Amazon now provides free Kindle reading applications for many devices, including the Blackberry. Download one, and then you can buy my book!
Posted by David Pinto at 7:46 am | Books, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
April 3, 2010
Players A to Z Book
Baseball Musings is proud to announce Players A to Z, Volume 1, A to G, the first e-book from Baseball Musings Press. Recently, Peter Gammons suggested to me that I turn the Players A to Z series into a book. After some research, the fastest way to accomplish this would be to publish it for [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:10 am | Books, Players A to Z | Permalink | 1 Comment
March 31, 2010
Players A to Z, Tony Gwynn, Jr.
Tony Gwynn, Jr. plays outfield for the San Diego Padres. He is the son of Padres great Tony Gwynn, Sr. The younger Gwynn was given a chance to play full time in 2009 for the Padres after three seasons of part time play for the Brewers, and responded with a .350 OBP. He possesses very [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:39 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 31, 2010
Players A to Z, Cristian Guzman
Cristian Guzman plays shortstop for the Washington Nationals. He recently lost his starting job to Ian Desmond. With a career .271/.307/.386 slash line, a high percent of Guzman’s value lies in his batting average. When he hit over .300, as he did in 2001, 2007 and 2008, he was a valuable hitter. In other years, [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:28 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 31, 2010
Players A to Z, Angel Guzman
Angel Guzman pitched in relief for the Chicago Cubs in 2009. On March 24, 2010, he underwent shoulder surgery: The procedure performed Tuesday by noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews was not as extensive as the Cubs anticipated, meaning he has a better chance to pitch again than first expected. Guzman had several screws inserted to [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:19 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 31, 2010
Players A to Z, Juan Gutierrez
Juan Gutierrez pitches in relief for the Arizona Diamondbacks. At seasonal age 25, Gutierrez spent his first full season in the majors, giving the Diamondbacks solid work out of the pen. His strength is keeping the ball in the park, as he only allowed two home runs in 71 innings of work. His major league [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:32 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 31, 2010
Players A to Z, Franklin Gutierrez
Franklin Gutierrez plays the outfield for the Seattle Mariners. At age 26, Gutierrez showed considerable improvement, posting a .283/.339/.425 slash line after four years with Cleveland in which he batted .258/.308/.409. I would be wary that the improvement is real, however, since it came almost entirely at Safeco Field. His road slash line for the [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:57 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | 1 Comment
March 31, 2010
Players A to Z, Jeremy Guthrie
Jeremy Guthrie pitches as a starter for the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles converted Guthrie to a starter when they acquired him from the Cleveland Indians in 2007. Since that time, Jeremy tested the limits of how few batters a pitcher can strikeout and remain successful. In 2007, Guthrie struck out 6.31 batters per nine and [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 12:46 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | 1 Comment
March 31, 2010
Players A to Z, Jose Guillen
Jose Guillen plays outfield and DH for the Kansas City Royals. Guillen career arch is one of the strangest I’ve seen. Guillen came up at age 21, and for the first six years of his career was an out machine with little power. With over 2000 plate appearances under his belt, we should have had [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 12:04 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | 1 Comment
March 30, 2010
Players A to Z, Carlos Guillen
Carlos Guillen play as the designated hitter for the Detroit Tigers. In recent years Carlos ran the full defensive spectrum, going from a very high defensive position, shortstop, to a no defensive position at DH. Carlos played two distinctive careers, one with Seattle and one with Detroit. With the Mariners, he was a good offensive [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:13 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 30, 2010
Players A to Z, Matt Guerrier
Matt Guerrier pitches in relief for the Minnesota Twins. He is the workhorse of the staff, amassing the fourth highest games pitched total in the majors over the last three seasons. Like many Twins pitchers, Guerrier walks very few batters, 2.8 per nine innings pitched over his career. His strikeout rate is good, but not [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:22 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 30, 2010
Players A to Z, Vladimir Guerrero
Vladimir Guerrero played for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2009. Over the winter, he signed a contract with the Texas Rangers and will likely be their primary designated hitter. From 1998 through 2008, Vlad slugged well over .500 every year, making him one of the preeminent sluggers of the era. To make his [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:32 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | 1 Comment
March 30, 2010
Players A to Z, Gabe Gross
Gabe Gross played outfield for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009. The Oakland Athletics signed him to a one year contract over the winter. Gross’s one strength as a hitter is his strike zone judgment, which allows him to draw a large number of walks. This is evident in the difference between his career batting [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:47 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 30, 2010
Players A to Z, Ken Griffey, Jr.
