As speculated earlier, the Red Sox decided to play Kevin Youkilis at first base as he comes off the disabled list and move Adrian Gonzalez to rightfield. That leaves Will Middlebrooks to play third. This solves the outfield M*A*S*H unit problem, but when the outfielders get healthy, who sits? Of course, if these three all hit well, it’s a good problem for the manager and the front office.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:59 pm | Players | Permalink | No Comments
May 22, 2012
Wang Returns
Chien-Ming Wang returned to the majors Tuesday:
The Nationals placed reliever Ryan Mattheus on the 15-day disabled list and activated right-hander Chien-Ming Wang, who rehabbed from a strained hamstring and, for the first time in his career, will pitch as a reliever.
Mattheus visited a specialist this morning in Baltimore to diagnose the severity of the plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Mattheus had been feeling pain for about two weeks, and yesterday he aggravated it while jogging in the outfield before the game. Mattheus said last night he expected to miss about two weeks. He is eligible to return June 5.
The Nationals broadcasters wondered if Wang will be able to adjust to the short time needed to warm up for a relief role, given his long preparation for a start. All his minor league appearances were starts, so this is will be learning on the job.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:20 pm | Injuries, Pitchers | Permalink | 1 Comment
May 22, 2012
Bad Day for Chapman
In addition to his speeding arrest, Aroldis Chapman is getting sued by a Cuban prisoner:
The lawsuit was filed recently in Miami federal court against Aroldis Chapman, a left-handed pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. The lawsuit claims that Chapman falsely accused Danilo Curbelo Garcia of involvement in human trafficking, leading to his 2008 arrest and conviction in Cuba. Curbelo Garcia is serving a 10-year sentence.
Chapman defected in 2009 in the Netherlands and was later signed by the Reds. The lawsuit claims Chapman accused Curbelo Garcia to win favor with the Cuban government so he could rejoin the national baseball team. Chapman had been suspended for a previous attempt to defect.
The lawsuit, if won, would eat up most of Chapman’s signing bonus.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:45 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
May 22, 2012
Games of the Day
Jordan Zimmermann and Roy Halladay face off as the Nationals try to win two in a row from the Phillies. Zimmermann brings a low 2.58 ERA into the game, allowing a low number of hits despite just an okay strikeout rate. The five home runs he allowed hurt him a bit, as seven of his 17 runs allowed scored on those. Halladay’s walks are up and strikeouts are down, but they are still really great. That fall off from the last two season may explain why his ERA is rising. The Phillies still push him, however, as he leads the league in innings pitched and batters faced.
Matt Cain and Shaun Marcum battle in the other good pitching matchup of the day as San Francisco plays at Milwaukee. Cain makes his fourth start on the road this year, where home runs have been a problem. He allowed two at home in 39 innings, four on the road in 18 1/3 innings. Shaun’s run support has been soft this season, with the Brewers scoring three runs or less in five of his eight starts.
Enjoy!
Posted by David Pinto at 12:37 pm | Games, Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
May 22, 2012
No Longer a Marquis Name
The Twins desginated Jason Marquis for assignment.
Marquis, 33, has been pretty terrible for the Twins all season, posting a 2-4 record with an 8.47 ERA, 1.94 WHIP and more walks (14) than strikeouts (12). That last straw appears to have been Sunday’s start against the Brewers, where Marquis was lit up for eight runs on eight hits and lasted just 1 2/3 innings.
He’s pitched a long time for someone with a 4.63 ERA. His best year might have been the one with Colorado. He posted a 4.04 ERA as a Rockies pitcher in 2009, which made clubs think he could actually pitch. I’m not sure he’ll get picked up again, unless some team is really hurt by injuries.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:27 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | 3 Comments
May 22, 2012
Praising Wood
Frank Nappi appreciates the way Kerry Wood retired.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:18 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
May 22, 2012
It Was Under His Speed Limit
Aroldis Chapman ran afoul of the law for driving 93 MPH.
