Archive for the ‘baseball’ Category

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: September 19, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Well our Week 2 NFL picks didn’t really work out as Mr. Fantasy was the only one who was over .500 at 9-7. Schaumburg Stu rolled in right at .500 at 8-8 while Dan the Man was 7-9. As for me; well I was at the bottom of the barrel at 6-10. Through two weeks Schaumburg Stu is 19-13. Mr. Fantasy is 18-14, I am at 17-15 and Dan the Man is at 13-19. Hopefully Week 3 goes better for us.

Now when it comes to the NFL I have to tell you I am very disinterested in the game through two weeks. To me the NFL is heading down the same road that the NBA has and that is defense is a thing of the past. Now in the NFL they’re trying to reduce injuries, but they have to figure this out so players are still allowed to make contact with each other. I’m actually going to take this week off from watching football and see how much or if I miss it at all. I think I’ll treat it like I do an NBA game; which is I’ll turn it on to check the score, but I won’t watch more than a minute of it at a time. Right now I have no interest what so ever in watching football and that’s sad because it use to be one of my favorite things to do on Sunday’s.

A couple things that drove me up the wall this Sunday was the roughing the quarterback calls and the fact that no seems to be able to make a field goal. The add in the fact that there was an obvious replay call that somehow wasn’t overturned.

It’s quite clear that however the referee was for the Green Bay/Minnesota game on Sunday he had no idea what the term roughing the passer meant and if you’re a Packers fan he actually cost your team the football game in regulation. Somehow this referee thought that Clay Matthews slammed Kirk Cousins to the ground when he sacked him late in the game and he threw his flag and made the terrible roughing the passer call. It’s easily one of the worst calls ever made in a regular season game and I actually have to wonder if the guy had money on the game; so he threw the flag to line is pockets.

What makes things even worse is when these guys blow calls like this nothing happens to them. They’re not fined or reprimanded in any way and that just doesn’t seem right.

Then there’s the replay official who somehow couldn’t see that the referee missed a call and didn’t overturn it. I believe it was a Tampa Bay wide receiver who made a catch and got his left foot down in the end zone and then the rest of his body landed in the end zone. No maybe the on field referee didn’t have a good look at it or something to that affect, but he called it an incomplete pass. Now on the replay it was clear that this was a touchdown, but somehow the replay official upheld the call on the field and it was an incomplete pass.

Here’s another case of a official completely missing a call and an obvious call at that, but will he be penalized for it; no. He’ll probably be in the replay booth again this weekend and hopefully get those calls correct.

Going back to the quarterbacks. Plain and simple if you don’t want them to get hit and just allow them to stand in the pocket and pick defenses apart just make that a rule and give them a time limit to throw the football or else the closest defensive player to him gets credit for a sack. Or maybe you can just put some flags on the quarterback and instead of tackling him and trying to get some moron referee to try and interpret a rule a defensive player just has to pull a flag off him for him to be down.

I understand that the NFL has to find ways to make the game safer in hopes that the media will stop trying to persecute them for every injury that a player gets, but while they’re trying to do this they have to make sure that they don’t ruin the game that people grew up watching. Sadly for the NFL they haven’t been able to find that line and they’re ruining the game that I grew up loving and playing and they’ve gotten me to the point where I don’t even want to watch it anymore.

I’d be very interested to know your thought on the NFL two weeks into this new season. Is it something you still enjoy watching? and if so why? Please feel free to leave your comments here for me.

Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays just won his 20th game of the season last night and has to be the front runner for the American League Cy young award, but it will be an interesting vote. Sabermetricly wins don’t mean anything; so that could really hurt Snell in the voting depending on how many Sabermetric people have ballots this season.

I don’t understand why wins no longer mean anything or maybe Sabermetrics look at it as just luck like I’ve heard them say about RBI’s. The more I hear people talk about Sabermetrics the less I understand about it and I have to start questioning the value it actually has when it comes to measuring a player. One of the first things Sabermetrics did was discount batting average and introduce WAR which is a stat that you can actually adjust to get it to say what you want it to. So now two of the three stats that compromise the Triple Crown don’t mean anything in the Sabermetric world. I guess that explains why they where pushing Mike Trout over J.D. Martinez for American League MVP even though Martinez has a chance to win a Triple Crown.

I’m done trying to figure it out.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that you can also listen to the podcast anytime you want at TuneIn.com.

Feel free to look me up on Twitter @Burketime.

How was your week

Posted: September 15, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Well the second week of the NFL season just kicked off and I’m already confused by who teams are. I mean the Baltimore Ravens came out of the gate in Week 1 and just destroyed the Buffalo Bills while the Cincinnati Bengals had to find a way to make a comeback to get their win over the Indianapolis Colts. With both teams rolling into Thursday nights game it looked as though the Ravens where the better team after one week.  That all went out the window as the Bengals cruised to an easy 34-23 victory. I guess it’s just going to be one of those seasons.

I know the NFL was hoping for a close game being that it was Thursday night, but this one wasn’t. Cincinnati jumped out to a 21-0 lead and I’m sure there where quite a few people who turned the game off and found something else to watch like I did. You have to think that the only people who stayed with the game where Bengals fans and people who had money in the game.

To be fair the Ravens did try to make a game out of it and actually cut the Bengals lead to 5 points at 28-23 on a Joe Flacco to John Brown touchdown pass at the start of the 4th quarter. Cincinnati added a field goal giving Baltimore a chance to tie the game with another touchdown and a 2-point conversion, but Flacco fumbled while being sacked with the Bengals getting the recovery. One more field goal by Cincinnati got the game to it’s final score of 34-23.

Now fantasy wise it was a good night to be playing either Flacco or Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton.

While Flacco did throw 2 interceptions and he also had that fumble he racked up 376 yards through the air with 2 touchdowns; he even ran for 8 yards. Dalton didn’t throw for as many yards as Flacco did since his team was in the lead, but his total of 265 yards is very respectable. Of course when you add in his 4 touchdown passes it makes his night look much, much better.

Joe Mixon was in and out of the game with some injury concerns, but he still ran for 84 yards on 21 carries while catching 1 pass for 3 yards. There where no rushing touchdowns in the game making Mixon the only running back who was worth playing in fantasy.

If you paired A.J. Green up with Dalton in your fantasy league you week got off to a fantastic start. Green only went for 69 yards on 5 receptions, but 3 of those receptions where for touchdowns. Tyler Boyd also had a good fantasy day for his owner as he was the Bengals leading receiver with 6 catches and 91 yards with 1 touchdown. For Baltimore John Brown had 4 catches for 92 yards ad a touchdown while Michael Crabtree caught 5 passes for 56 yards. I’m not sure how many fantasy owners have Ravens tight end Mark Andrews or how many fantasy owners played Andrews, but he had the Ravens other receiving touchdown. Andrews totaled 3 receptions and 17 yards to go along with that touchdown.

