THT Daily: Langerhans’ Head is Spinning
by Matthew CarruthMay 03, 2007
Major League News for May 3
Today’s LinksPlayer News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Top Minor League Performances
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
THT Links
#### A! - Dave Cameron at USS Mariner uses the A's Ryan Langerhans-Chris Snelling trade to tell a tale of two organizations.
Maury's Knights - Maury Brown and the other usual suspects do a business of baseball round table and tackle the CBA, payroll floors and more.
Closer Alert! - Henry Owens will now be the Marlins' official closer, and if you don't think I checked my fantasy league to see if he was still available before writing this sentence, you're crazy.
Oki-Doki - Red Sox reliever Hideki "Oki-Doki" Okajima was named AL Rookie of the Month for April, and other Red Sox notes in the always well done Boston Globe Red Sox notebook.
On Trial - A Massachusetts scalping trial gets more interesting, as a judge has ordered the Admit One "ticket reselling agency" to divulge its source of tickets. Admit One is being sued under Massachusetts anti-scalping law as the state cracks down harder on scalping.
Second Opinion - Carl Pavano is getting the dreaded second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, and the Yankees fans at Pinstripe Alley react.
Scapegoat - The Yankees fired conditioning coach Marty Miller yesterday (who has the ominous title of "Director of Performance Enhancement," by the way). The quotes from general manager Brian Cashman and Joe Torre about the team's hamstring injury epidemic all seem reasonable until two-thirds of the way through the article you read that not all the injured players followed his optional regimen.
THT Links represents the best efforts of our editors in scouring the various tubes of the interweb for both relevant and irrelevant news items. If you have happened upon a story that we have overlooked or wish to give feedback of any sort, please notify us at THT Links.
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldBarry Bonds had a two-run homer and a two-run single against the Rockies to propel the Giants to a 5-3 win on Wednesday night. Bonds' 743rd homer was a liner that barely had the height to clear the high wall in right field. He later singled off Manny Corpas with the bases loaded to give the Giants a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth. He's up to nine homers and 21 RBI in 24 games this season.
Felix Hernandez (elbow) won't return Friday against the Yankees after all. The Mariners are hoping to bring him back during the middle of next week. So it begins. "We would rather be safe than sorry with him," manager Mike Hargrove said. "His bullpen [session on Tuesday] was fine, but we just feel better giving him a few extra days. If we get to [May 9] and feel he needs a few more days, we'll give him more time." Cha-Seung Baek will get the start on Friday. This also means Jeff Weaver will make at least one more start.
Jake Westbrook is likely to go on the disabled list after leaving Wednesday's game with abdominal tightness. "Hopefully it feels better tomorrow," Westbrook said. "I felt it in the first and it just got worse with every pitch in the second. I figured that was enough and I shut it down." Fausto Carmona will be recalled to step into the rotation if Westbrook goes on the DL.
Tom Gordon is returning to Philadelphia to get checked out after feeling pain in his right shoulder. It was only a matter of time. There's a good chance Gordon will land on the DL, giving Brett Myers a chance to establish himself as the Phillies' closer. Myers should be picked up in any leagues in which he's available.
Mike Piazza is expected to be sidelined 4-to-6 weeks with a strained AC joint in his right shoulder. We're guessing Mike Lowell is going to receive some boos next time he shows up in Oakland. Piazza's absence will likely put Nick Swisher at DL now. This means the A's will be able to keep both Travis Buck and Dan Johnson in the lineup following Milton Bradley's return next week. Both Bradley and Shannon Stewart could see considerable time at DH once Swisher is healthy.
Athletics acquired outfielder Chris Snelling from the Nationals for outfielder Ryan Langerhans. While this is a great job of trading up from the A's, it seems like Billy Beane might want to start valuing durability in outfielders at some point. Fortunately, the A's shouldn't need Snelling as a regular. He can play left field on occasion and fake it in center as well as Danny Putnam if needed. He's also nice insurance at DH with Mike Piazza down. Snelling was hitting .204/.361/.327 in 49 at-bats for the Nats. He might have a little value in AL-only leagues, though his skill set doesn't translate so well to fantasy baseball.
After visiting Monday with Dr. Lewis Yocum, Rich Harden (shoulder) has been advised to rest for up to 10 days. The good news is that Yocum reportedly found only irritation in the shoulder, rather than structural damage. The San Francisco Chronicle suggests that Harden is "unlikely to start for Oakland until the middle of the month at the earliest."
The Boston Herald reports that Jon Lester is unlikely "to be called up anytime soon" from Triple-A. Lester makes his final minor league rehab start at Pawtucket Wednesday night, but according to the newspaper the Red Sox have decided to keep him in the rotation at Triple-A until he builds up more stamina. "Our No. 1 responsibility is for Lester and his long-term health," manager Terry Francona said. "You can read into that what you want."