Said Reds’ manager Dusty Baker: “He got a speeding ticket.” That Dusty – so perceptive.
Unfortunately, his license was suspended. His fastball averages 97 MPH, so even driving that fast he couldn’t catch up to it.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:04 pm | Crime, Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
May 22, 2012
The Matheny Difference
Mike Matheny made sure youngster were exposed to veterans in spring training.
Rookie Cardinals manager Mike Matheny made a point of having prospects and veterans work side by side during spring training. His camp was more inclusive than previous camps.
Young pitchers threw next to the older guys. Up-and-coming hitters were in the same batting cage groups as proven stars.
Matheny also gave emerging players ample exhibition game exposure. This gave him extra opportunities to evaluate what he had in the organization and prepare the emerging players for the Next Step in their careers.
As the Cardinals suffered injuries, these prospects were ready to come up and play. It’s often tough to point to something that a manager does particularly well, but this is a real positive for Mike.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:21 am | Management | Permalink | No Comments
May 22, 2012
The Opposite of the Dodgers
While everything goes right for the Dodgers, little goes right for the Cubs. They lost their seventh game in a row Monday night, falling to the Astros 8-4. Last night’s game was typical for this streak as the pitching performed poorly. Matt Garza allowed seven runs in three innings. Since May 15th, opponents are hitting .290/.370/.520 against Cubs pitching. That’s a very good middle of the order hitter. The starters in particular are getting hammered, with a 6.99 ERA and ten home runs allowed in 37 1/3 innings. With so few innings, they’re also taxing the bullpen.
The offense deserves some of the blame, but the most telling stat is that during the streak they recorded just 10 at bats with a lead, 184 trailing.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:20 am | Team Evaluation | Permalink | No Comments
May 22, 2012
The Trade
Chris Jaffe notes this is the tenth anniversary of the Jeremy Giambi for John Mabry trade. Here are my thoughts on the trade at the time, and I could not have been more wrong.
Posted by David Pinto at 6:32 am | History, Trades | Permalink | No Comments
May 22, 2012
No Stopping the Dodgers
The Dodgers are now a juggernaut. Don Mattingly gave most of the regulars a night off on Monday, and the team of subs goes out and beats Arizona 6-1. Matt Treanor gave the Dodgers all the runs they needed with a two-run homer in the second, but Andre Ethier added on, as did James Loney in a pinch-hitting role. Chris Capuano pitched six strong innings, allowing the one run on one walk and five strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 2.25.
The Dodgers have now played eight games without superstar Matt Kemp and own a 6-2 record in that time. Their record stands two wins above their Pythagorean projections, but they would still be five games up in the NL West with that record. Even their attendance is up 2400 fans a game. So far, everything they’ve touched turned to gold.
Posted by David Pinto at 6:09 am | Games, Team Evaluation | Permalink | No Comments
May 22, 2012
AL West Roundup
Tommy Milone out-dueled Jerome Williams as the Athletics beat the Angels 2-1. It shouldn’t have been a duel at all as Williams walked five batters in 6 2/3 innings, but the Angels turned three double plays behind him. Milone walked just one in his seven innings and now owns a 6-3 record with a 3.75 ERA. He’s not Gio Gonzalez, but he’s pitching well for the Athletics.
No duel developed between Yu Darvish and Felix Hernandez as the King and the Seattle offense dominated in a 6-1 win over Texas. Darvish lasted just four innings as he walked six and struck out five. There was some shaky defense behind Yu as well, more than just the Hamilton error. Felix pitched eight innings, giving up just one run, walking two and striking out seven. The Mariners managed just five hits, but with all the base runners they were able to make them count.
Oakland and Seattle are not out of the race by any means. The A’s sit four back in the division and are over .500. Seattle sits 4 1/2 back in the wild card race. They aren’t great teams, but they are not pushovers, either.