If you have kicker on your fantasy team Baltimore’s Justin Tucker was one of the better kickers to have. Sadly Tucker only had one field goal attempt on Thursday, but he made it and it was from 55 yards out. Tucker also made both of is extra points. While Tucker is one of the top kickers in fantasy it might of been the night to go with Randy Bullock of the Bengals. Bullock made all 4 of his extra point attempts while connecting on both of his field goal tries as well. Bullock’s long field goal in the game was 40 yards.

I am lucky enough to have Green on one of my fantasy teams; so that team got off to a good start. I hope you had the right players in to start Week 2.

As far a our game picks got go for Week 2 Mr. Fantasy was the only one of the four of us who picked the Bengals to win. Schaumburg Stu, Dan the Man and I all thought Baltimore was going to win the game. To hear who else we’re picking to win tune I to Sports Time Radio Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. on BlogTalkRadio.com.

With just a shade over two weeks left to play in the baseball season you have to think that the Washington Nationals will be happy when it’s done. With just a .500 record of 74-74 the Nationals have easily been the most disappointing team in baseball this season. Max Scherzer who along with rookie outfielder Juan Soto have been the only bright spots for the Nationals had his issues last night.

Scherzer came into last nights start against the Atlanta Braves he appeared to have the inside track on another Cy Young award which would the 4th of his career and his 3rd in a row. You have to wonder how much last nights start hurt Scherzer’s chances.

In what may have been his worse start of the season Scherzer lasted just 4 inning against the Braves. He gave up 6 runs. all earned while giving up 7 hits, He did strikeout 6 batters, but he also walked 3 while hitting a batter. Scherzer took the loss making his record 17-7 on the season as the Braves easily beat his Nationals 10-5 last night. Scherzer also managed to throw 102 pitches in his 4 innings of work.

Soto who I mentioned earlier is in a battle for the Rookie of the Year award with Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna and this is looking like it it’s going to be a close race.

Soto hit his 20th home run of the season last night off of Braves starter Kevin Gausman. That home run makes Soto only the third teenager o major league history to reach the 20 home run plateau. Soto Joins teammate Bryce Harper who hit 22 home runs as a 19 year old in 2012 and Tony Conigliaro who hit 24 home runs in 1964 before turning 20 years old that season. It looks like Soto will have a chance to set a new home run record for teenagers.

Acuna also helped his case for Rookie of the Year in last nights game. Acuna went 3 for 4 with a double and a triple, both off of Scherzer. Acuna also drove in 2 runs while scoring 2 runs. With the night he had Acuna improved his batting average to .297.

It’s going to be neck and neck for the NL Rookie of the Year award and these final couple of weeks may determine who wins the award.

If you had a vote, who would you cast it for?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is available for you to listen to ay tie you want at TuneIn.com.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week

Posted: September 1, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Yesterday was the end of the second trading deadline in Major League Baseball and there was quite a bit of action as teams tried to add players to fill the needs they think they have as they get ready to make a run for the playoffs. We’ve explained a couple of times how players are traded after July 31st; so we’re not going to get into that. Humorously players can still be traded, but if they’re dealt now they won’t be eligible for post season play.

Let’s take a look and see who went where.

The New York Yankees started the trade frenzy as they acquired former National League MVP Andrew McCutchen from the San Francisco Giants. The Yankees sent two minor leaguers infielder Abiatal Avelino and right handed pitcher Juan De Paula.

After spending the first nine years of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates he was dealt to San Francisco in the off season. He made the move to right field this season and in the 128 games he’s played out there he’s made just two errors. McCutcheon has Appeared in  130 games for the Giants this season. He’s hitting .255 with 15 home runs and 55 RBI’s and has stole 13 bases.

Since Aaron Judge has been injured the Yankees have played Giancarlo Stanton, Neil Walker and Shane Robinson in right field; so it appears McCutcheon will take over as the full time right fielder for New York. Clint Frazier may have been an option to fill in for Judge, but he’s injured as well and has just started a rehab assignment. McCutcheon still has the ability o play all three outfield positions; so if and when Judge returns he’ll still be a useful piece for the Yankees.

The Yankees also went out and pick up an insurance policy in the infield as they acquired shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria from the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Hechavarria actually started the season in the American League East as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. After being designated for assignment by the Rays the Pirates made a trade for him. He played just 15 games for Pittsburgh. Hechavarria has always been considered a quality defensive player who wasn’t going to hit much. This season combined he played in 76 games and is hitting .254 with 4 home runs and 29 RBI’s. He has a .987 fielding percentage at shortstop this season as he’s committed just three errors.

With Didi Gregorius working his way back from injury Gleybar Torres has taken over at shortstop full time. Adding Hechavarria the Yankees have a quality defensive shortstop they can use until Gregorius is 100% healthy and Torres can slide back over to 2nd base if they choose. They could also use Hechavvaria as a late inning defensive replacement.

The Yankees weren’t the only contender to make two deals yesterday. The Los Angeles Dodgers also made two deals while the Milwaukee Brewer made three deals.

In their first deal the Dodgers sent minor league right hander Andrew Istler to the Washington Nationals for reliever Ryan Madson. The Dodgers also went out and got David Freese from the Pittsburgh Pirates for minor league infielder Jesus Valdez.

Madson is a quality bullpen arm with a lot of experience, but he’s had a down year for Washington. Madson is 2-5 this season with an ERA of 5.28 with 4 saves. Madson appeared in 49 games this season covering 44 1/3rd innings. If Madson is right he could be the set up guy the Dodgers need in front of Kenley Jansen.

Freese is another solid veteran add by the Dodgers. He spent the last three seasons with the Pirates where he played 1st and 3rd base for them. This season in 94 games Freese was hitting .282 with 9 home runs and 42 RBI’s. Freese brings a good bat off of the bench and provides the Dodgers with back up at the corner infield positions.

I’m not sure how many people remember this, but Freese was the MVP of both the NLCS and the World Series back in 2011.

There was a lot of talk about the Brewers adding a starting pitcher before the deadline and not only did they do that, but they also added a bullpen arm and a veteran outfielder.

Milwaukee sent KJ Harrison who’s done some catching, but has mostly been used at DH this season and infielder Gilbert Lara to the Washington Nationals for left hander Gio Gonzalez.

Gonzalez is a former 20-game winner who like a lot of Nationals is having a down season in 2018. In 27 starts he’s 7-11 with an ERA of 4.57 over 127 2/3rd innings. Gonzalez will take his turn in the rotation. Since becoming a full time starting pitcher in 2010 Gonzalez has made 30 plus starts every year, but one and he should hit 30 or more starts again this season. Milwaukee will be looking for Gonzalez to be more the pitcher he was in 2017 when he posted an ERA of 2.97.

