-
Comment -
Two of the preeminent young starters in baseball have emerged in the cities of Los Angeles and Cleveland over the past couple years. With no disrespect to Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw, who’s one of the best to ever take the mound, right-hander Walker Buehler has assumed the mantle of the club’s most valuable starter when you combine age, contract and performance. Meanwhile, the Indians have a similarly enviable rotation piece to build around in righty Shane Bieber, who joined Buehler among the majors’ most productive pitchers in 2019. So, here’s a question that has no wrong answer: If you had to pick one, which of the two would you choose?
To begin, they’re almost the same age, and they’re under team control for the same number of years. The 25-year-old Buehler won’t be eligible for free agency until after 2024. As a Super Two player, he brings one more pre-arbitration campaign to the table (though it won’t matter if there is no 2020 season). Bieber, who will turn 25 next month, is due to reach free agency at the same time, but he’s in his penultimate pre-arb year.
As for on-field results, Buehler has the edge on Bieber thus far in terms of run prevention. Excluding 9 1/3 rough debut innings as a reliever in 2017, Buehler has parlayed a 96 mph-plus fastball into a sterling 2.98 ERA/3.02 FIP with 10.3 K/9 and 2.08 BB/9 across 319 2/3 innings over the past two seasons.
Bieber also began to make his mark in 2018, and while his 4.55 ERA didn’t wow anyone, his peripherals indicated that he deserved better. Although he doesn’t match Buehler’s velocity (Bieber averages 93 mph on his heater), he nonetheless broke out in earnest last season. Bieber notched a 3.28 ERA/3.32 FIP and put up 10.88 K/9 against 1.68 BB/9 in 214 1/3 frames – the second-highest total in the game (only AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander amassed a larger amount) and 32 more than Buehler’s 182 1/3. Buehler had a very similar year otherwise, though, posting a 3.26 ERA/3.01 FIP and recording 10.61 K/9 versus 1.83 BB/9. He further put himself on the map with 12 2/3 exemplary innings of one-run ball in a playoff series loss to the eventual World Series champion Nationals.Comment -
Gwynn and Pucket two amazing fat guy hittersComment -
your top 3 fave (not best) players all time. mine are...
1. George Brett (best hitter ever...period!)
2. Frank White (better fielding infielder than The Wiz...IMO)
3. Salvador Perez (best overall catcher in the game 2day)Comment -
I loved 'Ace' His fastball topped at 102 mpj
I'm not speaking ill of the deceased, I loved the kid but two things.
1) He was wound up too tight on the mound, a bit of a temper.
Opposing hitters got into his head often.
2) Was a party animal, he liked the drink and cocaine.
The tox report proves that.
I buy the MLB package, I get every team, every game.
I saw at least 120 Royals games that year (and every year) 2015
I'll take those memories to my grave, especially Hosmer's mad dash from third to home.
Comment -
1. Andre Dawson
2. Ken Griffey Jr
3. Tie Jake Arrieta/Frank Thomas/Anthony RizzoComment -
Dodgers' Smith postpones wedding in case of November World Series.Comment -
1. Barry Bonds (love him or hate him and many people hated him even before all the PED allegations, he was the best player I ever saw play the game)
2. Will Clark (one of the best pure hitters I ever saw play and my favorite Giant growing up)
3. Buster Posey (he has been one of the top Catchers in the game since being called up)
I guess I named 3 Giants but thats the team I've been a fan of since 1985 when I went to my first Giants/Dodgers game at the Stick.Comment -
I should give honorable mention to Tim Lincecum. Was a huge fan of Big Time Timmy Jim even though his career fell off a cliff towards the end.Comment -
I get MLB.tv every year as well. It's well worth the money imo considering I like to listen to games on the radio when I'm going to and from work and the package gives you both home and away audio broadcast along with both teams TV broadcasts. If baseball comes back this year that is one of the things I look forward to getting back in my life.I loved 'Ace' His fastball topped at 102 mpj
I'm not speaking ill of the deceased, I loved the kid but two things.
1) He was wound up too tight on the mound, a bit of a temper.
Opposing hitters got into his head often.
2) Was a party animal, he liked the drink and cocaine.
The tox report proves that.
I buy the MLB package, I get every team, every game.
I saw at least 120 Royals games that year (and every year) 2015
I'll take those memories to my grave, especially Hosmer's mad dash from third to home.
Comment -
Angels general manager Billy Eppler took part in an online Q&A session with fans on Friday, addressing many topics about his team. Here are some of the highlights, with Eppler’s answers compiled by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register…
- The Angels were linked to Zack Wheeler’s market over the winter, and Eppler filled in some details about the team’s interest, saying “we pursued Wheeler pretty aggressively.” That pursuit included a cross-country trip in November for Eppler, manager Joe Maddon, and team president John Carpino to meet with Wheeler in person. Despite this courtship, Wheeler ended up signing with the Phillies, though the Halos may have faced an uphill battle to sign the right-hander for geographical reasons, as Wheeler wanted to stay on the East Coast and in closer proximity to his wife’s family in New Jersey. Other suitors such as the Twins and White Sox also seemingly fell short of Wheeler’s services for the same reason, as Chicago’s offer was reportedly worth more than the $118MM Wheeler received from Philadelphia.
- Fletcher reported in February that the Angels had yet to begin extension talks with Andrelton Simmons, and Eppler confirmed that the club hadn’t held any negotiations with Simmons and his agents prior to the league shutdown. As per the GM, there had only been “internal discussions” within the front office at the start of Spring Training about a possible new deal for the defensive wizard. Simmons is set to become a free agent in the 2020-21 offseason, and the shortstop would still be eligible for the open market even if the COVID-19 pandemic wipes out the entire 2020 season. Of course, the league-wide transactions freeze also covers extension negotiations, so the Angels and other teams can’t talk contracts with any players during the shutdown.
