Results tagged ‘ Rays ’
The expansion of the playoff format.
I think it took a thrilling end to the regular season last year (or maybe not) to finally convince the Owners and Player’s Association on the need to expand baseball’s playoff format starting this season. Under the new format, there will be two Wild Card teams in both leagues that will play a one game playoff to decide which team will earn the right to play a division champion in the LDS round. Due to scheduling concerns, and the fact that the 2012 schedule has already been set, MLB is reverting back to the 2-3 format in which the Wild Card winning team will host the first two games of the Division Series at home, while the division winner will host the last three remaining games. This will allow the Wild Card team to stay home, or be at home, if it wins the one game playoff. The second change to the playoff format, and this I believe to be the most important change, will be that two teams from the same division will face each other in the LDS round. Until last season, two teams from the same division did not meet, unless both advanced to the LCS. Now the potential of two division rivals (Yankees/Red Sox) meeting in a pressure pack five game series will definitely create more interest and excitement for playoffs.
The need for the new format…
I truly favor this change to the playoff format, much as I did back in 1994 when the playoffs were expanded. After many lackluster Septembers of season’s past, in which potential Wild Card and Division races were pretty much an after thought, adding a second wild card team will once again put emphasis on winning the division. This time, settling for the Wild Card could be a mistake for any team that believes it can coast through the month of September because they have a comfortable lead in the Wild Card and Division standings. Had this format been in place during the 2010 season, the race for the American League East, the two September series between the Yankees and Rays would have been a nail bitting, tension filled pack of games. Yet because of the fact that both teams had a comfortable lead in both the Wild Card/Division the Yankees and Rays basically played .500 baseball the rest of the way not even caring about the Division crown. Under the new system, both teams, if they find themselves in the same scenerio as 2010, will have to go all out and win the division or else suffer a potential one game playoff loss against another Wild Card team.
But another important reason as to why a second Wild Card is needed, besides placing emphasis on winning the division, is the MLB’s need to win back the month of September away from the NFL. For too long, once the calendar turns to September, it seems football dominates the sports airwaves while baseball takes a back seat until the playoffs begin. Now with potential exciting Wild Card and Division races, baseball can become relevant again in the last month of the season. The move by the Owners and Players is good for the game and will bring even more excitement to this season and seasons to come!
Wild ending!
Back in early August ESPN radio blowhard Colin Cowherd complained that the Major League Baseball season was too long and that the schedule should be cut down to at least 150 to 130 games. He said, to paraphrase, ‘there is no need to have 162 games when most playoff spots were already decided.‘ Clearly not knowing or understanding baseball history, Cowherd thought all the teams leading their divisions and Wild Card races were basically a lock to make the postseason. Fortunately the Tampa Bay Rays and the St. Louis Cardinals didn’t get the memo and not only fought throughout August to put themselves in a position to make a postseason run, but both took advantage of the September collapses of the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox the respective leagues. Therefore, it came down to game 162 of the marathon to decide the Wild Card races and complete the postseason picture. Who said baseball needs less regular season games?
Historic collapse!
I have seen historic collapses in my 19 years of watching baseball, and some of the collapses that comes to mind right away when you think about them are the 1995 Angels collapse, along with the Mets 2007 collapse that unleashed the beast known as the current Philadelphia Phillies. And of course, probably the worst collapse in the history of baseball, the Yankees blowing a 3 game lead against the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS (one out away from continuing the Curse…I feel like puking). But to speak of historic regular season collapses, game 162 of the 2011 season saw the complete and historic crash of two teams that entered the month of September holding comfortable leads in their respective Wild Card races. On September 2, the Boston Red Sox held a 9 game lead in the American League Wild Card race; while the Atlanta Braves held a 8 1/2 game lead in the National League Wild Card race. The way both teams played this season, there was no way in the world they would collapse in late September and lose their leads. I mean just looking at both teams, the Red Sox either lead the Wild Card or American League east from May 24, while the Braves had a commanding Wild Card lead throughout the summer and at one point early in the season, were just 4 games behind the eventual NL East champions Phillies. There was just no conceivable way these two teams would miss the playoffs. Yet they did.
I have to do research in order to rank these two collapses, but the fact that they happened, once again shows the importance of the 162 game schedule. No one can sit and say in August that the playoff teams leading their divisions and wild card races, will be the same teams leading their races by the end of September. As far as I’m concerned, 162 games just isn’t enough!
End of the losing streak!
