Late season baseball chatter...

[missouridawg]

How long will the NL Central be this wild? 3 of the best 4 records in baseball all in the NL Central.

Kudos to Theo and Maddon on a very quick turnaround. They are going to be a very solid club for the next several years.

I would hate to face the Mets in the playoffs. Harvey, DeGrom, and Syndergaard might be the best 1-2-3 in the bigs.

Are the Astros going to hang on in the West? I don't think so, but the Angels sure don't seem interested in winning it.

How fun has it been to watch Toronto these past 2 weeks? Tulo, Donaldson, Bautista is about as good as it gets 1-2-3 in a lineup.

What are your thoughts?

 

[BonzoGoesToCollege]

I thnk the NL is wide open..

I’m a Cardinals fan and even though they have the best record in baseball, I don’t think they have the sticks to win the NL (even if Holliday comes back). They’ve owned Kershaw in the post season, but having to face him and Greinke 4 times in a best of 7 is imposing. However, Giants could make a push and win that division. Don’t fear the Mets as much because they still struggle to score runs, even with Cespedes. As much as I hate the Cubs, they’re really starting to put it together. Also, when the Pirates get healthy, they’ll be a pretty tough out, especially if Burnett comes back healthy. I’m really enjoying watching the Nats go down in flames.

AL is interesting. I think the Astros did enough at the trade deadline to stay in the race the rest of the year. Angels just lost Wilson for the year. I hate them anyway. Toronto seems like the front runner, but beside Price, nobody in that rotation would scare me. I think it’ll be between them and KC for the AL.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Pretty much same as yours. It's fun to see winning baseball in Wrigley again. I don't think either the Cubs or Bucs have the juice to catch the Cardinals which sets up a very interesting playoff scenario in which the second and third best teams in the NL will play in the Wild Card, then the winner plays the best team in the NL. Meanwhile the Mets and Dodgers/Giants duke it out on the other side. I think the Giants might overtake LA in the West and if they do, Mattingly will be fired. He may get fired anyway if they make the playoffs but miss the World Series. Interesting, same with Terry Collins. Totally agree about the Mets pitching, but I have to wonder how are they going to handle the inning limits they have on those three. Will they take the Nats route and shut them down like Washington did Strasburg a few years ago, which didn't seem to help at all? That won't go over well in New York. That Nationals are just not impressive at all this year. Look good on paper but can't seem to put it all together outside of Harper. Even Scherzer has struggled a bit lately, and that rotation overall has to be considered a disappointment.

I've been saying for a few weeks that Toronto being this good is good for baseball. Their fans and the excitement make Skydome (old school) a fun place to watch a game on TV. I'm a fan of Josh Donaldson and David Price and have enjoyed seeing them lead the explosion the last few weeks. I think the AL comes down to them and the Royals and would be a great series if it happens. Houston, LAA, the Yankees, Baltimore, Tampa, Texas, Minnesota...none of them seem to have enough to make noise in the playoffs although Houston could get hot and bash their way through other team's pitching, and they are only going to get better when Springer gets back. Kazmir and Keuchel are good enough to beat anyone but after that it gets spotty in a hurry.

It's a shame that good baseball seasons like this one get lost in the mix when football starts. There's nothing like the deep roar of a crowd on a big strike three on a cool October night somewhere.

 

[missouridawg]

I’m a Cardinals fan and even though they have the best record in baseball, I don’t think they have the sticks to win the NL (even if Holliday comes back). They’ve owned Kershaw in the post season, but having to face him and Greinke 4 times in a best of 7 is imposing. However, Giants could make a push and win that division. Don’t fear the Mets as much because they still struggle to score runs, even with Cespedes. As much as I hate the Cubs, they’re really starting to put it together. Also, when the Pirates get healthy, they’ll be a pretty tough out, especially if Burnett comes back healthy. I’m really enjoying watching the Nats go down in flames.

AL is interesting. I think the Astros did enough at the trade deadline to stay in the race the rest of the year. Angels just lost Wilson for the year. I hate them anyway. Toronto seems like the front runner, but beside Price, nobody in that rotation would scare me. I think it’ll be between them and KC for the AL.

The Cardinals have been very fortunate against Kershaw in the playoffs. I saw someone on twitter this week compare Kershaw to Peyton Manning... as in "brilliant in the regular season, relatively mediocre in the playoffs".