Nationals Hope Home Field is An Advantage in Game 3 vs. Cardinals

(Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE)

By Stevo-sama | @yoshiki89

After a Series-opening loss to the Nationals that displayed nothing short of a host of failed opportunities for the Cardinals, the Redbirds came back with a significant roar in the second game. The Nationals don’t have any postseason history to refer to, but at a higher level…a Game 1 loss with a Game 2 rebound (and usually a significant one) is par for the course for the Cardinals, at least as far as 2011 is concerned.

Last year’s postseason hustle for the Cardinals may indeed be an exercise in evaluating outcomes with a small sample size, but let’s face it…if there is anything consistent between their postseason performances this season (so far), as compared to last season it’s a rise of unexpected occurrences that result in a nearly improbable finish. Beginning with the one-game Wild Card playoff against the Atlanta Braves, this was fairly established.

Final Regular Season MLB Power Rankings - October 4, 2012

By Chris Carelli | @Chris_Carelli

The road to the World Series begins on October 5 with the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals set to face off against the team they caught from behind last season to reach the 2011 playoffs, the Atlanta Braves in the afternoon play-in game. In the night game the Texas Rangers meet the Baltimore Orioles after each team succumbed to their division competitors in the final days of the regular season.

The division series this year will run in a 2-3 format, with the lower seed hosting the first two games of the series and then the final three games will be played in the higher seed's park.

The winner of each one game playoff mentioned earlier will determine who gets to welcome the Washington Nationals and New York Yankees to their respective ballparks. In the other matchups, the San Francisco Giants will host the Cincinnati Reds, and the Oakland Athletics will travel to Detroit to face the Tigers.

As for the rest of the league this is a time to evaluate the year and begin to shape rosters for the 2013 season. So, here are the final regular season rankings. Please let us know what you think in the comments below.

Scouting Notebook featuring Byron Buxton

(William DeShazer/Naples Daily News)

By Nathaniel Stoltz | @stoltz_baseball

In the September issue of Big Leagues Monthly | Magazine, I wrote up a “scouting notebook” of sorts with my thoughts about players I had seen in person in the past month. I’ve had the opportunity to see over a dozen games involving several highly-touted prospects, encapsulating the Carolina League, the South Atlantic League, and the Appalachian League. Here are my thoughts on some of the most notable names I saw—I have more to share beyond this, but that can wait until next month!

Byron Buxton, OF, Twins (Rookie-Advanced Elizabethton)

Buxton, the second overall pick in the 2012 draft, clearly boasts all sorts of tools. He’s got wiry strength, power projection, and plenty of athleticism. However, he’s just 18 and has a lot standing between himself and the majors; at times, he looked like the rawest player on the field in the Appalachian League, taking fastballs down the middle, waving at curves in the dirt ten inches off the plate, and misplaying balls in the outfield. But for every head-scratching play he makes, he’ll wow you with something you don’t expect an 18-year-old to be able to do, like pull his hands inside a fastball on the inside corner and rip it to left field, or lay down a perfect drag bunt. He clearly has first-division upside if he can refine his game, but at this stage, any number of developmental paths are possible. Just because his issues are theoretically fixable doesn’t necessarily mean they will be fixed, after all. As with former Twins first-round outfielder Aaron Hicks, it could be years before we know quite how well Buxton’s tools will translate.

MLB Power Rankings - September 24, 2012

By Chris Carelli | @Chris_Carelli

Since last week's rankings went up three National League teams earned postseason berths with the Cincinnati Reds winning the NL Central, the San Francisco Giants winning the NL West and the Washington Nationals who are closing in on the NL East title, securing at least a wild card bid.

The Atlanta Braves are inching closer to a playoff appearance which alluded them in 2011 after a massive collapse. The St. Louis Cardinals, who overtook the Braves last season are being pursued closest by division rival Milwaukee Brewers after the Crew has staged a magnificent two month blitz and the Los Angeles Dodgers who haven't played all that well since May.

In the American League all spots are very much up in the air. In the AL East, New York and Baltimore are separated by one game with the Rays holding on. The same differential holds true in the AL Central between Chicago and Detroit. The Texas Rangers have had a hard time closing the Oakland A's and Los Angeles Angels out of the AL West race but still have a fairly big lead (4 games) with ten games remaining. The Yankees, Orioles, Rays, A's and Angels are all contenders for the wild card spots after the division races filter out.

So, here are the power rankings for this week. Please let us know what you think in the comments below.

Playoff Risk Mitigation: Are the Nationals concerned about Jordan Zimmermann?



(Getty Images)

By Stevo-sama | @yoshiki89

There can be no question about the continued success of the Washington Nationals in the NL East this season and the alarming reality that after years of mediocrity, they are something more than a valid playoff contender. The franchise’s last winning season was their inaugural season as the Nationals in 2005, as a .500 team that still floundered in the basement of the division. Prior to that, only the 2002 Montreal Expos could boast a winning season and a division title berth, finishing 2nd at 83-79.

There should be dancing in the streets as September arrives. The taste of playoff baseball is in the air, and the team leads the NL East over the Atlanta Braves by 6.5 games. However, the cause for pre-emptive celebration in DC has been dampened somewhat not only by the inevitable exeunt of phenom Stephen Strasburg as a playoff pitcher but also by the recent struggles of Jordan Zimmermann.

Strasburg’s highly-publicized innings limit this season has been a highly debated and thoroughly analyzed question mark in the Nationals’ potential post-season strategy for the past few weeks. Some of the alarm in this plan has been magnified by Zimmermann’s performance in August.

