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August 18, 2009

THT Daily: Strasburg signs

Read all about last night's signings at Baseball America.
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Posted by: Dave Studeman

August 17, 2009

THT Daily: Four for four

David Wright may be done for the year, the fourth Met batting star out of action.
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Posted by: Dave Studeman

August 03, 2009

THT Daily: A Romp in Baltimore

Major League News for August 3

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 Rotoworld
Edinson Volquez underwent Tommy John surgery Monday morning, according to Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse.
Volquez is likely to miss most of the 2010 season. There's a chance he could return by late August or September, if setbacks are avoided. It's a major hit to the Reds' immediate future. The 26-year-old right-hander was 4-2 this season with a 4.35 ERA and boasts a 24-19 career record.

Adrian Beltre is expected to return to the Mariners Tuesday.
Beltre has been sidelined since June 28 after undergoing shoulder surgery. "Everything looks good with Adrian, and it will be good to get him back," manager Don Wakamatsu said. The third baseman should provide a decent offensive boost for the Mariners, who have struggled to score runs lately.

The Astros have scratched Roy Oswalt (back) from his Tuesday start.
Oswalt, who had already been scratched from a start this weekend, is now aiming to start on Saturday against the Brewers. He'll try a bullpen session Monday, and another in the middle of the week. "Wednesday I'll throw a pretty good one," said the Houston ace, "and if I feel great I may try to throw an inning out of the pen and make sure I'm ready for game action on Saturday."

The Dodgers are calling Chad Billingsley's injury a right hamstring cramp.
Billingsley came out of Sunday's game against the Braves after throwing five scoreless innings. He'll likely be ready to make his next start as scheduled.

Rangers placed second baseman Ian Kinsler on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 29, with a strained left hamstring.
Kinsler's loss is big, but Rangers fans have to be excited to see Neftali Feliz up with another one of the team's roster moves today. Omar Vizquel has done a nice job so far, so he'll keep starting at second base for the next couple of weeks. Joaquin Arias will serve as the backup.

Casey Blake is out of Sunday's lineup with a left hand injury that's getting him sent for X-rays.
Blake was hurt Saturday, but neither he nor the Dodgers thought it was significant then. When he was still having problems swinging in batting practice today, he was sent for X-rays. Mark Loretta is starting at third.

Corey Hart had surgery Sunday to remove his appendix and will go on the disabled list.
The Brewers are bringing Bill Hall right back to the majors as a result. Frank Catalanotto may get the majority of the time in right field for the next three weeks. Jody Gerut is the better option, given his defense, but it's pretty clear which of the two manager Ken Macha prefers.

Kendry Morales drove in six runs on a pair of homers in the Angels' 13-4 win over the Twis on Sunday.
Both were three-run shots off left-handed pitchers, one being starter Glen Perkins and the other reliever Jose Mijares. Morales, who also added a single, is now up to a very impressive .299-23-69 mark on the season that includes 10 homers and 28 RBI since the start of July.

Victor Martinez collected five hits and drove in four runs in his first start at catcher since joining the Red Sox.
Welcome to the club, Victor. Martinez doubled and hit four singles while scoring once in Boston's 18-10 win over the Orioles. V-Mart finished July with a 530 OPS, so both his owners and the Red Sox are quite happy to see the fast start with his new team.

Yesterday’s Results

For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.

American League
BOS    18  BAL    10    (Recap and Boxscore)
KC      4  TB      1    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYA     8  CHA     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE    11  DET     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAA    13  MIN     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
TOR     7  OAK     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
TEX     4  SEA     2    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
LAN     9  ATL     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
FLA     3  CHN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
ARI     5  NYN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
COL     6  CIN     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
WAS     5  PIT     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
HOU     2  STL     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIL     6  SD      1    (Recap and Boxscore)
SF      7  PHI     3    (Recap and Boxscore)

Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action.

