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April NL Checkup

Frayed Knot Apr 30 2008 09:09 AM

Seeing as how we've played 19 of our 25 games against East teams it's easy to lose track of what's going on in the rest of the league and I figured that the (alomst) end of the first month is a good time to check on what's happening elsewhere Central CARDS 17-11 (130 RS - 102 RA) Pujols is off to a monster start (.366/.524/.602) despite the possibility of TJ surgery hanging over his head Ankiel's striking-out a lot, but is hitting decently and is tied w/Pujols with 5 HRs - and they're getting some great production from a revolving OF platoon of Chris Duncan, Skip Schumaker, and Ryan Ludwick But mostly it's their pitching that's keeping them afloat as they're virtually tied with Arizona for fewest runs/game despite no Carperter and no Mulder. Wintertime FA Kyle Lohse signed late but is off to a 3-0, 2.36 start Adam Wainwright (2.79) and Braden Looper (4.05) also have 3 wins each while their main pen guys except for closer Isringhausen (Franklin, McClellan, Flores & Villone) are practically unscored upon. CUBS 16-10 (152 RS - 115 RA) Offense, Offense, Offense! ... Best OBP in NL, and at or near top in BA, OPS & RS - thanks to good starts from virtually everyone except the DL'd Soriano. Starters Zambrano & Dempster are a combined 7-1 while Wood and (especially) Marmol are forming a good back-end of the pen. BREWERS 15-11 (121 RS - 109 RA) Not hitting as much as expected (below lg avg in BA, OBA & SLG) - Cameron just became active Sheets is great when available but you're always waiting for that shoe to drop, and last year's rookie pitcher Gallardo has been on the shelf Gagne has been horrible against everyone but us ASTROS 13-15 (124 RS - 124 RA) Surprising many that they're even around .500 even though their RS/RA suggests it's real. Not quite sure how they're doing it as no one is really hitting except for Berkman & Tejada (a .298 team OBA !), their best starter to date is Shawn Chacon (not Oswalt), and their traded-for closer (Valverde) has an ERA of almost 7.00 and a WhiP of nearly 2.00. They've seemed to be a haphazardly put-together team for several years now and are currently a patchwork of the not-quite-ready (Towles - C; Bourn - CF; Pence - RF) and the past-their-prime (Loretta, Erstad, Blum, Cruz) REDS 12-16 (122 RS - 135 RA) Their season is all about their highly praised crop of rookies even though the GM responsible for some of them won't be around to see it. Getting good starts from those already up; pitchers Edison Volquez (4-0, 1.23) and Johnny Cueto (1-2, 4.05), plus 1B Joey Votto (.311/.326/.541 - 4 HR) with pitcher Homer Bailey and OF Jay Bruce soon to come. Good hitting so far from their infield: Votto, Brandon Phillips, Jeff Keppinger, Edwin Encarnacion not so much in the OF: slow starts from Dunn & Patterson, plus a so-so Griffey in RF who's 3 HRs away from 600. PIRATES 10-16 (115 RS - 159 RA) Seeing them now, they're not really very impressive are they?

Frayed Knot May 01 2008 07:07 AM

We're about to venture into the West for the first time this year. So what's been going on out there for the last month after we (or many of us anyway) hit the sack? NL WEST DBACKS 20 - 8 (165 - 109) Have roared to the best recond in MLB on the strength of having the best ERA in the NL (led by Webb) - as well as having a bunch of young position players: Upton, Reynolds, Drew, Jackson, who have them 2nd to only the Cubs in the league's offense. DODGERS 14-13 (137 RS - 107 RA) The battles their locker room had last year between the young players and veterens is being won by the young'uns as the high-priced imports like Nomar, Juan Pierre & Andruw (.165/.276/.259 !!) are crashing hard while the likes of Loney, Eithier, Martin and Kemp are hitting just fine. And, yes, Torre's giving the kids plenty of playing time. GIANTS 13-16 (93 RS - 131 RA) Not quite as bad as many expected. Young starters Lincecum and Sanchez partially make up for the disaster that is Barry Zito and the fact that Matt Cain suddenly can't find the strike-zone (23 BBs in 32 IPs) On the offensive side they're fairly putrid. The best player is still their LFer, only it's Fred Lewis's rather modest (.337/.416/.539) instead of Bonds's softball numbers. ROCKIES 11-17 (114 RS - 144 RA) In wondering whether they are the .500 team as they were for most of last season or the juggernaut that ran through September and most of October, the answer, so far, is that they're not as good as either. One problem has been that their best young stars from last year have been lousy, including Tulowitski (.152/.226/.238 - and now out injured), starter Jeff Francis (0-2, 5.01), and closer Manny Corpas (6.91 ERA, 1.75 WhiP) PADRES 11-17 (92 RS - 130 RA) The worst offense in the majors (.225/.296.327) is partially dictated by their home park but c'mon! Only Adrian Gonzalez at 1B has numbers (.288/.353/.471) which aren't seriously below par. Fortunately for them they've got the almost unhittable Jake Peavy (2.09 ERA, 1.00 WhiP) and, to a lesser extent, Chris Young and a seemingly rejuvenated Randy Wolf I wonder if/when they'll consider letting Heath Bell close instead of Hoffman?

smg58 May 01 2008 07:17 AM

Good analysis. I have to say the D-Backs scare me.

