much as I can, but I am not a formula guy. I never will be.

I will not debate the injured pitchers. They’re ranked as a courtesy. If you know exactly when Syndergaard and Bumgarner are coming back and exactly how they’ll do, wonderful. Please share it with the rest of the class.

I retain the right to tweak this list in the 24 hours. Game on.

$36 Clayton Kershaw $33 Max Scherzer $32 Chris Sale $28 Zack Greinke $25 Stephen Strasburg $24 Corey Kluber $24 Carlos Martinez $23 Dallas Keuchel $22 Yu Darvish $22 Carlos Carrasco $21 Michael Fulmer $20 Chris Archer $20 Lance McCullers $19 Marco Estrada $19 Johnny Cueto

With Archer’s stuff, you wonder how he loses as much as he does. A 3.94 ERA since the beginning of 2016 is criminal, given how talented he is (he’s also fallen short of his FIP for three straight years, which makes you wonder what we’re not measuring). That said, Archer’s struck out double-digits in four of his last six starts, maybe he’s starting to get in a groove. His career shows a 3.19 ERA and 1.15 WHIP at home, 3.88 and 1.25 on the road . . . Estrada used to be a smoke-and-mirrors guy, a lesson about sneaky-soft contact and how fly-ball pitchers are misunderstood. But this year, he’s actually starting to dominate in other areas. He’s pushed the strikeout clip over 10, dropped the walks by a third. This is a high-end SP2 now.

$18 Jon Lester $18 Justin Verlander $18 Jacob deGrom $18 James Paxton $17 Robbie Ray $17 Gerrit Cole $17 Jake Arrieta $17 David Price

I don’t think we had enough fun with Ray’s 2016 season, let’s start with that. A 218-strikeout campaign tied to a 4.90 ERA? A bloated 1.47 WHIP? An 8-15 record? You couldn’t really trust him, though you knew he could strike out 10-plus in any turn.

Ray’s ERA has dropped to 3.00 this year, despite a K/BB that’s actually an eyelash worse. He’s added a dazzling curve to the arsenal, pushed the swinging-strike rate forward, improved with first-pitch strikes. A lot of the so-called luck stats (hit rate, homer rate, strand rate) were against him last year; this year, they’re for him. But with peripheral-suggested ERAs in the mid-to-low 3s, this is a breakout we can feel good about.

Mind you, some home success would be nice. Arizona is a tricky place to pitch, and Ray knows all about it: note the 6.75 ERA at home, 0.64 ERA in the road. Obviously we expect a significant merging of those two stats, and I’d never pitch Ray at Colorado, unless it was a very format-friendly concept. But when you mix shake and pour Ray’s component profile, I like what’s in the glass.

$16 Luis Severino $15 Sean Manaea $15 Jose Quintana $15 Jake Arrieta $14 Michael Pineda $14 *Alex Wood $14 Eduardo Rodriguez $14 Jose Berrios $13 Kyle Hendricks $13 Lance Lynn $13 Jeff Samardzija

Is it possible to throw too many strikes? With Shark Sandwich, you have to wonder. Look at that strikeout rate, 10.5/9. Walks have never been a problem, and this year his BB/9 is down to 1.38. These are Cy Young-contending numbers on their own; we know BB/K tells so much of the story.

Alas, it’s not the entire story. Samardzija has a bloated 16.1 HR/FB, his strand rate blows, his hit rate stinks too. So you have to decide what you want to pay for going forward — the front door ERA or the hocus-pocus one (3.14 FIP, 2.81 xFIP). He’s allowing line drives on 27.7 percent of his batted balls, which explains away a lot of the problems. I’ll expect a high-3s ERA the rest of the way, maybe low 4s, with good strikeout numbers. Alas, that’s a very startable pitcher in the Mound Wreckage of 2017.

I don’t have any strong answers on The Q. I just won’t go any lower on him based on back class. I also think he’s on a better team in a month or two.

