Speed is a tool that shows up in all the other tools

Speed is the direction baseball is going in the so-called "post-PED period". Power is out, speed is in. We are trading infield hits for HR's and wondering why increasing numbers of people are turning the TV to another channel, another sport. It would be like if the NBA banned the dunk, like college basketball did at one point.

The game IS tedious to watch now, too many no-hit, no-run games into the fifth and sixth innings. Who wants to watch futility? It not even like watching paint dry, which would be bad enough. It's like watching paint peel. It's not the pace of the game so much as the lack of action contained within the game. It doesn't take 2-3 hours to recognize boring.

Maybe we ought to have a "home-first speed derby" and see how many folks show up for that one? Maybe see how many hamstrings we can blow out?

Anyway, speed is the tool that makes the other tools better, it is multi-dimensional, so here we go:

Here is the 8 point system some organizations use: 

80 - Exceptional 
70 - W. Above Avg. 
60 - Above Avg. 
50 - Average 
40 - Bellow Avg. 
30 - W. Bellow Avg. 
20 - Poor 


60 Yard time: 
80 - 6.4 Less 
70 - 6.60 - 6.51 
60 - 6.80 - 6.61 
50 - 7.00 - 6.81 
40 - 7.30 - 7.01 
30 - 7.50 - 7.31 
20 - 7.70 - 7.51 


Home to 1B LHB 
80 - 3.9 
70 - 4.0 
60 - 4.1 
50 - 4.2 
40 - 4.3 
30 - 4.4 
20 - 4.5 


Home to 1B  RHB 
80 - 4.0 
70 - 4.1 
60 - 4.2 
50 - 4.3 
40 - 4.4 
30 - 4.5 
20 - 4.6 


Steal of second base 
80 - 3.00 Less 
70 - 3.10 - 3.01 
60 - 3.15 - 3.11 
50 - 3.25 - 3.16 
40 - 3.30 - 3.24 
30 - 3.40 - 3.29 
20 - 3.60 - 3.48

Los Angeles Dodgers' Corey Seager promoted to Triple-A | MiLB.com News

This kid could be the top prospect in baseball. Better than Kris Bryant. He and OF Joc Pederson are going to revitalize the Dodgers offense. It won't be long before he joins Pederson in LA to make the Dodgers a little younger and their offense a lot better. It won't hurt the budget that they will be young, talented and under team control for five or six years,

Two strong left-handed bats and both play quality defense. With these two and add in a strong right-handed bat in Guerrero (Bumgarner's new BFF),  it will be interesting to see how quickly and seamlessly the Dodgers can work these young hitters into the everyday lineup. A lot will depend on how Seager handles this jump from AA to AAA.

Report: Los Angeles Dodgers' Corey Seager promoted to Triple-A | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball:

"I'm running out of words to describe this kid. He's phenomenal," Tulsa manager Razor Shines said last week. "Everything he does is different. I don't know how to explain what I'm seeing. It's like high school baseball, it's like he's a really good player dominating high school. He makes it look so easy."

Shines wasn't shy about piling hype on the left-handed hitting infielder.

"He's better than everybody else, it's just that simple," he added. "It's the way a young Willie Mays was better than everybody else or the way a young Hank Aaron was better than everybody else. I don't think you can explain it. I think he's this gifted. He is by far the best player I have ever managed."

'via Blog this'

The Dodgers are loaded with prospects with the three listed above and Kiki Hernandez on the rise as well. Add in uber-pitching prospect LHP Julio Arias and RHP Grant Holmes and the Dodgers are poised to stay at or near the top of the division for years to come. The Dodgers prospects are as highly regarded as any in the bigs and they have plenty of them.

Around the rest of the division the D-Backs come in loaded with Yasmany Thomas looking for a position to hide his glove, 3B Jake Lamb and SS Nick Ahmed are already getting opportunities to shine along with RHP Archie Bradley. If you add in fellow RHP prospects Allen Webster, Aaron Blair and one of my favorites Touki Toussaint down the road, the D-Backs could return to contention quickly.

The Padres are counting on trades to move up in the division, but they too have solid prospects in C Austin hedges, OF Hunter Renfron and RHP Matt Wisler. How quickly 2B Taylor Lindsey and OF Rymer Liriano rise could dictate how good for how long the Padres can be.