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 01 2008 07:49 AM

I wonder if the Wolfpack will re-assemble in Philly tonight as Randy is expected to start. If the Dbaggs weren't scary enough they also just brought up a studly young pitcher, Max Scherzer, who made his debut in relief the other day and pitched 4 1/3 perfect innings with 7 whiffs and 98mph heat. We will most likely miss him as he's scheduled to start Monday vs. the Phillies. Owings HR wasn't only opposite field but pinch-hit. It was also fairly early in the game, so it's not like he's a last resort. I always thought pitchers should be better hitters than they are. Rockies, and Tulowitzski particularly, had a very bad start last year also. The difference this time is there's someone running away already.

Benjamin Grimm May 01 2008 07:54 AM

smg58 wrote: Good analysis. I have to say the D-Backs scare me. We really only have to worry about Arizona (most likely) if we play them in October. They should easily win the division, so they likely won't be a wild card rival for the Mets this season. And I'm a long way right now from being concerned about potential playoff rivals.

Fman99 May 01 2008 09:34 AM

Benjamin Grimm wrote: ="smg58"]Good analysis. I have to say the D-Backs scare me. We really only have to worry about Arizona (most likely) if we play them in October. They should easily win the division, so they likely won't be a wild card rival for the Mets this season. And I'm a long way right now from being concerned about potential playoff rivals. I'm more concerned with the possibility of a weekend ass-kicking at their hands the next couple of days. The D-Backs are coming in 'en fuego' and the Mets are coming off a big shitty mess. OTOH the Mets have traditionally played well in the BOB or whatever it's called these days.

metirish May 01 2008 09:42 AM

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: If the Dbaggs weren't scary enough they also just brought up a studly young pitcher, Max Scherzer, who made his debut in relief the other day and pitched 4 1/3 perfect innings with 7 whiffs and 98mph heat. We will most likely miss him as he's scheduled to start Monday vs. the Phillies. . They actually have studs left after trading for Haren , didn't they send 5 or 6 prospects to thew A's?

Benjamin Grimm May 01 2008 09:47 AM

I do expect to see the Mets get kicked around in Arizona this weekend. (Hopefully I'm wrong.) But they'll have plenty of time to recover from an early May beatdown, if they're good enough. (Which is the real question, I think.)

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 01 2008 09:50 AM

See I don't put it past the Mets to break out the whupping sticks this weekend just to throw us off ... then resume playing poorly in LA, or whatever...

Frayed Knot May 01 2008 02:14 PM

Might as well look at the East while we're [u:1139d05a69]MARLINS 15 - 12 (121 RS - 137 RA) ... 1-2 vs NYM[/u:1139d05a69] So who are these guys and what are they doing leading the NL East? Well, by the looks of that RS/RA ratio it probably won't last. And it's tough to credit any brilliance with the Cabrera/Willis trade since the main offensive cog in that deal (OF - Camerson Maybin) is still in the minors and the main pitching prospect (LHP Andrew Miller) is 1-2 w/a 9.12 ERA. But Hanley Ramirez, Josh Willingham, & Jorge Cantu are hitting; Scott Olsen has calmed down long enough to pitch decently, and the no-name trio of Renyel Pinto, Kevin Gregg, & Justin Miller are heading up the best bullpen ERA to date in the NL. [u:1139d05a69]PHILLIES 15-13 (133 RS - 122 RA) ... 2-4 vs NYM[/u:1139d05a69] Rollins is still out, Victorino just got back. Utley & Burrell are still hitting, Howard & Feliz are not. The starters outside of Hamels are shakey, but the pen pair of Lidge & Romero have chucked 23+ scoreless innings. [u:1139d05a69]BRAVES 12-15 (129 RS - 109 RA) ... 3-2 vs NYM[/u:1139d05a69] Pitching looks like it's going to make or break this team. Glavine comes back just as Smoltz goes out. Hampton's actually pitching rehabs in the minors and Jurrgens looks good, but now Hudson looks shakey and maybe injured. Plus their usual bad luck with injuries in the pen continues which may (or may not) account for their 0-9 record in one-run games. But their hitting continues as every time they lose a player a new weed seems to grow in his place (Escobar, Prado, Diaz, Blanco) doing as good a job if not better and in a younger cheaper version. Chipper seems to miss games here and there but then hits .400 when he's in there. [u:1139d05a69]NATIONALS 11-17 (104 RS - 134 RA) ... 1-4 vs NYM[/u:1139d05a69] Terrible hitting from the few guys they were probably counting on (LoDuca, Johnson, Kearns, Belliard, Zimmerman) to take some pressure off the newer guys. Not much of a starting staff although pleasant surprises from John Lannan and Tim Redding. Closer Cordero is on the DL and it sounds like he might be there for a while.

AG/DC May 01 2008 02:24 PM

Andruw Jones, meanwhile, is getting paid $36.2 million over two years to go .159 / .282 / .250 // .532 so far for the Dodgers.