The Official 2012 Major League Baseball Thread

[Joe.t]

Awesome performance by Kuroda today, he has been a very pleasant surprise, here is what some of the Yankee fans said about him after today's spectacular performance which was copied from a Yankee message board, another brilliant acquisition by Cashman.

Re: 2012 Hiroki Kuroda performance thread-

I thought he's going to be decent when the Yankees got him. I haven't expected that he's going to be this good.
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Today 03:09 PM #367



Re: 2012 Hiroki Kuroda performance thread-

Does hitting Youkillis get him a bonus?

It should IMO.

Re: 2012 Hiroki Kuroda performance thread-

Cashman's best FA signing since CC. That split-finger is filth.
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Today 04:35 PM #369

Re: 2012 Hiroki Kuroda performance thread-

Dodgers just are not a good offensive team. Not this year (3 straight shutout losses to the Giants this week) and not in recent years past. Just shows you how great a pitcher Kershaw really is. And Kuroda is showing that he really was better than his record. Solid, solid guy.
If he pitched for us like that last year he would've had 25 wins at least.
Today 04:41 PM #370



Re: 2012 Hiroki Kuroda performance thread-

He is so swag
http://christianyaple.mlblogs.com/
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Today 05:35 PM #371

Re: 2012 Hiroki Kuroda performance thread-

hes on pace for ace-like numbers and hes not statistically lucky, either. what a signing
http://i.imgur.com/YULib.png (courtesy of Sam18)
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Today 05:42 PM #372


Re: 2012 Hiroki Kuroda performance thread-

The dude knows how to pitch and he competes when he doesn't have his best stuff.
It's all Cashman's fault!
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Today 06:12 PM #373

Re: 2012 Hiroki Kuroda performance thread-

This guy is unreal. Hope we bring him back next year.
Down with Bud Selig!
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Today 06:15 PM #374



Re: 2012 Hiroki Kuroda performance thread-

Awesome performance. Kuroda has been the perfect mid-rotation anchor for this staff. I am very grateful he is on our team and think that his acquisition was certainly money well-spent.
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Today 06:41 PM #375

 

[Doc Holliday]

I agree with Joe T that Hiroki Kuroda has been a very nice surprise for the Yankees this season. Does he have a decent chance of winning the rookie-of-the-year honors? I think so.

As for the Red Sox, i watched the last 3 innings of last night's game. Once again, the home team prevailed in a nail-biter. How it must hurt Red Sox fans to watch their team lose games in such fashion! However, just like the Yankees & Jays, it hurts their teams' chances not having their #1 closers. But that's the game of baseball and teams have to get creative in order to find ways to win despite catastrophic injuries to their pitching staff.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Jose Bautista selected to starting all-star team; David Ortiz also selected

NEW YORK -- Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton will start for the American League in the All-Star Game after drawing a record total of more than 11 million fan votes.

The rosters for the All-Star Game in Kansas City on July 10 were announced Sunday.

The Rangers and New York Yankees each had three players picked in fan balloting.

Shortstop Derek Jeter, second baseman Robinson Cano and outfielder Curtis Granderson were chosen from the Yankees. Catcher Mike Napoli and third baseman Adrian Beltre also made it from the Rangers.

Prince Fielder of Detroit will start at first base. He was the MVP of last year's All-Star Game while playing for Milwaukee.

Toronto outfielder Jose Bautista and Boston designated hitter David Ortiz also were chosen.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/allstar12/st...rangers-new-york-yankees-dominate-al-starters

 

[hungry101]

We ought to have a discussion of All-star snubs starting with position players. Who did you vote for and why? I voted for Tigers where I could justify but I could not vote for Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta as I did last year. I split up a few votes when there was not a clear cut choice. My philosophy is 1. To reward the best players in the American league with my vote and 2. to support my team where I can justify doing so and 3. to try to inject some new blood where I can.

Why the f*%$ is Napoli of the Rangers the starting catcher? He is hitting .231. Is he some defensive wizard? I voted for Chisox catcher AJ Pierzinki who is hitting .285 with 14 HRs and the Twins Maur who is hitting .328. I also cast a few votes for the Baltimore Catcher Matt Weiters.

