2015 Baseball Thread

[AKRISONER]

Im an avid Jays fan, i usually get out to at least 10 games a year, just finished watching them win their season opener. Im not entirely bullish on the jays this year, but they do have a lot of great pieces. Martin looks fantastic and so does donaldson.

 

A lot of rookies this year though, they will be relying on some young talent to get them by, its gonna be tough.

 

On the positive side their division is much weaker yet again this year, specifically the orioles are missing a couple of their top guys.

 

If today was any sign of how Tanaka's elbow is feeling, its going to be a long haul for the yankees this year.

 

The great thing about young guys, is that their potential is limitless, meaning there no expectation except to hope that they perform at a high level.

 

I am going to predict an 86 win season.

[davey buoy]

Missed the game,good to here the first game was a win!!!

[kickingfrog]

162-0. Where is my spot on the curb?

[xxgoaler]

Nice game to watch, Looking for a 90 win season. So long of a season and so much can happen

[FloatnFly]

if they stay healthy, they should do alright, dickey shouldn't have a problem, i mean age doesn't affect a knuckleballer, but buerlhes age might be catching up with him, i would expect 200 innings from him this year. there offense is one of the strongest in the league, their defense is top 10, the only question is their pitching.

 

the loss of stroman hurts a lot, hopefully the young fireballers in the bullpen can keep there nerves down and pitch strong all year

 

martin is a fantastic player, he may not be the strongest offensively, but what he brings with his defense and his ability to work with his pitchers and guide them is invaluable

Edited April 6, 2015 by FloatnFly

[Dave Bailey]

I'm cautiously optimistic. But with all the young fireballers in the rotation and bullpen, there's one pitcher's name I hope we don't hear: Tommy John.

[Dave Bailey]

if they stay healthy, they should do alright, dickey shouldn't have a problem, i mean age doesn't affect a knuckleballer, but buerlhes age might be catching up with him,

 

Dickey and Buerhle aren't the kind of pitchers who will win games, but they'll keep you in one. It's the job of the batters to step up to the plate and do their best to put some runs on the board.

[FloatnFly]

I'm cautiously optimistic. But with all the young fireballers in the rotation and bullpen, there's one pitcher's name I hope we don't hear: Tommy John.

 

 

speaking of T-J, what ever happened to Drabek?

[FloatnFly]

 

Dickey and Buerhle aren't the kind of pitchers who will win games, but they'll keep you in one. It's the job of the batters to step up to the plate and do their best to put some runs on the board.

 

 

the batter can put 20 runs on the board, but if the pitchers can't keep the other team in check, 20 runs isn't going to do any good. the pitchers job is to keep the other team off the board so you don't need huge offensive nights to win ball games, they're going to need at least 15 wins from both of those pitchers to justify their contracts.

 

We're in the age of the pitcher now, there's less homeruns, fewer runs scored per game, 5 runs should be more than enough to win a game these days

Edited April 7, 2015 by FloatnFly

[fishing n autograph]

speaking of T-J, what ever happened to Drabek?

He was picked up on waivers by the white sox

[Old Ironmaker]

I have watched a few World Series games since the strike and cancellation of the World Series. It was blasphemy to me to cancel a World Series. I was a seasons ticket holder when they were at the CNE and right up to the strike year. I couldn't name you 2 guys playing for my old team. Ask me if I miss the modern game, nope. Do I miss Baseball? Yep. It's just not the same game it was 25 years ago.

 

To keep abreast of the game I just watch Ken Burns documentaries on PBS like yesterday when his latest series ran back to back all day.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Old Ironmaker

[FloatnFly]

He was picked up on waivers by the white sox

 

so basically none of the prospects they got for Halladay stayed with the team, they traded one for Dickey, the other for another minor leaguer who we then traded for Gose, which they traded for Travis.

[kickingfrog]

I saw something mentioning who they got for others that were involved in the deal. Doc was great but he wanted out. Considering how the end of his career went.

[FloatnFly]

I saw something mentioning who they got for others that were involved in the deal. Doc was great but he wanted out. Considering how the end of his career went.

 

he didn't want out until he saw his name floating in trade rumours from our wonderful media, he thought he was going to play his whole career in Toronto, he loved the team and the city. he extremely competative, but extremely loyal at the same time

[Salmonidstalker]

The Blue Jays are the entire MLB's farm team. Blue Jays groom them, they get too good and move on to win a WS or for more money. Jays are an 80-85 win team, at best; said it every year, and they never let me down.

 

Their management needs to change and frankly I'm surprised the team hasn't moved yet.

[AKRISONER]

The Blue Jays are the entire MLB's farm team. Blue Jays groom them, they get too good and move on to win a WS or for more money. Jays are an 80-85 win team, at best; said it every year, and they never let me down.

 

Their management needs to change and frankly I'm surprised the team hasn't moved yet.

 

team hasnt moved?

 

They have one of the best attendances in the entire MLB?

[FloatnFly]

 

team hasnt moved?

 

They have one of the best attendances in the entire MLB?

 

they have average attendance, sitting at #17 in the mlb last year at around 30,000/game

source:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2014

[lookinforwalleye]

LOL move.....

[FloatnFly]

The Blue Jays are the entire MLB's farm team. Blue Jays groom them, they get too good and move on to win a WS or for more money. Jays are an 80-85 win team, at best; said it every year, and they never let me down.

