Twins always fall off no matter the yrYeah man that was a major move. Fuck the Yankees but those Twins gonna be a problem. That's the one sleeper team no one thinks about.
Baseball.........Anybody still interested?
- Thread starter tanks1
- Start date
I'm with you fuck the Yankees.
What dude don't understand is good pitcher BEATS good hitting majority of times especially in the playoffs
I'd love to be wrong it's been 10 yrs since we won a world series but to think hitting is gonna carry us lol
Do u see how we play against good pitchers? We beat up on trash pitchers n the bullpen not the opponents Ace unless his location off that game which every great pitcher has several times per yr but when rested in the playoffs it's a total difference
I'd love to be wrong it's been 10 yrs since we won a world series but to think hitting is gonna carry us lol
Do u see how we play against good pitchers? We beat up on trash pitchers n the bullpen not the opponents Ace unless his location off that game which every great pitcher has several times per yr but when rested in the playoffs it's a total difference
Me too, but the reality is Yanks and Dodgers in ws.
adding Greinke was huge.
yall got a great staff !
still cant believe yanks didnt get any type of pitching.
adding Greinke was huge.
yall got a great staff !
still cant believe yanks didnt get any type of pitching.
yanks are like 120+ to Boston +75 points against opponents. averaged out yanks score runs more consistently and win over good pitching, and are first place.
I am a firm believer in great pitching wins games, but ny is gonna be tough for any team
I am a firm believer in great pitching wins games, but ny is gonna be tough for any team
Yeah he is in the decline of his career, but nobody enjoyed playing the game like Miggy!
This Nike commercial is a timeless classic 
️
️
Fuck the Mets
Has there ever been a player that was so great , but nobody knows.?........
VERLANDER just threw his 3rd NO-HITTER!!!!!!!!!!!
2nd in toronto!!!
2nd in toronto!!!
Only 6 pitchers have 3 or more NO-NO's
Greybeard ace Justin Verlander schools Blue Jays with no-hitter
Nick Ashbourne,Yahoo Sports Canada 1 hour 54 minutes ago
Justin Verlander owned the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. (Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
TORONTO — As Sunday’s game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros sped along it began to feel awfully familiar.
While watching a team get blanked by Justin Verlander is as common as it gets, no one but Blue Jays fans have seen the ace come into their building and no-hit their squad. The big right-hander managed that feat May 7, 2011, coming just a walk shy of a perfect game, and he looked like he was going to do it again Sunday. The innings ticked by and zeros just kept finding their way to the scoreboard until the scoreboard ran out of room.
“You start thinking about it third, fourth, fifth inning, then it's definitely on your mind,” he said. “Eighth inning very prevalent. Ninth inning I had memories of blowing a few in the ninth. So I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about that.”
The way the right-hander was cruising, the biggest threat to his historic day appeared to be his team’s inability to score a run. When Canadian third baseman Abraham Toro hit a two-out two-run home run in the top of the ninth off Blue Jays closer Ken Giles it felt inevitable, or as Verlander later put it, “perfectly scripted”.
With three outs remaining Houston’s ace got Brandon Drury to ground out and Reese McGuire to strike out quickly - leaving Bo Bichette as his final challenge.
"Bo's having a great start to his career and he's one of the hottest guys in their lineup,” the starter said. “So he's my least favourite guy to see up there [in that spot].”
Astros catcher Robinson Chrinos went to the mound to discuss the pivotal moment, ratcheting up the tension in a building that was already buzzing. The mound, however, was an oasis of calm where the two got into some X’s and O’s.
“The only thing we talked about was that when Bichette goes to two strikes he doesn’t do a leg kick,” Chirinos said. “So he told, ‘If you see him doing it early let me know because I don’t want him to get a hit.’”
After a seven-pitch duel that Verlander called “a good battle” the rookie ultimately grounded the ball, rather appropriately, to Toro.
"Honestly, I just thought 'please be an out, please be an out.’ I saw him catch a seam and he sort of got under the ball,” Verlander said. “It was kind of like a frisbee going over to first base and I just thought 'please don't let it go over his head.' As soon as he catches it, it's just elation."
