THT Awards

Welcome to the awards.

All stats are for the games starting Monday, Aug. 15 and ending Sunday, Aug. 21. If you are a new reader, reference the week one column for category explanations.

This week’s proof that assigning wins and losses to a pitcher is an archaic practice that must stop

Good luck division

Pitching for the Yankees has its benefits, as Ivan Nova demonstrated against the Royals. Nova was shelled in five and a third, getting charged with seven runs on nine hits. He also flung two wild pitches and posted a game score of 23 and a WPA of -.558. He got the win as the Yankee lineup had its way with Danny Duffy.

Francisco Liriano was pelted for five runs in six frames on nine hits. But Rick Porcello yielded six runs in six innings and Liriano got the win.

Porcello had a second bite of the apple this week as he was run from the game on Sunday by Cleveland with five runs in three and two thirds charged to the Detroit hurler. Ubaldo Jimenez was torched for eight in three and a third. Neither can say it was just a bad day for pitchers as the two bullpens combined to allow two runs in 10 frames.

James Shields: seven and a third, 12 hits, seven runs, no decision. More on this game later.

Brad Mills was terrible, yielding six runs in three innings. Jason Vargas allowed eight and took the loss.

Trever Miller’s blown save took Michael Pineda off the hook despite the big rookie’s five runs in as many innings. Pineda gave up three home runs, walked four, and still got a no-decision.

Ubaldo and Gavin Floyd combined to allow 10 runs in 10 and a third on 14 hits and two walks. They each escaped blame for the loss in a game that went 14 innings.

Kevin Correia escaped with a no-decision as he allowed six runs in six innings and was spared the loss when the Reds bullpen imploded.

Bad luck division

It actually raised his ERA, but you have to feel for Roy Halladay throwing nine innings, allowing only three runs with 14 strikeouts against only one walk and still getting the loss as the Phillies lineup failed to figure out Josh Collmenter and a trio of relievers.

Yovani Gallardo and Chad Billingsley combined to throw 15 innings, allowing only two runs on eight hits and two walks, striking out 14. Neither got the win.

Guillermo Moscoso held the Jays to one run in eight innings, striking out seven against only one walk and three hits. But Toronto shut out Oakland and Moscoso got the loss.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

Tim Lincecum allowed one run on five hits and two walks, striking out seven in seven innings and walking away with the loss as Mike Minor and the Braves bullpen shut out the horrible Giants lineup.

Colby Lewis and Jered Weaver combined to allow one run in 14 innings on 10 hits and three walks. Lewis was the one that did not allow a run and he was in line for the win until Mike Adams blew the save.

Vulture Award

Matt Capps was unable to prevent a sac fly when he entered with a one-run lead. So he blew the save. The two runs the Twins lineup scored off Jose Valverde made Capps a winner shortly thereafter.

Francisco Rodriguez also got the win/blown save combo. His came after Chris Capuano and Randy Wolf each had horrific outings and spared the former Brewer the indignity of a loss.

Heath Bell got the combo on Sunday against the Marlins.

Wes Littleton Award

Alfredo Aceves shut the Royals out for three and two thirds for the save in a game that ended 7-1 for the True Littleton. It was one of the more challenging True Littletons you will find as he was facing a respectable lineup and entered with “only” a four-run cushion.

Joakim Soria made Royal fans sweat as he entered the game up two runs on the Yankees. His inning went as follows: fly out, single, single, walk to load the bases, sac fly, runners advance to second and third on a passed ball, walk, strikeout.

Possibly the only thing standing between Andrew Bailey and a blown save was over-aggressive base running as Blake Davis was thrown out at home to end the game when there would have been two outs and runners on the corners. Bailey had already given up two singles and a double in three consecutive at-bats.

Leo Nunez put a man on base and then allowed a two-run pinch-hit home run to Jason Giambi. He still got the save. This is the beauty of the three-run save. You can do a terrible job and still get credited as if you did something miraculous.

Please hold the applause

Brad Lidge entered the game with a two-run lead and retired Wilson Ramos, pinch hitter Alex Cora, and Ian Desmond to get the hold.

In the James Shields game, Jamey Wright entered the game for the Mariners protecting a two-run lead, walked B.J. Upton, then allowed a ground-rule double, an RBI groundout, walked Sam Fold and then walked Desmond Jennings. He was lifted having retired nobody with the bases loaded. He got the hold because Seattle still clung to a one-run lead, though with the bases loaded and nobody out, expecting that lead to survive the inning is foolish. The next batter hit a three-run double off Jeff Gray. Wright would have gotten the hold/loss combo had Shields not allowed Wily Mo Pena to tie the game in the next half-inning.

