THT Daily: Old Kids on the Mound
by Matthew CarruthAugust 23, 2008
Major League News for August 23
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
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 RotoworldOrlando Hernandez has opted to undergo surgery to remove a bunion on his right big toe.
El Duque's career could be finished. The 38-year-old will miss all of '09 and it's hard to imagine him gracing the mound as a 40-year-old in 2010.
Randy Johnson allowed two earned runs over seven innings Friday but the Diamondbacks couldn't defeat the Marlins.
The Big Unit struck out thirteen batters but was left with a no-decision, and without win No. 295, after Jon Rauch blew it in the eighth inning. He lowered his ERA to 4.09 and has been lights out over his last seven starts. We'll see if he can keep it up against the Padres next week.
Johan Santana shut out the Astros for seven innings Friday as the Mets won 3-0.
Santana came up two innings short of his second straight complete-game shutout, needing a season-high 121 pitches to record 21 outs. His 2.64 ERA now ranks second in the NL behind Tim Lincecum's 2.60, but poor support from the lineup and bullpen leave Santana with a modest 12 victories. Known as a great second-half pitcher while with the Twins, Santana is 4-0 with a 2.20 ERA in eight starts since the All-Star break and is having a Cy Young-caliber first season in New York despite the low win total.
The Kansas City Star reports that Alex Gordon has been diagnosed with a torn quadriceps muscle in his right leg and is expected to be placed on the disabled list.
Gordon left Thursday's game with quadriceps soreness and a tear would almost certainly sideline him for the remainder of the season. Aside from trading some stolen bases for an increase in walks, Gordon has posted very similar numbers (.254/.349/.420, 14 homers, 51 RBI) to his disappointing rookie season (.247/.314/.411, 15 homers, 60 RBI). Gordon is still just 24 years old, but the former No. 2 overall pick and college player of the year has seen his long-term stock drop dramatically.
J.D. Drew has been diagnosed with a herniated disk in his back.
Drew, who has a history of back problems, hasn't played since leaving Sunday's game with lower back tightness. He was in the original lineup posted for Friday, but was scratched and sent for an MRI. According to the Providence Journal the Red Sox are expected to release further details on his status Friday evening, but Drew seems likely to end up on the disabled list. Jacoby Ellsbury is starting in right field against the Blue Jays and Brian Giles' decision to veto a deal to Boston suddenly looms large.
Mets activated outfielder Ryan Church from the 15-day disabled list.
Church last played on July 5, but is finally fully healthy after struggling to come back following multiple concussions. He's in the Mets' lineup Friday night, batting seventh and playing right field. Manager Jerry Manuel has said that Church won't be a full-time player, but he should see most of the action against right-handers, perhaps in a straight platoon with Fernando Tatis.
Yesterday’s Results
American League NYA 9 BAL 4 (Recap and Boxscore) BOS 8 TOR 4 (Recap and Boxscore) TB 9 CHA 4 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 4 KC 3 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 9 LAA 0 (Recap and Boxscore) SEA 7 OAK 5 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 7 TEX 5 (Recap and Boxscore) National League NYN 3 HOU 0 (Recap and Boxscore) PHI 8 LAN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) WAS 13 CHN 5 (Recap and Boxscore) MIL 10 PIT 4 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 18 ATL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) FLA 5 ARI 4 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 8 COL 5 (Recap and Boxscore) SF 5 SD 0 (Recap and Boxscore)