$12 Ivan Nova $12 *Aaron Sanchez $12 Mike Leake $12 Sonny Gray $12 Trevor Bauer $11 *Madison Bumgarner $11 Rick Porcello $11 Marcus Stroman $11 Kenta Maeda $11 Alex Cobb $11 Brandon McCarthy $10 Julio Teheran $10 Jason Vargas $10 Dylan Bundy $10 Jake Odorizzi $10 J.C. Ramirez $10 Ervin Santana

If you want a smoke-and-mirror show, Santana checks most of the boxes. Despite his walk and strikeout rates both going in the wrong direction, he somehow has a 1.75 ERA — spitting in the face of a 4.10 FIP and 4.69 xFIP. His home-run rate is in line with his recent levels, but somehow he’s managed a .143 BABIP and a strand rate over 90 percent. Byron Buxton is great, but he’s not that great.

We can’t yell “regression!” and walk out of the room, you know that. But Santana’s ultimate give-back might be jagged to the point that he’s not even worth rostering. I don’t know how sophisticated the owners are in your league, but I’d be trying to sell. Maybe you can’t get something that makes sense. But you need to make an attempt.

Gray looked terrific before one awful inning at Cleveland, so I’m trying to keep my balance here . . .  Bauer still has lapses in command and concentration, but there’s probably signature-significance to a 14-strikeout start and his secondary ERAs are all much better than the front-door number  . . . McCarthy remains the most interesting athlete on Twitter, and he’s a pretty damn good pitcher when the health cooperates. He’s also well-versed in metrics and secondary thinking, a step ahead of many of his contemporaries . . . Nova is another winner of the Ray Searage lottery; you can live with those strikeout numbers when walks are eliminated . . . Lots of good fortune flashing for Bundy; a silly-high strand rate, a suspiciously-low BABIP. His strikeout rate is down to 6.2/9, which makes him very risky to me, especially in the AL East. Remember, that division has the best cumulative record and the best cumulative run differential. It’s still full of landmines and alligators . . . I really don’t know where Teheran went wrong, but we should at least note that he’s been a lot worse at home.

$9 *Noah Syndergaard $9 *Jameson Taillon $9 John Lackey $9 Dan Straily $9 Masahiro Tanaka $8 Derek Holland $8 Tanner Roark $8 Rich Hill $8 *Taijuan Walker $7 Michael Wacha $6 *Steven Matz $6 Matt Shoemaker $6 J.A. Happ $6 Jimmy Nelson $6 Adam Wainwright $6 Zack Wheeler $5 *Trevor Cahill $5 *Cole Hamels $5 Andrew Triggs $5 Matt Harvey $5 *Charlie Morton $5 *Matt Andriese $5 Joe Ross $5 Dinelson Lamet $4 *Felix Hernandez $4 Aaron Nola

My goal for this year is for everyone to see the truth with Aaron Nola.

I know pitching is a minefield right now, but I want to play in leagues where people think Aaron Nola is a Top 20 starter.

— scott pianowski (@scott_pianowski) May 3, 2017

Last calendar year for Aaron Nola: 6.55 ERA, 1.69 WHIP. I know it’s injury-related, but I don’t get the bandwagon. Let the narrative go.

— scott pianowski (@scott_pianowski) June 1, 2017

$4 Gio Gonzalez $4 Zack Godley $4 Brad Peacock $4 Drew Pomeranz $4 Mike Clevinger $4 *Nathan Karns $3 *Danny Duffy $3 Danny Salazar $3 Jaime Garcia $3 Antonio Senzatela $3 Kevin Gausman $3 Ian Kennedy $3 Ty Blach $3 *Jon Gray $3 Luis Perdomo $3 Patrick Corbin $3 Junior Guerra $3 Jharel Cotton $3 *Francisco Liriano $3 Jordan Montgomery $3 Josh Tomlin $3 Hyun-Jin Ryu $3 Ariel Miranda $3 Ricky Nolasco $2 *Julio Urias $2 German Marquez $2 Jerad Eickhoff $2 *Carlos Rodon $2 Kyle Freeland $2 Zach Davies $2 Jeff Hoffman $2 Eric Skoglund $1 *Vincent Velasquez $1 *Wei-Yin Chen $1 *Kendall Graveman $1 Matt Moore $1 Tyler Glasnow $1 *Hisashi Iwakuma $1 Jesse Hahn $1 Mike Foltynewicz $1 Daniel Norris $1 Jose Urena $0 Jason Hammel $0 Clayton Richard $0 Robert Gsellman $0 Andrew Cashner $0 Jeremy Hellickson $0 Phil Hughes $0 Matt Boyd $0 AJ Griffin $0 Jesse Chavez $0 R.A. Dickey $0 Chris Tillman $0 Wade Miley $0 Jhoulys Chacin $0 Mike Fiers $0 Hector Santiago $0 *Joe Musgrove $0 Amir Garrett $0 Jordan Zimmermann $0 Alex Meyer $0 Chad Kuhl $0 Matt Garza $0 Eddie Butler $0 Tyler Anderson $0 C.C. Sabathia $0 Matt Cain $0 Scott Feldman $0 Tyler Chatwood $0 Bartolo Colon $0 Ubaldo Jimenez $0 Jered Weaver $0 Mike Pelfrey