1B - I voted for Prince Fielder but I did cast a few votes for Chisox 1B Paul Konerko.

2B - Cano was an easy choice. I sprinkled in a few votes for Jason Kipinis and Ian Kinsler. I love Pedroia but I couldn't vote for him this year.

SS - I cast every vote that I could for Astrubal Cabrera. He is a wizard as SS and he is solid with the bat. I can live with Jeter due to his hot bat.

3B - I cast 100% of my votes for the Migual Cabrera. Al Kaline called him the best right handed hitter ever to play the game. He has been adequate defensivly.

OF - I voted for Hamilton, Baltimore's Adam Jones, and Austin Jackson the leadoff hitting CF of the Detroit Tigers. Austin is leading all lead off hitters with a .400+ OBP and 9 HR's and is hitting a blistering .322.

DH - I voted for Billy Butler, Edwin Encarnacion, David Ortiz and 1 vote for Chisox Dunn for his 20 something HRs.

Every year somone is snubbed. This year Encarncian, Aj Peirzinki were snubbed. However, the biggest snub in my opinion is Austin Jackson of the Tigers and he is not even mentioned

 

[Doc Holliday]

Hungry, i respect your choices, but how could you not vote for Jose Bautista? He's in the lineup every day, he's one of the leaders in outfield assists, and he's in line to hit 60 homeruns this season. He's made people forget Jeff Hamilton. He's the leading candidate to win the homerun crown, three years in a row. I can't remember the last time this has happened.

I do agree that Edwin Encarnacion should have got the nod at the DH position, even though he's played a good part of the season at first base.

Brett Lawrie has been a spark plug since he's been put in the leadoff spot and has played a great third base. He's hitting just below .300 and with less than a year of MLB under his belt, he's already looking like a leader on the team.

Colby Rasmus has turned his career around and playing centerfield at all-star calibre. He's surprisingly become a fan favorite & recently had the fans chanting his name when he came to the plate after having just made a spectacular catch to end the inning. He has been making great to spectacular catches on a regular basis and hitting a ton out of the ball since adjusting his batting stance and being put in the second spot in the batting lineup.

With an E.R.A. under 2.00 all season long, Darren Oliver deserves consideration to be added to the pitching staff. He's been nothing short of spectacular.

 

[hungry101]

The last thing I wrote about last night was the outfielder position and I was tired.
I actually did give Bautista some votes at outfield. I did not stuff the ballot box for him because his average was so low. I also voted a few times for Granderson too. I had the same problem with him...his average was so low.


I just checked his OPS and it is over .900. Pretty darn good.

 

[Jman47]

Hungry, i respect your choices, but how could you not vote for Jose Bautista? He's in the lineup every day, he's one of the leaders in outfield assists, and he's in line to hit 60 homeruns this season. He's made people forget Jeff Hamilton. He's the leading candidate to win the homerun crown, three years in a row. I can't remember the last time this has happened.

I do agree that Edwin Encarnacion should have got the nod at the DH position, even though he's played a good part of the season at first base.

Brett Lawrie has been a spark plug since he's been put in the leadoff spot and has played a great third base. He's hitting just below .300 and with less than a year of MLB under his belt, he's already looking like a leader on the team.

Colby Rasmus has turned his career around and playing centerfield at all-star calibre. He's surprisingly become a fan favorite & recently had the fans chanting his name when he came to the plate after having just made a spectacular catch to end the inning. He has been making great to spectacular catches on a regular basis and hitting a ton out of the ball since adjusting his batting stance and being put in the second spot in the batting lineup.

With an E.R.A. under 2.00 all season long, Darren Oliver deserves consideration to be added to the pitching staff. He's been nothing short of spectacular.

We ought to have a discussion of All-star snubs starting with position players. Who did you vote for and why? I voted for Tigers where I could justify but I could not vote for Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta as I did last year. I split up a few votes when there was not a clear cut choice. My philosophy is 1. To reward the best players in the American league with my vote and 2. to support my team where I can justify doing so and 3. to try to inject some new blood where I can.

Why the f*%$ is Napoli of the Rangers the starting catcher? He is hitting .231. Is he some defensive wizard? I voted for Chisox catcher AJ Pierzinki who is hitting .285 with 14 HRs and the Twins Maur who is hitting .328. I also cast a few votes for the Baltimore Catcher Matt Weiters.

