Results tagged ‘ Roy Halladay ’
Quick NL Postseason predictions!
Here are my quick postseason predictions for the National League Division Series.
Phillies/Cardinals: Only if the Cardinals had a healthy Adam Wainwright in the rotation would I predict an upset of the Phillies. However, with Chris Carpenter and the solid pitching of Kyle Lohse and Jaime Garcia, I think the Cardinals can compete and possibly upset the heavily favorite Phillies. But the possibility of a Cardinals upset is in all reality a long shot, as the Phillies rotation is by far the most complete of all the teams in the postseason. The combination of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels will be difficult to score upon, let alone beat.
Lineup by lineup, the Cardinals have a slight edge. The Cardinals offense is led by early NL MVP Lance Berkman, who put up incredible numbers in his first season with the Cardinals. Albert Pujols put a miserable start to his season behind, by finishing with a strong .299 batting average, 37 home runs and an OPS of .905. Adding to Berkman and Pujols offensive production is third baseman David Freese. Freese is by far a better offensive producer than Phillies third baseman Placido Polanco, posting a OBP of .350 and a .299 batting average, compared with Polanco’s .335 OBP and .277 batting average. But with that being said, what wins games in October is pitching and defense, and the Phillies have both. Look for Philadelphia starters to neutralize the Cardinals offense, while the Phillies offense in the other hand will win games with timely hitting from their best offensive players Jimmy Rollins, Hunter Pence and Ryan Howard.
Phillies in 4.
Brewers/DBacks: The surprising Arizona Diamondbacks are in the postseason this year, even though most experts picked them to finish last. I certainly did. Coming into the season, the Diamondbacks looked like a rebuilding team rather than a division champion. I expected them to dump players like Justin Upton, Miguel Montero by the trade deadline as I figured their season would be over by July 31. Instead the Diamondbacks put together a strong season , led by one time Yankee prospect Ian Kennedy and surprised everyone by beating out the World Series Champions San Francisco Giants for the division crown.
Brewers on the other hand took advantage of the Cardinals losing Adam Wainwright, and the Reds disappointing season to win the NL Central. The Brew-crew won the NL Central with offense and finally with pitching, as Zach Greinke anchored a rotation that was virtually unbeatable at home. For that reason, I think the Brewers will win this series and head to the NLCS. The Brewers will be difficult to beat at home, and I just don’t trust Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson and Joe Saunders to pitch well in the big moment. Saunders failed to do that for the Angels in 2009 and will fail the Dbacks this season. Also, as impressive as Ian Kennedy was this season, this will be his first playoff appearance and the moment might just be a bit too big for the kid. Brewers are tough at home and will be tougher in a short series.
Brewers in 4.
Strasburg: Believe the Hype 2.2.
Stephen Strasburg will make his season debut tonight, after missing much of the season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. As one of those that bought into and believes in the hype of Strasburg, although this start by the young phenom isn’t as hyped as his major league debut was, I’m really looking forward to his start tonight. One of the things that I will be looking for in Strasburg is whether or not he has changed his delivery after the injury. It was clear to me, and more knowledgeable observers of the game, that Strasburg’s delivery was unorthodox and likely contributed to his injury.
Anyone who saw Strasburg pitch last season probably didn’t notice that he had a tendency to rush his delivery. What the pitcher is doing when he is rushing is easy to see when you know what to look for. One obvious tendency of a pitcher that is rushing is when he steps to home plate while his pitching arm is at a horizontal position instead of being at a 90 degree angle. This motion puts pressure not only on the pitcher’s shoulder but inevitably on the elbow as well. And Strasburg was guilty of this many times last season I was surprised that then National’s manager Jim Riggleman didn’t address this with Strasburg(if Riggleman address it, let me apologize, but I don’t remember reading about it at the time). The picture at the left side of the column is an example of Strasburg rushing his delivery. So as a fan of the game, and aficionado of the science of pitching, I’m truly looking forward to watching any changes, if any, in his delivery.
I truly believe the hype that Strasburg could be the next best dominant pitcher in baseball. Last year he showed he has the stuff to dominate lineups and pitch on the same level a Verlander, Halladay, Lee and Sabathia are on. The question that remains with Strasburg is whether or not his mechanics will be adjusted for the rigors of a full season. The answer to that question will likely come next season, as I doubt Strasburg will be under an innings limit.
Meet The Mets
“Sh*tty team!” That is how New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon described his team while they were playing a series against the Houston Astros earlier in the season. In an interview with Jeff Toobin of The New Yorker, an interview that had to be a way for the Mets owner to save his reputation and team, Wilpon had less flattering things to say about the players that make up his “sh*tty” club. Wilpon believes that Mets’ shortstop Jose Reyes isn’t worth the money that Carl Crawford of the Boston Red Sox is getting:
“He thinks he’s going to get Carl Crawford money,” Wilpon said, referring to the Red Sox’ signing of the former Tampa Bay player to a seven-year, $142-million contract. “He’s had everything wrong with him,” Wilpon said of Reyes. “He won’t get it.”
Of David Wright, Wilpon said: “He’s a very good player but not a superstar.” And of Carlos Beltran, Wilpon, referring to himself, said: “We had some schmuck in New York who paid him based on that one series(2004 NLCS)….He’s sixty-five to seventy per cent of what he was.” With that very honest and strange assessment of his team, the question that should now be posed to Fred Wilpon is: “Why should Mets fans go out to Citi Field and spend their hard earn money to watch a ‘Sh*tty’ team?”
In many ways, I have to feel sorry for Fred Wilpon, who, from all accounts that I have heard of him, is really a nice man and was probably driven to do this interview as a way to defend himself against the charges being made against him in a lawsuit brought by Irving Picard, an attorney who is in charge of collecting funds for the victims of Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme. A self made man from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Wilpon grew up to become a successful real estate developer. Along with his brother in law, Wilpon started Sterling Equities, a major real estate firm in New York City, which owns several properties in and around the city, including the Mets new home Citi Field. It was through his business that Wilpon met another Brooklyn self made man, Bernie Madoff. In the 1980′s, Madoff urge Wilpon to invest his money with Madoff’s investment operations; investments which were not lucrative, but were consistent. Over the years Wilpon had good returns for the investments he made with Madoff, which is why Wilpon (along with the rest of Madoff’s victims) didn’t suspect that the whole investment scheme was a big lie. But when Madoff’s ponzi scheme went belly up, investors like Wilpon, lost everything. Wilpon himself however, made a profit from the investments, which is why he is being accused of being a participant in the Ponzi scheme. In all, there is no doubt that Wilpon is a successful businessman. Probably a naive one at that, but successful nontheless. And the fact that he knows business has to make a fan of the Mets wonder why in the world the owner of the club would refer to it as ”sh*tty” on the one hand, and on the other urge, if not beg, Mets fans to show up at Citi Field this season and spend their money?
So far 2011 hasn’t been a good year for Wilpon. On top of the lawsuit and financial worries, the ballclub itself is not a very good one. The assessment of Mets as being ”sh*tty” by Wilpon was taking things a bit too far, but the Mets are in a tough spot. The club has been ravaged by injuries in the past few years, injuries that have bitten the club’s best players, including pitching ace Johan Santana; and the fact that the Mets are in the same division with the Philadelphia Phillies, a ballclub that is improving every year–thanks to a deep farm system and new found spendthrift ways–have placed the Mets in a no win situation. The Mets can’t go out and sign top free agents anymore; moreover, they don’t have the farm system to trade for top players. When the Mets failed to bid for the services of Roy Halladay two years ago and instead settled for Jason Bay (a deal which is looking worse and worse) that was a sure sign that there was something wrong with the team’s finances after the Madoff ponzi scheme was uncovered. In many ways, Wilpon found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place, and he probably saw this interview with Toobin as a way to save his reputation and team, and explain himself better to the fans and critics. Unfortunately for Wilpon, he struck out.
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.
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.
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…
Doc Halladay!
Congratulations once again to Doc Halladay, who has now thrown a second no-hitter this season and the second post-season no-hitter in baseball history. Halladay was on his game today, as he was able to get ahead of the hitters all night long and incredibly threw a pitch that was befuddling the Reds all afternoon long. Halladay also becomes the first pitcher in baseball history to throw a perfect game in the regular season and a no hitter in the post season. His performance today proves what I have said since 2003: Halladay is the best pitcher in the game today hands down. Congratulations Doc!