Ken Griffey, Jr. plays as the designated hitter for the Seattle Mariners. Approaching the end of his career, Griffey ranks fifth on the all-time home run list with 630 long balls. He was the sixth player to reach the 600 home run mark. A decade ago, it seems likely that Griffey would pass Hank Aaron’s [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:00 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | 2 Comments
March 30, 2010
Players A to Z, Zack Greinke
Zack Greinke pitches as a stater for the Kansas City Royals. He won the AL Cy Young award in 2009. Greinke gave us one of the more interesting stories of the aughts. He came to the majors at age 20 in 2004 and pitched well. In 2005, he slid a bit, striking out fewer, walking [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:14 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | 1 Comment
March 30, 2010
Players A to Z, Kevin Gregg
Kevin Gregg pitched in relief for the Chicago Cubs in 2009, mostly as a closer. He joined the Toronto Blue Jays over the winter, signing a one-year contract. It appears he won’t be the closer for the Blue Jays. A very nice feature of Gregg’s pitching is that he does a bit better against left-handed [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:46 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 30, 2010
Players A to Z, Luke Gregerson
Luke Gregerson pitches in relief for the San Diego Padres. He pitched as a true rookie in 2009, posting an excellent strikeout rate while giving up just three home runs in 75 innings pitched. His walk rate came in a little high, but given his excellence in the other two legs of the pitching tripod, [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:13 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 30, 2010
Players A to Z, Tyler Greene
Tyler Greene played shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2009. He returned to AAA this year after a poor spring training. Given his minor league career, Tyler is unlikely to be an offensive force in the game. He did show a little pop, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his 2009 major league numbers, [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:45 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 30, 2010
Players A to Z, Sean Green
Sean Green pitches in relief for the New York Mets. Green’s strength lies in his ability to keep the ball in the park. He’s allowed just 12 home runs in his career, covering 248 2/3 innings, a rate of 9.7 HR per 200 IP. Two of those home runs came with the bases loaded, meaning [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:25 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 30, 2010
Players A to Z, Nick Green
Nick Green players shortstop for the Boston Red Sox in 2009. He signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers, and the probability seems high that he’ll make the team out of camp despite a poor spring. Green does little well offensively. The best one can say about his hitting skill is that he’ll take [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:49 am | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | 1 Comment
March 30, 2010
Players A to Z, Jeff Gray
Jeff Gray pitched in relief for the Oakland Athletics in 2009. He’s starting the season in AAA for the Chicago Cubs, but is expected to be a part of the relief staff at some point. Gray only has 31 major league innings under his belt, but showed great control, walking just five batters (he did [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:38 am | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 29, 2010
Players A to Z, Curtis Granderson
Curtis Granderson played the outfield for the Detroit Tigers in 2009. In the off season, the New York Yankees acquired him in a trade. The 2009 season represented an off-year for Granderson, as his OBP was well below his career average, and even further below the .363 mark of his two previous seasons. The question [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:45 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | 2 Comments
March 29, 2010
Players A to Z, John Grabow
John Grabow pitches in relief for the Chicago Cubs. Grabow improved the last two seasons. Prior to 2008, his opposition slash line came in at .277/.350/.419, and he posted a 4.61 ERA. Over the last two seasons, his slash line is down to .224/.321/.339, with a drop in ERA to 3.09. The really interesting twist [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:50 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 29, 2010
Players A to Z, Mike Gosling
Mike Gosling pitches in relief for the Cleveland Indians. As a non-roster invitee for Cleveland this year, he pitched poorly in spring training was was sent to the minors. The journeyman reliever has shown trouble with control and the long ball throughout his major league career. Interestingly, despite better K, BB and home run numbers [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:55 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 29, 2010
Players A to Z, Tom Gorzelanny
Tom Gorzelanny pitches as a starter for the Chicago Cubs. Tom showed a lot of promise in 2007, going 14-10 with the Pirates and posting a 3.88 ERA over 201 2/3 innings. If fact, his first three seasons with the Pirates were not bad. His strikeout rate was low but okay, his walk rate fine [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:34 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 29, 2010
Players A to Z, Alex Gordon
Alex Gordon plays third base for the Kansas City Royals. He’s likely to start the season on the disable list due to a broken thumb. This is the third season in a row Gordon suffered a serious injury. The last two came sliding into second base. He tore the labral cartilage of the right hip [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:39 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | 1 Comment
March 29, 2010
Players A to Z, Mike Gonzalez
Mike Gonzalez pitched in relief for the Atlanta Braves in 2009. He signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles over the winter and will serve as their closer. Gonzalez strikes out a high number of batters; in five of his seven seasons his K per 9 IP came in over 10.0. That works [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:33 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 29, 2010
Players A to Z, Gio Gonzalez
Gio Gonzalez pitches as a starter for the Oakland Athletics. Gonzalez is trying to stay in the majors with one leg of the pitching tripod intact. He strikes out batters at a very high rate, 9.7 per nine innings. Unfortunately he also walks batters at a high rate, 5.5 per nine innings and gives up [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 12:15 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
March 29, 2010
Players A to Z, Carlos Gonzalez
Carlos Gonzalez plays outfield for the Colorado Rockies. Gonzalez took a big step forward in 2009, posting a .353 OBP and a .525 slugging percentage for the Rockies after a disappointing .273/.361 season for the Athletics in 2008. His hitting was greatly helped by Coors field, but his road averages were also greatly improved over [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:26 am | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | 1 Comment
March 28, 2010
Players A to Z, Alex Gonzalez
Alex Gonzalez played shortstop for the Reds and Red Sox in 2009. He signed over the winter with the Toronto Blue Jays. Gonzalez hits poorly, posting a career .247/.294/.395 slash line. What’s interesting to me is that he’s never even had a fluke good year with the bat. When he hit 23 home runs for [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:48 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | 1 Comment
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