2015 MLB Season Thread with Postseason Discussion

[Almighty]

Still can´t belive a neckbeard ended the jays season, the ingame interview with the perp was ridiculous, he showed erin andrews where he caught the ball by sticking the glove out, only problem: the video from the catch shows him sticking his whole body and arm forward over the green padding

[Sport]

I don't care what anyone says, I'm just gonna say it.

This is going to be the most boring WS ever.

It has no juice, no sizzle. It just feels like Spurs/Nets or Yankees/Marlins from 2003. Just a meh series between two teams that just don't have that IT factor.

We've had an almost perfect postseason and you're still finding ways to complain. Go outside.

[TheRicSlick]

How were the Marlins boring? They have been to the postseason twice, and won the WS both times!

[KittSmith_95]

You care to know why i think Sabres said it was boring?

Not enough power. But you know what? Who needs dingers when you can get runs in so many other crafty ways?

This'll be a grind it out like series with the pitching being the real battle. And what's more fun than seeing tons of strikes?

[ICTknight]

It would be fantastic to see the Royal lose again. It would be equally fantastic to watch the Royals make it to and lose 5 WS in a row.

Loose 5 in a row? This is only our 4th and we won the second time.

[FiddySicks]

How were the Marlins boring? They have been to the postseason twice, and won the WS both times!

That 97 team was one of the most thrilling teams I've ever watched.

03, though? Boring as hell. That was like the Coyotes winning the Stanley Cup.

[1insaneguy]

I know so many Mets fans, and if they win this year I'll never hear the end of it.

[The Six]

The Six's Six World Series Fun Facts #2

This marks the second year in a row in which a team with the Giants' logo will play in the World Series.

[CS85]

I know so many ____ fans, and if they win this year I'll never hear the end of it.

This would be the lament for every NL team that wasn't the Pirates, I think.

[2001mark]

How were the Marlins boring? They have been to the postseason twice, and won the WS both times!

That 97 team was one of the most thrilling teams I've ever watched.

03, though? Boring as hell. That was like the Coyotes winning the Stanley Cup.

The only reason I cared was I enjoyed watching the Yankees lose a WS.

[FinsUp1214]

How were the Marlins boring? They have been to the postseason twice, and won the WS both times!

That 97 team was one of the most thrilling teams I've ever watched.

03, though? Boring as hell. That was like the Coyotes winning the Stanley Cup.

The only reason I cared was I enjoyed watching the Yankees lose a WS.

Same here, I enjoyed the heck out of that.

Also, the roster was actually pretty good and I at least enjoyed watching them. Pudge Rodriguez, a good Dontrelle Willis, a young Miguel Cabrera, and Josh Beckett wasn't a slouch either. I don't think it was that boring of a team to watch at all.

[2001mark]

April 4th & 6th, 2016, Mets at Royals to open the season.

[JerseyJimmy]

Hopefully Mets in either 4 or 5, though more likely 5. I want to see my team win the Series at home after the drought of suffering that's been the past decade. I'm sorry, I just can't see KC breaking through that rotation, and Familia's been nothing short of incredible thus far.

[FinsUp1214]

I don't think I've been more conflicted picking a winner in a World Series, ever. I've wrestled all weekend with it!

I do think this is going to be a battle. As I mentioned in a previous post, an offense built around gradually whittling at pitchers vs. what I believe to be one of the best rotations to pitch in a World Series in a very long time. And that's just one aspect of the storyline out of a few.

In the end...ah, I guess I'll just say this: I'm hesitatingly picking Mets in 7, with either Harvey, deGrom, or Syndergaard taking MVP honors (leaning towards deGrom). However, I would not be the least bit surprised or taken aback if the Royals took it in 6 or 7. If that happens, I pick Cain for MVP.

All I feel super confident in picking is that it's going to be a close, scratch-and-claw series. I think it has the stuff and the potential to be a classic. I'll go so far as to predict that one game, maybe even the clincher, will end on a walk-off.

[AnPheitseog]

Hoping for a nice walkoff from the Mets for a clincher in 4-5.

Always want the NL to win, unless the O's are in, but wouldnt be upset at the Royals

[pmoehrin]

Mets/Royals

With the Royals you have a team that since June has been penciled into the playoffs and I think has been the best team in the American League since day one. The only team that got close was Toronto who against Royals got exposed that really only had one way of beating teams and that was outhitting them. Had Toronto had better starting pitching I think they would be the ones facing the Mets and not Kansas City, but David Price once again seemed to run out of gas late in the year and other than Marco Estrada, the starting staff of the Jays did absolutely nothing to help them win games.