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Washington Nationals at Chicago Cubs, 1:05 PM (L) Odalis Perez (5-9) vs. (R) Ryan Dempster (14-5) Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies, 3:55 PM (L) Clayton Kershaw (2-3) vs. (L) Cole Hamels (10-8) Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals, 3:55 PM (R) Jorge Campillo (7-6) vs. (R) Kyle Lohse (13-6) San Diego Padres at San Francisco Giants, 4:05 PM (R) Dirk Hayhurst (0-0) vs. (L) Barry Zito (7-15) Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee Brewers, 7:05 PM (L) Tom Gorzelanny (6-7) vs. (R) Jeff Suppan (8-7) Houston Astros at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) Brandon Backe (7-12) vs. (R) John Maine (10-7) Cincinnati Reds at Colorado Rockies, 8:05 PM (R) Edinson Volquez (15-5) vs. (R) Aaron Cook (15-8) Florida Marlins at Arizona Diamondbacks, 8:10 PM (R) Chris Volstad (4-2) vs. (R) Yusmeiro Petit (2-3) American League --------------- Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays, 1:07 PM (L) Jon Lester (12-4) vs. (R) Jesse Litsch (8-7) Tampa Bay Rays at Chicago White Sox, 3:55 PM (L) Scott Kazmir (9-6) vs. (R) Javier Vazquez (10-10) New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (R) Carl Pavano (0-0) vs. (R) Jeremy Guthrie (10-9) Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals, 7:10 PM (R) Zach Miner (6-4) vs. (R) Kyle Davies (5-4) Cleveland Indians at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (L) Jeremy Sowers (2-6) vs. (R) Brandon McCarthy (0-0) Minnesota Twins at LA Angels of Anaheim, 9:05 PM (R) Nick Blackburn (9-7) vs. (R) Jon Garland (11-8) Oakland Athletics at Seattle Mariners, 10:10 PM (L) Dana Eveland (7-8) vs. (L) Jarrod Washburn (5-13)
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 78 49 .614 0.0 72 6BOS 74 54 .578 4.5 76 -2
NYA 68 60 .531 10.5 68 0
TOR 66 62 .516 12.5 70 -4
BAL 61 66 .480 17.0 64 -3
American League Central MIN 74 54 .578 0.0 71 3
CHA 73 54 .575 0.5 75 -2
DET 63 65 .492 11.0 65 -2
CLE 60 67 .472 13.5 66 -6
KC 55 73 .430 19.0 51 4
American League West LAA 77 50 .606 0.0 69 8
TEX 63 66 .488 15.0 59 4
OAK 58 70 .453 19.5 62 -4
SEA 47 81 .367 30.5 52 -5
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 72 57 .558 0.0 72 0
PHI 69 59 .539 2.5 72 -3
FLA 66 63 .512 6.0 62 4
ATL 56 73 .434 16.0 62 -6
WAS 46 83 .357 26.0 48 -2
National League Central CHN 78 50 .609 0.0 80 -2
MIL 74 55 .574 4.5 71 3
STL 72 58 .554 7.0 72 0
HOU 64 64 .500 14.0 60 4
PIT 57 71 .445 21.0 54 3
CIN 57 72 .442 21.5 54 3
National League West ARI 67 61 .523 0.0 68 -1
LAN 65 63 .508 2.0 67 -2
COL 59 71 .454 9.0 59 0
SF 56 72 .438 11.0 53 3
SD 48 80 .375 19.0 52 -4
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.ORG LVL PLAYER AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes CHC AAA Micah Hoffpauir... 6 4 1 1 0 0 0 4 RBI ATL AA Jordan Schafer.... 4 2 0 1 1 1 2 PHI A Travis D'Arnaud... 5 3 1 0 1 0 1 SF AAA Travis Denker..... 5 2 1 0 1 0 1 KC AAA Chris Lubanski.... 3 2 0 1 1 0 1 TB AAA Dan Johnson....... 4 2 2 0 0 1 2 ARI AA Gerardo Parra..... 4 2 2 0 0 1 0 TEX AA Jose Vallejo...... 5 3 1 0 0 0 1 2 SB TEX AA John Whittleman... 3 2 0 0 1 2 0 TOR AA Brian Dopirak..... 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 OAK A+ Josh Donaldson.... 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 CIN A Brandon Waring.... 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes SD A Jeremy McBryde.... 5 4 2 2 12 0 0 NYM A- Bradley Holt...... 7 3 1 0 10 1 0 ATL AA K. Medlen......... 6 3 0 0 10 1 0 BAL AA Jason Berken...... 7 3 0 0 8 0 0 MIN AAA Philip Humber..... 9 5 1 1 8 0 1 PHI AA Andrew Carpenter.. 7 2 1 0 8 2 0 BOS A+ Felix Doubront.... 5 3 0 0 9 1 0 PIT AAA Daniel McCutchen.. 7 4 2 2 7 0 1 CLE A+ Hector Rondon..... 6 5 2 2 9 1 1 BOS AA D. Richardson..... 5 4 2 2 7 1 0 LAA A Robert Fish....... 6 9 3 3 8 1 0 SEA A Michael Pineda.... 6 4 2 1 6 1 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.