MLB team correspondent thread for 4.12-4.19 EVERYONE INVITED.

JUMP IN ANYTIME... EVERYONE is INVITED and the more information the BETTER!!! So any informatiion is useful, even if you do not like the game, still please offer your input..

This thread will be for baseball games played on:
Thursday 4/12 through Thursday 4/19
will be starting new threads every 6-7 days instead of daily. Believe its better that way..


If you have no idea on whats going on here, this thread will help you understand
http://www.therxforum.com/showthread.php?t=835866

We are working together dropping thoughts on teams we follow "very" closely. Be it our informed opinons, key stats, teams state of mind, hot/cold bats, overused bullpens, injuries, weather or any information that you feel will be useful.. When you follow a team very closely, you get a good feel for them..


God Forbidding I will be creating these threads all season.. We should have some great info in them and have lots of fun too.


CORRESPONDENT LIST:
gyno: Dodgers
beerremedy: Dodgers

heynow: Phillies

Rondawg: Cards
thess12345: Cards

ceeDOTesquire: Giants

T-Cane: NYY & Rays
Metfan: Mets and Yanks
galante: Mets

Mikey.1Time: Red Sox

Dwayne Bowe: Sea and Tor

MrRodgers12: Brewers
jonohull: Brewers

nojuice9: Twins

taylor13: Rangers



jump in now.

Pirates cold as ice right now, obp less than 22%. They arent doing anything on the offensive side of the ball.. Dodgers are getting good hitting from their 3-4-5 guys the other spots are sketchy. BP is very good.

Cap pitching, I dont trust him yet.. I do think he will fit well in Chavez Ravine.

I don't know if this is useful or obvious info but I've watched every Yankee game so far and their bullpen is still excellent and their hitting isn't too bad as usual and only going to heat up more. Also, they seem to be covering RLs at an okay pace. Basically, Yankees are going to be a good bet this season.

I don't bet much 5 innings at all but for those that do, you might want to stick with the full game bets with the Yankees because their starting pitching is just ok but because of their bullpen and hitting they win games late. Past 2 games their bullpen played a huge part in keeping them in the game and getting them the win. Swisher with a nice 2 run jack today to give them a late lead! Of course Mariano is still pretty much automatic.

NYY geared up for stadium opener vs LAA/ALBERT and these teams have had some gems over the past decade. JORGE throws out 1st pitch and NYY will feast on halo's pen if they continue to get used up vs twinkies. NYY haven't hit well as of yet, but the lefties love that porch.

NYY pen with ROBERSTON, SORIANO, MO is the best 3 or 4 innings you need in baseball.

If you follo minor league baseball, then checkout the NYY low A ball team( CHARLESTON RIVERDOGS), pitcher they got in Montero/Pineda trade named Campos just pitched 2nd gem ina row. Team is loaded with talent all over and these guys will be fun to watch in Tampa ast mid season callups occur

Angels @ Twins.

Liriano allowed 6 runs in the 8-2 Orioles loss. Haren allowed 5 runs in the 6-3 Royals loss. Both teams combined for 11 runs last night. I would think this match-up has a good chance of going OVER the 7'. I'm not so sure that Liriano is in good form right now. I also like the fact that the Twins scored some runs last night, they do have some pop in their line up.

Good Luck.

Phillies (2-3) vs. Marlins (2-4), 7:05 p.m.

Starting pitchers
Joe Blanton (0-1, 13.50 ERA) makes his first start of the 2012 season after losing a game in relief. Because of elbow problems, Blanton made just eight starts last year, going 1-2 with a 5.01 ERA. Blanton looked healthy and in command of all of his pitches this spring.

The Marlins will send out Mark Buehrle (0-1, 3.00 ERA) to make his first-ever start at Citizens Bank Park. Buehrle allowed two runs on seven hits in first National League outing last Thursday against the Reds.

Previous games
The Phillies offense finally broke out Wednesday night in a 7-1 victory over the Marlins. The Phils scored five runs in the third inning and chased Josh Johnson early after the Miami ace allowed a career-high 11 hits.

In Monday’s series opener, the Fish downed the Phils, 6-2, behind a pair of home runs from second baseman Omar Infante.

Head-to-head
The Phillies are 26-12 against the Marlins since the start of 2010. Blanton is 6-2 vs. Miami with a 3.33 ERA in nine starts.

Buehrle has faced the Phillies three times but never at CBP. Only five Phillies have ever faced the longtime member of the Chicago White Sox. Placido Polanco is 14 for 35 (.400) lifetime off the lefty, having battled against him for many years in the AL Central.

Who’s hot?
Hunter Pence continues to rake. He was 3 for 4 Wednesday night and is hitting .368 on the season.

Carlos Ruiz is equally hot. Chooch is 6 for 13 on the season with a double and a home run, and was 23 for 48 in the spring, making him 29-for-his-last-61.