The Brewers not only added a left hander to the rotation they also added one to the bullpen as hey acquired Xavier Cedeno from the Chicago White Sox. It’s unclear what the White Sox will be getting in return for Cedeno, but I’m guessing it’s a player to be named later or cash.

Cedeno has appeared in 33 games for the White Sox his season. He’s 2-0 with 1 save and an ERA of 2.84 over 25 1/3rd innings. With Dan Jennings possibly injuring his knee in a rundown of all things Cedeno is the perfect guy to fill that role if Jennings misses any time.

Milwaukee wrapped up their trade frenzy by picking up veteran outfielder Curtis Granderson from the Toronto Blue Jays for minor league outfielder Demi Orimoloye. Toronto is also sending Milwaukee $5 million dollars to help cover the remainder of Granderson’s 2018 salary.

Granderson is in his 15th major league season; his 13th as a full time player. He’s hi 40 plus homer twice in his career and while he no longer has that type of power he still is a versatile outfielder who can play all three outfield spots.

Granderson has appeared in 104 games for the Blue Jays this season. He’s hitting .245 with 11 home runs with 35 RBI’s. Granderson should give the Brewers a veteran left handed bat off the bench who can spell any of their outfielders if needed.

Toronto made another move as they found a taker for injured 3rd baseman Josh Donaldson. Oddly Donaldson ended up going to a team that wasn’t mentioned in any of the rumors involving him the Cleveland Indians.

The Blue Jays will get a player to be named later, but there was an attachment that said “of some value” for Donaldson and just like in their other deal the Blue Jays send some cash t the Indians to help cover some of Donaldson’s salary.

This is easily the biggest risk reward deal that was made at the deadline. If Donaldson is healthy the Indians are getting a former MVP who not only has big power, but is a top defender. Now id he’s not healthy the Indians might just be getting the guy who hit .234 in 36 games earlier this season.

With the lead the Indians have on the AL Central there’s no need for Donaldson to come in a produce immediately as this is more a move for the post season.

You’d have to think that a healthy Donaldson would take over at 3rd base full time bumping the Indians current MVP candidate Jose Ramirez to 2nd base with Jason Kipnis dropping into a utility role.

So there you go. Which team do you think made the best deal? And how do you think this affects the division or playoff races?

Don’t forget that you can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but the podcast is also available or you to listen to any time you want at TuneIn.com.

Also feel free to look me up on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week

Posted: August 25, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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If you’re a fan of the Cincinnati Reds are you wondering hat the team is doing. The Reds where a wild card team in 2013, but have seem to be in rebuild mode ever since and I’m not sure how close they are to being a contender. So when they had a chance to make a couple of trades before the August 31st deadline it was a bit of a surprise that they didn’t pull the trigger.

It’s been reported that Matt Harvey and Billy Hamilton where claimed by teams after the Reds put them on revocable waivers. Now instead of trying to work out a deal with the team or teams that claimed Harvey and Hamilton the Reds decided to pull them back of waivers which means they’ll be with Cincinnati for the rest of the season.

The Reds sent Devin Mesoraco to the New York Mets for Harvey earlier in the season and while he’s pitched much better for the Reds than he did for the Mets; I’m not sure why the Reds didn’t try to get a deal done with the team that claimed him.

Harvey has made 18 starts for the Reds this season. He is 6-5 with a ERA of 4.14 over 95 2/3rd innings. While with the Mets Harvey appeared in 8 games; 4 of which here starts. He was 0-2 with an ERA of 7.00 over 27 innings.

At one point I time Harvey was looked at as a top of the rotation starter, but after an injury on 2016 Harvey has had trouble getting back to that pitcher everyone thought he’d be. His time with the Reds has been the best he’s pitched since 2016.

Now Harvey is a free agent at the end of the season and maybe the Reds are interested in resigning him and it’s possible that they thought if they traded him it would be more difficult for them to bring him back. Resigning Harvey is probably going to be a problematic anyway. Harvey is a Scott Boras client and even though Harvey’s career has been on a downward path you know that Boras is going to try to spin it; like a good agent should, but will he price Harvey out of the market. This will be Harvey’s first go-round in free agency and at 29 years old it will be interesting to see how many teams will pursue him and how many years they’ll be willing to go.

Now the reports where that it was the Milwaukee Brewers that claimed Harvey on waivers. Milwaukee ha a good farm system; so that make it even more baffling why the Reds didn’t try to work out a trade. It could be something as simple as they didn’t want to send him to a team in their own division, but at this point of the season I don’t know why that would be an issue.

Harvey now knows that he’ll be with Cincinnati for the rest of this season. We’ll have to wait until the off season to see if he returns or if he signs somewhere else as a free agent in the off season.

Hamilton is another interesting case for the Reds. At the start of the 2018 season there was talk that Hamilton wasn’t going to be an everyday player for the Reds, but he’s played in 123 of Cincinnati’s 129 games this season.

Hamilton has never hit for a high average; he’s hitting .236 this season and he’s never been a power guy as he has just 3 home runs this season. What Hamilton brings to a team is speed and defense. Hamilton has never stolen less than 50 bases in any full season he’s played, but he’s going to have a tough time getting to 50 this season. Hamilton has 29 stolen bases right now.

I’m sure the Reds had hoped that Hamilton would develop into a lead off hitter they could have at the top of their line up for years to come, but with his low batting average, high strikeout totals and not being someone who draws walks Hamilton has been hitting at the bottom of the Reds order this season.

Unlike with Harvey it’s unclear which team put in a waiver claim on Hamilton; so there could be many reason why the Reds decided to hang out to him.

Hamilton is making $4.6 million dollars this season and will be heading into arbitration for the first time in his career; so there’s a chance that the Reds could deal him in the off season where they’ll have more time to talk to another team.

Do you see Hamilton and Harvey wearing Reds uniforms next season?

Does it seem like the San Francisco Giants lose more big name players to injuries than any other team? Or is it just me.

You can add former MVP, Rookie of the Year and 6-time All-Star Buster Posey to that list as he will miss the rest of the season as he’ll undergo surgery to repair his hip.

With the Giants falling to four games under .500 and the NL West starting to get away from them it’s a good a time a any for Posey to have the hip procedure; so he can start his rehab.

Posey was hitting .284 this season, but his power numbers where way down as he had just 5 home runs this season. You have to wonder if the hip issues had an affect on his power. Posey had driven in 41 runs and even with his hip issues he had caught in 88 games this season.

There has been talk for a few years about the Giants getting Posey out from behind the plate and into another position full time. There was some talk a few seasons ag about Posey possibly transitioning into the outfield, but he’s never played a game out there in his major league career. There was also some talk of trying Posey at 3rd base, but that’s another position he’s never played at the major league level. Posey however has played 1st base 225 times in his major league career.