- Shohei Ohtani threw two bullpen sessions this week, Eppler revealed, including a 15-pitch session on Friday that consisted of only fastballs. Ohtani continues to progress in his recovery from Tommy John surgery and should be ready to pitch when and if the season does get underway. The two-way star was originally slated to return to the mound in mid-May, though since games surely won’t resume by that point, Ohtani likely won’t end up missing any time in the Los Angeles rotation.
- Eppler also provided an update on Griffin Canning, saying that the young righty should start throwing off a mound within 7-10 days. “His throwing program is back to 120 to 150 feet this week, at about 70 to 80 percent intensity,” Eppler said. Canning was sidelined early in Spring Training due to elbow problems, including what the club described at the time as “chronic changes to the UCL and acute joint irritation.” While there was much speculation that Canning would need Tommy John surgery, Canning instead received a platelet-rich plasma injection, as Eppler said that “surgery wasn’t recommended in Griffin’s case…ultimately the different physicians we had him see didn’t recommend it.” The prospect of the season being canceled doesn’t have any bearing on whether Canning would eventually undergo a Tommy John procedure, as Eppler said “we would not proactively subject him to that surgery unless there was new evidence or a new injury that took place.”
Comment -
Comment -
Anyone betting Taiwan baseball???Comment -
word...u must realize that i was a huge KC fan...still am, just not as much into sports as i use to be. Ventura def was wired differently...arent we all tho. the 1 moment i will never forget from his career was when he pegged Machado on purpose. i watched it live & despised Machado at the time 4 playin dirty. Machado rushed the mound & all hell broke loose!!!I loved 'Ace' His fastball topped at 102 mpj
I'm not speaking ill of the deceased, I loved the kid but two things.
1) He was wound up too tight on the mound, a bit of a temper.
Opposing hitters got into his head often.
2) Was a party animal, he liked the drink and cocaine.
The tox report proves that.
I buy the MLB package, I get every team, every game.
I saw at least 120 Royals games that year (and every year) 2015
I'll take those memories to my grave, especially Hosmer's mad dash from third to home.
if i was to pick a fave current player in MLB...it would have to be Hosmer. dude is just so humble/chill. plus i dig lefties
Comment -
Hosmer was def. my favorite.
He is so humble indeed.
Dude loves the game.
One of my favorite Hosmer moments was when KC swept the Angels in the 2014 ALDS, tweeted out to the fans "party is on me" (I think the name of the night club was The Power Plant) broke out his Platinum card and bought rounds for the fans for an hour.
Comment -
yeah buddy! i remember seein that on a local KC news story
Comment -
I always liked the Royals teams of 14 and 15 which is why the Giants World Series title in 14 was bittersweet for me. I have family in Kansas who are big Royal fans and they deserved that championship in 15. My favorite Royal is and always will be Salvador Perez but I always dig Catchers as a former Catcher myself.Comment -
I was a catcher as well for many, many years.
Perez was the leagues premier catcher from 2013-2018.
He caught virtually every game, won five gold gloves, handled the pitching staff like any of the all time great catchers, and was popping 20 dingers and batting .290 in his prime a year.
He's coming back after almost a two year layoff and at age 30 he's too legit to quit.
I love Hosmer, but nobody more I appreciate than Sal.
Nobody!Comment -
Happy birthday Joe Mauer.Comment -
It was on this day back in 1890 that the Dodgers played their first game as members of the National League, as the team then known as the Brooklyn Bridegrooms dropped a 15-9 result to the Boston Beaneaters. Brooklyn switched leagues after winning the American Association championship in 1889, and immediately continued their success against their new competition, posting an 86-43 record in 1890 to win the NL title. This was the first of 23 NL pennants won by the Dodgers franchise, tied with the Giants for the most in league history.
Some notes from modern-day baseball…
- Adam Warren headed into the free agent market after undergoing Tommy John surgery last September, so amidst all of that uncertainty, he “didn’t look anywhere else” once he received interest from the Yankees, the right-hander told George A. King III of the New York Post. Having already pitched for the Yankees in two separate stints earlier in his career, Warren said the Bronx Bombers “were my ideal team….It was a situation where I didn’t have that much bargaining power and I wanted to catch on with a team that would take a chance on me. I was very fortunate the Yankees wanted to do that.” Warren signed a two-year minor league contract with New York, with the expectation being that he would spend the 2020 season recovering from surgery and be ready to pitch in 2021. If a reworked 2020 schedule leads to games deep into October or November, Warren admitted that “kind of tempts me to come back quicker, but the timing of the surgery it would feel like I am rushing back. The most realistic goal is treat this as a gone year.” The recovery process seems to be going rather smoothly for Warren, who said “fortunately I haven’t missed a beat too much with my rehab” even while being limited to working out at his home.
- The Jose Quintana-for-Eloy Jimenez (and Dylan Cease) trade may not be a fond memory for Cubs fans, though an even more lopsided deal between Chicago’s two teams took place back in 1998. The Athletic’s James Fegan looks back at what he described as the best trade in at least the modern era of White Sox history, when the Sox acquired Jon Garland from the Cubs in July 1998 for right-handed reliever Matt Karchner. The Cubs wanted some bullpen help for their playoff drive, and picked up Karchner even though he was in the midst of struggles that lasted both before and after the trade. Karchner pitched two more injury-plagued years and was out of baseball after the 2000 season, while Garland went on to become a mainstay of the White Sox rotation. Garland averaged 179 innings per season from 2000-07, and played a major role for the Southsiders’ World Series-winning team in 2005.
Comment
