You can touch a Hot Stove, just not for very long (Baseball thread)

[Thermofusion]

But I'm more concerned about batting. My top-tier guys just aren't producing yet (I'm looking at you, Cano). It looks like the hottest bat I can pick up right now is Edwin Encarnacion. I'd have to cut Bourn, Duda, Lawrie, or maybe a pitcher...probably Bumgarner. Any of those worth doing?

Adam LaRoche is batting .341/.426/.537 with 12 RBIs right now...

this has been Thermo's Dubious Advice Corner

[davy]

Good numbers, but I'm not a LaRoche fan. I didn't even like him as a Brave.

[El_Josharino]

It's waaaaaay too early to panic and start dropping dudes all willy-nilly. You've gotta keep in mind that it's a long season. They've only played the equivalent of one game in the NFL. Someone in my league last year dropped Curtis Granderson after the first week and missed out on his 43 homers. Two years ago I picked up Jose Bautista, but dropped him a couple weeks later because his batting average wasn't very good during those couple weeks. Lesson learned. An 8-team league is shallow enough that there's no good reason to own Encarnacion. Whatever numbers he has won't last, and his playing time is probably going to be limited as the season goes on. Definitely wouldn't drop Wainwright this early, and definitely wouldn't drop MadBum either. Cutting Lawrie would be a huge mistake. Duda will be better than E5, and without knowing the scoring system it's tough to say, but Bourn probably will be better also. Make a change if you must, but I wouldn't advocate E5.

[El_Josharino]

If JD Martinez is out there, he's a better option than Encarnaciion in my ever-so-humble opinion. Still wouldn't make the move this early, though, unless I had someone injured.

[davy]

Yeah, ok. I'll hold off. I really wanted Josh Willingham, and when I missed out on that, I got itchy.

To me, though, Beachy is showing some elite-level stuff, and Wainwright looks like he might have a struggle ahead of him. I don't feel too bad about that swap.

[Thermofusion]

Yeah, that's good advice re: not panicking early, and it applies to fantasy and the real thing. I've gotten to the point where I don't really take the first 4-6 weeks of baseball all that seriously (barring a season-altering injury or whatever). I mean, baseball's back and everything and that's completely awesome, but does anyone seriously expect Baltimore to still be tied for 1st place in the AL East a month from now? Or the Nats to be first in the NL East? Naw!

[davy]

In related news, Braves win 5 straight & sweep the Brewers!

[Thermofusion]

Y'alls closer is a goddamn monster

[El_Josharino]

Yeah, it was pretty sweet on Saturday when he was like, "Oh no, I can't locate my fastball and now the bases are loaded. Guess I'll have to strike out the side with my slider instead."

[El_Josharino]

Crazy after how he's left ligaments strewn about ballparks across America that Rick Ankiel can make about the most perfect throw imaginable from center field:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20672793&c_id=was&partnerId=aw-7437482702750431320-1047

[El_Josharino]

Boy, Tim Lincecum's velocity just isn't coming back, is it?

[El_Josharino]

Here's something: Jamie Moyer has faced 8.9% of all players to ever bat in the major leagues. Kind of a fun article:

http://blogs.thescore.com/mlb/2012/04/10/tuesday-tangents-jamie-moyer-has-pitched-to-a-ton-of-different-people-edition/

(spoiler alert/tl;dr, it's more a product of the modern age than anything else, expansion, interleague, etc. As of the time of the article he was tied with Nolan Ryan, 10 batters behind Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux has actually faced 9.7% of all batters ever.)

[El_Josharino]

Random fact for Thermo:
This year's Pirates are the first team since the '88 Rangers to play the first 10 games of the season without scoring or allowing more than 5 runs in any game.

[Thermofusion]

That Jamie Moyer stat was startling when I first read it. Even with all the asterisks and explanations it's still pretty amazing!

That Pirates stat is quite bizarre, but it reaffirms the notion both their starting pitching and batting are due for statistical correction, albeit in different directions.

Really wished I could've seen the last two innings of the O's at White Sox last night! Adam "Bad Mofo" Jones and Nolan Reimold hit solo shots to tie the game, some other birds knocked in some runs, then Matt Wieters offered a grand slam in the 10th to seal the deal. If the O's didn't have such horrible pitching, I could kind of see them competing for 3rd in the AL East this year. They got the bats.

[Thermofusion]

A scary consequence of having watched four Marlins home games in the hopes of seeing the Device get activated: I suddenly care about the inner-workings and functionality of, like, their batting order. Will LoMo continue to deliver clutch singles to shallow grass so Infante can move into scoring position? Will HanRam continue to suck? Will Gaby Sanchez continue to look dazed and high while constantly striking out? etc. Like, I forced myself to watch those games and now I, like, empathize with those cats! It's like baseball Stockholm syndrome.

[El_Josharino]

A scary consequence of having watched four Marlins home games in the hopes of seeing the Device get activated: I suddenly care about the inner-workings and functionality of, like, their batting order. Will LoMo continue to deliver clutch singles to shallow grass so Infante can move into scoring position? Will HanRam continue to suck? Will Gaby Sanchez continue to look dazed and high while constantly striking out? etc. Like, I forced myself to watch those games and now I, like, empathize with those cats! It's like baseball Stockholm syndrome.

Hahaha, this is great. I kind of feel like Jim Leyland's lineups are having a similar effect on me.

Really wished I could've seen the last two innings of the O's at White Sox last night! Adam "Bad Mofo" Jones and Nolan Reimold hit solo shots to tie the game, some other birds knocked in some runs, then Matt Wieters offered a grand slam in the 10th to seal the deal. If the O's didn't have such horrible pitching, I could kind of see them competing for 3rd in the AL East this year. They got the bats.

Matt Weiters is going to be okay after all, huh.

And hey, Dylan Bundy has now pitched 9 innings in A-ball, faced a total of 28 batters, struck out 15 of them and not given up a hit, so something to look forward to.

[El_Josharino]

Johan had the shortest outing of his career tonight against the Braves: 1 1/3 IP 5R (I think only 4 earned), 1 BB, 0 Ks. Still healing a bit, probably, but I'm hoping that between this, Wolf, Narveson, and whichever lefty we faced in Houston (Happ?) that the Braves are finally figuring out lefties.

[davy]

Medlen is lookin' sharp.

[Thermofusion]

And hey, Dylan Bundy has now pitched 9 innings in A-ball, faced a total of 28 batters, struck out 15 of them and not given up a hit, so something to look forward to.

Damn, that's amazing.

So uh the Rangers sure scored a lot of runs tonight huh? That team looks like a juggernaut.

Cheers of the night go to HanRam's deep three-run blast just to the left of the Home Run Feature, the O's securing at least a series split against the White Sox (granted, vs. John Danks) and Moyer getting his record-setting win at the young age of 49 (granted, against the Padres).

[Thermofusion]

MLB dot com informs me that Dan Uggla was 0-for-24 lifetime against R.A. Dickey prior to today? Wow. Josh and Davy, I hate to be the one to break the news to you guys, but Dan Uggla kinda sucks.

[El_Josharino]

BUT THOSE ARMS!

[El_Josharino]

The homer he hit off of Dickey today was truly marvelous.

[El_Josharino]

Just saw a thing that including today's game, the Braves are now tied with the Rangers for the most runs scored in the majors. No, seriously.

[El_Josharino]

Man, I love watching Freddie Freeman play ball. That dude is just having a blast out there all the damn time.

[Thermofusion]

The homer he hit off of Dickey today was truly marvelous.

Bah! Bah!

In good news, Dickey's start today reminded me to order his book