Comments on: Your Monday Afternoon Power Rankings

By: Luke Bean

Luke Bean — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:46:44 +0000

LaRussa and Pujols made it political, the blogger just reported on the obvious. Just what were they doing there anyway?

By: nps6724

nps6724 — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:19:43 +0000

His UZR/150 is -9.5 this season, lowest of his career. In fact, he's been above-average only once, in 2005. He had 1 average year in 2009; otherwise he's been below-average. I've seen him play at least 17 times a season and he's not a quality fielder.

Whether it's a mistake or misplaced machismo, that doesn't change the fact that the mistake cost the Marlins a win and the machismo MAY have cost Philly a win. If you remove the mistake, the Marlins are guaranteed to win the game. If you remove the idiot ump and leave Howard in the game, there's no way to know the outcome.

By: char in miami

char in miami — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:17:27 +0000

i’m sorry to say that the rays are looking better than my yankees at the moment. the rays though seem not to always have the offense going though they certainly did last night against boston. the rays pitching is holding reasonably firm and looks to be head and shoulders better than the yankees.
from my perspective – the yankees relief pitching is what is at the heart of their problems. that and the fact that burnett is playing for all teams BUT the yankees. he is a piece of crap and a definite black cloud on the team. and then when you factor in the crappy relief efforts of chamberlain – mitre – robertson – logan – vazquez (who i thought i heard was OUT of the rotation now) – it’s obvious they need to get on the stick and bring up someone from the farm system if they can’t trade for pitching at this late stage. i know pettitte wants to get back on the mound and i want him there too – after all, a pettitte at 50-60% is better than the jerk burnett at 10%.
one more gripe – what is the problem with gardner? i’m really ticked that he can’t swing that bat and just stands there taking strike after strike after strike. if he can’t TAKE A SWING AT THE BALL – step in front of the ball and take one for the team. does anyone keep stats on called third strikes?
lastly – how about passing on joe girardi’s email address.

By: char in miami

char in miami — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:16:04 +0000

By: Utley's hair

Utley's hair — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:13:50 +0000

A “notoriously bad 1B?” You might want to watch a few games before you make statements like that. He’s been much better this season.
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But you’re still equating a mistake to misplaced machismo by a couple of umps who obviously have axes to grind.

By: nps6724

nps6724 — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:08:41 +0000

Being a fan doesn’t deny you the ability to think objectively. As big a Braves fan as I am, I didn’t think we had any chance of winning the division in ’06, ’07, ’08, or ’09, despite being close in some of those years. I still cheered and I didn’t give up, but I didn’t let my love for them overcome rational thought.

I still think Philly will make some noise and challenge the Braves down the stretch, but I don’t think they’ll overtake them.

By: nps6724

nps6724 — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:05:56 +0000

That is indirect; I also question whether Howard would’ve made the play since he’s notoriously a bad 1B. OTOH, the missed call DIRECTLY led to the Marlins not winning a game they should’ve won due to a bad call. If that call is made correctly, Marlins win. If Howard isn’t tossed, no telling what the outcome would’ve been. That’s a big difference.

By: YANKEES1996

YANKEES1996 — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:47:30 +0000

A couple of weeks ago you said that even though you would like to have put the Rays on top then you could not because in order to be put ahead of the Yanks they needed to beat the Yanks. Now you turn around and put them at the top of the list because of “style points”, be careful Craig your logic is breaking down. I submit this to you, I believe the Yankees should still be first because even though they are struggling mightly (mostly because of injury and Burnett) the Rays have failed to capitalize and take control of the AL East even though they have been granted a large gift in the form of the Yankee injuries and struggles. Let me know if my logic is errant.

By: Jonny5

Jonny5 — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:41:20 +0000

LMAO!! Short memory huh? The Phills fans have endured much worse than 2nd place before. Anyway, I think the Phills will catch the lead though as well. If I didn’t at 2 games back? Well let’s just say I wouldn’t be much of a fan then would I?

By: Utley's hair

Utley's hair — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:34:19 +0000

Howard being tossed for nothing had a direct impact on the outcome of that game, since Ibanez had to be moved to first base, and missed a play that Howard would not have, which led to a run. And a pitcher in his spot in the order, which just so happens to be the final out in the game? There is no way that your assertion holds water.

By: nps6724

nps6724 — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:26:09 +0000

One stole a win from an opponent while the other just removed a player from the game (a player who hadn’t done anything all game). A missed call certainly trumps an ump making an ass of himself if the call directly takes a win from another team.

By: APBA Guy

APBA Guy — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:22:20 +0000

The A’s pitchers definitely have taken a step forward as a group this year, although Anderson’s injury situation is troubling. Still, when, not if, he goes down to visit Dr. Yocum for the dreaded “second opinion” on his next “forearm strain” the season will be over and Josh Outman will be back, so there will still be 5 young starters. Now, if somebody in green and gold could just hit the baseball regularly.

By: Utley's hair

Utley's hair — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:18:58 +0000

Not at all. A botched call does not trump obvious and outright umpire chest thumping.

By: nps6724

nps6724 — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:18:05 +0000

I go by Fangraphs personally. I've seen B-R.com's be off before so I stay away from theirs.