1st base looks like to would be a natural transition for Posey; like Joe Mauer did with the Minnesota Twins five seasons ago. The problem the Giants have that the Twins didn’t have is that San Francisco has a quality 1st baseman in Brandon Belt. Belt has played both of the corner outfield positions in his career; mostly leftfield and you’d have to think that would be the move the Giants make if Posey has to change positions.

Is it time for Posey to make the more to a different position? If so; what position do you see him switching to?

Remember that you can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that you can listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com.

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: August 22, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, college football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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I think by now it’s clear that the 2018 season has been a huge disappointment for the Washington Nationals. The Nationals have made the post season four of the last five season, but it doesn’t appear that they’re going to get their this season. It now looks as though the Nationals themselves have thrown the towel in on the 2018 season as they dealt two of their veteran players yesterday and no one of them wasn’t Bryce Harper.

Washington sent 2nd baseman Daniel Murphy to the Chicago Cubs for Class A infielder Andruw Monasterio and either cash considerations or a player to be named later. The Nationals will also send an undisclosed amount of cash to the Cubs in the deal.

Due to injury Murphy has played in just 56 games this season. It took Murphy a little time to get going this season, but his batting average is now at .300. Murphy has 17 hits in his last 47 at bats which is a .362 batting average.

Murphy is also a proven post season player. In 24 career post season games Murphy is hitting .323 with 8 home runs and 19 RBI’s. Murphy was the 2015 NLCS MVP.

Murphy is also a versatile player which fits in well with the rest of his new teams roster. Murphy has played 1st and 2nd this season, but has also played some 3rd base and leftfield in his career.

It’s clear that the Cubs acquired Murphy for his bat as their offense has really been struggling lately, but he’ll also add some veteran leadership with post season experience.

In adding Murphy it has brought up some questions about former MVP and Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant. Bryant hasn’t played since July 23rd as he went on the disabled list with left shoulder inflammation. There have been reports that Bryant is behind in his recovery as he is only hitting soft toss and doesn’t have full mobility of his shoulder. Originally Bryant was expected to return at the beginning of September, but that may be pushed back.

In another move the Nationals sent Matt Adams back to the team that he started his major league career with the St. Louis Cardinals. There where some conflicting reports here as some have said that the two teams agree on a deal and other have reported that the Cardinals claimed Adams on waivers and the Nationals just let him go. Either way Adams is now with the Cardinals.

In 94 games with the Nationals Adams hit .257 with 18 home runs and 48 RBI’s. Adams needs just to more home runs to tie his career high set last season.

Adams spent five plus seasons with the Cardinals before they traded him to the Atlanta Braves last season. Adams signed with the Nationals as a free agent this past off season.

It’s been reported that the Cardinals where interested in Adams mainly as a left handed bat off of the bench as a pinch hitter, but he has the ability to play 1st base and either corner outfield spot. To open up space for Adams on their 40-man roster the Cardinals moved Dexter Fowler to the 60-day disabled list and they sent Patrick Wisdom to Triple-A Memphis.

Of course since it’s the Nationals everyone wants to know about Bryce Harper. While Harper was placed on waivers he didn’t make it through. Instead of trying to work out a deal with the team that claimed Harper the Nationals simple removed him from waivers. While team that make claims on players aren’t announced it has been speculated that it was the Los Angeles Dodgers that made the claim on Harper. By placing Harper on and them removing him from waivers it means that he’ll be with the Nationals for the remainder of the 2018 season.

With 9 days left for teams to still make deals you have to wonder if the Nationals will make any more moves or if will see any other players get dealt.

While the Cubs where adding Murphy they where also losing a piece to their starting rotation.

The Cubs announced yesterday that Yu Darvish will miss the remainder of the season with a stress reaction in his right elbow. Darvish was already on the disabled list because of a right tricep strain.

Darvish was the Cubs big free agent signing this past off season as he inked a 6 year $126 million dollar deal. The first year of that deal didn’t go well for the Cubs or Darvish. He made just 8 starts covering 40 innings. He was 1-3 with an ERA of 4.95. He walked 21 batters while striking out 49.

While the Cubs where adding Murphy and losing Darvish on the other side of Chicago the White Sox where getting a peak at what they hope is a bright future as Michael Kopech took the mound in his first major league start.

It seem as though everyone wanted to see Kopech pitch except mother nature. Kopech worked two scoreless innings before the rain came in and caused a 52 minute delay. After the long delay the White Sox decided that Kopech’s debut was done.

All in all Kopech pitched 2 innings gave up 3 hits and struck out 4 while throwing 52 pitches; 35 of which where strikes.

There was no announcement made on Kopech’s next start, but if the White Sox stay with a 5-man starting rotation Kopech’s turn should come up again Sunday against the Detroit Tigers.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not as big of a fan of college football as I used to be, but I guess I haven’t been paying much attention because the season actually starts this weekend.

I did see that the first set of rankings came out and I wasn’t shocked at all to see that Alabama was ranked #1. The ret of the Top 5 looks like this. Clemson is #2, Ohio State is #3, Georgia is #4 and Oklahoma rounds out the Top 5. I’m not sure if these rankings came out before there was an issue at Ohio State with their head coach Urban Meyer.

Will Alabama be the team winning it all in the end? Or do you have someone else as champion?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that you can also listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com.

Look me up on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week

Posted: August 18, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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I think it’s pretty easy to pick out the Washington Nationals as the most disappointing team in baseball this season. The Nationals have been hanging around .500 most of the season; they are currently 62-61 which puts them 7 games back of the National League East leading Atlanta Braves. There are a lot of questions that Washington has to answer down the stretch.

Will this be the only season that Dave Martinez is the manager? Martinez signed a three year deal to replace Dusty Baker who had guided the Nationals to the NL East title the in the only two seasons he was the manager. When the Nationals didn’t renew Baker’s contract they mentioned how they where interested in a younger manager who would relate better with today’s players and Martinez seemed to have the resume they where looking for.

Martinez started as a spring training instructor for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2006 and 2007. In December of 2007 Martinez was hired as the Rays bench coach. While Martinez had a few managerial interviews during his stint as the Rays bench coach it appeared as though his best chance to get hired as a manager was when Joe Maddon left Tampa Bay to take the Chicago Cubs manager’s job. Martinez was one of three finalist for the Rays job, but Tampa Bay decided to hire Kevin Cash. After not getting the Tampa Bay job Martinez announced that he’d be leaving Tampa Bay. In December of 2014 Martinez signed on with Maddon to be the Cubs bench coach which was the position he was holding when the Nationals hired him.

Martinez has always been looked at as a future manager and it looked as though he found one of if not the best landing spot possible with the Nationals, but it hasn’t worked out this season. With two years left o his contract; does Washington give Martinez another season to show his managerial skill? Or will they make a change?

