The Morning Edition (June 23, 2013)
From Last Night:
- The Rangers knock Miller around, win 4-2
- Kluber unimpressive, Walters very-not-impressive, as Indians win 8-7
- Greinke goes 8, gives up 1 ER, keeps Quentin off the bases in first meeting with SD since brawl
- Corbin and Leake were brilliant, but Bell and Chapman blow saves as the Dbacks win
- Papelbon blows the game, gets a W as his Frandsen bails him out
- Turner and Zito are both sharp, Giants win in 11
- Myers hits a GS off Sabathia, but the Rays pen gives it away
What I’m Watching Today:
- Matt Harvey day in Philly (1p Eastern)
- James Shields’ hilarious W/L record on display (2p Eastern)
- Cain tries to stay hot (4p Eastern)
- Parker and Bonderman (4p Eastern)
- Wainwright on Sunday night (8p Eastern)
The Big Question:
- How long until we stop idolizing closers?
I wrote earlier in the week that “proven closers” are a myth and that you can very easily invent a 9th inning save-getter with almost no effort. That should be easily on display as many “proven” guys melted down on Saturday. Let’s rethink bullpen usage. This is how I’d allocate the spots:
- Relief ace (pitches in highest leverage situations)
- High leverage righty (can get out both lefties and righties)
- High leverage lefty (can get out both lefties and righties)
- Right Handed Specialist
- Left Handed Specialist
- Long Reliever
- Long Reliever
I want bullpens to be used so that the situation and matchup dictates who comes into the game, not the inning on the scoreboard or whether or not something is a “Save.” If you carry two long men, you can also let them eat up two and three innings at a time so that on nights where there are big leads or deficits, you just don’t go to anyone else after your starter. Most teams barely have one good long man, when they should probably have two. If readers are interested, I’d be happy to expand on how this would work. Last year starters averaged 6 innings per start. Managers should be thinking about how to get 6-12 outs a night from 7 relievers, rather than getting to the 9th inning and their closer.
The Morning Edition (June 18, 2013)
From Last Night:
- Johnson and De La Rosa both go 7 scoreless, but the Jays score late to win
- The Nats tie it in the 9th, but Brown walks off for the Phils
- The Royals get 2 late runs to beat the Indians 2-1
- 5 good innings for Miller, who leaves with an injury
What I’m Watching Today:
- The Matt Harveys come to ATL (1p Eastern)
- Cliff Lee faces the Nationals (7p Eastern)
- Zack Wheeler makes him MLB debut in game two of a DH (7p Eastern)
- Parker and Darvish in Arlington (8p Eastern)
- Sharky and Wainwright in St. Louis (8p Eastern)
- Bonderman! (10p Eastern)
The Big Question:
- Can the Mets make tomorrow Groundhog Day?
It’s been a tough season for Mets fans, but they should have fun tomorrow. They have ace and Cy Young contender Matt Harvey opening the day, but top prospect Zack Wheeler will make his debut in the night cap. Harvey has already showed himself to be a star, but if Wheeler can be as good as advertised, this could be quite the 1-2 punch for the next 6 seasons. I bet the Giants wish they still had him. Wheeler’s strikeout rate in the minor leagues has been great, but he’ll need to dampen the walks a bit to succeed in the big leagues. Luckily for him, he gets the strikeout prone Braves in his debut.
The Morning Edition (June 15, 2013)
From Last Night:
- Chris Sale went 8 innings, allowed 0 ER, and struck out 14. Against the Astros. He lost.
- Buehrle looks good, blanks the Rangers over 7
- Bumgarner is brilliant against the Braves, 10K
- Fernandez K’s 10 to beat the Cards
- Dusty Baker actually used Chapman in a non-save situation, helping Jay Bruce homer the Reds to victory
- Moore struggles in loss to the Royals (about to lose Appointment TV status)
- The Indians walk off the Nats, Masterson K’s 10
What I’m Watching Today:
- Kershaw pitches at PNC (4p Eastern)
- Cobb faces the Royals (4p Eastern)
- Felix tries to slow the A’s (7p Eastern)
- Zimmermann vs Kazmir (7p Eastern)
The Big Question:
- Are we still even keeping track of wins after what happened to Sale tonight?
