Results tagged ‘ Giants ’
Streakin’ Phillies
I think it’s safe to say that the Phillies sent a pretty strong message to the Giants last night: things are different this season. I understand that there are two months left in the baseball season and come October things could definately change; but no one can mistake the fact that the Phillies are sending a clear message to the rest of the National League–if not all of Major League Baseball–that they are the team to beat. After a 9-2 drubbing of the defending World Series Champions last night–a game that featured a meeting of the minds between the two teams–the Phils now sport the best record in all of baseball (73-39). Philadelphia also has the most complete pitching rotation and an offense that is red hot since the arrival of Hunter Pence.
The Phillies latest victim was Jonathan Sanchez, who is having a pretty disappointing season for the Giants. The Giants provided Sanchez with a quick run, a lead that didn’t last as the Phillies came alive in the 4th inning and scored four runs, in route to an easy blow out victory. Judging from the success of the Phillies lineup of late against San Francisco, and a stolen base by Jimmy Rollins with a six run lead in this game, Ramon Ramirez apparently had enough and decided to plunk Shane Victorino. Since last October’s NLCS, the Giants and Phillies have now developed something close to a rivalry. Last night’s get together on the infield served as a sort of coming attractions of what baseball fans could potentially see from these two teams if they meet again in October. But before getting ahead of ourselves, the question I have is whether the Phillies will retaliate tonight.
Aside from their offensive prowess, here is another impressive thing about the Phillies: the emergence of rookie Vance Worley into a reliable starter. Worley, who has been filling Roy Oswalt’s spot in the rotation, is now 8-1. With Worley’s success, an interesting dilema could develop when Oswalt comes off the disabled list, as the Phillies will have to make room for Oswalt.
I Heart Cliff Lee, part 2
Last October I wrote that Cliff Lee is the lefty version of Greg Maddux–a finesse pitcher with stuff that is not overpowering–but one who possesses incredible control of his pitches. Last night in San Francisco Cliff Lee was truly in control, as he tossed his Major League leading 5th shutout this season, holding the Giants to only 7 hits while striking out 8. In a rematch from last fall’s World Series, Lee faced Cody Ross in San Francisco, and this time Lee came out on top striking out Ross 4 times. At one point during the game, Lee set down ten Giants in a row, displaying the killer command that has made Lee a deadly post season pitcher.
Now that the run towards October has begun, I look for Lee to reassert his dominance in the last two months of the season, and hopefully he will once again shine big in baseball’s biggest stage. I know that Lee hasn’t been as great in the regular season as he is in the post season. However, he takes his game to another level when the stakes are high. His only great regular season came during his Cy Young season of 2008 when he won 22 games for an awful Cleveland Indians team. In 2009, Lee was an ordinary pitcher in the regular season again, even after being traded to the Phillies he didn’t put great numbers. But once October came, Lee began pitching in another level not seen since Bob Gibson in the late 1960′s. Last season, Lee was once again a very ordinary pitcher in the regular season, only to carry the Rangers past the favored Rays and Yankees and into the World Series in October. It took Cody Ross and the pitching of Tim Lincecum to finally hand Lee his first two post season defeats. But even though he lost game 5 of the World Series, Lee was brilliant that night and no one can deny what a weapon he is to a team in the post season. The fact that Lee will follow Halladay in the Phillies rotation, truly makes Philadelphia the team to beat in the National League.
Predictions…..N.L
I’m not good at making predictions since it seems that every year I pick the Yankees to win the World Series (I know I’m biased). However, I have decided to put aside my bias for the moment and objectively look at the season that is almost upon us. So, as we bid farewell to the month long Spring Training interlude before the beginning of the marathon–and to the players who unfortunately will not be in the Show–it is time to make brief but objective prediction for the upcoming season.
After an exciting and surprising post-season, the off season had its share of excitement and surprises. The biggest surprise and excitement this past winter undoubtedly has to be Cliff Lee’s rejection of both the Yankees and Rangers in favor of the Philadelphia Phillies. By taking less money to be a member of the Phillies Lee joined a team that already had three legitimate aces. Now that Lee is part of the Phillies rotation the Four Horsemen (and Joe Blanton) made the Philadelphia the early winter favorites to win the National League and the World Series. In Boston, the signing of Carl Crawford and the trade for Adrian Gonzalez made the Red Sox the early winter favorites to win the American League and represent it in the World Series…of course losing to the Phillies in 7 games (when a Jimmy Rollins slow roller gets through the legs of Gonzalez, allowing Shane Victorino to score the game winning and Series ending run…hahaha).
