AL Central Discussion

[Stakesarehigh]

Oh is that funny @Shanemansj13 ? Do I amuse you? Am I some kind of clown to you?

I just wish the Tigers and Reds could blend teams and have Cincys hitting and Detroits pitching

The Sox though

Clown show

 

[Shanemansj13]

Oh is that funny @Shanemansj13 ? Do I amuse you? Am I some kind of clown to you?

 

[WiggyRuss]

needed that win

first game on Saturday the Guards had a leadoff man at 2nd couldnt tie it up.......despite some very mediocre-to-poor starting pitching- getting out of the series with the win today was big--- 10-5 to start the season is nice.

Ben Lively and Xavion Curry starting 2 of the next 3 games---def. NOT how they drew this up

but the bullpen has been very good---- and Hentges- a very good lefty should be back and they have some other bullpen reinforcements in AAA too- I think Nic Enright has a chance to do some good things.

Gotta say- the bats have been better than expected thus far---- it helps that Josh Naylor looks absolutely legit. He has to be a guy they try and re-sign but his price is going up - especially if he can stay healthy.

 

[WiggyRuss]

who had Kansas City as the team with the best run differential in baseball 16 games in? @black francis ? You have that on your bingo card?

 

[WiggyRuss]

KC's rotation does look pretty solid- and honestly I like some guys in their pen- though not really the closer spot......

They obv. need Sal Perez healthy- and Pasquintino to get going- but the AL CEntral is wide open. Pablo Lopez has started slow for the Twins and they obv. lost Lewis for a while.....

 

[navamind]

Oh is that funny @Shanemansj13 ? Do I amuse you? Am I some kind of clown to you?

It's just amazing how things went south so quickly. They were quite good in 2020 (granted a short season) and 2021, and went from 93 wins (and they underachieved their pythag by 4 games) to 100+ losses in a two year span. What's gone wrong?

• 
  Tim Anderson went from being a star to an injured mess and had an abysmal 2023 season
• Eloy Jimenez has played 224 games since the beginning of 2021. He didn't play a huge part in the success of 2021, but he was one of their most valuable players in 2020 and was supposed to be a franchise cornerstone
• Luis Robert hasn't been much better in the health department (318 games over said span), though he's looked more like a superstar when he has been healthy
  Yoan Moncada went from being a 116 OPS+ and 4 WAR guy in 2021 to 88 OPS+ since the beginning of 2022 and only 1.9 WAR
• Yasmani Grandal went from a .420 OBP and 155 OPS+ to hitting for a .305 OBP and 71 OPS+ in the following two seasons
• Andrew Vaughn hasn't lived up to his prospect/draft status and has been a replacement level major leaguer in 1699 PA
• They lost Jose Abreu. While the White Sox were probably right to move on from him given his awful 2023 season, there was still the matter of replacing what he had given them for nine seasons
• Lucas Giolito's regression. Went from a 129 ERA+ in 2019-21 to an 86 ERA+ the next two seasons and his season in Boston ended before throwing a regular season pitch
• Lance Lynn went from a 163 ERA+ in 2021 to 99 in 2022 and 69 (nice) in 2023 before getting traded
• Carlos Rodon gave them 132.2 innings of 185 ERA+ pitching. He was great in SFG the following season, has struggled with injuries in NY so far. Regardless, those are some VERY high quality innings to replace
• Michael Kopech was a quality arm in 2021-22, but struggled in 2023 and has since moved to the bullpen
• They signed Andrew Benintendi to the largest contract in franchise history (5/$75M) and he's been worth -0.7 WAR so far

 

[WiggyRuss]

It's just amazing how things went south so quickly. They were quite good in 2020 (granted a short season) and 2021, and went from 93 wins (and they underachieved their pythag by 4 games) to 100+ losses in a two year span. What's gone wrong?

• 
  Tim Anderson went from being a star to an injured mess and had an abysmal 2023 season
• Eloy Jimenez has played 224 games since the beginning of 2021. He didn't play a huge part in the success of 2021, but he was one of their most valuable players in 2020 and was supposed to be a franchise cornerstone
• Luis Robert hasn't been much better in the health department (318 games over said span), though he's looked more like a superstar when he has been healthy
  Yoan Moncada went from being a 116 OPS+ and 4 WAR guy in 2021 to 88 OPS+ since the beginning of 2022 and only 1.9 WAR
• Yasmani Grandal went from a .420 OBP and 155 OPS+ to hitting for a .305 OBP and 71 OPS+ in the following two seasons
• Andrew Vaughn hasn't lived up to his prospect/draft status and has been a replacement level major leaguer in 1699 PA
• They lost Jose Abreu. While the White Sox were probably right to move on from him given his awful 2023 season, there was still the matter of replacing what he had given them for nine seasons
• Lucas Giolito's regression. Went from a 129 ERA+ in 2019-21 to an 86 ERA+ the next two seasons and his season in Boston ended before throwing a regular season pitch
• Lance Lynn went from a 163 ERA+ in 2021 to 99 in 2022 and 69 (nice) in 2023 before getting traded
• Carlos Rodon gave them 132.2 innings of 185 ERA+ pitching. He was great in SFG the following season, has struggled with injuries in NY so far. Regardless, those are some VERY high quality innings to replace
• Michael Kopech was a quality arm in 2021-22, but struggled in 2023 and has since moved to the bullpen
• They signed Andrew Benintendi to the largest contract in franchise history (5/$75M) and he's been worth -0.7 WAR so far

hopefully O'Neil and Devers are okay after that collision today.