 

Their management needs to change and frankly I'm surprised the team hasn't moved yet.

 

 

players don't want to play in Toronto because the field is crap and too hard on their bodies. we'll see how it works out this year with new turf, they took out the sand component in the fill which made the old turf heavy and very hard as is compacted

 

only 2 teams in baseball have artificial turf, Toronto and Tampa, guess which 2 teams have players that want to leave or can't attract big name players

Edited April 7, 2015 by FloatnFly

[netminder]

To keep abreast of the game I just watch Ken Burns documentaries on PBS like yesterday when his latest series ran back to back all day.

The Ken Burns baseball documentaries are awesome. I think I've watched the whole series on Netflix 3 times.

 

 

 

players don't want to play in Toronto because the field is crap and too hard on their bodies. we'll see how it works out this year with new turf, they took out the sand component in the fill which made the old turf heavy and very hard as is compacted

 

only 2 teams in baseball have artificial turf, Toronto and Tampa, guess which 2 teams have players that want to leave or can't attract big name players

Correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation. The artificial turf in those two coffins is terrible, but I'm not sure players are so repulsed by it that they want to leave or has anything against atracting big name free agents. I think the policy of not signing players to longer than 5 year contracts has something to do with the big A-list free agents. And before you say anything, artificial turf has no effect on pitchers, so don't even go there. When the team is consistently winning, players will play there even if it's an old sandlot behind Yasgur's farm.

 

I am a diehard Jays fan and I am also very cautiously optimistic about this season. They have to get out to a quick start and being 1-0 definitely helps. The true test of this team will be in August and September when these young pitchers are getting into pitching more than twice the number of innings they're used to. The situation they're in is very romantic, but I still think outside help is on the way if they can keep their heads above water come trade deadline.

[Salmonidstalker]

 

 

players don't want to play in Toronto because the field is crap and too hard on their bodies. we'll see how it works out this year with new turf, they took out the sand component in the fill which made the old turf heavy and very hard as is compacted

 

only 2 teams in baseball have artificial turf, Toronto and Tampa, guess which 2 teams have players that want to leave or can't attract big name players

Too hard on their bodies? They play indoors during the colder days, and never have to deal with rain or any other elements lol. And what is the difference between Toronto, NY, Detroit etc. when it comes to weather/temperature. Having played in the Skydome/Rogers Center during my baseball days, its a great field, just very fast. The bounces are always true unlike playing on grass.

 

The game of baseball has changed in the past 20 years as have a lot of sports. None for the better. I liked watching ball during the 90's. What a great feeling the game had then! Phillies, Braves, Toronto, etc. every game was fun to watch.

[mattybculp]

Man, Martin looks great behind the plate ! There has always been complaints at the rogers centre/ skydome about the field, that the turf is too hard and there isn't as much " cushioning " as a grass surface. which becomes hard on a atheletes body over the course of 81 games. I think if I had to choose I think I would prefer grass, as would a lot of pros. I remember seeing multiple times a fielder diving for a ball in the outfield and watching a knee or foot get caught up in the seams. Every year they are changing/ improving the turf qualities, I wouldn't be surprised to see it move to natural turf once they can figure out how to maintain it in a dome environment. I can say this I too have played on the turf at rogers centre where I dove for a ball, in the field and all I got for that besides an out was a 12inch burn on both legs, don't remember that happening on grass, just a stain that wouldn't come out. It burned through my tear away pants.

[Old Ironmaker]

I think any athlete would play on fair grass than great artificial turf. The artificial stuff has come a long way since first introduced in the 60's but grass will always be better for the body. Having said that some bad grass fields I've played on could be deadly. I'd rather play on asphalt than a clay based grass field full of divots.

[FloatnFly]

Too hard on their bodies? They play indoors during the colder days, and never have to deal with rain or any other elements lol. And what is the difference between Toronto, NY, Detroit etc. when it comes to weather/temperature. Having played in the Skydome/Rogers Center during my baseball days, its a great field, just very fast. The bounces are always true unlike playing on grass.

 

The game of baseball has changed in the past 20 years as have a lot of sports. None for the better. I liked watching ball during the 90's. What a great feeling the game had then! Phillies, Braves, Toronto, etc. every game was fun to watch.

 

 

the weather has nothing to do with it, its the field surface itself, artificial turf is not as spongy as natural grass, which can be made more giving by adding more water to it. fake grass is very hard on the legs, knees and back.

 

even pitchers don't like artificial turf, since the ground balls are a lot faster, a lot of outs on natural grass, turn into singles on turf. the counter to that is the infield plays deeper, but that opens up the possibility for bunt singles

 

heres an excerpt from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/field-of-dreams/article18955544/

 

The one thing most players agree on is that playing on artificial surfaces extracts more of a physical toll on the body. “Your back gets stiff a little bit,” said Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes. “And you also feel it in your legs, your knees.” Many players, including Reyes, soak in a tub filled with ice water for 15 to 20 minutes after nearly every game on artificial turf.

Edited April 7, 2015 by FloatnFly

[FloatnFly]

another artical here

 

from http://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/2015/02/16/meet-the-man-paid-to-watch-the-blue-jays-grass-grow.html

 

Setting aside the lousy look of an artificial field, the turf also limits the Jays’ ability to attract free agents, who are typically embarking on the second half of their careers and wary of the turf’s reputation for pounding backs, knees and hips.