2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

The Royals are 0-9 at home to start the season.

 

Regarding the Kyle Lohse BABIP discussion, Cliff Lee's BABIP is lower at .190, but I think most of us assume his final ERA will be somewhere in the mid to low 2s (it's at 1.96 right now).

So if what Heinekenman says about the slider is something Lohse can sustain, maybe it's not so far fetched for him to have an ERA in that range as well.

 

In the post-Jose Bautista baseball world, I no longer refuse to believe a guy can somehow turn the corner career-wise in his early 30s.

It's only four starts, but Lohse has been a different pitcher the last two years than he was for the 10 before that. It helps that he's giving up a lot fewer homers than he used to.

 

I'm more likely to trust it with a pitcher than a hitter, too. Sometimes they take longer and even a veteran can have something click. Or as HeinekenMan suggests, maybe it is the improved slider. He showed signs of improvement in 2008, his first season in St. Louis, then had two crappy seasons. He missed games in 2009 and 2010, so maybe that was just not being healthy.

Regarding his BABIP, it's a useful statistic for predicting performance, but not perfect. Some pitchers are simply better at making opponents hit into outs.

The low strikeout rate makes you wonder how much he can sustain, but I wouldn't be shocked to see him keep the ERA under 3.00.

 

More importantly, how about his teammate, Jake Westbrook?

 

Why more importantly? Fantasy baseball purposes?

Westbrook wasn't very good last year, so I don't have much faith in him keeping this up. Westbrook has looked good in stretches before and had a very good season in 2004, but I just don't see much reason to expect him to take a big step forward this whole season. He'll probably be fine for them at the back of the rotation, but that's about it.

The real key is Wainwright, who doesn't look good at all so far. They need him to come back and at least be solid, if not return to his form of 2010.

 

Great stat I heard on ESPN's Baseball Today podcast ...

There are four players with 70 or more plate appearances this season and no home runs:

1. Jamey Carroll
2. Michael Bourn
3. Rafael Furcal
4. Albert Pujols

 

Jeter is 3-3....somewhere Manky has a sore right wrist.

 

4-4 now and batting in the neighborhood of .417. It's amazing how good he's been since he recorded his 3,000th hit. That number played with his head more than any pitcher ever has in his career.

 

Josh Hamilton is unreal. Just went deep off Sabathia. Now has 8 homers.

 

I can hear Armchair_QB cackling from here!

 

New Nationals motivational ploy?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/kristina-akra-gets-doused-with-gatorade-again/2012/04/22/gIQA2SBKZT_blog.html