THT Daily: Break Up the Brewers!
by Matthew CarruthMay 08, 2007
Major League News for May 8
Today’s LinksPlayer News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Top Minor League Performances
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
THT Links
Ten Things... - Batter's Box goes over 10 things about this year's Blue Jays ... the AL East's forgotten team this year, between the Orioles' strong start and the annual Red Sox-Yankees histrionics.
Mr. Smith Goes to Work - Marc Hulet over at Baseball Analysts wonders whether the Mets are abusing rookie reliever Joe Smith, and looks at how other heavily worked rookie relievers have fared.
MLB Draft - This summer, on June 7, ESPN2 will air the first and sandwich rounds of the MLB draft. While I'm pretty skeptical about this being a success, as most MLB draft picks take years to make an impact on their teams, I'll probably watch.
Call up - A great story from the KC Star, chronicling Billy Butler's life since he was called up. A nice glimpse into the life of a major leaguer.
Priceless -
In Detroit, the bond between Steve Mariucci and Jeff Garcia was one that transcended geography and football logic. Garcia couldn't throw and Mooch couldn't coach. But that didn't stop them from getting back together and renewing their partnership. That's how it is when you've met your soul mate.
You know who else understands that? Roger Clemens and his best friend forever, Andy Pettitte.
Proctor, Torre suspended - Major League Baseball suspended Scott Proctor for four games and Joe Torre for one game due to an incident in Sunday night's game. Personally, I'm not sure whether this is a good or bad thing for the Yankees. On the one hand, Proctor will likely get a much needed few days off. On the other hand, the rest of the elbows and shoulders in the bullpen might just spontaneously combust.
Moneyball? - Most days, I'm pretty happy about the way the A's are run. Then, I read a story, such as this one from the San Francisco Chronicle, that says that Jason Kendall, currently slugging .179, might start to see slightly less playing time.
Playing GM - Dave Cameron of USS Mariner chimes in with three trades that should happen.
THT Links represents the best efforts of our editors in scouring the various tubes of the interweb for both relevant and irrelevant news items. If you have happened upon a story that we have overlooked or wish to give feedback of any sort, please notify us at THT Links.
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldBrad Penny fanned a career-high 14 in seven scoreless innings Monday in a victory over the Marlins. Penny was exceptional while overtaking his previous high in strikeouts by one. He allowed five hits and walked none while throwing 110 pitches. After three straight no-decisions, he became the first Dodgers starter to begin a season 4-0 since Kazuhisa Ishii in 2002, and his 14 strikeouts was the most for one of the team's pitchers since Chan Ho Park had an identical amount on Aug. 29, 2000.
MLB suspended RHP Juan Salas 50 games for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Yet another pitcher. Salas has a 3.95 ERA in 13 2/3 innings for the Rays this season. With Ruddy Lugo already getting sent down, the Rays will now make two additions to their pen. Either Tim Corcoran or Seth McClung could join Chad Orvella on the trip from Durham.
Joel Zumaya will undergo surgery Thursday after being found to have a ruptured tendon in his right middle finger. This was pretty much the worst case scenario. The ruptured tendon will take a couple of months to heal, and since Zumaya will have to rehab after that, he shouldn't be back before the beginning of August. Fernando Rodney will take over his setup role.
Yankees optioned LHP Kei Igawa to Single-A Tampa. The Roger Clemens signing hasn't stopped the Yankees from changing the plans around on a daily basis. Now Darrell Rasner is going to remain the rotation. Igawa was effective in three of his six appearances, but he was bad enough in the other three to result in a 7.63 ERA. The Yankees will have to give him another chance sooner or later, and he may be a perfectly adequate fourth or fifth starter when it happens. Still, spending $46 million to get him was never a good idea.
The Phillies are planning on holding Ryan Howard out of the starting lineup until Friday in an effort to get him healthy. "We want to give him a rest to see if we can get his aches and pains well," manager Charlie Manuel said. "Things that have been bothering him like his quad and knee. We want to get him 100 percent." Howard was still used as a pinch-hitter on Monday, so it wasn't a complete day off. The same figures to happen the next couple of days.