And how about Freddy Galvis, who hit his second two-run double of the season Wednesday and is tied for the team-lead with four RBIs?

Who’s not?
All Phillies first basemen. The collection of John Mayberry, Ty Wigginton, Laynce Nix and Jim Thome is 5 for 34 (.147) with nine strikeouts and one extra-base hit.

Storylines
The Phillies look to win their first series of the season and get back to .500.

Blanton is hoping for a strong return to the starting rotation and to re-establish himself as a solid back-end option.

The Phillies face off against Buehrle in the first of what will be many meetings over the next four seasons. Buehrle, who should thrive in the NL, signed a four-year, $58 million deal with the Marlins this past winter. He is as quick a worker as Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee.

The Phillies scored one fewer run Wednesday than they scored in the first four games of the season. Will that added confidence make a difference?

gynecologist said:

Pirates cold as ice right now, obp less than 22%. They arent doing anything on the offensive side of the ball.. Dodgers are getting good hitting from their 3-4-5 guys the other spots are sketchy. BP is very good.

Cap pitching, I dont trust him yet.. I do think he will fit well in Chavez Ravine.

Click to expand...

Word up gyno. Those Pirates are having tons of trouble scoring. McCutchen has had some success vs Capuano, but not really anyone else. Capuano pitched well in his first start until he gave up a slew of walks.
Also, the Dodgers have done great when it comes to timely hitting. But it's not like they've had guys just kicking it with RISP.
I'm grabbing a lil of the LAD UNDER 7

prob going to see the dodger's 'b' pen tonight

Bosox: Home opener for Boston..Always gets you pumped.. Unfortuneately, there are a lot of question marks. I do feel Beckett will be a lot better than his last outing, and should keep Tampa down..If he doesnt pitch well, he will be heading to the DL to get this " thumb" thing worked out..Price always pitches well against Boston and i expect the same today. Like I said in my 1st post, I always tread lightly early..I will be taking under 8.5, with no lean on a side. I think both pitchers keep it low...gl!!...2-1 +.90 units in this thread..

WILL HAVE WRITE UPS AT LUNCH TIME..SOME JACKASS SCHEDULED A MORNING MEETING

YANKS/LAA

$100 OVER EITHER FIRST 5 OR GAME ..WAITING FOR 5 INNING LINE

FIRST INNING RUN..Y

METS/PHILS

WRIGHT STILL A QUESTION MARK..METS ANEMIC WITHOUT HIM FACE A LEFTY

RHE UNDER THE TOTAL IF 23 OR MORE

LEE -1/2 RUN FIRST 5..Dickey is a competitor but this isn't the best knuckleball weather

Cardinals and Cubs. Wainwright and Smardzilja. Cardinals -200. Over under 7. Opening Day in St. Louis. Always a lot of stuff going on in STL on opening day. Game starts at 3:15 local time and there is a chance for rain off and on today. Will be interesting to see how the Cardinals handle Wainwright if there are some delays. I don't have a real good opinion on this one. Berkman may be held out for the entire series. I think the Cards win this one but sure I can't back Waino at -200 just yet until I see that he is really back in a groove. He pitched ok against the Brewers. Smardzijla was excellent against the Nationals. I think the play here gun to my head would be a small play on the Cubs. Good luck to anybody who plays this game. Just can't do anything knowing that the weather could be a mess and with the big number on the Cards.

Mets third baseman David Wright has been cleared to play after seeing a hand specialist for the second straight day. @ METFAN, what is Wright's contract status? I keep hearing rumors of the Phillies making a play for Wright. I would love to see it happen but I don't think it would. Can't see the Mets trading or not re-signing Wright. Phillies have Hamels, Victorino and Pence as free agents next year.

$100
yanks/laa over5-105 5 innings

$50:
First inning run ..y -110

$100:
Mets/phils u 23.5 rhe

$50:
Phils/lee only -.5 -125
phils scoring first -125

Phillies (3-3) vs. Mets (4-2)


Starting Pitchers
The Phillies trot out Cliff Lee (0-0, 1.50 ERA) in hopes of following a three-game losing streak with a three-game winning streak. Lee in first start allowed one run on two hits over six innings, striking out four and uncharacteristically walking two. While it wasn’t the best line Lee’s ever pieced together, few Pirates made solid contact. Of the 15 balls in play Lee allowed, 13 were groundballs or popups.

Opposing Lee is Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (1-0, 3.00), Dickey struggled with control in his first start, walking four Braves and only throwing 61 percent of his pitches for strikes, but picked up a win nonetheless. Dickey throws the knuckler 75 percent of the time and throws his 83 mile per hour fastball the other 25 percent. Since reinventing himself with the knuckleball prior to 2010, Dickey is 20-22 with a 3.08 ERA and has averaged 192 innings per season.

