Baseball Megathread: Ohtani to LAA, Stanton to NYY, prayers to Miami

Did you fellas see what happened at Fenway tonight? Shattered maple bat almost/may have killed some poor woman in the stands watching the game with a little kid. Real upsetting. Last thing I wanted to see tonight.

@htr10: Yeah I've been reading up on it. Tempted to check the game archive on mlb.tv to watch the replay because I really am curious just how the bat broke that this could happen, but I am not really sure the injury is something I want to see.

The swing and broken bat was nothing out of the ordinary just where it landed I guess. On Deadspin in the comment's feed for the report on the injured fan there's a bunch of harrowing eyewitness tales of people telling their gruesome accounts of watching other people either on the first or third base sideline seats getting beamed by a ball or bat in the same way. I think it'll only be a matter of time before MLB either sets up some sorta new rules about how small the handle of those bats can be or they eventually extend those netting around the field.

Holy cow, A's pitcher Pat Venditte is a freak. Possibly the second person in recorded MLB history to be a "switch-pitcher."

Anybody here actually follow the MLB Draft at all? It's one of those events that I often ignore since I don't follow college or high school baseball (and who does really?) so I feel uneducated about any of these players. It's not like the NBA or NFL where those collegiate sports are popular enough to knowing what players were good or not.

I gotta say that the #1 picks seem to have a decent track record. David Price, Joe Mauer, Adrian Gonzalez, and Justin Upton were all #1 picks and have made an impact. There's been some duds, but overall the top spot is often great. So this Dansby Swanson might turn out alright even with that dumb name.

@dalai: I don't really follow the draft either. I find it hard to care about because most players won't make an impact until a few years down the road, if they do at all. I do follow college ball somewhat though, especially around tournament time (aka now).

@shinboy630: Yeah, having a robust development system makes a difference and separates baseball from football and basketball where they're pretty much thrown into the lion's den the next season. Whoever was drafted this year won't see any MLB action until at least 2017, most likely 2018 or later if they can get out of the minors.

Mad Max Scherzer throws an almost-Perfect Game but for Jose Tabata (BOOOOOO!) who got hit by (or leaned into, depending on who you ask) a pitch on his elbow. Tabata (BOOOOOO!) then got booed every time he stepped up to the plate in the game on Father's Day, but the Nats crushed the ball for nine runs and chased the starting pitcher off the mound before the first inning even ended.

In other news, @aorey has been doing a blog playing as the O's in Backyard Baseball 2003. Check it out if you haven't already.

THE ALL-STAR GAME IS HAPPENING. THAT'S COOL I GUESS.

Of course, Giancarlo Stanton is out for the rest of the season, and Bryce Harper won't do the HR derby, and the Royals' fans tried to rig the AL starting lineup for their team. They partially succeeded.

Thanks for the shoutout, @dochaus! The blog's a nice way to get away from the O's giving me hope then taking it away, then giving hope, repeat. I will say, though, that they're a little better to follow than my current hometown team of the Mariners. That's a real bummer of a team to follow, but man is it fun to listen to ESPN radio the day after a loss. Everyone is just dumbfounded at how this season is turning out. Also snapped this pic at a game I attended nearly a month ago:

I've got to say, more than any other sport, baseball parks tend to use that city skyline to create the most beautiful stadiums in sports. I love it, even if the Mariners are stinking it up.

Bummed that Harper won't be doing the Home Run Derby. I need his face and his him in front of my eyes more, not less :P

Curious to see how this new Home Run Derby set up works out. Hoping Rizzo and Bryant do well tonight!

Well, my Astro's season may be pretty much over after a hell of a fun ride, but we got the All-Star starting pitcher!

Well I guess theres always next year for the Mariners. I think it might be time to fire Jack Zduriencik.

The Nationals took two of three from the O's at Camden Yards, even though half of the starting lineup is rotating through an MRI tube at any one time! Suck it, team from a city that is just slightly further away from me than Washington!

I can honestly say, I'm digging the new Home Run Derby format. It sort of keeps the pace moving along, instead of having to listen to Chris Berman drone on and on.

WOW, Tulowitzki traded to the Blue Jays is nuts. The Blue Jays need pitching BADLY, but I guess they're going to try to outslug every team they face. Unless they flip Tulo for a large sum of pitching. This week is going to be nuts because of the trade deadline.

Travis, Donaldson, Bautista, Encarnacion, Tulowitzki, Colabello, Martin, Smoak, Pillar. Now THATS a lineup! There just one last piece of the puzzle; get a decent starting pitcher and I'll believe the Jays can make it to the postseason for the first time in over 20 years. Even though I wouldn't be suprised if this is the only move they make, I believe in Alex Anthopolous to make this happen.

Looks like Papelbon will be coming to the Nats, though I don't really like the guy and I'm not sure why they felt they needed him with Storen pitching. Maybe they figure Storen is a reliable 8th inning guy and Papelbon can close just as well, or Lerner is afraid of another potential choke job from Storen in the playoffs. Also, most of the originally-planned starting lineup is back, yay! Now I get to sit through a week of Werth, Rendon, and Zimmerman trying to regain their respective swings while trying hard not to pull out my hair.

