THT Daily: Bruce day
by Dave StudemanMay 28, 2008
Major League News for May 28
Player NewsYesterday’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/
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldReds designated first baseman Scott Hatteberg for assignment. If Hatteberg wasn't happy about his role as a pinch-hitter and was making it well known in the clubhouse, then, yeah, he had to go. However, the Reds still should have dropped Corey Patterson as well, if only to keep Dusty Baker from being tempted to go back to him the first time Jay Bruce has a couple of hitless days in a row. They could have made both moves and called up Andy Phillips. Hatteberg is due right around $1.25 million over the rest of the season, so he should prove to be tradeable. The A's may consider bringing him back with Daric Barton slumping, and the White Sox, Indians, Blue Jays, Mets, Rangers and Mariners could all use another professional hitter.
Joba Chamberlain could start following his next relief appearance for the Yankees. Chamberlain is expected to throw around 55 pitches on Wednesday, and finding a situation where he could take the next step and throw around 70 pitches could be hard, so the team might consider letting him start a game. The Yankees could then go with a six-man rotation for the time being.
Tigers placed designated hitter Gary Sheffield on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left oblique. The Tigers originally labeled the problem spasms, but they clearly got it wrong. Sheffield will miss at least a couple of weeks, which could give Jeff Larish a chance to establish himself as a DH against righties. Brandon Inge and Ryan Raburn should be looking at extra at-bats versus lefties.
Diamondbacks placed outfielder Eric Byrnes on the 15-day disabled list with a right hamstring strain. The Diamondbacks finally decided that Byrnes wasn't helping them while playing at 85-90 percent. Since Trot Nixon wasn't called up, Jeff Salazar will start in left field against righties for the next couple of weeks. Chris Burke will likely play against lefties. Salazar should have considerable value in NL-only leagues until Byrnes returns.
Travis Hafner is out of Tuesday's lineup and won't play Wednesday because of his sore right shoulder. If he's not feeling any better by Thursday, he'll probably go on the DL. "I’m really trying to take it day-by-day, but if it’s something that lingers on we’re going to have to think about putting him on the DL," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I don’t want to jump right into that yet." A DL trip for Hafner would open up a spot for Shin-Soo Choo on the roster. Michael Aubrey will get extra at-bats in his place.
Daisuke Matsuzaka left Tuesday's game due to shoulder fatigue. Matsuzaka said he experienced something similar in his second or third year in Japan and pitched through it but then said he paid the price in his next start. It sounds like he'll miss at least one start. Clay Buchholz could come off the DL to replace him. The Red Sox have Thursday off, so they wouldn't need a fifth start until next Tuesday.
Matt Diaz will likely go on the disabled list because of the strained left knee he suffered in Tuesday's game. "He’s going to be out a while," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "I don’t know exactly the term." Cox indicated that Rafael Soriano could replace Diaz on the roster. The Braves would seem to need an extra outfielder, especially with Mark Kotsay nursing a sore back, but they may wait to promote one. Greg Norton could play left, with Gregor Blanco in center, if Kotsay needs another day off on Wednesday.
Frank Thomas left Tuesday's game in the fifth inning with a strained right quad. He shouldn't be able to move fast enough to strain a quad. If Thomas goes on the DL, the A's will probably recall Travis Buck and put Jack Cust back at DH.
