The 2020 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread.

**koz-man** · 09-03-20, 04:18 PM

Mets honor Tom Seaver's iconic drop and drive delivery with dirty knees

To pay tribute to the late Hall-of-Famer Tom Seaver, every member of the New York Mets put dirt on the right knees of their pant legs prior to facing off against the New York Yankees on Thursday.
The nod was meant to symbolize Seaver's iconic drop and drive delivery, as his right knee often accumulated dirt throughout the course of an outing on the mound.
"As Seaver fans are well aware, when he gets a dirt smudge on the right knee of his pants, it means he's sharp," wrote Sports Illustrated in 1983.

**JMobile** · 09-03-20, 10:02 PM

Had a feeling Clevinger was gonna lose his debut

**jrgum3** · 09-03-20, 11:03 PM

Originally posted by Cross

2020 is really bad, just gotta take anything positive we can like live baseball!

I'm surprised we got any sports but we did and we have to take what we can get at this point I think.

**EmpireMaker** · 09-04-20, 12:03 AM

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve will undergo an MRI on his right knee, manager Dusty Baker announced Thursday (via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). Altuve exited the Astros’ game against the Rangers on Thursday because of discomfort in the area.
Right knee problems aren’t anything new for Altuve, who underwent surgery on the joint after the 2018 season. The former AL MVP bounced back with another highly productive season last year, helping the Astros to a pennant, but has endured uncharacteristic struggles in 2020. So far, Altuve has amassed 155 plate appearances and batted .231/.290/.329 with three home runs and two stolen bases. His 74 wRC+ pales in comparison to the 141 mark he combined for during the previous six seasons.
Despite Altuve’s slow start, it goes without saying the Astros would rather have him out there than not, especially considering he has been their almost exclusive choice at second this season. Furthermore, although the Astros improved to 21-15 on Thursday and are in possession of the AL’s second wild-card spot, they’ve already suffered enough serious injuries to this point. The club has gone extended stretches without Justin Verlander, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Roberto Osuna and Jose Urquidy, who – along with several other Astros – are on the IL right now. Verlander and Osuna may not return this year, while Alvarez definitely won’t after undergoing surgery on both knees.

**Chi_archie** · 09-04-20, 07:04 AM

Originally posted by jrgum3

I'm surprised we got any sports but we did and we have to take what we can get at this point I think.

Very true

**stevenash** · 09-04-20, 11:15 AM

Originally posted by JMobile

Had a feeling Clevinger was gonna lose his debut

The offense took the night off.
Clev pitched a pretty good game, 2 earned, 7 hits.
Usually good enough to win, sometimes not.

Not concerned .

When KC got Johnny Cueto if 2015 it was for the playoffs and he delivered big, but Cueto was just ordinary in the 2015 regular season.
Same parallel.

**batt33** · 09-04-20, 01:33 PM

Originally posted by JMobile

Had a feeling Clevinger was gonna lose his debut

He will come back

**koz-man** · 09-04-20, 04:35 PM

Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw records 2,500th career strikeout

Clayton Kershaw reached 2,500 career strikeouts in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 5-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday at Dodger Stadium, a major milestone that puts him in the company of some of the game's greatest pitchers.
He did so while in the midst of recapturing prior dominance.
Kershaw carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and ultimately allowed only three baserunners in yet another masterful outing this season, lowering his ERA to 1.50 after six scoreless innings. The ERA is the third lowest in the majors, the lowest of Kershaw's career through his first six starts and the lowest by a Dodgers pitcher through six starts since Kevin Brown in 2001, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.
Kershaw finished with eight strikeouts to move his career total to 2,505, passing Christy Mathewson (2,502) for 38th place on baseball's career list.

**Cross** · 09-04-20, 08:31 PM

No need to vote, Darvish is Cy Young

**JMobile** · 09-04-20, 09:34 PM

Originally posted by stevenash

The offense took the night off.
Clev pitched a pretty good game, 2 earned, 7 hits.
Usually good enough to win, sometimes not.

Not concerned .

When KC got Johnny Cueto if 2015 it was for the playoffs and he delivered big, but Cueto was just ordinary in the 2015 regular season.
Same parallel.

Padres cool down after an explosion of an offense

**jrgum3** · 09-04-20, 11:54 PM

Originally posted by stevenash

The offense took the night off.
Clev pitched a pretty good game, 2 earned, 7 hits.
Usually good enough to win, sometimes not.

Not concerned .

When KC got Johnny Cueto if 2015 it was for the playoffs and he delivered big, but Cueto was just ordinary in the 2015 regular season.
Same parallel.