The Rockies look to add RHP's Eddie Butler and Jon Gray and LHP Tyler Anderson to the pitching rotation. We already know they can score runs and play defense.

The Giants appear to continue to build with "high-floor low-ceiling" prospects like Joe Panik, Andrew Susac and Matt Duffy on the offensive side. The next couple of years will determine whether they do the same on the pitching side with Kyle Crick, Tyler Beede, Clayton Blackburn, Keury Mella, Ty Blach and Adalberto Mejia. The amount of productivity they get from this group and a gaggle of hard-throwing relievers from the right and left side will dictate the Giants fortunes over the next five to ten years.

Vegas gives A's better World Series odds than Giants | CSN Bay Area

The A's have a slight advantage in the Vegas World Series odds at 11/1 while the Giants are at 12/1. (USATSI)

Vegas like the LA LA's. Giants have equal odds of getting to the World Series according to Vegas, but greater chance of winning the whole thing if they get there. Makes sense given prior history.

from CSN Bay Area:
Vegas gives A's better World Series odds than Giants | CSN Bay Area:

Odds to win the 2014 World Series

Los Angeles Angels -- 5/1
Los Angeles Dodgers -- 5/1
Washington Nationals -- 11/2
Detroit Tigers -- 6/1
Baltimore Orioles -- 13/2
St. Louis Cardinals -- 8/1
Oakland Athletics -- 11/1
San Francisco Giants -- 12/1
Pittsburgh Pirates -- 14/1
Kansas City Royals -- 16/1 

Odds to win the 2014 AL Pennant

Los Angeles Angels -- 2/1
Detroit Tigers -- 11/4
Baltimore Orioles -- 3/1
Oakland Athletics -- 6/1
Kansas City Royals -- 7/1 

Odds to win the 2014 NL Pennant

Los Angeles Dodgers -- 2/1
Washington Nationals -- 21/10
St. Louis Cardinals -- 17/4
Pittsburgh Pirates -- 13/2
San Francisco Giants -- 13/2  

'via Blog this'

Pirates are young and hot, Cardinals still favored

The Pirates are hot and right now have a higher chance than the Giants of reaching the NLCS/World Series according to Fan Graphs playoff odds. They still have a chance to catch the Cardinals and win the Central, perhaps giving the Giants a break if they can dump the Cards into the wild card play-in game.

Interesting that the Fan Graphs odds ( http://www.fangraphs.com/coolstandings.aspx ) give the Cardinals almost twice the chance to advance as the Pirates, even though it's a virtual dead-heat both statistically and in the standings. Age before beauty, I suppose. Or maybe deference to prior history.

 Team                      NLDS    NLCS       WS
Nats                         65%       41%          24
Dodgers                   55%        25%         13%
Cards                       42%       16%          7%
Pirates                      21%         9%          4%
Giants                       18%         8%          3%

from MLB.com
Pittsburgh Pirates at Atlanta Braves - September 23, 2014 | MLB.com PIT Recap:

The Pirates had just been swept out of St. Louis at the beginning of September and went on to Chicago, where Clint Hurdle was asked about prospects for a turnaround. "We need to play our best ball," Hurdle said. "If we play our best ball for the remaining games, we'll get in." 

 From that point through Tuesday night, the Pirates went 15-3. "And we're in," Hurdle said, simply, not immodestly. Milwaukee's loss in Cincinnati officially punched the Bucs' ticket, but they still have eyes on jumping the October rails on the National League Central title express and not the NL Wild Card local.

'via Blog this'

Cards finish with Arizona while Pittsburgh closes with Cincinnati, a wash as to scheduling. The Cardinals have to collapse while Pirates have to keep the pedal to the metal something I'm pretty sure manager Clint Hurdle will have no problem conveying to his squad.

Pittsburgh will be the youngest team in the playoffs. Surprisingly, the Cardinals will be the second youngest. The Gigantes will limp in as the oldest.

from ESPN:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rosters/_/sort/average_age/order/true

Normally, I would defer to experience over youth in the playoffs, but given the Giants injury/fatigue situation, now I'm not so sure.

The final playoff push begins

If you looked at this report to determine who make the playoffs and who advances, you would find some interesting results in the NL. This site looks at and grades each teams hitting, fielding, starting pitching and bullpens. 