One of the main goals Washington had hoped to accomplish with Martinez as their manager besides wining a World Series was to convince Bryce Harper to re-sign with them.

Even though Harper is having what has to be considered a down year he’ll still be one of the most sought after free agents this off season. Harper’s batting average has been on heading in the right direction lately as he is now up to .248. While the average may be down the power has been there all season. Harper has 30 home runs to go along with 23 doubles. He has a good chance to surpass his career high of 42 home runs that he hit in 2015 when he was the NL MVP.

As the Nationals have failed to make up ay ground in the NL East the rumors have started that Harper could be traded. As I’m sure you know the trade deadline was July 31st, but teams can still make deals until August 31st as long as a player is put on waivers.

I’ve never understood how these things get started, but there was an un-named (no surprise there) General Manger who stated that Harper would end up with the Philadelphia Phillies. While it’s an interesting scenario and Philadelphia has been predicted by many already as Harper’s landing spot as a free agent this off season I don’t think will see this trade happen.

What kind of deal could the Nationals get for Harper? If you where going to trade a superstar like Harper you’d need to get quite a few big time prospects for him. What team is going to give that up for just a month and a half of having Harper on their team. Imagine if the Phillies gave up two or three of their young starting pitchers and maybe someone like J.P. Crawford who’s had an injury plaque rookie season, but I looked at as a top prospect for Harper and then he signs somewhere else in the off season. I wonder how the Philadelphia fans would react to that.

When rumors like these come out they also seem to forget that the Nationals have stated that they would like to re-sign Harper. I seriously doubt if they traded him that he would sign with them as a free agent this off season.

While I don’t see Harper changing teams before August 31st I wouldn’t be surprised if Washington made some other moves.

Daniel Murphy is in the final year of his contract and finally looks to be fully healthy. Murphy’s batting average is over .300 after struggling after his return from the disabled list. Murphy is currently on a 10-game hitting streak that has seen his average jump 27 points.

Murphy’s bat could be an interesting add for a contender as he’s had post season success. Murphy is a .323 hitter in the post season and he also won the NLCS MVP in 2015 while with the New York Mets.

The Nationals might have some pitchers that could draw some interest. I don’t think that Kelvin Herrera or Ryan Madson would be moved since they’re both currently injured and the deadline is just 13 days away, but it is possible. It’s more likely that a team could be interested in adding a back of the rotation starter like Gio Gonzalez or even Jeremy Hellickson. All four of these players are in the final year of their contracts; so I don’t think the Nationals would get a ton in return for any of them, but they could get something for a player that they’re not going to be bringing back.

What do you see the Nationals doing?

Did bad luck just cost A.J. McCarron his opportunity to be the Buffalo Bills starting quarterback?

McCarron was signed to a two year $8.1 million dollar contract this off season and was looked at as the Bills starting quarterback until #1 draft pick Josh Allen was ready to take over.

McCarron made his start for the Bills Friday night against the Cleveland Browns. During the game McCarron suffered a hairline fracture of his collarbone and it appears that he’ll be out about 4 to 6 weeks. Even if McCarron was to return on the short end of his injury window he’d still miss the final two pre-season games and the first two regular season games.

Besides McCarron and Allen the Bills also have Nathan Peterman on their roster. Most people will remember Peterman from his 5 interception game last season against the San Diego Chargers.

While McCarron has never been a starting quarterback it appeared as though the Bills where going to give him that chance this season. You would have to think with this injury to McCarron that the Bills would turn to Allen as the starter and since he’s the future of the franchise there would be no really reason to go back to McCarron unless Allen was to get injured.

What do you think the Bills will do. Start Allen Week 1? Or let Peterman try to hold don the job for a few weeks until McCarron returns?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that you can also listen to the podcast whenever you’d like at TuneIn.com.

Feel free to look me p on Twitter @Burketime

 

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: August 15, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The NFL season is right around the corner; so hopefully you’ve started getting ready for your fantasy draft. Of course I’m sure there are quite a few fantasy players who have already had a draft; so I hope it went well for you. I did notice one thing as I was looking at the pre-draft rankings and that is the running back is back.

We have two 20 team leagues that we run through Yahoo.com and in their pre-draft rankings their Top 4 players are running backs. There are 6 running backs total in the Top 10 with the other four slots going to wide receivers. This is quite a turn of events from the last two or three seasons where the wide receivers dominated the Top 10. Now the question is; are you buying the change? and are you going to take a running back with your first pick?

Todd Gurley II of the Los Angeles Rams is ranked at #1 followed by Le’Von Bell of the Pittsburgh Steelers. David Johnson of the Arizona Cardinals is returning from an injury that allowed him to play in just 1 game last season, but he’s ranked at #3. Ezekiel Elliott of he Dallas Cowboys is another running back who missed some games last season, but that was due to a suspension. Elliott takes the 4th spot in the rankings. The other two running backs in the Top 10 are New York Giants rookie Saquon Barkely who comes in at #6. Right behind Barkley at #7 is New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara.

Those are the running backs that found their way into the Top 10, but there are two more running backs that just missed out. Kareem Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs is ranked at #11 and Melvin Gordon of the Los Angeles Chargers is ranked at #13.

It will be very interesting to see where these running backs come off the board during our draft and how many actually end up being picked in the 1st round.

Do you like the order that these running backs are ranked in? or would you have them in a different order?

As you start to breakdown the rankings with the running backs making a comeback another position would have to take a fall. It appears as though the quarterback position is the one that took the hit.

The Yahoo draft board is broken into 25 players and there’s not a quarterback on the first board. You actually have to go down to #36 before you’ll run into Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers headlines a group of seven quarterbacks who are ranked close. Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks is at #40, Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers is ranked at #42, you’ll find Tom Brady of the New England Patriots at #44, despite returning from a knee injury Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans is ranked at #48 and then it’s Drew Brees of the new Orleans Saints who’s ranked at #53 that end this pack.

The interesting thing with this is a healthy quarterback who plays in 16 games can rack up some points for you. While Wilson is ranked at #4o this season he was actually the second highest scorer overall in our league last season behind only Gurley II.

Looking back a little more at quarterback scoring from last season and you’ll find Brady was the 7th highest scorer in our league and he was followed by four other quarterbacks. Carson Wentz of the Philadelphia Eagles was 8th, Alex Smith is now with the Washington Redskins, but last season he was our leagues 9th highest scorer as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. Cam Newton filled out the Top 10 in our league at #10 while Phillip River of the Changers rolled in right behind him as the 11th highest scorer in our league.

There could be a lot of strategy in our league if you can get a player who’s going to end up in the Top 10 or maybe the Top 5 in scoring in the 3rd round or later.

