THT Daily: Lincecum’s back
by Dave StudemanSeptember 15, 2009
Major League News for September 15
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldTim Lincecum struck out 11 over seven innings of one-run ball as the Giants beat the Rockies 9-1 on Monday night.
After missing his last start due to a back injury, Lincecum returned without missing a beat tonight. The National League's most dominant starter pushes his league-leading strikeout total to 244 while lowering his league-leading ERA to 2.30, picking up win No. 14 in the process. He'll make his second start of the week in Los Angeles next.
The Twins said after Monday's game that Justin Morneau will miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his lower back.
Well, that certainly explains why his season turned so sour in a hurry. Carlos Gomez, Delmon Young, Brian Buscher and Justin Huber all figure to divide up Morneau's at-bats, with Michael Cuddyer frequently starting at first base. It probably doesn't make Gomez or Young worth using in mixed leagues, but Buscher now has some value in AL-only leagues. Joe Mauer can look forward to being walked a whole bunch in the coming weeks.
Kevin Jepsen is in line to vulture several saves from Brian Fuentes the remainder of the year.
Manager Mike Scioscia confirmed the news. "If there are some matches that could be advantageous [to use Jepsen], we will try to take advantage of [them]," said Scioscia. The right-hander has a 1.36 ERA in 33 innings since July 1. Fuentes has 41 saves on the year, but has been far too inconsistent for the Angels' liking.
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said he is "keeping our options open" in regards to Kyle Lohse's scheduled start over the weekend against the Cubs.
"I'm not sure about Lohse," La Russa said. "He came out of (Saturday's) game not quite 100 percent. That's why you just want to keep your options open for the weekend." Lohse returned from the disabled list -- due to a strained left groin muscle -- to allow four runs in 3 1/3 innings Saturday against the Braves. One option, if Lohse is indeed ruled out, is to bring John Smoltz back early. Smoltz missed Monday's start with shoulder tendinitis. La Russa could also move up Chris Carpenter, starting him on normal rest after an off day on Thursday.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland said that Magglio Ordonez will reach the plate appearances required for his 2010 option to vest.
Not the best economic decision, as Ordonez will be paid $18 million next year. Making it particularly hard to stomach is Ordonez's mediocre .294/.365/.404 line in 449 plate appearances. Included in those numbers are only seven homers and 40 RBI. Ordonez needs only eight plate appearances for the option to vest.
Tigers closer Fernando Rodney's suspension has been reduced from three games to two games.
The penalty was for throwing a ball into the Tropicana Field press box after he closed out a Tigers' win on September 4. Rodney will miss Monday's series finale against the Blue Jays and Tuesday's contest against the Royals. This really doesn't affect his fantasy value -- Rodney was already set to get Monday off after pitching in the first three games of the Toronto series. Brandon Lyon is the best bet to get a save opportunity if one presents itself over the next two days.
The Orioles have shut Brian Matusz down for the rest of the season.
The Orioles smartly wanted to protect their prized arm after he had thrown 157 2/3 innings this season. Matusz wanted to continue pitching, but accepted the team's decision. He will remain with the Orioles for the rest of the season. The 22-year-old had his best start of the season on Saturday, tossing seven innings of one-run ball against the Yankees. He finishes with a 5-2 record, 4.63 ERA and 38/14 K/BB ratio in eight starts (44 2/3 innings).
Reds activated outfielder Jay Bruce from the 15-day disabled list.
Bruce has been out since mid-July with a fractured right wrist. It's been a trying year for the 22-year-old, who was hitting only .207/.283/.441 in 333 plate appearances prior to hitting the shelf. He went 7-for-33 (.212) in 10 rehab games for Triple-A Louisville. Bruce is unlikely to contribute enough to warrant a roster spot in mixed leagues for the remainder of the season, but NL-only leaguers should activate him prior to this evening's games.
J.A. Happ (oblique) threw a successful 55-pitch bullpen session Monday.
"I was a little nervous getting on the mound," Happ said soon after the workout. "I felt good, though. I felt like I still had power and torque." The sensational rookie is hoping to return to the Phillies' rotation Friday against the Braves. He's 10-4 this season with a 2.77 ERA and 1.18 WHIP.