Today’s Games

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     63  42 .600    0.0   59     4    
BOS     62  42 .596    0.5   61     1    
TB      57  48 .543    6.0   60    -3    
TOR     51  54 .486   12.0   57    -6    
BAL     44  60 .423   18.5   45    -1    
American League Central     
DET     54  49 .524    0.0   54     0    
CHA     54  52 .509    1.5   54     0    
MIN     52  53 .495    3.0   52     0    
CLE     44  61 .419   11.0   50    -6    
KC      41  63 .394   13.5   40     1    
American League West        
LAA     63  40 .612    0.0   59     4    
TEX     59  44 .573    4.0   56     3    
SEA     54  51 .514   10.0   47     7    
OAK     44  60 .423   19.5   47    -3    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     59  44 .573    0.0   58     1    
FLA     55  50 .524    5.0   52     3    
ATL     53  52 .505    7.0   54    -1    
NYN     50  54 .481    9.5   49     1    
WAS     33  72 .314   27.0   42    -9    
National League Central     
STL     58  50 .537    0.0   58     0    
CHN     55  48 .534    0.5   55     0    
HOU     52  53 .495    4.5   47     5    
MIL     52  53 .495    4.5   50     2    
CIN     45  59 .433   11.0   43     2    
PIT     45  59 .433   11.0   50    -5    
National League West        
LAN     65  40 .619    0.0   64     1    
COL     58  47 .552    7.0   58     0    
SF      58  47 .552    7.0   56     2    
ARI     46  59 .438   19.0   49    -3    
SD      43  63 .406   22.5   39     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
TEX AA  M. Moreland....... 5  4  1  0  1  0  0  
NYM A+  David Havens...... 6  4  1  0  1  0  1  4 RBI
PIT AAA Neil Walker....... 4  3  2  0  0  0  0  
COL AA  Darin Holcomb..... 6  3  2  0  0  1  1  
SD  A+  James Darnell..... 4  3  2  0  0  1  0  
TOR A   T. Pastornicky.... 3  3  1  1  0  1  0  
ARI AAA Brandon Allen..... 5  2  1  0  1  0  0  
OAK AA  Shane Peterson.... 4  2  2  0  0  1  0  
DET AA  Garth Iorg........ 4  2  0  1  1  0  1  
SF  AA  Brandon Crawford.. 4  2  1  0  1  0  0  
PHI A-  Zachary Collier... 4  3  0  0  1  1  1  4 R
TOR AAA Travis Snider..... 3  1  0  0  1  2  1  3 R

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
TEX A   Martin Perez...... 5  4  1  1  9  2  0  
CLE AA  Jeanmar Gomez..... 6  4  0  0  8  2  0  
NYY A-  Arodys Vizcaino... 5  2  0  0  6  2  0  
SD  A   Simon Castro...... 5  4  1  1  6  1  0  
STL AA  Lance Lynn........ 6  6  1  1  5  0  0  
CLE AAA Hector Rondon..... 6  4  2  2  7  2  1  
HOU A+  C. Hicks.......... 6  5  2  2  5  2  0  
MIN AA  Carlos Gutierrez.. 3  1  0  0  5  1  0  
CLE AAA Jesse Todd........ 2  0  0  0  4  0  0  
TB  A   Joseph Cruz....... 5  4  3  2  4  1  0  10 GB
BOS AAA Junichi Tazawa.... 5  4  2  2  3  1  0  
TOR A+  Tim Collins....... 2  0  0  0  3  0  0

First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports:

Pick A TeamARIATLBALBOSCHACHNCINCLECOLDETFLAHOUKCLAALANMILMINNYANYNOAKPHIPITSDSEASFSTLTBTEXTORWAS

Posted by: Matthew Carruth

July 30, 2009

THT Daily: Manny and Big Papi

Major League News for July 30

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 Rotoworld
According to the New York Times, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.
The now-infamous 2003 list of positive tests is slowly trickling out. It's not a huge surprise that Manny tested positive, but Ortiz was not mentioned in the Mitchell Report and has not been linked to performance-enhancers until now. In fact, he told reporters this winter that he felt convicted steroid users should be banned for an entire year. "So what would I do? I won't use it," Ortiz said back in February, "and I'm pretty sure that everybody is on the same page."

According to the Wilmington News Journal, "Shane Victorino was walking with a severe limp" Wednesday night.
Victorino departed Wednesday's game against the D'Backs with a bruised left knee. X-rays were negative, but he told reporters his knee was "very, very sore." The newly acquired Ben Francisco could fill in for the next few days in right field, with Jayson Werth manning center.

Albert Pujols finished 3-for-7 with a walk-off RBI single in a 3-2 win in 15 innings on Wednesday night.
From the excellent pitchers' duel to the tension-filled extras, this was easily one of the most entertaining games of the year. The Cardinals actually trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the ninth, but scraped across a run in thrilling fashion thanks to a broken-bat RBI single by Colby Rasmus. The teams would go back and forth with runs in the 11th, only to remain scoreless until Pujols' screamer over the head of Matt Kemp to end it. It was the longest game by the Cardinals since August of 2003.

