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2018 Around the MLB Thread

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A thread to discuss the rest of the MLB
 
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Boston is having an unbelievable season and their lineup is probably the league's scariest. I do wonder about their pitching though. Outside of Sale and Price, I wouldn't fully trust anyone else in their rotation, and those 2 guys have not inspired a lot of confidence in the later months of a season. I don't think their bullpen is all that strong past Kimbrel and Barnes. I think Eovaldi could be an absolute weapon out of the bullpen but they might need him to start a game as well.
 
Boston is having an unbelievable season and their lineup is probably the league's scariest. I do wonder about their pitching though. Outside of Sale and Price, I wouldn't fully trust anyone else in their rotation, and those 2 guys have not inspired a lot of confidence in the later months of a season. I don't think their bullpen is all that strong past Kimbrel and Barnes. I think Eovaldi could be an absolute weapon out of the bullpen but they might need him to start a game as well.
Boston’s top 5 is ridiculous, Moreland is solid, but their bottom 3 kind of blow.

Their catchers are Perez levels on offense, Devers has stunk, Kinsler has stunk, JBJ blows, Nunez sucks.

Getting through the top of the order will be a challenge though.
 
Man, the AL playoff is a gauntlet
 
Oakland has won 30 of their last 40 and just overtook the Mariners (19-21 in their last 40) for the second Wild Card spot

Seattle has the 5th best record in baseball but the 18th best run differential.
 
We were having this discussion in the Angels/Tribe series thread, but didn't want it to get buried quickly after the series ends in an hour or so.

Best starting pitcher of the 30 years, I threw in most of the great guys I could think of off the top of my head and also threw in Kluber just for comparison sakes. I do know that I left off Mussina, Schilling, Santana, Sabathia, and probably a few other guys, but I got burned out of looking up stats:

Greg Maddux (1988-2008): 347-209, 3.06 ERA, 107 CG, 34 SHO, 3250 K, 1.12 WHIP, 1.7 BB/9, 6.1 K/9
- 4x Cy Young, 8x All-Star, 18x Gold Glove, 4x ERA title, 1995 WS Winner
Maddux prime (1992-1998): 127-53, 2.15 ERA, 56 CG, 19 SHO, 1286 K, 0.96 WHIP, 1.4 BB/9, 6.9 K/9
- 4x Cy Young, 6x All-Star, 7x Gold Glove, 4x ERA title, 1995 WS Winner

Tom Glavine (1988-2008): 303-199, 3.51 ERA, 56 CG, 25 SHO, 2587 K, 1.31 WHIP, 3.0 BB/9, 5.3 K/9
- 2x Cy Young, 10x All-Star, 4x Silver Slugger, 1995 WS Winner, WS MVP
Glavine prime (1991-1998): 140-64, 2.96 ERA, 35 CG, 14 SHO, 1198 K, 1.24 WHIP, 3.0 BB/9, 6.1 K/9
- 2x Cy Young, 6x All-Star, 4x Silver Slugger, 1995 WS Winner, WS MVP

Pedro Martinez (1992-2009): 219-100, 2.93 ERA, 46 CG, 17 SHO, 3154 K, 1.05 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9, 10.0 K/9
- 3x Cy Young, 8x All-Star, 5x ERA title, 1x Triple Crown, 2004 WS Winner
Martinez prime (1997-2005): 149-53, 2.47 ERA, 39 CG, 13 SHO, 2196 K, 0.97 WHIP, 2.1 BB/9, 10.7 K/9
- 3x Cy Young, 6x All-Star, 5x ERA title, 1x Triple Crown, 2004 WS Winner

Roger Clemens (1988-2007): 294-162, 3.13 ERA, 82 CG, 36 SHO, 3978 K, 1.17 WHIP, 3.0 BB/9, 8.6 K/9
- 5x Cy Young, 10x All-Star, 6x ERA title, 2x Triple Crown
Clemens prime (1988-1998): 173-102, 2.90 ERA, 78 CG, 34 SHO, 2459 K, 1.16 WHIP, 2.9 BB/9, 8.8 K/9
- 3x Cy Young, 6x All-Star, 5x ERA title, 2x Triple Crown

Of note with Roger Clemens, he pitched at a high level in both 1986 and 1987, which were not included in this study because those seasons were more than 30 years ago. Over those two seasons, he went 44-13 with a 2.74 ERA, 28 CG, 8 SHO, 494 K, 1.08 WHIP, two Cy Young awards, and an AL MVP award.