Heard what happened to Tulo. That was a dick move to not tell anyone in the clubhouse until after you traded him, keeping the Rockies as a terrible team to play on. Having said that this seems like it can only help the Jays, maybe even push them into the playoffs.

EDIT: Oh c'mon! Two innings with one-out, bases-loaded situations (one of them in the ninth!) and both of them end with no runs after the batter grounds into a double play! This is some bullshit, Nats. All the relief pitching in the world won't mean shit if you forget how to score in these kinds of situations!

[/rant]

I can't help but think that American baseball could occasionally learn a thing or two from the Japanese game

also Monster Hunter

@dochaus: I think the Tulo trade is a terrible one for the Jays. It addressed none of their needs and saddled them with an albatross contract.

Plus when was the last time he played 120 games? And now he's on turf? even if the Jays make the playoffs, the odds of Tulo still being active and contributing that late in the season can't be good.

@slag: He played 126 in 2013. It makes sense for the future of Jays, but not right now. They've got Donaldson, Martin and Tulowitzki locked up for at least the next 4 years. They still need pitching badly though. I'm sure after watching Noah Syndergaard pitch tonight, they are regretting the R.A. Dickey trade.

Price, Buehrle, Dickey, Hutchison, Estrada.... Today is a good day

:)

So excited! If we get a closer now I'll be ecstatic. Starting rotation is solid, especially with the best offense in baseball. But the bullpen is still a joke. Might have an aneurysm if we land Papelbon.

@marc: Papelbon already got traded to the Nationals....

@thestandardtoaster: My bad, did not notice hahaha

Blue Jays making some serious moves for a .500 3rd place team that has not made the playoffs in 20 years

The Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners went into extra innings tied at 3 apiece, and then the Rangers proceed to rain 8 runs down on the Ms in the top of the 11th, almost entirely by playing small ball. Ouch.

Also, Stephen Strasburg is back, and he looks incredibly baby-faced after shaving his stubble off.

The Mets actually have something of an offense now and I couldn't be happier. I am hoping we can get Wright back soon and healthy for the stretch, he really deserves to be a part of this.

@redyoshi: obligatory "BOOOOO!" here in the DC area after all the bases-loaded situations this past week that ended with 0 runs scored, against two mediocre and bad teams.

In other news, Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner hit in the back of the head by a fan throwing another team's HR ball back on the field. Maybe they should sign that guy.

Also, the freakin' Cubs might make a wild-card spot because so many other NL teams are worse (especially in the East). Knowing the Cubs they'll find some way to screw it up, it's all a matter of how.

@slag: SS was a major need for the Jays. Reyes was terrible defensively and probably has the worst contract of any SS. He was also batting lead off even though he has an abysmal OBP, and he doesn't want to steal any more. I trade that for the best SS in the game any day of the week.

@dochaus: I really like what's developing between our teams. I wouldn't call it a real rivalry yet, but the future of the NL East looks like it'll be a lot of fun.

@hunkulese: I don't think there is any question Tulo is a fantastic player.

I just look at his contract and health in recent years (and dip in performance this year) and have to wonder if he's a good gamble. Especially since your shortstop situation was better than the Jays starting pitching. You can't win in October without Aces. And Tulo is no help to Jays at all if he doesn't make it to the postseason.

Obviously getting Price is humongous and changes a lot of the calculus, at the time I made my comment the Tigers were still in it and Price's availability was a question mark at best.

I actually mostly like the Jays rotation now. Marco Estrada has been a revelation: His Fastball+changeup combo has given hitters a ton of trouble and if he keeps spotting pitches like he has been, he'll continue to rack up the wins and Mark Buehrle is going to continue to be Mark Buehrle. Dickey has pitched a lot better as of late: a 2.59 ERA in his last 13 starts, also being slightly less homer prone and even though no one is really a huge fan of Drew Hutchison, you don't have to pitch him in the playoffs and he always gets ridiculous run support so I'm not terribly worried.

For the first 100 games, they consistently had games which were just brutal to watch: Bad defense, blown saves, so many home runs allowed and so many 1-run losses led to a 50-50 record. Now, it seems like those 'brutal' games are becoming fewer and farther between, Donaldson + Bautista have carried this team on their back and they are actually winning 1 run games. They still have to prove that they can be consistent, but the way the trade deadline played out makes me more confident that they filled the holes they needed to fill.

Also a pretty overlooked thing that happened that concerns me: The Jays got rid of Danny Valencia instead of Aaron Loup and I wouldn't be suprised if the Jays stats vs LHP takes a bit of a dip because of it. Ben Revere is cool and all but I would've liked to see Valencia put in there in LF against some tough lefties. Also, I can pretty much guarantee Loup is going to blow 1-3 games for Toronto. That guy hasn't had good stuff all year.

@joemotycki: There's no question the Jays locker room is jacked up from the moves, they are playing great ball. I figure unless disaster strikes they are at least ALCS bound. And you're right those one run games results of late are very encouraging.