But those were the few predictions of the winter. How do these predictions and among the others made but not mention above hold now that Spring Training is over? Well, time will tell. Here are now my National League predictions.
N.L East Champions: Atlanta Braves
Yes, I’ll admit it, it seems insane for me to pick the Braves over the Phillies especially when the later have the Four Horsemen at the top of their rotation. However, there is a method to my madness and I believe the reasons I am about to give will be correct by the end of the year. At the moment, the Braves lineup is a tad better than Phily’s lineup. The veteran Chipper Jones will be the anchor of this lineup and if he stays healthy, he could very well have a productive season since he will have protection in the lineup that will include Dan Uggla, Brian McCann and Jason Hayward. Although the Braves do not have the rotation that the Phillies possess, they still have a formidable rotation with Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson, Derek Lowe and Jair Jurjens. What will help these pitchers out will be Atlanta’s tough lineup. However, there is an achillies hill on this team and that is their defense. If they want to win the division, the Braves have to improve.
N.L Central Champions: Cincinnati Reds
Adam Wainwright’s season ending injury early this Spring has definately opened the door for the Reds to continue what they started last year, as they surprisingly took the Division title over the St. Louis Cardinals. And this year, I look for the same thing to happen. The core of this team is built around NL MVP Joey Votto. With Votto leading this team, the Reds didn’t do much this winter to improve, but they didn’t need to. The Reds pitching is also deep with no shortage of arms in the rotation and in the bullpen. However, don’t count out the Cardinals yet, or dismiss the Brewers. I think this will be a close three team race and in the end, the Reds will come out on top.
N.L West Champions: San Francisco Giants
This is an easy pick, but which other team in the NL West has the pitching rotation the Giants possess? It was the pitching of Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and especially Bumgarner that carried this team through the first two rounds of the playoffs and in the World Series. And it will be this rotation that will carry the Giants back to the post season and possibly back to the World Series. The Giants however need to improve their on their lineup since they could face a much tougher opposition in the post season this time around after the improvements made by the Braves and Phillies.
N.L Wild Card: Philadelphia Phillies
They stole Cliff Lee away from the Yankees so the Baseball Gods will punish them this season. But to be serious, I think the Phillies will have the best rotation in the NL, but a substandard lineup that will struggle to score runs. The injury this Spring to Chase Utley doesn’t help and the fact that Jayson Werth left town for DC will have a major impact on the Phillies ability to score runs. Jimmy Rollins has to be the most overrated short stop in the league and since his MVP year (which he won on the strength of a Spring Training prediction..hmm), Rollins has been on the decline. In 2011 Rollins’ decline will continue. Moreover, will Ryan Howard’s power numbers decline again this year? If they do, how can this lineup score runs to support their pitchers?
The Phillies pitching staff looks great on paper, but in reality, there are some issues. Leave Roy Halladay aside, Cliff Lee is not a great regular season pitcher as he is in the post season. His only dominant regular season came in 2008 for a very poor Cleveland Indians club. Moreover, Lee is injury prone and it wouldn’t surprise me if he spent sometime in the DL this year. As for Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, I believe that both will have good years, but will only win 12 to 14 games each. The only pitcher in this rotation which could win more than 15 games is Roy Halladay.
NLCS: Giants over Phillies in 7 games: Giants have the younger pitching staff that has come a long long way after their success last year. With that experience and confidence, they will take down the Phillies again to earn another trip to the World Series.
Rangers/Yankees war of words part 23
The war of words between the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees front offices continues, this time Randy Levine, President of the Yankees, responds with what is a rather very low blow to the Rangers, after their owner Chuck Greenberg said his negotiations with Cliff Lee was part of the reason why the lefty didn’t sign with the Yankees. Levine called the comments by Greenberg delusional and added that Greenberg should keep his team off “welfare”.
Look, as a devoted Yankees fan I already have a very low opinion of Chuck Greenberg. His disparaging comments towards Yankees fans during the Fall Classic last October was an insult to me and to those fans who have supported the franchise before their recent 16 year run success. I would like to think that Greenberg was refering to the frauds or bandwagon fans (they usually seat in the Bleachers..) but he wasn’t because he was refering to people like me. So whatever stupid thing Greenberg has said since then I have ignored. His comments regarding the Cliff Lee negotiations are also stupid since it was clear that Lee didn’t want to stay in Texas and didn’t want to go to New York. Had Philadelphia not traded Lee (a move they probably regretted when Ryan Howard stared at strike three in the NLCS…not that it would have matter since Cody Ross roughed up Lee, Halladay and Hamels during the Giants post-season run) he would have resigned with the Phillies anyway. So Greenberg’s comments were just dumb…something that should be ignored.