Yesterday’s Results
American League BAL 10 NYA 9 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 12 TB 6 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 8 CHA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 4 KC 3 (Recap and Boxscore) LAA 3 DET 2 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 3 TOR 1 (Recap and Boxscore) SEA 4 BOS 3 (Recap and Boxscore) National League NYN 5 FLA 3 (Recap and Boxscore) PHI 7 COL 4 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 3 LAN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 9 PIT 6 (Recap and Boxscore) MIL 3 ATL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU 8 STL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) SF 6 ARI 3 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 4 WAS 2 (Recap and Boxscore)You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
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Today’s Games
National League --------------- Colorado Rockies at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (R) Greg Reynolds (0-1) vs. (R) Adam Eaton (0-3) Florida Marlins at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (L) Scott Olsen (4-2) vs. (L) Oliver Perez (4-3) Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (L) Tom Gorzelanny (4-4) vs. (R) Bronson Arroyo (3-4) Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 PM (R) Derek Lowe (2-5) vs. (R) Carlos Zambrano (7-1) Atlanta Braves at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM (L) Jo-Jo Reyes (2-2) vs. (R) Jeff Suppan (2-4) Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:15 PM (L) Wandy Rodriguez (1-0) vs. (R) Adam Wainwright (4-2) San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (L) Jonathan Sanchez (2-3) vs. (L) Doug Davis (2-1) Washington Nationals at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (L) Odalis Perez (1-4) vs. (L) Shawn Estes (1-0) American League --------------- Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Indians, 12:05 PM (R) Gavin Floyd (4-3) vs. (R) Jake Westbrook (1-2) Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays, 12:40 PM (L) Kason Gabbard (1-1) vs. (R) Matt Garza (3-1) New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (L) Andy Pettitte (4-5) vs. (R) Jeremy Guthrie (2-5) Minnesota Twins at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (R) Livan Hernandez (6-2) vs. (R) Zack Greinke (5-2) Detroit Tigers at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (R) Armando Galarraga (3-2) vs. (L) Joe Saunders (8-1) Toronto Blue Jays at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM (R) Roy Halladay (5-5) vs. (R) Rich Harden (3-0) Boston Red Sox at Seattle Mariners, 10:10 PM (R) Tim Wakefield (3-3) vs. (L) Erik Bedard (3-3)
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 TB 31 21 .596 0.0 29 2BOS 32 23 .582 0.5 31 1
TOR 28 26 .519 4.0 28 0
BAL 26 25 .510 4.5 25 1
NYA 25 27 .481 6.0 25 0
American League Central CHA 28 23 .549 0.0 30 -2
MIN 26 25 .510 2.0 24 2
CLE 24 28 .462 4.5 28 -4
DET 21 31 .404 7.5 24 -3
KC 21 31 .404 7.5 20 1
American League West LAA 32 22 .593 0.0 28 4
OAK 29 23 .558 2.0 32 -3
TEX 27 27 .500 5.0 26 1
SEA 19 34 .358 12.5 20 -1
National League East Pwins Diff FLA 30 21 .588 0.0 27 3
PHI 30 24 .556 1.5 32 -2
ATL 28 24 .538 2.5 31 -3
NYN 24 26 .480 5.5 25 -1
WAS 22 31 .415 9.0 21 1
National League Central CHN 31 21 .596 0.0 34 -3
STL 30 23 .566 1.5 29 1
HOU 30 23 .566 1.5 27 3
MIL 25 27 .481 6.0 24 1
PIT 24 27 .471 6.5 23 1
CIN 24 28 .462 7.0 23 1
National League West ARI 30 22 .577 0.0 32 -2
LAN 26 25 .510 3.5 27 -1
SF 21 31 .404 9.0 20 1
COL 20 32 .385 10.0 20 0
SD 20 33 .377 10.5 19 1
Game of the Day
The Twins had a 3-0 lead with one out in the ninth when Delmon Young tried a diving catch of a Mark Teahen fly ball and missed, resulting in a three-run inside-the-park home run and a tie game. The Twins won the game in the 12th, when Michael Cuddyer singled home Joe Mauer. Nick Blackburn pitched a fine game for Minnesota.Action Shot: Mark Teahen rounding third.
Twins 4, Royals 3 - FINAL
MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Gomez cf 5 0 1 0 1 1 1 .277
A Casilla 2b 6 0 3 1 0 0 2 .306
J Mauer c 4 2 0 0 2 0 2 .329
J Morneau 1b 5 1 3 0 1 0 1 .313
M Cuddyer rf 6 0 3 2 0 2 4 .237
J Kubel dh 5 0 0 1 1 1 2 .247
D Young lf 6 0 0 0 0 0 5 .262
M Lamb 3b 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 .238
B Harris ss 4 1 2 0 0 1 0 .253
Totals 46 4 12 4 5 6 17 ###
KANSAS CITY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D DeJesus rf 5 0 2 0 0 1 1 .275
J Gathright cf 5 0 1 0 0 1 5 .254
A Gordon 3b 4 1 0 0 0 2 3 .281
J Guillen lf 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 .242
M Olivo dh 5 1 3 0 0 0 0 .307
M Teahen 1b 5 1 2 3 0 1 2 .253
J Buck c 5 0 0 0 0 2 3 .248
E German 2b 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .132
ha-A Callaspo ph-2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .269
T Pena ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .164
hb-B Butler ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .265
R Gload pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .245
Totals 44 3 11 3 0 8 17 ###
----------------------------------------------------
MINNESOTA - 000 210 000 001 -- 4 12 0
KANSAS CITY - 000 000 003 000 -- 3 11 0
----------------------------------------------------
ha-singled to right for E German in the 8th; hb-singled to center for T Pena
in the 12th.
