bonsallbear said:
471Bear said:
dimitrig said:
GMP said:
oski003 said:
GMP said:
I love this Giants team.
Curious and earnest question: do Dodgers fans love the current squad? I don't have a good read on the fan base.
Yes, Dodgers have a huge fan base that "love" them. Dodgers will win the division.
You misunderstand my question. Each season your team is different. This particular Giants team is both surprisingly good (though I thought they'd be better than most people figured, I did not think they'd be this good) and very likable - a core of guys we've had for a decade or more and then a lot of likable guys filling in the gaps. The team seems to like each other. The manager makes the right decisions and has the respect of the team. It's just very good vibes all around. So I like *this* Giants team more than most Giants teams.
I'm wondering if Dodger fans feel the same way. On Twitter (and on here) I sense a lot of discontent.
Lots of frustration with injuries (now one of the most consistent hitters in Pollock) and some really subpar play from guys who should be much better (Bellinger) combined with the disappointment that is Trevor Bauer have made this a difficult season.
However, overall this core group of Dodgers is pretty likeable and having success despite the setbacks.
The Bauer signing made no sense. He has a long history of being a difficult personality. Up until that signing, current ownership was focused on building a team of guys like Kershaw - solid guys who are team players. Why they added a pain in the ass to the mix tells me that hubris may be lurking in the owners' suite.
As for injuries, SF has experienced a bunch as well. However, an older team is always subject to that problem so it can't be a surprise to anyone.
As for injuries? Seriously? The only team to lose more days to the IR is the Mets. The Giants are in the middle of the pack. Perhaps the law of averages will catch up to the Giants and they will lose half their team for the next three weeks.
Scherzer pitches immaculate inning on his way to 3000 strikeouts. Pretty good acquisition don't you think?
You sure about the Mets being the only team with more days lost to injury than the Dodgers?
According to the Man-Games Lost website (mangameslost.com), as of last Wednesday:
From Wednesday 9/8, MLB top 5, games missed by injured players and IL
SDP 2025
NYM 2002
TOR 1875
TBR 1810
LAD 1684
The Dodgers haven't had enough time to move ahead of the Rays since then, so they can't be in any better than 5th place.
But isn't it more important to look at the significance of the players lost? I mean, 300 days lost by your two worst relievers and your worst bench player doesn't mean as much as 200 days lost by your two best starters and your most important position player. Number of days lost to injury can be a very misleading stat if we're trying to look at who has been most impacted by injury.
So let's look at the Lost-WAR metric. In that case, the Dodgers don't crack the top 5, the Giants do. Sure, the Dodgers have lost more days, but the Giant have been more impacted:
From Wednesday 9/8, MLB top 5, impact on teams from injured players and IL (Lost-WAR metric)
1 CHW 19.57 WAR lost
2 NYM 14.90
3 TOR 12.58
4 SFG 12.26
5 MIA 10.27
I'm not sure how the Dodgers have ended up with such lousy hitting in the second half, they have so much more talent than the Giants, there is no excuse for how they've been doing offensively lately. The Scherzer acquisition makes the Dodgers' top 3 starting rotation stronger, in theory making them stronger than the Giants for a deep post-season run.
On the other hand, the Brewers also have a really strong top three of the rotation for the post-season. The Dodgers are built as a World Series championship or bust team, the Scherzer-Turner trade only reinforced that. If I'm the Dodgers, I'm more worried about the Brewers causing the season to be a bust than I am the Giants, because a) they have a top three of the starting rotation to match the Dodgers, b) as much as I don't like Hader, I have way more faith in him than Jansen (or McGee of the Giants, for that matter), and c) the Brewers are better offensively than the Dodgers. Anything can happen in post-season, but make me choose a favorite to win the NL pennant right now, and it's the Brewers.