Yesterday’s Results
American League CLE 10 BAL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Hafner: GS HR; Carmona: 7 IP, 1 R SEA 3 NYA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) See below National League SD 4 ATL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Gonzalez: 2B, HR; Young: 6 IP, 2 R LAN 6 FLA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Penny: 7 IP, 0 R, 14 K, 0 BB; Kent: 2B, HR HOU 5 CIN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Gonzalez: 2 HR; Scott: 3R HR in 8th (.415 WPA) MIL 3 WAS 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Capuano: 8 IP, 0 R, 9 K, 0 BB COL 3 STL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Francis: 7 IP, 2 R; Reyes: 6 IP, 2 R ARI 4 PHI 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Garcia, Davis: 6 IP, 2 R; Young, Nunez: 2 2B; SF 9 NYN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Molina: 2 HR, 5 RBI
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Los Angeles Dodgers at Florida Marlins, 7:05 PM (L) Mark Hendrickson (2-0) vs. (R) Wes Obermueller (1-1) Houston Astros at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (L) Wandy Rodriguez (0-3) vs. (L) Eric Milton (0-4) San Diego Padres at Atlanta Braves, 7:35 PM (R) Justin Germano (0-0) vs. (R) Oscar Villarreal (1-0) Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 PM (R) Ian Snell (2-2) vs. (L) Ted Lilly (2-2) Washington Nationals at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM (R) Jason Simontacchi (0-0) vs. (R) Dave Bush (2-3) Colorado Rockies at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM (R) Taylor Buchholz (1-1) vs. (R) Brad Thompson (1-0) Philadelphia Phillies at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Adam Eaton (3-2) vs. (R) Micah Owings (1-1) New York Mets at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (L) Tom Glavine (3-1) vs. (R) Matt Cain (1-2) American League --------------- Texas Rangers at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM (R) Mike Wood (0-0) vs. (L) Andy Pettitte (1-1) Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (R) Jae Seo (1-2) vs. (R) Jeremy Guthrie (1-1) Seattle Mariners at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (L) Horacio Ramirez (2-1) vs. (R) Jeremy Bonderman (1-0) Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM (R) Josh Beckett (6-0) vs. (R) Victor Zambrano (0-1) Oakland Athletics at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (R) Chad Gaudin (1-1) vs. (L) Jorge De La Rosa (3-2) Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (R) Javier Vazquez (2-1) vs. (R) Boof Bonser (0-1) Cleveland Indians at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (L) Cliff Lee (0-0) vs. (R) Ervin Santana (2-4)
Standings
The graphics next to each team are called "sparklines.” They depict each team’s performance over the last month. Each "up" bar is a victory and a "down" bar is a loss. There are horizontal lines for home games and red bars represent games decided by two runs or less. "PWins" is short for Projected Wins, based on each team’s Run Differential, and is often a better measure of a team’s true strength. Other team graphs and stats can be found on our Team Page.American League East Pwins Diff BOS 20 10 .667 0.0 20 0NYA 14 16 .467 6.0 17 -3
TB 14 17 .452 6.5 11 3
BAL 14 18 .438 7.0 15 -1
TOR 13 18 .419 7.5 15 -2
American League Central CLE 19 10 .655 0.0 17 2
DET 19 11 .633 0.5 17 2
MIN 16 15 .516 4.0 17 -1
CHA 14 14 .500 4.5 13 1
KC 10 22 .313 10.5 12 -2
American League West LAA 17 15 .531 0.0 17 0
SEA 14 13 .519 0.5 12 2
OAK 15 15 .500 1.0 16 -1
TEX 13 18 .419 3.5 13 0
National League East Pwins Diff ATL 19 12 .613 0.0 17 2
NYN 19 12 .613 0.0 21 -2
FLA 14 17 .452 5.0 15 -1
PHI 14 18 .438 5.5 16 -2
WAS 9 23 .281 10.5 9 0
National League Central MIL 22 10 .688 0.0 19 3
CHN 15 14 .517 5.5 18 -3
HOU 14 17 .452 7.5 16 -2
CIN 14 18 .438 8.0 17 -3
PIT 13 17 .433 8.0 11 2
STL 12 18 .400 9.0 9 3
National League West LAN 19 13 .594 0.0 19 0
SD 18 14 .563 1.0 18 0
SF 17 14 .548 1.5 17 0
ARI 18 16 .529 2.0 17 1
COL 14 18 .438 5.0 13 1
Game of the Day
The Mariners beat the Yankees, 3-2, on an Adrian Beltre home run off Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning in New York. Rookie Matt DeSalvo, in his first major league start, went seven innings and gave up only one run. The Yankees became the first team in MLB history to use 10 starters in the team's first 30 days.SEATTLE (3) VS NY YANKEES (2) - FINAL
SEATTLE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
I Suzuki cf 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 .262
J Vidro dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .312
W Bloomquist pr-dh 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .105
K Johjima c 4 0 1 1 0 0 2 .293
R Ibanez lf 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 .262
R Sexson 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .147
J Guillen rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .258
J Ellison rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
A Beltre 3b 4 1 1 1 0 0 1 .245
Y Betancourt ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .253
J Lopez 2b 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 .284
Totals 32 3 6 3 3 1 8
BATTING: 2B - I Suzuki (4, M DeSalvo). HR - A Beltre (5, 9th inning off M
Rivera 0 on, 2 Out). RBI - R Ibanez (18), K Johjima (8), A Beltre (18). 2-out
RBI - R Ibanez, K Johjima, A Beltre. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out -
J Vidro 1, K Johjima 1. GIDP - J Vidro. Team LOB - 5.
