The 2015 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread

[Shortstop]

Amazing that every team in the AL is only 10 GB or fewer for a playoff spot!

It's definitely going to be an exciting final six weeks of the season!

E - NY Yankees	63	51	.553	-	-	4-6	W2	8/14 @ TOR, W 4-3	8/15 @ TOR, 1:07 PM
C - Kansas City	69	46	.600	-	-	6-4	W1	8/14 vs LAA, W 4-1	8/15 vs LAA, 7:10 PM
W - Houston	63	53	.543	-	-	3-7	W2	8/14 vs DET, W 5-1	8/15 vs DET, 7:10 PM

The top two Wild Card teams from each league make the postseason and play each other in a one-game playoff.
If two or more teams are tied for their division lead, they will be listed among the Wild Card teams below.

Toronto	64	53	.547	+3.0	-	9-1	L1	8/14 vs NYY, L 3-4	8/15 vs NYY, 1:07 PM
LA Angels	60	55	.522	-	-	4-6	L1	8/14 @ KC, L 1-4	8/15 @ KC, 7:10 PM
Baltimore	58	56	.509	1.5	47	5-5	W1	8/14 vs OAK, W 8-6	8/15 vs OAK, 7:05 PM
Tampa Bay	58	57	.504	2.0	46	7-3	L1	8/14 @ TEX, L 3-5	8/15 @ TEX, 8:05 PM
Texas	57	57	.500	2.5	46	6-4	W2	8/14 vs TB, W 5-3	8/15 vs TB, 8:05 PM
Minnesota	57	58	.496	3.0	45	3-7	L2	8/14 vs CLE, L 1-6	8/15 vs CLE, 7:10 PM
Detroit	55	60	.478	5.0	43	4-6	L1	8/14 @ HOU, L 1-5	8/15 @ HOU, 7:10 PM
Chi White Sox	54	59	.478	5.0	44	4-6	L1	8/14 vs CHC, L 5-6	8/15 vs CHC, 7:10 PM
Cleveland	54	60	.474	5.5	43	6-4	W1	8/14 @ MIN, W 6-1	8/15 @ MIN, 7:10 PM
Seattle	54	62	.466	6.5	41	6-4	L1	8/14 @ BOS, L 1-15	8/15 @ BOS, 1:35 PM
Boston	51	64	.443	9.0	39	4-6	W1	8/14 vs SEA, W 15-1	8/15 vs SEA, 1:35 PM
Oakland	51	66	.436	10.0	37	4-6	L4	8/14 @ BAL, L 6-8	8/15 @ BAL, 7:05 PM

[Shortstop]

Mets-Pirates this weekend. Bummer no deGrom or Syndergaard though.

Yeah, the Pirates are trotting Happ out to the bump on Friday. I'm hoping for the best!

oh boy

It's been a great game. Nothing ruins a good Mets game like Bobby Parnell in a big spot.

lol I had forgotten about Bobby Parnell

once upon a time he was considered a good prospect

I was impressed with Happ tonight. He stepped up in a big game and came through like a champ!

Happ	5.1	7	1	1	1	7	1	84-58	4.66
Hughes	1.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	14-11	2.28
Bastardo	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	16-11	3.32
Caminero (W, 3-1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	11-11	3.74
Melancon (S, 36)	1.0	1	1	1	0	1	0	23-14	1.67

[koz-man]

Ben Affleck's birthday = Red Sox loss?

Today is Affleck's birthday, and over the past 15 years that has meant a Red Sox loss. Will that change today? Boston, with Wade Miley on the mound, faces Felix Hernandez and the Mariners. According to Elias, the longest losing streak by a team on a specific date is 18, done three times.

[koz-man]

Kemp keys Padres with first cycle in team history

Matt Kemp hit a triple in the ninth for the first cycle in San Diego Padres history and they went on to win 9-5 over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.

[Andy117]

Ben Affleck's birthday = Red Sox loss?

Today is Affleck's birthday, and over the past 15 years that has meant a Red Sox loss. Will that change today? Boston, with Wade Miley on the mound, faces Felix Hernandez and the Mariners. According to Elias, the longest losing streak by a team on a specific date is 18, done three times.

He got a nice birthday present today.

[Andy117]

Daniel Murphy is the dumbest player on the planet.

[BigSpoon]

He got a nice birthday present today.

Birthday sex from the nanny?

[EmpireMaker]

The Pirates are torturing the Mets this weekend, Time for Harvey to exact a bit of revenge tomorrow.

[Shortstop]

The Patriots beat the Seahawks yesterday, 22-10 in Foxborough...

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
SEA	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	4	4	10	13	1
NE	0	5	5	1	0	4	4	3	-	22	26	1

[Shortstop]

OUCH!!!!