Finally the losing streak has ended as the Yankees get off the schneid and win tonight’s ball game against the Tampa Bay Rays. This time the Yankees took the lead against James Shields and protected it, not allowing the Rays to comeback this time unlike last night. And tonight the hero of the game is none other than Alex Rodriguez, who got the Yankees offense started with a solo homerun in the top of the fourth inning. Even though James Shields’ was cruising along up to that point, A-Rod was able to capitalize on a flat changeup that had “hit me” written all over it. Even better, later on, Rodriguez deposited another Shields’ mistake that also had “hit me” written on it.
But as good as A-Rod was up at the plate, the key moment of the game came in the sixth inning with the Yankees leading 2-1 and Ivan Nova on the mound, when the young righty walked Ben Zobrist and allowed a single to Johnny Damon. With the Rays now having two runners on, and Nova issuing an intentional walk to Matt Joyce, all I could think about was “here we go again.” There is just no way the Yankees could surrender the lead a third day in a row after taking it against a tough pitcher, like Shields. Luckily, David Robertson–the Houdini of the bullpen–was able to come in with the bases loaded and get two critical outs as he got BJ Upton to strikeout swinging and Casey Kotchman to look at a called third strike. Without Robertson’s performance, I highly doubt if the Yankees would have won this game. The Rays were just a productive out away from not only tying the game, but shifting the momentum to their side. Luckily, Houdini performed a magic act, and held the game for Ivan Nova, who picked up the win and is now 4-3 this season.
RISP….
Here is more good news. The Yankees were 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position. During the losing streak, the lineup was awful when scoring opportunities arose, as they failed miserably to score runs. In order for the Yankees to sustain a winning streak, they will need to start doing a better job at manufacturing runs and stop relying on homeruns.
As for….
Jorge Posada. He was in the lineup tonight and picked up two hits. I guess he had a good day.
A-Rod’s night.
Bottom of the 6th inning between the Yankees and Rays, and Alex Rodriguez has broke out of his slump somewhat with two homeruns tonight. Both homers by A-Rod were mistake pitches by James Shields, who would otherwise be tossing a shutout. I’ve been watching baseball long enough to know that one good night doesn’t mean a player will break out of a slump. Afterall, we saw what Derek Jeter did a week ago against the Rangers, only to be hitless in his next four games. But what I’m seeing from A-Rod is different. He seems to be hitting the ball with authority to the opposite part of the field, and his second homerun to straightaway centerfield means that he is going the other way with pitches, instead of pulling the ball, something that hitters in a slump usually do.
The Losing Streak Continues…
There is really not much to write about tonight’s game between the Rays and Yankees other than the fact that when AJ Burnett loses it, he really loses it. How is it that Burnett can go from cruise control for five innings and in less than a third of an inning not only lose control, but completely lose all concentration and command of his stuff? I haven’t seen a more inconsistent pitcher pitch for the Yankees since Kenny Rogers was a member of the team in 1996. Whatever the answer is to Burnett’s problem or problems, there will be a day in which Burnett will pitch a complete game without much trouble. Unfortunately, I and most Yankee fans have been patient in waiting for that day.
Curtis Granderson…
It wasn’t all bad news tonight even though the Yankees lost the game. At least Curtis Granderson continues to rake this month and in particular against left handed pitching. Tonight, the Grandiman hit a three run bomb off the Rays’ talented lefty David Price. That means that Granderson is on pace to hit 37 homeruns this season and drive in at least 110 runs. Only if the rest of the lineup can do the same thing, the Yankees wouldn’t be in this mess.
Short note on the AL MVP.
A comment was left on my blog about my thoughts of Jose Bautista possibly being named AL MVP. As I wrote in my reply, the Jose Bautista could very well be this year’s AL MVP based on what his offensive explosion. But since I believe the MVP award should be more than just numbers and stats, I truly believe that Josh Hamilton should be the League’s most valuable player.
In baseball a player’s offensive production is an important measure of his value to the team so much so that a new statistic has been invented to show how many runs a player could be responsible for, compared to an average major league replacement. Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) thus measures the runs a player is responsible to a given team. A high VORP usually means that a player is responsible for a high amount of run production thanks to his offensive production. Based on this statistic, Josh Hamilton, and not Jose Bautista, was more valuable to his team during the season. Hamilton contributed 80.5 runs to the Texas Rangers, while Bautista had 69.3 VORP. On that metric alone, Hamilton meant more to his team than Bautista did, even if the later hit 54 homeruns.