Yesterday’s Results
For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League TB 8 BAL 4 (Recap and Boxscore) NYA 5 LAA 3 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 6 TOR 5 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 6 CLE 3 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 9 TEX 0 (Recap and Boxscore) National League CHN 2 MIL 0 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 3 HOU 1 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 11 FLA 6 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 6 PIT 2 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 4 SD 2 (Recap and Boxscore) SF 9 COL 1 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action.
Today’s Games
Blue Jays (65-79) @ Yankees (93-52), 7:05pm
Roy Halladay (32, RHP) vs. Sergio Mitre (28, RHP)
Rays (73-71) @ Orioles (58-85), 7:05pm
Jeff Niemann (26, RHP) vs. Jason Berken (25, RHP)
Royals (57-86) @ Tigers (77-66), 7:05pm
Robinson Tejeda (27, RHP) vs. Jarrod Washburn (34, LHP)
Angels (86-57) @ RedSox (84-58), 7:10pm
John Lackey (30, RHP) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka (28, RHP)
Athletics (65-78) @ Rangers (80-63), 8:05pm
Edgar Gonzalez (26, RHP) vs. Brandon McCarthy (25, RHP)
Indians (61-82) @ Twins (72-72), 8:10pm
Fausto Carmona (25, RHP) vs. Scott Baker (27, RHP)
WhiteSox (71-73) @ Mariners (74-70), 10:10pm
Freddy Garcia (34, RHP) vs. Ian Snell (27, RHP)
Mets (63-81) @ Braves (75-68), 7:00pm
Patrick Misch (27, LHP) vs. Tommy Hanson (22, RHP)
Nationals (50-93) @ Phillies (82-60), 7:05pm
Garrett Mock (26, RHP) vs. Cliff Lee (30, LHP)
Astros (70-74) @ Reds (65-79), 7:10pm
Roy Oswalt (31, RHP) vs. Kip Wells (32, RHP)
Brewers (69-74) @ Cubs (74-68), 8:05pm
Yovani Gallardo (23, RHP) vs. Carlos Zambrano (28, RHP)
Marlins (76-68) @ Cardinals (85-60), 8:15pm
Sean West (23, LHP) vs. Adam Wainwright (27, RHP)
D'backs (63-82) @ Padres (65-80), 10:05pm
Danny Haren (28, RHP) vs. Wade LeBlanc (24, LHP)
Pirates (55-87) @ Dodgers (86-59), 10:10pm
Zach Duke (26, LHP) vs. Randy Wolf (32, LHP)
Rockies (82-63) @ Giants (78-66), 10:15pm
Ubaldo Jimenez (25, RHP) vs. Barry Zito (31, 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 93 52 .641 0.0 87 6BOS 84 58 .592 7.5 83 1
TB 73 71 .507 19.5 77 -4
TOR 65 79 .451 27.5 73 -8
BAL 58 85 .406 34.0 61 -3
American League Central DET 77 66 .538 0.0 73 4
MIN 72 72 .500 5.5 73 -1
CHA 71 73 .493 6.5 71 0
CLE 61 82 .427 16.0 66 -5
KC 57 86 .399 20.0 57 0
American League West LAA 86 57 .601 0.0 81 5
TEX 80 63 .559 6.0 78 2
SEA 74 70 .514 12.5 66 8
OAK 65 78 .455 21.0 69 -4
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 82 60 .577 0.0 81 1
FLA 76 68 .528 7.0 73 3
ATL 75 68 .524 7.5 79 -4
NYN 63 81 .438 20.0 64 -1
WAS 50 93 .350 32.5 58 -8
National League Central STL 85 60 .586 0.0 82 3
CHN 74 68 .521 9.5 74 0
HOU 70 74 .486 14.5 64 6
MIL 69 74 .483 15.0 69 0
CIN 65 79 .451 19.5 62 3
PIT 55 87 .387 28.5 60 -5
National League West LAN 86 59 .593 0.0 89 -3
COL 82 63 .566 4.0 81 1
SF 78 66 .542 7.5 76 2
SD 65 80 .448 21.0 58 7
ARI 63 82 .434 23.0 67 -4
Wildcard Standings American League BOS 84 58 .592 0.0 TEX 80 63 .559 4.5 SEA 74 70 .514 11.0 TB 73 71 .507 12.0 MIN 72 72 .500 13.0 National League COL 82 63 .566 0.0 SF 78 66 .542 3.5 FLA 76 68 .528 5.5 ATL 75 68 .524 6.0 CHN 74 68 .521 6.5
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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.
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