THT Daily: Wild Card leads
by THT StaffAugust 13, 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 |
| Paul Byrd will be winding up in Boston. (Icon/SMI) |
The Arizona Republic reports that Micah Owings is one of the players to be named in the Adam Dunn deal. That would make it quite a bit better for the Reds. Other than Max Scherzer and Jarrod Parker -- neither of whom had any chance of being dealt -- the Diamondbacks had no minor leaguers that had any business being a big part of a Dunn deal. Owings, though, is still a very nice piece, assuming that his shoulder will be sound heading into next year. Owings was a big disappointment this season after posting a 4.30 ERA in 2007, and while the Diamondbacks refused to say he was injured, he's currently dealing with stiffness in the minors. He'd have to clear waivers to be traded before the end of the season, so if this is true, the deal won't be completed until after the season.
Red Sox acquired RHP Paul Byrd from the Indians for a player to be named later or cash. With Tim Wakefield hurting and Clay Buchholz struggling, the Red Sox went out and got a veteran starter for the stretch run. Byrd is 7-10 with a 4.53 ERA and the 37-year-old will be a free agent after the season. With Charlie Zink scheduled to start in Wakefield's place Wednesday, the Red Sox could either bump him from the rotation after one outing or replace Buchholz, who's scheduled to pitch Friday. For the Indians, Aaron Laffey is the obvious choice to replace Byrd in the rotation after having some success earlier this season.
A second opinion from orthopedist Lewis Yocum confirmed that Tom Gordon will likely miss the rest of the season with multiple arm injuries. He has an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament, an injury to a muscle on the inside of the elbow, irritation to his ulnar nerve and a small piece of bone that has pulled away from his elbow. Gordon has chosen rehab instead of surgery, and will wear a brace for three weeks before being re-evaluated. If he does ultimately need surgery, it will be Tommy John. It's likely the Phillies will buy out his $4.5 million option for $1 million after this season.
Carl Crawford will undergo surgery to repair the torn tendon band in his right hand. He'll likely miss the rest of the regular season, although the team feels he could return for the last couple of games. It's a big loss for the Rays, who could look at Kenny Lofton or even (dare we mention) Barry Bonds for depth in the outfield. For now, they'll platoon Eric Hinske and Justin Ruggiano.
Mike Lowell left Tuesday's game after seven innings with a strained right oblique. Lowell appeared to tweak the oblique in his at-bat in the seventh, though he did finish the plate appearance. He's probably day-to-day. Sean Casey would take his at-bats if he has to miss some time.
Tigers signed RHP Freddy Garcia to a minor league contract. The deal covers only the remainder of this season, meaning that Garcia will once again be a free agent this winter. He hasn't pitched since last June following shoulder surgery and reportedly wasn't especially impressive while working out for a dozen teams earlier this month, but the Tigers could certainly use the pitching help as much as any contending team. He'll report to Single-A for what figures to be at least a couple minor league starts before potentially joining the Detroit staff and will need to be in the majors by August 31 to be playoff eligible. Don't expect any fantasy value this season.
Yesterday’s Results
Game recaps provided by Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball.Red Sox 19, Rangers 17: Sure, the much touted Charlie Zink gave up eight runs on eleven hits in just over four innings, but hey, at least he left his team in a position to win it, right? OK, that's a stretch, I admit it. But let's make lemons out of lemonade here. If you're Charlie Zink last night you know a couple of things: (1) You just stunk it up something awful in your MLB debut; and (2) Your team just acquired Paul Byrd, so there's a good chance you're going to get sent down again. Wouldn't it be great then for him to have found some reporters after the game and to have angrily chastised the Sox bullpen for squandering his 12-6 lead? I mean really get into it and not break character for anything. To say things like "some people around here -- and they know who they are -- need to step it up," and to say it with dead seriousness. Boston wouldn't know what to make of him, and I'm sure he'd have a load of fun in the process. At least until he was released.
Mets 4, Nationals 3: When you have a lockdown bullpen like the Mets do, games like these are effectively shortened.
White Sox 9, Royals 0: Javier Vazquez makes mincemeat of the Royals (8 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 10K). It was made to look even worse as a result of the 5-spot allowed by some bad pitching and some bad fielding by, respectively, Josh Newman and Jose Guillen in the eighth.