But someone within the Yankee brass didn’t ignore them and fired off a completely asinine rant against Greenberg and the Rangers. Randy Levine’s comments about the Rangers staying off welfare are disgraceful and are truly a disservice to the League. The “welfare” system that Levine suggests the Rangers stay off from, is the system that keeps the economics of baseball from completely spiraling out of control and from having big market clubs completely dominate the game, while medium to small market teams, like the Rangers, would be out of luck with no chance at success. As imperfect as the system is, that welfare system saved the Rangers from bankruptcy and gave that franchise new life and hope of becoming a competitive team again. Moreover, after the questionable signing of Rafael Soriano to a ridiculous 3 year contract, I think Levine and others within the Yankee brass (except for Cashman, the spendthrift GM who was the only voice of reason regarding the signing of Soriano) should keep their mouths shut about the economics of other clubs. Seriously, it’s time for the grownups in both organizations to reign in this foolish war of words.
To 10 of 2010: The Year of the Pitcher…and yes the Giants win!
Now that the countdown to the new year is literally several hours away, the baseball world will likely remember 2010 as the year of the Pitcher in Major League Baseball. Unlike the the 1968 season, 2010 did see high offensive production, but the performances of pitchers throughout during the season had signal the end of the steroid era (we hope) and the beginning of another pitcher era in the game.
2010 had at least 30 games in which pitchers took a no-hitter into the six inning or later and in which 6 actual no hitters were thrown (two of them were perfect games), and that was just in the regular season. In the post season, Doc Halladay threw a no hitter in game one of the NLDS, three months after he threw a perfect gem in Florida. The culmination of the Year of the Pitcher was the San Francisco Giants pitching staff, led by Tim Lincecum, carrying the team to its first World Series championship since 1954, and the first one as the San Francisco Giants.
Top 10 moments of 2010…at least for me:
10. As the title says, the Year of the Pitcher. Besides the two perfect games and three no hitters, 15 pitchers in the Majors struckout 200 batters or more, tying a record in 2010. 2010 also saw the debut of young pitchers that helped their teams win.
9. A-Rod 600th Home run was a pretty big deal. He is one of the youngest players in Baseball history to accomplish the feat, besting Babe Ruth by one year. Although he is no Babe Ruth, A-Rod is one of the greatest players of the last 15 years. Whatever people may think of him personally, no one can deny his ability to play the game.
8. Stephen Strasburg’s debut on June 8 created such a buzz that Nationals Park was actually sold out, probably for the second time during the year (I say that guessing that opening day was also sold out). Strasburg, who was drafted in 2009 was a much hyped draft pick and that night against the Pirates, he lived up to the hype by striking out 14 batters. In his first four games, Strasburg went on to strike out 41 batters.
7. Retirement of Lou Pinella, which didn’t come as a surprise too many. What was probably more surprising was when he decided to retire. Pinella decided to call it a career at the end of August. After a promising start as manager of the Cubs, his last two years with the club were incredibly difficult given the expectations that he and his club failed to meet.
6. Retirement of Ken Griffey Jr. came as a surprise. The Kid decided to call it a career after getting off to such a poor start, that one unnamed teammate accused the former superstar of sleeping in the clubhouse while the game was still being played on the field. Moreover, the Mariners poor start after an aggressive off-season, had that clubhouse reeling. Griffey jumped ship before Don Wakamatsu lost the clubhouse for good in the middle of the season.
5. Retirement of Bobby Cox and Cito Gaston for me marked the end of an era. Both managers led powerhouses in the early 1990′s and both managers led their teams to the World Series in 1992, in which the Blue Jays were victorious. Bobby Cox led the Braves to 15 consecutive playoff appearences and a World Series championship in 1995. Gaston on the other hand led the Blue Jays to back to back World Series Championships in the early 1990′s.
4. Jim Joyce blown call that cost Armando Gallaraga a moment in baseball history. That call will ultimately go down in history as the one that will force the game to adopt instant replay.
3. Texas Rangers magical season has to be at number 3 for me. The franchise entered the 2010 season in bankruptcy protection, only to emerge from bankruptcy with a new ownership group, new television contract and its first trip to the World Series after pounding the then defending World Series Champion Yankees. 2010 is the season that possibly saved the Texas Rangers franchise..
2. As mentioned above, the San Francisco Giants won their first World Series title since 1954. They accomplish that feat by their strong pitching rotation led by Tim Lincecum who out pitched Cliff Lee in both his World Series starts. Giants beat the Braves, beat the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies, and quieted the bats of the slugging Rangers in the Series.
