We really are in a monster of a division

[Frobby]

13 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

How many of those guys were healthy last year?  Franco wasn't, he's a big key to their success.

That’s certainly a legit point.   Doesn’t explain all of the current numbers, but it’s a reason their offense last year doesn’t reflect the talent of a healthy team.  

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

That’s certainly a legit point.   Doesn’t explain all of the current numbers, but it’s a reason their offense last year doesn’t reflect the talent of a healthy team.  

Yeah, I'm too lazy to look up who was healthy and wasn't last year.  But on baseball reference there are only two regulars in their lineup that are over 30 (Bethancourt and Yandy Diaz).  Most of their regulars are between 25 and 28, so right in that sweet spot of where career years can happen.  

It's not scientific, but maybe all these guys are having career years are the same time.  

[Frobby]

15 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Yeah, I'm too lazy to look up who was healthy and wasn't last year.  But on baseball reference there are only two regulars in their lineup that are over 30 (Bethancourt and Yandy Diaz).  Most of their regulars are between 25 and 28, so right in that sweet spot of where career years can happen.  

It's not scientific, but maybe all these guys are having career years are the same time.  

They’ve got 9 guys pulling Mateo’s!  I have to think most will regress.  Maybe not Franco and 1-2 others.  At some point I’ll dive into it more, maybe when the Rays come to Baltimore next week.  

[Sports Guy]

40 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Another scary thing about Tampa: not only are they 23-6, but their run differential says they should be 23-6.   12 of their 23 wins have been by 5+ runs.  

I realize their schedule has been very soft, but what their offense is doing literally makes no sense.  They were 11th in runs scored last year, now they’re 1st by a comfortable margin. They’ve gone from averaging 0.86 homers per game to 2.10 per game, about 50% higher than the next closest team. And every position player on the 26-man roster was with the Rays last year.   
 

They were so injured last year that huge jumps in performance should have been expected.

 

oops..Moose already made that point.

I still find it amusing how overlooked TB was heading into this year. They won 86 games last year with a shell of a roster.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Sports Guy

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Frobby said:

They’ve got 9 guys pulling Mateo’s!  I have to think most will regress.  Maybe not Franco and 1-2 others.  At some point I’ll dive into it more, maybe when the Rays come to Baltimore next week.  

Yeah, looking at their slash lines, it's a bit absurd.

But Franco looks legit, back to his rookie of the year levels and it looks like he's on his way to becoming the player people expected him to be.  

I don't remember Harold Ramirez from last year's squad but he's shown a huge surge in power.  He hit an even .300 last year with a .343 OBP and he's at .329 and .395 this year but he's up to .616 SLG from .404 last year.  So he was a good hitter to begin with but the power boost is, um, interesting.

Yandy Diaz is another who was a pretty good hitter last year, (.296/.401/.423) but is posting better number across the board with a significant jump in power (.319/.420/.585).  

Arozarena's slash numbers are up across the board, but his slugging is up like .130 points from last year.

They're all going nuts and I'm not comfortable with it.  But if there had to be an opponent in the division that was going ape****, I'd rather it be the Rays than anyone else.  I'd be miserable if this were the Sox or Yankees having this amount of success.

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

They were so injured last year that huge jumps in performance should have been expected.

 

oops..Moose already made that point.

I still find it amusing how overlooked TB was heading into this year. They won 86 games last year with a shell of a roster.

Also, they coasted to the 86, which people forget.  They clinched a playoff spot with 5 games to play, then lost their final 5 games.  I suspect they would have won a couple more if they’d needed to.   In the end we finished within 3 games of them, but it really wasn’t that close.  

Still, that doesn’t fully explain what’s happening now. They have three guys over 1.000 OPS and another four over .900.   Their hitters are not that talented.
 

[Sports Guy]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Also, they coasted to the 86, which people forget.  They clinched a playoff spot with 5 games to play, then lost their final 5 games.  I suspect they would have won a couple more if they’d needed to.   In the end we finished within 3 games of them, but it really wasn’t that close.  

Still, that doesn’t fully explain what’s happening now. They have three guys over 1.000 OPS and another four over .900.   Their hitters are not that talented.
 

No…just as Mateo isn’t.

But when you have SSS, you have extremes.

That said, they also have some injuries to the pitching staff and as those guys get back, the pitching will get better. 
 

So even if the offense tails off, which it will, the pitching could/should pick up.

[sportsfan8703]

The Yankees are in last place.  I think we have 5 of the best 6 teams in all of MLB in our division.  

[Just Regular]

Fierce competitors.

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/red-sox-alex-verdugo-i-regret-saying-what-i-did-about-blue-jays-alek-manoah-160143292.html

If you thought Sal Perez's trot was slow last night, you should have seen Manoah, Kirk and a flock of other Jays walking across the Fenway grass past Devers while Pivetta was warming up.    Announcer had it Manoah did the same in his Gerrit matchup a turn or two ago.

[Moose Milligan]

Baseball fans:  WE NEED NEW WAYS TO ATTRACT FANS AND GET PEOPLE EXCITED ABOUT BASEBALL AGAIN THE YOUNGSTERS AREN'T INTERESTED!!!!!111

*Wander Franco*

Baseball fans:  NOOOOO NOT LIKE THAT THERE'S NO ROOM IN THE GRAND OLD GAME FOR THAT!!

[dystopia]

7 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Baseball fans:  WE NEED NEW WAYS TO ATTRACT FANS AND GET PEOPLE EXCITED ABOUT BASEBALL AGAIN THE YOUNGSTERS AREN'T INTERESTED!!!!!111

*Wander Franco*

Baseball fans:  NOOOOO NOT LIKE THAT THERE'S NO ROOM IN THE GRAND OLD GAME FOR THAT!!

I don't have a problem with that first one from an "unwritten rules" perspective (which are stupid) but just imagine if he dropped that ball. That's the real issue here. 

I don't even know what the complaint is at all with the homer.

[Moose Milligan]

3 hours ago, dystopia said:

I don't have a problem with that first one from an "unwritten rules" perspective (which are stupid) but just imagine if he dropped that ball. That's the real issue here. 

I don't even know what the complaint is at all with the homer.

Yeah, but he didn't drop it.  Would have been bad if he did but that's not the reality.

 

[btdart20]

11 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Baseball fans:  WE NEED NEW WAYS TO ATTRACT FANS AND GET PEOPLE EXCITED ABOUT BASEBALL AGAIN THE YOUNGSTERS AREN'T INTERESTED!!!!!111

*Wander Franco*

Baseball fans:  NOOOOO NOT LIKE THAT THERE'S NO ROOM IN THE GRAND OLD GAME FOR THAT!!

Arozarena has been known to strike a pose during a HR trot or after an SB or double.

 

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

Arozarena has been known to strike a pose during a HR trot or after an SB or double.

 

Is his nickname vogue?  They need to make that happen.

[Moshagge3]

11 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Baseball fans:  WE NEED NEW WAYS TO ATTRACT FANS AND GET PEOPLE EXCITED ABOUT BASEBALL AGAIN THE YOUNGSTERS AREN'T INTERESTED!!!!!111

*Wander Franco*

Baseball fans:  NOOOOO NOT LIKE THAT THERE'S NO ROOM IN THE GRAND OLD GAME FOR THAT!!

I think it's awesome. As was Amir Garrett mocking Bryan Baker. If you don't want to be shown up on the field, play better.