I agree with this getting Clevinger was a move made with the playoffs in mind. I think in a short series the Padres will be a nasty rotation to face.

**EmpireMaker** · 09-05-20, 01:49 AM

The Blue Jays have released right-hander Sam Gaviglio and outrighted infielder/outfielder Brandon Drury, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The team designated both players for assignment Tuesday.
Gaviglio threw three innings for the Blue Jays this year and gave up three earned runs on three hits and five walks. The 30-year-old, also a former Royal and Mariner, was a more useful option across 293 2/3 frames from 2017-19, during which he amassed 94 appearances (37 starts) and pitched to a 4.84 ERA/4.95 FIP with 7.42 K/9, 2.64 BB/9 and a 48.5 percent groundball rate.
Drury, meanwhile, has fallen out of favor with multiple teams over the past few seasons. After spending 2015-17 as a member of the Diamondbacks, with whom he at times mixed league-average offensive production and defensive versatility, they traded him to the Yankees. Drury’s time in New York was short-lived, though, as he produced terrible results there. The Yankees dealt him to the Blue Jays during the summer of 2018 for lefty J.A. Happ, but Drury’s numbers have continued to spiral in Toronto.
Since he headed north of the border, Drury has totaled 525 plate appearances and hit a ghastly .208/.253/.353, which goes a long way in explaining why the Blue Jays cut him and why no other team claimed him. He’ll now report to the Jays’ alternate training site.

**koz-man** · 09-05-20, 06:19 AM

Baltimore Orioles snap 19-game losing streak vs. New York Yankees

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles ended their 19-game losing streak against the New York Yankees, using a strong offensive performance by rookie Ryan Mountcastle to earn a 6-3 victory Friday night for a doubleheader split.

**Chi_archie** · 09-05-20, 07:04 AM

Originally posted by koz-man

Baltimore Orioles snap 19-game losing streak vs. New York Yankees

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles ended their 19-game losing streak against the New York Yankees, using a strong offensive performance by rookie Ryan Mountcastle to earn a 6-3 victory Friday night for a doubleheader split.

gotta feel good to end that nightmare

**stevenash** · 09-05-20, 11:56 AM

Originally posted by koz-man

Baltimore Orioles snap 19-game losing streak vs. New York Yankees

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles ended their 19-game losing streak against the New York Yankees, using a strong offensive performance by rookie Ryan Mountcastle to earn a 6-3 victory Friday night for a doubleheader split.

The Indians have beaten Detroit 20 consecutive times.

**batt33** · 09-05-20, 04:11 PM

Originally posted by koz-man

Baltimore Orioles snap 19-game losing streak vs. New York Yankees

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles ended their 19-game losing streak against the New York Yankees, using a strong offensive performance by rookie Ryan Mountcastle to earn a 6-3 victory Friday night for a doubleheader split.

Can baltimore do it back to back?

**JMobile** · 09-05-20, 05:06 PM

Originally posted by batt33

Can baltimore do it back to back?

I'm on Balty today. We'll see

**stevenash** · 09-05-20, 08:07 PM

Originally posted by JMobile

I'm on Balty today. We'll see

Their kid is matching Cole pitch for pitch.
Impressive.

Here's a good one for y'all

Matt Chapman and Gary Sanchez has 8 combined at bats today so far.
They are a combined 0 for 8 with 8 strikeouts.

That's a boatload of swings and misses.

**stevenash** · 09-05-20, 08:11 PM

Gerrit Cole jut gave up his 108th home run of the season.
Go figure.

**Otters27** · 09-05-20, 11:44 PM

Braves blew it for me

**stevenash** · 09-05-20, 11:55 PM

Nice Red Sox comeback.

**jrgum3** · 09-06-20, 12:39 AM

Mike Trout continues to move up the home run leaderboard notching his 300th today. The question is can he break the all time record and even so will anybody care if he does it playing for bad teams in Anaheim?

**JMobile** · 09-06-20, 01:29 AM

Originally posted by stevenash

Their kid is matching Cole pitch for pitch.
Impressive.

Here's a good one for y'all

Matt Chapman and Gary Sanchez has 8 combined at bats today so far.
They are a combined 0 for 8 with 8 strikeouts.

That's a boatload of swings and misses.

Got a win for the Orioles.

**JAKEPEAVY21** · 09-06-20, 07:07 AM

Originally posted by Cross

No need to vote, Darvish is Cy Young

I'll eat crow here cross and admit that Darvish is pitching great. That said, there are other worthy candidates. My vote goes to Max Fried, 6-0 1.60 ERA and 0 homers allowed.