When former Blue Jay Aledmys Diaz caught the final out it locked in a no-hitter with just one walk and 14 strikeouts as the Astros took home a 2-0 win. The gem wasn’t just impressive it was historic. It made Verlander the sixth pitcher in MLB history with three no-hitters.
“It means a lot,” he said. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t know that [fact]. I’ve come so close. Since I’ve had two I think I’ve blown two in the ninth and another couple in the eighth. I was definitely aware of the history aspect of it.”
What stood out about the outing wasn’t that Verlander was able to keep an inexperienced, if exciting, Blue Jays lineup under wraps. It was the way he did it - looking like the epitome of modern baseball at the age of 36.
Back when the right-hander no-hit the Blue Jays (the first time) he was a radically different pitcher. In that game the then 28-year-old was averaging 97.3 mph and topping out at 102. His game plan was to cram the top of the zone with fastballs and throw his changeup to the glove side and his slider to the arm side.
It looked like this:
Via Baseball Savant
It’s pretty hard to criticize that strategy considering how well it worked - in fact Verlander referred to 2011 as “the height of my pitching as young man” after the game - but it’s interesting to contrast it with what he did on Sunday.
Via Baseball Savant
Almost gone entirely is the changeup in favour of a greater emphasis on breaking balls. Verlander still favours the top of the zone with his fastballs, but now he looks to climb the ladder even higher, hoping to catch hitters waving well out of the zone.
His fifth-inning strikeout against Rowdy Tellez served as the perfect example of that phenomenon. He started in the zone and just kept climbing.
Via MLB.com
The confrontation ended with Tellez getting completely blown away:
Via MLB.tv
“The main pitch was the fastball up in the zone. Against righties and lefties,” Chirinos said. “It was unbelievable.”
The end result is far more whiffs. In Verlander’s no-hitter, he only elicited one swinging strike on his extremely powerful fastball and ended the game with just four strikeouts. On Sunday, his heater - which now averages a significantly slower 94.5 mph - got the Blue Jays to swing and miss 15 times.
"When we were warming up I remember walking back to the dugout with JV saying 'Man, your fastball is unbelievable today.'“ Chirinos said. “You guys saw how many swings and misses he got with the fastball.”
Verlander’s playbook was quintessentially Astros from the high four-seamers to the breaking ball assault. Missing bats was clearly the priority with no notions of “pitching to contact” - although for what it’s worth he held the Blue Jays to an outstanding 82 mph average exit velocity.
“It’s pretty awesome to watch him continue to evolve and want to learn and grow . and get better,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “He goes out and executes. Guys should take note.”
The kind of performance Verlander put on will never be typical at the MLB level. He’s a singular talent and if no-hitters become the norm, the sport is broken. However, games where pitchers employ the tactics Verlander and Chirinos used are only going to become more common.
Houston’s approach to pitching - one that has been extremely beneficial to the likes of Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton among others - looks like the immediate future of the game. Since 2020 and onwards is the Blue Jays’ potential window, they’re going to be ready to counter this style night-in and night-out.
Luckily for the Blue Jays, it’s not always going to be as hard as it was against Verlander.
Nick Ashbourne,Yahoo Sports Canada 1 hour 54 minutes ago
Justin Verlander owned the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. (Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
TORONTO — As Sunday’s game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros sped along it began to feel awfully familiar.
While watching a team get blanked by Justin Verlander is as common as it gets, no one but Blue Jays fans have seen the ace come into their building and no-hit their squad. The big right-hander managed that feat May 7, 2011, coming just a walk shy of a perfect game, and he looked like he was going to do it again Sunday. The innings ticked by and zeros just kept finding their way to the scoreboard until the scoreboard ran out of room.
“You start thinking about it third, fourth, fifth inning, then it's definitely on your mind,” he said. “Eighth inning very prevalent. Ninth inning I had memories of blowing a few in the ninth. So I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about that.”
The way the right-hander was cruising, the biggest threat to his historic day appeared to be his team’s inability to score a run. When Canadian third baseman Abraham Toro hit a two-out two-run home run in the top of the ninth off Blue Jays closer Ken Giles it felt inevitable, or as Verlander later put it, “perfectly scripted”.