Reds 5, Pirates 1: I wish I had remembered to tune into WLW for this one, because I'm certain -- so certain I'd bet my kids on it -- that Marty Brennaman credited this win to the absence of the lackadaisical, cancerous, unclutch, disgrace of a ballplayer that is Adam Dunn. That Dunn had been more productive than almost the whole of this game's lineup so far this season is no excuse.
Blue Jays 6, Tigers 4: Sheffield spouts off, pisses his teammates and manager off, gets put on waivers, and then hits two home runs in the game. This is pretty much a microcosm of his entire career. Too much of a jerk to tolerate, too talented to ignore.
Indians 7, Orioles 5: My first reaction to Byrd being traded away was "well, that's another town for Byrd." What I didn't realize until just now, though, is that Byrd was in Cleveland longer than he had been in any other city. Which sorta seems wrong, doesn't it? Don't you picture him as a Phillie or a Met or something longer than an Indian? I sure do.
Astros 12, Giants 4: Lincecum had to leave the game after Brad Ausmus smashed a line drive off of his knee. It's only bruised, but man, that looked scary.
Dodgers 4, Phillies 3: Andre Ethier doesn't get the start because of all of the speedy veteranness of Juan Pierre, but he came through with the game winning hit in the bottom of the ninth all the same. Who wants to bet whether Torre will now be inspired to write his name in the lineup more often?
Oakland 2, Tampa Bay 1: Crawford and Longoria's absence is felt. Brad Ziegler extends his awesomeness streak to 38 innings.
Brewers 5, Padres 2: Milwaukee continues to get excellent starting pitching, this time from Jeff Suppan, who gives up two runs over eight innings, helping lead the Brewers to their seventh straight win. Gabe Kapler goes 2-4 filling in for the injured Ryan Braun. Someone who follows the Brewers tell me: has the local media taken my sage early season advice and started calling Kapler "skip" due to this stint as a minor league manager last year? I think that would be cool.
Diamondbacks 4, Rockies 2: The Big Unit wins again, this time striking out seven and giving up two runs over six innings. That's 294, with maybe eight or nine starts to go. Adam Dunn makes his first Dbacks start. He got on base three times in five plate appearances. Unfortunately he did not move any runners along with fiery, productive outs to the opposite field or whatever, so he continues to be an abomination as a player and a human being.
Angels 7, Mariners 3: This win pushes the Angels to a fifteen game lead in the West. No team has won a division by that many games since the Giants in 2003.
Marlins 4, Cardinals 3: The Redbirds are now four games back in the Wild Card race. With Milwaukee soaring lately, we could be watching the end of the business-end of the St. Louis season.
Yankees 9, Twins 6: A-Rod and Nady homers in the 12th save the bullpen's bacon. We expect Marte to blow up because he's been doing it a lot lately, but Rivera blowing a save is a rare sight indeed.
Cubs vs. Braves: Postponed: Baseball's "Teenage Symphony to God"-- much delayed, then shelved, only to be enjoyed at a later date.
