2025 Major League Baseball Thread

[Chef_Boy-RT]

I smell a 3 peat AL West title coming to Oakland Very much excited for this season! Hurts to lose Parker for the season and Griffin being sidelined for the next month or so but I have confidence in our rotation. A redefined deep bullpen with hopes that it'll get us over that hump if we make it deep into the playoffs because I couldn't take 3 consecutive ALDS losses Should be a low scoring match up tonight against the Indians. A series sweep would be nice to start off the season right Lets go Oakland!

[JackKnightStarman]

Originally Posted by Chef_Boy-RT

I smell a 3 peat AL West title coming to Oakland Very much excited for this season! Hurts to lose Parker for the season and Griffin being sidelined for the next month or so but I have confidence in our rotation. A redefined deep bullpen with hopes that it'll get us over that hump if we make it deep into the playoffs because I couldn't take 3 consecutive ALDS losses Should be a low scoring match up tonight against the Indians. A series sweep would be nice to start off the season right Lets go Oakland!

I like Melvin as a manager, but not fond of multiple platoon systems. When was the last time a team with as many platoons as the A's have won in the post season? It's good strategy for 162 games, but not for a 5, 7, 7 format of the post season. I love how opening day makes everybody optimistic.

[burner xxx]

Tigers win in the bottom of the 9th!

Great opening day game

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by sycro

Not a bad idea. He's a good contact hitter who would potentially get an extra at-bat from the positioning. It's also not that bad in the AL since he won't have the pitcher right in front of him and would still get plenty of RBI chances.

it is guaranteed that for one at bat he comes up with nobody on base.

with your weaker hitters at the bottom of the order, the likelihood that he ends up leading off again is probably higher than any other batting position in the lineup.

..and as another poster mentioned, he is slow as dirt.

let's not try to reinvent the wheel here. it'd be the worst idea in the world. look at Rickey Henderson's RBI totals if you don't agree.

[stvn1974]

Cubs are 0-1. I guess there is always next year.

[Visco.]

Originally Posted by walruswarrior

He's slow as dirt lol. Ideally you would want a high OBP guy who has some wheels.

The most important thing about being a lead off man is the threat of the steal. That can really make a pitcher nervous and get his mind off pitching better.

How can anyone say Ortiz would be a good lead off? LOL

[sycro]

Originally Posted by Visco.

The most important thing about being a lead off man is the threat of the steal. That can really make a pitcher nervous and get his mind off pitching better.

How can anyone say Ortiz would be a good lead off? LOL

Because he's only guaranteed to be leading off once. After that, he's no more likely to lead off again than he is as the 3 or 4 hitter.

[sycro]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

it is guaranteed that for one at bat he comes up with nobody on base.



with your weaker hitters at the bottom of the order, the likelihood that he ends up leading off again is probably higher than any other batting position in the lineup.



..and as another poster mentioned, he is slow as dirt.



let's not try to reinvent the wheel here. it'd be the worst idea in the world. look at Rickey Henderson's RBI totals if you don't agree.

Henderson's RBI totals have more to do with the type of hitter he was than his spot in the lineup. And most AL lineups don't just dump their worst hitters as 8 and 9.

[Chef_Boy-RT]

Originally Posted by JackKnightStarman

I like Melvin as a manager, but not fond of multiple platoon systems. When was the last time a team with as many platoons as the A's have won in the post season? It's good strategy for 162 games, but not for a 5, 7, 7 format of the post season. I love how opening day makes everybody optimistic.

Yea, no other team runs the platoon as much as the A's. You have half of the league running it at certain positions but not nearly as much as 7 positions as Oakland. I think we'll begin to see it even more used based on last season where batters had favorable matchups close to 60% of the time. It's been going on for years, though not as overly successful as the Yankees in the 50's though. For the A's being such a small market team w/ a low payroll it only makes sense for Melvin to adore it. They ranked third in 2013 in overall batting and seventh in overall pitching. Depth of the bench though is what killed them in the playoffs both division winning seasons. Overly improved this season, we'll see how it goes. It's a long 162 games, but I'm just excited it's back.

[JackKnightStarman]

Originally Posted by Chef_Boy-RT

but I'm just excited it's back.

Yeah...we all are. Good luck to you!

[Kirk Out]

Originally Posted by Chef_Boy-RT

I smell a 3 peat AL West title coming to Oakland Very much excited for this season! Hurts to lose Parker for the season and Griffin being sidelined for the next month or so but I have confidence in our rotation. A redefined deep bullpen with hopes that it'll get us over that hump if we make it deep into the playoffs because I couldn't take 3 consecutive ALDS losses Should be a low scoring match up tonight against the Indians. A series sweep would be nice to start off the season right Lets go Oakland!

+10000000 lets GO A's !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chef_Boy-RT]

Originally Posted by Kirk Out

+10000000 lets GO A's !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hell yea brother!

[Navster]

Awesome comeback by the Giants today and Posey with a 2 run hr for the winner

[sycro]

Don Baylor broke his leg trying to catch the first pitch from Vlad Guerrero....

[fatediesel]

Went to the Diamondbacks game last night. It was a good time even though the D-backs completely blew it, and their relief pitchers are a big reason why they won't be more than a .500 team at best this season. There was a very good Giants crowd at the game and at times it sounded like it was a home game for the Giants. Some pictures I took are below in the spoiler:

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[Visco.]

Is there somewhere you can check how far each home run went? CarGo, Smoak, and Posey hit bombs last night.

[sycro]

Originally Posted by Visco.

Is there somewhere you can check how far each home run went? CarGo, Smoak, and Posey hit bombs last night.

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/ But it's data is incomplete right now.

[Visco.]

Originally Posted by sycro

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/ But it's data is incomplete right now.

Thanks!

[sycro]

So, looks like I'll be taking my northeast baseball trip this year after all.

July: Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

September (unsure of exact day I'll go to each game except in Atlanta):
9/1: Philadelphia vs Atlanta (first regular season game in Atlanta since 2006; first of any since 2011 - saw preseason game there the week of WM XXVII)
9/8-10: Atlanta vs Washington
9/13-14: Florida vs Philadelphia
9/16-17: Florida vs New York Mets (yay ... 2 Marlins games )
9/18-25: Toronto/Baltimore vs New York Yankees (final 2 series for Jeter in NY, so the 25th would be cool, but probably uber expensive)
9/26-27: New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox (final regular season weekend for Derek Jeter -- assuming I can find tickets without completely breaking the bank)

Now if only I could figure out how to stuff Pittsburgh into the mix, I'd be done with the Northeast....

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by sycro

Henderson's RBI totals have more to do with the type of hitter he was than his spot in the lineup. And most AL lineups don't just dump their worst hitters as 8 and 9.

what type of hitter was that? he had nearly 300 career home runs hitting out of the lead off spot. in fact, he holds the record for home runs hit in the lead off spot to start a game - 81.

he also had 3000 hits in his career. so again.. I ask, what kind of hitter was he?

and if AL lineups don't dump their worst hitters in the 8 and 9 spots, where are all the weak hitting middle infielders and below average catchers hitting then?