Yesterday’s Results
American League BOS 6 OAK 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Beckett: 7 IP, 3 R, 6-0 TB 4 MIN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) See below CLE 7 TOR 6 (Recap and Boxscore) 11 innings; Peralta: 3-5, HR; Wells, Glaus: 2 2B each DET 3 BAL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Sheffield: 4-4, HR KC 3 LAA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) De La Rosa: 7 IP, 1 R; German: 3R HR SEA 3 CHA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Batista: 7.1 IP, 2 R National League ATL 4 PHI 3 (Recap and Boxscore) ATL bullpen: 4 IP, 1 H NYN 6 FLA 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Perez: 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 2-2 at bat HOU 3 CIN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Oswalt: 8 IP, 1 R MIL 4 STL 0 (Recap and Boxscore) STL: 5th straight loss, in cellar CHN 7 PIT 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Theriot: 2 2B; Soriano: 2B, HR; Marquis: 8 IP, 1 R LAN 2 ARI 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Davis: 7 IP, 1 R; Hendrickson: 6 IP, 0 R SD 7 WAS 3 (Recap and Boxscore) SF 5 COL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Bonds: HR, 4 RBI; Zito: 7 IP, 2 R
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Cincinnati Reds at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (L) Eric Milton (0-4) vs. (L) Wandy Rodriguez (0-3) Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM (L) Tom Gorzelanny (3-1) vs. (R) Dave Bush (2-2) New York Mets at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (L) Tom Glavine (3-1) vs. (R) Micah Owings (1-1) Philadelphia Phillies at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (R) Adam Eaton (2-2) vs. (R) Matt Cain (1-1) American League --------------- LA Angels of Anaheim at Kansas City Royals, 2:10 PM (R) Jered Weaver (1-2) vs. (R) Gil Meche (2-1) Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM (L) Horacio Ramirez (2-1) vs. (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-2) Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Dustin McGowan (0-0) vs. (L) Cliff Lee (0-0) Minnesota Twins at Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10 PM (R) Ramon Ortiz (3-1) vs. (R) James Shields (2-0) New York Yankees at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (R) Mike Mussina (0-1) vs. (R) Kevin Millwood (2-3)
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 BOS 17 9 .654 0.0 17 0TOR 13 14 .481 4.5 15 -2
TB 12 15 .444 5.5 10 2
BAL 12 16 .429 6.0 13 -1
NYA 10 14 .417 6.0 13 -3
American League Central CLE 16 8 .667 0.0 14 2
DET 16 11 .593 1.5 15 1
MIN 15 12 .556 2.5 15 0
CHA 12 13 .480 4.5 12 0
KC 9 19 .321 9.0 11 -2
American League West LAA 16 12 .571 0.0 15 1
SEA 12 10 .545 1.0 10 2
OAK 13 14 .481 2.5 14 -1
TEX 10 16 .385 5.0 10 0
National League East Pwins Diff ATL 17 10 .630 0.0 15 2
NYN 16 10 .615 0.5 18 -2
FLA 13 14 .481 4.0 14 -1
PHI 12 15 .444 5.0 14 -2
WAS 9 19 .321 8.5 7 2
National League Central MIL 18 9 .667 0.0 15 3
CIN 13 14 .481 5.0 14 -1
CHN 12 14 .462 5.5 16 -4
PIT 12 14 .462 5.5 10 2
HOU 11 15 .423 6.5 12 -1
STL 10 16 .385 7.5 8 2
National League West LAN 17 11 .607 0.0 16 1
ARI 16 13 .552 1.5 15 1
SF 14 12 .538 2.0 13 1
SD 15 13 .536 2.0 16 -1
COL 11 17 .393 6.0 12 -1
Game of the Day
Losing 3-1, with two out in the bottom of the ninth against Twins ubercloser Joe Nathan, the Devil Rays singled three times in a row to tie the game, then finished off the Twins in the 10th, 4-3. The three singes were punched by Elijah Dukes, Carl Crawford and Ty Wigginton. Torii Hunter had put the Twins up early, with a two-run homer in the second inning. Hunter is batting .337 for the season, with six home runs.
MINNESOTA (3) VS TAMPA BAY (4) - FINAL IN 10 INNINGS
MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
L Castillo 2b 4 1 1 0 1 0 2 .292
N Punto 3b 4 0 0 0 1 2 3 .217
J Mauer c 5 0 1 1 0 2 3 .368
J Morneau 1b 5 1 2 0 0 1 3 .280
T Hunter cf 5 1 3 2 0 1 0 .337
J Kubel lf 5 0 1 0 0 2 2 .247
J Cirillo dh 4 0 2 0 0 0 2 .429
J Rabe pr-dh 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .208
J Tyner rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .339
J Bartlett ss 4 0 2 0 0 0 3 .256
Totals 41 3 13 3 2 9 20
BATTING: HR - T Hunter (6, 2nd inning off J Seo 1 on, 0 Out). RBI - T Hunter 2
(20), J Mauer (14). 2-out RBI - J Mauer. Runners left in scoring position, 2
out - J Morneau 2, L Castillo 1, J Tyner 1, J Bartlett 1, J Mauer 1. Team LOB -
11.
