Post by Commissioner Erick on Feb 19, 2018 19:35:35 GMT -5
Los Angeles Dodgers (50-32) @ New York Mets (49-32)
LAD: Alex Wood (6-3, 5.10)
NYM: Noah Syndergaard (8-2, 2.36)
The Los Angeles Dodgers will look to finish up a sweep of the New York Mets. Noah Syndergaard will look to duplicate what Madison Bumgarner did two weeks earlier.
Noah Syndergaard will look to salvage the final game for the New York Mets, when they take on the best offense in the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers have won 15 of 21, and seven of eight on the road. They dropped two games in Washington before traveling to New York, but their pitching has stifled the Mets. Clayton Kershaw went 8.1 innings allowing one run in an easy Dodgers' 7-1 victory on Friday. Julio Urias allowed a run in 6 innings on Saturday and Josh Fields stopped a comeback attempt in a 4-3 win on Saturday. The Mets jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning on Sunday but only scored one more time as the Dodgers came back from a 4-0 deficit in the seventh to win 5-4.
That's the context the Mets have to overcome. Fortunately, they'll have arguably the best pitcher in the PBA going. Syndergaard is the career leader in pitching WAR and the 2018 leader in ERA and FIP. He's coming off a five-hit shutout against the Royals where he struck out 11. Two weeks ago, he set the PBA strikeout record with 14 strikeouts—in only 6.2 innings. He's allowed just five home runs all season—and just three to players not named Andrew McCutchen. He's worked back to back complete games, has a 1.38 ERA in his last five starts, and is simply electric. In fact, with long flowing hair, and a nickname of Thor, he's god-like on the mound.
If any team is equipped to take down a god, it's a Dodgers team leading most NL categories in offense. It's an offense with some new faces to it. Corey Seager and Yasiel Puig are out, traded away for a package of players. Joc Pederson is banged up with broken ribs, sustained when making a diving catch on a Wilmer Flores fly out yesterday.
In their stead, Nomar Mazara is over from Texas, and The Big Chill gives the Dodgers yet another potential 40-home run bat. Rule-V pick Michael de Leon has been thrust into the starting lineup, and despite a reputation of being all-glove, no-bat, he's held his own with a .377 average thus far, and really shaky defense—six errors in 14 games. Enrique Hernandez has hit over .300 each of the last two years as a fill in player. He'll likely be the short term starter for Pederson, though Braxton Davidson, Andrew Toles, or Jorge Soler have the talent or pedigree to fill in.
The Dodgers have filled up the home run column behind Cody Bellinger, last week's NL Player of the Week. He started yesterday's rally with a home run on the eleventh pitch of the at bat to lead off the seventh inning. He tied the game an inning later with his second home run off NL wins leader Matt Harvey. It was his fifth home run of the week, and his 26th of the season, giving him a 50-home run pace. If Bellinger can do damage against Syndergaard, it may be enough to cap an impressive sweep.
The Dodgers will throw groundballer, Alex Wood to the mound. Wood's peripherals are the same as last year, but a .70 point jump in BABIP has resulted in a nearly two-run spike in ERA. Despite being primarily a fastball-changeup pitcher, righties have hit Wood hard this year, with a .303 average.
Fortunately, the Dodgers' fantastic bullpen welcomed back Kenley Jansen a couple of weeks ago. Jansen is one of baseball's best pitchers, and his cutter is one of baseball's best pitches. Jansen had a 1.60 ERA last year, and was named the Reliever of the Year despite shoulder trouble shutting him down in August.
He struck out 115 men in 67.1 innings, a preposterous figure. He's worked to try and finish at bats a bit quicker this year. His strikeout numbers are down, but he's only walked two in 22.2 innings, simply beating hitters in the zone. Despite that, he's allowed only one home run thus far, has only blown a save once in each year of the PBA. He's simply remarkable and automatic should the Dodgers spot him a lead.
Questions for the GMs:
For Troy Allenbagh, with Pederson hurt, Pollock nicked up, and Ryan Verdugo in Triple A unavailable, who will start in your outfield tonight and why?
With the trade deadline approaching, do you plan on making more moves?
Syndergaard is special. Do you have a plan of attack you'd like to follow?
For Nate Taylor, you gave young phenom Ahmed Rosario the keys to shortstop. Recently, you took those keys back and Wilmer Flores has been starting there. Why did you make the switch?
Despite Jeruys Familia haven't another sensational year, you're bullpen hasn't nearly been as good as last year's version. Is there anything you chalk that up to?
I don't think you imagined David Wright being an important part of this team, but after Nick Senzel went down, Captain America has put back on the uniform. What have you gotten out of him so far?