Posted by David Pinto at 5:57 am | Games | Permalink | No Comments
May 22, 2012
Tuesday Update
The Day by Day Database is up to date.
Posted by David Pinto at 5:42 am | Day by Day | Permalink | No Comments
May 21, 2012
Tied at the Bottom
The Yankees fall to the Royals 6-0 as Felipe Paulino pitches 6 2/3 shutout innings to lower his ERA to 1.42. Paulino’s career ERA coming into the game was 5.11. He walked two and struck out eight, giving him seven walks and 29 K in 25 1/3 innings as he finally matches good control with his high strikeout rate. The Yankees managed seven hits but went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position in what has to be one of the more embarrassing losses for this team this season.
The Yankees fall to .500 and into a tie for last place in the AL East with the Red Sox. Boston came back to beat the Orioles 8-6. Will Middlebrooks collected three more hits to make it more difficult for the Sox to sit him down when Kevin Youkilis returns. The team is talking about putting Youk at first, and moving Adrian Gonzalez to the outfield due to the high number of outfielders on the disabled list.
Toronto beat Tampa Bay 6-2 to gain on the top two teams in the division. If the Blue Jays can manage to pass the Rays in this series, the division will be completely upside down. Kyle Drabek went six innings for the win. He was effectively wild as he walked six but allowed only two hits.
The AL East is turning out to be a lot more fun than usual, with every team at least at .500.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:33 pm | Division Races, Games | Permalink | 3 Comments
May 21, 2012
Gio Keeps K-ing
Gio Gonzalez struck out nine in just six innings of work and the Nationals bullpen gave up one run as they squeak by Philadelphia 2-1. This was the fourth 2-1 game of the month for Washington and they’ve won three of them. Gonzalez ups his strikeouts per nine innings to 11.4.
Ian Desmond drove in both runs with a solo home run and a single. The Nationals only managed five hits on the night, and Desmond’s single was the only hit for the team with men in scoring position over five at bats. The Phillies went just 1 for 10 in that situation.
The Nats close to 1/2 game out of first place as the Braves fall to the Reds 4-1. Mike Leake allowed just two hits and a walk to close the gap in the NL East.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:11 pm | Division Races, Games, Pitchers | Permalink | 1 Comment
May 21, 2012
Berkman Still has his Career
Lance Berkman‘s knee injury is serious but not career threatening:
The team said Monday that Berkman will have an arthroscopic procedure later this week in Vail, Colo.
General manager John Mozeliak said an MRI on the 36-year-old Berkman did not appear to show that his ligament was compromised.
That’s good news. Lance will be out six to eight weeks.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:56 pm | Injuries, Players | Permalink | No Comments
May 21, 2012
Put the Good Bats Together
The Royals moved Mike Moustakas right behind Billy Butler in the lineup, and it paid off tonight against the Yankees. With two out, Butler singled and Mike homered to give the Royals a 2-0 lead in the first inning. For a while, Mike was batting farther down in the order, putting two much space between the two hitters who got on base and hit for power. Now the murder’s pair is right together.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:25 pm | Games, Players | Permalink | No Comments
May 21, 2012
No Joy for Feliz
Neftali Feliz appears to have a serious injury:
According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, Neftali Feliz (right elbow inflammation) could be on the shelf until the All-Star break, and will, in any event, not throw for four weeks. The reported plan calls for Feliz to embark upon a throwing program after that four-week period of inactivity, and then probably make a couple of minor league starts at some indeterminate point after that, all of which will likely leave him sidelined until “the All-Star break and beyond.” The MRI on Feliz’s barking elbow revealed inflammation, but no discernible tear, meaning that this does project as more of a six- to eight-week injury than something of a potentially season-threatening nature.
This certainly makes is a mark against the decision to move Feliz from the pen to the rotation.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:18 pm | Injuries, Pitchers | Permalink | 1 Comment
May 21, 2012
I’m Tommy John
Cory Luebke is the latest pitcher to need Tommy John surgery.