1B - I voted for Prince Fielder but I did cast a few votes for Chisox 1B Paul Konerko.

2B - Cano was an easy choice. I sprinkled in a few votes for Jason Kipinis and Ian Kinsler. I love Pedroia but I couldn't vote for him this year.

SS - I cast every vote that I could for Astrubal Cabrera. He is a wizard as SS and he is solid with the bat. I can live with Jeter due to his hot bat.

3B - I cast 100% of my votes for the Migual Cabrera. Al Kaline called him the best right handed hitter ever to play the game. He has been adequate defensivly.

OF - I voted for Hamilton, Baltimore's Adam Jones, and Austin Jackson the leadoff hitting CF of the Detroit Tigers. Austin is leading all lead off hitters with a .400+ OBP and 9 HR's and is hitting a blistering .322.

DH - I voted for Billy Butler, Edwin Encarnacion, David Ortiz and 1 vote for Chisox Dunn for his 20 something HRs.

Every year somone is snubbed. This year Encarncian, Aj Peirzinki were snubbed. However, the biggest snub in my opinion is Austin Jackson of the Tigers and he is not even mentioned

Great picks H101...enjoyed the impartiality...although if you look at the numbers how could anyone compare to Ortiz...he has defined what a DH is.

Doc...Don't know who Jeff Hamilton is, but if its Josh Hamiltion you were referring to ... I'd take a .310 lifetime hitter with 30-40 jacks a year any day over a .254 lifetime hitter with 54 jacks any day. But then again I wouldn't expect anything different than the choice you made from you...after all your BB expertise just shines...

As for repetative HR crowns maybe these less known players ring a bell: Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard and a guy no one knows Alex Rodriguez ... all have multiple crowns since 2000.

 

[Jman47]

Congratulations Mister DH !!!

400!!!

Congrats to David Ortiz on his admission to the 400 club!

 

[Doc Holliday]

This just in: Dustin Pedroia will be out of the Red Sox lineup for at least 2 weeks. I predict it'll be a month.

In other news, Kevin Youkilis, one of hardest-working working ballplayers to ever play the game, a born leader, is enjoying his time with the Chicago White Sox. The fans love him!

Meanwhile, word is that the Red Sox currently are shopping for a third baseman since Middlebrooks is also injured.

Any word on when Carl "The King" Crawford will be back? I miss him! lol

 

[lgna69xxx]

What a crazy game going on at the Waste as I am writing this...... Nobody feels like pitching tonight it appears.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Nobody feels like pitching tonight it appears.

That was the worst Kuroda has pitched this year, but fortunately the Red Sox pitching is a steaming pile of shit. Beckett was hammered, Andrew Miller is useless against any team that knows how to work pitch counts, and Vicente Padilla plain sucks donkey balls. The Red Sox are 10th in the AL in pitching, even though their star shit-sucker, John Lackey, is now confined to sucking only in the nightmares of Red Sox fans still wondering what happened at the end of last year.

Red Sox staff ERA of 4.11 this year is only slightly better than last year's 4.20 horrorfest.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Wow Beav..... Long time no see in here and a very impressive post on tonights game. (you probably just jinxed us but still, great assessment) Miller has been pretty good this year but your correct about pitch counts and him. I swore that was Fernando Valenzuela pitching but Daydreamer reminded me it was really Vinny Padilla, my bad.

Kuroda might of not only had his worst outting as a Yanks but worst ever! He will bounce back, every good pitcher has a bad outting or 2 per season. GO YANKS!

That was the worst Kuroda has pitched this year, but fortunately the Red Sox pitching is a steaming pile of shit. Beckett was hammered, Andrew Miller is useless against any team that knows how to work pitch counts, and Vicente Padilla plain sucks donkey balls. The Red Sox are 10th in the AL in pitching, even though their star "shit-sucker", John Lackey, is now confined to sucking only in the nightmares of Red Sox fans still wondering what happened at the end of last year.

Red Sox staff ERA of 4.11 this year is only slightly better than last year's 4.20 horrorfest.

