How Was The Game? (April 10, 2013)
It got away from us.
Blue Jays 8, Tigers 6
The day began with a two hour and twenty-nine minute rain delay and ended with a whimper in the face of a home plate umpire who wanted to go home. The Tigers jumped ahead with a run in the first and second innings and a strong opening from Rick Porcello and entered the fifth inning up 2-0. Porcello gave up a run in the top half and the offense broke out in the bottom half as the Tigers chased Buehrle and worked some walks to take a 6-1 lead. But it unraveled quickly as the Porcello allowed a couple quick baserunners in the 6th and was promptly pulled by Leyland for Downs who let Porcello’s baserunners come around. It would be no better in the 7th as Villarreal walked three batters without recording and out and yielded to Dotel who allowed all of them to score. The comic relief came in the 8th inning as Octavio Dotel took a comebacker directly between his legs, resulting in a short delay while his teammates laughed at him.
The Tigers bats weren’t as ferocious today as they were yesterday, but still managed to put up 6 runs against a solid Jays team. Porcello pitched well for most of the game even if the line doesn’t show it because he got yanked in the midst of a rough inning. The bullpen was the trouble today at Comerica Park, but we were treated to a Prince Fielder infield single. Regardless, the Tigers will send Doug Fister to the mound tomorrow against Josh Johnson with a shot to take the series.
The Moment: Octavio Dotel takes a groundball in a personal area in the 8th.
Dynamic Standings Projection (April 10, 2013)
In case you missed it, today we’re launching our Dynamic Standings Projection feature on New English D. A full explanation of the methodology can be found here or by clicking the tab at the top of the page. This project seeks to provide a reasoned and cautious approach to updating our beliefs about the baseball future. You can find a summarization of the original projections here.
This Dynamic Standings Projection is updated through the April 9 games.
The Morning Edition (April 10, 2013)
From Last Night:
- Kris Medlen cruises past the Fish in Miami
- Cliff Lee gets help from his offense, but comes up one out shy of a complete game in aa 8-3 win over the Mets
- Pettitte needs little help, but gets a lot in 14-1 win over the Indians
- The Nationals hang on for dear life in an 8-7 win over the White Sox
What I’m Watching Today:
- Matt Moore faces the Rangers in a redux of his 2011 ALDS Game 1 start (2p Eastern)
- Barry Zito looks to build on his strong first start against the Rockies (345p Eastern)
- Kyle Lohse will try to follow his strong first start against the Cubs (8p Eastern)
The Big Question:
- How awesome was Don Kelly’s catch last night?
It happened after we went to press on Monday night, but I can’t help but comment on what happened in the final at bat of Monday’s game between the Rangers and Rays. Down one, with one on and two out, Ben Zobrist stepped to the plate to face Joe Nathan. Marty Foster gave us this beauty of a strikezone.
Jump over to Jeff Sullivan’s article at Fangraphs for .gifs of the pitch and how awful it looked it real time. Foster admitted after the game that he missed the call. We’re speaking specifically about #6 above (but #1 was bad too!). It’s hard to be too critical of MLB umpires give the state of officiating in high profile events in other sports like the NCAA title game, but this is just one of the many reasons why we need expanded replay in baseball. There are a lot of calls that we could get right if we let the umpires take another look. Not only would it help us get calls right, but it would take pressure off the umpires and remove a lot of tension that comes after blown calls. Heck, there were two clear ones on Opening Night in Houston and another really bad one (that the crew chief overturned) in Detroit this weekend. A lot of this is avoidable, so let’s avoid it!
How Was The Game? (April 9, 2013)
A nice clear win.
Tigers 7, Blue Jays 3
The Tigers extra base power was on display at Comerica Park today as Miguel Cabrera and Alex Avila hit homeruns while Fielder, Hunter, and Tuiasosopo each added doubles. Cabrera also chipped in with 4 hits in order to outdo Torii Hunter who added 3 on way to his 2,000th career knock. Anibal Sanchez did his part with 7IP featuring 8K, 1BB, and 2ER. It was, all in all, a well played game by the Tigers as they moved to 4-3 on the season while knocking off the buzzworthy, but struggling Jays. Yet, none of this was the story from Tuesday’s game. Thanks to a cut on Victor Martinez’s finger, Don Kelly ended up playing LF. This would prove to be a sage choice by Jim Leyland as JP Arencibia hit a long fly ball to left field that had homerun distance in the 2nd inning. Unfortunately for Mr. Arecibia, Don Kelly takes no prisoners.