MLB Power Rankings - August 27, 2012

By Chris Carelli | @Chris_Carelli

The stretch run in Major League Baseball is set to begin as the calendar will turn to September over the weekend. Teams will use their ability to increase roster size for varying reasons. Teams out of the race will make call-ups looking to the future, while contenders will use their minor league talent to provide depth for what amounts to a grueling month of pressure packed baseball.

The wild card races have the added drama of an extra team this season, though it will be hard to match the final day of the 2011 regular season. There are some teams who were not expected to be part of the playoff talk when the season began; Chicago (AL), Oakland, Baltimore and Pittsburgh have all made their mark and continue to dictate or maintain pace in their respective leagues.

There was little movement at the very top of the charts, with the Washington Nationals hanging onto the top spot despite losing four straight. Once again there can be arguments for any of the top four teams being #1. Here are the rankings, please let me know what you think in the comments.

Why Washington Fans Shouldn’t Worry About Shutting Down Strasburg



(Alex Brandon / AP)        

By Carlos Collazo | @CarlosCollazo__

How’s it going guys? Man it’s been a while since I have managed to write anything about baseball and let me tell you; it’s good to be back. For those of you who don’t know (probably a large number of you), I have just recently moved into college. I have been getting my dorm set up, getting accustomed to classes, eating a lot of food, and getting my internet set up. That last little part turned out to be extremely cumbersome, but I have some great tech guys around here to help me out.

Regardless of all of my issues, I’m back and, more importantly, ready to talk some baseball.

Today’s column—which is actually my first column for the Daily Site—is going to cover one of the best teams and one of the best pitchers in baseball. If you haven’t already deduced from the title, it is Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals of Washington.

The Nationals are 77-47 so far during the season, helped out significantly by Strasburg and his 15-5 record in 25 starts. So, clearly he is a good pitcher right? He’s got a lot of wins and not a lot of losses, so he must be. If you know me then you know that I don’t put too much stock in Wins and Losses for pitchers (say hello, Felix). I like to look a little bit deeper.

I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that most of you know about Stephen Strasburg and are aware that he is an elite pitcher. We won’t need to analyze all of his advanced stats because there is no real need. He is good, we know he is good, and we know why he is good. He throws ridiculously hard, has a ridiculous curve ball, and a ridiculously cool beard to top it off (the high socks he normally wears can’t hurt either).

Lucas Giolito Will Likely Need Tommy John Surgery

 

By Jim Pratt | @BigLeaguesMthly

On the Wednesday morning edition of The Mike Rizzo Show, the Washington Nationals general manager confirmed that Lucas Giolito would likely need Tommy John surgery.

(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

During his appearance on 106.7 The Fan in Washington, Rizzo said, "It looks like he is going to need Tommy John surgery. He's seen our medical people. We're going to give him a second medical opinion. Dr. Lewis Yocum is going to see him this week some time and we anticipate that he will have Tommy John and if and when he does, it will be done by Lew Yocum. We'll have a rehabilitation schedule in place the same as we've had with Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg and Sammy Solis and in a year he'll be a young 19-year-old guy that's come off Tommy John surgery and will begin his ascent up the minor league system."

Giolito, the 16th overall pick in the June draft, appeared in only one game for the Gulf Coast League Nationals before reporting soreness in his right elbow.

MLB Power Rankings - August 20, 2012

By Chris Carelli | @Chris_Carelli

This past week in Major League Baseball was highlighted by the good and the bad of the game all in one day. Seattle Mariners' pitcher Felix Hernandez reminded us why we love the game when he tossed the third perfect game of the 2012 season, and the 23rd all-time. This happened just a few hours after it was announced that the National League batting leader, San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera, had tested positive for testosterone use and was suspended for 50 games under MLB's drug policy.

One event lifted the spirits of a team looking for a change in direction and the other deflated a fan base that had warmed to a promising star.

Not much changed near the top of the rankings. Despite being on the wrong end of the perfect game (I'm not sure anyone could have gotten a hit off of the King) the Tampa Bay Rays moved up a spot after sweeping the Los Angeles Angels in four games. The Yankees took three of four from the Rangers dropping Texas to number five in this week's pecking order. Here is the chart. I look forward to your reactions in the comments below.

MLB Power Rankings - August 13, 2012

This is the first of a weekly series which will provide my rankings of all 30 MLB teams. There is no scientific formula behind the rankings. I take into account the teams' current record, their future outlook and recent trends when determining positions on the chart. I welcome any and all comments concerning the rankings themselves and/or the notes provided for each team.

The first set of rankings is headed up by the Washington Nationals, which should be of no surprise at this point in the season. However, how many of us had them this good in 2012? Personally, I felt they were one or two years away from dominating this division, but they've developed quicker than I expected and have done so while dealing with several key injuries. This team is for real and will be a force in the National League East for some time. It will be interesting to see how they handle Stephen Strasburg going forward and what impact his innings limit will have on the team. For now they are number one in my estimation, with at least a few teams a good win streak away from snatching the honors. Without further delay here are the rankings. Team records and statistics are as of Sunday, August 12.

There you have it. What are your thoughts? Are the Nationals the number one team in MLB? Who do you think deserves the top spot? Let me know in the comments.

Updated 8/14/12: Big Leagues Monthly magazine's second issue has gone live, so please check it out and feel free to leave us comments here or through our social media sites. You can follow the Big Leagues Monthly daily edition and magazine on Twitter at @BigLeaguesMthly and on Facebook here. 

Follow me on Twitter at @Chris Carelli.