Daily Archives: April 10, 2016
Jose Altuve Attempts The Hidden Ball Trick, But He Came Up Just “Short”
Houston Astros second baseman, Jose Altuve, is known for his elite ability to get on base, his speed on the base paths, his short stature, and smooth fielding. Unfortunately for Altuve, he will not be well known for for his attempt of trickery today against the Milwaukee Brewers. Altuve tried to fool former Houston Astros first baseman, Chris Carter, with the famously known hidden ball trick. The 5’4 (listed as 5’6, but I’ve met Jose Altuve and he is no taller than 5’4) Altuve came up just “short” with his attempt as he stuffed the ball in his pocket, but Carter noticed almost immediately. Click below to see the video:
MLB Power Rankings: Week 1 Results – April 2016
Hunter Stokes (BBBA Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_Hunter21
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Disclaimer: We based these rankings on best strength to win the World Series. Therefore some teams that have an easier division to play in, with the least path of resistance to the postseason overall may be ranked a lot higher than a club who is equally talented, yet may play in a juggernaut of a division.
Team – Rank (W – L Record) (Last week ranking in parenthesis)
(1) Chicago Cubs (5 – 1) (1): The Cubs weathered the loss of their slugging OF Kyle Schwarber this week – by taking 5 of the 1st 6 games played, and all on the road. After these 6 contests – the squad is outscoring their opponents 42 – 15.
Love the idea of setting the table with Dexter Fowler, Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist 1-2-3 prior to the boppers coming after in Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant.
Having the 2015 NL ROY may help Rizzo win the NL MVP this season. He had 10 RBI this week – including a 6 RBI effort.
Jake Arrieta is already 2 – 0, and this team shows no signs of slowing down.
(2) KC Royals (4 – 1) (2): This club just knows how to win with the dominant Bullpen and clutch hitting. They have only yielded 11 runs thus far, and this team has not even hit huge strides on offense yet.
The AL Central is better in 2016 there is no question, however KC will be ready to take them on. There may not be a more filthy Late Inning Reliever right now than Wade Davis. Edinson Volquez has picked up right where he left off in 2015 as well. Read the rest of this entry
Dodger ‘Pen Looking Ugly
Seven games into the 2016 season, and the Dodger bullpen looks ugly. Really ugly. The only reliever the team can count on is closer Kenley Jansen, who is his usual un-hittable self with two saves in two chances. The entire rest of the ‘pen came ripping apart in the San Francisco series, giving management a very disturbing preview of what could be lurking down there this season.
After a season-opening three-game sweep of the Padres where the Dodger bullpen wasn’t needed much, you knew its first real test would be against the Giants. Besides the third game of the series, which saw some decent late work from Chris Hatcher (more of an escape-act) and Jansen slamming the door, the relief corps couldn’t have looked more inept. Smells a lot like last season. Here we go again…
Texas Rangers Call Up Nomar Mazara, But What Is His Potential?
It was announced today that Shin-Soo Choo will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a strained calf. This injury has led to the much anticipated debut of one of the Texas Rangers’ top prospects, Nomar Mazara. Mazara will serve as the everyday right fielder during the absence of Choo. While the hype is certainly alive and well with Mazara, how good can he really be? To read the rest of the article, click the link below:
Evan Gattis Or Jonathan Lucroy Could Be The Houston Astros Answer Behind The Plate
While it is very early in the 2016 season, it is becoming very apparent that the Houston Astros are lacking success at the catcher position. Right now the Houston Astros are carrying two catchers, Jason Castro and Erik Kratz. Through five games, Castro is hitting .071 and Kratz is hitting .000. Unfortunately, this rough catching production has been a trend over the past two years. In 2014 and 2015, Castro hit .222 and .211 respectively. He has also seen a 63% reduction in his power production from 2013 to 2015. I will admit that Castro’s defensive ability and leadership in the clubhouse is huge for the Astros’ success, but his offensive struggles are hurting the team. It could be time for the Houston Astros to start looking for some alternatives behind the plate. Please click the link below to read the rest of the article:
Who Owned Baseball April 9, 2016 (Daily AL/NL Pitcher + Hitter MVP’s) + 2016 #WOB Standings
DAVID ZALUBOWSKI/AP
Matt Kemp went 3 for 5 with a pair of homers and 6 RBI as the Padres offense continued to wake up against Colorado, 16-3.
Colby Rasmus homered twice in Houston’s 6-4 victory in Milwaukee.
Vincent Velasquez threw six shutout innings, striking out 9 Mets and earned the first Phillies win of the season, 1-0.
Rich Hill struck out 10 Seattle batters over six, allowing 1 run and 1 walk and got the 6-1 Oakland win.
They all owned baseball on April 9, 2016.
To view the Yearly Leaders for Who Owned Baseball Standings, plus see who gained 1/2 WOB’s – Click the READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY ICON OR SCROLL DOWN.
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Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – April 10, 2016
Mike Coppola/Getty Images North America
It is time for The Sunday Request
@sullybaseball 2X Yup. They wouldn’t have approved Goose Gossage’s wild mustache in the ’30s, so why should we play like he did in the 70s?
— Werner Herzog’s Bear (@wernherzbear) April 3, 2016
He is right. Different times are played with different styles. And the old stars might not always be painted with the best brush.
Everything old is not necessarily new again on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Matt Kemp, Colby Rasmus, Vincent Velasquez, Rich Hill, Francisco Cervelli, Jose BautistaandMadison Bumgarner all added to their totals for Who Owns Baseball yesterday.
See the updated listing of WOB on MLB Reports
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Ron Darling’s Game 7, 1986: Failure and Triumph in the Biggest Game of My Life- A Review
I could never stand Ron Darling. Although he was a fine pitcher for 13 major league seasons and I have never met the man, he’s no friend of mine. Of course that’s because he was a prominent member of the 1986 New York Mets, who beat my Boston Red Sox to win the World Series, and thus broke the heart of an eight-year-old yours truly. He, along with Daniel Paisner, has detailed the Series-deciding final game (in which Darling pitched) in Game 7, 1986- Failure and Triumph in the Biggest Game of My Life (St. Martin’s Press; on sale April 5, 2016), giving me an opportunity to relive my childhood anguish all over again. Fortunately, it was much easier the second time around.
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