Previous games
Behind a strong performance by Joe Blanton, the Phillies beat the Marlins, 3-1, Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park. Ty Wigginton and Shane Victorino each launched solo home runs to left field, and Johh Mayberry added an RBI single to give the Phils a series win. The ability to sandwich seven innings of one-run ball by Blanton with near-sure things like Halladay and Lee gives the Phillies an advantage few teams have.

The Mets began the season by winning four in a row but have lost two straight with David Wright out of the lineup. Wright, who suffered a fractured pinky in the field earlier in the week, was cleared to play Thursday by a hand specialist and is expected to play Friday.

Head-to-head
The Phillies are 32-22 against the Mets since the start of 2009 and 18-9 at Citizens Bank Park. Cliff Lee, in three career starts against the Mets, is 2-0 with a 0.43 ERA. He’s allowed one earned run in 21 innings of work, holding the Mets to a .224/.277/.303 batting line.

Dickey is 2-3 with a 2.61 ERA in six starts against the Phils. Three of those six starts were shutdown outings (22 IP, 1 ER), two were average (13 IP, 6 ER) and one was a disaster (six runs in three innings).

Who’s hot
Victorino, who after Opening Day is 7 for 18 and has scored a run in every game.

Hunter Pence’s hot hitting continued into Thursday, when he went 2 for 4 with a double and a run to increase his batting average to .391.

Who’s not
With most regulars finding their stroke the last two games and the tandem of Wigginton and John Mayberry finally contributing Thursday, the only Phillie who is still struggling at the plate is Jim Thome. In six at-bats, Thome is hitless with three strikeouts.

Storylines
With a win the Phillies can move to a game over .500 and into second place, which we won’t pretend means anything on April 13.

Can the Phillies be patient against Dickey, who at times struggles with control, or will the righthander’s fluttering knuckler keep them woefully off-balance as it has in the past?

Was Wigginton’s blast enough to get him playing time Friday, or could we see Laynce Nix in the lineup?

Will Wright – who was hitting .583 with an RBI in each game – be less effective playing through a fractured pinky?

Rondawg said:

Cardinals and Cubs. Wainwright and Smardzilja. Cardinals -200. Over under 7. Opening Day in St. Louis. Always a lot of stuff going on in STL on opening day. Game starts at 3:15 local time and there is a chance for rain off and on today. Will be interesting to see how the Cardinals handle Wainwright if there are some delays. I don't have a real good opinion on this one. Berkman may be held out for the entire series. I think the Cards win this one but sure I can't back Waino at -200 just yet until I see that he is really back in a groove. He pitched ok against the Brewers. Smardzijla was excellent against the Nationals. I think the play here gun to my head would be a small play on the Cubs. Good luck to anybody who plays this game. Just can't do anything knowing that the weather could be a mess and with the big number on the Cards.

Click to expand...

Sorry said 3:15 local start. It is actually 2:15. It has been raining for last hour. Should be interesting to see how this plays out because the Cards do a big parade of the players around the stadium in convertibles before the game and that is supposed to start at 1:30. The rain doesn't look like it is goin to stop anytime soon. When I know my I will try to post it.

There you go. Start time moved to 3:45 CT.

sf giants

greetings folks. here's a quick update on the giants before i head to the ballpark for the opener..
- we had a thunderstorm last night but it's pretty clear right now. there are a couple storms lurking at noon and 3pm but the ballpark area supposedly won't be affected. still, might be something to keep in mind as...
- cain has good career numbers vs the pirates lineup. so hopefully mother nature doesnt cut his start short.
- the bullpen is still solid overall but brian wilson worries me. now, let me say that i've never been a big fan of wilson and his torturous style but i'm even less confident in him this season and i think there's a decent chance he hits the DL or gets demoted at some point this year. his fastball avg 90 yesterday and his control wasn't there either. young heath hembree (currently closing in AAA fresno) is waiting in the wings. romo and lopez can also fill in and do a better job although they're invaluable working the stress situations of the 7th and 8th innings.
- here's today's lineup, most of whom have good #s vs mcdonald:
Pagan CF
Cabrera LF
Sandoval 3B
Posey C
Huff 1B
Schierholtz RF
Crawford SS
Burriss 2B
Cain SP

still no brandon belt but melky is raking and scheirholtz hit 2 HRs in his first start of the season wednesday. posey has shingles (wtf?!) underneath an armpit but he should be fine, albeit under some medication. the giants should get it done assuming cain's start isnt rain shortened. just an action bet for me though.. probably run line.

aight, it's time to head over to the ballpark and get faded.
good luck my fellow degenerates.. get that money!

Its raining extremely hard here in L.A, not sure if there will even be a game.

NYY win opener, very easy.

NOT SURE WHO THE METS SHOCKED MORE

ME OR CLIFF LEE

YEST..1-3 -$185

ytd 11-8 +$83

going to stick with the mets today...Jon Niese had a nohitter in his first start for the first 6 innings. Looked good. Worley is good too. Looks like it could be low scoring

the play:
$100

METS +135 FIRST 5 ONLY