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Monday Tidbits
- The Giants made their first cuts today: Ramon Ortiz, Ronnie Ray, Pat Misch, Todd Jennings, and Josh Phelps are all moving down to minor-league camp. Ortiz is no surprise, given his completely abysmal outings. Notably, Phelps' reassigment may indicate the Giants' confidence in Travis Ishikawa as a full-time player, as Phelps would have been Ishikawa's platoon partner at 1B. Rich Aurilia is still a possibility at first, but Ishikawa will most likely get more at-bats against lefties this spring rather than sitting out.
- Fangraphs: now with 100% more ZiPS!
11 comments:
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=5909&position=P
Aww, Misch looks like one of those AAAA players that doesn't quite have the velocity to not get hit around.
Oh, the double-traiter is Schmidt. Do you think he got overworked? He threw a ton of pitches 04-05, and his stuff has fallen a tier or two as a result.
"Slowest 2008 Fastballs
Chad Bradford, Orioles-Rays 79.6
Jamie Moyer, Phillie 81.2
Tom Glavine, Braves 82.1
Livan Hernandez, Twins-Rockies 83.7
Greg Maddux, Padres-Dodgers 83.7
Doug Davis, Diamondbacks 84.6
Barry Zito, Giants 84.9
Cla Meredith, Padres 85.1
R.A. Dickey, Mariners 85.1
Kenny Rogers, Tigers 85.2 "
The on-again, off-again comeback by Oakland’s Eric Chavez hit another snag on Monday, as he was scratched from his expected spring fielding debut at third base because of soreness in his surgically repaired right shoulder.
A’s manager Bob Geren said that Chavez would be shut down from fielding drills and his in-game role as a designated hitter for the immediate future.
“He experienced some pain in his shoulder [on Sunday] and we’re going to give him some time off, even from DHing,” Geren said on Monday morning hours before his club’s game against the Angels at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. “There’s not a determined date [for Chavez to return]. But he’s not going to do anything at least for a few days. We’ll try and get everything calmed down.”
Shit. Well, whoever had March 9th in a baseball bet pool just cleaned up. :) May Hanahan be the Chosen One 3rd basemen.
Ahh, Misch. Every pitch in his arsenal is average-ish, and yet I can’t help rooting for him. The pro of having the proverbial “jack of all trades” is that he’s one of the emergency spot starters the Giants have stashed in Fresno; the downside is that he can’t really hang anywhere else. But you’re right: guys were hitting homers off him left and right. It’s too bad, because I think if he puts it together, he could be a pretty good long reliever or even a 5th starter in a best-case scenario.
If you’re familiar with Felipe Alou’s pitcher philosophy, then you know that Schmidt definitely got overworked. From Only Baseball Matters:
“He destroyed the careers of Kirk Reuter, Jesse Foppert, Kurt Ainsworth, Jerome Williams, and Jason Schmidt. Schmidt was probably the most costly. Schmidt’s never been the same after that 143-pitch, 17-strikeout, 1-hitter in May of 2004. That month, Schmidt started 5 games, went 47 innings, allowed 23 hits, had 54 strikeouts, and a 1.53 ERA. Since then, he’s had a monthly ERA below 3.00 just one single time, and he’s been on and off the DL constantly.”
That 143-pitch game was only the icing on the sadsack cake that was his 2004 season onward (bad metaphor, but it gets the point across). Then came the arm troubles and the 85-mph fastballs. It’s a bit frightening, seeing as Lincecum could very well go down the Schmidt-deterioration path if the Giants aren’t prudent regarding his pitch count. They’re also pretty similar in their fastball-changeup combo, but that’s a positive.
What is up with the A’s and the DL? And are they really going to plug in Crosby at 3B? Hanahan, huh? He seemed like a hacker last season.
:) Just finished a Response for Dunnington... 70 Point AP Euro test to study for now. Le sigh.
One of those baseball sayings that stuck to me: Pitchers can have power, smarts, or control. Bad pitchers have one. Good pitchers have two. Awesome pitchers have all three.
Felipe Alou amuses me greatly. The websites I read tell me he was sleeping during the Dominican Republic games during the WBC.
New market inefficiency! /ever read Moneyball? Sports in Literature teaches it, which amuses me since Bradford (had him for English) strikes me as a hardliner RBI, HR, BA guy.
Anyhow, new market inefficiency! Easily injured players! :) Alternatively, the medical staff of the A's needs to be fired.
Also, Jenkins funny of the day.
"Matt Holliday and Jason Giambi are two guys who go up there hacking, not looking to run a 3-1 count... and two of the A’s best infield prospects, second baseman Jemile Weeks and shortstop Corey Wimberly, are flashy, speed-burning types."
