MLB 2023 Season

[Carolina Speed]

Unless he plays well into his 40's, that's unlikely to happen.

Of course it's unlikely. That's why I'm mentioning it. But it's possible. More possible than it ever happening again, ever. Kershaw is the closest of any active pitcher within reach of 300 wins. He has 207 wins at 35 years old.
The next closest is:
Justin Verlander at 40 he has 246 wins.
Zac Greinke 224 wins at 39 years old
Max Scherzer 208 wins at 39 years old
Kershaw 207 wins at 35 years old
Verlander, Greinke, or Scherzer will likely not make it because of age and current win total. After Kershaw there's no one close.. The next pitcher, Cole Hamels only has 163 wins at 39 years old.
Depending on how many more games Kershaw wins this season, he may not have to pitch well into his 40's. Possibly into his early 40's without any serious injury.. If he gets to 215 wins this season, he would only have to average 12 wins a season to age 42 to get to 300.
Randy Johnson won 86 games from age 36-40. Greg Maddux won 90 games from age 36-41 and Tom Glavine won 79 games from age 35 -41. ...and the biggest question other than injury, is how much longer will he want to play.
No matter the odds, I'm pulling for him, because we may never see another 300 game winner, ever. It would be a remarkable accomplishment based on modern day rules and changes in MLB.

 

[booth]

Unless he plays well into his 40's, that's unlikely to happen. When I was really following baseball in the 80's, 20 win seasons were not unusual. Complete games normal. Last season there was only 1 20 game winner. Compare that to like 1988:

1.	Viola • MIN	24
2.	Hershiser • LAD	23
	Jackson • CIN	23
4.	Stewart • OAK	21
5.	Gubicza • KCR	20
	Cone • NYM	20
7.	Reuschel • SFG	19
8.	Clemens • BOS	18
	Hurst • BOS	18
	Swindell • CLE	18
	Browning • CIN	18
	Gooden • NYM	18
	Maddux • CHC	18

Nowadays with the pitch counts in the 90's, starters are pulled in the 5th or 6th inning which give the middle relievers plenty of time to blow the starters lead, hence many fewer high win totals. That said, Kershaw reminds me of those old school pitchers like Orel Hershiser above. I don't doubt that he could do it if given a chance.

FootballDad, I saw Frank Viola's name and just had to mention I met him at a minor league game Weds. night in Gastonia, N.C. He could not have been any nicer. He is the pitching coach for the High Point Rockers. He looks like he still could pitch. He gave me his autograph with a smile and a handshake.

 

[wokewhite232]

I had a chance to see both McClain and De La Cruz play before getting called up! Reds are loaded with young talent!

definitely a team worth watching and rooting for, just need to add another solid starter or 2 before the deadline, Shane Beiber Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito are a few that come to mind that could be attainable (at the right price) since they have a slew of young talent in the minors that could be dealt for a veteran presence in the rotation

 

[Carolina Speed]

Mike Trout HR number 18 off of Zac Gallen, one of the best pitchers in MLB this season. If he has a good day, he should pass Chipper Jones on the career WAR list to move into 51st place all time.

 

[Carolina Speed]

Mike Trout HR number 18 off of Zac Gallen, one of the best pitchers in MLB this season. If he has a good day, he should pass Chipper Jones on the career WAR list to move into 51st place all time.

Trout suffers another injury last night against the Padres. He apparently injured his wrist while swinging. Should know the severity some time today.

 

[white lightning]

A question for the baseball fans here. How many of you guys are rooting for Shohei Ohani? As many knowhe both pitches and hits. He is
leading all of MLB in Homeruns with 31 at the half way point of the season. I would be ok with him breaking the amercian league
home run reecord set last year by Aaron Judge. Ohtani is a good story and he is at least not mixed. Now granted it will not be an easy
task to have a 2nd half as strong or stronger than his first half of the season but it is possible. Are you guys rooting for him?

 

[jphoss]

A question for the baseball fans here. How many of you guys are rooting for Shohei Ohani? As many knowhe both pitches and hits. He is
leading all of MLB in Homeruns with 31 at the half way point of the season. I would be ok with him breaking the amercian league
home run reecord set last year by Aaron Judge. Ohtani is a good story and he is at least not mixed. Now granted it will not be an easy
task to have a 2nd half as strong or stronger than his first half of the season but it is possible. Are you guys rooting for him?

