2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

didn't watch any of this game but he usually throws fastballs and sliders. never heard anyone call him soft throwing but maybe he didn't want to let it all out tonight.

 

So much for the perfect-game alert!

So much for the no-hitter alert!

So much for the shutout!

Casper Wells goes yard on a full-count pitch to break up Chen's game in the 7th inning.

 

and his chance for the win also gone

 

Chipper Jones was 5-5 last night with 4 RBI. Great night.

 

According to FanGraphs, Sale throws his fastball about 60.1 percent of the time, averaging about 92.3 mph. (3 mph less than he averaged on it as a reliever last year.)

By way of comparison, Barry Zito, the ultimate soft-tossing lefty, throws his fastball about 50 percent of the time at about 85 mph, consistently throughout his career. Mark Buehrle is typically in the 45-48 percent range, at 85-86 mph.

That said ...

You're right. Sale was tossing some junk up there tonight. Obviously a scouting report thing. But I can see where you would have gotten that impression. You should have seen him the day he struck out 15 earlier this year. The White Sox have an awful farm system, but somehow it produced this gem.

 

I said this last year, and I'll say it again this year . . . this is a lot of fun. But, unlike last year, I see a bit more potential out of this year's bunch, especially since the division seems a bit more open with Houston and Chicago shitting the bed, Milwaukee not being able to pitch, and St. Louis dealing with injury after departure after injury. And Cincy, who should run away with the division on talent alone, is having trouble on the mound. I certainly don't see a world series in the near future for this team, but I do see a window of opportuinity for them to make some noise. Hell, they have a shot to be in first place at the break.

 

I'm still not remotely sold that the Pirates have the third-best pitching in the NL. But I agree they've got more staying power than last year's cute little run.

It's a bad division in a bad league, and they've got the division and two wild cards to shoot for. They need to be buyers at the deadline. A couple of average bats would do wonders for their lineup.

Then, if they can make the playoffs, who knows? You don't have to be the best team to win a couple of short series.

 

I'd go as far as to say that with the front-line starters, they're better suited for short series than the long run, if they could somehow get there.

 

Carlos Lee lifted from the Astros-Pirates game. Where to?

 

I'm sure LA gave him some stupid contract extension to accept the trade.

 

Early speculation is the Marlins

 

He already turned that down, though I guess the teams could resurrect it.