Indians recalled RHP Fausto Carmona from Triple-A Buffalo.
Carmona replaces former ace Cliff Lee on the roster. Carmona was 2-6 with a 7.42 ERA and 36/41 K/BB rate in 60 2/3 innings over 12 starts for the Indians earlier this season. He was optioned to the minors on June 5. The former 19-game winner went 3-3 with a 2.72 ERA in seven starts in the minors. It hasn't been decided when he will start for Cleveland, but it's likely to be either Friday or Saturday, which would have been Lee's turn. Carmona reworked his delivery in the minors. He's worth an immediate flier in AL-only leagues, but he shouldn't be active in any format for his first start against the Tigers.

Joba Chamberlain moved to 7-2 on the year with eight shutout innings against the Rays on Wednesday night.
Chamberlain is absolutely rolling right now. He held the Rays to just three hits, walking a pair and fanning five. It was just the second time he has completed eight innings this season. Over his last three starts, he has allowed just two runs while putting up a 19/8 K/BB ratio. Pretty impressive. He'll try to keep it going against the Blue Jays next.

Alexei Ramirez left Wednesday's game against the Twins in the seventh inning with an apparent ankle injury.
Ramirez attempted a hard slide to break up a double-play possibility, but his right leg caught in the dirt and he crumpled to the turf in pain. He was able to walk off the field -- with a limp -- which is the good news. Jayson Nix shifted to shortstop and Chris Getz entered at second.

Mat Latos and two relievers combined for a one-hitter in a 7-1 win over the Reds on Wednesday night.
A real gem by Latos. The 21-year-old showcased his nasty arsenal, allowing just a solo homer to Jerry Hairston Jr. en route to his second major league win. The promising youngster struck out four and walked a batter, improving his K/BB ratio to 13/4 over his first three major league starts. He may run into an innings limit eventually, but we love him in NL-only leagues going forward. Latos faces the Braves next.

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington "strongly suggested" that outfielder Lastings Milledge will join the Pirates on Friday, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
He would face his former team, the Nationals. Milledge batted .167 in 24 at-bats for Washington earlier this year. Upon his recall, Milledge will deserve a look in mixed leagues for his ever-intriguing speed/power combo.

Giants acquired second baseman Freddy Sanchez from the Pirates for RHP Tim Alderson.
Sanchez, 31, plugs a big hole at second base for San Francisco. He hit .296/.334/.442 in 382 at-bats for the Pirates this year and is a career .300/.336/.421 batter. Sanchez has a $8.1 million vesting option for 2010. He had his injured left knee examined by Giants' doctors on Wednesday, but no significant issues were found.

Yesterday’s Results

For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.

American League
BAL     7  KC      3    (Recap and Boxscore)
OAK     8  BOS     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYA     6  TB      2    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIN     3  CHA     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAA     9  CLE     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
SEA     3  TOR     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
DET    13  TEX     5    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
FLA     6  ATL     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHN    12  HOU     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
SD      7  CIN     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIL     7  WAS     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
STL     3  LAN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
ARI     4  PHI     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
SF      1  PIT     0    (Recap and Boxscore)

Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action.

Today’s Games

National League
 ---------------
 Colorado Rockies at New York Mets, 12:10 PM
  (R) Jason Hammel (5-5) vs. (L) Johan Santana (11-8)
 San Diego Padres at Cincinnati Reds, 12:35 PM
  (R) Tim Stauffer (0-2) vs. (R) Johnny Cueto (8-7)
 Washington Nationals at Milwaukee Brewers, 2:05 PM
  (R) J.D. Martin (0-1) vs. (R) Yovani Gallardo (9-7)
 Houston Astros at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM
  (R) Russ Ortiz (3-5) vs. (R) Kevin Hart (2-1)
 Colorado Rockies at New York Mets, 7:10 PM
  (L) Jorge De La Rosa (8-7) vs. (L) Jonathon Niese (1-0)
 Atlanta Braves at Florida Marlins, 7:10 PM
  (R) Javier Vazquez (8-7) vs. (R) Rick VandenHurk (1-0)
 Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:15 PM
  (R) Hiroki Kuroda (3-5) vs. (R) Kyle Lohse (4-6)
 Philadelphia Phillies at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM
  (R) Rodrigo Lopez (3-0) vs. (L) Jonathan Sanchez (3-9)
 