1. George Steinbrenner dies. As the title of Bill Madden’s book says, Steinbrenner was the last lion of baseball. He is responsible for resurrecting the Yankee franchise from last place and making it the juggernaut it is today.
San Francisco Giants 2010 World Series Champions.
A big congratulations to the San Francisco Giants on winning the 2010 World Series and thus becoming the new World Series champions. What more could be said about a team of “misfits” whom without a single superstar in their roster, were able not only to beat the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS but hand Cliff Lee his first two successive post season loses of his career.
Once again, Congratulations to the Giants and their fans.
Lincecum v Halladay
Not a Supreme Court case by any stretch of the imagination, but if both pitchers live up to the hype again and this time pitch lights out, then this could very well turn into a legal case of unfair pitching by both sides. A matchup that will require legal expertise to determine which pitcher was nastier and dominant. But putting the pun aside, game 5 of the NLCS promises to be classic post season baseball match. Unlike game 1, a trip to the World Series and the elimination of a heavily favored team is now at stake.
Yankees season down to one game…at a time.
After another crushing defeat at the hands of the Texas Rangers, the Yankees season comes down to the strength of CC Sabathia’s arm later on this afternoon. Out of options, the Yankees now need to take it one game at a time if they hope to continue playing this season, and ultimately hope that Sabathia would come out and pitch like the ace he has been for the Bombers since 09. Otherwise, another bad start by Sabathia and the season ends….no more baseball until March for the Yanks. So CC’s job today is simple; pitch 8 innings of shut out dominant baseball, and hope the offense wakes up and figures out CJ Wilson. Take this series back to Texas and hope for the best.
What happened?
Even though I don’t make predictions before the beginning of a playoff series, and I specially do not make predictions when the team I root for is involved, I did however write before game 1 that if the Yankees have trouble with their situational hitting, they would lose this series. So far the Yankees have not only struggled with their situational hitting, but have struck out an unreal 39 times. A team that is built on power, as the Yankees are, will not win many games if they are undisciplined at the plate. Putting aside game 3, their inability to put pressure on two suspect Rangers starters in Hunter and Lewis will be the reason why this team will lose this series. Pitching wise, the Yankees starters, other than Pettitte and for five innings, Burnett, haven’t pitched to their level. Sabathia, as has been noted, was horrible in both his post season starts, not pitching to the level of an ace the Yankees have become accustomed to. Hughes had a very good start in the ALDS, but unfortunately pitched poorly in game two of this series. In those two games, the Yankees gave up 13 runs and if not for a miraculous comeback in the 8th inning of game one, would have been outscored 13-1. On top of that, the Yankees will now be forced to be without Mark Teixeira who hurt his hamstring in last night’s debacle. Although Teixeira wasn’t having a good series, his glove in the field will be missed. Lance Berkman is a decent defensive first baseman, but he isn’t Mark Teixeira.
The Rangers on the other hand have done everything right. They have not ony pitched well, but are hitting in the clutch, getting big hits when needed. Last night, the big clutch hit came off the bat of Bengie Molina, who once again hits another clutch playoff homerun against the Yankees. This time, the three run job, gave the Rangers a 2 run lead to basically put the game away. Now all the Rangers have to do is win one more game. If they lose today and in Friday night’s game, they have literally nothing to worry about, as the Magnificent Lee will take the mound in game 7 and possibly send the Texas Rangers to their first World Series in franchise history.
NLCS Update..
The Giants take a 2-1 series lead over the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies and are now on the drivers seat ready to take control of this series later on this afternoon. Before the series began, I questioned Matt Cain’s ability to out pitch Cole Hamels and wonder if the moment would be too big for Cain and the young Giants pitching staff. Well, I guess Cain answered my questions by outpitching Cole Hamels and continuing his good pitching in the post season. In 13 innings so far, I don’t believe Matt Cain has allowed a run to score. Moreover, the Giants are suddenly hitting in clutch situations. Cody Ross delivered a key RBI single with two outs in the 4th and two runners on, to give the Giants a one to nothing lead. After Ross’s single, Pat Burrell hurts his former team and drives in the second run of the inning. The Giants tagged another run in the bottom of the 5th thanks to an error by Chase Utley (who just had a bad game) to put the game away. All that is left for the Giants to do is win Lincecum’s start in game 5 and hope Matt Cain repeats his performance in game 7.
The Phillies on the other hand have nothing to worry about, but I would pitch Roy Halladay today instead of Joe Blanton and have him ready for game 7. Of course, I think the Phillies will win this series (and the World Series), they are just too good, but a bad start by Blanton could be devestating as the Giants would be one brilliant Lincecum start away from wrapping up the series. I’ll be watching (darn cablevision and news corp) tonight.
