2017 MLB Season

[kroywen]

The Yankees are playing at a 102-win pace right now, which obviously won't keep up throughout the entire season. But I do think this team is showing its true potential and talent level right now. The Yankees we have seen so far are more or less what I'd expect this team to be throughout the full season.

 

They've had, to date, an explosive offense led by a mix of very young power hitters (such as Judge) and (mostly young-ish) veterans performing well (Holliday, Castro, Hicks, Gregorius), a great bullpen fronted by Chapman (who has not had a great year, so far) and Betances, and a rotation with more holes than Swiss cheese. Looking at the roster, that's pretty much what I'd expect going forward. We all figured, coming into the year, that the rotation would be the Yanks' Achilles heel and that the bullpen would be one of the absolute best in baseball. The offense figured to be power-heavy, but had a bunch of question marks due to how young the lineup was. So far, most of those questions have been answered positively.

 

I don't expect Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, or Starlin Castro to hit at their current pace all season - that'd be completely unreasonable (not to say they won't continue to hit well, but they aren't going to maintain a 1.000+ OPS all year long). But at the same time, Gary Sanchez was injured for most of April, and is now back in the lineup and rounding into what we all expected. Greg Bird has been a black hole this season and is now shelved with a minor injury - it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see him come back and hit for power like we had all hoped. Tanaka has been surprisingly ineffective, and hopefully will return to form soon (the good news is that his strikeout and walk rates and his velocity all seem to be relatively normal, which indicates a strong likelihood of positively regressing back to his mean performance). Chapman has lost a couple ticks off the fastball, perhaps from a World Series hangover, and has been rather ineffective (I really hope he rebounds once returning from the DL, though I'd be lying if I said I was too optimistic). So the team has had some guys who started out of the gate slow, who should bounce back to normal as the season progresses.

 

This team has "legitimate contender" written all over it.  As @Kramerica Industries mentioned, they've been playing at this pace since the deadline last year. Will they win the division? It's a possibility, though the AL East is an extraordinarily tight division (and Baltimore has also come out of the gate very strong). But I don't see this team receding into winning 85 games and being out of contention in mid-August, like the past few Yankee teams.

[Raptorman415]

How 'bout them Brewers!!!

[The Six]

Maybe the Giants won't have to worry about Johnny Cueto opting out after all.

[Dynasty]

When are we going to expect a fire-sale by the Royals? They aren't illuminating the success the World Series team from two years ago is. It almost feels like they need to go back to rebuilding again.

[FinsUp1214]

6 minutes ago, Dolphins Dynasty said:

When are we going to expect a fire-sale by the Royals? They aren't illuminating the success the World Series team from two years ago is. It almost feels like they need to go back to rebuilding again.

 

I was thinking the same thing not too long ago. This team, as it is, is not going back to the World Series. I think it's high time to start letting it fly while some of these guys still have some value. 

[FGM13]

The Royals are a bad team with a bad farm system. All they really have to sell is:

 

-Lorenzo Cain, a 31 year old CF who's already peaked

-Mike Moustakas, who is probably not that bad of a pickup, but he hits free agency after this year so he won't fetch much in terms of prospects 

-Kelvin Herrera, a legit closer that a team like the Nationals could definitely use

-Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez, their two horribly overrated faces of the franchise 

-Jason Vargas, a journeyman innings eater who has looked really awesome this year despite not changing a single thing about his pitching style

 

So, basically, they'll be trying to rebuild without money or prospects and barely any assets with which to acquire prospects. Good luck.

[Sport]

The Royals model was to throw all of their assets and resources at a specific goal season, they showed up a year early in 2014, and then won it all in the year they were shooting for. Going 1-1 in World Series in two years is pretty damn good, especially in a market like Kansas City. I'd injure a Cardinals fan for the Reds to have a run like that. The last two seasons they've gone back to the norm for the Royals, but that's to be expected when they really went all in on 2015. 

 

I'd be okay with another rebuild if I were a Royals fan. 

[FiddySicks]

9 hours ago, McCarthy said:

The Royals model was to throw all of their assets and resources at a specific goal season, they showed up a year early in 2014, and then won it all in the year they were shooting for. Going 1-1 in World Series in two years is pretty damn good, especially in a market like Kansas City. I'd injure a Cardinals fan for the Reds to have a run like that. The last two seasons they've gone back to the norm for the Royals, but that's to be expected when they really went all in on 2015. 

 

I'd be okay with another rebuild if I were a Royals fan. 

 

Also, they were just a Madison Bumgarner hair short of making that 2-0. Mission very much accomplished. 

[ozzyman314]

Red Sox on a bit of a hot streak, winning 5 straight so far. Craig Kimbrel has been an absolute monster of a closer. 

Looking forward to Monday when David Price makes his first start, should be an interesting game. 

[EvilChameleon]

Indians beat the good teams and lose to the bad teams.

 

What does that make us?

[HedleyLamarr]

53 minutes ago, EvilChameleon said:

Indians beat the good teams and lose to the bad teams.

 

What does that make us?

24-23

[ninersdd]

Me thinks Strickland and Harper are gonna be suspended.

[Shumway]

26 minutes ago, ninersdd said:

Me thinks Strickland and Harper are gonna be suspended.

Harper should get an extra game for how terribly he threw that helmet. Clown arm, bro.

[FiddySicks]

Harper probably went too far there, but Hunter Strickland is a :censored:ing clown. Even Buster Posey was like, I aint standing in Harper's way after that silly :censored:. Go knock him out.

 

I can't wait till they ditch that wannabe dudebro with zero movement. 

[FGM13]

Mike Trout is hurt and might need surgery

[dont care]

22 minutes ago, FGM13 said:

Mike Trout is hurt and might need surgery

10 day DL I wouldn't be too worried. It's not like the angels will make the playoffs either way

[Shumway]

9 minutes ago, dont care said:

10 day DL I wouldn't be too worried. It's not like the angels will make the playoffs either way

If he gets surgery, it's 6-8 weeks.

 

Also, I hate to admit the 2nd statement, but you're probably right. It's seriously amazing they're even around .500 right now.

[FGM13]

Oh I don't care about the Angels, but Mike Trout might be the best player of all time and he's having his best season yet. I'd hate to miss out on that.

[dont care]

4 minutes ago, FGM13 said:

Oh I don't care about the Angels, but Mike Trout might be the best player of all time and he's having his best season yet. I'd hate to miss out on that.

It's a shame all that talent is being wasted on such a awful team

[masterchaoss]

3 hours ago, FGM13 said:

Oh I don't care about the Angels, but Mike Trout might be the best player of all time and he's having his best season yet. I'd hate to miss out on that.

Yeah I got tickets for tomorrows game just to see trout, I mean he's really the only reason i think anyone is going to see them play. Well at least I can see the GOAT Bartolo and a shot at Albert to hit his 600th HR.