In the end, other statistics can be used to prove Hamilton’s impact on the Rangers than just VORP. Hamilton’s absense from the lineup was felt in September. That month, the Rangers struggled as Hamilton recovered from bruised ribs. But when Hamilton returned to the lineup, the Rangers looked like a different team and it showed in the post-season, as he was able to carry the Rangers past the Rays and Yankees. Of course, he did struggle in the World Series, but that was thanks to the outstanding pitching of the San Francisco Giants. If a player was valuable to his team in this league, Hamilton is clearly the winner.
I Heart Cliff Lee..
Another post-season game another impressive post season performance by Cliff Lee. As good as he was in Game 1 of the ALDS between the Rangers and Rays, he was even better in Game 5. This time, Lee threw a complete game masterpiece, holding the Rays to one misley run while 11 Rays struck out befuddled by Lee’s stuff. In the process, Lee helped the Texas Rangers to finally win their first playoff series in franchise history. What is truly impressive about Lee is that last night’s game was the 4th game in which he pitched in the post-season without walking a batter. Which isn’t surprising because since Lee cameback from the minors in 2008, he has been a control pitcher, who is always throwing strikes and keeps every pitch in the strike zone. Even when he throws a ball, it looks like a strike. And in just his second post-season, Lee has the third lowest ERA in the playoffs for a pitcher with seven or more starts. As of now, Lee’s ERA is a ridiculous 1.44 with 54 strike outs and just 6 walks.
The left handed Greg Maddux..
Is Cliff Lee the left handed Greg Maddux? Like Lee, Maddux was a primary two-seem fastball and cutter pitcher that he used to set up his breaking stuff. Maddux was also a very finess pitcher who had an incredible ability to paint the corners with his pitches, especially the outside corner of the plate. Maddux stuff wasn’t dominant, however, he was a very smart pitcher and it was his ability to control and throw his pitches with precision is the reason why he was a 300 game winner in this game and a future Hall of Famer.
Although Cliff Lee has a long way to go before he is considered a Hall of Famer, he–just like Maddux–is a finess pitcher who has an ability not only to keep his pitches in the strike zone but also throws pitches that paint the corners. Ben Zobrist’s at-bat in the bottom of the 5th inning of last night is a great example of Lee’s inner Maddux. Lee started the at-bat by throwing a fastball to the outside corner that was called for a strike. Now that the Zobrist was set up, Lee threw a curve to the same corner that missed. Now with the count at one ball/one strike, Lee threw a cutter that Zobrist swung at and missed. With a 1-2 count and Zobrist now looking for the fastball, Lee frozed him with a curveball that, as you would guess, hit the outside corner of the plate for strike three. That 76mph curveball was just so ridiculously unfair that I felt sorry for Zobrist as he stood in the batter’s box just wondering what the heck just happened. That curveball is something that someone would expect from Greg Maddux when he was in his prime. Now, fans expect that sort mastery from Cliff Lee.
Rangers/Rays game two.
It is fair to say that James Shields is the Rays’ version of AJ Burnett. Here is a pitcher with great stuff, but who is maddenly inconsistent. In his last 10 games, he is 3-5, with an ERA over 5. Then again, Shields has the potential of being a big game pitcher, and if the Rays hope to even their series this afternoon, they will need a big game from “Big Game” James.
As for the Rangers, CJ Wilson has to follow in Lee’s footsteps and give his team a quality start. This season, Wilson had an opponent average .217 which was the second lowest in the league. More importantly, Wilson has better stuff than Cliff Lee.
It’s going to be a great game this afternoon!
Lee Continues Post Season dominance.
I guess Cliff Lee picks up where he left off last post-season and continues his dominance in October. Lee threw seven strong innings of one run baseball, basically duplicating some of the performances he had last season for the Philadelphia Phillies. Lee’s dominance over the Rays wasn’t unexpected, since Tampa Bay’s lineup has had problems in the past month to put runs on the board. Either way you see it, the Rays were at a disadvantage from the beginning of today’s game against a dominant Lee. And the performance by David Price today didn’t help at all.
As feeble as the Rays offense was today, the Rangers on the other hand put good at bats against Price and certainly hit the mistakes from the Rays left hander. One of the mistakes that was hit out of the ballpark, came in the second (or third?) inning when Nelson Cruz took a Price fastball that was over the plate and deposited over the centerfield canopy at the Trop. From there it was down hill for Price who also gave up homer to Bengi Molina and an RBI double to the over the hill Vladimir Guerrero.
Now that the Rays are down one game in the series, they already face a must win Game 2. At the same time, their loss to Texas today is just one game. So I guess the question heading into game 2 of this series is, will the Rays offense show up..
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
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