MLB's Biggest Surprise [Archive]

LeftWideOpen

04/14/06, 01:54 PM

So, this was a poll question on ESPN that I thought I'd ask here ...

what's the biggest surprise of the season so far?

Dirty Ernie

04/14/06, 02:02 PM

shelton seems to be the real deal

LeftWideOpen

04/14/06, 02:03 PM

for me, this is easy. it's shelton. Bonds seems to me to be the least surprising because of his off field and health issues and I don't find the Mets being the best after one week very surprising. They wouldnt have been my first guess but they wouldnt have been near the bottom either.

Santana being 0-2 is pretty surprising, especially considering the ERA. But Kris Benson has great numbers right now so that shows you how insignificant two starts can be.

Vincewithouthee

04/14/06, 02:06 PM

for me, this is easy. it's shelton. Bonds seems to me to be the least surprising because of his off field and health issues and I don't find the Mets being the best after one week very surprising. They wouldnt have been my first guess but they wouldnt have been near the bottom either.

Santana being 0-2 is pretty surprising, especially considering the ERA. But Kris Benson has great numbers right now so that shows you how insignificant two starts can be.

Yeah I totally agree with that.

punk shawn

04/14/06, 03:31 PM

shelton is the biggest surprise. johan santana is the second biggest surprise, but knowing him he'll get himself together. bonds isn't a surprise at all and neither are the mets. the mets have a solid line-up and their pitching has done a good job thus far.

Broken Parachute

04/14/06, 04:01 PM

In order for me it's: Shelton's Homeruns, Johan's 2 losses, Mets great start, and Bonds' no home runs (we all knew he'd be horrible to start).

Emopunkthrice

04/14/06, 04:03 PM

Johan is going to turn it around. Francouer 0.somethign should be mentioned too???

Broken Parachute

04/14/06, 04:09 PM

Johan is going to turn it around. Francouer 0.somethign should be mentioned too???

Yeah Franceour started off horrible this year..and I have him on my fantasy team too.

histrionics22

04/14/06, 04:12 PM

Yeah Franceour started off horrible this year..and I have him on my fantasy team too.
Witness the downside of riding the bench during the WBC when he could have been getting his work in at spring training.

LeftWideOpen

04/14/06, 04:14 PM

Johan is going to turn it around. Francouer 0.somethign should be mentioned too???

he's overrated as a hitter. i'm not really all that surprised he's slumping.

bigmike

04/14/06, 04:15 PM

i've got to go with shelton. last year in his time up here he showed he could hit, but i was unaware of the power he's showing. I thought he was a 20 HR type guy, but he could be more than that. he's a tremendous hitter. Thanks Pittsburgh.

bigmike

04/14/06, 04:15 PM

Witness the downside of riding the bench during the WBC when he could have been getting his work in at spring training.
francoeur should still be in AAA.

histrionics22

04/14/06, 04:18 PM

i've got to go with shelton. last year in his time up here he showed he could hit, but i was unaware of the power he's showing. I thought he was a 20 HR type guy, but he could be more than that. he's a tremendous hitter. Thanks Pittsburgh.
Brad Eldred will be better.

LeftWideOpen

04/14/06, 04:21 PM

francoeur should still be in AAA.

I wouldn't go that far haha, cause the Braves dont really have anyone better than him to plug in there. But he is overrated. He didnt do shit in September or October or the 2nd half of August. He had a good streak and the media made a big story out of him. Now everyone expects an All-Star when he really isnt at that level yet.

Broken Parachute

04/14/06, 04:25 PM

I'd rather have Matt Holliday in my outfield than Jeff Francouer.

LeftWideOpen

04/14/06, 04:26 PM

I'd rather have Matt Holliday in my outfield than Jeff Francouer.

same here, although he's had a sluggish start too. if we are only talking 2006, i'd take geoff jenkins over both of them.

long term, give me holliday.

Broken Parachute

04/14/06, 04:30 PM

same here, although he's had a sluggish start too. if we are only talking 2006, i'd take geoff jenkins over both of them.

long term, give me holliday.

I have all 3 on my team so right now Francouer is sitting haha. As far as defense though, Francouer has a really good arm though.

Chriz2z

04/14/06, 04:36 PM

Shelton's HR are really surprising to me. I was expecting about 30 HR from him this year... but to have seven after nine games, that's amazing.

mikeford

04/15/06, 06:57 AM

curt schilling

3-0

1.64 ERA

ThriftWhore

04/15/06, 12:52 PM

Even though i'm surprised the Mets started out so strong, I didn't think Shelton would even hit 7HR's within the first 3 months.

justinevans

04/15/06, 02:57 PM

he's overrated as a hitter. i'm not really all that surprised he's slumping.

yeah he only batted like maybe .270 this year, which isn't bad, but it is not produce high expectations either.

bigmike

04/15/06, 04:39 PM

Shelton's HR are really surprising to me. I was expecting about 30 HR from him this year... but to have seven after nine games, that's amazing.
yeah, it's really nice. but still, we're a long ways away from being a contender.

also, look for curtis granderson to emerge this season as well. he's a skinny bobby abreu, with a little less pop in his bat, is what some people are saying.