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 --------------- Chicago Cubs at Atlanta Braves, 1:10 PM (R) Jason Marquis (7-7) vs. (R) Charlie Morton (3-5) Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM (R) Josh Fogg (2-4) vs. (L) Paul Maholm (7-7) New York Mets at Washington Nationals, 7:10 PM (R) John Maine (9-7) vs. (R) Jason Bergmann (2-8) St. Louis Cardinals at Florida Marlins, 7:10 PM (R) Braden Looper (10-9) vs. (R) Ricky Nolasco (11-7) Chicago Cubs at Atlanta Braves, 7:10 PM (R) Rich Harden (1-1) vs. (R) Jorge Campillo (7-4) San Francisco Giants at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (L) Barry Zito (6-14) vs. (L) Randy Wolf (7-10) Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies, 9:05 PM (L) Doug Davis (4-7) vs. (L) Jeff Francis (3-8) Milwaukee Brewers at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (L) CC Sabathia (6-0) vs. (R) Josh Banks (3-4) Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 PM (R) Joe Blanton (1-0) vs. (R) Brad Penny (6-9) American League --------------- New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins, 1:10 PM (R) Darrell Rasner (5-8) vs. (R) Kevin Slowey (8-8) Baltimore Orioles at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Jeremy Guthrie (9-8) vs. (R) Anthony Reyes (1-0) Toronto Blue Jays at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (L) David Purcey (1-3) vs. (L) Kenny Rogers (8-9) Texas Rangers at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM (R) Luis Mendoza (3-5) vs. (L) Jon Lester (10-4) Kansas City Royals at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM (R) Luke Hochevar (6-10) vs. (L) Mark Buehrle (9-10) Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM (R) Andy Sonnanstine (11-6) vs. (R) Justin Duchscherer (10-7) Seattle Mariners at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (R) Felix Hernandez (7-7) vs. (R) Ervin Santana (13-5)
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 47 .602 0.0 66 5BOS 69 51 .575 3.0 71 -2
NYA 64 56 .533 8.0 64 0
TOR 61 59 .508 11.0 64 -3
BAL 56 62 .475 15.0 58 -2
American League Central CHA 66 52 .559 0.0 67 -1
MIN 66 53 .555 0.5 63 3
DET 58 61 .487 8.5 62 -4
CLE 54 64 .458 12.0 60 -6
KC 54 65 .454 12.5 50 4
American League West LAA 75 43 .636 0.0 66 9
TEX 61 59 .508 15.0 56 5
OAK 55 63 .466 20.0 60 -5
SEA 45 74 .378 30.5 50 -5
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 64 55 .538 0.0 67 -3
NYN 63 56 .529 1.0 63 0
FLA 63 57 .525 1.5 58 5
ATL 55 63 .466 8.5 62 -7
WAS 44 76 .367 20.5 46 -2
National League Central CHN 71 47 .602 0.0 73 -2
MIL 69 51 .575 3.0 65 4
STL 66 56 .541 7.0 65 1
HOU 60 59 .504 11.5 57 3
PIT 54 65 .454 17.5 52 2
CIN 53 67 .442 19.0 50 3
National League West ARI 61 58 .513 0.0 62 -1
LAN 60 59 .504 1.0 63 -3
COL 53 68 .438 9.0 53 0
SF 50 68 .424 10.5 48 2
SD 46 73 .387 15.0 49 -3
Wildcard Standings American League BOS 69 51 .575 0.0 MIN 66 53 .555 2.5 NYA 64 56 .533 5.0 TEX 61 59 .508 8.0 TOR 61 59 .508 8.0 National League MIL 69 51 .575 0.0 STL 66 56 .541 4.0 NYN 63 56 .529 5.5 FLA 63 57 .525 6.0 HOU 60 59 .504 8.5
Game of the Day
Red Sox 19, Rangers 17 - FINAL
TEXAS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
I Kinsler 2b 5 2 2 4 0 0 3 .320
M Young ss 6 0 1 0 0 1 2 .285
J Hamilton cf 5 3 2 1 1 1 1 .304
M Bradley dh 5 3 2 0 1 3 2 .321
M Byrd rf 6 4 5 3 0 0 0 .298
F Catalanotto lf 4 2 2 3 0 0 2 .286
va-J Ellison ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200
vb-B Boggs ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 .242
G Laird c 4 1 1 1 1 0 3 .292
C Davis 1b 5 2 2 4 0 0 1 .283
R Vazquez 3b 5 0 2 0 0 1 5 .318
Totals 47 17 20 17 3 6 20 ###
BOSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Drew rf 4 3 2 1 2 0 2 .288
D Pedroia 2b 6 5 5 2 0 0 1 .319
D Ortiz dh 4 4 3 6 2 0 0 .260
K Youkilis 1b-3b 5 2 2 5 1 2 0 .316
M Lowell 3b 4 1 1 1 1 2 2 .270
S Casey 1b 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .353