Despite earlier hopes that non-surgical rehab would be possible, Padres lefty Cory Luebke will soon undergo Tommy John surgery. “We looked at rehab choices, but there was no chance of me making a start until mid-August,” Luebke said. “After talking to some of the doctors and people who have been through it, we knew the ligament wasn’t going to heal itself.”
He’ll be out until May 2013.
Posted by David Pinto at 6:34 pm | Injuries, Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
May 21, 2012
Another One Bites the Dust
The Red Sox lose another outfielder as doctors diagnose Cody Ross with a broken foot:
Ross, who fouled a pitch off his foot Friday night, returned to Boston to undergo an MRI exam that revealed a fracture of the navicular bone, according to manager Bobby Valentine. The Red Sox [team stats] aren’t guessing how long Ross will be sidelined, with Valentine explicitly saying they aren’t putting a timeline on his return, although they have experience with navicular fractures. Dustin Pedroia [stats] broke the navicular bone in his foot in June 2010 and eventually required surgery, missing all but three games the remainder of the season.
The Red Sox now have outfielders Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ryan Kalish, Darnell McDonald, Jason Repko and Ross on the DL. Pretty soon they’ll be bringing up players from rookie league to fill in.
Posted by David Pinto at 6:16 pm | Injuries, Players | Permalink | No Comments
May 21, 2012
Feliz Disabled
The Rangers placed Neftali Feliz on the disabled list. He suffers from an inflamed elbow:
This is the first transaction involving the Rangers’ 25-man roster this season, as it had remained the same since it was set on April 4 ahead of Opening Day. It was the latest date the Rangers had ever gone in a season before making their first roster move.
As much as we like to credit roster construction and managerial moves, health of the opening day roster has a lot to do with the success of a team, especially where the pitching staff is concerned. So far, the injuries suffered by the Rangers were minor and no one had to go on the disabled list.
Feliz gave up a number of walks and home runs, but was hard to hit otherwise. Scott Feldman takes Feliz’s role for now. The Rangers were not babying Neftali as he made the transition from the bullpen to the rotation. He often threw over 100 pitches in his starts, including the last three.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:30 pm | Injuries, Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
May 21, 2012
Games of the Day
The last time Washington and Philadelphia met, Cole Hamels decided to teach Bryce Harper some old-school baseball. We’ll see if that blew over tonight as the Nationals visit the Phillies. Gio Gonzalez takes on Kyle Kendrick. Gonzalez’s move to the National League increased his strikeout rate. He’s showing no mercy to opposing pitchers, striking out 11 of the 15 he’s faced. Kendrick fared better as a starter this season, with 4 walks and 14 strikeouts in 20 innings versus five walks and two strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings as a reliever.
Two lefties on the comeback trail from injuries square off in Pittsburgh as Johan Santana and the Mets face Erik Bedard. When Johan went down with his shoulder injury in 2010 he owned a 2.98 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. So far this season his ERA stands at 2.89 with a 1.17 WHIP. Bedard owns a 1.80 ERA at home without allowing a home run, but lost his only two decisions in three games at PNC Park.
The Blue Jays and Rays begin a battle for second place in the AL East as Kyle Drabek faces Jeremy Hellickson. Drabek owns a low ERA, 3.30, despite allowing a high number of walks and home runs. Opponents are hitting just .136 against him with runners in scoring position. Hellickson shows better control, but also gives up the long ball. Like Drabek, opponents can’t hit him with runners in scoring position as they are just 3 for 34.
Finally, the matchup of the day takes place in Seattle where Yu Darvis battles Felix Hernandez. Darvish is only a few months younger than the King, but Hernandez is already in his eighth season in the majors. Yu had his toughest outing of the season against the Mariners, giving up five runs in 5 2/3 innings. Felix comes off a rough start against Cleveland, giving up eight runs, six earned in just 3 2/3 innings. Both were wild with walks in those two games.