BASERUNNING: SB - J Lopez (1, 2nd base off M DeSalvo/J Posada), W Bloomquist
(1, 2nd base off K Farnsworth/J Posada).
FIELDING: DP: 2 (A Beltre-J Lopez-R Sexson, R Sexson-Y Betancourt-R Sexson).
NY YANKEES ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Damon cf 4 1 2 0 1 0 0 .250
D Jeter ss 3 0 1 0 2 0 1 .352
B Abreu rf 5 0 1 1 0 1 6 .256
A Rodriguez 3b 4 0 1 0 0 1 4 .350
J Giambi dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .305
H Matsui lf 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 .273
J Posada c 4 1 2 0 0 0 2 .351
R Cano 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 .259
D Mientkiewicz 1b 4 0 2 1 0 0 0 .211
Totals 35 2 10 2 4 5 20
BATTING: 2B - J Posada (10, M Batista); D Mientkiewicz 2 (3, M Batista 2). RBI
- B Abreu (17), D Mientkiewicz (9). 2-out RBI - D Mientkiewicz. Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - J Giambi 1, A Rodriguez 1, B Abreu 3, R Cano 1. GIDP
- A Rodriguez, J Posada. Team LOB - 10.
FIELDING: DP: 1 (D Jeter-R Cano-D Mientkiewicz).
----------------------------------------------------
SEATTLE - 100 000 011 -- 3
NY YANKEES - 100 010 000 -- 2
----------------------------------------------------
SEATTLE ip h r er bb so hr era
M Batista 6 1/3 9 2 2 3 2 0 5.70
E O'Flaherty 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.29
C Reitsma 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.65
G Sherrill (W, 1-0) 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 2.89
J Putz (S, 7) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1.23
NY YANKEES ip h r er bb so hr era
M DeSalvo 7 3 1 1 3 0 0 1.29
K Farnsworth (B, 2) 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 5.40
M Rivera (L, 1-3) 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 8.44
WP - M Batista, J Putz. IBB - D Jeter (by M Batista). Pitches-strikes: M
Batista 115-69; E O'Flaherty 4-2; C Reitsma 3-2; G Sherrill 18-11; J Putz 16-9;
M DeSalvo 89-55; K Farnsworth 11-8; M Rivera 11-8. Ground balls-fly balls: M
Batista 10-7; E O'Flaherty 1-0; C Reitsma 0-1; G Sherrill 0-1; J Putz 2-0; M
DeSalvo 7-14; K Farnsworth 2-1; M Rivera 1-1. Batters faced: M Batista 29; E
O'Flaherty 1; C Reitsma 1; G Sherrill 4; J Putz 4; M DeSalvo 26; K Farnsworth
5; M Rivera 4.
UMPIRES: HP--Paul Nauert. 1B--Brian Gorman. 2B--Gerry Davis. 3B--Mike
Everitt.
T--2:47. Att--47,424.
Weather: 63 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 5 mph, out to left.The following graph tracks the game's Win Probability, courtesy of Fan Graphs. You can also view live WPA graphs at Fangraphs during any ballgame all season long.
Top Minor League Games
The following list, provided by First Inning, includes the top minor league batting (based on Runs Created) and pitching (based on Game Score) performances from yesterday, with a focus on each team's top prospects.ORG LVL PLAYER AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes COL AAA Ian Stewart....... 5 3 1 0 1 0 0 4 RBI CLE AAA Andy Marte........ 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 TEX A Chad Tracy........ 5 3 2 0 1 0 1 4 RBI TB AAA Elliot Johnson.... 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 COL AAA Joseph Koshansky.. 5 3 1 0 0 0 2 NYY A+ Jose Tabata....... 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 FLA A+ Gaby Sanchez...... 2 1 1 0 0 3 0 CLE A+ Stephen Head...... 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 BOS AAA Jacoby Ellsbury... 4 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 SB CIN AAA Joey Votto........ 4 3 0 0 0 1 1 PIT AA Steven Pearce..... 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 LA AA Chin Lung Hu...... 4 3 1 0 0 1 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes CIN AAA Homer Bailey...... 7 4 1 1 3 2 0 DET A+ Andrew Miller..... 7 6 3 1 5 4 0 15 GB TEX AA Eric Hurley....... 7 4 0 0 4 1 0 CLE AAA Adam Miller....... 6 3 2 2 7 2 1 NYY AAA Tyler Clippard.... 7 5 1 1 9 3 0 NYY AA Alan Horne........ 7 6 3 2 8 0 0 DET AA Dallas Trahern.... 8 8 2 2 5 0 0 14 GB OAK AAA Jason Windsor..... 7 4 0 0 5 1 0 NYY A+ Joba Chamberlain.. 4 3 1 0 5 0 0 HOU A+ Brian Bogusevic... 7 1 0 0 2 1 0 TB AAA J.P. Howell....... 7 8 4 4 8 0 1 13 GB MIN A+ Eduardo Morlan.... 2 1 0 0 4 0 0
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Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email.