The Houston Astros have been making deals to improve their team, and avoid another collapse like the one they had last season. Their bullpen could not finish the year strong after being one of the best in baseball throughout the season. The bullpen, also, collapsed in game four of the ALCS against the eventual champions. The Royals could not hit Lance McCullers, but once he was removed with one out in the seventh inning, Kansas City 's offense got it going.
1. Astros ' big trade
The biggest move the Astros have made is acquiring the young closer of the Philadelphia Phillies, Ken Giles.
Oct 4, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Ken Giles (53) throws a pitch during the ninth inning against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies defeated the Marlins, 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 4, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Ken Giles (53) throws a pitch during the ninth inning against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies defeated the Marlins, 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The trade included SS Jonathan Arauz to Houston for LHP Brett Oberholtzer, and RHPs Mark Appel, Harold Arauz, Thomas Eshelman, and Vincent Velasquez.
Giles, 25 years old, has been with the Phillies for two season and pitched 115.2 innings in 113 games over the two years. He has an ERA of 1.56, a 11.7 SO/9, a 1.03 WHIP and has 16 career saves, 15 of which came last
The Rockies bullpen is energized as in their last 3 games they needed to use 6 pitchers with 80 pitches and 17 outs. Their batting average on balls in play is a very impressive of .394 and their on base percentage is also very impressive with a .393 season to date
Entering the season with the medical issues real and very much in play, Giles didn't play in Duke's first 11 games of the season. Then, when he entered the rotation, he was mostly treated like a box labeled fragile by UPS. With some care and caution for sure, the endgame was always to make sure to get use out of the commodity.
As of this writing, the Orioles find themselves 6.5 games out of first place in the AL East and 2.5 games out of the second wild card spot, with no other team currently in front of them. However, nearly the rest of the American League is in a similar situation, with only a total of four teams being more than 5 games behind the Twins. Even though the standings could look very different by the time the trade deadline arrives, the Orioles have recently stated (again) that they will be buying at the deadline.
A few years ago, the Phillies began a rebuild so a new core of young players could carry the torch. The rebuild started in December of 2014 when Philadelphia traded longtime shortstop Jimmy Rollins to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Less than a year later, the Phillies followed the Rollins trade by moving veteran pitcher Cole Hamels at the deadline last season, and second baseman chase Utley less than a month after that. The trades, along with a few others, brought in an impressive haul of prospects poised
A month after he signed the contract he started playing with the Triple-A Louisville Bats. After a couple months of practicing with the team he made his first pitching debut with the team on April 11, in Toledo against a team called the Mud Hens. While he was pitching he managed to go 4 ⅔ innings giving up only a total of one run, and also striking out nine batters that he faced. Next, during his career with the team he made a total of thirteen starts and had an average ERA of 4.11, but also while the team used his as a relief pitcher he had an outstanding ERA of 2.40. Finally, after spending sometime down in Triple-A, the Cincinnati Reds called Chapman up to the majors to pitch. When he got up to the majors, Chapman made his first debut on August 31, 2010. His appearance was in the 8th inning and was against the Milwaukee Brewers. One of his very first pitches it was clocked at an accelerated 98 mph. After that Chapman retired the side in nine total pitches. On September 25, 2010, Aroldis Chapman threw the world’s fastest pitch recognized by the MLB, which that fastest pitch was clocked at 105.1 mph. After that season got over, in the next season he broke his own record again. He threw a pitch that set the record that no one has ever beat before and he threw that pitch at an outstanding speed of 106.1
And it seems that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are interested in acquiring him and plans to pair him with centerfielder Mike Trout.
Dating back to the offseason, Washington has been linked to different relievers, such as David Robertson, Kelvin Herrera, and A.J. Ramos. While Herrera seems unlikely to be dealt, due to Kansas City’s resurgence, Robertson and Ramos could be paired with Iglesias to form a dangerous bullpen.
A lot of people believed that the Dodgers were going to be done contending after Kershaw got his injury, but instead the team came together and are now tied for first in the NL West. As of today, the Dodgers are ahead of the Giants on differential and look to continue their trend of winning when they play the Phillies tonight and the Pirates in a three game series at home in the coming of days. The Dodgers are a very interesting team because they have been blessed with the Giants failing to continue their winning form after the All-Star break and it seems like every player the Dodgers call up, whether it is a pitcher or infielder, they help the team tremendously. If the Dodgers want to stay in this race they are going to have to continue to play like this and hopefully get some players off the DL
They also acquired Jarrod Dyson, base stealer extraordinaire, as well as utility man Danny Valencia and backup catcher Carlos Ruiz through free agency. These additions will aid Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, and Kyle Seager to create one of the most dangerously potent lineups in the MLB. The M’s also added Yovani Gallardo and Drew Smyly to a weakened rotation, but Smyly got injured during Spring Training and is supposed to be out for the first few months. These additions will hopefully stabilize an injury-prone rotation. Ace Felix Hernandez saw a massive drop-off in production from back when he was a perennial Cy Young Candidate. Hisashi Iwakuma has the potential to be a star, but didn’t show it last year when he pitched to a mediocre 4.12 ERA. When James Paxton isn’t injured he pitches great, but it seems like he’s injured more often than not. Their bullpen is led by Edwin Diaz, who as a rookie last year struck out 40% of the batters he faced—a tremendous feat. As long as he isn’t overused as he was last year down the stretch, when he pitched way worse than when carrying an average workload, he could turn out to be a top five closer. If this team plays anywhere close to their potential they should make the playoffs, and they have a very solid chance to win the division.
I think a team to point out is the Los Angeles Dodgers because ever since the end of the first half of the season, they have been one of the best team in the majors, without Kershaw. The Los Angeles Dodgers went from 51 – 40 with 6.5 GB of the San Francisco Giants, who were the best team heading into
Myers was traded to the Reds in 1990 for closer John Franco, and became one of the league's elite closers and the most successful member of the Nasty Boys trio, which also included Rob Dibble and Norm Charlton, while being selected as an All-Star in 1990. In 1990 Myers won his second World Series ring as the Reds swept the Oakland Athletics. In 1991, the Reds experimented with Myers as a starter, a move that proved highly unsuccessful as he posted a record of 6 wins and 13 losses.[2]
This perfect game comes as the 17th of all time. Most 40 year old pitchers get worse as the game goes on but that was quite the opposite tonight for the southpaw.
Pittsburgh’s early playoff exits the last three seasons have come as a result of failing to make a big move to put them over the top. The Pirates' minor league system remains among the best in MLB as Huntington has been reluctant to part with young talent. However, giving up a few young prospects to acquire a big-time player could capture Pittsburgh’s first World Series since 1979. Acquiring another star to complement McCutchen before July’s trade deadline could turn the Pirates into a serious contender. In each of the last three seasons, the Pirates have been relatively quiet at the deadline as the team has rarely been linked to big names that may be on the move. The Pirates opted to go a different route, making no significant moves at the 2013 and 2014 deadlines, while pulling the trigger on a series of smaller moves before the 2015
Epstein has done it through the draft and keen trades since arriving in the Windy City. They have taken advantage of their high draft picks in recent years getting young sluggers Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, and Javier Baez whom all have quickly become opposing pitchers nightmare.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers have had to watch over the past 10 days as the Giants nabbed Cueto and Jeff Samardzija while the D-backs signed Zack Greinke and traded for