Now we have two 20 teams leagues. One is an auction league and the other is a snake style drafting league. Like I mentioned we run them through Yahoo.com and they are both free. If you’re interested in joining here are the links to the leagues. The first link is the auction league; so the second link will be for the snake style draft league. The drafts are over the Labor Day weekend holiday; so make sure you’re available before joining.

https://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/210245/invitation?key=80a28bb46f9c54a2&soc_trk=lnk&ikey=9731ec491ee7e0d7

https://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/210333/invitation?key=afbdffc30a917caf&soc_trk=lnk&ikey=8523ae88376e8c05

Hope to see you in the leagues; good luck.

There have been a couple of more injuries that could impact a couple of playoff teams as the baseball season winds down.

Trevor Bauer of the Cleveland Indians went on the 10-day DL with a small stress fracture in his right fibula.

Bauer was hit in the leg by a comebacker in his last start. Bauer came out of the game after 6 1/3rd innings, but the Indians went on to get him his 12th win of the season as they beat the Chicago White Sox 3-1 on August 11th.

Fortunately the Indians have the largest lead of any division leader in baseball at 12 1/2 games; so they can be extra careful with Bauer and not rush him back.

The biggest issue the Indians face with Bauer is there has been no timetable set for his return. In a perfect world the Indians would get Bauer back in time for him to make a coupe for starts before the Indians head into the post season, but will have to wait and see how his recovery goes.

The Seattle Mariners swept the Houston Astros in a four game series last weekend and had gotten themselves back into the hunt or a wild card spot. Then the Mariners got to add Robinson Cano back onto their roster last night after serving an 80 game suspension. Just while things where seemingly looking up for the Mariners it might have all came crashing down just three hitters into last nights game.

Jed Lowrie of the Oakland A’s was the 3rd batter to face James Paxton last night. Lowrie hit a line drive that went off of Paxton’s left arm. Paxton was removed from the game and luckily the x-rays where negative, but it looks as though Paxton will have to go on the 10-day DL.

Felix Hernandez came out of the Mariners bullpen for the first time in his career to replace Paxton. Hernandez went 5 2/3rd innings in relief, He gave up 2 runs on 5 hits while walking 2 and striking out 2. Hernandez was also he losing pitcher as the A’s beat the Mariners 3-2 last night. That was the second straight game the A’s have beat the Mariners. Seattle now finds itself 4 1/2 games behind the AL West leading Astros and they are now 3 1/2 games behind the A’s for the second American League wild card spot.

The Mariners ad the A’s wrap up their 3-game series this afternoon and if Paxton is going to have to make a trip to the DL the Mariners really needs salvage at least one game in this series. Mike Leake is making the start for Seattle while Oakland is starting Brett Anderson.

Can the Mariners stay in contention with Paxton out? and is it Hernandez who fills that rotation spot?

Yo can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but you can also listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com.

Don’t forget to look for me on Twitter @Burketime

 

 

How was your week

Posted: August 11, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The last thing that any playoff or World Series contender wants to deal at this point of the season is a serious injury to one of their key players. Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Dodgers this is what they’re going to have to deal with.

Yesterday the Dodgers placed their closer Kenley Jansen on the 10-day disabled list with and irregular heartbeat. Estimates have Jansen out about a month.

Jansen has converted 32 of his 35 save chances this season. He is 0-3 with an ERA of 2.15. His 32 saves ties Jansen with Wade Davis of the Colorado Rockies for the most in the National League.

Jansen was hospitalized after the Dodgers/Rockies game on Thursday, but he was released and allowed to travel from Denver back to Los Angeles; where he will undergo more tests. This isn’t the first time that Jansen has had to deal with an irregular heartbeat. Jansen missed about of month of the season back in 2011 and 2012 when he had this same issue. After the 2012 season Jansen underwent a surgical procedure to attempt to resolve the problem.

While this isn’t the first time Jansen has had to deal with this issue; it’s also not the first time Jansen has had to deal with this issue in Colorado. Jansen’s irregular heartbeat  that occurred back in 2012 also happened while the Dodgers where on a road trip in Colorado. this brings up the question if the thin Mile High air is causing Jansen’s issues.

While first and foremost the most important thing is Jansen heart and his health, but the Dodgers have to continue their road trip in Colorado and they’ll have to do so without one of the best closers in baseball.

With Jansen not at the end of the game on Thursday it was Scott Alexander who ailed down the save in a Dodgers 8-5 win in Colorado. It was Alexander’s 2nd save of the season. There was no save opportunity last night for the Dodgers as they dropped a 5-4 game to the Rockies. Zac Rosscup gave up a couple of runs in the 6th innings and took the loss, but both Dylan Floro and John Axford had scoreless outings in the game.

The question now is who will the Dodgers use to close games? Will they try to use the closer by committee? Or will Alexander get a shot at the job? There are some other options in the Dodgers bullpen, but the only one with full time closing experience is Axford. Caleb Ferguson and Josh Fields each have 2 saves this season, but Ferguson has picked up his saves by pitching more than 3 innings in a game and Fields just start a 6 week rehab program as he recovers from shoulder inflammation. Floro has been a big plus for the Dodgers bullpen as a set up man as he is 1-0 with an ERA of 1.93 in 13 games; so he could be an options, but he’s never been a closer.

Of course there s a chance that the Dodgers could find a closer on the trade market; if that player has made it through or can get through waivers, but who could they go get.

Since Fernando Rodney was just traded from the Minnesota Twins to the Oakland A’s yesterday; he’s off the Dodgers list. I’m guessing if the Dodgers had their choice they’d try to land Raisel Iglesias of the Cincinnati Reds. Iglesias is 28 years old and has converted 22 of his 25 save chances this season. He is 1-1 with an ERA of 2.52 in 46 games this season. The other closer available would probably be Shane Greene of the Detroit Tigers. Greene has converted 24 of his 27 saves chances this season, but has an ERA of 4.13 while going 2-5 in 49 games. There’s also Kyle Barraclough of the Miami Marlins. Barraclough didn’t start the season as the Marlins and has had some issues at the end of games as he is 0-5 with an ERA of 3.75 in 51 games. Barraclough has also blown 6 of the 16 save chances he’s had this season.

Those look like they could be the top closer on the trade market right now, but I think there might be kind of an off the wall option for the Dodgers. Now bare with me here, but what about the Dodgers using Julio Urias to close out games.

Urias has been recovering from shoulder surgery, but just made his season debut pitching 1 2/3rd innings in the Arizona Rookie League last Saturday. Urias topped out at 94 mph on the radar gun while striking out four of the six batters he faced and giving up a hit. Urias did work another 1 2/3rd last night for Rancho Cucamonga which is the Dodgers High Class-A team. Urias gave up 1 run on 3 hits while walking 1 and striking out 2.