J Bay lf 4 1 1 1 1 0 1 .319
J Lowrie ss 5 1 2 2 0 0 6 .286
C Crisp cf 4 0 1 0 1 0 2 .247
K Cash c 3 1 0 0 1 1 2 .222
ha-J Ellsbury ph 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 .272
J Varitek c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .216
Totals 40 19 17 18 10 6 16 ###
----------------------------------------------------
TEXAS - 020 085 101 -- 17 20 2
BOSTON - 1002 020 14x -- 19 17 2
----------------------------------------------------
va-flied out to right for F Catalanotto in the 7th; ha-walked for K Cash in
the 8th; vb-doubled to deep center for J Ellison in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - I Kinsler (40, C Zink); M Byrd (18, C Zink); F Catalanotto 2 (21,
M Delcarmen, C Zink); G Laird (15, C Zink); J Hamilton (27, M Delcarmen); B
Boggs (14, J Papelbon); J Lowrie 2 (11, S Feldman 2); D Ortiz (14, J Rupe); D
Pedroia (36, F Francisco). HR - D Ortiz 2 (16, 1st inning off S Feldman 2 on, 0
Out, 1st inning off S Feldman 2 on, 2 Out), I Kinsler (16, 5th inning off D
Aardsma 2 on, 2 Out), K Youkilis 2 (22, 5th inning off J Rupe 1 on, 0 Out, 8th
inning off F Francisco 2 on, 2 Out). SF - G Laird , I Kinsler. RBI - C Davis 4
(32), J Hamilton (112), M Byrd 3 (34), F Catalanotto 3 (19), I Kinsler 4 (69),
G Laird (32), B Boggs (31), D Ortiz 6 (59), J Lowrie 2 (26), J Drew (63), D
Pedroia 2 (55), M Lowell (67), J Bay (9), K Youkilis 5 (81). 2-out RBI - C
Davis 2, I Kinsler 3, J Drew, D Pedroia 2, D Ortiz 3, M Lowell, J Bay, K
Youkilis 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R Vazquez 2, F
Catalanotto 1, I Kinsler 1, C Davis 1, C Crisp 1, J Lowrie 3. GIDP - K Cash, J
Lowrie. Team LOB - TEXAS 9, BOSTON 7. BASERUNNING: SB - M Lowell (2, 3rd base
off S Feldman/G Laird), J Bay (1, 2nd base off S Feldman/G Laird). CS - C Crisp
(4, 2nd base by W Madrigal/G Laird). FIELDING: E - R Vazquez (13, ground ball);
J Wright (1, throw); K Youkilis 2 (6, ground ball 2). DP: (I Kinsler-M Young-C
Davis, M Young-I Kinsler-C Davis).
TEXAS ip h r er bb so hr era
S Feldman 2 2/3 10 12 6 3 2 2 5.18
J Rupe 2 1/3 4 2 2 3 1 1 3.95
W Madrigal (H, 1) 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 5.50
J Wright (H, 14) 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 4.59
F Francisco (L, 2-4; B, 5) 1 2 4 4 2 1 1 3.88
BOSTON ip h r er bb so hr era
C Zink 4 1/3 11 8 8 1 1 0 16.62
J Lopez 1/3 1 1 1 0 1 0 2.70
D Aardsma 1/3 3 4 4 1 1 1 3.73
M Delcarmen (B, 3) 1 1/3 4 3 2 0 1 0 4.32
H Okajima (W, 3-2) 1 2/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 2.51
J Papelbon (S, 32) 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1.93
D Aardsma pitched to 3 batters in the 6th.
WP - C Zink, H Okajima. IBB - D Ortiz (by F Francisco). HBP - C Davis (by H
Okajima). Pitches-strikes: S Feldman 90-51; J Rupe 50-23; W Madrigal 16-8; J
Wright 26-15; F Francisco 32-15; C Zink 85-56; J Lopez 9-6; D Aardsma 17-10; M
Delcarmen 29-21; H Okajima 29-17; J Papelbon 18-11. Ground balls-fly balls: S
Feldman 4-2; J Rupe 6-0; W Madrigal 0-1; J Wright 2-1; F Francisco 0-2; C Zink
5-7; J Lopez 0-0; D Aardsma 0-0; M Delcarmen 0-3; H Okajima 1-3; J Papelbon
0-2. Batters faced: S Feldman 22; J Rupe 12; W Madrigal 3; J Wright 6; F
Francisco 7; C Zink 25; J Lopez 2; D Aardsma 5; M Delcarmen 9; H Okajima 7; J
Papelbon 5. IRS - M Delcarmen 2, D Aardsma 2, J Lopez, J Rupe 2. UMPIRES:
HP--Wally Bell. 1B--Laz Diaz. 2B--Scott Barry. 3B--Kerwin Danley. T--3:58.
Att--38,004. Weather: 71 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 10 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.