StatCorner Team Runs Above Average Report

http://www.statcorner.com/TeamReport.php

• The Nationals and the Giants are the two most well-balanced teams looking to advance, with positive number across the board. 
• The Brewers are also well-balanced across the board, less their bullpen which is scored slightly negative. And they may not even make the playoffs.
• The Pirates are the highest ranked team overall, higher than the Nats, but with a slight negative to their bullpen and a LARGE negative to their fielding.  And they may not even make the playoffs, minus a late push to catch the Cardinals for the division (more likely) or the Giants for the wild-card (slightly less likely). 
• The Dodgers score high overall, but their bullpen is somewhat negative and their fielding is hideous. I don't recall their gloves being that bad, but you have to hit the ball to find out and I was watching the Giants take their hacks. 
• The Cardinals throw a dubious set of gloves out there as well, belying their organizational image as Captain Fundamentals. How they are beating the Pirates, I don't know.  

Looking at the remaining schedule again, the Pirates and Cardinals both play the Reds (not at the same time, that would be weird) but the schedule favors the Cardinals overall in that they finish with the Cubs and Diamondbacks whereas the Pirates clean-up with the Braves and the Brewers.

For the Giants sake, I guess I would rather see the Cardinals win the division rather than the Pirates, who appear to be clicking and have a lot of energy right now. They could be a real buzz-saw if they make the playoffs. 

It surprises me that so many teams are graded weak defensively which, in theory, should be a strength for a playoff club. The Cardinals IF grades and the Pirates and Dodgers OF grades could come back to haunt them in late September and into October. Although as we've seen in the past, in the playoffs -- especially the shorter series -- you ride your strengths and hide your weaknesses. 

I am surprised as well that the Giants offense grades out slightly better than the Nats, not so much that the Nats starters are slightly better versus the Giants bullpen grading out a bit ahead. 

Stanton's injury could cause MLB change

I'm OK with it, I see it all the time in high school sports. But given the Buster Posey rule and now this, who is going to be first commentator to utter the phrase, "Why don't we just put skirts on them?" once again. The Giancarlo Stanton Rule just doesn't quite roll off the tongue as easily as The Buster Posey Rule.

from ESPN:

Stanton's injury could cause MLB change

				Stanton's injury could cause MLB change Buster Olney looks closer at what Giancarlo Stanton's injury suffered Thursday night means for MLB long-term.
				View on insider.espn.go.com	Preview by Yahoo

Stanton is expected to miss the rest of the season, and just as the Buster Posey injury of 2011 spurred a lot of conversation about home plate collisions and player safety, the injury to Stanton -- one of the game’s greatest stars -- will inevitably spur this question: In the name of player safety, can more be done to protect hitters? 

The answer, without question, is yes.

Maybe teach hitters not to dive into pitches in order to get plate coverage on the outside corner might help. Then late in the year, when everyone's a little tired and the amphetamines are wearing off ( What? I thought testing eliminated that http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11512445/baltimore-orioles-first-baseman-chris-davis-suspended-25-games-mlb  ) guys might not sleep-walk into inside fastballs or remember how to duck out of the way better to protect themselves.

Or maybe we can eliminate bench-jockeying and replace it with good old fashioned bench-singing a la softball and the world would be a better place. 

1. 

Giants - Dodgers Weekend Series in AT&T Park

A sweep would be nice, putting the Giants back in their rightful spot atop the division, but I would be happy with two out of three here as well. One game out with thirteen left and another series down in LA will make the stretch run in the NL West loaded with drama. 

Team	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Away	Streak	RS	RA	Diff	L10
LA Dodgers (15)	83	63	.568	--	40-35	43-28	W-1	605	533	72	7-3
San Francisco	81	65	.555	2.0	41-33	40-32	W-3	612	537	75	7-3

The Giants seem to have righted the ship recently, although the bullpen is giving me a case of the jitters lately. What's the saying about QB's "If you say you have two, in reality you don't even have one." That's how I feel about the Romo - Casilla, Casilla - Romo closer situation. One of the two has to grab the job by the throat rolling into the playoffs. 

