THT Daily: Bullpen woes
by THT StaffAugust 12, 2008
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Yesterday’s Home Runs
Top Minor League Performances
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/ and an archive at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/thtdaily_index/
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld |
| Adam Dunn and his mighty swing are sent to the desert. (Icon/SMI) |
Diamondbacks acquired outfielder Adam Dunn and cash from the Reds for RHP Dallas Buck and two players to be named later. It's hard to pass judgment on the trade from either point of view until the players to be named later are known, but Dunn will add some much-needed pop to a Diamondbacks lineup that has struggled to score runs and will bring in two compensatory first-round draft picks if he departs via free agency. Critics will point to Dunn's .233 batting average and 120 strikeouts, but he also leads the league in homers and ranks second in walks, giving him a .233/.373/.528 line that puts plenty of runs on the board. Dunn and Conor Jackson figure to man the outfield corners until Justin Upton returns, at which point the Diamondbacks will likely slide Jackson back to first base. If they really wanted to get creative and trade offense for defense in the wake of Orlando Hudson's season-ending injury, they could play Dunn and Upton in the outfield corners and Jackson at first base, with Chad Tracy at third base and Mark Reynolds at second base.
Rays placed third baseman Evan Longoria on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 8, with a fractured right wrist. Longoria was hit by a J.J. Putz pitch Thursday and the Rays initially diagnosed the injury as a bruise when X-rays immediately afterward showed no major damage. As recently as Sunday afternoon Longoria said that he was feeling better and hoped to avoid the disabled list, but apparently further testing revealed a fracture that will sideline the AL's leading Rookie of the Year candidate for at least two weeks and potentially puts his season at risk. Willy Aybar will likely see most of the action at third base for the suddenly banged-up Rays.
Yesterday’s Results
Game recaps provided by Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball.Pirates 7, Mets 5: Wow. There's not a guy Mets fans can trust in that pen, is there?
Blue Jays 7, Tigers 2: The Justin Verlander parade of arson continues, as he has now given up 24 earned runs in his last four starts. On the bright side, Gary Sheffield's annual proclamation of no respect was followed with boos and an 0-3.
Brewers 7, Nats 1: By the time this month is over, the Nats will have played series against the Brewers, Mets, Phillies, Cubs, and Dodgers. As a result, they may have more to say about the NL races than anyone. Of course that conversation will be couched in terms of "which team beat the hell out of the Nats more than any others?" but the point is, they're still in the conversation.
Cardinals 4, Marlins 2: I realize RBI is not the most useful stat on the planet, but how many of them has Hanley Ramirez been robbed of this season by being forced to hit leadoff? His old-school batting line is .295 - 25 - 51, which in some circles will get a guy accused of not knowing how to drive in runs. He and Grady Sizemore should form a support group or something.
Twins 4, Yankees 0: Yesterday morning I read a story in one of the New York tabloids -- not unlike stories I've read in the New York tabloids for the past, oh, six or seven years -- in which some putatively ballsy New York writer tells Yankees fans how it really is: the Bombers are no longer the class of the league. The party is over. Get used to looking up at Tampa or Boston or Anaheim or Chicago or whoever. It's always styled as hard truths and tough love, and it's always ridiculous. It's especially ridiculous this year, in that Yankees fans -- who are rightly, I think, reputed to be among the most knowledgeable in baseball -- are well aware that any team trotting out a squad consisting of Justin Christian, Xavier Nady, Richie Sexon, and Sidney Ponson in mid August is not a contender, let alone the class of the league. They don't need a writer to tell them this. Instead, maybe they need some writers who can help them analyze this new reality as opposed to dwell on the end of a party everyone left hours and hours ago.
Astros 3, Giants 1: There's been loose talk about Barry Bonds coming to Houston. It's pretty clear that that's not happening, but that has less to do with all of the Home Run King's baggage than it does with the fact that Ty Wigginton (2-3, HR, 3 RBI) is all the offense the Astros need.
Indians 13, Orioles 8: Sloppy, listless, and giving up 28 runs in your last two games is no way to go through life, Baltimore.