Chris Sale went the distance, gave up no earned runs, and struck out 14 Astros and lost. Basically, you can give up 7 ER in 7 IP and get a win and give up 0 ER in 8 innings and lose. So these make sense. But much more notably, MLB handed down suspensions for the Dbacks and Dodgers brawl today and kept it pretty toothless. Belesario threw punches and got one game. Ian Kennedy got 10 games, but he’s only going to miss one start. The managers only got one game. It doesn’t look like MLB wants to curb this behavior, even thought it’s essentially felonious. Other than that, I just have to plug Rick Porcello again, because he’s turning into a star.
The Morning Edition (June 14, 2013)
From Last Night:
- Wainwright and Harvey don’t disappointed, combining for 14 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 3 BB, and 13 K as the Cards win 2-1
- The Cubs walk off the Reds in 14
- Parker and Kuroda pitch to a draw, the A’s win in 18
- Cain gives the Giants 6.2 scoreless as they beat the Pirates
- Tulo likely facing a “lengthy absence” after breaking rib
What I’m Watching Today:
- Matt Moore tries to avoid being dropped from the Appointment Television list against the Royals (7p Eastern)
- Westbrook comes of the DL to face Fernandez (7p Eastern)
- Bumgarner and Medlen in ATL (7p Eastern)
The Big Question:
- Can you believe our marquee matchup last night lived up to the hype?
After yesterday’s duel, Adam Wainwright (4.0) and Matt Harvey (3.3) are 1st and 3rd in pitcher WAR, only separated by Anibal Sanchez (3.4). In fact, Wainwright and Harvey are the only two pitchers in the top five who don’t play for the Tigers. It is perhaps worth noting that Wainwright and Harvey are excellent examples as to why the pitcher wins statistic is not useful for evaluating performance. Wainwright has a 2.18 ERA and 1.78 FIP. Harvey has a 2.04 ERA and 2.15 FIP. Harvey leads in K/9, Wainwright leads in BB/9 and HR/9, but both are great in each category. By all reasonable accounts, Wainwright and Harvey are two of the top few pitchers in the league. But Wainwright is 10-3 and Harvey is 5-1. Among the pitchers with more wins than Harvey is Jason Hammel, who features a 5.24 ERA, 5.09 FIP, and 0.4 WAR. Pitcher won-loss record is nonsense.
And now, because they’re awesome:
How Was The Game? (June 12, 2013)
Pretty much exactly what you’d have expected.
Royals 3, Tigers 2
Earlier this year I decried the performances of Justin Verlander and Yu Darvish in what was supposed to be a great duel, but Verlander and Shields lined up against each other today and gave the people what they wanted. The Tigers got single runs in the 1st and 5th and that would be it on the scoring as Verlander (8-4, 87 IP, 3.41 ERA, 2.49 FIP, 3.0 WAR) gave the Tigers 7 innings of shutout baseball that featured just 3 hits, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts and Shields offered 7 2-run innings himself. After some struggles in May, Verlander looks like he’s back on track and pitching like the $200 million man. Unfortunately, Jose Valverde is pitching exactly like himself as well, which means he isn’t pitching well. Leyland went to him after Smyly allowed a baserunner in the 9th and Valverde gave up a game tying homerun two batters later. At this point, you can’t be mad at Valverde because he simply isn’t good enough to pitch in close games. This falls squarely on Leyland and Dombrowski’s shoulders. I just feel bad for him now. I don’t support the use of a closer at all, but if you’re going to use one, they can’t be this bad. Coke came on in relief of Valverde and gave up a run in the 10th to end it. The Tigers have still won 6 of their last 9 and are eight games over the .500 mark at 36-28. They’ll take Thursday off in preparation for a three game set with the Twins this weekend. Rick Porcello (3-3, 63 IP, 4.86 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 1.0 WAR) and his rising star (and amazing 2.96 xFIP) will take the mound in game one and may have Austin Jackson behind him depending on how he feels after today’s rehab game.