I could have differentiate the zero-dollar guys, but basically they’re all “unownable” and let’s leave it at that. Cashner is the funky name here, because he has a solid ERA that’s complete mirage. You can’t make it in today’s game when you walk more batters than you strike out. That is completely unsustainable.

Related:

[jodyedgarus]

Did The Cubs Miss Their Chance To Be A Dynasty?

In addition to being one of the great sports stories of the 21st century — breaking a 108-year championship drought in extra innings of World Series Game 7 — the 2016 Chicago Cubs were legitimately one of the best baseball teams of all time. With a championship core of young talent that included Kris Bryant (age 24),1 Anthony Rizzo (26), Kyle Hendricks (26), Addison Russell (22), Javier Baez (23), Kyle Schwarber (23), Willson Contreras (24) and Jason Heyward (26), Chicago seemed poised to follow up that magical run by becoming a dynasty in the coming seasons.

That’s not quite how things have played out. The 2017 Cubs stumbled out of the gate and never quite clicked, eventually losing to the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. The 2018 version squandered the five-game division lead they held over the Brewers on Sept. 1, lost the division tiebreaker in Game 163 of the regular season and then promptly lost the wild-card game against Colorado. And the Cubs’ grip on the Central figures to loosen even further this season. According to a preliminary version of our 2019 MLB Projections, we give Chicago only the third-best projected record (84 wins) in the division, with a mere 24 percent chance of winning it.

The NL Central has caught up with the Cubs

How our preliminary Elo ratings are forecasting the 2019 NL Central race

Avg. Simulated Season Chance to… Team Elo Rating Wins Losses Run Diff. Make Playoffs Win Division Win World Series Cardinals 1528 86 76 +42 45% 28% 4% Brewers 1525 85 77 +33 41 25 4 Cubs 1523 84 78 +31 40 24 4 Pirates 1502 79 83 -15 25 13 1 Reds 1497 77 85 -32 20 10 1

Based on 100,000 simulations of the 2019 MLB season.

Sources: Baseball prospectus, Fangraphs, Clay Davenport, Caesar’s Palace

How is it possible that the Cubs went from dynasty in the making in 2016 to a team struggling to stay atop its own division in less than three years? The answer lies in part with the team’s declining core and team president Theo Epstein’s inability to supplement it with effective reinforcements from the outside — particularly when it comes to pitching.

Few teams have ever undergone an overhaul as extreme as the Cubs did in the four years leading up to their championship season. Chicago improved from 16.6 wins above replacement2 during their dreadful 61-win 2012 to 56.8 WAR in 2016, with essentially all of those gains coming via newly acquired talent (rather than improvements from existing holdovers). As part of that process, Epstein made a number of shrewd trades, drafted several key contributors and increased Chicago’s payroll by 169 percent relative to the MLB average.

It all came together as a textbook example of tearing down and rebuilding a franchise. The 2016 Cubs had baseball’s third-most-valuable pitchers by WAR (including the No. 1 starting rotation) and the best defense by a country mile, on top of an offense that tied for the NL lead in adjusted on-base plus slugging percentage. The pitching side was expensive and creaky — one of the oldest ever to win a World Series, in fact — but Epstein and the Cubs seemed to be winning the battle of ideas about where to invest in order to build a ballclub with perennial championship aspirations.

Since 2016, though, the formula has broken down. The team’s net WAR on arrivals and departures — in which Chicago topped baseball from 2012 to 2016 — has dropped to eighth-worst in MLB. The Cubs haven’t added very many new faces, and what few acquisitions the team has made have largely flopped, particularly on the mound. Starters Tyler Chatwood, Jose Quintana and Yu Darvish all badly underperformed their established performance levels as members of the Cubs, for instance. As a result, Chicago has mainly had to rely on its existing core to keep the team in contention.

