Daily Archives: April 1, 2013

April 1, 2013

No Man is an Iannetta

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The Angels came within an inning of their longest opening game ever as they defeated the Reds in 13 innings 3-1. Chris Iannetta homered for the only runs the Halos scored in regulation, then he singled in the 13th to drive home the final two runs. He also handled the pitching staff well as the Angels walked five and struck out 13 in the course of the game.

Josh Hamilton went 0 for 4 with two walks in his Angels debut, while Shin-Soo Choo went two for five out of the leadoff slot in his Reds debut.

April 1, 2013

Flowers for Sale

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The Chicago battery fashions an opening day win as Chris Sale pitches 7 2/3 shutout innings and Tyler Flowers hits a solo home runs as the White Sox squeak by the Royals 1-0. Sale struck out seven with just one walk. James Shields did not walk a batter in his Royals debut, but he made the one mistake to Flowers. The very cold weather may have had something to do with the lack of offense as well.

April 1, 2013

Mike Stenhouse, Jr.

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The Red Sox spoiled the Yankees opening day with an 8-2 victory in the Bronx. Jon Lester pitched well and the offense clicked, but I was intrigued by the line of Jackie Bradley, Jr. in his first MLB game. Batting eighth, he went 0 for 2, but with three walks and two runs scored. Mike Stenhouse immediately came to mind. Mike played for the Red Sox in 1986, his last year in the majors. In 34 PA he collect two hits and 12 walks for an .095 BA with a .424 OBP. The Red Sox let him go due to his low batting average. Today, the Boston front office is more attuned to the importance of OBP, so Stenhouse like numbers would keep Jackie in the bigs.

April 1, 2013

All Pitching

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Matt Cain went six scoreless innings, and Clayton Kershaw completed eight scoreless innings when the Dodgers starter came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth. Clayton smashed a ball over the centerfield fence for the only run of the game so far, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead over the Giants. San Francisco has just three hits on the day.

Carl Crawford did make the opening day lineup. He’s two for four in a successful Dodgers debut, although he did get caught stealing in what could have been a big first inning.

April 1, 2013

Brewers Comeback

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The Brewers overcame three home runs by the Rockies to win the first extra-inning contest of the season 5-4. Aramis Ramirez had the big blow in the eighth inning, a two-run double with two outs that briefly gave Milwaukee a 4-3 lead. Jonathan Lucroy hit a bases loaded sacrifice fly in the tenth for the win.

It was a tough loss for the Rockies. They received home runs from Dexter Fowler, Carlos Gonzalez, and Troy Tulowitzki, while Jhoulys Chacin pitched a strong game into the seventh. The Rockies need to win when those players contribute if they are going to be successful this season.

April 1, 2013 April 1, 2013

Time to Learn to Spell Samardzija

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Jeff Samardzija shut down the Pirates for eight innings as the Cubs go on to a 3-1 victory to start the 2013 season. Jeff struck out nine and walked just one as he held Pittsburgh to two hits and no runs for the short shutout. He picks up where he left off in 2012, a season in which he struck out 180 in 174 2/3 innings.

April 1, 2013 April 1, 2013

Efficient Strasburg

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Stephen Strasburg pitches seven shutout innings, allowing the Marlins to make contact. He walked none and struck out just three, but allowed only three hits. He threw just 80 pitches, 52 for strikes. I actually prefer the high K Strasburg, but the Nationals put a strong defense behind their pitchers, so contact for them isn’t a bad thing. Of course, it could be the Marlins executed the strategy of just trying to make contact against Stephen, it just didn’t work out. The Nationals lead 2-0 in the top of the eighth.

April 1, 2013 April 1, 2013 April 1, 2013

The Summer of Their Discontent

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The long summer begins for Yankees fans as CC Sabathia allows four runs in the second inning. He got ahead of Jackie Bradley, Jr. 0-2 in the rookie first MLB plate appearance, but then didn’t get the call on a great breaking pitch on the outside corner (I thought it was a strike). Bradley walked, and then the flood gates opened. Three singles later, the Red Sox had taken a 4-0 lead. Yankees fans are no doubt thinking this will be a very tough campaign.

April 1, 2013 April 1, 2013 April 1, 2013

Now He Can Buy Graceland

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Elvis Andrus became a very rich man today:

The Texas Rangers and All-Star shortstop Elvis Andrus have agreed to an eight-year extension worth $120 million, a source told ESPN.com senior writer Jerry Crasnick on Monday morning.

Andrus is due to make $4.8 million this year and $6.48 million next year before the new eight-year deal kicks in.

He’s been worth about $18 million a year over the past two seasons. He’s now locked up through he age 33 season, so the Rangers won’t be paying for much of his decline. Barring serious injury, this should turn out to be an excellent deal for the Rangers.

Notice how teams keep draining the free agent pool by locking up their young players. It used to be teams like the Yankees could wait for another organization to let a player go over money concerns, and swoop in and pick up the talent. There are going to be fewer of those, and most will be past their primes. On the other hand, with the supply low, the few players who wait out the free agency clock could rake in huge paydays.

April 1, 2013

Games of the Day

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There are so many great matchups on opening day, it’s tough to choose the best. Start with the Red Sox at Yankees as Jon Lester takes on CC Sabathia. There’s nothing like watching two great left-handers pitch at Yankee Stadium. Lester is coming off the first sub-100 ERA+ season of his career. He showed great control in spring training, however, and 2012 may just have been an off year. CC failed to make 30 starts for just the second time in his career. He’s coming off surgery to remove bones spurs in his elbow.