Red Sox 5, White Sox 1: John Danks goes from no-hitting the Sox into the seventh inning to giving up the go-ahead runs in that same inning and getting hung with the loss. A loss, by the way, which see-saws the Twins back into first place. I love half-game margins like this. I hope they go back and forth for two weeks.
Dodgers 8, Phillies 6: Manny was late to take his position in left in the ninth because he thought Torre had taken him out of the game. He had gone to the bathroom and had untucked his shirt and everything. Red Sox fans used to be able to tell you how cute this sort of thing is but I can't find one who thinks it's funny anymore.
You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
| First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports: |
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM (R) Edinson Volquez (13-5) vs. (R) Jeff Karstens (2-0) New York Mets at Washington Nationals, 7:10 PM (L) Johan Santana (9-7) vs. (L) Odalis Perez (5-8) St. Louis Cardinals at Florida Marlins, 7:10 PM (R) Kyle Lohse (13-4) vs. (R) Chris Volstad (3-2) Chicago Cubs at Atlanta Braves, 7:10 PM (R) Rich Harden (1-1) vs. (R) Charlie Morton (3-5) San Francisco Giants at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (R) Tim Lincecum (12-3) vs. (R) Roy Oswalt (9-8) Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies, 9:05 PM (L) Randy Johnson (9-8) vs. (R) Ubaldo Jimenez (8-10) Milwaukee Brewers at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (R) Jeff Suppan (7-7) vs. (R) Cha Seung Baek (4-5) Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 PM (L) Cole Hamels (9-8) vs. (L) Clayton Kershaw (2-3) American League --------------- Baltimore Orioles at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (L) Garrett Olson (8-6) vs. (L) Jeremy Sowers (1-6) Toronto Blue Jays at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (R) A.J. Burnett (14-9) vs. (R) Zach Miner (6-4) Texas Rangers at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM (R) Scott Feldman (4-5) vs. (R) Charlie Zink (0-0) New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (R) Mike Mussina (15-7) vs. (R) Nick Blackburn (9-6) Kansas City Royals at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM (R) Brian Bannister (7-10) vs. (R) Javier Vazquez (8-10) Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM (L) Scott Kazmir (8-5) vs. (L) Gio Gonzalez (0-1) Seattle Mariners at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (L) Jarrod Washburn (5-11) vs. (R) Jon Garland (10-7)
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 71 46 .607 0.0 65 6BOS 68 51 .571 4.0 71 -3
NYA 63 56 .529 9.0 63 0
TOR 60 59 .504 12.0 64 -4
BAL 56 61 .479 15.0 57 -1
American League Central MIN 66 52 .559 0.0 63 3
CHA 65 52 .556 0.5 65 0
DET 58 60 .492 8.0 61 -3
KC 54 64 .458 12.0 51 3
CLE 53 64 .453 12.5 60 -7
American League West LAA 74 43 .632 0.0 65 9
TEX 61 58 .513 14.0 56 5
OAK 54 63 .462 20.0 59 -5
SEA 45 73 .381 29.5 50 -5
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 64 54 .542 0.0 66 -2
NYN 62 56 .525 2.0 63 -1
FLA 62 57 .521 2.5 58 4
ATL 55 63 .466 9.0 62 -7
WAS 44 75 .370 20.5 46 -2
National League Central CHN 71 47 .602 0.0 73 -2
MIL 68 51 .571 3.5 64 4
STL 66 55 .545 6.5 64 2
HOU 59 59 .500 12.0 55 4
PIT 54 64 .458 17.0 51 3
CIN 52 67 .437 19.5 50 2
National League West ARI 60 58 .508 0.0 61 -1
LAN 59 59 .500 1.0 62 -3
COL 53 67 .442 8.0 53 0
SF 50 67 .427 9.5 48 2
SD 46 72 .390 14.0 48 -2
Game of the Day
PITTSBURGH (7) VS NY METS (5) - FINAL
PITTSBURGH ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
N McLouth cf 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 .275
L Rivas ss 4 2 1 0 1 2 2 .235
D Mientkiewicz 1b 4 0 3 2 1 0 0 .293
R Doumit c 4 1 1 2 0 1 3 .332
An LaRoche 3b 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 .179
B Moss lf 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 .194
S Pearce rf 4 0 2 2 0 0 3 .244
C Gomez 2b 3 2 0 0 2 1 4 .288
Z Duke p 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .136
a-F Sanchez ph 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 .250
T Beam p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-J Michaels ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .241
D Bautista p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
J Grabow p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 32 7 8 7 7 5 17
a-doubled to deep center for Z Duke in the 7th; b-grounded to shortstop for T
Beam in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - S Pearce (4, P Martinez); F Sanchez (18, J Smith); D Mientkiewicz
(19, P Feliciano). S - N McLouth , Z Duke. SF - R Doumit. RBI - D Mientkiewicz
2 (26), F Sanchez (46), R Doumit 2 (43), S Pearce 2 (5). 2-out RBI - D
Mientkiewicz, S Pearce 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R Doumit 1,
C Gomez 1, An LaRoche 1, S Pearce 2. Team LOB - 10.