This makes some sense, to a certain extent. The natural maturation process of a championship team is to add talent in the lead-up to contention, then shift toward maintaining it once the roster finally reaches the top of the heap. But that hasn’t really happened, either. Not only have the new players underperformed, the team’s nexus of homegrown talent has, too. The Cubs’ holdovers are a net -14.8 WAR since 2016, which ranks fourth-worst in MLB. The multiyear plan to build a great core and then set it loose doesn’t work when that core regresses.

The rise and stall of the Cubs

Chicago Cubs’ net wins above replacement (WAR) added/subtracted by season from incoming/outgoing and existing players, 2013-18

Net WAR from… Season Previous WAR + Arrivals – Departures + Holdovers = Season WAR 2013 16.6 + 10.1 + 2.2 – 2.9 = 26.1 2014 26.1 + 7.8 – 6.1 + 2.2 = 30.0 2015 30.0 + 19.8 – 3.4 – 2.0 = 44.5 2016 44.5 + 10.8 + 0.5 + 1 = 56.8 2017 56.8 + 8.3 – 9.5 – 13.1 = 42.5 2018 42.5 + 7.5 – 6.2 – 1.8 = 42.1

Positive net WAR for departures means departing players cumulatively had negative WAR the previous year.

Sources: Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs

The 2018 Cubs shared some of the strengths of the 2016 club — both had top-5 defenses by WAR — but Chicago slipped to 14th in WAR from its starting rotation and was basically average offensively according to adjusted OPS. An injury to Bryant cost him 60 games, while Rizzo’s performance declined for reasons mostly unknown.

Bryzzo wasn’t alone in its combined downturn. Sixteen players appeared on the 2016, 2017 and 2018 Cubs. Some of them — such as Contreras, Baez and Schwarber — have flourished in expanded roles since 2016. But in more cases than not, this core group has produced less despite being asked to carry more of the load over time:3

The Cubs are relying on the same core … and getting less

For players who were on the 2016, 2017 and 2018 Chicago Cubs, share of team playing time logged* and wins above replacement (WAR) by season

Playing time WAR Player Pos 2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018 Anthony Rizzo 1B 6.6% 6.8% 6.4% 5.2 4.2 2.8 Kris Bryant 3B 6.8 6.5 4.4 7.6 6.4 2.1 Ben Zobrist 2B 6.2 4.8 5.0 3.8 0.4 3.4 Jon Lester P 5.7 5.1 4.9 4.9 2.0 2.4 Javier Baez IF 4.4 5.0 6.2 2.7 2.6 5.7 Jason Heyward RF 5.8 4.7 4.7 1.1 1.6 1.8 Kyle Hendricks P 5.3 4.0 5.4 4.8 2.8 3.0 Addison Russell SS 5.8 3.8 4.5 3.7 1.9 1.7 Willson Contreras C 2.8 4.2 5.2 1.9 3.6 2.7 Kyle Schwarber LF 0.0 4.8 4.9 -0.1 0.8 2.3 Albert Almora CF 1.1 3.2 4.6 0.6 1.1 1.4 Mike Montgomery P 1.0 3.8 3.1 0.2 1.9 1.2 Pedro Strop P 1.5 2.1 2.2 0.8 1.0 1.4 Carl Edwards Jr. P 1.1 2.4 1.8 0.4 1.2 1.2 Tommy La Stella IF 1.7 1.5 1.8 0.6 0.5 0.1 Rob Zastryzny P 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.5 -0.2 0.0 Total 56.3 63.0 65.3 38.7 31.8 33.2

* Through plate appearances or (leverage-adjusted) innings pitched.

Sources: Baseball-Reference.com, Fangraphs

It also bears mentioning that Epstein and the Cubs have been hamstrung in how much outside talent they can add by a massive payroll bill, which has affected the team’s depth all across the diamond. In terms of marginal payroll per WAR, Chicago went from being the second-most cost-effective playoff team of 2016 to the least cost-effective playoff team of 2018.

Trade pickup Cole Hamels was one of the few pitchers who didn’t underwhelm in Chicago (he was very good upon joining the Cubs at last year’s deadline). And in the field, rookie David Bote was a pleasant surprise last season. Both will be back for 2019, along with practically all the rest of the aforementioned core.4 The Cubs were briefly rumored to be in on the Bryce Harper derby, but for now Chicago’s biggest offseason acquisition is utilityman Daniel Descalso. And the lack of upgrades is part of the problem heading into 2019.