Crawford pitched really well. Red Sox starters actually have some pretty good stuff......Red Sox defense looks terrible though.....bullpen looks mediocre-to-poor......

they can hit though and have some solid SP..

 

[WiggyRuss]

It's just amazing how things went south so quickly. They were quite good in 2020 (granted a short season) and 2021, and went from 93 wins (and they underachieved their pythag by 4 games) to 100+ losses in a two year span. What's gone wrong?

• 
  Tim Anderson went from being a star to an injured mess and had an abysmal 2023 season
• Eloy Jimenez has played 224 games since the beginning of 2021. He didn't play a huge part in the success of 2021, but he was one of their most valuable players in 2020 and was supposed to be a franchise cornerstone
• Luis Robert hasn't been much better in the health department (318 games over said span), though he's looked more like a superstar when he has been healthy
  Yoan Moncada went from being a 116 OPS+ and 4 WAR guy in 2021 to 88 OPS+ since the beginning of 2022 and only 1.9 WAR
• Yasmani Grandal went from a .420 OBP and 155 OPS+ to hitting for a .305 OBP and 71 OPS+ in the following two seasons
• Andrew Vaughn hasn't lived up to his prospect/draft status and has been a replacement level major leaguer in 1699 PA
• They lost Jose Abreu. While the White Sox were probably right to move on from him given his awful 2023 season, there was still the matter of replacing what he had given them for nine seasons
• Lucas Giolito's regression. Went from a 129 ERA+ in 2019-21 to an 86 ERA+ the next two seasons and his season in Boston ended before throwing a regular season pitch
• Lance Lynn went from a 163 ERA+ in 2021 to 99 in 2022 and 69 (nice) in 2023 before getting traded
• Carlos Rodon gave them 132.2 innings of 185 ERA+ pitching. He was great in SFG the following season, has struggled with injuries in NY so far. Regardless, those are some VERY high quality innings to replace
• Michael Kopech was a quality arm in 2021-22, but struggled in 2023 and has since moved to the bullpen
• They signed Andrew Benintendi to the largest contract in franchise history (5/$75M) and he's been worth -0.7 WAR so far

great review of White Sox too

just 3 years ago they were def. the favorite to win the division...it fell apart quick.

 

[Shanemansj13]

hopefully O'Neil and Devers are okay after that collision today.

Crawford pitched really well. Red Sox starters actually have some pretty good stuff......Red Sox defense looks terrible though.....bullpen looks mediocre-to-poor......

they can hit though and have some solid SP..

The defense robbed at least one HR though

 

[navamind]

great review of White Sox too

just 3 years ago they were def. the favorite to win the division...it fell apart quick.

They seemed very poised to run the division/contend for some time. Feels like a blend of poor development/bad luck/injuries/front office ineptitude.

 

[navamind]

The defense robbed at least one HR though

O'Neill had 8 stitches and hit concussion protocol. He's been one of our only guys hitting at all. I like our outfield defense, but the infield is a shit show especially with Story out for the rest of the year.

Nothing like losing 7-0 after your starter gives up 0 in 5.2

 

[Shanemansj13]

O'Neill had 8 stitches and hit concussion protocol. He's been one of our only guys hitting at all. I like our outfield defense, but the infield is a shit show especially with Story out for the rest of the year.

Nothing like losing 7-0 after your starter gives up 0 in 5.2

Yeah Crawford looked good but a lot of hard hit balls. Obviously, the robbed HR maybe two. I’m not sure the one the CF caught gets over too. It seemed like everything they hit hard was right at a defender. I expect the 4 game series to be tight though. Boston is always tough especially at home

 

[black francis]

who had Kansas City as the team with the best run differential in baseball 16 games in? @black francis ? You have that on your bingo card?

if anyone says they did, they are lying

 

[navamind]

if anyone says they did, they are lying

i did

 

[black francis]

i did

Youre the exception

 

[WiggyRuss]

Youre the exception

I definitely did not have the Guardians with the best record in baseball on April 17th and the Royals just a game behind.......especially if you told me Bieber would be done after 2 starts and Williams would not have started a game.

Guardians bullpen is very good and Kwan and Gimenez are hitting more like 2022 than 2023.......Kwan and Gimenez are really important to the offense - Naylor and Ramirez are gonna hit - I have confidence in them--- but if Kwan can set the table and Gimenez can be productive it really changes the offense.

Now- WAAAAY to early to make any statement like the Guardians are gonna win 90 games----- especially because the bullpen is being taxed so much- but it looks fiarly good early


Royals with their SP going so deep into games seem like a solid bet to keep being pretty good- I would say prob. more so than the Guardians.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Twins will right the ship and get hot at some point too----

in the mediocre AL Central I think 4 teams are gonna compete which will make it interesting. White Sox are so bad right now- those injuries took them from being bad to just atrocious

 

[Shanemansj13]

i did

I did as well

 

[broncosmitty]

I did as well

Two liars.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Thing Guardians do have going for them is they have reinforcements coming---- Hentges and Williams on the pitching staff and Manzardo and maybe DeLatuer hitting wise......

Not sure how far they can go with Ben Lively, Xavion Curry and Carlos Carrasco starting games--- but it looks fine right now.