2025 MLB Thread

[IdahoBert]

3 minutes ago, 1776 said:

My wife and I traversed to Pittsburgh last week to see the Giants and Pirates three game series. Verlander pitched last Monday and left the game after five innings with a 4-1 lead. The one run Pittsburgh had at that point was unearned. The bullpen blew the game and the Pirates won 5-4 in bottom of the ninth, walk off style. 
It’s been something all year with JV. He’ll pitch well, no run support. He’ll have games where he’s just really bad. And there have been four games that I recall, including last week, where the bullpen blows the game after he leaves. 

We did enjoy finally getting to attend some games in PNC Park. As Jim would say, “Nice area.” Nice folks there as well. 

I have a friend who moved there. If I lived there, I’m sure I’d go to a lot of games and get into the local team. He only goes there when the Padres play because he grew up in San Diego, which I get. I guess the experience of baseball isn’t as seminal for him as it is for a lot of the rest of us. 

[CMRivdogs]

3 hours ago, 1776 said:

My wife and I traversed to Pittsburgh last week to see the Giants and Pirates three game series. Verlander pitched last Monday and left the game after five innings with a 4-1 lead. The one run Pittsburgh had at that point was unearned. The bullpen blew the game and the Pirates won 5-4 in bottom of the ninth, walk off style. 
It’s been something all year with JV. He’ll pitch well, no run support. He’ll have games where he’s just really bad. And there have been four games that I recall, including last week, where the bullpen blows the game after he leaves. 

We did enjoy finally getting to attend some games in PNC Park. As Jim would say, “Nice area.” Nice folks there as well. 

Hope you had a chance to do some touring around the area. Point State Park. Old Forbes Field left field wall, nearby museums, ride the incline…..

[papalawrence]

I haven't been to Pittsburgh in 35 years. Seems like only 34 years. I actually liked the area a lot

[CMRivdogs]

44 minutes ago, papalawrence said:

I haven't been to Pittsburgh in 35 years. Seems like only 34 years. I actually liked the area a lot

I grew up about 30 miles east of the city, or at least until I was 12. Most of the relatives have either moved or passed on. 
My wife had a conference there last fall and it was in line with a planned vacation. Fort Ligonier, Fort Pitt. I was 8 when Mazeroski hit the home run to beat the Yankees in 1960. The city is nicer than I remembered. I really like the feel of PNC, been there a few times now.

And I still sort of root for the Buccos 

[Sports_Freak]

The Brewers are really rolling. They beat Skenes tonight to give them 11 straight wins. Best record in baseball. I would love to see them knock off some of those high payroll teams.

[lordstanley]

San Diego’s win this afternoon puts them a 1/2 game up in the NL West. On June 15 the division leaders were Detroit, NYY, Houston, NYM, Chicago and LA. The Tigers still have their lead and Houston is tied, but the other four divisions have flipped. 

[GalagaGuy]

I didn't even realize the Padres had knocked the Dodgers out of the division lead.  They have series against each other this weekend and next.  Should be fun.  

[gehringer_2]

5 minutes ago, GalagaGuy said:

I didn't even realize the Padres had knocked the Dodgers out of the division lead.  They have series against each other this weekend and next.  Should be fun.  

of course in that division whoever last played Colorado picks up a couple of games. The Rockies are so bad you should only get credit for 3/4 of a win when you beat them.

[GalagaGuy]

8 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

of course in that division whoever last played Colorado picks up a couple of games. The Rockies are so bad you should only get credit for 3/4 of a win when you beat them.

The poor Rockies still have 7 games left against both the Dodgers and Padres and have the 2nd toughest remaining schedule.  Coincidentally, the Padres and Dodgers have the easiest remaining schedules, ranking 29th and 30th.  

[papalawrence]

Scherzer just outdueled Boyd 2-1. Both pitched very well. 

[papalawrence]

Baltimore just beat Seattle 5-3. Enns was Baltimore's closer. Yikes

[papalawrence]

Milwaukee is 27-4 in their last 31. Very close to the 84 Tigers 35-5

[chasfh]

On 8/13/2025 at 7:13 PM, GalagaGuy said:

The poor Rockies still have 7 games left against both the Dodgers and Padres and have the 2nd toughest remaining schedule.  Coincidentally, the Padres and Dodgers have the easiest remaining schedules, ranking 29th and 30th.  

Seems rather symbiotic. 

[casimir]

23 hours ago, papalawrence said:

Milwaukee is 27-4 in their last 31. Very close to the 84 Tigers 35-5

Remember when they opened the season and got swept by the Yankees and those wacky bats?  Heck, they had a losing record as late as the end of Memorial Day, 27-28.  49-16 since then.  Not bad.  Take out the 27-4, and that’s a 22-12 in the middle there, which is still a very good baseball winning percentage.

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, casimir said:

Remember when they opened the season and got swept by the Yankees and those wacky bats?  Heck, they had a losing record as late as the end of Memorial Day, 27-28.  49-16 since then.  Not bad.  Take out the 27-4, and that’s a 22-12 in the middle there, which is still a very good baseball winning percentage.

Basically, they're going through the same kind of stretch we did, just juiced up a little more. Betcha they go through a month-long slump before the end of the season.