This Royal team I think may be even better than the '14 squad. The '14 was a team that could only beat you if they got you in a bullpen game. They had good starting pitching, but that offense was one of the worst lineups a World Series team has ever fielded. Not a single player on the roster hit more than 20 home runs or drove in more than 80 runs.

This year much different story. Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas all had career years at the plate. Alex Gordon was as good as ever when healthy. Kendrys Morales didn't just nullify the loss of Billy Butler, he gave the Royals a big time offensive upgrade leading the team in home runs, RBI's and OPS. All this happened while Ben Zobirst came in and turned what had been an offensive black hole into one of the more productive positions in the lineup.

Keeping that in mind along with seeing what the Royals did in game four against the Astros and how that lineup held its own against Toronto's proves to me that this is no longer a Punch and Judy lineup. This is now a dangerous lineup with multiple guys in the order that can hurt in a variety of ways.

Bullpen has taken a bit of a step back this year with the loss of Greg Holland, but Wade Davis stepped right into that closer role without missing a beat and Ryan Madison has done a solid job in basically filling in for Davis and keeping that 7-8-9 trio they had going last year in tact. Going back to last year the Royals have still not lost a single playoff game where they were leading after six innings.

The one area where I think you can look at as a downgrade over last year is the starting pitching. Johnny Cueto has shown flashes of brilliance since coming over, but has come nowhere close to replacing James Shields in that number one starter role.

Similar deal with Yordano Ventura who the Royals were and might still be expecting to be the staff ace of the future. Didn't really progress that much during the year and any sign of greatness has been voided by the inconsistency. But Ventura has also been the only somewhat reliable Royals starter in the playoffs and if they are going to have any chance against the Mets, they are going to need him to step up.

Edison Volquez keeps the under performing starter theme going, while Chris Young has been one of the nicer stories in baseball. Seeing the shoulder issues he had with the Mets and hearing about them continuing down in the Nats farm system, I figured that I had probably heard the last of Chris Young. But Seattle took a chance on him last year and in return got a decent middle rotation starter which he has continued to be this year with the Royals I would argue was their most consistent non relief pitcher this year.

With the Mets, you can almost divide their 2015 campaign into two parts. Before Cespedes and after Cespedes.

Before Cespdeds this was a one dimensional team that couldn't buy a run. David Wright and Travis d'Arnaud were both hurt. Lucas Duda wasn't hitting, Juan Lagares wasn't hitting, Michael Cuddyer wasn't hitting. Really the only productive bat the Mets have been able to rely on all year has been Curtis Granderson.

But then Yeonis Cespdes came into the fold and almost overnight everything seemed to change. Both Wright and d'Arnaud got healthy and starting producing. Lucas Duda started to turn it on and became more and more like the player he was last year. Michael Conforto got called up ahead of schedule and beat out Michael Cuddyer for the starting left field job, who in turn has responded by a having a productive second half of the season to the point where it now seems to be a position battle once again.

Just to show you how far the Mets outfield situation has come, earlier they were trying to justify starting John Mayberry who only managed to hit .164 with the club. Now they're having to justify benching a gold glove winning center fielder who hit over.280 for the last two months of the year, because he's too weak of a bat to justify having in the lineup. That is what's known in the baseball world as "a good problem to have" and by my count right now the Mets have five guys who could be justified as legitimate major league starting outfielders and I would say have what is without question the deepest outfield in baseball.

Yet all of that has seems small in comparison to the type of postseason Daniel Murphy has had. In 2012 this guy came up to plate nearly 300 times before hitting his first home run of the season. That same player has now hit a home run in six consecutive playoff games and thus far is doing the offensive equivalent of what Madison Bumgarner did last year.

Without the aide of Muphy I still think the Mets would have beaten the Cubs, but with him the series turned into a complete rout. If Daniel Murphy continues to be the scariest hitter in the Mets lineup, the Royals will be in deep trouble.