Hernández (L, 14-7)	2.1	12	10	10	1	2	3	59-40	3.65

[Shortstop]

The Yankees claiming who's boss in the AL East. Spoon, your boys need a win on Sunday!

Yankees (64-51, 32-30 away)	4	9	0
Blue Jays (64-54, 39-23 home)	1	5	0

[Shortstop]

The Pirates are torturing the Mets this weekend, Time for Harvey to exact a bit of revenge tomorrow.

No, E-M! The Buccos are bringing out the on Sunday!

[BigSpoon]

The Yankees claiming who's boss in the AL East. Spoon, your boys need a win on Sunday!

Yankees (64-51, 32-30 away)	4	9	0
Blue Jays (64-54, 39-23 home)	1	5	0

They sure do but I can't say I'm confident they're going to get it with Drew Hutchinson starting.

[BarkingToad]

OUCH!!!!

Hernández (L, 14-7)	2.1	12	10	10	1	2	3	59-40	3.65

He has had a few clunkers with an ERA near 4. Still a good W/L record.

[koz-man]

OUCH!!!!

Hernández (L, 14-7)	2.1	12	10	10	1	2	3	59-40	3.65

Long day for Felix

[koz-man]

Daniel Murphy is the dumbest player on the planet.

Agree. Take the e-z out....then throw if time.

[Cross]

Can't believe the cubs aren't making much ground winning 15 of last 16, best division in baseball no doubt.

[Otters27]

King Felix Took a beating yesterday. As pitcher that can throw you off for future starts. Beware owners

[Chi_archie]

Can't believe the cubs aren't making much ground winning 15 of last 16, best division in baseball no doubt.

what a great division the NL central is

[Cross]

Three of best 4 teams in baseball in central.

[Shortstop]

Can't believe the cubs aren't making much ground winning 15 of last 16, best division in baseball no doubt.

what a great division the NL central is

Three of best 4 teams in baseball in central.

Without a doubt, the NL Central is where it's at this year!

[EmpireMaker]

What's gone wrong for the Nationals in 2015?

By Dayn Perry | Baseball Writer

August 16, 2015 7:04 pm ET

• 
  

Remember the preseason? So many of us thought the Nationals would barge to the best record in baseball. That wasn't an unreasonable opinion, given that we're talking about a team that won 96 games a year ago and added Max Scherzer over the winter. Remember that slow start they endured? They were 7-13 on April 27 and 8.0 games out of first place. It was early, though. Sure enough, they methodically started winning. Remember on July 5, when they beat the Giants and moved to 10 games over .500 and pushed their lead in the NL East to 4.5 games? The 2015 Nationals were finally the 2015 Nationals as we first conceived of them.
Well, not long after that the Nats began taking on water once again, and we're now thinking of them as a team that's poised to squander a lavishly talented roster and MLB's sixth-highest Opening Day payroll. This time, it's getting late out there. After Madison Bumgarner suffocated the Nationals on Sunday (box score), the presumptive NL East champs are below .500 for the first time since May 6.
The question is thus raised: What's happened to the Nationals? It's no one thing, as we'll now explore ...
They've been injured.
Yes, every team deals with maladies of varying seriousness, but the Nats have suffered more than their share in 2015. Here's a partial listing of players who have spent time on the DL this season for Washington: Denard Span, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon, Doug Fister, Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman, Reed Johnson, Nate McLouth, David Carpenter. A number of those have logged multiple stints on the DL this season.
More to the point, Rendon, perhaps the team's MVP a season ago, has at this writing logged just 167 plate appearances on the year, while, when healthy, producing well below his 2014 standards. As well, the Nats have gotten a combined 163 innings from Fister and Strasburg (and those innings have significantly worse than expected). Time was when we fretted that Tanner Roark would be forever relegated to the bullpen because of a rotation that was larded with bedrock certainties. Now he's one of nine pitchers to make at least one start for the 2015 Nats.
To put a finer point on it, just six times this season have the Nats had Rendon, Zimmermann, and Werth in the lineup at the same time. That's part of why they've been reduced to giving more than a combined 300 plate appearances to the likes of Dan Uggla, Tyler Moore, and Matt den Dekker.
They've gotten terrible production from some bat-first positions.
Speaking of Zimmermann and Werth, they're the main offenders when it comes to Washington's complete lack of production from first base and left field -- the least premium positions on the diamond. This season, Nationals first basemen have combined to hit .221/.282/.399, while the average MLB first baseman has a line of .259/.336/.450. As for the Nats' left fielders, in 2015 they've batted .226/.296/.320 against an MLB positional average of .256/.320/.406. That's a big marginal production deficit from a pair of positions that usually are lineup linchpins.
Ian Desmond has collapsed.
From 2012-14, the Nats' shortstop batted a combined .275/.326/.462 with three Silver Sluggers and 26 homers per 162 games played. This season, though, Desmond's batting a paltry .225/.275/.385. It appears as though the contact issues that first showed up in 2014 have exacted a toll on his overall numbers. As well, Desmond's defense grades out significantly worse this season, according to both the eye-test and advanced metrics (albeit across a limited sample).
The defense has been lacking.
Speaking of defense, the Nationals rank 13th in the NL in Defensive Runs Saved, 10th in Ultimate Zone Rating, and 12th in Defensive Efficiency. If you're of a more traditional bent, then know that the Nats this season rank 10th in the NL in fielding percentage and last in double plays turned. Choose your measure, and the Nats are faring poorly when it comes to preventing runs via glove-work in the field.
They haven't run the bases well.
Consider this to be of lesser importance relative to some other failings. However, it's still worth noting that the Nationals don't stack up well with their NL peers when it comes to adding value on the basepaths: They're presently 10th in the NL in base-running runs above average, 13th in stolen bases, and 12th in percentage of extra bases taken.
The pitching staff has struggled in key spots.
While all pitchers tend to be a bit worse in RISP situations, the Nationals' staff in 2015 has gone somewhat beyond that. Typically, as measured by opposing OPS, pitchers will be about 5-6 percent worse with runners in scoring position. This season, however, the Nationals' pitchers have been 8.3 percent worse when the opposition is in an RBI situation. In matters related, the Nats this season rank just 11th in the NL in percentage of opposing runners stranded. All of this is part of why FanGraphs ranks the Nationals' staff as being the fourth-least "clutch" in the NL this season. This almost certainly isn't anything more than bad luck, but it's certainly a factor in the team's overall struggles.