I haven't read Moneyball, yet. They're making a movie out of it, though I don't get how you make a movie out of stats. What's funny is that they're casting Brad Pitt as Billy Beane.
What makes you think Bradford's a BA HR RBI guy? I don't think he's the exact opposite either, but at least he would know something about OBP, etc. I've only had him for photography, so you would know more.
Hah, that Jenkins article was full of gems. Getting Holliday and Giambi wasn't really a "dramatic departure" from what Beane's always done. He waited out the market to nab an undervalued player, in Giambi's case, and he traded for Holliday. But whatever. This is coming from the same guy who wrote this lovely gem:
http://imgs.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/30/SPGJ12K8LA.DTL&hw=hitter&sn=137&sc=119
"It might not be realistic to expect such power from Posey or Angel Villalona, the heralded Domincan prospect who has managed just 15 homers this season at Augusta."
As if you could declare Villalona's future lack of power from the 17 HR he hit in low-A.
:) Moneyball has a couple of great passages that don't quite hold up. For instance, Lewis resides in the A's "war room" during the 2002 draft, wherein, famously, they had like 9 picks in the first 45. So, Beane dislikes high schoolers tremendously right now... Prince Fielder gets selected by the brewers. The A's make fun of his fatness and explain there's a great chance he never makes the majors. Scott Kazmir is ridiculed as a high-school pitcher who probably will blow out an arm. And so on.
Eh, it's just a gut feeling based on the four or five conversations I had with him on baseball. He talked about how he coached Eric Byrnes for instance... he actually had Baseball America open on his computer during English... :) It may just boil down to the fact he's old, but I brought in some Hardball Times and Baseball Analysts fairly often into the class, and he never really cared.
:) Intangibles are everything. Which is why New York sportswriters are all like "Trade A-Roid"
Funny funny of the day!
The World Baseball Classic is currently playing out. The Dominican Republic, with Pujols, Ramirez, Martinez, and others, lose to the Netherlands. Twice. Immense upset. But the newsarticle credits: "But in two games they couldn't solve an unheralded Netherlands pitching staff coached by former big leaguer Bert Blyleven."
XD Blyleven strikes oncemore!
WBC Stat Leaders.
"Batting Average:
1. Carlos Delgado (Puerto Rico), .833
2. Brett Roneberg (Australia), .714
3. Jose Lopez (Venezuela), .700
On-Base Percentage:
1. Carlos Delgado (Puerto Rico), .917
2. Jason Bay (Canada), .778
3. 4 tied with .750
Slugging:
1. Carlos Delgado (Puerto Rico), 1.667
T2. Adam Dunn (USA), 1.500
T2. Jose Lopez (Venezuela), 1.500
OPS:
1. Carlos Delgado (Puerto Rico), 2.583
T2. Adam Dunn (USA), 2.250
T2. Jose Lopez, 2.250
Home Runs:
T1. Frederich Cepeda (Cuba), 3
T1. Karim Garcia (Mexico), 3
T3. 11 tied with 2
RBI:
1. Adrian Gonzalez (Mexico), 7
T2. 4 tied with 6
Hits:
T1. Yoennis Cespedes (Cuba), 7
T1. Jose Lopez (Venezuela), 7
T3. 7 tied with 6
Base-on-balls:
1. Scott Hairston (Mexico), 8
T2. Adam Dunn (USA), 6
T2. Willy Taveras (Dominican Republic), 6
T4. 2 tied with 5
Struck Out:
1. Yurendell de Caster (Netherlands), 8
2. Greg Halman (Netherlands), 7
T3. Two tied with 6
WHIP:
T1. Ismel Jimenez (Cuba), 0.00 (in 3.2 IP)
T1. Rafael Perez (Dominican Republic), 0.00 (in 3.0 IP)
3. Pedro Martinez (Dominican Republic), 0.17 (in 6.0 IP)
Strikeouts:
1. Ubaldo Jimenez (Dominican Republic), 10
T2. Aroldis Chapman (Cuba), 7
T2. Guoqianq Sun (China), 7"
The day someone makes MLEs for these is the day Joe Morgan kills something.
Hairston leads with 8 walks? That's nearly 1/3 of how many times he got a free pass last season.
Also: Is Yurendell de Caster a good name or what?
:) This comment thread has amusingly spun off-course. Do you have an email wherein I could just throw in whatever I feel like?
Zambrano, C. 7.17 3.89 1.34 3.83
Harden, R. 10.86 3.63 1.15 2.88
That is 10/86 K/9, a 1.15 WHIP, and 2.88 ERA. For Sean Gallagher. Despair.
imovermyhead@gmail.com
That Cubs rotation looks pretty nasty. Well, you never know if Harden's gonna hit the DL again, but I get your point. However, not as bad as Liriano, Bonser, and Nathan for Pierzynski.
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