Braves top 3 starters: Hanson (3.3), Hudson (3.1), Lowe (1.7) with Jurrjens at 1.3 on only 16 starts.

Phillies top 3 starters: Halladay (6.5), Oswalt (3.8), and Hamels (3.0) and with Blanton at 1.8.

Philly still has the advantage, but what has hurt the Braves are injuries to Medlen and Jurrjens.

You've been saying Philly was gonna catch Atlanta for how long now? 3 months? We're still waiting. And you Philly fans have no room to talk about lucky wins, not when an umpire takes away a game-winning hit from the opposition. And I'm sure Philly has never won a game due to unearned runs, huh? Man, being in 2nd place for ya'll must be like being on mushrooms.

By: nps6724

nps6724 — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:05:35 +0000

That balances out that Marlin game from a few weeks ago then.

By: Giant Space Ants

Giant Space Ants — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:59:21 +0000

Your comment on the Cards has nothing to do with baseball, Craig. I don’t personally care for Beck much either, but there’s no need to sully baseball with the ilk that is politics in general. And it seems pretty clear you’re doing this on purpose. I don’t want to tell you how to run this blog- it’s plenty good already, and I’m not exactly the brightest guy in that building thingy where our bed and TV is- but dragging political stuff here brings down the overall enjoyment I get from reading this otherwise fine blog.

By: Lou Stools

Lou Stools — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:38:27 +0000

I’ve given up on baseball this year – I’m a Red Sox fan – and am waiting for the intensity and drama of Syracuse University football.

By: Jonny5

Jonny5 — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:36:48 +0000

Craig, I think you MIGHT be confused with the power rankings. Phills and Braves should be above the Reds and Padres imo. I think these two from the NL east, with worse record and all own the other Leagues in the NL. What’s your take? Has anyone checked the NL records such as east vs. west/ central? Or better yet phills vs central- west and braves vs central-west.

By: Jonny5

Jonny5 — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:35:41 +0000

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:35:17 +0000

Where’s the WAR guy at? The Phillies starters have 3 of the top 13 WAR pitchers in the NL right now…Halladay 6.5, Oswalt 3.9 and Hamels 3.6. The Braves have Hudson at 5.9 and no other starter is above 1.1. This is using Baseball Reference WAR. I don’t subscribe to WAR being the be-all end-all, but it is funny how he isn’t around now to tell us all how great the Braves starting pitching is, with regards to WAR. Braves will be caught…it’s not a matter of if, but when.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:55:05 +0000

The Twins did pick up about 22 relief pitchers. More importantly, Blackburn has pitched like the old Blackburn, the one who didn’t look like a pile of poo wearing a glove. They said his wife gave birth to their first child a couple of weeks ago. Now, I’m not a mother, but I’m assuming that the first pregnancy/birth could be quite distracting for a young man. So that’s what I’m sticking to, this thought that the rotation may be back to five man instead of Baker-Pavano-Liriano-Duensing-Thank god we have an outdoor ballpark cuz now it can rain. Morneau can continue to rest because I’m also choosing to believe he is fine and they are simply saving him for later in September and not that he may possibly be done for the rest of the year. Positive thinking – We Minnesotans have it down.

By: Utley's hair

Utley's hair — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:54:41 +0000

The debacles with the scrub umpires should count for at least one win, albeit a moral one. But still, dropping all but Kendrick’s turd is ridiculous.

By: Utley's hair

Utley's hair — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:49:46 +0000

Nope…the Phightins are tired of the easy wins. They’re just stringing the Bravos along until we get Greg Dobbs and John Mayberry back.

By: bbeer

bbeer — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:46:05 +0000

You know, I take my Brew Crew really really really seriously. And god damn I hate Macha. At least he got a Rhapsody…

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:41:52 +0000

I’m just trying to be that one “glass is half full” Phillies fan. There’s not alot of them out there, so I’m trying my best, but of course I know that “WE SHOULD BE IN FIRST F’ING PLACE IF WE COULD HAVE JUST WON 3 of 4 FROM THE STINKING ASTROS AT HOME!!!!”

By: Simon DelMonte

Simon DelMonte — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:35:13 +0000

The Mets’ silver lining is pitching. Over the past month, I think there have been a lot of quality starts and I don’t remember more than a couple of total meltdowns. It really feels like the Mets have had a better time with starting pitching than the otherwise-much better Yankees (and the bullpen has been respectable). No, it’s not a complete rotation and Pelfrey is still leaving us scratching our heads and Santana is getting old and no one knows if Dickey has another year like this in him. But I like what I see in RA and Niese and Pelf and Johan.
Too bad I can’t say that for the amazing anemia that has struck the batters.

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:31:19 +0000

Um, yeah, I need to fix that math.
You know, you could also say that the Braves have been playing like crap and the Phillies totally choked when given a chance to make up ground while playing a last place Astros team.

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:29:07 +0000

“Just lookin’ ahead: the Rays last ten games of the season break down like this: three against the Mariners, three against the Orioles and three against the Royals.”
3+3+3 = 10? I see why you worked in the law, Craig By the way, Phillies lost 4 to the Astros and only lost a half-game to the Braves. If not for the lucky win handed to them by Gatpr’s Feesh yesterday, it would be a 1 game lead. Braves are getting tight.