Classic game 3..
Tonight’s game three between the Rangers and Yankees should be a classic pitching match up if both pitchers live up to the hype. That is easier said that done, but given the performances by both Cliff Lee and Andy Pettitte during the post-season it would be hard to think of them being on something less than their A-game. As classic a pitching match up tonight’s game could be, this is also a very pivitol game because of the winner of this game will have the advantage the rest of the series. If the Rangers win, then all they need to do in the next two days is just win one more game and take the series back to Texas where they could win in six, or in seven with Cliff Lee yet again on the mound. If the Yankees win tonight however, they will have the advantage the rest of the series, and will most likely clinch their 41st American League pennant.
National League….
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the NLCS because of News Corps’s greed. With that being said, I’m not surprised that Halladay didn’t have his best stuff in game one. Afterall, he is human. However, the Phillies will be too much for the Giants as they will no doubt wrap up this series in 6 games. The Phillies pitching staff is the best in the game at the moment. During the Division Series, Halladay pitched a great no-hitter which was followed by a so-so performance from Roy Oswalt. Still, the Phillies found a way to win and in game 3 of that series, Cole Hamels pitched like the 2008 Cole Hamels propelling the Phillies to the NLCS. So if Hamels has a bad start, Halladay could follow with a great start, in vice versa. The best the Giants could hope for is that their pitchers keep up or out pitch the Phillies starters. In game 1, Lincecum did just that, however, Sanchez couldn’t. Now the question is, will Matt Cain out pitch Cole Hamels…
Post season…
Let the (Post-Season) games begin. Tomorrow the road to the World Series begins for all 8 teams still alive this baseball season. As the other 24 teams in the league make plans for next year, the final 8 prepare to battle it out for baseball’s ultimate prize: A World Series Championship. So here are my short predictions.
American League Prediction:
Rangers v Rays:
I say the Rays win this series in five games. In the end, I do believe the Rays will do enough to manufacture enough runs to beat Cliff Lee, CJ Wilson and Colby Lewis. I also expect a big series from BJ Upton who will have to pick up the slack if Longoria doesn’t play. But even if Longoria plays, the Rays won’t win if Upton doesn’t produce. So the key for the Rays to win this series is simple: jump all over Cliff Lee in game one, and out pitch the rest of the Rangers staff. James Shields will have to be Big Game James and Matt Garza has to repeat the post season performance he put together in 2008.
Of course, just because I think the Rays could win in five doesn’t mean that the Rangers won’t surprise me and win this series. Cliff Lee has emerged as a dominant post-season pitcher, and I don’t expect that to change tomorrow. He will be tough on the Rays lineup and if CJ Wilson and Colby Lewis pitch well, the Rangers could beat the Rays. But I don’t expect to see Wilson and Lewis pitch well.
Yankees v Twins:
I’m biased, so the Yankees will win..enough said. However, could this be the year the Twins finally get over the hump? For all the Yankee fans who wished for a Twins/Yankees series, all I have to say is..be careful of what you wish for…
National League Prediction:
Phillies v Reds:
The Phillies are the class of the National League and will begin the road to their second World Series championship in the last three years (it makes me sick just typing that) tomorrow at home against the Reds. I expect Doc Halladay’s first post season game to be a great one. Halladay has always been a great regular season pitcher, and tomorrow I expect him to become a great Post-Season pitcher. Roy Halladay could be this year’s Cliff Lee for the Phillies. And unlike last year, the Phillies will have two top pitchers to ride this post season, and Roy Oswalt, a veteran post season pitcher will provide that Phillies staff with the experience and the arm they so miserably lacked last season, especially during the World Series. Moreover, the Phillies lineup is stack and could be a nightmare for the Reds starting rotation.
Where the Reds have a slight edge over the Phillies however, will be in the bullpen. The Reds have three tough lefties that could shut down Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez. Now that Travis Wood will be in the bullpen, along with Rhodes and Chapman, the Reds could steal a few games, or maybe even the series from the Phillies if any of the games come down to a big at-bat in the late innings by any of Phillies three top left handed hitters. However, the Reds will need a big performances from Arroyo, Volquez and Cueto and frankly, against this Phillies lineup that would be too much to ask for.
Giants v Braves:
I predict that the Giants will win in four games. San Francisco’s pitching will be too much for the Braves to handle, and the poor defense of the Braves infield will be a liability throughout the series. Derek Lowe had a great September and he has the post season experience to come up big, but the idea that Hudson and Hanson outpitching this formidable Giants staff is unrealistic.
David Veloz
Recent Comments