BASERUNNING: SB - N Punto (3, 2nd base off J Salas/J Paul), T Hunter (6, 2nd
base off Al Reyes/J Paul).
FIELDING: Outfield assists - J Kubel (C Crawford at 1st base). DP: 2 (J
Kubel-J Bartlett-J Morneau, J Bartlett-L Castillo-J Morneau).
TAMPA BAY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Baldelli cf 4 1 0 0 1 1 3 .274
E Dukes dh 5 1 2 1 0 2 0 .246
C Crawford lf 4 0 3 0 0 1 0 .280
T Wigginton 3b 5 0 3 2 0 0 2 .259
D Young rf 5 0 0 0 0 2 7 .248
B Upton 2b 4 0 1 0 1 1 1 .370
C Pena 1b 4 0 1 0 1 0 2 .200
B Zobrist pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .148
B Harris ss 3 1 2 0 2 0 2 .321
J Paul c 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .273
a-D Navarro ph 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 .222
Totals 39 4 12 4 5 8 21
a-grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop for J Paul in the 10th.
BATTING: 2B - B Harris (3, M Guerrier). RBI - T Wigginton 2 (15), E Dukes (5),
D Navarro (5). 2-out RBI - E Dukes, T Wigginton. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - R Baldelli 1, D Young 3. GIDP - B Harris. Team LOB - 13.
FIELDING: E - B Upton (8, throw). Outfield assists - D Young 2 (J Kubel at
1st base, J Morneau at 2nd base). DP: 1 (D Young-C Pena).
----------------------------------------------------
MINNESOTA - 020 000 100 0 -- 3
TAMPA BAY - 000 010 002 1 -- 4
One out when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------
MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era
B Bonser 6 6 1 1 4 2 0 4.55
P Neshek (H, 1) 1 2/3 1 0 0 0 3 0 1.98
J Crain (H, 5) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.10
J Nathan (B, 1) 1 3 2 2 1 3 0 3.37
M Guerrier (L, 0-1) 1/3 2 1 1 0 0 0 2.76
TAMPA BAY ip h r er bb so hr era
J Seo 6 7 2 2 1 3 1 8.19
S Camp 2/3 2 1 1 0 0 0 7.00
B Stokes 1 1/3 3 0 0 0 2 0 6.92
J Salas 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 4.05
Al Reyes (W, 1-0) 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 1.38
WP - J Nathan. BALK - B Bonser. HBP - J Tyner (by J Seo); C Crawford (by B
Bonser). Pitches-strikes: B Bonser 93-56; P Neshek 23-19; J Crain 2-2; J Nathan
28-18; M Guerrier 9-6; J Seo 92-59; S Camp 16-12; B Stokes 30-19; J Salas 15-9;
Al Reyes 19-13. Ground balls-fly balls: B Bonser 8-7; P Neshek 0-2; J Crain
1-0; J Nathan 0-0; M Guerrier 1-1; J Seo 6-7; S Camp 2-0; B Stokes 2-0; J Salas
0-1; Al Reyes 0-1. Batters faced: B Bonser 27; P Neshek 6; J Crain 1; J Nathan
7; M Guerrier 4; J Seo 25; S Camp 4; B Stokes 7; J Salas 4; Al Reyes 4.
UMPIRES: HP--Larry Young. 1B--Angel Hernandez. 2B--Jerry Layne. 3B--Mark
Carlson.
EJECTIONS: MINNESOTA's Gardenhire by Hernandez (5th).
T--3:35. Att--9,101.
Weather: INDOORSThe 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.
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 POS AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes CHC AA Jorge Cortes LF 5 4 2 0 0 0 1 CLE AAA Luis Rivas SS 5 4 1 0 1 0 0 4 RBI CLE AA Jonathan Van Every LF 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 COL A Daniel Mayora 2B 5 3 2 0 1 0 1 .559 OBP during past week FLA A+ Brad McCann DH 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 MIL AAA Ryan Braun 3B 4 4 0 0 1 0 0 MIN AAA Matt Tolbert 2B 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 OAK A+ CF 4 3 1 0 1 1 0 PHI AA Pedro Swann DH 3 3 1 0 1 1 0 4 RBI STL AA Juan Richardson 3B 5 4 0 0 1 0 0 4 RBI ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes CLE AAA Adam Miller 6.0 2 0 0 7 3 0 DET AAA Virgil Vasquez 7.0 5 0 0 7 2 0 41 K over last 35 IP HOU A+ Brad James 7.0 1 1 1 4 3 0 1.01 ERA over past month HOU AAA Chad Reineke 7.0 1 0 0 4 4 0 NYY A+ Ian Kennedy 8.0 3 0 0 4 1 0 NYY AAA Tyler Clippard 7.0 5 0 0 11 1 0 PIT A+ Todd Redmond 7.0 1 0 0 5 2 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.
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