[GalagaGuy]

The Mets are on a 2-14 run.  They've gone from being up 3 games in the division to being 6 behind the Phillies and hanging onto the last wildcard by a half a game.  

Edited August 16 by GalagaGuy

[Motor City Sonics]

Milwaukee is such a well-run organization.  They survive losing star players constantly, but still remain competitive.   But of course, they still have not made it to a World Series since 1982.        

I can't believe Christian Yelich is only 33.   He seems so much older.  Seems like he's been around forever.   

 

Tigers seemed to have survived their crash, but I'm just not feeling good about their chances in the postseason.   Maybe the one thing to consider is that nobody in the AL looks all that dominant.    But it just feels like the Tigers are just holding on right now.    Mize has not been close to the same since the All-Star announcement.   Tarik hasn't been as dominant the last couple of starts (maybe he's holding back a little bit to keep something in the tank for the postseason, but he doesn't seem like the type of player who could do that).    Morton & Paddack are iffy.  Flaherty is broken.   Melton has looked great, but I know they are limiting him.     Losing Reese really really hurt.      Just hoping Riley and Carp can stay healthy.    And it feels like Parker Meadows and Matt Vierling aren't even part of the organization anymore

[casimir]

12 hours ago, chasfh said:

Basically, they're going through the same kind of stretch we did, just juiced up a little more. Betcha they go through a month-long slump before the end of the season.

Its baseball.  Almost all teams will win between 40-60% of their games.  Every team will have a hot streak.  Every team will have a cold streak.  Maybe multiples of one or the other or each at various times in the season.  Small market teams will beat big market teams and vice versa.

Baseball has the parity in results that all sports want.  But the problem with the standings, which I don't have a problem with, is the number of games played exacerbates that difference in winning percentage.  In terms of winning percentages, baseball teams out of the playoff chance by Labor Day still have a shot in a football season.

[gehringer_2]

27 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Tigers seemed to have survived their crash, but I'm just not feeling good about their chances in the postseason.  

This team hits well enough - barely, has decent L/R balance and catches the ball pretty well. As usual, they go as far as the pitching.

Skubal and Mize will be OK as long as they stay healthy. Flaherty is wild card #1. Can he get back to sustaining his command? And then you have three wildcards in the bullpen in Hurter, Holton and Kahnle. For them, downside risks are that Kahnle's lane for success is so narrow he can't get back on it, risk two is that Holton is just not as good a pitcher as last year's results, risk three is that Hurter can't clean up his mechanics and stop hitting LH batters, To the degree those three don't perform, Hinch faces pressure to push Paddock, Morton, Merton too far and it snowballs downhill.

[chasfh]

3 hours ago, casimir said:

Its baseball.  Almost all teams will win between 40-60% of their games.  Every team will have a hot streak.  Every team will have a cold streak.  Maybe multiples of one or the other or each at various times in the season.  Small market teams will beat big market teams and vice versa.

Baseball has the parity in results that all sports want.  But the problem with the standings, which I don't have a problem with, is the number of games played exacerbates that difference in winning percentage.  In terms of winning percentages, baseball teams out of the playoff chance by Labor Day still have a shot in a football season.

The more games there are, the more teams/franchises regress to the mean. In the 125 of modern big league ball, fifteen of the sixteen original franchises have winning percentages between .469 and .534, essentially the equivalent of 76-win to 86-win teams. The Yankees, of course, are the outliers at .567.

[Sports_Freak]

Last years Little League Classic was an instant...classic. it helped propel the Tigers into the playoffs. If memory serves me correctly, Parker Meadows knocked in the winning run...

[tiger2022]

On 8/16/2025 at 10:40 AM, gehringer_2 said:

This team hits well enough - barely, has decent L/R balance and catches the ball pretty well. As usual, they go as far as the pitching.

Skubal and Mize will be OK as long as they stay healthy. Flaherty is wild card #1. Can he get back to sustaining his command? And then you have three wildcards in the bullpen in Hurter, Holton and Kahnle. For them, downside risks are that Kahnle's lane for success is so narrow he can't get back on it, risk two is that Holton is just not as good a pitcher as last year's results, risk three is that Hurter can't clean up his mechanics and stop hitting LH batters, To the degree those three don't perform, Hinch faces pressure to push Paddock, Morton, Merton too far and it snowballs downhill.

Like pushing Paddock to get through 2 or 3 innings before it snowballs?

[Sports_Freak]

1 hour ago, tiger2022 said:

Like pushing Paddock to get through 2 or 3 innings before it snowballs?

I find it hard to believe that Paddock will be starting many more games. He's given up 13 runs in ~15 innings. There must be a starting pitcher who can do better than that. Melton or Keider Montero can give up better than than he does. One more ugly start should be his last, I don't care if Harris traded for him.

He. Wasn't. Even. Good. Enough. For. Minnesota. 

[oblong]

14 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

Last years Little League Classic was an instant...classic. it helped propel the Tigers into the playoffs. If memory serves me correctly, Parker Meadows knocked in the winning run...

It was and my gut told me also that it sparked the team.  But when I went to verify that was their 6th win in 7 games.   And they followed this win with losing 2 of 3 at the Cubs.   But then they won 6 in a row.

I think it sparked the fans interest again.  I still can't pinpoint when I actually expected them to make the playoffs.  

[GalagaGuy]

Rockies have a chance to walk off the Dodgers.