Although FanGraphs projects the Cubs to have a top-5 lineup, the site sees the pitching staff dropping outside MLB’s top 10 — and with an 88-win prediction for the Cubs, FanGraphs is one of the forecasters most bullish on Chicago’s chances. If the Brewers caught the Cubs on talent last season, the Cardinals might have passed them both by now. Meanwhile, manager Joe Maddon is in the final year of his contract, with no extension in place going forward. From team leadership to the core of the roster, many of the factors that played a key role in Chicago’s rise now look shockingly uncertain three years later.

The good news for Chicago, though, is that the potential still exists for an exciting summer at Wrigley Field. Even if 2016 was an outlier, a team as talented as the 2017 and 2018 Cubs — which was, after all, good enough for an average of 93.5 wins per season — remains a contender. It might not be the kind of dynasty that either Epstein or fans on the North Side had in mind when they were celebrating their curse-breaking World Series victory. But hey, at least it’s far better than all the bad Cub teams of the 1980s and ’90s that many of us grew up watching on WGN.

Jay Boice contributed research.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/did-the-cubs-miss-their-chance-to-be-a-dynasty/

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Elite Sports NY

https://elitesportsny.com/2017/12/07/new-york-mets-2017-18-offseason-primer-predictions/

New York Mets: 2017-18 offseason primer, predictions

The path to the promised land for the New York Mets is easier than it seems. A few key moves this offseason will help them return to glory.

The New York Mets made the postseason in 2015 and 2016, just the second time in franchise history they produced back-to-back trips to the playoffs. After that success it was expected the Mets would make the postseason once again in 2017, right? It’s safe to say that they fooled us all. The 2017 season was an utter disappointment as the Mets finished with a 70-92 record, 27 games out of first place in the NL East.

But the Mets can easily return to the promised land in 2018. It all starts with staying healthy. The coaching changes, free agent acquisitions, or possible trades will not matter if their current players cannot stay on the field. However, that is a pretty obvious recipe for success. Let’s take a look at what the Mets need to do this offseason so they can find success in 2018 and beyond.

Sign a Veteran Starting Pitcher

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Steven Matz were supposed to be this dominant starting rotation for years to come. Then the injury bug came along. deGrom seems to be the only pitcher that Mets’ fans can actually rely on when the 2018 season comes around.

The Mets need to go out and sign a veteran arm that can eat up innings and give this injury-plagued staff a break. The idea of a six-man rotation may not be that crazy when 2018 comes around. If all five of the aforementioned arms can stay healthy, then the Mets will have nothing to worry about. But can they really count on that happening?

There are three names that the Mets should be keeping an eye on this winter: CC Sabathia, Jaime Garcia, and John Lackey.

A return to the New York Yankees has been talked up more for Sabathia since they were eliminated from the Shohei Ohtani “sweepstakes,” but he could definitely fit with the Mets. He’s thrown at least 145 innings in each of the past three years and would bring a veteran’s touch with postseason experience to a young staff.

Garcia is still a crafty lefty who has logged more than 130 innings in each of the past three seasons while filling lots of roles for lots of teams. He’s not as good as he used to be, but he can help this rotation.

My favorite of the three, however, is Lackey. He can be a headcase at times, but he is a workhorse. Only three times over his 15-year career has he thrown less than 160 innings, and he’s got three World Series rings on his fingers.

All three pitchers should come rather cheap due to their age or lack of recent success. The Mets would be wise to sign one of them to add some depth and insurance to the backend of their rotation.

The move: Sign John Lackey to a two-year, $14 million deal

CHECK OUT the MLB League Center: News, Stats, Standings, Schedules

Sign a Relief Pitcher

The Mets weren’t as busy at the trade deadline as many would have hoped. People were expecting a fire sale due to the lack of success, which in return would bring back some big-named prospects. That didn’t happen. Instead, the Mets quietly made some solid acquisitions to bolster their bullpen.

In those trades, the New York Mets acquired six relief pitching prospects. All of those prospects are 24 years old or younger. Four of those six ended the 2017 season among the Mets’ top 30 prospects, per MLB.com. Jacob Rhame is ranked 21, Stephen Nogosek is ranked 22, Jamie Callahan is ranked 28, and Gerson Bautista is ranked 30.