With three outs remaining Houston’s ace got Brandon Drury to ground out and Reese McGuire to strike out quickly - leaving Bo Bichette as his final challenge.
"Bo's having a great start to his career and he's one of the hottest guys in their lineup,” the starter said. “So he's my least favourite guy to see up there [in that spot].”
Astros catcher Robinson Chrinos went to the mound to discuss the pivotal moment, ratcheting up the tension in a building that was already buzzing. The mound, however, was an oasis of calm where the two got into some X’s and O’s.
“The only thing we talked about was that when Bichette goes to two strikes he doesn’t do a leg kick,” Chirinos said. “So he told, ‘If you see him doing it early let me know because I don’t want him to get a hit.’”
After a seven-pitch duel that Verlander called “a good battle” the rookie ultimately grounded the ball, rather appropriately, to Toro.
"Honestly, I just thought 'please be an out, please be an out.’ I saw him catch a seam and he sort of got under the ball,” Verlander said. “It was kind of like a frisbee going over to first base and I just thought 'please don't let it go over his head.' As soon as he catches it, it's just elation."
When former Blue Jay Aledmys Diaz caught the final out it locked in a no-hitter with just one walk and 14 strikeouts as the Astros took home a 2-0 win. The gem wasn’t just impressive it was historic. It made Verlander the sixth pitcher in MLB history with three no-hitters.
“It means a lot,” he said. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t know that [fact]. I’ve come so close. Since I’ve had two I think I’ve blown two in the ninth and another couple in the eighth. I was definitely aware of the history aspect of it.”
What stood out about the outing wasn’t that Verlander was able to keep an inexperienced, if exciting, Blue Jays lineup under wraps. It was the way he did it - looking like the epitome of modern baseball at the age of 36.
Back when the right-hander no-hit the Blue Jays (the first time) he was a radically different pitcher. In that game the then 28-year-old was averaging 97.3 mph and topping out at 102. His game plan was to cram the top of the zone with fastballs and throw his changeup to the glove side and his slider to the arm side.
It looked like this:
Via Baseball Savant
It’s pretty hard to criticize that strategy considering how well it worked - in fact Verlander referred to 2011 as “the height of my pitching as young man” after the game - but it’s interesting to contrast it with what he did on Sunday.
Via Baseball Savant
Almost gone entirely is the changeup in favour of a greater emphasis on breaking balls. Verlander still favours the top of the zone with his fastballs, but now he looks to climb the ladder even higher, hoping to catch hitters waving well out of the zone.
His fifth-inning strikeout against Rowdy Tellez served as the perfect example of that phenomenon. He started in the zone and just kept climbing.
Via MLB.com
The confrontation ended with Tellez getting completely blown away:
Via MLB.tv
“The main pitch was the fastball up in the zone. Against righties and lefties,” Chirinos said. “It was unbelievable.”
The end result is far more whiffs. In Verlander’s no-hitter, he only elicited one swinging strike on his extremely powerful fastball and ended the game with just four strikeouts. On Sunday, his heater - which now averages a significantly slower 94.5 mph - got the Blue Jays to swing and miss 15 times.
"When we were warming up I remember walking back to the dugout with JV saying 'Man, your fastball is unbelievable today.'“ Chirinos said. “You guys saw how many swings and misses he got with the fastball.”
Verlander’s playbook was quintessentially Astros from the high four-seamers to the breaking ball assault. Missing bats was clearly the priority with no notions of “pitching to contact” - although for what it’s worth he held the Blue Jays to an outstanding 82 mph average exit velocity.
“It’s pretty awesome to watch him continue to evolve and want to learn and grow . and get better,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “He goes out and executes. Guys should take note.”
The kind of performance Verlander put on will never be typical at the MLB level. He’s a singular talent and if no-hitters become the norm, the sport is broken. However, games where pitchers employ the tactics Verlander and Chirinos used are only going to become more common.
Houston’s approach to pitching - one that has been extremely beneficial to the likes of Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton among others - looks like the immediate future of the game. Since 2020 and onwards is the Blue Jays’ potential window, they’re going to be ready to counter this style night-in and night-out.
