The Hardball Times http://www.hardballtimes.com/main Baseball. Insight. Daily. en pitchin432@gmail.com Copyright 2012 2012-05-16T11:01:15+00:00 Strange Lowe http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/dispatch_article/strange-lowe/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/dispatch_article/strange-lowe/
Three points of significance:

  1. It was Lowe's first shutout since 2005 and the fourth of his career

  2. He didn't strike out a single batter

  3. He shelved his slider and cutter for the night

There's a connection between Lowe's pitch mix and whiff rate.

Check out the mix and whiff rates for Lowe's starts from 2008 through 2012, excluding the shutout in question (13,440 pitches).








pitch% of pitchesmiss/swing
Sinker59.12
Change11.26
Fastball1.13
Cutter4.16
Slider25.34


Note the swing-and-missy slider, thrown one of four pitches.

And May 15, 2012 (127 pitches).








pitch% of pitchesmiss/swing
Sinker90.02
Change8.00
Fastball2.00
Cutter0na
Slider0na


Strange, eh? Talk about pitching to contact.

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]]> ]]> Harry Pavlidis 2012-05-16T13:37:15+00:00 The daily grind 5-16 http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/the-daily-grind-5-16/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/the-daily-grind-5-16/
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]]> ]]> Brad Johnson 2012-05-16T10:01:15+00:00 Brett Lawrie, the ump and the human element http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/brett-lawrie-bill-miller-and-the-human-element/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/brett-lawrie-bill-miller-and-the-human-element/
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]]> ]]> Chris Lund 2012-05-16T09:20:15+00:00 And That Happened http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/and-that-happened051612/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/and-that-happened051612/ Red Sox 5, Mariners 0: That Josh Beckett is such a disgrace! He's poisoning this team, I tell you, poisoning them! Oh, wait, he pitched well? Seven shutout innings while striking out nine? Well, in that case, I stand corrected.

Cardinals 7, Cubs 6: Jason Motte vultured a win when he gave up a tying homer to Alfonso Soriano in the ninth but then stayed on to be the pitcher of record when Yadier Molina hit the game winning single in the bottom half of the inning. After the game Mike Matheny said ""There's going to be some loud music playing in the clubhouse, and there's going to be some crazy stuff on the plane, too."  Somewhere, wherever he is, Tony La Russa had a pain shoot up his side.

Phillies 4, Astros 3: As we noted yesterday, Hunter Pence hit the walk-off homer. But the real play of the day came from umpire Bob Davidson, who in ejecting Charlie Manuel for no apparent reason apart from his own combative insecurity, truly lived up to his reputation yesterday. Oh, and Cliff Lee was pretty amazing despite the no decision.

Tigers 10, White Sox 8: Ugly all around. An eight-spot for the Tigers in the sixth inning helped them win it, but that was sandwiched by another bad, bullpen-stressing Max Scherzer start and a Jose Valverde injury on the other side. Chicago of course feels bad about it too, what with giving up a six-run lead.

Padres 6, Nationals 1: Strasburg was cold from the get-go. Just icy. The fireballer had to be hot about how bad his start was. Really burned him up, I'm sure. Oh, and Bryce Harper hit another homer, but he's old news compared to Strasburg's burning bits and pieces.

Indians 5, Twins 0: Derek Lowe's shutout -- and really, his entire season so far -- is basically this to all Braves fans who enjoyed him losing 17 games last year. Not that we're crying because we're doing just fine without him, but still.  As for the Twins: currently on a worse pace than the 1962 Mets, so there's that.

Angels 4, Athletics 0: Albert Pujols broke out, going 3 for 4 with two RBI singles. Ervin Santana pitched seven and two-thirds shutout innings.

Brewers 8, Mets 0: The Travis Ishikawa and Zack Greinke show. The former drove in five with the help of two homers. The latter shut the Mets out for seven innings, striking out seven. Oh, and right after Rickie Weeks hit a homer, Ryan Braun was plunked on the next pitch by D.J. Carrasco. Umpire Gary Darling ejected Carrasco. Darling must be an HBT reader and knows that intentional plunkings should not be tolerated. Good man.

Marlins 6, Pirates 2: Omar Infante went 4 for 5 and is hitting .325/.350/.598.  Remember when everyone made fun of him making the All-Star team a couple of years ago. Tell me: how many teams wouldn't want that kind of production from their second basemen right now? Josh Johnson: two runs over seven innings for his first win in over a year.

Rays 4, Blues Jays 3: Down 3-0 after four innings, the Rays rallied and David Price won his fifth, retiring 12 of the final 13 he faced. And then there was ugliness, as Brett Lawrie was ejected after losing his sh** and throwing his batting helmet at the umpire. Then manager John Farrell got ejected too. Then:
Police and stadium security were seen pointing into the crowd after an exchange between fans and umpires as the crew headed off the field through the visitor's dugout.

Canadian players and fans? Acting threateningly? Unpossible! Enjoy your suspension, Mr. Lawrie.

Braves 6, Reds 2: Tim Hudson allowed two runs over seven innings and the Braves had no problems holding the 6-0 lead they had after only four innings. Why are the Braves winning so much? The top seven of last night's lineup sported OBPs as follows: .399, .374, .368, .360, .331. .348, .362.

Orioles 5, Yankees 2: Chen outduels Sabathia.  Guessing that's the only time I'm gonna ever write that.

Royals 7, Rangers 4: The last time we saw Vin Mazzaro throw a pitch that counted he was in the process of giving up 14 runs to the Indians in what was probably the worst single-game performance by a pitcer in baseball history. Last night: surprisingly repectable: he gave up three runs in five innings, which isn't bad against that Ranger lineup.