Clayton Kershaw (2008-present): 149-69, 2.37 ERA, 25 CG, 15 SHO, 2218 K, 1.00 WHIP, 2.3 BB/9, 9.8 K/9
- 1x MVP, 3x Cy Young, 7x All-Star, 5x ERA title, 1x Triple Crown, 1x Gold Glove
Kershaw prime (2011-2017): 118-41, 2.10 ERA, 24 CG, 14 SHO, 1623 K, 0.91 WHIP, 1.8 BB/9, 10.1 K/9
- 1x MVP, 3x Cy Young, 7x All-Star, 5x ERA title, 1x Triple Crown, 1x Gold Glove

Corey Kluber (2011-present): 90-54, 3.07 ERA, 17 CG, 7 SHO, 1347 K, 1.06 WHIP, 1.9 BB/9, 9.7 K/9
- 2x Cy Young, 3x All-Star, 1x ERA title
Kluber prime (2014-present): 77-44, 2.80 ERA, 17 CG, 7 SHO, 1152 K, 1.01 WHIP, 1.8 BB/9, 10.1 K/9
- 2x Cy Young, 3x All-Star, 1x ERA title

Max Scherzer (2008-present): 156-80, 3.22 ERA, 9 CG, 5 SHO, 2359 K, 1.10 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9, 10.3 K/9
- 3x Cy Young, 6x All-Star
Scherzer prime (2013-present): 104-38, 2.80 ERA, 9 CG, 5 SHO, 1530 K, 0.98 WHIP, 2.2 BB/9, 11.0 K/9
- 3x Cy Young, 6x All-Star

Roy Halladay (1998-2013): 203-105, 3.38 ERA, 67 CG, 20 SHO, 2117 K, 1.18 WHIP, 1.9 BB/9, 6.9 K/9
- 2x Cy Young, 8x All-Star
Halladay prime (2002-2011): 170-75, 2.97 ERA, 63 CG, 18 SHO, 1699 K, 1.11 WHIP, 1.5 BB/9, 7.0 K/9
- 2x Cy Young, 8x All-Star

Justin Verlander (2005-present): 199-120, 3.39 ERA, 24 CG, 8 SHO, 2620 K, 1.17 WHIP, 2.7 BB/9, 8.7 K/9
- 1x MVP, 1x Cy Young, 7x All-Star, 1x ERA title, 1x Triple Crown, 2017 WS winner
Verlander prime (2009-present): 153-86, 3.18 ERA, 21 CG, 6 SHO, 2143 K, 1.12 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9, 9.2 K/9
- 1x MVP, 1x Cy Young, 6x All-Star, 1x ERA title, 1x Triple Crown, 2017 WS winner

Randy Johnson (1988-2009): 303-166, 3.29 ERA, 100 CG, 37 SHO, 4875 K, 1.17 WHIP, 3.3 BB/9, 10.6 K/9
- 5x Cy Young, 10x All-Star, 4x ERA title, 1x Triple Crown, 2001 WS winner, WS MVP
Johnson prime (1993-2004): 197-80, 2.78 ERA, 76 CG, 32 SHO, 3343 K, 1.08 WHIP, 2.8 BB/9, 11.8 K/9
- 5x Cy Young, 9x All-Star, 4x ERA title, 1x Triple Crown, 2001 WS winner, WS MVP



Here's how I'd rank them. I'm going to caveat by saying I can't stand Clemens, so I'm probably dropping him farther than the numbers deserve:

1. Randy Johnson
2. Greg Maddux
3. Pedro Martinez
4. Roger Clemens
5. Clayton Kershaw
6. Justin Verlander
7. Tom Glavine
8. Roy Halladay
9. Max Scherzer
10. Corey Kluber
 
General question that just popped into my head.

Why aren't there a bunch of righties that pitch with the 3/4 or so arm slot like there seems to be so many lefties out there, whether they're starters or relievers? Are there a bunch and I'm not noticing?
 
Red Sox complete a 4 game sweep on the Yankees and now have a bigger lead over the Yankees (9.5) than the Indians hold over the Twins (9)

A's 2.5 games back from the Yankees to see who hosts the Wild Card game
 
Man, the AL playoff is a gauntlet

The AL is basically the Western Conference :chuckle:

Seriously though, I think whoever comes out of the AL is going to absolutely crush the NL representative this year. Boston is somewhat top heavy but they’ve just been flat out winning games. Houston is still Houston. Oakland is another team that just wins and they just acquired Fiers. The Yankees obviously have a ton of firepower. Seattle was in the drivers seat for one of those WC spots until their recent slump and have shown an ability to win close games. The Indians addressed their biggest position of need and are all the more better if they can snag another OF.

Really feels like anyone’s chance out here. Even the potential wild card teams don’t feel overmatched.
 
The AL is basically the Western Conference :chuckle:

What’s funny is that there’s only 6 teams in the AL over .500 and 11 teams in the NL over .500.

The playoff teams are a good bit stronger in the AL, but the NL has been a little better top to bottom.
 
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What an story it'll be if the A's could surpass these fuckers
 

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