The Moment: Lough makes a diving grab to rob Cabrera of an RBI double.
How Was The Game? (June 11, 2013)
A close one, but a good one.
Tigers 3, Royals 2
Looking to stop the Royals winning streak, the Tigers sent Max Scherzer (9-0, 93.1 IP, 3.19 ERA, 2.49 FIP, 3.0 WAR) to the mound looking to deliver another great performance and after struggling with command in the first inning, he turned in another fine outing by providing 7 innings of 3 hit, 2 run, 2 walk, and 6 strikeout baseball despite having issues deciding on an outfit:
The 8 and 9 hitters did most of the heavy lifting as Infante went 3-4 and Kelly and Garcia combined to go 3-4. The Tigers got out to an early lead, but wouldn’t score the winning run until the 8th inning on a Martinez sac fly. Valverde made it interesting, but escaped the 9th thanks in part to a generous call by the HP umpire that wasn’t good, but wasn’t as bad as Butler thought:
The win pushes the Tigers to 36-27 and they will go for the series victory behind Justin Verlander (8-4, 80 IP, 3.71 ERA, 2.57 FIP, 2.7 WAR) tomorrow in KC. In Verlander’s last start against the Royals this season, he went 7 innings and allowed 1 ER in an extra inning loss.
The Moment: Cabrera scores on a Martinez sac fly in the 8th.
How Was The Game? (June 10, 2013)
A little unfair to Fister.
Royals 3, Tigers 2
In the interest of tidy box scores, both clubs limited their scoring to the 3rd inning today as Miguel Cabrera delivered a 2 run HR in the top of the inning and the Tigers defense helped the Royals respond with 3 in the bottom half. Doug Fister (5-4, 85 IP, 3.28 ERA, 2.60 FIP, 2.8 WAR) was characteristically fantastic and only allowed runs in one inning that featured 2 infield hits, a regular hit, and a triple that should have been kept to a single if not for a poor play by Garcia and Hunter. Fister would end the day with a CG, 3 run affair with 0 walks and 3 K in the losing effort that also pushed his GB rate to 57.5% which is second best among MLB starters.
After four straight wins, it’s hard to complain, but Doug Fister deserves better and I would like to request that the Tigers spread their poor offensive games around and don’t use them all up with Fister on the mound. Max Scherzer (8-0, 83.1 IP, 3.24 ERA, 2.36 FIP, 2.9 WAR) will take the hill tomorrow looking to even the series and improve his own All-Star and Cy Young profile.
The Moment: After a strike-em-out-throw-em-out to end the 4th inning, all 9 Tigers thought there were only two outs and didn’t leave the field.
The Morning Edition (June 7, 2013)
From Last Night:
- The first night of the MLB Draft features some surprises, Appel, Bryant, Gray go 1-2-3
- Rosales’ 10th inning HR beats the White Sox
- Four run 8th gets the Royals past the Twins
- Miller, after being named to my Appointment TV list, Ks 9 in 6 innings and homers as the Cards beat the Dbacks
- Ortiz walks off as Holland and Lester both meander through 6
What I’m Watching Today:
- Middle rounds of the MLB Draft (1p Eastern)
- Harvey and Hernandez face off in New York (7p Eastern)
- Wainwright faces the Reds (7p Eastern)
- Lee heads to Milwaukee (8p Eastern)
- Cain versus Corbin in Arizona (930p Eastern)
- Kuroda gets Bonderman’s 2nd start (10p Eastern)
The Big Question:
- Which clubs will look back on last night as a building block en route to a title?