But I just don't know if they can get past the Royals. And boy is that a weird thing to say! I felt the Jays needed 2 arms, they got one. The Giants pulled it off last year, but Baumgardner had a historic performance.

I do love that several franchises that were perpetually in the doghouse are powers this year (Pittsburgh for the last couple season, Houston, the Cubs, the Mets, Kansas City and of course Toronto). That's something Baseball seems to do far than the other big 3 sports imo.

TORONTO IS ON A TWO GAME LOSING STREAK AND THE YANKEES REGAINED THE TOP AL EAST SPOT EVERYBODY IN CANADA PANIC!!!

Also, Nats are going down in flames. On the bright side, Bryce Harper finally got his 30th homer, which puts him as the #1 HR hitter in the NL. Current MLB leader is Nelson Cruz with 35, but seeing how the Mariners have performed lately, I'm reminded that it could be worse.

Seriously, a 22-10 loss with King Felix himself responsible for 10 of those runs? Holy shit, I thought I was looking at a preseason NFL score when I first heard about it. At least now Ben Affleck won't have to become a (ugh) Yankees fan.

Oh hell yeah the cubs have won 15 of 16 and and are 19 games over .500!!!!

*Looks at division standings*

The NL Central can die in a fire >:l

@jiggajoe14: Hey, at least the Cubs are favored for a Wild Card spot. The NL East (and most of the West) is such a dumpster fire that anyone not leading the division is probably boned.

On a related note, I thought the Reds would be doing better than they have been. How did they get 13 under .500 with Aroldis Chapman and JJ Hoover in the pen, Johnny Cueto (formerly) on the mound, and Votto/Frazier/Phillips in their lineup? It doesn't make sense. I guess the rest of their pitching was that bad?

Current status.

It would really be great if the media around here would stop insinuating that Matt Harvey is some kind of pansy because he was worried about his arm in his first season back from Tommy John surgery. I don't care if his agent is Scott Boras, he's still got a right to be concerned about his career. If the worst happens, they would totally ignore all of this mudslinging they're doing right now and act like he should have been put on the shelf.

Bold move to declare the division over

2007 did not end well

@gorillamopena: Yes, there's that too.

@dochaus I don't appreciate this black magic thread title jinx. Not one bit! The Mets can hack up a lung and choke without any outside help.

@redyoshi: Can't find the clip but I'm imagining that South Park baseball episode with the two teams going "We suck!" "No, we suck worse than you!" "We're going doooown! We're gonna get creeeeamed!"

As exciting as this is as a Mets fan, there's no way I can possibly feel as comfortable with the division lead as most outlets are making it ("Mets Running Away with Division!") They were 7 games up in '07 with just 17 games to go. Right now we're at 23.

Granted, it feels like a different team. More youth and energy, better pitching, a player like Céspedes on a tear. They didn't used to win comeback games like they have this season. Still..

Well, The Jays and Yanks and setting up for a four game series at Yankee stadium. When was the last time a september series between these two actually meant something?

David Price vs Luis Severino? Hell yeah that will be a fun one. The Blue Jays also have Marcus Stroman returning from tearing up his knee earlier in the year and immediately being thrown into the fire. The Yankees wont have Teixeira, Sabathia or Eovaldi for this series and that gives the Jays an opportunity, but given the way Toronto has pitched this week, absolutely nothing is guaranteed.

One thing is for sure though: This last month of the season is going to be pretty damn exciting.

@joemotycki: As a long suffering jays fan, these next few weeks are going to be terrible for my heart. Every game feels do or die, but man what a time to be a baseball fan.

@darth_navster: Just got into Baseball this year and I guess i picked a good time to start, been to like 5 jays games already this year, donaldson mvp!

@joemotycki: As a lifelong Royals fan, I now have to root for the Yankees to help us out since we've been in a bit of a swoon the past week or so. I feel like I'm betraying all that I've been taught up to this moment.

This offseason, the Nats' bullpen needs to be completely blown up. With TNT. And all our currently active relievers and Matt Williams tied up inside of it.

On the good side: more time for Mario Maker since I don't have to watch these miserable shitbirds anymore!

@asmo917: In what could be a microcosm of the Nats' season, Drew Storen slammed his locker so hard on Wednesday that he broke his own thumb and is out for what's left of the season.

In better news, David Ortiz hit his 500th career homer, becoming the 27th player in MLB history to do so. That's a pretty big fucking achievement. Fun fact, I was at the game at Nationals Park last year when Albert Pujols hit his 499 and 500 dingers off of failed call-up Taylor Jordan, becoming #26 on that list.

@dochaus: I had to spend most of the day managing a Production deployment of a project I've been working on all year...and it failed. Seeing this on Twitter during some down time was the perfect " Well OF FUCKING COURSE" moment for my day and, you're right, the Nats' season. At least he won't blow any more 8th inning leads this year?

And I LOVE Storen. I thought he got screwed big time by the Papelbon trade. He had been great all year as the closer!

The Bucks' Michael Carter-Williams threw a perfect First Pitch...right at the cameraman. Maybe the Brewers should sign him. Can't be much worse than what Matt Garza does.