The best move the Mets made at the deadline was acquiring Marlins’ closer A.J. Ramos. Ramos is entering his final year of arbitration and, after a down year in 2017, isn’t likely to cost a fortune to keep around. Last year was probably the worst year of Ramos’ career, but he has been dominating in the past. From 2013 to 2016, Ramos pitched 278.1 innings in which he accumulated 319 strikeouts, 72 saves, and a 6.2 WAR. He only allowed 12 home runs in that span, while his ERA was an impressive 2.59.

Ramos is going to be a key piece for the Mets’ pen in 2018 along with Jeurys Familia. They also have a dominant lefty-specialist in Jeremy Blevins. However, they need one more solid arm in their bullpen to be considered one of the best. The Mets do not need to go out and spend a ton of money on guys like Wade Davis, Greg Holland, or ex-Met Addison Reed.

So, who should they go after? Brandon Morrow, Bryan Shaw, and Steve Cishek are the names for the New York Mets to watch this off-season. Morrow and Shaw should be able to get a deal in the range of three-years, $24 million.

Between those two, Shaw would be the better option. He has a history with new manager Mickey Callaway, as they were in Cleveland together. Shaw is also younger and has been the more consistent pitcher throughout his career. Shaw has never had an ERA over 3.50 in his seven-year career, while Morrow has recorded a 3.50 ERA or above six times in his 11-year career.

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

But the best option for the Mets would be to go for a cheaper option than Shaw or Morrow. Cue Cishek. He’s been reliable throughout his career, has never pitched to an ERA above 3.58 (in 2015) and won’t cost as much as the other guys. On top of that, Cishek’s funky motion would be a nice complement to Ramos and Familia in the Mets’ pen.

  The Move: Sign Steve Cishek to two-year, $14 million deal

Sign an Infield Bat

Offensively, the Mets were a mixed bag last year. They were tied for seventh in MLB in home runs (224) and were tied for 13th in OPS (.755) but finished tied for 18th in runs scored (735) and 19th in batting average (.250). Not great numbers, but far from terrible.

The outfield is basically set for the 2018 season. Michael Conforto should be ready to go for spring training. He will be joined by Yoenis Cespedes in left field and either Brandon Nimmo or Juan Lagares in center field.

The questions are in the infield. The Mets will be looking for Travis d’Arnaud to build off a strong finish —he hit six home runs with 19 RBI and a .999 OPS over the last month of the season. Up the middle, the Mets are pretty set with Asdrubal Cabrera at second base and Amed Rosario at short. However, they have a hole at third base and they do not seem set on Dominic Smith at first base. I’m not even going to begin talking about David Wright because, let’s face it, his career is over.

Signing a corner infielder will be the biggest key for the Mets this offseason. This is where the Mets need to spend. They definitely have the money to do so, as they currently have only $71 million in payroll, which is 19th in the league. Eric Hosmer, Carlos Santana, and Mike Moustakas are the biggest corner infield names on the market.

The ideal situation would be for the Mets to sign one of these impact players, but after giving Cespedes a four-year, $110 million deal, that’s unlikely. Just another case of the Mets being the Mets.

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

A more realistic option would be to sign Todd Frazier or Yonder Alonso. Alonso had the best year of his career in 2017 in which he appeared in his first All-Star game. He slugged 28 homers to go along with 67 RBI and a .866 OPS. Still, he isn’t likely to get more than a one-year deal for around $7 million. The Mets can surely afford that.

The better situation for the Mets would be to sign third baseman Todd Frazier. Before even looking at the stats, Frazier is a great clubhouse guy. He grew up locally in New Jersey and was a fantastic fit with the Yankees. Frazier seemed like he was the guy to rally the Yankees when it was needed. Frazier can play the same role with the Mets while being an upgrade in terms of production as well.

Right now, it seems that Wilmer Flores will be playing third base unless the Mets sign someone to man the position. In terms of OPS, Flores was more productive than Frazier. The advantage of Flores over Frazier ends there.