Chris Sale

Chris may be the Sale of the century. Photo: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

James Shields faces the very tough Chris Sale as the Royals and White Sox kick off their season. The Royals may finally have found an ace to replace Zack Greinke as Shields not only eats innings, but pitches well too. Sale kept batters off base with a combination of a very high strikeout rate and a very low walk rate. He just turned 24 on Saturday.

The Giants and Dodgers renew their rivalry in what appears to be a tough NL West as Matt Cain opposed Clayton Kershaw. Cain posted an ERA under 3.00 for the third time in the last four years. He continues to induce fly balls that stay in the park. Kershaw owns the lowest ERA in the majors over the last three seasons, leading Jered Weaver by 0.17 runs.

Finally, two likely wild card contenders square off in Arizona as Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals takes on Ian Kennedy of the Diamondbacks. Wainwright pulled down an ace contract this winter, and now it’s time to show he can pitch like one again after missing the 2011 season injured. Kennedy’s ERA rose last season as balls flew out of the park against him. We’ll see if he makes an adjustment to keep fly balls in the park.

Enjoy!

April 1, 2013

Another Young Gun

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With injuries to two of their projected starters, the Marlins added 20-year-old Jose Fernandez to their roster and rotation. This is the right Baseball Reference link to his statistics (there are quite a few active players with that name). He has not pitched above high A ball, but he certainly has nothing left to prove at that level. Pitchers this young found success in the past. Felix Hernandez came to the majors at age 19, but he did pitch at AAA. CC Sabathia made it to the majors at age 20, with just 90 innings at AA. The best comparison is Dwight Gooden, who never pitched above A ball. Fernandez has better minor league stats. Jose will be a reason to watch the Marlins.

April 1, 2013

Happy Opening Day!

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It’s the real opening day as baseball fans celebrate the real start of spring. Twelve more pairs of teams kick off 2013 this afternoon, with games going from 1 PM EDT until after midnight. ESPN has a quadruple header planned, featuring rivalries between the Yankees and Red Sox, Dodgers and Giants, and the Phillies and Braves. I’m taking a late lunch to come home and watch the start of the Nats and Marlins to see Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg start their first full and unlimited seasons.

This does appear to be the dawn of a new era. The Tigers are the new powerhouse, with a starting nine and rotation with few weaknesses. The AL East should be a five team race, and the other four divisions feature at least three teams capable of making the playoffs. A number of great young players are appearing on the scene to go along with the once in a life-time pairing of Mike Trout and Harper. There will be surprises, disappointments, and I told you so. In other words, baseball.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the pledge drive! It raised $1067 dollars, which will help defray the cost of the Day by Day Database. The PayPal button remains in the sidebar if you are moved to contribute later in the year. You can also help by clicking on one of the Amazon links when you shop at the online-retailer. Baseball Musings will get a portion of the proceeds.

Play ball!

April 1, 2013

2013 NL West Preview

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The division preview series finishes with the NL West. The starting point for my analysis is the 2012 WAR of the position players, the starting rotation and the closer. All WAR numbers come from FanGraphs. The Giants and Dodgers go head-to-head at 4 PM EDT Monday, although the Padres play earlier in the day against the Mets.

San Francisco Giants

  • Position Player WAR: 23.7
  • Pitcher WAR: 12.5
  • Total: 36.2

Los Angeles Dodgers

  • Position Player WAR: 22.0
  • Pitcher WAR: 15.7
  • Total: 37.7

Arizona Diamondbacks

  • Position Player WAR: 23.3
  • Pitcher WAR: 14.2
  • Total: 37.5

The top three teams in this division come into the season evenly matched. The Giants have upside in Brandon Belt having the first base job from day one, and Tim Lincecum recoverng from an off year. The Dodgers have already felt the injury bug, as Hanley Ramirez, Carl Crawford, and Chad Billingsley won’t start the season healthy. Arizona might have the most downside, with Aaron Hill and Martin Pardo coming off great seasons. For all the money and resources the Dodgers spent, they may only have pulled even with the last two division winners. There’s nothing wrong with that, they just need to have a little luck run their way. I get the feeling, however, that if Buster Posey is healthy, the Giants will keep winning.

San Diego Padres

  • Position Player WAR: 17.3
  • Pitcher WAR: 2.7
  • Total: 20.0

The Padres position core isn’t bad, but it’s tough to realize the potential of this unit when so many of their players are hurt. That includes Chase Headley, the one superstar on the team.

My feeling is that there is plenty of upside to Edinson Volquez, Clayton Richard, and Eric Stults. Even with a combined five WAR increase by those three, San Diego just does not have the personnel to compete with the big three.

Colorado Rockies

  • Position Player WAR: 9.2
  • Pitcher WAR: 4.2
  • Total: 13.4

The five pitchers in the projected starting rotation for the Rockies all have the first initial, “J”, but none of them have the same first name. That might be the most interesting thing about the group.

The offense has upside, mostly if Troy Tulowitzki is healthy and gets back to his superstar production. Along with star years from Dexter Fowler and Cargo Gonzalez, the Rockies could add eight WAR to the total above. That still doesn’t put them in the playoff hunt.

Predictions:

Here’s how I see the probabilities of each team winning the division:

  • Giants 31%
  • Dodgers 30%
  • Diamondbacks 29%
  • Padres 8%
  • Rockies 2%

I really think this division is a toss up between the top three teams, but I didn’t want to cop out and not pick a winner. Putting the Giants in first is based on Tim Lincecum rebounding from his poor 2012. The Dodgers show they are willing to break the bank to win, so they may make big trades to fill any weaknesses that show up early in the season. The Diamondbacks appear to have the most downside potential. The two teams who don’t finish first have a fine chance at winning the wild card. This should be an exciting race.

April 1, 2013