I’m not the world’s best guy for draft analysis, but I’ll give you my brief thoughts. First of all, if you’re looking for who went where, I can direct you here, among other places. The reason I’m not the best guy for draft analysis is not because I don’t know anything about amateur baseball, but rather because I don’t like to give analysis that isn’t based on my own observation. Almost everyone who was and will be drafted this weekend are guys I haven’t seen myself, so I’d rather direct you to guys like Keith Law or Jonathan Mayo or Baseball America. I could give you reports about guys based on things I’ve read, but you can read. I’m much more useful to you as someone who analyzes baseball players I’ve seen in person and on TV and in the box score. I have, however, seen Colin Moran, who went 6th overall to the Marlins. He’s a 3B with a great approach and a very good hit tool. Some question if the power will come and if he can stick at third, but I’m bullish there. I don’t think he’ll be a star, but a good approach can play for me. Here are some picks I liked from the first day:
Plenty of teams got good players, but those stand out to me as teams who made good choices when presented with a lot of options.
The Morning Edition (June 3, 2013)
From Last Night:
- Jeremy Bonderman’s return doesn’t go well, gives up 7 ER in 4.2 to the Twins
- The Angels lose their 3rd straight to the Astros fall to 25-32
- Darvish narrowly outduels Santana, but has to sweat as his bullpen nearly costs them
- The Dbacks back Corbin’s 9th W
- Lee Ks 11 in 7.2 innings to beat the Crew
- Dusty waits to use his closer and it costs him a win against the Pirates
- The Fish hit Harvey and sweep the Mets
- The Rays rough up the Indians
What I’m Watching Today:
- Masterson vs Pettitte in NY (7p Eastern)
- Burnett and Medlen face off in Atlanta (7p Eastern)
- Under the radar Cahill and Lynn draw each other at Busch (8p Eastern)
The Big Question:
- How will Puig do in his MLB debut?
If you follow me on Twitter or were an early regular at New English D, you know I was very invested in Jeremy Bonderman’s comeback today. It didn’t go well. Because the Tigers were in Baltimore I had to have the Tigers on the radio, which gave me a chance to watch Bonderman on television. He had a fastball from 89-92 and a good slider at times, and he struck out the first batter he faced and delivered a 1-2-3 first inning. If you followed his career as a Tiger, you know the first inning gave him nightmares. But from there it unraveled as he allowed 3 runs in the 2nd and 2 runs in each of the 4th and 5th innings before being removed from the game. He struck out just one batter. He actually kept the ball down and had decent movement on his pitches, but without a good offspeed pitch, it’s hard to be successful as a starter if you don’t have a big fastball. It sounds like he’ll get another shot in five days, but if nothing else, he made it back to the big leagues. I’ll always be rooting for him even if he doesn’t have much left. He has something left.
The Morning Edition (June 1, 2013)
From Last Night:
- Holland and the Rangers pile on the Royals
- Strasburg leaves with an oblique injury, but the Nats manage to win 3-2
- Jacob Turner goes 7 strong to beat the Mets
- Another rough outing for Hamels as the Phils fall to the Crew
- Cueto throws 8 scoreless to beat the Bucs
- Sabathia gets 10 K to beat the Sox
- Another good start by Garza beats the Dbacks
- Bartolo Colon CGSO
- Rays and Indians start late in Cleveland
What I’m Watching Today:
- Cain and Miller try again in St. Louis (1p Eastern)
- Greinke travels to Coors 4p Eastern)
- Bumgarner and Wainwright in game two (7p Eastern)
The Big Question:
- Chris Davis, are you buying or selling?
I’ve remained cautiously skeptical of the Davis breakout, as one should. Entering 2013, he was a career .258/.310/.466 hitter, which is perfectly league average 100 wRC+. Career 6.5 BB%, 31.0 K%. Barely above replacement level. This year, he’s .356/.442/.749, good for 209 wRC+. Everyone wants to believe, but I can’t. He’s never done anything like this and I just don’t think he’s changed his approach enough to sustain star level performance. The power is real, but I don’t buy the average and walk rate. I don’t usually like to be the negative guy, but here we are. Valverde nights will do that to you.
New English D 