With the trade of "Closer of the Future" Heath Hembree to the Red Sox, TheSlav has been on the prowl for a new "Closer of the Future" and perhaps Hunter Strickland is beginning to step forward. He has an easy 98-99 MPH fastball that looks like he could dial it up to 108-109 MPH without a problem. He looks like he's just tossing the ball at the company picnic. It's a bit straight -- like a dart -- so that could be a concern. His slider seems OK at times. He's kind of like how you used to view that hot chick that says she's "available" and you start asking yourself  "Why is she available?" I find myself searching for reasons why the Pirates gave up on him. We need to see more innings, more situations out of Hunter II to see what we really have, but for now, he may be at the head of the class for the much-coveted "Closer of the Future" title.

....and down the stretch they come

The most exciting words in sports. In horse racing, it plays itself out in seconds. In baseball we have to wait a little longer, but things are beginning to shape up in both leagues. 

Since the big trade, the A's have actually lost ground to the Angels, but not enough that we are still not looking at a potential A's- Angels battle for a trip to the World Series. The A's are probably the most balance team in baseball, with the 3rd best offense and defense among the contenders. The Nationals would hold that title in the National League with the fifth best offense and the 2nd best defense. The other National League team are either decidedly one-dimensional or just not very good.  The Dodger might be setting up best for the NLCS battle with the Nats at this point, with the Giants needing to build some September momentum and home-field advantage throughout. 

For now it looks like Angels - Tigers and A's Orioles leading to an Angels - A's final, with the Angels advancing to the World Series. 

In the National, it shape sup as Nats - Giants and Dodgers - Cardinals leading to Nats - Dodgers with the Nats advancing to the World Series.  

With an Angels - National World Series, I would think the Angels would be pretty big favorites to win, unless pitching wins in the playoffs. The Angels would seem to have the advantage in terms of experience in general and playoff experience specifically. 

The leaders in terms of offense ( based on RS / G ): 

Tigers 4.68

Angels 4.64

A's 4.62

Orioles 4.36

Nationals 4.29

The offensive laggards are:

Braves 3.78

Cardinals 3.87

Mariners 4.00 

The Braves do not have the pitching to overcome this weak offense, even though they do have great pitching. The Cardinals are the only team still in it with a negative run-differential. If anyone can overcome that negative stat it's the Cardinals and it would have to be with superior pitching, it's just that they've had injuries there that will be tough to for them overcome. 

On the defensive side of the ball ( based on RA/G ):

Mariners 3.39

Nationals 3.51

A's 3.60

Braves 3.62

Dodgers and Giants 3.67

The defensive laggards are:

Tigers 4.32

Brewers 4.26

Pirates 4.07 

If pitching and defense rule in the playoffs, the Mariners and Braves have hope if the can get there. I'm just not sure they get there. Same for the Brew crew and the Pirates. The Giants and Dodgers are soooooo one dimensional but would make for a great NLCS finale. 

The Royals with a 4.09 RS/G and 3.96 RA/G are the most nondescript team still in in the hunt at this point, so I hope they don't make it simply because I would have no explanation as to how they got there. They did thump the Giants recently so I do know they can play and they are probably closest to the Tigers in terms of ability even if they lag them badly in terms of recent success. 

The Mariners would probably be the most scary party crashers with King Felix to carry them and the Cardinals or the Tigers the most likely to fold the tent early, but we shall see how it all plays out. 

Baseball America Prospect Report

A good day for Giants prospects after the big club lost the series to the Brew crew. Ty Blach continues his march to the big league rotation, Tyler Beede continues showing his stuff which should vault him to the tippy top of future Giants top prospect lists. Sam Coonrod is going to be an interesting prospect to watch, seemingly made for the Giants organizational pitcher fixer uppers.

Among the hitters, Joe Panik solidifies his hold on 2B. Andrew Susac is probably not ready as a hitter, but we knew that going in. He is showing a solid presence behind the plate handling the pitchers. The Christian Arroyo / Ryder Jones rehab continues. 