FIELDING: E - An LaRoche (2, ground ball); L Rivas (7, ground ball); R Doumit
(5, catch). Outfield assists: McLouth (Delgado at home) DP: 1 (L Rivas-C Gomez-D Mientkiewicz).
NY METS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Reyes ss 5 1 2 0 0 1 0 .303
N Evans lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 .258
J Smith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
P Feliciano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
D Sanchez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-D Murphy ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .478
A Heilman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S Schoeneweis p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
D Wright 3b 5 1 2 3 0 1 4 .293
C Beltran cf 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 .271
C Delgado 1b 3 1 1 0 2 1 1 .262
F Tatis rf-lf 5 0 2 0 0 0 3 .305
D Easley 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 6 .263
R Cancel c 4 1 2 1 0 1 2 .241
P Martinez p 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 .120
a-A Reyes ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .228
E Chavez rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .269
Totals 39 5 11 4 3 7 20
a-lined out to right for P Martinez in the 6th; b-walked for D Sanchez in the
8th.
BATTING: 2B - N Evans (6, Z Duke); D Wright (32, T Beam). HR - D Wright (23,
1st inning off Z Duke 2 on, 0 Out), R Cancel (1, 6th inning off Z Duke 0 on, 0
Out). RBI - D Wright 3 (93), R Cancel (4). Runners left in scoring position, 2
out - D Easley 1, P Martinez 1, C Beltran 1, R Cancel 1, D Wright 1. GIDP - F
Tatis. Team LOB - 10.
BASERUNNING: SB - J Reyes 2 (39, 2nd base off D Bautista/R Doumit, 2nd base
off Z Duke/R Doumit).
----------------------------------------------------
PITTSBURGH - 000 010 303 -- 7
NY METS - 301 001 000 -- 5
----------------------------------------------------
PITTSBURGH ip h r er bb so hr era
Z Duke 6 8 5 3 1 3 2 5.10
T Beam 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 4.25
D Bautista 1 1 0 0 1 3 0 3.52
J Grabow 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.20
NY METS ip h r er bb so hr era
P Martinez 6 3 1 1 4 3 0 5.37
J Smith 0 1 2 2 1 0 0 4.40
P Feliciano 2/3 1 1 1 1 0 0 3.77
D Sanchez 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.65
A Heilman 1/3 2 3 3 1 1 0 5.74
S Schoeneweis 2/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.09
J Smith pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.
IBB - C Delgado (by T Beam). HBP - S Pearce (by D Sanchez); An LaRoche (by A
Heilman). Pitches-strikes: Z Duke 105-73; T Beam 17-8; D Bautista 28-16; J
Grabow 12-7; P Martinez 99-61; J Smith 9-5; P Feliciano 9-4; D Sanchez 20-12; A
Heilman 23-12; S Schoeneweis 14-7. Ground balls-fly balls: Z Duke 7-8; T Beam
2-1; D Bautista 0-0; J Grabow 2-0; P Martinez 5-10; J Smith 0-0; P Feliciano
1-1; D Sanchez 1-2; A Heilman 0-0; S Schoeneweis 2-0. Batters faced: Z Duke 29;
T Beam 5; D Bautista 5; J Grabow 3; P Martinez 25; J Smith 2; P Feliciano 4; D
Sanchez 5; A Heilman 5; S Schoeneweis 3.