 American League
 ---------------
 Kansas City Royals at Baltimore Orioles, 12:35 PM
  (R) Luke Hochevar (6-3) vs. (R) Brad Bergesen (6-5)
 Oakland Athletics at Boston Red Sox, 1:35 PM
  (L) Gio Gonzalez (2-2) vs. (L) Jon Lester (9-7)
 Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM
  (L) Garrett Olson (3-4) vs. (L) Derek Holland (3-6)
 New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM
  (L) Andy Pettitte (8-6) vs. (R) Gavin Floyd (8-6)

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     62  39 .614    0.0   58     4    
BOS     58  42 .580    3.5   58     0    
TB      55  47 .539    7.5   57    -2    
TOR     49  53 .480   13.5   55    -6    
BAL     43  57 .430   18.5   44    -1    
American League Central     
DET     53  47 .530    0.0   53     0    
MIN     52  50 .510    2.0   53    -1    
CHA     51  51 .500    3.0   51     0    
CLE     42  60 .412   12.0   48    -6    
KC      40  60 .400   13.0   39     1    
American League West        
LAA     60  40 .600    0.0   55     5    
TEX     56  43 .566    3.5   54     2    
SEA     53  48 .525    7.5   46     7    
OAK     43  57 .430   17.0   46    -3    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     58  41 .586    0.0   57     1    
FLA     53  48 .525    6.0   50     3    
ATL     51  50 .505    8.0   53    -2    
NYN     48  51 .485   10.0   46     2    
WAS     32  69 .317   27.0   40    -8    
National League Central     
STL     56  48 .538    0.0   56     0    
CHN     53  46 .535    0.5   53     0    
HOU     51  50 .505    3.5   46     5    
MIL     50  51 .495    4.5   48     2    
CIN     45  55 .450    9.0   42     3    
PIT     43  58 .426   11.5   48    -5    
National League West        
LAN     62  39 .614    0.0   60     2    
SF      55  46 .545    7.0   54     1    
COL     54  46 .540    7.5   55    -1    
ARI     44  58 .431   18.5   48    -4    
SD      40  62 .392   22.5   36     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
OAK AA  Chris Carter...... 5  3  1  0  1  0  0  
WAN AAA Elijah Dukes...... 4  3  2  0  0  0  0  
MIN A   Aaron Hicks....... 3  2  0  1  0  2  0  
CHC A   Junior Lake....... 4  3  1  1  0  0  0  3 R
OAK A+  Greg Desme........ 3  1  0  0  1  1  0  
CHW A+  Brent Morel....... 4  3  0  0  1  0  0  
LAA A   Alexia Amarista... 4  3  1  0  0  0  0  
COL A   Delta Cleary...... 4  2  1  0  0  1  1  
COL A-  Kent Matthes...... 5  2  1  1  0  0  1  
BOS A-  R. Westmoreland... 3  2  1  0  0  2  0  
TEX AAA Justin Smoak...... 4  3  1  0  0  0  1  
TEX AA  Manuel Pina....... 3  3  1  0  0  0  0  

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
ARI A   Wade Miley........ 5  0  0  0  6  0  0  
PIT A+  Jeffrey Locke..... 6  1  1  1  7  0  1  
KC  A   Timothy Melville.. 5  4  1  1  8  2  0  
CLE AAA Chuck Lofgren..... 6  5  3  3  6  2  0  
TB  A   Nick Barnese...... 6  2  1  1  3  1  0  
SF  A   Eric Surkamp...... 3  1  1  0  4  0  0  
FLA A   Brad Hand......... 5  4  1  1  6  3  0  
NYY A+  Pat Venditte...... 2  0  0  0  4  0  0  
TEX A   Wilfredo Boscan... 6  5  0  0  2  0  0  11 GB
CLE AA  Zach Putnam....... 2  2  0  0  4  0  0  
TEX AA  Michael Kirkman... 7  7  3  3  3  0  1  
OAK A+  Anthony Capra..... 6  3  2  2  5  3  1

First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports:

Pick A TeamARIATLBALBOSCHACHNCINCLECOLDETFLAHOUKCLAALANMILMINNYANYNOAKPHIPITSDSEASFSTLTBTEXTORWAS

Posted by: Matthew Carruth

June 06, 2009

2009 PITCHf/x Summit announced

Sportvision and MLBAM have announced the Second Annual PITCHf/x Summit to be held in San Francisco on July 11, 2009. The summit last year was an amazing experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the physics of baseball or analysis of data from PITCHf/x and HITf/x. You can find more details and April 2009 HITf/x data for download (registration required) at the Sportvision site.
Posted by: Mike Fast


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