I assumed. I think the NL East and AL West are both better than we've seen. Too many division games so far.
We now have exclusive rights to the #1 draft pick (as the standings are today). A mini win streak (winning 4/10) has catapulted the Marlins out of this most sought after position.
who knows...maybe throw some money at a big free agent arm by that time rolls around to boot. the future is fun to think about.
I heard on the radio that the astros are on pace to have a worst run differential since 1900. This team might be the worst baseball team of the modern era.
1003 on the season <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>ELIAS: HOU reached 1000 strikeouts Thursday in only their 107th game. That is the fewest games for any team in major league history.</p>— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/statuses/363239936377360384">August 2, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Hmm... the 2012 Oakland A's certainly scored a good amount of runs for being a team that strikes out a lot. They must have had a Springer-like season.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2012.shtml They were below average in pretty much every offensive category except walks and homers. They were a playoff team because they were 2nd in the league in WHIP and ERA, behind Tampa.
Sure... they werent a juggernaut offensive team... neither was Baltimore who was second in strikeouts. Baltimore also made the playoffs. (they had solid pitching, but not super elite). But neither team were abysmal offensive teams either... they weren't 2005 Astros bad (in terms of a winning team that has very little offense). Of note, that year the Reds were the highest scoring team in the league... and they led the league in strikeouts with over 1300.
Just for ****s and giggles I looked up some numbers Career K/100PA: Chris Carter: 34.6 Dave Kingman: 24.5 Mark Reynolds: 32.5 Rob Deer: 31.2 Bagwell: 16.5 Adam Dunn: 28.2 Sammy the Clown: 23.3 Greg Luzinski: 19.9 Eric Anthony: 21.9 Jim Thome: 24.7 Reggie Jackson: 22.8
thanks for the stats. When you're making Dave Kingman and Adam Dunn look like contact hitters, there's a problem.
Just 'cause... The 2010 Dbacks hold the MLB record for K's in a season with 1529, which is an incredibly impressive 9.44/game or 24.7/100 PA as a team. Truly a feat. They did this with a ~60M payroll, 6th lowest in the league (Marlins/Padres/Rangers/Pirates/A's were lower, interesting that there's 3 or 4 potential playoff teams of those 6 just 3 seasons later). That's $39,711.03 per strikeout. The Stros are managing to hold their own at 25.5 K/100AB, but are lagging behind with only 9.37 K/Game, yet they're only paying ~$19,540.38 per glorious strikeout. They are on a pace for 1518.5 strikeouts on the year, just a measly 11 short of the record books. They never should have cut Ankiel, he woulda been the difference maker.