Enjoy!
Posted by David Pinto at 2:24 pm | Games, Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
May 21, 2012
Litsch’s Bug
Jesse Litch ended up with an infection in his injured shoulder, and it may end his career. Ryan Howard suffered an infection in his surgically repaired foot that set back his rehabilitation.
One of my uncles is a microbiologist. Whenever he needed surgery, he always found the hospital with the lowest infection rate. Post-surgical infections are quite serious, as Litsch is discovering.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:09 pm | Injuries, Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
May 21, 2012
Great Pick
Rob Neyer notices a 2011 draft pick how is doing really well. Rob didn’t mention that in addition to his low hit and walk totals, Dylan Bundy struck out 40 in his 30 innings of work, giving him a 20 K/BB.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:31 am | Minor Leagues, Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
May 21, 2012
Power Drop
Through May 4th, the Cardinals top three sluggers consisted of David Freese, Yadier Molina, and Jon Jay. Since then, those three fell to the bottom of the regulars, Jay going on the disabled list. Others stepped up, especially Matt Holliday who was off to a slow start.
It goes to show that we should not get too high on players off to good starts, or two low on players on a cold streak. Given the careers of players like Holliday and Freese, we knew Matt would get better and Freese would come back down to earth. With all the injuries to the Cardinals lately, especially a career threatening one to Lance Berkman, it’s a bad time for anyone on St. Louis to get cold.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:46 am | Injuries, Players, Sluggers | Permalink | No Comments
May 21, 2012
Interleague Round One
The American League teams easily won the first weekend of interleague play, going 24-18. That was much closer than the scores would predict, as AL teams out scored NL teams by a full run, 4.6 runs per game to 3.6 runs per game. That’s slightly below the MLB average of 8.4 runs per game this season. Twelve starters pitched at least six innings allowing with an ERA of zero, four of them earning shutouts. Justin Verlander and Kevin Millwood came close to no-hitters among that group.
Posted by David Pinto at 6:54 am | Games | Permalink | No Comments
May 21, 2012
Monday Update
The Day by Day Database is up to date.
Posted by David Pinto at 6:35 am | Day by Day | Permalink | No Comments
May 20, 2012
Another Van Slyke Homers
Scott Van Slyke, son of Andy Van Slyke, just hit his first major league home run. The three-run, pinch hit shot in the bottom of the seventh gives the Dodgers a 6-5 lead over the Cardinals. Scott picked a perfect time to make his first long ball dramatic.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:34 pm | Games, Players | Permalink | 1 Comment
May 20, 2012
Strasburg’s Arm
Stephen Strasburg came out of Sunday’s game with tightness in his arm:
After the Nationals’ 9-3 victory over the Orioles, Nats manager Davey Johnson called the problem tightness in Strasburg’s right biceps. Strasburg emphatically said it was general arm fatigue.
No matter. Johnson was concerned enough about the issue that he yanked Strasburg with a 6-3 lead after he struck out eight, all of them in the last 12 batters he faced.
Isn’t that how his ligament tear started? He reported tightness, and a little while later he underwent surgery. Let’s hope this is just fatigue.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:41 pm | Injuries, Pitchers | Permalink | 3 Comments
May 20, 2012
Dice-K Rolls Craps
Daisuke Matsuzaka has a lingering injury:
The righthander, whose minor league rehabilitation assignment was due to end on Wednesday, has been shut down because of pain in his right trapezius muscle. Matsuzaka received an injection in the area.
“That’s been nagging him for quite a while and we’ve got to make sure that that’s 100 percent before he’s going out there again,” manager Bobby Valentine said. “I talked to him [Saturday] about it being sore. He said he would maybe pitch through it. They examined him and didn’t think it was wise.”
Somehow I’m not surprised. I don’t think Boston will get much from Dice-K this season.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:36 pm | Injuries, Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
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