**Chi_archie** · 09-06-20, 07:57 AM

Originally posted by jrgum3

Mike Trout continues to move up the home run leaderboard notching his 300th today. The question is can he break the all time record and even so will anybody care if he does it playing for bad teams in Anaheim?

Quietly moving up

**stevenash** · 09-06-20, 09:28 AM

Originally posted by jrgum3

Mike Trout continues to move up the home run leaderboard notching his 300th today. The question is can he break the all time record and even so will anybody care if he does it playing for bad teams in Anaheim?

Like I've said, Anaheim is where he wants to be.

Angels will be relevant again soon.

**BigSpoon** · 09-06-20, 09:35 AM

Originally posted by stevenash

Like I've said, Anaheim is where he wants to be.

Angels will be relevant again soon.

Another year of his prime wasted with the Angels.

**koz-man** · 09-06-20, 10:03 AM

Originally posted by jrgum3

Mike Trout continues to move up the home run leaderboard notching his 300th today. The question is can he break the all time record and even so will anybody care if he does it playing for bad teams in Anaheim?

Angels' Mike Trout sets franchise record with 300th career home run

Mike Trout hit his 300th career home run in the first game of a doubleheader against the Houston Astros on Saturday, surpassing Tim Salmon for the franchise record at just 29 years old.

**EmpireMaker** · 09-06-20, 02:54 PM

Before the coronavirus put the baseball season on pause this spring, the Nationals and star shortstop Trea Turner engaged in extension talks, general manager Mike Rizzo confirmed to reporters (including Todd Dybas of NBC Sports Washington). Of course, the pandemic introduced plenty of economic uncertainty for all 30 clubs. Nevertheless, Rizzo expressed an interest in revisiting those discussions once he gets an opportunity to examine the organization’s financial “landscape” (via Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post).
The 27-year-old Turner has done nothing to dissuade the front office’s interest in keeping him in the fold long-term. He’s somewhat quietly putting up a fabulous season, hitting .368/.421/.632 with nine home runs and five stolen bases in 171 plate appearances. While he obviously won’t sustain a .393 batting average on balls in play, Turner has seemingly turned a corner offensively. He’s striking out at a career-low 14.6% clip and has hit significantly fewer pop-ups this season. For his career, Turner’s a .297/.354/.479 hitter (118 wRC+) with generally average defense at shortstop, positioning him as a 4-5 win player per 600 plate appearances.
Turner and the Nationals agreed on a $7.45MM salary to avoid arbitration this offseason, his second year of eligibility. The former Super Two player is currently slated to go through the process twice more (and figures to earn a nice raise this winter) before reaching free agency after 2022. His first would-be free agent year would be his age-30 season.
More immediately, Rizzo says he plans to turn his attention to the managerial chair. Skipper Dave Martinez is amidst the final guaranteed season of his three-year contract, although the club does possess an option on his services for 2021. Rizzo made clear today he hopes not to have to exercise that option, instead preferring to hammer out a long-term extension with Martinez (via Jessica Camerato of MLB.com). “That’s the plan going forward,” Rizzo said. “See if we can get something done (and) negotiate a longer-term deal with him that goes beyond just picking up the option.” The GM himself just inked an extension yesterday that’ll keep him in D.C. though 2023.
The Nationals have had something of a rocky history with managers, with the Lerner family ownership group notoriously reluctant to commit to skippers on long-term deals. Martinez, though, is the only manager to have led the franchise to a World Series title, so it’d be a shock to see the parties not eventually come to terms on an extension.

**Cross** · 09-06-20, 05:30 PM

Fried is other candidate at the moment for sure.

**stevenash** · 09-06-20, 05:40 PM

Tatis is not human.

**batt33** · 09-06-20, 09:15 PM

R.i.p......lou " the franchise" brock

**jrgum3** · 09-06-20, 11:15 PM

The Yankees might not be the best team in baseball like I thought they were. I know they have fought a lot of injuries but something is off with them. I think the AL is actually wide open this year the same as the NL so it'll be interesting to see how the playoffs shake out.

**BigSpoon** · 09-07-20, 12:30 AM

Originally posted by batt33

R.i.p......lou " the franchise" brock

Damn, R.I.P. Another HOF and legend lost in 2020.

**Otters27** · 09-07-20, 02:33 AM

Remember the the first time I found out who Lou Brock was. Leading base stealer before henderson