You have a lot of lefties on your team, but right-handers have hit Alex Wood hard this year. Do you plan on stacking your lineup to counter him?
LAD: Alex Wood (6-3, 5.10)
NYM: Noah Syndergaard (8-2, 2.36)
The Los Angeles Dodgers will look to finish up a sweep of the New York Mets. Noah Syndergaard will look to duplicate what Madison Bumgarner did two weeks earlier.
Noah Syndergaard will look to salvage the final game for the New York Mets, when they take on the best offense in the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers have won 15 of 21, and seven of eight on the road. They dropped two games in Washington before traveling to New York, but their pitching has stifled the Mets. Clayton Kershaw went 8.1 innings allowing one run in an easy Dodgers' 7-1 victory on Friday. Julio Urias allowed a run in 6 innings on Saturday and Josh Fields stopped a comeback attempt in a 4-3 win on Saturday. The Mets jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning on Sunday but only scored one more time as the Dodgers came back from a 4-0 deficit in the seventh to win 5-4.
That's the context the Mets have to overcome. Fortunately, they'll have arguably the best pitcher in the PBA going. Syndergaard is the career leader in pitching WAR and the 2018 leader in ERA and FIP. He's coming off a five-hit shutout against the Royals where he struck out 11. Two weeks ago, he set the PBA strikeout record with 14 strikeouts—in only 6.2 innings. He's allowed just five home runs all season—and just three to players not named Andrew McCutchen. He's worked back to back complete games, has a 1.38 ERA in his last five starts, and is simply electric. In fact, with long flowing hair, and a nickname of Thor, he's god-like on the mound.
If any team is equipped to take down a god, it's a Dodgers team leading most NL categories in offense. It's an offense with some new faces to it. Corey Seager and Yasiel Puig are out, traded away for a package of players. Joc Pederson is banged up with broken ribs, sustained when making a diving catch on a Wilmer Flores fly out yesterday.
In their stead, Nomar Mazara is over from Texas, and The Big Chill gives the Dodgers yet another potential 40-home run bat. Rule-V pick Michael de Leon has been thrust into the starting lineup, and despite a reputation of being all-glove, no-bat, he's held his own with a .377 average thus far, and really shaky defense—six errors in 14 games. Enrique Hernandez has hit over .300 each of the last two years as a fill in player. He'll likely be the short term starter for Pederson, though Braxton Davidson, Andrew Toles, or Jorge Soler have the talent or pedigree to fill in.
The Dodgers have filled up the home run column behind Cody Bellinger, last week's NL Player of the Week. He started yesterday's rally with a home run on the eleventh pitch of the at bat to lead off the seventh inning. He tied the game an inning later with his second home run off NL wins leader Matt Harvey. It was his fifth home run of the week, and his 26th of the season, giving him a 50-home run pace. If Bellinger can do damage against Syndergaard, it may be enough to cap an impressive sweep.
The Dodgers will throw groundballer, Alex Wood to the mound. Wood's peripherals are the same as last year, but a .70 point jump in BABIP has resulted in a nearly two-run spike in ERA. Despite being primarily a fastball-changeup pitcher, righties have hit Wood hard this year, with a .303 average.
Fortunately, the Dodgers' fantastic bullpen welcomed back Kenley Jansen a couple of weeks ago. Jansen is one of baseball's best pitchers, and his cutter is one of baseball's best pitches. Jansen had a 1.60 ERA last year, and was named the Reliever of the Year despite shoulder trouble shutting him down in August.
He struck out 115 men in 67.1 innings, a preposterous figure. He's worked to try and finish at bats a bit quicker this year. His strikeout numbers are down, but he's only walked two in 22.2 innings, simply beating hitters in the zone. Despite that, he's allowed only one home run thus far, has only blown a save once in each year of the PBA. He's simply remarkable and automatic should the Dodgers spot him a lead.
Questions for the GMs:
For Troy Allenbagh, with Pederson hurt, Pollock nicked up, and Ryan Verdugo in Triple A unavailable, who will start in your outfield tonight and why?
With the trade deadline approaching, do you plan on making more moves?
Syndergaard is special. Do you have a plan of attack you'd like to follow?
For Nate Taylor, you gave young phenom Ahmed Rosario the keys to shortstop. Recently, you took those keys back and Wilmer Flores has been starting there. Why did you make the switch?
Despite Jeruys Familia haven't another sensational year, you're bullpen hasn't nearly been as good as last year's version. Is there anything you chalk that up to?
I don't think you imagined David Wright being an important part of this team, but after Nick Senzel went down, Captain America has put back on the uniform. What have you gotten out of him so far?
You have a lot of lefties on your team, but right-handers have hit Alex Wood hard this year. Do you plan on stacking your lineup to counter him?