Here, for you viewing pleasure, is Don Kelly taking a homerun away from Arencibia. It shall also double as today’s The Moment. Man, Don Kelly is just awesome.
Good luck trying to drop one in on the Tigers when this is their worst outfielder.
The Morning Edition (April 9, 2013)
From Last Night:
- Justin Upton’s 4-hit game powers the Braves past the Marlins
- Matt Harvey pitches brilliantly again while Halladay struggles as the Mets beat the Phillies 7-2
- Mitchell Boggs vomits up the game as the Reds rally for 9 runs in the 9th to top the Cards 13-4
- Clay Buchholz shines as the Red Sox beat the O’s on Opening Day in Boston
What I’m Watching Today:
- Jake Peavy and Gio Gonzalez hook up in D.C. (7p Eastern)
- Cliff Lee tries to get the Phillies rotation back on track against the Mets (7p Eastern)
- The ageless Andy Pettitte tries to quiet the Indians’ bats (7p Eastern)
The Big Question:
- Are we watching the end of Roy Halladay?
Three things stood out on Monday in major league baseball. Let’s take them in turn. First, Mitchell Boggs gave up 6 earned runs to go with his four walks in 1/3 of an inning. This is particularly notable because he’s on my fantasy baseball team, so I can tell you that calculates out to a 162.00 ERA and 18.00 WHIP for the day. Good grief. Second, Matt Harvey is very good. The Phillies aren’t the best offense in baseball, but his 7IP, 3H, 1R, 2BB, 9K line is hard to ignore. For the season, he’s 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA, 1.14 FIP and a 12.21 K/9. Stats don’t mean much over two starts, but those are pretty snazzy. Matt Harvey is officially my non-Tiger man-crush of 2013. Third, Roy Halladay might be slipping away from us. Against the Mets on Monday he went 4IP, gave up 7 earned runs, walked 3, and struckout just 3 as well. His ERA on the season is 14.73. Again, you don’t want to make too much of the numbers, but Halladay, after a rough 2012 and rough spring, just doesn’t look like the pitcher we used to know. A one time surgeon of the strikezone, now looks as if he is using Apple Maps to find it. Just two years ago, at the start of 2011, I wouldn’t have batted an eye that Doc was the best pitcher in baseball. This year, he didn’t make my top 9 NL pitchers. I’m not sure he’s in the top 40 right now. He has to be hurt, right? It’s tough to watch.
The Morning Edition (April 8, 2013)
From Last Night:
- R.A. Dickey, David Price, Cole Hamels, Matt Cain, and Stephen Strasburg all get hit hard in losing efforts
- Will Middlebrooks hits 3 HR in 13-0 thumping of the Jays
- Dayan Viciedo walks off on Kameron Loe in the 10 inning as the White Sox beat the Mariners
- Marlon Byrd wins it for the Mets in the bottom of the 9th against the Marlins
- The Twins silence Chris Davis and beat the O’s
- Rockies beat the Friars 9-1, improve to 5-1 on the season
- Darvish and Weaver surrender runs early in Arlington
What I’m Watching Today:
- The Reds and Cards square off in an early NL Central showdown (4p Eastern)
- Matt Harvey faces Roy Halladay in a battle of pitchers going in opposite directions (7p Eastern)
- The Marlins play their first home game after the winter firesale against Paul Maholm and the Braves (7p Eastern)
The Big Question:
- Was Halladay’s weird outing last week a sign of things to come or blip on the road back to dominance?
Sunday was not a good day for the College of Aces as Dickey, Price, Hamels, Cain, and Straburg all gave up 6 or more earned runs in relatively short outings. As I’m writing this, Darvish and Weaver have given up five runs between them in just two innings, so either one of them could join the party. Sabathia shut down the Tigers and Verlander was good against the Yankees save for one bad pitch. It’s hard to imagine that on a day in which so many of baseball’s best starters took to the hill that so few good pitching performances occurred. I toyed around with the idea of developing an AceStart% statistic that measured what percentage of aces pitched on a given day, and I would guess that Sunday would be the highest non-Opening Day of the season as far as that goes, but it sure didn’t look like it. 148 runs were scored in the 14 games that are final at this point. It was not the day of great pitching I hoped for, but hey, that’s what makes baseball great. On any given day, any team can make a great pitcher look silly.