There where plans to call Urias up on September 1st and have him pitch out of the bullpen; so why not do it earlier if he shows that he’s healthy. Now this may not be the best idea and there is a chance that the Dodgers wouldn’t want to have Urias pitch on back to back days like a closer might have to, but with the trade market looking weak at this point of the season it gives them an internal option I’m not sure a lot of people thought they’d have.

The Dodgers are currently tied for 1st place in the National League West with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Oakland A’s have surged into the second wild card spot in the American League as they’ve been one of if not the best team in baseball over the last month of the season. Oakland currently has a 1 1/2 lead over the Seattle Mariners for that second American League wild card spot and it’s a bit of a surprise they’re here.

When you look at Oakland’s starting rotation you wouldn’t think that this is a playoff team as due to injuries they have used 13 different starters this season. While the A’s expected Sean Manaea to be a big part of their rotation this season they also expected Daniel Mengden, Andrew Triggs and Kendall Graveman to be in he rotation. Graveman was the opening day starter, but both he and Mendgen where ineffective and are now in the minors while Triggs is on the 60-day disabled list with a right tricep strain. The A’s have also been without two more of their young starting pitchers Jharel Cotton and Daniel Gossett. Both pitchers are recovering from Tommy John surgery and aren’t expected back until next season. You can also add Paul Blackburn to that list as he made 6 starts this season before winding up on the disabled list with right elbow epicondylitis. There’s a chance Blackburn could return at the end of this month.

Looking at that list you’d think there’s no way the A’s would be in contention for a playoff spot, but here they are. How did they do it? Well they’ve gotten contribution from some unlikely veteran starters.

Trevor Cahill is 4-2 with a 3.13 ERA in 13 starts. Edwin Jackson is 3-2 with a 2.87 ERA in 8 starts and while Brett Anderson’s ERA is a little high at 4.64 he’s 2-3 over 9 starts. Frankie Montas has also filled in nicely going 5-3 with a 3.75 ERA in 10 starts. Oakland has tried to bolster their starting rotation by adding Mike Fiers who’ made one start for them. Fiers pitched 5 1/3rd innings and got a no-decision. He gave up 1 run and 4 hits while striking out 8.

Now to back up what you wouldn’t call a stellar starting rotation the A’s added bullpen arms through the trade market.

Oakland was the team that stepped up and added Jeurys Familia from the New York Mets. When Shawn Kelley had a bit of a meltdown and was designated for assignment by the Washington Nationals it was the A’s that picked him up in a deal. Then yesterday they went out and struck a deal with the Minnesota Twins for Fernando Rodney.

Familia and Rodney where both shutdown closers at points in their careers, but both have experience as set up men while Kelley has always had a big time arm. You add these three veterans to a bullpen that features closer Blake Treinen who has a sub 1 ERA (0.93)and 29 saves plus set up man Lou Trivino who’s 8-1 with an ERA of 1.29 in 46 games with 4 saves and you’ve got a dangerous bullpen come October.

If the A’s find a way to win the wild card game and their starting pitching can keep them in playoff games early; how big of a threat are they in the American League?

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is also available for you to listen to whenever you want at TuneIn.com.

Don’t forget to look me up on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: August 8, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Before you know it the NFL regular season is going to be starting and there are two top defensive lineman that have still not reported to their teams training camps. Both players are looking for new contracts and there has been some talk that one could actually be traded. Let’s see what we can figure out.

Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams is scheduled to make a little over $2.5 million dollars in the final year of his rookie contract. That’s quite a deal the Rams are getting for a player who has been recognized as the best defensive tackle in the NFL.

Donald played in and started 14 games last season. He recorded 11 sacks an forced 5 fumbles last season. Over his four seasons Donald has made 148 tackles to go with 56 assists; he also has 39 sacks and has forced 9 fumbles recovering 2 of them.

Believe it or not Donald is actually the 14th highest paid player on the Rams and is even scheduled to make less than punter Johnny Hekker going into this season.

Donald has an estimated market value of $18.9 million dollars, but would the Rams be willing to meet that number in a contract?

It will be interesting to see if and when Donald reports to camp. It seems right now the Rams hold all of the cards. Even if Donald holds out into the season if the Rams decide they want to keep him they have the option of putting the franchise tag on him next off season.

Do you see the Rams and Donald agreeing on a contract?

The other hold out is Oakland Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack who is also in the final year of his rookie contract and is scheduled to make just under $4.7 million dollars this season.

It’s become an interesting situation because obviously Mack wants more money, but his production has been down the last couple of seasons. Mack posted a career high 15 sacks in 2015. That total dropped to 11 in 2016 and 10 1/2 last season. Now those 10 1/2 sacks did lead the Raiders last season, but it’s not quite the numbers an elite defensive end puts up.

As of late there have been some that the Raiders are “open for business” when it comes to Mack. That more or less means that they would be willing to listen to trade offers for the defensive end. Even though these reports have said that the Raiders are willing to listen they also say that there is a very slim chance that a trade would actual happen.

It looks as though in the end the Raiders and Mack will agree on a new deal. Mack has come out and said that he wants a contract comparable to Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller. In 2016 Miller signed a 6-year $114.5 million dollar contract with Denver. If the Raiders see Mack as a talent like Miller then it should be a simple negotiation, but do the Raiders see him as that type of a player?

What do you have the Raiders doing with Mack? Will he get a new deal or will they actually trade him?

It hasn’t been made official yet, but there is suppose to be an announcement by the NBA later today, but it looks as though we’re going to get to see the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day.

The Warriors/Lakers game will be headlining a Christmas Day line up that has four there games on the schedule.

Besides LeBron James visiting the defending champions will get to see the Philadelphia 76ers taking on the Boston Celtics. We also get the Milwaukee Bucks against the New York Knicks, the Utah Jazz against the Portland Trailblazers and the Houston Rockets against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Yes it is just August, but this set of games especially the Warriors/Lakers game is going to be talked about like it’s happening tomorrow and in some cases it already is being talked about like that.

Which on of these games are you most looking forward to on Christmas Day?

While we’re on the NBA it appears as though Carmelo Anthony and the Houston Rockets have verbally agreed to a contract.

The 34 year old Anthony played with the Oklahoma City Thunder last season in what turned out to be the worst season of his career. Anthony averaged a career low 16.2 points per game He shot 43.7% on 2-pointers and 35.7% on 3-pointer for a combined shooting percentage of 40.4% last season. Anthony also grabbed 5.8 rebounder per game and handed out 1.3 assists per game.

In July Oklahoma City traded Anthony to the Atlanta Hawks who subsequently released him. Not surprisingly Anthony cleared waiver and became eligible to sign with any team.

Anthony has stated that he doesn’t want to come off of the bench, but that might be where he finds himself with the Rockets. It appears as though Anthony will be asked to pick up some of the offense that Trevor Ariza did last season. Ariza signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Suns this off season.