UMPIRES: HP--Bill Hohn. 1B--Ron Kulpa. 2B--Dan Iassogna. 3B--Kevin Causey.
EJECTIONS: NY METS' Manuel by Hohn (9th).
T--3:11. (Plus wet grounds delay totaling 30 minutes in the 1st). Att--53,534.
Weather: 68 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 5 mph, left to 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.
Yesterday’s Home Runs
The following stats are provided by Hit Tracker, which logs the projected “true” distance of each home run (if it were to land uninterrupted at field level) and its "standard" distance, which is corrected for weather conditions. Each homer is also categorized into one of three types: Just Enough (JE) for homers that cleared the fence by ten feet or less, Plenty (PL) for those that were sure home runs but not “blasts,” and No Doubt (ND) for true “blasts”—homers that cleared the fence by at least 20 feet and landed at least 50 feet beyond the fence.Hitter Team Pitcher Team True Stnd. # Type Casey Blake LAD Kyle Kendrick PHI 420 420 14 PL Asdrubal Cabrera CLE Dennis Sarfate BAL 384 381 4 PL Adam Everett MIN Sidney Ponson NYY 370 365 2 JE Ben Francisco CLE Jamie Walker BAL 379 418 12 ND Andy Gonzalez CLE Jamie Walker BAL 388 417 1 ND Corey Hart MIL Garrett Mock WAS 388 396 18 JE Aubrey Huff BAL Fausto Carmona CLE 363 358 24 JE/L Joe Mather STL Joe Nelson FLA 385 373 7 JE/L Yadier Molina STL Anibal Sanchez FLA 364 360 5 JE Cody Ross FLA Joel Pineiro STL 394 384 17 PL Rickie Weeks MIL Garrett Mock WAS 412 421 10 JE Ty Wigginton HOU Billy Sadler SF 372 372 12 PL
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 ATL AAA B. Lillibridge.... 4 2 1 0 0 1 1 3 SB CHW A C. Marrero........ 5 3 1 0 1 0 1 FLA A Michael Stanton... 5 2 0 0 2 0 1 ATL A+ Eric Campbell..... 5 3 1 1 0 0 1 CIN A+ Juan Francisco.... 4 2 1 0 1 0 1 STL A+ Daniel Descalso... 5 2 1 0 1 0 0 4 RBI COL A Darin Holcomb..... 5 3 2 0 0 0 1 3 R COL AAA Joseph Koshansky.. 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 4 RBI FLA AAA Jai Miller........ 4 2 0 0 1 1 2 5 RBI ! HOU AAA J.R. House........ 4 3 0 0 1 0 0 KC AAA Kila Kaaihue...... 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 LAA A+ Hank Conger....... 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes DET A+ Alfredo Figaro.... 6 5 1 1 8 0 0 LA A+ Steven Johnson.... 6 3 4 2 9 3 0 SF A+ Clayton Tanner.... 7 1 0 0 6 2 0 OAK A Carlos Hernandez.. 7 4 2 2 5 0 0 12 GB ARI A Jarrod Parker..... 6 8 2 2 9 1 0 12 GB NYY A Dellin Betances... 5 3 3 1 9 3 0 SD A Jeremy Hefner..... 6 3 0 0 6 1 0 6 infield flies STL A+ Shaun Garceau..... 7 4 1 1 7 3 0 ARI AAA Max Scherzer...... 5 4 2 2 7 1 0 9 GB LAA A+ Sean O'Sullivan... 7 5 1 1 6 2 0 TEX A+ Kasey Kiker....... 5 2 0 0 6 2 0 NYM A Brant Rustich..... 4 4 2 2 7 1 0
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