 

[Joe.t]

That was the worst Kuroda has pitched this year, but fortunately the Red Sox pitching is a steaming pile of shit. Beckett was hammered, Andrew Miller is useless against any team that knows how to work pitch counts, and Vicente Padilla plain sucks donkey balls. The Red Sox are 10th in the AL in pitching, even though their star shit-sucker, John Lackey, is now confined to sucking only in the nightmares of Red Sox fans still wondering what happened at the end of last year.

Red Sox staff ERA of 4.11 this year is only slightly better than last year's 4.20 horrorfest.

Gee Beav, you sound pissed, you'd think that you would be happy that the Yankees won, BTW, your analysis is spot on as usual, the only thing that I disagree with is your comment that "the Red Sox pitching is a steaming pile of shit", I wouldn't limit this comment to just the Red Sox pitching.

 

[hungry101]

although if you look at the numbers how could anyone compare to Ortiz...he has defined what a DH is.

Yes - fat and cannot play the field (LOL). Actually, I voted for Ortiz quite a few times. I split the vote up however because 1. Encarnacian was too good to be ignored and 2. Billy Butler is a very good hitter and a bona fide Tiger killer and he plays for a shit team and 3. Ortiz already had the position sown up. It was more about notariaty for some other deserving players that are overshadowed by guys that play for teams that get more media coverage.

The one question I have is how did I miss the Trout kid from the Angels?

 

[lgna69xxx]

Trout, Trumbo, Harper, Strasberg, McCutchen are just a few of the names of the young guys on the rise who should be stars for years and are taking the torch from the veterans and running with it. The state of the game is in great hands.

As far as Yankees who are on the ALLstar team, all are well deserved, but I hope Rafael Soriano gets to replace CC on the team, he has definately been the Yankees MVP the first half of the season and is an Allstar for sure.

Yes - fat and cannot play the field (LOL). Actually, I voted for Ortiz quite a few times. I split the vote up however because 1. Encarnacian was too good to be ignored and 2. Billy Butler is a very good hitter and a bona fide Tiger killer and he plays for a shit team and 3. Ortiz already had the position sown up. It was more about notariaty for some other deserving players that are overshadowed by guys that play for teams that get more media coverage.

The one question I have is how did I miss the Trout kid from the Angels?

 

[daydreamer41]

Wow Beav..... Long time no see in here and a very impressive post on tonights game. (you probably just jinxed us but still, great assessment) Miller has been pretty good this year but your correct about pitch counts and him. I swore that was Fernando Valenzuela pitching but Daydreamer reminded me it was really Vinny Padilla, my bad.

Kuroda might of not only had his worst outting as a Yanks but worst ever! He will bounce back, every good pitcher has a bad outting or 2 per season. GO YANKS!

Si, Vincente Padilla looks like Fernando Valenzeula, but me thinks the Red Sox would be better off with Fernando (now age 51) than Vincente (age 34). But whom am I to say when the Sox have a manager like Bobby V coasting in last place of the American League East?

 

[daydreamer41]

400!!!

Congrats to David Ortiz on his admission to the 400 club!

Big Poppy only has 400 career HR's in his 15 and 1/2 year career? That's an average of a little less than 26 per year.

Gee, I thought he was a Home Run hitter?

:noidea:

 

[lgna69xxx]

Agreed, I had no idea how many he had until jman posted that but was thinking ortiz surely was closer to 500, not just reaching 400. You will see him in decline the 2nd half of the season, book it!

Big Poppy only has 400 career HR's in his 15 and 1/2 year career? That's an average of a little less than 26 per year.

Gee, I thought he was a Home Run hitter?

:noidea:

 

[Doc Holliday]

Watching Youk play today against the Jays & single-handly winning the game by himself, i was wondering why the hell they got rid of him. What a player, what a leader, what a hitter! I now understand why this guy was a fan-favorite for so many years! :thumb:

 

[Doc Holliday]

Sometimes a guy just needs a change of scenery to get back in form. Kevin Youkilis was not playing well at all for Boston prior to the trade.

At the very least, considering all he's done for the organization & the fans, i believe that the Red Sox owed it to him (and the fans) to be patient. Youk is far from being done as a player & still has a whole lot of baseball left within him. I think the Red Sox jumped the gun way too quickly. Shameful.