Dodgers/DBacks

[notin]

Ohtani, Betts and Freeman went back to back to back in the first inning off Merrill Kelly.

Corbin Carroll lead off the bottom of the first with an inside-the-park home run.

crazy start…

[Bellhorn04]

It's been a crazy 2 games so far.  Starting pitchers all abused.  Dodgers have prevailed in both.

That 1-2-3 of the Dodgers is one hell of a gauntlet to get through.

 

[Thunder]

It is quite impressive to see how much better the AL West has gotten in the last 3-4 years. I always love seeing different teams rise to the top of the standings board and make noise in the playoffs, but this has been something else. Arizona definitely has the pieces in place to be around for the next decade, and the Padres finally got out of their own way (mostly Tatis shooting himself in the foot). And they both have already proved that they can do it in the playoffs, and that they can beat the Dodgers in the playoffs .

[dgalehouse]

Like most teams, the Dodgers have to get their pitching straightened out , but right now they have to be the favorite to win it all. 

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

Like most teams, the Dodgers have to get their pitching straightened out , but right now they have to be the favorite to win it all. 

Maybe by a tiny bit, but there are 8 teams within 5 games of the best record, and some of them played tougher schedules than LAD. When you factor in all teh times the Dodgers have come up short, despite having the best record, if looks to me, like a toss up between LAD, PHI (-1,) MIL (-2,) NYY (-3,) and BAL (-3.5.) I see CLE (-4) and AZ/SDP (-5) as next tier. I might add HOU (-7) to the second tier. Maybe, I'm short-changing AZ & SDP, too.

Best records since June 19th (last 64-66 games)

42-22 HOU

41-21 SDP

42-23 AZ

37-27 MIL

36-26 LAD

36-27 CHC

36-29 DET

How about this?

32-32 PHI, 32-34 BAL, 31-32 BOS, 28-34 NYY

Vegas agrees with you:

+320 LAD

+460 PH

+600 NYY, +700 BAL, +750 HOU, +1600 SDP

 

[Thunder]

To your point, moon, I brought this up to a friend of mine the other week: Nobody in baseball is on pace to win 100 games. 

In the AL:

Yankees and Orioles are both on pace to win 93, Guardians are on pace to win 92, and Astros are on pace to win 88.

 

In the NL:

Dodgers are on pace to win 97, Phillies are on pace to win 96, Brewers are on pace to win 95, Diamondbacks and Padres are both on pace to win 91.

The last time a team didn't win 100 games in a season (excluding 2020) was 2014. In 2014, two wild card teams made the World Series (KC and SF). Last year, two wild card teams made the World Series, and at least one wild card team has made the World Series in 3 of the last 4 years (excluding 2020). 

Dodgers have some glaring weaknesses (pitching). Orioles have some glaring weaknesses (pitching). Yankees have some glaring weaknesses (everybody in the lineup not named Judge and Soto). Anybody who gets in has a shot. That's the new trend in baseball, especially since the Wild Card was expanded. That's what makes it fun.

 

[moonslav59]

This has been the main reason I thought the Sox had a legit chance to make the dance.  Hell, we were a decent season by Gio from still being in the division hunt.

[notin]

On 9/2/2024 at 4:06 PM, Thunder said:

To your point, moon, I brought this up to a friend of mine the other week: Nobody in baseball is on pace to win 100 games. 

In the AL:

Yankees and Orioles are both on pace to win 93, Guardians are on pace to win 92, and Astros are on pace to win 88.

 

In the NL:

Dodgers are on pace to win 97, Phillies are on pace to win 96, Brewers are on pace to win 95, Diamondbacks and Padres are both on pace to win 91.

The last time a team didn't win 100 games in a season (excluding 2020) was 2014. In 2014, two wild card teams made the World Series (KC and SF). Last year, two wild card teams made the World Series, and at least one wild card team has made the World Series in 3 of the last 4 years (excluding 2020). 

Dodgers have some glaring weaknesses (pitching). Orioles have some glaring weaknesses (pitching). Yankees have some glaring weaknesses (everybody in the lineup not named Judge and Soto). Anybody who gets in has a shot. That's the new trend in baseball, especially since the Wild Card was expanded. That's what makes it fun.

 

Nobody is on pace to win 100, but one team is on pace to lose 125.  The White Sox are so bad that they have already clinched being 17 games out of FOURTH place.  And it’s only September 5th!!