Luckily for the Blue Jays, it’s not always going to be as hard as it was against Verlander.
He throws a no-hitter and then goes home to Kate Upton... not a bad day.
Red Sox fire Dombrowski one season after title
The Boston Red Sox fired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski on Sunday and plan to elevate assistant general managers Eddie Romero, Brian O'Halloran and Zack Scott to jointly lead their baseball-operations department for the rest of the season.
Dombrowski, 63, was the architect behind the Red Sox's 2018 World Series championship and had a contract that ran through the 2020 season. The Red Sox are in the midst of a disappointing season that has them eight games back of the second wild-card spot in the American League and 17½ games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East.
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While Dombrowski's job security has been in question in recent weeks, the change is nevertheless a shocking about-face for an organization that less than a year ago was basking in the afterglow of a 108-win regular season and a dominant run through the postseason that included a five-game World Series victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Manager Alex Cora, whom Dombrowski hired before the 2018 season, said after Boston's 10-5 loss to the Yankees that he was "surprised and shocked" to learn of the move.
"This is a guy that gave me a chance to come here and be a big league manager," Cora said. "It's one of those things that caught me. They just told me, so I'm not ready to talk about it."
Olney: Stars with emotional leverage could command bigger paydays
Dombrowski, who was hired in August 2015, had embraced the Red Sox's championship-or-bust mandate and used the team's ample farm system to acquire star players and build a go-for-broke major league roster. His hiring of Cora, trades for pitchers Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel and signings of J.D. Martinez and David Price supplemented a homegrown core to deliver the team's fourth championship in 15 seasons.
It was not enough to keep his job. Despite returning almost all of the vital contributors to last season's championship, Boston has stumbled through the 2019 season and is in a tenuous position going forward because of financial commitments made under Dombrowski.
The signing of Price has produced solid return but not the sort expected from a $217 million deal. He has $96 million remaining on the final three years of his contract. Sale, who is out for the remainder of the season with a left elbow issue, signed a five-year, $145 million contract extension in spring training that doesn't begin until next season.
Dombrowski also gave $68 million to right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who has struggled in his first season of the four-year deal.
The three will cost a combined $79 million in each of the next three seasons -- years during which the Red Sox have other significant moves to consider.
Their franchise player, right fielder Mookie Betts, can hit free agency following the 2020 season. Martinez, a middle-of-the-lineup force for the past two seasons, can opt out of the final three years of his contract this winter.
"It doesn't really matter who's there," Betts said of the effect Dombrowski's exit will have on his impending free agency. "Nothing is going to change. This is proof that this is a business. I love it here, but definitely still a business."
At the same time, the Red Sox still are replete with talent across the diamond. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts is one of the game's best and signed a very reasonable six-year, $120 million extension this spring that kicks in next season. Third baseman Rafael Devers is in the midst of a breakout year and is still just 22 years old.
With whom the Red Sox complement them is the question. Their farm system is considered among the thinnest in baseball, with scouts projecting few impact-type players.
Starter Rick Porcello, first basemen Steve Pearce and Mitch Moreland, and utilityman Brock Holt are among their free agents this winter, though arbitration raises for Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. alongside the new contracts for Sale and Bogaerts would place their payroll at well over $200 million before making a move.
Issues with a $200 million payroll is baseball's definition of a first-world problem, though it doesn't lessen the difficulty of what Dombrowski's successors will inherit -- particularly with the possibility of trading Betts, who is expected to make well over $25 million in arbitration.
Porcello spoke fondly of Dombrowski, who drafted the pitcher while Detroit Tigers general manager in 2007 and traded him to Boston seven years later.
"He's seen me throw more innings than anyone other than my immediate family in person," Porcello said. "There's obviously something there. It's a business. I had a great time playing for him. At the same time, he's the same guy who traded me from Detroit to come here. It is what it is. We've all been in that revolving door of business transactions.
"It's unfortunate. Anything outside of player moves and things like that that translate to what we're doing on the field, you take an ounce of guilt, but as a player, you're the one that can make or break things. That's the part that hurts. At the end of the day, it's a business decision and completely over my head."