Frazier provides a ton more pop than Flores—he hit 27 homers compared to Flores’ 18—while driving in 22 more runs than Flores. Defensively, it is not even close as Todd Frazier is light years above Wilmer. In 2017, Flores recorded a .929 fielding percentage, -1.3 dWar, and -8 Rdrs. Frazier, meanwhile, finished with a .960 fielding percentage, 1.0 dWar, and 10 Rdrs. As you can see, Frazier would be a huge upgrade at third base for the Mets in 2018.

The Move: Sign Todd Frazier to three-year, $33 million deal

If the Mets make these moves—and can stay healthy—there’s no reason they can’t get back into the playoff picture in 2018.

 NEXT: Nido Time: Mets' Top Catching Prospect Should Be A Big Part Of Team's 2018 Plans 

CHECK OUT the New York Mets Team Center: News, Stats, Standings

[hottytoddynews]

James McArthur. Photo by Steven Gagliano

The Rebels walked off with a win against Southern Miss earlier this week thanks to a wild pitch which scored Jason Barber from third base. The come-from-behind win saw Ole Miss trailing 4-0 in the 5th inning, but the offense suddenly came to life and stormed back for a 6-5 victory.

While a run scored from a relief pitcher who reached base by way of getting hit by a pitch may not be the way Mike Bianco drew it up, this kind of win may be just what the Rebels needed to kickstart the team. The Rebels have a chance to channel that momentum into this weekend’s series against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Against Mississippi State, the Rebels were able to put themselves in positions to win but were ultimately unable to capitalize. The importance of their performance late against the Golden Eagles is certainly a step in the right direction. While the competition may seem stiffer in conference play, Southern Miss is a better ball club than Alabama, so Ole Miss has a great opportunity to win their first SEC series since the opener against Vanderbilt.

Ryan Olenek now leads the team with a .282 average, and 31 hits on the season. Still not clicking on all cylinders at the plate, there’s no clear threat in the Rebel lineup. Colby Bortles has 19 RBIs, but 10 of those have come off of sacrifice flies. Tate Blackman has reached base in 22 straight games but is hitting just .273. Perhaps the freshmen are still adjusting to the speed of college baseball with the highest average among them being Cole Zabowski’s .258. The lowest average is a .152 posted by catcher Cooper Johnson, who has been spectacular in the field.

After starter Greer Holston had given up four runs on Tuesday, his bullpen bailed on him, and a combination of five relievers limited the Golden Eagles to just one run, allowing the Rebel comeback to happen. The pitching staff deserves a ton of credit for continuing to keep Ole Miss in games. When it is time to call for the closer, Dallas Woolfolk has become a reliable arm out of the bullpen. Although Will Stokes began the season as the full-time closer, he has been moved into more of a setup-man role for Ole Miss with Woolfolk’s dominance. Woolfolk has a .83 ERA and has allowed just two runs in 15 appearances this season, with six saves.

Ole Miss may have found the perfect opponent to find their Grove at the plate, as the Crimson Tide has given up 28 runs over their last four games. The Tide has lost three of their last four and are looking for their first SEC series win. They will be led by Chandler Avant, whose .325 average leads the team. Taylor Chandler may be hitting just .229, but with seven home runs, he’s a threat to shift the momentum of a game during any at bat. With two players over 20 RBIs on the season, Alabama has been good at timely hitting with runners on base.

Pitching Matchups

Friday: RHP James McArthur (1-1, 2.00 ERA) takes the mound tonight for Ole Miss after pitching 6.2 innings and allowing two runs against MSU last week but didn’t receive a decision. LHP Dylan Duarte (2-1, 2.48 ERA) will get the start for the Tide. 

Saturday: LHP David Parkinson (4-2, 2.79) looks to bounce back after allowing five runs in his last start by shutting down the Tide on Saturday. RHP Nick Eicholtz (1-0, 5.96 ERA) will start game two of the series for Alabama. 

Sunday: LHP Ryan Rollison (3-1, 2.08) gets his second straight weekend start after pitching 6.0 and allowing two runs in a loss to MSU last Sunday. Alabama’s starter has not been announced. 

P.S. What better way is there spend National Beer Day than with beer showers out in right field? See you at Swayze this weekend!

Game Times 

Friday: 6 p.m. Saturday: 3 p.m. Sunday: 3 p.m.

Where to watch/listen

Sunday’s game will be the only televised game and can be seen on the SEC Network and SEC Network+. All games can be heard on the Ole Miss Radio Network and OleMissSports.com. 

