THT Daily: Recycling
by Dave StudemanAugust 15, 2009
Major League News for August 15
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 RotoworldDespite giving up six runs in 4 1/3 innings, Jose Contreras will remain in the rotation.
"I don't have any choice," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Our options aren't much. Maybe (Saturday), we change our minds. But right now, we got to keep running him out there, hopefully for the best." After a bumpy start to the year, Contreras seemed to start turning things around in June and July. He's right back to being a liability, and you can bet the White Sox are looking for a replacement. He's not a play in any format right now. If he makes his next start, it will be against Zack Greinke and the Royals Aug. 19.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia is expected to see a medical specialist and could end up on the disabled list because of continuing problems with his right arm.
Last week, Salty had to take a few days off due to soreness in the right shoulder. He had to come out of Friday's game because of numbness in the right hand. No one knows if the two issues are related at the moment. Taylor Teagarden will be the new starting catcher until any and all problems are addressed.
Scott Baker tossed a two-hit complete-game shutout in an 11-0 win over the Indians on Friday night.
Baker was fantastic, going the distance for the first time this season. He was incredibly efficient, throwing 65 of 94 pitches for strikes and walking just two en route to his 10th victory of the season. He has a stingy 114/27 K/BB ratio in 140 1/3 innings this season. Baker is a good bet for a fine finish.
Felix Pie hit for the cycle in a win over the Angels on Friday night.
Pie is the seventh player to hit for the cycle this season. He got there with an RBI double in the first, a solo home run in the third, an infield single in the seventh, and then, a triple to the right-center field gap in the ninth. He scored three times in the blowout win. It was the first career four-hit game by Pie. Nights like this prove that he oozes talent, but we're still left waiting for him to put it together.
Josh Johnson took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in a 6-5 win over the Rockies on Friday night.
Johnson struck out a career-high 11 in the one-hitter. The no-hit bid was broken up by a Garrett Atkins home run in the seventh inning. Johnson now has a 2.85 ERA to go along with a 140/40 K/BB ratio in 24 starts this season. He has a legitimate case for the National League's Cy Young Award.
Torii Hunter (groin, flu) is hoping to return to the Angels Sunday.
The Angels had planned to activate Hunter on Saturday, but he missed a rehab game Thursday night with flu-like symptoms and probably won't be healthy enough for big league action until later in the weekend. In 77 games with the Halos this season, he's hit .305 with 17 home runs and 65 RBI.
According to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch, third baseman Alex Rodriguez is out of the Yankees' lineup Friday due to back spasms.
Jerry Hairston Jr. is playing third base and batting eighth. A-Rod should be fine with a full day of rest.
Erik Bedard won't resume pitching for another four-to-six months after exploratory surgery on Friday revealed a torn labrum and inflamed bursa.
Bedard could miss the early part of the 2010 season, as he'll need a good amount of rehab to recover from both repairs. He is a free agent this winter, which is sure to make things interesting. Any team that signs him will be assuming a good amount of risk. He may have to settle for a short-term deal.
According to MLB.com's Corey Brock, right-hander Chris Young is scheduled to undergo exploratory shoulder surgery on Monday.
The Padres have already publicly announced that Young won't be returning this season. He'll have the procedure, rehab during the fall and winter, and hope to be at full strength by the start of spring training 2010.
Yesterday’s Results
For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League BAL 16 LAA 6 (Recap and Boxscore) TOR 5 TB 2 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 1 KC 0 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 11 CLE 0 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 8 OAK 7 (Recap and Boxscore) NYA 4 SEA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) BOS 8 TEX 4 (Recap and Boxscore) National League PHI 3 ATL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) FLA 6 COL 5 (Recap and Boxscore) NYN 3 SF 0 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 17 PIT 2 (Recap and Boxscore) WAS 2 CIN 0 (Recap and Boxscore) MIL 11 HOU 2 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 9 SD 2 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 4 LAN 1 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action.