Diamondbacks 5, Dodgers 1: Weird: Andre Ethier started in center, which is something he has never done. Chad Billingsley continues to struggle. The Dodgers' five-game winning streak ends.

Rockies 5, Giants 4: The Rockies blew a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning, but Marco Scutaro's ninth inning homer broke the 4-4 tie.

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]]> ]]> Craig Calcaterra 2012-05-16T09:56:15+00:00 BOB: Braun arbitrator gets the sack http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/bob-braun-arbitrator-gets-the-sack/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/bob-braun-arbitrator-gets-the-sack/
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]]> ]]> Brian Borawski 2012-05-16T06:21:15+00:00 The daily grind 5-15 http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/the-daily-grind-5-15/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/the-daily-grind-5-15/
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]]> ]]> Brad Johnson 2012-05-15T09:53:15+00:00 Save tonight http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/save-tonight/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/save-tonight/
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]]> ]]> Paul Singman 2012-05-15T09:03:15+00:00 And That Happened http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/and-that-happened051512/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/and-that-happened051512/ Nationals 8, Padres 5: Bryce Harper golfed one more than 400 feet to straightaway center for his first ever major league homer. He also struck out on four pitches to Joe Thatcher and launched a really loud f-bomb. I love him for both reasons, frankly. And I love how the back end of the Nats bullpen continues to struggle. Henry Rodriguez came in with a three-run lead in the ninth and walked the bases loaded. Sean Burnett came in and induced a 1-2-3 double play to end it, but man, Davey has to figure out what to do about Rodriguez. Guy throws a billion miles per hour but he has no idea where it's going half the time.

Reds 3, Braves 1: Jonny Venters: a lot closer to mortal this year than last. Brandon Phillips knocked a double off him as the Reds plated two in the eighth to break a 1-1 tie. Then Chris Heisey drove in Phillips with a double of his own. I was blacked out from watching this one and didn't know what was going on until the ninth when I saw on the scoreboard that Livan Hernandez entered the game. He's the Braves' living white flag.

Rays 7, Blues Jays 1: Good news: the Rays win. Bad news: Jeff Niemann was knocked out in the first inning after taking a grounder to his ankle. Cesar Ramos and the bullpen brigade came to the rescue.

Mets 3, Brewers 1: Milwaukee mustered only four hits off Miguel Batista, who threw seven shutout innings. No offense to Batista, but the Brewers need to take a long look in the mirror after getting stifled like that by a pitcher like that.

Red Sox 6, Mariners 1: Jon Lester pitched a complete game, allowing only one run. Four in a row for Boston.

Pirates 3, Marlins 2: My daddy said "son you're gonna drive me to drinkin' if you don't start games with old Brad Lincoln." Um, let's forget I said that. Anyway: Lincoln allowed two runs in six innings after switching from starting to the pen.

Phillies 5, Astros 1: Placido Polanco is in a season-long funk, but a homer gave him his 2000th career hit. One of the more under-the-radar 2000-hit players in big league history, I'd reckon. Joe Blanton continues his nice recent work, allowing one run on six hits in seven innings.

Indians 5, Twins 4: Jeanmar Gomez pitched seven strong innings but his bullpen betrayed him. Shin-Soo Choo came through in the ninth with the go-ahead single.

Cubs 6, Cardinals 4: The Cards have cooled off big time, dropping their fourth straight. The Cubs finally scored some runs in a Ryan Dempster start, but not all when he was in the game. Meanwhile Dempster himself allowed four. Bryan LaHair went 3 for 4 and hit a two-run homer.

Royals 3, Rangers 1: Bruce Chen and four relievers douse the scorching Rangers lineup. A Nelson Cruz homer was all that was doin' for Texas.

Yankees 8, Orioles 5: Ivan Nova was first ineffective and then injured, spraining his right ankle while fielding a tapper back to the mound. the Yankees pen hurled three and two-thirds innings of shutout ball, however, while a Mark Teixeira homer led the late Yankees charge. A-Rod, Robinson Cano and Teixeira were a combined 7 for 14 with two RBI and seven runs scored. That's the sort of middle-of-the-order production New York hadn't been getting in the early going.

White Sox 7, Tigers 5: Detroit had a 5-2 lead but then starter Drew Smyly ran out of gas and reliever Luke Putkonen -- who if you asked me before I saw this box score, I would have said wasn't a real person -- unraveled. Detroit is now under .500. Dayan Vicido drove in four on a two-run homer and a two-run single. Adam Dunn homered again too and is slugging over .600 on the season.

Giants 3, Rockies 2:  Buster Posey and Brett Pill RBI singles in the eighth bring the Giants back after Christian Friedrich shut them down bigtime in his seven innings, in which he struck out ten.

Dodgers 3, Diamondbacks 1: No Matt Kemp? No problem, as with Clayton all things are possible (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER).

Athletics 5, Angels 0: Anaheim's nightmare season continues, as Tyson Ross shuts them out for six and the pen shuts them out for three. Oakland has won eight of 12.

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]]> ]]> Craig Calcaterra 2012-05-15T09:57:15+00:00 The virtual 1969-76 Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians (Part 2:  1969-70) http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-virtual-1969-76-yankees-red-sox-and-indians-part-2-1969-70/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-virtual-1969-76-yankees-red-sox-and-indians-part-2-1969-70/
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]]> ]]> Steve Treder 2012-05-15T08:38:15+00:00 Mythbusting - closer edition http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/mythbusting-closer-edition/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/mythbusting-closer-edition/
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]]> ]]> Derek Ambrosino 2012-05-15T08:38:15+00:00