In a shocking turn of events, however, it was not Chris Davis who won New English D’s “Race to 1.0 WAR,” but rather the A’s shortstop, Jed Lowrie. Mr. Lowrie has 30 plate appearances in his team’s first 7 games and has 3 HR and a .500/.567/1.000 line to go with his .645 wOBA and 326 wRC+. If you had Jed Lowrie in the first to 1.0 WAR pool, come claim your prize. It’s a unicorn. Lowrie, at this moment, is on pace for 23.1 WAR. That would be a record, if you’re curious, topping Babe Ruth‘s 1923 season (.393/.545/.764) by a full 8 wins. Lowrie is a good player, but I’m willing to take the under on that one.
Booing Josh Hamilton: Hard Feelings in Arlington
You know the story. Josh Hamilton is drafted #1 by the Rays. Josh Hamilton goes to a dark place of personal demons dealing with drugs and alcohol addiction. Josh Hamilton returns to baseball and has a successful year with the Reds, gets traded to Texas and becomes a bona fide star. He wins an MVP, makes two World Series, and despite struggles, produces at a very high level.
And then there were relapses, a terrible accident involving a fan, and awful plate discipline. There was a really bad final few weeks that coincided with the Rangers missing the real playoffs on the final day.
There were boos. And contract talks. And a former hero moving to LA to go where he felt like he was wanted. I’ve written a lot about Josh Hamilton as a player. His amazing skills and terrible plate discipline. His flawed past.
And then there was this, that Hamilton said after leaving town:
“Texas, especially Dallas, has always been a football town. The good with the bad is they’re supportive, but they also got a little spoiled at the same time, pretty quickly. You can understand a really true, true baseball town. There’s true baseball fans in Texas but it’s not a true baseball town.”
All of this stacked on top of itself makes it pretty unsurprising that the Rangers faithful greeted him with Bronx cheers on Friday. They booed. They read the paper. There were hard feelings all around.
I have complicated feelings about Hamilton. I’ll lay them out.
- Hamilton is very talented and can do really exciting things on the field
- Hamilton has terrible plate discipline, a skill I value greatly
- Hamilton wasted a great deal of his God-given talent when he buried himself in drugs and alcohol
- Hamilton’s story is one of redemption, which is very emotionally powerful
- Hamilton seemed to phone in his final month in Texas
On balance, Josh Hamilton has enough personal demons to deal with without me getting on his case. But he’s frustrating to watch. He could have been an all-time great and he wasted so much potential. He doesn’t seem to like baseball very much, but he’s a great comeback story.
But the fans in Texas have some reason to be angry. I think he did quit on them last year. He looked awful in the biggest games of the year. A little more from Hamilton during the final weeks might have helped the Rangers secure a playoff berth. But then again, they don’t know what was going on with him. The right thing to do from the fan perspective would have been unconditional support. He was theirs, they should defend him.
And then he left. They parted ways. It was a breakup that both sides needed. Fine, good, it was time. But then the quote posted above. Hamilton insulted the Rangers’ fans. He challenged their love of the game. He made it about them and not about him. He all of people should know about his flaws. But there he was, blaming them. Pouring salt in the wound.
Classy it was not. If Hamilton hadn’t said it, I think I’d take his side on the booing issue. But after the way he left, to make a public statement like that, Hamilton was asking for it.
He deserved it. But the fans didn’t come away smelling like roses. It was just kind of ugly. It was a divorce. They couldn’t live together anymore and it was time to go their separate ways. But then there was a snarky comment to a mutual friend that resulted in an arms race of animosity.
It’s sad really. There’s so much about their relationship that was good. And it ended so poorly.
I want to blame Josh Hamilton for who he is, but that’s probably not right. I want to blame the fans for bailing on him too early. I want to blame Hamilton for disparaging his old fan base. I wish the fans had taken the high road rather than show him up.
It wasn’t pretty, but not everything is. Josh Hamilton is baseball’s flawed giant and he always will be. He was wrong. The fans were wrong. Time is the only thing that will heal this wound. Hopefully, the day will come when they can reconcile. And the kids who grew up wearing Hamilton jerseys can stand and cheer for star they used to love.
How Was The Game? (April 7, 2013)
Pretty quiet at the dish.