Baseball America Prospect Report

SF		AA		Blach, Ty		7		5		0		0		4		5		3.25
SF		LoA		Johnson, Chase		5.2		8		8		6		3		6		4.93
SF		R		Beede, Tyler		2		1		0		0		1		3		0.00
SF		R		Coonrod, Sam		3		4		1		1		0		4		3.38		W (1-0)
SF		SS		Mella, Keury		1		0		0		0		0		1		0.00

SF		AAA		Brown, Gary CF		6		4		4		1		.270		2B (18), HR (9), 2 SB (30)
SF		MAJ		Panik, Joe 2B		4		0		1		0		.261
SF		MAJ		Susac, Andrew C		4		0		1		0		.125
SF		SS		Arroyo, Christian SS		5		2		2		2		.310		2 2B (6), SB (5)
SF		SS		Jones, Ryder 3B		5		1		2		2		.194		HR (1)

If nothing else the Milwaukee series shows that the Giants are fortunate to be in the NL West as opposed to the NL Central after getting pasted by both the Pirates and the Brewers recently.

Washington, Milwaukee and the Dodgers are establishing themselves as divisional leaders. 

The Giants, Cardinals, Pirates, Braves and perhaps the Reds will battle down the stretch for wild-card supremacy. 

Giants ready to renew rivalry with Dodgers - Yahoo Sports

Giants - Dodgers running neck and neck for the divisional title face-off this weekend with both teams looking to avoid the wild card, do or die game.

from Yahoo Sports:
Giants ready to renew rivalry with Dodgers - Yahoo Sports:

PHILADELPHIA -- The San Francisco Giants hit the road after the All-Star break and took care of BUSINESS.

Now the fun begins.

 After a 5-2 trip away from the Bay Area, the first-place Giants (57-45) welcome the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers (56-47) to AT&T Park for a three-game weekend series that has must-see entertainment written all over it.

'via Blog this'

In the NL, it looks as if the Nationals are the top team in the league over the Giants and Dodgers, but not by much. All three are low 90's win teams. The Nats advantage is that they seem to have distanced themselves from the Braves, who are positioned as the second wild card team, with the first wild card being the Dodgers - Giants consolation prize.

The Central Division is developing into a mud wrestling match between the Brewers, Pirates and Cardinals all struggling at the 85-86 win pace and  the Reds drifting towards an 81 win,  .500 type finish. The Cardinals could really make a move here if they can pry David Price from the Rays.

Let the tussling begin.

My NL Power Ranking as of today:

** Nationals - 92 Wins

** Giants - 91 Wins

** Dodgers - 90 Wins

** Braves - 88 Wins

** Cardinals - 88 Wins

Brewers - 87 Wins 

Pirates - 85 Wins 

Reds - 81 Wins

** - Playoff Teams

In the American League, things are a bit clearer at the top with a competitive race for the Wild Card spots shaping up as well. 

The A's and Angels will battle it out for the division with the loser facing the wild-card death match. Both teams seem to be hovering around the 95 win pace. The Tigers seem to have the Central in hand with a low 90's win season. 

For now, the Orioles appear to be the class of the AL East, but appear destined for an 86-88 win season.

The Mariners and Blue Jays appear to be the class of the wild-card contenders, both headed for an 85 win finish. The Yankees, Indians, Royals and Rays seem destined for the 80-82 win mark which will leave them short of the mark. 

The Rays will signal their organizational confidence level in a playoff finish by either dealing Price/Zobrist or keeping them both and mounting a challenge. The Royals have already signaled their lack of confidence.  

My AL Power Ranking as of today:
** Angels - 96 Wins
** A's - 94 Wins
** Tigers - 92 Wins
** Orioles - 87 Wins
** Mariners - 85 Wins
Blue Jays - 85 Wins
Indians - 83 Wins
Yankees - 83 Wins
Rays - 81 Wins
Royals - 81 Wins
** - Playoff Teams

P.S. - If the Giants do get involved in the Price / Zobrist sweepstakes,

I would favor any deal that includes:
RHP Chris Stratton
RHP Martin Agosta
LHP Edwin Escobar
LHP Steven Okert (has potential as a closer or worse-case, a LOOGY)

I will lose my lunch over any deal that includes:
LHP Ty Blach
RHP Clayton Blackburn
RHP Derek Law (injured)
RHP Kendry Flores
RHP Keury Mella
LHP Adalberto Mejia (OK, maybe I could live with this one)
RHP Kyle Crick (although maybe after a good nights sleep, I could live with this one as well)