The Boston Red Sox fired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski on Sunday and plan to elevate assistant general managers Eddie Romero, Brian O'Halloran and Zack Scott to jointly lead their baseball-operations department for the rest of the season.
Dombrowski, 63, was the architect behind the Red Sox's 2018 World Series championship and had a contract that ran through the 2020 season. The Red Sox are in the midst of a disappointing season that has them eight games back of the second wild-card spot in the American League and 17½ games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East.
ADVERTISEMENT
While Dombrowski's job security has been in question in recent weeks, the change is nevertheless a shocking about-face for an organization that less than a year ago was basking in the afterglow of a 108-win regular season and a dominant run through the postseason that included a five-game World Series victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Manager Alex Cora, whom Dombrowski hired before the 2018 season, said after Boston's 10-5 loss to the Yankees that he was "surprised and shocked" to learn of the move.
"This is a guy that gave me a chance to come here and be a big league manager," Cora said. "It's one of those things that caught me. They just told me, so I'm not ready to talk about it."
Olney: Stars with emotional leverage could command bigger paydays
Dombrowski, who was hired in August 2015, had embraced the Red Sox's championship-or-bust mandate and used the team's ample farm system to acquire star players and build a go-for-broke major league roster. His hiring of Cora, trades for pitchers Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel and signings of J.D. Martinez and David Price supplemented a homegrown core to deliver the team's fourth championship in 15 seasons.
It was not enough to keep his job. Despite returning almost all of the vital contributors to last season's championship, Boston has stumbled through the 2019 season and is in a tenuous position going forward because of financial commitments made under Dombrowski.
The signing of Price has produced solid return but not the sort expected from a $217 million deal. He has $96 million remaining on the final three years of his contract. Sale, who is out for the remainder of the season with a left elbow issue, signed a five-year, $145 million contract extension in spring training that doesn't begin until next season.
Dombrowski also gave $68 million to right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who has struggled in his first season of the four-year deal.
The three will cost a combined $79 million in each of the next three seasons -- years during which the Red Sox have other significant moves to consider.
Their franchise player, right fielder Mookie Betts, can hit free agency following the 2020 season. Martinez, a middle-of-the-lineup force for the past two seasons, can opt out of the final three years of his contract this winter.
"It doesn't really matter who's there," Betts said of the effect Dombrowski's exit will have on his impending free agency. "Nothing is going to change. This is proof that this is a business. I love it here, but definitely still a business."
At the same time, the Red Sox still are replete with talent across the diamond. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts is one of the game's best and signed a very reasonable six-year, $120 million extension this spring that kicks in next season. Third baseman Rafael Devers is in the midst of a breakout year and is still just 22 years old.
With whom the Red Sox complement them is the question. Their farm system is considered among the thinnest in baseball, with scouts projecting few impact-type players.
Starter Rick Porcello, first basemen Steve Pearce and Mitch Moreland, and utilityman Brock Holt are among their free agents this winter, though arbitration raises for Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. alongside the new contracts for Sale and Bogaerts would place their payroll at well over $200 million before making a move.
Issues with a $200 million payroll is baseball's definition of a first-world problem, though it doesn't lessen the difficulty of what Dombrowski's successors will inherit -- particularly with the possibility of trading Betts, who is expected to make well over $25 million in arbitration.
Porcello spoke fondly of Dombrowski, who drafted the pitcher while Detroit Tigers general manager in 2007 and traded him to Boston seven years later.
"He's seen me throw more innings than anyone other than my immediate family in person," Porcello said. "There's obviously something there. It's a business. I had a great time playing for him. At the same time, he's the same guy who traded me from Detroit to come here. It is what it is. We've all been in that revolving door of business transactions.
"It's unfortunate. Anything outside of player moves and things like that that translate to what we're doing on the field, you take an ounce of guilt, but as a player, you're the one that can make or break things. That's the part that hurts. At the end of the day, it's a business decision and completely over my head."
Unless the player wear it on field durin a game I will.SamSneed
You copping one of these Bun-B designed lids?
Only on the field hats for me.
Bitchass new era don’t have my size in some hats I want, but they do in bs hats
Fuck the brewers
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