I wouldn’t say I am rooting for him but I’m not rooting against him either. Like Ichiro I respect his greatness and enjoy watching him play but I also have no emotional investment in how he does. Of the different races in mlb I like the Japanesethe best. They are respectful and quietly go about their business unlike blacks, latinos or puerto ricans/dominicans who feel the need to showboat constantly

 

[Carolina Speed]

I wouldn’t say I am rooting for him but I’m not rooting against him either. Like Ichiro I respect his greatness and enjoy watching him play but I also have no emotional investment in how he does. Of the different races in mlb I like the Japanesethe best. They are respectful and quietly go about their business unlike blacks, latinos or puerto ricans/dominicans who feel the need to showboat constantly

Well said. I agree.
BTW, highly touted Bobby Witt Jr. seems to be improving over last year although it seems to be taking a little more time than expected.
Witt Jr. hit homeruns 15 and 16 yesterday and today. He had also improved his BA to .260 until going without a hit in his final AB today.
His OBP has finally risen above .300. Not that impressive but it's better than last seasons .294. The big knock on him is that he doesn't get on base consistently. He has stolen 27 bases, good for 4th in the league and is tied for first in the league with 6 triples.
He should improve on just about every category over last season and I look for him to finally become a top tier player in 2024 especially if he can get some help. The Royals are horrible with a 27-67 record. Can't be easy for the 23 year old to carry this team, but he should start becoming a team leader next season.

 

[Freethinker]

Well said. I agree.
BTW, highly touted Bobby Witt Jr. seems to be improving over last year although it seems to be taking a little more time than expected.
Witt Jr. hit homeruns 15 and 16 yesterday and today. He had also improved his BA to .260 until going without a hit in his final AB today.
His OBP has finally risen above .300. Not that impressive but it's better than last seasons .294. The big knock on him is that he doesn't get on base consistently. He has stolen 27 bases, good for 4th in the league and is tied for first in the league with 6 triples.
He should improve on just about every category over last season and I look for him to finally become a top tier player in 2024 especially if he can get some help. The Royals are horrible with a 27-67 record. Can't be easy for the 23 year old to carry this team, but he should start becoming a team leader next season.

I would say that Witt Jr has had a fantastic season so far as he’s likely to achieve a 30-30 year! Actually a 30-40 season would be more realistic if he’s stays healthy. Considering he has zero protection in the lineup, as the Royals trot out a AAA squad, he could really breakout in the future. The sky’s the limit.

 

[FootballDad]

I would say that Witt Jr has had a fantastic season so far as he’s likely to achieve a 30-30 year! Actually a 30-40 season would be more realistic if he’s stays healthy. Considering he has zero protection in the lineup, as the Royals trout out a AAA squad, he could really breakout in the future. The sky’s the limit.

Although not a Royals fan, I live here and am bombarded by Royals news on sports radio everyday. Witt has been a disappointment to the talking heads here. I disagree with them and agree with previous posters. He is a tremendous talent, but the level of talent around him is really poor. It's predictable if you pay attention here at CF. The Royals have a far too "diverse" roster. On any given day there are usually only 3 or 4 position players lacking melanin content. As we enter the dog days of summer for baseball, I expect them to bring up more and more of their AAA and AA players and suspect they will do better the less tan they are.

All of that aside, I kinda root for them to do something historic, like finish dead last in the Major Leagues. Tough battle though as Oakland is generationally awful as well.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

Matt Olson homers: 51
Olson’s NL-leading 32 home runs puts him on pace for 51 HRs. It would match the franchise record Andruw Jones set in 2005, when Olson was just an 11-year-old boy dreaming of becoming the next Jeff Francoeur at Parkview (Ga.) High School.

Olson has hit 11 first-inning home runs. Alex Rodriguez set the MLB record with 18 in 2001. The only Brave to hit more first-inning homers than Olson was Hank Aaron with 13 in '71.

 

[white lightning]

Matt Olson homers: 51
Olson’s NL-leading 32 home runs puts him on pace for 51 HRs. It would match the franchise record Andruw Jones set in 2005, when Olson was just an 11-year-old boy dreaming of becoming the next Jeff Francoeur at Parkview (Ga.) High School.

Olson has hit 11 first-inning home runs. Alex Rodriguez set the MLB record with 18 in 2001. The only Brave to hit more first-inning homers than Olson was Hank Aaron with 13 in '71.

I was a big Chipper Jones Fan back in the day. No so much with Andruw but he had talent. I would love to see Matt Olson take back
this record for our guys. He has had a very nice career and he is playing like he is at the top of his game currently. Keep it up Matt Olson!

 

[Carolina Speed]

I would say that Witt Jr has had a fantastic season so far as he’s likely to achieve a 30-30 year! Actually a 30-40 season would be more realistic if he’s stays healthy. Considering he has zero protection in the lineup, as the Royals trot out a AAA squad, he could really breakout in the future. The sky’s the limit.

Witt Jr. with a 4-5 night with 6 RBI and including a Grand Slam walk-off HR. All this after having a few 0-5 games. It really hurts his average and on base percentage. If he can become more consistent, he will be a HOF type player.
Pete Alonso with 2 HR's and 30 on the year.

 

[white lightning]

The Angels made some moves! Hope they can get Trout back before the end of the season!

