The American League has fewer teams able to compete for a World Series berth. The Eastern Division has two heavyweights in the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox , the current World Series Champions, look well placed to make another run , great pitching , outstanding position players , they will be hard to stop. The Yankees have a fearsome lineup and will hit home runs for fun, but I wonder about their pitching, Severino has picked up an injury , but they have some talent in the farm system , and although they are not as happy to throw money at any problem as they used to be, they will be able to add if needs be. The Rays , as always, have young pitching that will see them be competitive, but they lack the depth to push the two behemoths too far. The Blue Jays will have one of the most anticipated young players making his MLB debut at some point this season, Vladimir Guerrero jr. If hits anything like his dad did for the Angels and Rangers they will have some player. The Orioles are likely to get beaten and beaten badly all year, they are at the very beginning of a rebuild. Division winners..... The Red Sox. The Central division is, barring minor miracles, the Cleveland Indians to lose. Out of the other four teams in this division only the Minnesota Twins have any chance of making the wild card let alone winning the title. The Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals are so far off being relevant it is untrue. They are all the rebuilding road. Division winners..... the Cleveland Indians. The Western division is pretty much like the Central. The Houston Astros are the team to beat here, they had so many bad years back to back,that , they got the no.1 pick in the draft several times and stacked their farm system with the best young talent that has blossomed together. Add to that some decent business in free agency and trade market and they have a rotation as good as most teams. They won the World Series two years ago. The Oakland Athletics (A’s) surprised many last year by reaching the playoffs via the wild card route and will be aiming to do at least that again. The have slugging and a fabulous bullpen. The Angels of Aneheim or LA Angels have the best player in baseball! Mike Trout, he of the $430 million contract fame. They don’t have the pitching to worry the Astros and at best will hope to challenge the A’s for a wild card spot.The Texas Rangers are still in a holding pattern, waiting for the pitching talent in their minor leagues teams to make the step up to the bigs. They have three starting pitchers coming back from major surgery and if they suffer any troubles it could be a long season. However if these three pitchers are anything like they were pre injury , the Rangers have some talented bats that could see them surprise people with a wild card push come the end of the season. The Seattle Mariners are another team in rebuild mode and will dream of better years to come. Division winners.... Houston Astros AL wild card. The New York Yankees and hopefully my team the Texas Rangers
As well as supporting the D-backs, I will root for any National League team rather than the AL. Don't know why, but AL teams always seem more flashy, but the NL teams are more my cup of tea.
The value in betting will be in the less well-supported teams. Although the Orioles look truly shocking.
As well as supporting the D-backs, I will root for any National League team rather than the AL. Don't know why, but AL teams always seem more flashy, but the NL teams are more my cup of tea.
The value in betting will be in the less well-supported teams. Although the Orioles look truly shocking.
The NL is the pure form, everybody hits. Not a fan of paying big bucks to a guy who sits on the bench and just swings the bat every nine outs. The art of manufacturing runs by base stealing and bunting the man over make a NL game more interesting, the AL wi
Gotta say the Phillies are looking good in the first few games. Bryce Harper 2 homers (singles) last night helped the Phillies run over a very poor looking Braves who have now walked 18 hitters in their first 3 games. I know the braves are desperate to get some experienced pitching staff (one was ejected last night after the home plate umpire decided he deliberately hit the batter, first pitch after Bryces second homer) and soon or its going to be a very long 6 months for Atlanta.
Gotta say the Phillies are looking good in the first few games. Bryce Harper 2 homers (singles) last night helped the Phillies run over a very poor looking Braves who have now walked 18 hitters in their first 3 games. I know the braves are desperate to get some experienced pitching staff (one was ejected last night after the home plate umpire decided he deliberately hit the batter, first pitch after Bryces second homer) and soon or its going to be a very long 6 months for Atlanta.
"Ejected", as in what we would call "sent off". How often does that occur in MLB?
Have to say, I've seen (on You Tube) quite a few free for alls when all thew players start fighting.
Yes Tony ejection is the same as being sent off although its not a regular thing in baseball. The ejection is often deemed sufficient punishment, however, MLB do have the power to suspend players if they feel the offence warrants it.
^ Nice to see a live game not hidden behind a paywall in the UK - Braves @ Nationals live on YouTube atm for anyone interested. Didn't realise they had these YouTube freebies so I'll have to keep an eye out for them in future.
Bump for any MLB fans in here (or anyone wanting to check out the sport) - 21 free games on YouTube this season, and coverage of the first YouTube "Game of the week" starts on Wednesday at 5:30pm GMT (Think the first pitch is at around 6pm).
Thanks @EvilPingu , I used to love watching baseball on ESPN, before it got bundled into the BT Sports package. Not paying another charge on top of what I already pay to Sky. Will tune in for this.
I can honestly say I didn't watch a single game after the fans were shut out due to the pandemic. Baseball is one of those games that needs the crowds to generate atmosphere plus also the betting markets were so overround there was no value, even on the spreads.
To be honest I was forced to decide between BT sports or Sky this year so it was NFL or MLB and Superleague or Moto GP.
Sky won with an amazing 18 month deal of all Sports and all Movies for £22 per month.
Shall deffo watch it on You Tube and try to stream it on BT via the firestick.