---

Again, there's no singular and obvious shortcoming with the Nats this season. You can't point to a league-worst offense or a bottom-feeding pitching staff or anything like that. It's instead been "soft" failures on a number of fronts that have made them the most disappointing team of 2015. As noted, they were, almost by acclamation, regarded as the World Series favorites coming into this season. Coming into Sunday, though, the SportsLine Projection Model gave them just a 17 percent chance of making the playoffs. Things, you see, have changed.
Consider the next stretch of games to be critical. They'll play their next 12 against the Rockies, Brewers, Padres, and Marlins -- losing teams, all -- and nine of those 12 will be at home. That's a fine opportunity to reverse course. They also have six more head-to-head games against the Mets, including a three-game set in Queens to end the regular season.
Yes, there's still time for the Nats to be something other than baseball's latest cautionary tale and about the hazards of presumption, but time is running out.

[BigSpoon]

Jays avoided the sweep, if you told me a week and a half ago they would take 4/6 from the Yankees I would have taken it.

[Chi_archie]

Nats could be dangerous when healthy for sure

[koz-man]

Mets hope David Wright returns next week

The team expects he'll be back during the four-game series in Philadelphia. The 3B is 4-for-14 with two walks and three K's through four rehab games with Class A as he works back from spinal stenosis in his lower back.

[Chi_archie]

Mets hope David Wright returns next week

The team expects he'll be back during the four-game series in Philadelphia. The 3B is 4-for-14 with two walks and three K's through four rehab games with Class A as he works back from spinal stenosis in his lower back.

should be good to go

[EmpireMaker]

Mets hope David Wright returns next week

The team expects he'll be back during the four-game series in Philadelphia. The 3B is 4-for-14 with two walks and three K's through four rehab games with Class A as he works back from spinal stenosis in his lower back.

he's made 2 errors in 3 games, they want him to be close to 100% before they disrupt the current lineup but he'll be back soon

[BarkingToad]

Without a doubt, the NL Central is where it's at this year!

Bet the Astros are glad they switched divisions a few years ago.

[Shortstop]

Ben Affleck's birthday = Red Sox loss?

Today is Affleck's birthday, and over the past 15 years that has meant a Red Sox loss. Will that change today? Boston, with Wade Miley on the mound, faces Felix Hernandez and the Mariners. According to Elias, the longest losing streak by a team on a specific date is 18, done three times.

He got a nice birthday present today.

He sure did! The Red Sox shelled King Felix on their way to an easy win on Saturday...

[Shortstop]

Bet the Astros are glad they switched divisions a few years ago.

Yeah, Houston would be in 4th place and 12.5 GB if they were in the NL Central today.

Crazy thing is, they currently sit on top of the AL West by a half game...

[Shortstop]

It's likely that the World Series Champion will not be determined until November this year...