The bullpen I think is going to be the most fascinating match up of the series. Again going back to the pre-post Cespedes theme, the Mets are coming in with a very bullpen then what they had back in March. Back then the closer was failed starter Jenrry Mejia who himself had only gotten the job because of Bobby Parnell going down and needing Tommy John surgery the year before. When Meija tested positive for PED's the second time, the job went to Jeurys Familia almost by default and it was maybe the best thing that could have ever happened to the Mets. For the first time since 2011 when Francico Rodriguez was the closer, the Mets finally have a true stopper they can turn to in the ninth inning. Its more than just Jeurys Familia though. Tyler Clippard has been inconsistent but solid when the Mets have needed him the most and Addison Reed who the Mets picked up in an under the radar August 31st deal has been as good as any reliever allowing just three runs over 18 and two thirds innings pitched (regular season and playoffs combined) since joining the team.

Of every team the Royals have faced in the playoffs over the past two years, this might be the first one who can match up against them in the bullpen.

Starting pitching wise, the Mets have shown themselves to have the deepest rotation of any team in the playoffs. Looking around the playoffs I don't think any team had more then two reliable starters. The Royals you could argue got to the World Series without having any, and the Mets right now seem to have three in deGrom, Harvey and Syndergaard. This is the one area where I think one team has a clear and marked advantage over the other.

What did Kansas City in last year was a great starter in Madison Bumgarner, but outside of him the Giants really didn't have anyone else to turn to in that rotation. I don't think the Mets have anyone capable of doing what Bumgarner did last year, but they certainly have a lot more depth than the Giants did and this is the one area where I can see things getting away from KC. As great of a bullpen as they have, every game of this series is not going to be a bullpen game and seeing how deep the Mets bullpen is, I don't think its a slam dunk that the Royals will every one of those games either.

The other thing working against the Royals I think is the AL/NL rules differences. Usually this favors the AL team because the DH advantage is usually greater and more meaningful than having the bench advantage. But unlike a lot of other NL teams, because of their outfield depth the Mets can run a DH styled lineup. Juan Larges will probably play center and the only question remaining will be do you start Conforto in left and DH Cespdeds or do you start Cespedes in left and DH Cuddyer? Either way its a lot better than having So Taguchi or Matt Stairs as your DH.

Also like last year the Royals bench exists pretty much in theory only. They basically got to the World Series in 2014 using 10 position players and similar case this year. Either Morales or Hosmer will be a great pinch hitter and Jarrod Dyson can steal bases. That's about it and in National League games your bench can be just as important as your bullpen in the late innings. Hard seeing a road map to victory for them in any game where they fall behind early at Citi Field.

I'll take the Mets in six here. Last year I thought the Royals were a bat and a starter short of a World Series title. They're definitely not a bat short this year, but instead of one starter short I think they might be two starters short now, because they're not facing a team with the mindset of we'll beat you with our best starter and figure out the rest later. This is a team that can get a quality start in every game of this series and the Royals can't. They may have the better lineup and the better bullpen, but the starting pitching battle has the potential to kill them.

[TheOldRoman]

And now a brief preview of the World Series' AL Participant:

May I set the stage? I shall impersonate a man. Come, enter into my imagination and see him!

His name... Edward Frederick Yost II. A former catcher, no longer young... bony, hollow-faced... eyes that burn with the fire of inner vision.

Being retired, he has much time for books. He studies them from morn to night and often through the night as well. And all he reads oppresses him... fills him with indignation at Large Market Teams' murderous ways toward Small Market Teams. And he conceives the strangest project ever imagined... to become Major League Manager and sally forth into the World Series to right all wrongs.

No longer shall he be plain Edward Frederick Yost II, but a dauntless manager known as:

Don Ned Yost-ay De La Mizzou!

Wait, what? His name is Edward Frederick?! And he goes by Ned?!?!

"Well, you can call me Ed. Or you can call me Fred. Or you can call me Ned. Or you can call me Ed Fred. Or you can call me Ed Fred Ned. But you shouldn't call me Yost."

[Almighty]

The Six's Six World Series Fun Facts #2

This marks the second year in a row in which a team with the Giants' logo will play in the World Series.

Huh ? i don´t get it

[cmm]

The Six's Six World Series Fun Facts #2

This marks the second year in a row in which a team with the Giants' logo will play in the World Series.

Huh ? i don´t get it

Look at his Willie's hat

[FiddySicks]

Torii Hunter has retired.

http://www.startribune.com/longtime-twins-star-torii-hunter-decides-to-retire/337283601/

What do you think, HOF or no? I say... Maybe. Eventually. Definitely not first ballot.

He's borderline at best, but his defense may push him over the top at some point.