mtutiger

It may... I still think the White Sox are poised to show more than they have shown thus far and still would be where I lean to win it all, but the idea that this could be a 3-4 team mess at the top of the standings kinda makes sense when you look at the strengths of schedules as well as the strengths and flaws of each of the teams in the division. We'll see how it goes.

Yep. I don't understand why we care that much about Musk or why the POTUS is being asked about him, other than this country has a thing for loudmouth self-promoting business types.

Thinking about the situation in the AL Central, one thing that stuck out to me looking at the standings (on MLB's website) is that the Twins have played only eight games against teams that are over .500 (out of 50). The White Sox, Guardians and Tigers have played 20, 22 and 24, respectively. Some of that is by virtue of the fact that they are leading the division and the rest of the division is below .500, but they haven't had the most difficult schedule even outside of the division up to this point. And they are about to embark on a nine game stretch against Toronto, New York and Tampa in quick succession while dealing with injuries and (in Toronto) losing folks to COVID anti-vax attrition. Put another way, I'm not entirely convinced that they are going to run away with this division, and that the goal for the Tigers needs to be get to close to .500 as possible before the All Star Break. Because it may only take 85 wins for this division with the way things have played out so far.

There's were rumors that Jimmy Smokes could have be in line to take over, but I assume that the interim will finish the season.

Games 2 and 3 seem more winnable in general.... Brieske concerns me some though, although the start he had against LA at Dodger Stadium at least tells me that the environment won't be too much for him.

As well as they have played over the past week or two, this is gonna be a challenging series, a lot like the Dodger series earlier on where just taking 1 of 3 would feel like a W.

Armando's Galarraga's smile in that moment could have killed. Just says a lot about his character

Peacock (NBC's streaming service) has a package of nationally televised games that utilize an early morning timeslot this season, so there's one of these per Sunday. I'll be listening on the radio, because I'm not paying for Peacock lol

I believe that happened yesterday as well... pulled after 3 ABs.

There's a lot of reason for skepticism on the pitching side, particularly with the starters, as to whether they can hold up for another month. But the path is there, particularly if they can get their act together offensively. Schoop and Tork playing better is a positive sign on that front, along with Meadows and Greene maybe joining the fray soon. The fact that they lost 4 of 5 to Oakland at home really stings right now... if they won 3 of 5, they'd only be six back. And perceptions of their situation would likely be much different.

My understanding is that Eduardo isn't too far behind at this point, so they'll be able to pencil him in at some point. But yeah, that's a risk factor for them, they're still short on the starter side.

If you squint, you can sort of see a path back to .500 between now and the All Star Break, especially with guys coming back from injuries (such as Meadows, ERod, possibly Greene, etc.).... but it requires they hold their own over the next eight games. New York and Toronto will be tough, and they have six games with them over the next eight. After that, a lot of games with the Royals/Guardians/White Sox, plus games with Texas, Arizona, Boston and San Francisco, none of whom (outside of SF) seem that daunting.

They could be only 3 games back of the White Sox by the end of the day, depending on what the Jays do to them

Daz hit that bomb against Liam Hendriks last year after that rain delay.... he's got some magic in that bat at times

DAZ!!!!! Decided to hit it a little further this time!

Foley looking extremely good lately.....

Haase is really costing this team with his throwing arm....

His start looks a lot more successful with a better offense lol

Schoop now playing on "easy" mode these days... lol

Makes sense

Fair point, and they'll have to make a roster move to get him up here since he's not on the 40. Which they will at some point. I wonder if the looming (yet often pushed back) deadline for 14 pitchers is maybe the day for him to get on the 40, should it end on the 19th.... particularly given that Barnes would be a good candidate for DFA Excellent, thanks for sharing.

Offensively, there's really nothing wrong with his peripherals.... not a Kerry Carpenter situation where you see a massive BABIP discrepancy. Fielding seems to be an issue, decent range factor, but 5 errors in 22 games at 2B isn't great. It's nice to see that there are a few guys who are improved or at least advancing this year.... Wenceel seems like the best example of that, but Parker Meadows to a lesser extent is another (although we haven't seen a lot of success at Erie so far)