Angels acquire OF Grichuk, 1B Cron from Rockies

The Los Angeles Angels acquired C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk in a deal with the Colorado Rockies.

www.espn.com

 

[Carolina Speed]

Witt Jr. with a 4-5 night with 6 RBI and including a Grand Slam walk-off HR. All this after having a few 0-5 games. It really hurts his average and on base percentage. If he can become more consistent, he will be a HOF type player.
Pete Alonso with 2 HR's and 30 on the year.

Witt Jr. with another big day from the plate this afternoon. Going 3-4, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI and his 19th HR. He also stole his 31st base with 52 games to go, he has an outside chance for making the 30/30 club!

KS5000 mentioned Matt Olson earlier. Yesterday he hit his 37th HR and Austin Riley hit number 25. What a great 1-2 punch for the Atlanta Braves!
The Texas Ranger looking impressive with hot hitting Cory Seager: .352/.414./.640 slash line. MVP numbers! ROY of the year candidate, Josh Jung hitting his 21st HR last night and 64 RBI!

LA's MVP Freddie Freeman with another MVP type year slashing: .338/.416/.586

The AL East leading Baltimore Orioles with a ton of young white talent.
Rutschman C 14 HR's 50 RBI
Rookie Gunnar Henderson: ss 18 HR's 49 RBI
Mountcastle 1B, 13 HR's 49 RBI in just 78 games
...and big time prospect Jackson Holliday. Just 19 years old: Slashing: ,334/.458/.523- 8 HR's, 53 RBI, 20 SB in AA
Just a matter of time before he's called up.

 

[FootballDad]

Witt Jr. with another big day from the plate this afternoon. Going 3-4, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI and his 19th HR. He also stole his 31st base with 52 games to go, he has an outside chance for making the 30/30 club!

KS5000 mentioned Matt Olson earlier. Yesterday he hit his 37th HR and Austin Riley hit number 25. What a great 1-2 punch for the Atlanta Braves!
The Texas Ranger looking impressive with hot hitting Cory Seager: .352/.414./.640 slash line. MVP numbers! ROY of the year candidate, Josh Jung hitting his 21st HR last night and 64 RBI!

LA's MVP Freddie Freeman with another MVP type year slashing: .338/.416/.586

The AL East leading Baltimore Orioles with a ton of young white talent.
Rutschman C 14 HR's 50 RBI
Rookie Gunnar Henderson: ss 18 HR's 49 RBI
Mountcastle 1B, 13 HR's 49 RBI in just 78 games
...and big time prospect Jackson Holliday. Just 19 years old: Slashing: ,334/.458/.523- 8 HR's, 53 RBI, 20 SB in AA
Just a matter of time before he's called up.

Speaking of the Royals, they've been playing a few more palefaces this week, moving Perez to 1st base with Freddy Fermin behind the plate and they've gone on a 6 game winning streak to separate themselves from the absolute cellar. Brady Singer had a great game from the mound after many struggles. The formula is rather simple I would say. Look more like a College World Series team and you can win in the big leagues, too.

 

[Leonardfan]

Black malcontent Tim Anderson gets embarrassed and ends up on the ground after starting a fight last night.

https://nypost.com/2023/08/05/jose-ramirez-decks-tim-anderson-during-guardians-white-sox-brawl-game/

 

[NEP01]

That was one of most enjoyable sports videos I've seen in a while. The Dominican player had no concerns about being "racist" for knocking Anderson out.

 

[Bucky]

Tim Anderson “there aren’t enough negroes in The League” KOd by a AfroLatin player. That was great.

 

[angelus]

Black malcontent Tim Anderson gets embarrassed and ends up on the ground after starting a fight last night.

https://nypost.com/2023/08/05/jose-ramirez-decks-tim-anderson-during-guardians-white-sox-brawl-game/

I’m a former Sox fan from the early 80s.

I couldn’t have been happier to see Jackie get knocked out like that.

Haven’t felt this good about sports in a long time.

 

[white lightning]

Mike Trout is close to returning to the lineup. This is good news but he will have to deal with some pain.

MSN

 

[Phall]

Congrats to new Phillies SP Mike Lorenzen on his first career no-hitter at age 31. Credit to his staff for not being analytics dorks and letting him have 124 pitches (in a blowout), which is the most any Philly pitcher has thrown this season.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

Ryan Mountcastle’s first-inning two run home run cleared both bullpens and was hit 472 feet, the longest by an Oriole since Statcast began measuring home runs in 2015.

Mountcastle's two-run HR (14) | 08/08/2023

Ryan Mountcastle crushes a 472-foot home run to deep left field for his 14th homer and gives the Orioles a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning

www.mlb.com

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

Matt Olson with 100 RBIs already. 39 HRs

Leads league in HR, RBI, SLG

 

[white lightning]

The MLB Home Run Title is very exciting this year and we still got a ways to go. As of today here are the current leaders:

Matt Olson 42 Home Runs

Shohei Ohtani 41 Home Runs

Pete Alonso 35 Home Runs


It's gonna probably go down to the wire. All 3 of these guys are having amazing seasons so far!