Today’s Games
WhiteSox (59-57) @ Athletics (51-64), 4:05pmGavin Floyd (26, RHP) vs. Gio Gonzalez (23, LHP)
Indians (49-65) @ Twins (55-59), 4:10pm
David Huff (24, LHP) vs. Anthony Swarzak (23, RHP)
Angels (68-45) @ Orioles (48-67), 7:05pm
John Lackey (30, RHP) vs. Brian Matusz (22, LHP)
Royals (45-70) @ Tigers (61-54), 7:05pm
Luke Hochevar (25, RHP) vs. Edwin Jackson (25, RHP)
Blue Jays (55-59) @ Rays (61-54), 7:08pm
Brian Tallet (31, LHP) vs. Scott Kazmir (25, LHP)
RedSox (66-49) @ Rangers (64-50), 8:05pm
Brad Penny (31, RHP) vs. Derek Holland (22, LHP)
Yankees (73-43) @ Mariners (60-56), 10:10pm
Sergio Mitre (28, RHP) vs. Lucas French (23, LHP)
Pirates (46-69) @ Cubs (59-55), 1:05pm
Zach Duke (26, LHP) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (26, LHP)
Phillies (65-48) @ Braves (60-55), 4:00pm
Cole Hamels (25, LHP) vs. Kenshin Kawakami (34, RHP)
Giants (62-53) @ Mets (54-61), 4:10pm
Matt Cain (24, RHP) vs. Johan Santana (30, LHP)
Rockies (64-52) @ Marlins (62-54), 6:10pm
Aaron Cook (30, RHP) vs. Rick VandenHurk (24, RHP)
Astros (56-60) @ Brewers (57-58), 7:05pm
Brian Moehler (37, RHP) vs. Mike Burns (30, RHP)
Nationals (41-75) @ Reds (50-65), 7:10pm
J.D. Martin (26, RHP) vs. Johnny Cueto (23, RHP)
Padres (49-68) @ Cardinals (65-52), 7:15pm
Tim Stauffer (27, RHP) vs. Joel Pineiro (30, RHP)
Dodgers (69-47) @ D'backs (53-63), 8:10pm
Hiroki Kuroda (34, RHP) vs. Doug Davis (33, LHP)
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 NYA 73 43 .629 0.0 68 5BOS 66 49 .574 6.5 66 0
TB 61 54 .530 11.5 64 -3
TOR 55 59 .482 17.0 61 -6
BAL 48 67 .417 24.5 50 -2
American League Central DET 61 54 .530 0.0 58 3
CHA 59 57 .509 2.5 59 0
MIN 56 59 .487 5.0 59 -3
CLE 49 66 .426 12.0 54 -5
KC 45 70 .391 16.0 45 0
American League West LAA 68 45 .602 0.0 63 5
TEX 64 50 .561 4.5 62 2
SEA 60 56 .517 9.5 52 8
OAK 51 64 .443 18.0 55 -4
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 65 48 .575 0.0 64 1
FLA 62 54 .534 4.5 58 4
ATL 60 55 .522 6.0 63 -3
NYN 54 61 .470 12.0 54 0
WAS 41 75 .353 25.5 48 -7
National League Central STL 65 52 .556 0.0 64 1
CHN 59 55 .518 4.5 59 0
MIL 57 58 .496 7.0 55 2
HOU 56 60 .483 8.5 51 5
CIN 50 65 .435 14.0 49 1
PIT 46 69 .400 18.0 50 -4
National League West LAN 69 47 .595 0.0 70 -1
COL 64 52 .552 5.0 66 -2
SF 62 53 .539 6.5 61 1
ARI 53 63 .457 16.0 56 -3
SD 49 68 .419 20.5 44 5
Wildcard Standings American League BOS 66 49 .574 0.0 TEX 64 50 .561 1.5 TB 61 54 .530 5.0 SEA 60 56 .517 6.5 CHA 59 57 .509 7.5 National League COL 64 52 .552 0.0 SF 62 53 .539 1.5 FLA 62 54 .534 2.0 ATL 60 55 .522 3.5 CHN 59 55 .518 4.0
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 CLE AAA Matt LaPorta...... 4 4 0 0 2 0 0 3 R DET AA Ryan Strieby...... 5 3 3 0 0 1 1 MIL A Brett Lawrie...... 5 3 1 0 1 0 0 3 R ARI AAA Brandon Allen..... 4 3 0 0 1 2 1 4 R ARI AAA Cole Gillespie.... 4 4 0 0 1 1 0 TEX AAA Justin Smoak...... 3 3 2 0 0 1 0 TOR AAA Travis Snider..... 4 3 1 0 0 2 1 TEX AAA C. Davis.......... 3 2 2 0 0 1 0 PHI AAA Michael Taylor.... 5 3 0 0 1 0 1 PIT AA Pedro Alvarez..... 3 3 0 0 1 1 0 TOR AA David Cooper...... 4 2 1 0 1 0 0 CHW A+ Brent Morel....... 4 2 1 0 1 0 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes MIN AA Deolis Guerra..... 6 0 0 0 9 3 0 STL A+ Arquimedes Nieto.. 7 3 1 0 7 1 0 CHC A C. Archer......... 6 4 2 2 7 0 0 CHW AAA Daniel Hudson..... 7 3 1 0 6 2 0 TEX A Neil Ramirez...... 5 1 1 1 5 1 0 WAN AAA Ross Detwiler..... 6 5 0 0 5 0 0 TB A- Alexander Colome.. 5 4 2 2 7 2 0 SEA AAA Brandon Morrow.... 9 4 0 0 2 1 0 ARI A Wade Miley........ 5 7 1 1 6 0 0 PHI AA Kyle Drabek....... 5 5 2 2 7 2 0 NYY A Manuel Banuelos... 2 0 0 0 5 0 0 STL A+ Jaime Garcia...... 6 1 1 1 5 4 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.