While Ariza did leave Houston in free agency the Rockets where able to re-sign point guard Chris Paul and center Clint Capela. The Rockets also add 2014 Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams to add depth at guard.

Does pairing Anthony with James Harden and Chris Paul give the Rockets the trio they need to challenge Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference?

The Washington Nationals are still trying to get themselves into the race in the National League East. Washington has gotten over the .500 mark at 58-55 which outs them 6 games behind the East leading Philadelphia Phillies and 4 1/2 games out of a wild card spot.

Now the Nationals shipped off a couple of relievers for some interesting reason this past week. Brandon Kinztler was traded to the Chicago Cubs after there was a report that he was a clubhouse snitch; which apparently was untrue and then they dealt Shawn Kelley to the Oakland A’s after Washington had designated him for assignment after he acted childish when he was called upon to pitch in a blow out.

So being a couple of arms down the Nationals added some what they hope will be help to the bullpen by signing Greg Holland. Now Holland has had his struggles this season and ended up being released 7 days ago by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Can the Nationals get Holland right? He was 0-2 with an ERA of 7.92 with St. Louis. Holland made his first appearance yesterday for Washington. He pitched 1 inning; striking out 3 and walking 1 in Washington’s 8-3 win over Atlanta. Maybe getting off to a good start with the Nationals is what Holland needs.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but the podcast is also available for you to listen to any time you want at TuneIn.com.

Don’t forget to look me up on Twitter @Burketime

 

How was your week

Posted: August 4, 2018 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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As the baseball season heads into the home stretch there’s been a lot of talk about which teams have the best chance to win the World Series, but there hasn’t been a lot of talk about who might win what award. Earlier in the week I did see a pole on who might win the MVP award in each league, but there was nothing about the other three big awards; so I thought we could take a look at those.

The National League Cy Young has quite a few contenders for it right now, but I’m going to try and cut it down to the Top 5.

Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets is going to get some well deserved votes, but I don’t think he’ll get enough to win the award. In 22 starts deGrom is just 5-7, but has an ERA of 1.85 over 146 1/3rd innings. He has 173 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.97.

Aaron Nola has had a breakout year for the Philadelphia Phillies. Nola is 12-3 in 22 starts with an ERA of 2.35 over 142 innings. Nola has recorded 142 strikeouts and has a WHIP of 0.97. I don’t think Nola will win the Cy Young, but I’ll be interested to see where he finishes in the voting.

After spending the past three seasons pitching in Japan Miles Mikolas was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals and so far the move has paid off. Mikolas is 11-3 in 22 starts with an ERA of 2.75 over 137 1/3rd innings. Mikolas isn’t overpowering like some pitches on this list as he has just 97 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.08. So far it’s been an impressive return for Mikolas, but I don’t think he’s winning the Cy Young.

Zack Greinke is having a good season for the Arizona Diamondbacks as he is 12-6 in 23 starts with an ERA of 2.96 over 142 2/3rd innings. Greinke has struck out 148 hitters and has a WHIP of 1.04. Greinke is having a good season, but I think he’s going to come up a little short in the Cy Young voting.

Right now my Cy Young award winner is Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals. Scherzer is 15-5 in 23 starts with an ERA of 2.33 over 154 2/3rd innings. Scherzer has 210 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.91. This would be Scherzer’s 3rd NL Cy Young in a row and his 4th overall.

Just outside the Top 5 pitchers like Jon Lester, Sean Newcomb and maybe even Zach Godley have a chance to move up in the voting over the final two months of the season.

Over in the American League there are quite a few Cy Young contenders; so cutting it down to just a Top 5 was more difficult than I thought, but here’s what I came up with.

Last week I would’ve given this award to Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox, but with his recent trip to the disabled list I think he’s going to fall just short again. Sale is 11-4 with an 2.04 ERA in 22 starts covering 141 innings. He has struck out 207 hitters and has a WHIP of 0.87.

Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays is 12-5 with an ERA of 2.27 in 20 starts covering 119 innings. Snell has a WHIP of 1.07 and has struck out 134 batters. Snell returns from the disabled list tomorrow from Tampa Bay. It’s been a good year for Snell and while he’ll get some Cy Young votes his numbers don’t match up with the other contenders.

Justin Verlander has had a resurgence since being traded to the Houston Astros. He is 11-6 in 24 starts over 156 1/3rd innings with an ERA of 2.19. Verlander has a very good chance to pick up his 2nd career Cy Young award. Verlander has 204 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.88, but I think the problem is going to be that there are three Astros starters that are having good seasons and it looks as though they may cancel each other out.

Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians won his 2nd career Cy Young award last season and he’s in the running for the award again this season. Kluber is 13-6 in 22 starts with an ERA of 2.79 over 145 innings. Kluber has 139 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.94. Kluber is in a situation like Verlander. The Indians have another starter who has put up good numbers and that might hurt Kluber in the voting.

I think that Luis Severino of the New York Yankees is going to be the last guy standing in the end and will take home his 1st career Cy young award. Severino is 14-5 with an ERA of 3.08 in 23 starts covering 143 1/3rd innings. He has struck out 159 hitters and has a WHIP of 1.11. The voting should be close, but I think that Severino will sneak away with the award.

There are other pitcher who will get some votes and could improve their position over the final two moths of the season. Astros Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton are going to compete with Verlander for Cy Young votes just like Trevor Bauer of the Indians will compete with Kluber for votes. Rick Porcello of the Red Sox picked up a Cy Young award in 2016 while picking up 22 wins. He looks like he’s going to be a 20 game winner again; so he’ll get some votes as well.

Now there is almost two full months of baseball left to play; so there will be pitchers that step up and show they’re a contender for the Cy Young and then their will ne pitchers that fade down the stretch.

As of right now both races are very tight, but I’m going with Scherzer in the NL and Severino in the AL. Who do you have? Leave your pick in the comments.

I mentioned at the start of this blog that there was a poll for MVP done earlier in the week. Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves won a very close vote over Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies. Both guys are having good seasons and their team are in playoff contention; so I can understand that voting. What really confused me was the American League voting. Out of 30 voters Mike Trout got 25 of the 1st place votes.

I’m guessing these voters just picked Trout out of muscle memory. Trout is having a good season and deserves to get some MVP consideration. Trout’s team the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have fallen out of playoff contention which seems to affect every other player when it comes to MVP votes, but Trout has been immune to it. I’m under the impression that these voters just forgot to look at the season Mookie Betts is having for the team with the best record in base the Red Sox.

I’m very confused by this; so I’m hoping someone can help me out with this. Please leave me a comment and let me know if I’m off on the Mike Trout MVP debate.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that the podcast is available for you to listen to when ever you want at TuneIn.com.

You can also find me on Twitter @Burketime

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