** subject to change

AL Wild Card Game	Tuesday, October 6	ESPN	TBA
NL Wild Card Game	Wednesday, October 7	TBS	TBA

ALDS A, Game 1	Thursday, October 8	FOX, FS1 or MLBN	TBA
ALDS B, Game 1	Thursday, October 8	FOX, FS1 or MLBN	TBA
ALDS A, Game 2	Friday, October 9	FOX, FS1 or MLBN	TBA
ALDS B, Game 2	Friday, October 9	FOX, FS1 or MLBN	TBA
ALDS A, Game 3	Sunday, October 11	FOX, FS1 or MLBN	TBA
ALDS B, Game 3	Sunday, October 11	FOX, FS1 or MLBN	TBA
ALDS A, Game 4*	Monday, October 12	FOX or FS1	TBA
ALDS B, Game 4*	Monday, October 12	FOX or FS1	TBA
ALDS A, Game 5*	Wednesday, October 14	FOX or FS1	TBA
ALDS B, Game 5*	Wednesday, October 14	FOX or FS1	TBA

NLDS A, Game 1	Friday, October 9	TBS	TBA
NLDS B, Game 1	Friday, October 9	TBS	TBA
NLDS A, Game 2	Saturday, October 10	TBS	TBA
NLDS B, Game 2	Saturday, October 10	TBS	TBA
NLDS A, Game 3	Monday, October 12	TBS	TBA
NLDS B, Game 3	Monday, October 12	TBS	TBA
NLDS A, Game 4*	Tuesday, October 13	TBS	TBA
NLDS B, Game 4*	Tuesday, October 13	TBS	TBA
NLDS A, Game 5*	Thursday, October 15	TBS	TBA
NLDS B, Game 5*	Thursday, October 15	TBS	TBA

Game 1: TBD vs. TBD	Friday, October 16	FOX or FS1	TBA
Game 2: TBD vs. TBD	Saturday, October 17	FOX or FS1	TBA
Game 3: TBD vs. TBD	Monday, October 19	FOX or FS1	TBA
Game 4: TBD vs. TBD	Tuesday, October 20	FOX or FS1	TBA
Game 5: TBD vs. TBD*	Wednesday, October 21	FOX or FS1	TBA
Game 6: TBD vs. TBD*	Friday, October 23	FOX or FS1	TBA
Game 7: TBD vs. TBD*	Saturday, October 24	FOX or FS1	TBA

Game 1: TBD vs. TBD	Saturday, October 17	TBS	TBA
Game 2: TBD vs. TBD	Sunday, October 18	TBS	TBA
Game 3: TBD vs. TBD	Tuesday, October 20	TBS	TBA
Game 4: TBD vs. TBD	Wednesday, October 21	TBS	TBA
Game 5: TBD vs. TBD*	Thursday, October 22	TBS	TBA
Game 6: TBD vs. TBD*	Saturday, October 24	TBS	TBA
Game 7: TBD vs. TBD*	Sunday, October 25	TBS	TBA

Game 1: NL Champion at AL Champion	Tuesday, October 27	FOX	TBA
Game 2: NL Champion at AL Champion	Wednesday, October 28	FOX	TBA
Game 3: AL Champion at NL Champion	Friday, October 30	FOX	TBA
Game 4: AL Champion at NL Champion	Saturday, October 31	FOX	TBA
Game 5: AL Champion at NL Champion*	Sunday, November 1	FOX	TBA
Game 6: NL Champion at AL Champion*	Tuesday, November 3	FOX	TBA
Game 7: NL Champion at AL Champion*	Wednesday, November 4	FOX	TBA

* if necessary All games telecast on MLB Network, TBS and FOX will be available to MLB.TV subscribers who are authenticated subscribers to the applicable network through a participating pay TV provider.
ESPN Radio will provide live national coverage of all 2015 MLB Postseason games, including the Wild Card Games and any necessary Tiebreakers.

[Otters27]

Seriously doubt there will be a sweep. My Prediction is Cardinals vs. Royals. Just can't see Bluejays getting there but that is who I am pulling for

[Cross]

David Wright, so much promise but so little production, sad.

[BigSpoon]

Seriously doubt there will be a sweep. My Prediction is Cardinals vs. Royals. Just can't see Bluejays getting there but that is who I am pulling for

I like the Blue Jays chances if they can catch the Yankees and win the AL East. Avoiding that wild card game is key. Then again I'm a biased homer and not afraid to admit it.

[koz-man]

Manager scolds Astros' Correa for tackling Altuve

Astros manager A.J. Hinch called Carlos Correa into his office for a little talk after the rookie tackled Jose Altuve on Sunday in postgame celebration after Altuve's game-winning RBI.