Doc prescribes perfection!
Roy Halladay just pitched the 20th perfect game in MLB history, the second perfect game in the month of May, and the second perfect game in Philadelphia Phillies history. I have said this many times, but it bares repeating: Doc Halladay is the man! Halladay has the stuff and the talent to be perfect on any given night, which is why it is a bit surprising that it took him until 2010 to finally throw a perfect game/no hitter. But it was worth the wait, not only for Halladay but for the new generation of baseball fans and Phillies fans that have only read about Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning and his perfect game at Shea in 1964. So, on a warm and muggy Florida night, Doc Halladay gave the fans of Philadelphia, and baseball fans overall, something to cheer for. More importantly he once again showed why he has been one of the best pitchers of the past decade. I have seen Halladay throw many gems against the Yankees and other teams in the American League, but tonight was something special, because I finally say that I saw Doc Halladay throw a perfect game!
Congratulations Roy. Tonight you achieved baseball immortality! And that is just one accomplishment of the many we have seen from you over the years.
Don’t forget Ruiz..
Congratulations to Carlos Ruiz as well. Fans often forget that the catcher also plays a pivotal role in Perfect Games and No-Hitter. Ruiz called a good game behind the dish tonight and he deserves some of the praise as well!
Wakefield in Philly.
Tim Wakefield, who is out of the bullpen for the time being, is pitching a gem as he has thrown a shut out in 7 innings of work. He has kept the Phillies lineup of balance with his knuckle junk. As for Roy Halladay, well, not so good: in 5 1/3 innings of work, he gave up 7 runs. Today was probably Halladay’s worse start of the season.
Ubaldo Jimenez, Mets, Yankees…
How great has Ubaldo Jimenez been for the Rockies so far this season? The right hander is 6-0 for the Rockies and in 5 of his 6 starts this season, Jimenez has given the Rockies a quality start by pitching over 6 innings. Last night against the San Diego Padres, Jimenez pitched 7 strong innings, striking out 13 Padres in the process. It doesn’t get better than this for Jimenez and the Rockies, who lost a decent starter in Jason Marquis over the winter. With his early season success, Jimenez is making a case to be the league’s Cy Young Award winner, an award many predicted would go to the Phillies Roy Halladay.
Mets three game losing streak…
The Mets 4th inning collapse on Sunday night is hard to put into words. I guess the only words that will suffice in describing the two out meltdown of Johan Santana and the Mets is “What Happened?” The last person you’d think of when you think of a pitcher giving up 8 runs with two outs in an inning is Johan Santana. Unfortunately, Santana indeed gave up 8 runs, with two outs in the 4th. That inning killed whatever momentum the Mets were riding from their 8 game winning streak, and from their big win over the Phillies on Friday night. Saturday’s loss to Halladay was expected, but the meltdown of the Mets ace wasn’t, especially when his teammates gave him two three run leads to work with.
Last night in Cincinnati, in the Queen City, the Mets lose a heart breaker in extra innings. Mets had their chances from what I saw, but couldn’t capitalize. In the top of the seventh, or 8th inning, the Mets had two men on base with one out, and both David Wright and Jason Bay fail to put the ball in play. What is even more maddening is that Oliver Perez gave the Mets a solid outing and that one positive was wasted.
Yankees Win….
Behind a strong outing from CC Sabathia, and a three run homerun from Randy Winn, the Yankees beat the Orioles for the third straight time this season. As I watched the game yesterday, Sabathia didn’t look too comfortable out there, missing on close pitches and at times getting frustrated by the umpire-in-chief’s inconsistent strike zone. Still, Sabathia gave the Yankees a fifth straight quality start.
Randy Winn, who will now get more playing time, thanks to the injury suffered by Curtis Granderson, made the most of his start with a three run homerun that gave the Yankees a 4-1 lead and the victory. The Yankees, who spent most of April healthy, are now finding themselves a bit banged up, with injuries to Granderson and now Posada, however, they haven’t missed a beat as players like Winn step up and contribute.
David Veloz
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