Weather

All the bad weather moved out earlier this week, and it should be clear skies and perfect baseball weather this weekend. 

Steven Gagliano is a writer for HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at steven.gagliano@hottytoddy.com.

Follow HottyToddy.com on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat @hottytoddynews. Like its Facebook page: If You Love Oxford and Ole Miss…

The post Crimson Tide Comes To Town To Take On Rebels appeared first on HottyToddy.com.

[tigermike]

YANKEES SWEEP DOUBLEHEADER. The Yankees defeated the Twins tonight 7-1, and swept the doubleheader. They had 6 hits including 2 doubles & 1 home run. Isiah Li er-Falefa was the Yankee batting star of the game. He went 1-3 including his 3rd home run (Grand slam) & 4 RBI's. Aaron Hicks was 1-5 including 1 double & 3 RBI's. Gerrit Cole (11-7) started & pitched a great game. He went 6.2 innings & gave up 5 hits & 1 run. Lucas Luetge pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in relief. The Yankees improved their record to 83-54. They will play the Twins tomorrow night (6:05) & go for the 4 game sweep. LET'S GO BRONX BOMBERS.

[yahoo-roto-arcade-blog]

Closing Time: Jameson Taillon's struggles make him a fantasy trade target

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jameson Taillon had another rough outing, this coming against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Jameson Taillon is a great story, and I remain a believer in the former No. 2 pick, who still benefits from a good pitcher’s park (although the Pirates’ defense has been poor, and Francisco Cervelli’s pitch framing has taken a major step back). Over his last four starts, Taillon has allowed 23 earned runs over 17.0 innings, good for a 12.18 ERA and a 2.24 WHIP despite a 9.0 K Rate. Taillon’s season 4.74 ERA is way off his 3.52 FIP, so he sure looks like a buy-low candidate (ZiPS projects a 3.67 ERA over the rest of the season). His .368 BABIP seems unlucky as well. But Taillon has allowed 18 runs over his last two starts, and that came against a mediocre Reds offense and a bad Giants one, so fantasy owners don’t want to hear excuses.

[Now’s the time to sign up for Fantasy Football! Join for free]

Quick Hits: Amed Rosario is one of the best prospects in baseball and was just called up by the Mets and should be added in all fantasy leagues. He’s owned in just 40% of Yahoo leagues…It took a replay to overturn an out into a double, but Evan Longoria hit for the cycle Tuesday night…Max Scherzer hit his first career homer before leaving with a neck injury. The early word is he’s expected to make his next scheduled start…With Dustin Pedroia on the disabled list, Eduardo Nunez becomes a must-add (and start) for the time being…Freddie Freeman will return to first base permanently, which is essentially a best case scenario, as he’ll go back to playing the easier position (and safer health wise) while retaining 3B eligibility in 2018…Johnny Cueto has been diagnosed with a flexor strain. He’s been one of the biggest fantasy busts this year and can be dropped in all leagues.

The Boston/Cleveland game might have been the craziest of the season so far, as Chris Sale and Carlos Carrasco combined to give up 12 earned runs in 6.2 innings. There was also a walk-off three-run homer after Austin Jackson made possibly the catch of the year…The Giants’ three homers matched their season high. That’s not good considering the record-setting rate of home runs this year.

Justin Smoak is on pace to finish with 47 homers, while Nolan Arenado is on pace to record 144 RBI (Carlos Gonzalez is on pace for 41 RBI)…Sean Manea looked like one of the better DFS options Tuesday given his price and matchup, but thanks in part to an untimely error, he didn’t last past three innings…Joey Gallo hit two more homers Tuesday (including this bomb to center). He’s on pace to finish with the worst batting average ever by someone with 40+ homers.

Jimmy Nelson quietly has the sixth-best FIP (3.12) and seventh-best WAR (3.7) among all starters this season. He continues to be one of the biggest fantasy steals of 2017…Steven Matz figured to either be dominant or hurt, but he’s been healthy of late and incredibly ineffective. He’s allowed a whopping 24 earned runs over his last five starts (18.1 innings) and owns an anemic 6.9 SwStr% on the year…Shane Greene could be a top-tier closer moving forward, yet he’s owned in less than 50% of leagues right now. Brad Ziegler has less upside, but if you need saves, grab him as well (owned in less than 25% of leagues).

Follow Dalton Del Don on Twitter.