BATTING: 2B - B Harris (8, J Gobble); M Teahen (7, N Blackburn). HR - M Teahen
(3, 9th inning off J Nathan 2 on, 1 Out). S - J Gathright. RBI - M Cuddyer 2
(18), J Kubel (26), A Casilla (11), M Teahen 3 (16). Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - M Cuddyer 2, J Mauer 1, D Young 2, A Casilla 1, J Buck 1, J
Gathright 1, A Gordon 1. GIDP - J Kubel, D Young, J Buck. Team LOB - MINNESOTA
12, KANSAS CITY 8. BASERUNNING: SB - A Casilla (1, 2nd base off R Mahay/J
Buck). FIELDING: DP: (B Harris-A Casilla-J Morneau, M Lamb-J Morneau, M
Teahen-T Pena-B Bannister, A Callaspo-M Teahen).
MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era
N Blackburn 8 1/3 8 2 2 0 4 0 3.39
J Nathan (B, 1) 2/3 1 1 1 0 1 1 1.74
D Reyes 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.07
J Crain (W, 2-2) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.86
M Guerrier (S, 1) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.34
KANSAS CITY ip h r er bb so hr era
B Bannister 5 7 3 3 2 3 0 4.97
R Mahay 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.74
J Gobble 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 4.80
J Soria 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.84
L Nunez (L, 3-1) 1 2 1 1 2 0 0 1.71
HBP - B Harris (by J Soria); A Gordon (by N Blackburn); D DeJesus (by D
Reyes). Pitches-strikes: N Blackburn 92-75; J Nathan 10-7; D Reyes 12-8; J
Crain 12-10; M Guerrier 15-13; B Bannister 111-72; R Mahay 17-12; J Gobble
33-20; J Soria 31-21; L Nunez 23-13. Ground balls-fly balls: N Blackburn 10-10;
J Nathan 1-0; D Reyes 2-0; J Crain 2-0; M Guerrier 1-1; B Bannister 10-2; R
Mahay 1-5; J Gobble 1-4; J Soria 1-3; L Nunez 2-1. Batters faced: N Blackburn
32; J Nathan 3; D Reyes 4; J Crain 4; M Guerrier 4; B Bannister 23; R Mahay 7;
J Gobble 8; J Soria 8; L Nunez 6. IRS - J Nathan 2. UMPIRES: HP--Tim Timmons.
1B--Gary Cederstrom. 2B--Fieldin Culbreth. 3B--Jim Reynolds. T--3:42.
Att--17,191. Weather: 67 degrees, overcast. Wind: 20 mph, in from right.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 PIT AAA Steven Pearce..... 4 4 3 0 0 0 0 4 LD ATL A+ Travis Jones...... 4 2 0 0 2 1 2 4 RBI PIT A+ Jamie Romak....... 3 2 0 0 2 1 1 4 RBI ATL A Jason Heyward..... 5 4 1 0 1 0 0 3 R KC AAA Mike Aviles....... 4 2 0 0 2 0 0 ATL AAA Scott Thorman..... 3 2 1 0 1 1 0 COL AAA Jayson Nix........ 5 2 1 0 1 0 1 ATL AAA B. Lillibridge.... 4 3 1 0 0 1 1 3 R TOR AA Travis Snider..... 3 2 2 0 0 1 0 CHC AAA Matt Murton....... 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 3 R TB AAA Joel Guzman....... 4 3 0 0 1 0 0 NYY AAA Brett Gardner..... 3 1 0 0 0 2 1 3 SB ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes COL A+ Chaz Roe.......... 8 5 1 1 7 1 0 TB AA Wade Davis........ 7 2 1 1 5 1 0 NYY A Lance Pendleton... 6 4 0 0 5 0 0 11 GB KC AAA Carlos Rosa....... 5 5 2 2 7 2 0 ARI A+ Wes Roemer........ 6 7 4 2 6 1 0 CHW AA Kyle McCulloch.... 6 5 3 2 3 0 0 11 GB SD AAA Wade Leblanc...... 5 1 0 0 5 3 0 BOS AA D. Richardson..... 5 4 2 2 7 4 0 LA A+ Timothy Sexton.... 6 6 4 2 6 1 1 CLE AAA Jeremy Sowers..... 6 8 0 0 5 1 0 11 GB BOS A Felix Doubront.... 5 5 2 2 6 1 1 NYY A+ Christian Garcia.. 5 3 3 2 5 3 0
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Dave was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail.