Daily Archives: April 3, 2013

April 3, 2013

Braves Halladay

Roy Halladay posted one of the strangest lines I’ve seen. He only lasted 3 1/3 innings against Atlanta, allowing two homers and five runs. His control was off as he walked three. He struck out nine, however. So he faced 19 batters, and only seven put the ball in play. Six of those went for hits, and the defense only turned only one of the five balls in play into an out. If someone saw the game, was it the Phillies defense, or was Roy just pitching well to some batters and making mistakes to others? The Braves lead the Phillies 7-0 in the bottom of the fifth.

April 3, 2013

Thumbs Up

Sports on Earth discusses how a blister infection of Ubaldo Jimemez’s thumb ruined his mechanics. Jimenez and the new Indians field regime has been working this winter on getting his flow back:

Jimenez’s aura of invincibility had been shattered. He needed to regain it.

The goal would be to make Jimenez stop thinking too much when he was on the mound. It sounded like a cliché, but it was true.

Callaway asked Jimenez to remember everything about that 2010 season: the meals he ate, the routines he had, the games when he dominated. Jimenez recalled that during that year he would throw two bullpen sessions in between starts. During the bullpen immediately following his start, Jimenez would throw for a long time. During the bullpen just prior to his start, Jimenez would only throw for a short time. It was a balance that kept his arm and his mechanics in good shape.

So far tonight, Ubaldo walked two and struck out five in five innings, allowing one run. The Indians will take those ratios.

April 3, 2013

Major Minor Injury

Even the Yankees top prospects are not immune from the injury bug:

Right-hander Ty Hensley will miss 2-3 months after having surgery to repair a bone impingement in his right hip today. “He had a pulled abdominal and it turned out this was the cause,” said VP of Baseball Ops Mark Newman. Dr. Bryan Kelly, who performed Alex Rodriguez‘s recent hip surgery, will do the procedure.

Hensley, 19, was the Yankees’ first round pick (30th overall) last summer.

At 19 years old, he was unlikely to help the major league club this year.

April 3, 2013

Games of the Day

Redemption is the key to the interesting games on Wednesday. Ubaldo Jimenez takes the mound for Cleveland against the Blue Jays and Brandon Morrow. Jimenez pitched poorly since his golden season of 2010. He still strikes out batters at a high rate, but he lost control, walking 4.3 batters per nine innings the last two years. He seemed to get his control back this spring, but he faces his first legitimate test today. Morrow posted the best ERA of his career in 2012, but now needs to show that he can do that over a full season.

In Los Angeles, Tim Lincecum takes on Josh Becket as the Giants and Dodgers finish their first series of the season. Batters hit a lot of Lincecum mistakes in 2012. His K rate was fine, but his walk rose. That wildness may have caused him to aim for the strike zone more, giving batters better balls to hit. Beckett’s ERA rose and fell with even and odd years since moving to Boston. The Dodgers hope the pattern holds and Josh’s ERA comes in around three this season.

Enjoy!

April 3, 2013