Yankees 7, Tigers 0
On this Verlander Sunday, the Tigers looked poised to sweep the Yankees, but came up short. Verlander looked a bit off his game giving up 3 runs in the 2nd but settled in and shut down the Yankees offense for the remainder of his 7 1/3 innings and had a much better day than his College of Aces compatriots Dickey, Price, Hamles, and Strasburg. Coke came on in relief in the 8th and surrendered two runs of his own and Dotel did the same in the 9th, but the story of the day was CC Sabathia quieting the Tigers’ bats. Sabathia looked good today after a less than stellar season debut against the Red Sox on Monday and kept the Tigers off the board for 7 innings. The Yankees bullpen did the rest despite decent scoring chances for the Tigers in the 8th against Robertson and in the 9th against Rivera. Matt Tuiasosopo made his first start as a Tiger and went 2-3 with a walk to endear himself to the faithful, but the Tigers were unable to capitalize on any of their chances. After taking 2 of 3 from the Yankees the Tigers head into the second week of the season 3-3 with Anibal Sanchez looking to handle the Blue Jays on Tuesday in Detroit. The Jays will send Brandon Morrow, Mark Buehrle, and Josh Johnson to the hill in the three game series.
The Moment: Brayan Pena got his first hit as a Tiger. It was an infield single.
The Morning Edition (April 7, 2013)
From Last Night:
- BJ Upton hits a game tying homerun in the 9th inning against the Cubs, Justin Upton follows him with a walk off
- The Nats top the Reds in 11 innings
- Albert Pujols’ big day powers the Angels past the Rangers
- Kershaw blanks the Pirates over 7 innings in LA
What I’m Watching Today:
- Lester and Dickey face off in Toronto (1p Eastern)
- Marlins prospect Jose Fernandez makes his MLB debut at Citi Field (1p Eastern)
- Strasburg looks to follow his excellent opening day against the Reds (1p Eastern)
- Darvish faces the Angels in his near perfecto encore (8p Eastern)
- Lots of other aces in action including: Sabathia, Verlander, Cueto, Samardizija, Shields, Hamels, Price, Sale, Wainwright, Cain, and Weaver
The Big Question:
- What first week standouts will carry their success into week two of the season?
The first week of the MLB season is always exciting but it is often hard to distinguish between players because of very small sample sizes. I’m looking forward to seeing which players level out and regress to the mean and which players are in for better and worse than expected seasons. We really want to make meaningful conclusions about these games, but it’s just too early. That said, aside from Chris Davis, here are a couple players I’m watching at the start of week two to see if they are candidates for early season standout status:
- Shin-Soo Choo
- Justin Upton
- Chase Utley
- Austin Jackson
None of those players are surprises, they just have my attention for now for various reasons. The first two are on new clubs, Utley looks healthy, and Jackson is a talented guy entering his prime on a great club.
Thanks for reading New English D this week and we look forward to talking baseball with you throughout the season.
How Was The Game? (April 6, 2013)
Strange, but fun.
Tigers 8, Yankees 4
On this day, Max Scherzer was Max Scherzer. He struck out many Yankees, but allowed some hard contact, including a Vernon Wells homerun. Additionally, there was very little offense at times and explosions of offense at others. The Tigers put up a big number in the bottom of the 5th. The Yankees answered in the top of the 6th. The Tigers came back with more in the bottom half of that inning. Every Tiger but Santiago had a hit and many had multi-hit games. Jackson and Hunter continued their torrid starts and Cabrera’s 4 hit day launched him near the top of the team’s leaderboards. Scherzer wasn’t at his best, but the bullpen held it together and the bats carried him. One of the strange moments, other than Vernon Wells homering, was a call that came in the top of the 6th. The bases were loaded with no outs. A line drive was hit to Prince Fielder who caught it and stepped on first for the double play. Except the first base umpire, who was standing not six feet from the base, called the runner safe at first despite being a solid foot away from the base when Fielder stepped upon it. Luckily, the homeplate umpire overruled him, but it was peculiar in the sense that it was such a clear call I could see he kicked it from my kitchen. I didn’t just react as a fan who wanted the call to go our way. In real time, from far away from my television, I saw certain evidence the runner was out. You don’t get to see that too often.
Also of note today was the Alex Avila played the entire game waiting to hear if his wife was going into labor. Seems like a pretty stressful day. New English D is excited to welcome this player to be named later to the Tigers family. Speaking of the Tigers family, we’d also like to plug this fantastic feature from ESPN on Max Scherzer and his brother, Alex, who took his own life last year after a battle with depression. It’s a touching story not just because of our affinity for Max, but also for his brother who suffered from mental illness.
The Tigers climbed to 3-2 on the season and look for the sweep tomorrow behind Justin Verlander at 1pm on Kids’ Opening Day.
The Moment: Prince Fielder turns an unassisted double play in the top of the 6th, despite the best efforts of umpire Brian O’Nora.
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