Clarett'sGreyGoose

04/15/06, 05:01 PM

My option:

The Braves starting pitching.

John Smoltz: 0-1, 6.75 ERA (he's on the mound vs. Jake Peavy tonight) in 2 starts
Tim Hudson: 0-1, 9.20 ERA in 3 starts
Kyle Davies: 0-1, 8.38 ERA in 2 starts
Jorge Sosa: 0-2, 11.37 ERA in 2 starts
Horacio Ramirez: 0-1, 15.00 ERA in 1 start (went out with an injury after 3 innings pitched)

The ONLY decent starting performance was from John Thomson, who took Ramirez's spot in the rotation: 5 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, which lowered his season's ERA from 4.91 to 2.08.

Relievers records: 5-0 (4 - Oscar Villareal, 1 - Mike Remlinger)
Starters records: 0-6.

jaimej

04/15/06, 05:37 PM

I jumped on the mets because I'm used to them sucking, but if I would have taken some time to think about it Shelton would have been the choice.

Clarett'sGreyGoose

04/15/06, 06:43 PM

My option:

The Braves starting pitching.

John Smoltz: 0-1, 6.75 ERA (he's on the mound vs. Jake Peavy tonight) in 2 starts
Tim Hudson: 0-1, 9.20 ERA in 3 starts
Kyle Davies: 0-1, 8.38 ERA in 2 starts
Jorge Sosa: 0-2, 11.37 ERA in 2 starts
Horacio Ramirez: 0-1, 15.00 ERA in 1 start (went out with an injury after 3 innings pitched)

The ONLY decent starting performance was from John Thomson, who took Ramirez's spot in the rotation: 5 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, which lowered his season's ERA from 4.91 to 2.08.

Relievers records: 5-0 (4 - Oscar Villareal, 1 - Mike Remlinger)
Starters records: 0-6.
I post this, then Smoltz throws a complete game, 4-hit shutout.

His ERA is now 3.86.

bigmike

04/15/06, 07:31 PM

My option:

The Braves starting pitching.

John Smoltz: 0-1, 6.75 ERA (he's on the mound vs. Jake Peavy tonight) in 2 starts
Tim Hudson: 0-1, 9.20 ERA in 3 starts
Kyle Davies: 0-1, 8.38 ERA in 2 starts
Jorge Sosa: 0-2, 11.37 ERA in 2 starts
Horacio Ramirez: 0-1, 15.00 ERA in 1 start (went out with an injury after 3 innings pitched)

The ONLY decent starting performance was from John Thomson, who took Ramirez's spot in the rotation: 5 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, which lowered his season's ERA from 4.91 to 2.08.

Relievers records: 5-0 (4 - Oscar Villareal, 1 - Mike Remlinger)
Starters records: 0-6.
with no leo mazzone i'm not shocked. he's such a big part of that team.

bigmike

04/15/06, 07:33 PM

Even though i'm surprised the Mets started out so strong, I didn't think Shelton would even hit 7HR's within the first 3 months.
yeah. he did hit 18 homeruns in 107 games last year, so it's kind of a shock. however, the homeruns will level out as the tigers play some more home games. it's a tough ballpark for righties to hit homeruns in.

Emopunkthrice

04/15/06, 07:38 PM

Erik Bedard 3-0, come on him??????

Clarett'sGreyGoose

04/15/06, 09:26 PM

with no leo mazzone i'm not shocked. he's such a big part of that team.
I expected a rise in ERA without Leo Mazzone, but jesus christ! Before tonight, the team's ERA was like, 8.17.

bigmike

04/15/06, 10:46 PM

I expected a rise in ERA without Leo Mazzone, but jesus christ! Before tonight, the team's ERA was like, 8.17.
yeah. I heard something on a tbs telecast the other nigth that the bullpen (at the time) had pitched something like 38 innings while the starters had gone 39 innings or something. i'm sure they'll get it straightened out. Smoltz and Hampton will get squarred away which will help. And maybe Kyle Davies rounds into shape this year too.

Emopunkthrice

04/15/06, 11:24 PM

Johan still winless?!?!

fromwithin

04/16/06, 09:57 PM

I still think it should be Ty Wiggington. This was a guy who was in AAA last year, and who the Pirates dumped. That's when you know your bad. He signs on with Tampa Bay and now he has 5 HR, 13 RBI, and 12 hits so far this season.

To show how amazing this is, the past two years in Pittsburgh he played in 115 games having 12 HR and 49 RBI, not to mention only 80 hits.