Thanks @EvilPingu , I used to love watching baseball on ESPN, before it got bundled into the BT Sports package. Not paying another charge on top of what I already pay to Sky. Will tune in for this.
I don't watch many games because of the paywall, but I always enjoy watching game highlights and clips on YouTube. Always nice to be able to see a full game without having to mess about with streams etc.
Btw, the MLB games on YouTube until the end of May are as follows:
Worth giving the MLB YouTube channel a follow so that they pop up on your homepage, and setting reminders for the notifications.
Thanks @EvilPingu , I used to love watching baseball on ESPN, before it got bundled into the BT Sports package. Not paying another charge on top of what I already pay to Sky. Will tune in for this.
I don't watch many games because of the paywall, but I always enjoy watching game highlights and clips on YouTube. Always nice to be able to see a full game without having to mess about with streams etc.
Btw, the MLB games on YouTube until the end of May are as follows:
Worth giving the MLB YouTube channel a follow so that they pop up on your homepage, and setting reminders for the notifications.
Shirley this just fancy rounders? got nothing on NHL
Fancy rounders with pads. Yet at its best absolutely thrilling.
And you can see the ball-unlike the puck in the NHL. Either that, or the warnings given to me as a child are starting to come true...
I have to admit hockey is not great on TV because of the difficulty seeing the puck, I used to love watching Hockey live and watched it on TV because of that plus the fights.....
Comments
The Eastern Division has two heavyweights in the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox , the current World Series Champions, look well placed to make another run , great pitching , outstanding position players , they will be hard to stop. The Yankees have a fearsome lineup and will hit home runs for fun, but I wonder about their pitching, Severino has picked up an injury , but they have some talent in the farm system , and although they are not as happy to throw money at any problem as they used to be, they will be able to add if needs be. The Rays , as always, have young pitching that will see them be competitive, but they lack the depth to push the two behemoths too far. The Blue Jays will have one of the most anticipated young players making his MLB debut at some point this season, Vladimir Guerrero jr. If hits anything like his dad did for the Angels and Rangers they will have some player. The Orioles are likely to get beaten and beaten badly all year, they are at the very beginning of a rebuild. Division winners..... The Red Sox.
The Central division is, barring minor miracles, the Cleveland Indians to lose. Out of the other four teams in this division only the Minnesota Twins have any chance of making the wild card let alone winning the title. The Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals are so far off being relevant it is untrue. They are all the rebuilding road. Division winners..... the Cleveland Indians.
The Western division is pretty much like the Central.
The Houston Astros are the team to beat here, they had so many bad years back to back,that , they got the no.1 pick in the draft several times and stacked their farm system with the best young talent that has blossomed together. Add to that some decent business in free agency and trade market and they have a rotation as good as most teams. They won the World Series two years ago. The Oakland Athletics (A’s) surprised many last year by reaching the playoffs via the wild card route and will be aiming to do at least that again. The have slugging and a fabulous bullpen. The Angels of Aneheim or LA Angels have the best player in baseball! Mike Trout, he of the $430 million contract fame. They don’t have the pitching to worry the Astros and at best will hope to challenge the A’s for a wild card spot.The Texas Rangers are still in a holding pattern, waiting for the pitching talent in their minor leagues teams to make the step up to the bigs. They have three starting pitchers coming back from major surgery and if they suffer any troubles it could be a long season. However if these three pitchers are anything like they were pre injury , the Rangers have some talented bats that could see them surprise people with a wild card push come the end of the season. The Seattle Mariners are another team in rebuild mode and will dream of better years to come.
Division winners.... Houston Astros
AL wild card. The New York Yankees and hopefully my team the Texas Rangers
The value in betting will be in the less well-supported teams. Although the Orioles look truly shocking.
Seriously great pitching performance to shut out the Nationals.
Currently watching the Mariners and Red Sox in an opening day hitathon 8-4 Mariners at the moment top of the 6th Sox 2 away
I've missed this
Mark
"Ejected", as in what we would call "sent off". How often does that occur in MLB?
Have to say, I've seen (on You Tube) quite a few free for alls when all thew players start fighting.
"....and here we go....."
Yes Tony ejection is the same as being sent off although its not a regular thing in baseball. The ejection is often deemed sufficient punishment, however, MLB do have the power to suspend players if they feel the offence warrants it.
^ Nice to see a live game not hidden behind a paywall in the UK - Braves @ Nationals live on YouTube atm for anyone interested. Didn't realise they had these YouTube freebies so I'll have to keep an eye out for them in future.
@TheEdge949 @dragon1964 @pompeynic
@EvilPingu
Good spot, thanks.
Luckily, I have BT Sport, so they cover a lot of games too. They are showing Tigers @ Twins right now actually.
Yet at its best absolutely thrilling.
And you can see the ball-unlike the puck in the NHL.
Either that, or the warnings given to me as a child are starting to come true...
To be honest I was forced to decide between BT sports or Sky this year so it was NFL or MLB and Superleague or Moto GP.
Sky won with an amazing 18 month deal of all Sports and all Movies for £22 per month.
Shall deffo watch it on You Tube and try to stream it on BT via the firestick.
Btw, the MLB games on YouTube until the end of May are as follows:
Worth giving the MLB YouTube channel a follow so that they pop up on your homepage, and setting reminders for the notifications.