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 Garret Anderson LAA Mark Lowe SEA 376 370 13 PL Lance Berkman HOU Jack Taschner SF 393 393 24 PL Mike Cameron MIL Cha Seung Baek SD 370 353 19 JE/L Bobby Crosby OAK Scott Kazmir TB 393 395 7 JE Johnny Damon NYY Nick Blackburn MIN 375 370 8 JE Jermaine Dye CWS Brian Bannister KC 413 408 28 PL Prince Fielder MIL Cha Seung Baek SD 434 423 27 ND Jody Gerut SD Jeff Suppan MIL 407 399 11 JE Vladimir Guerrero LAA Jarrod Washburn SEA 431 420 22 ND Chris Iannetta COL Randy Johnson ARI 396 360 14 JE Ian Kinsler TEX David Aardsma BOS 394 383 16 JE Kevin Kouzmanoff SD Jeff Suppan MIL 409 388 18 PL/L Ryan Langerhans WAS Johan Santana NYM 395 387 1 PL Adam Lind TOR Zach Miner DET 436 440 6 ND Xavier Nady NYY Matt Guerrier MIN 366 362 19 PL Magglio Ordonez DET A.J. Burnett TOR 349 356 15 JE David Ortiz BOS Scott Feldman TEX 415 404 16 ND David Ortiz BOS Scott Feldman TEX 423 416 15 PL/L Hunter Pence HOU Geno Espineli SF 381 381 17 ND Brandon Phillips CIN Jeff Karstens PIT 399 385 18 PL/L A.J. Pierzynski CWS Brian Bannister KC 373 369 9 JE Hanley Ramirez FLA Kyle Lohse STL 383 379 26 ND Juan Rivera LAA Jarrod Washburn SEA 372 359 7 PL/L Alex Rodriguez NYY Matt Guerrier MIN 448 442 27 PL Aaron Rowand SF Tim Byrdak HOU 361 360 11 PL Gary Sheffield DET A.J. Burnett TOR 422 429 11 PL Gary Sheffield DET A.J. Burnett TOR 401 408 10 ND Nick Swisher CWS Brian Bannister KC 428 423 16 ND Chad Tracy ARI Ubaldo Jimenez COL 409 372 7 PL Chase Utley PHI Clayton Kershaw LAD 370 358 30 PL Javier Valentin CIN Jeff Karstens PIT 411 401 2 JE Ty Wigginton HOU Geno Espineli SF 351 351 13 JE Kevin Youkilis BOS Josh Rupe TEX 436 427 22 ND Kevin Youkilis BOS Frank Francisco TEX 398 396 21 ND Delmon Young MIN Mariano Rivera NYY 338 333 6 JE
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 Joseph Koshansky.. 5 4 1 1 1 1 0 5 R SD A+ Mitch Canham...... 5 3 0 0 2 0 0 3 R STL AAA Nick Stavinoha.... 5 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 R TOR AAA Travis Snider..... 4 2 1 0 1 0 1 TEX A+ John Whittleman... 5 4 0 0 1 0 0 SD A+ Cedric Hunter..... 5 2 1 0 1 0 0 BAL AA Matt Wieters...... 4 2 1 1 0 0 1 BOS A David Mailman..... 5 4 1 0 0 0 0 3 LD CHC A- Ryan Flaherty..... 5 2 0 0 1 0 2 ARI AAA Josh Whitesell.... 4 1 0 0 1 1 2 STL AAA J. Hoffpauir...... 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 LD HOU AAA J.R. House........ 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes MIN A M. McCardell...... 8 3 2 2 10 0 0 MIN AAA Philip Humber..... 7 8 3 3 11 1 1 LA AAA James McDonald.... 6 4 2 2 10 1 1 FLA AAA Rick Vanden Hurk.. 5 4 4 1 9 1 0 SF A+ Kevin Pucetas..... 6 2 1 1 7 1 1 SF A Craig Clark....... 8 5 1 1 5 3 0 NYY A+ Z. McAllister..... 5 4 0 0 5 1 0 PHI A+ Drew Naylor....... 7 6 3 3 4 1 0 KC A+ Edward Cegarra.... 6 4 1 1 5 2 0 NYY AAA Philip Hughes..... 5 3 2 2 4 1 0 STL A Richard Castillo.. 6 6 4 4 7 2 1 TOR A Luis Perez........ 5 8 5 4 6 1 0
Access THT’s stats here…
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