Any sufficiently advanced defense is indistinguishable from pitching

Jordan Zimmerman managed to shut out the Reds for five and two thirds despite striking out only one of the 25 batters he faced.

Joe Carter Award

Juan Pierre drove in six runs in 28 at-bats. That is unlike the Juan Pierre we all know and love. He also bat .286/.286/.393, which is almost exactly the Juan Pierre we all know and love.

Justin Morneau also plated six and he “hit” .174/.231/.217.

Sanchez Award

Eduardo Nunez collected seven hits in 22 PA. That was muted by the fact that only two of the seven went for extra bases, both being doubles, and he didn’t walk at all. .318/.318/.409 isn’t helping the Yankees.

Pierre’s .286/.286/.393 certainly qualifies.

Juan Rivera went .286/.313/.357. Even in this offensive environment, that is not what you want from a defensively limited corner outfielder.

Harmon Killebrew Award

It isn’t MVP material, but Hunter Pence gave the Phillies a nice .238/.407/.429 with a home run, a double, and six walks.

Steve Balboni Award

Travis Hafner struck out 12 times in 25 at-bats, which goes a long way towards explaining his .160/.250/.280 week.

Copy that with Rick Ankiel, who fanned 11 times in 25 at-bats and went .200/.231/.200.

Baltimore third baseman Josh Bell has now become the other Josh Bell as the Pirates signed the outfield prospect this week. The current other Josh Bell whiffed eight times in 18 at bats and went .222/.333/.222, though that may be seen as a potential sign of progress as the notoriously unselective 24-year-old found a way to walk three times.

Three true outcomes

Dan Uggla smacked two home runs, walked four times, and struck out 10 times in 30 PA.

I don’t think of Russell Martin when I go into researching this category but here he is, going 3-2-9 in 25 PA.

I do think of Mike Stanton, who didn’t disappoint, going 4-4-5 in 25 PA.

Josh Willingham went 3-3-8 in 24 PA.

Have opposing pitchers decided to never throw Jose Bautista a strike ever again? 2-10-3 in 27 PA.

Alex Avila gave the Tigers a 1-6-5 in 25 PA.

The anti-TTO

Brett Gardner had bad luck on balls in play, posting a .214/.258/.286 line. He gave BABIP a lot of opportunities, going 0-1-0 in 29 PA.

Ichiro Suzuki went 0-0-1 in 28 PA.

This week’s MVP

AL: With a hat tip to Joey Bats, who reached base 18 times, this week goes to Avila, who went .526/.640/.947. It bears mentioning that Avila is neck-and-neck with Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta in the race to be the second most valuable Tiger this year after Justin Verlander, all currently in the 4-5 win range according to both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference.

NL: Nick Hundley joins Avila as catchers having a particularly good week within a good season. Hundley rapped out a dozen hits: four singles, three doubles, four triples, and a home run. Yes, I just said a catcher hit four triples in a week. And yes that is strange, especially since it constitutes 80 percent of his season total and 40 percent of his career’s total. He has 205 PA this year, 1017 in his career and this week had many triples in a career where he just did not hit triples. Novelties aside, .500/.520/1.083 is serious production from a catcher.


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Paul G.
12 years ago

I love the awards.

One quibble on Jamey Wright.  He did get one out.  The Hold stat does not have an official definition, but in almost all definitions the pitcher has to get at least one out to qualify.  So if he had done any worse, even the ever forgiving Hold would reject him.

So which is the worse Hold scenario?  OPTION 1: Pitcher enters at start of inning with a 3 run lead, gives up 2 runs and loads the bases while only getting 1 out.  OPTION 2: Pitcher enters with 3 run lead and 2 outs in an inning, finishes that off without damage, but then the next inning gives up 2 runs and leaves the bases loaded without getting an out.  Which is worse?

Of course, the worst possible Hold would be something like the pitcher coming in with a 3 run lead and 2 outs, finishing the inning by only giving up 2 runs, his team scores 20 runs in the next inning, and he comes back in and gives up 19 runs before updating his resume….

John M Barten
12 years ago

Thanks Paul,

Hmm. I’ll start off by assuming that the inning the pitcher enters in each option is the same, let’s say the seventh. If that is the case, from a win probability standpoint, I would go with option 2 as the worse performance because it would leave your teammates with fewer opportunities to recover from the almost inevitable run(s) that will score after you leave the game.

Anybody else?

David
12 years ago

Seems kind of unfair you be-Littletoning Aceves.  When he entered the game, the win probability was 88.9.  As a contrast, on 8/21, Betancourt entered the Dodgers-Rockies game to start the 9th inning with a 2 run lead, win probablity 91.2.  He pitched a scoreless inning to get the save.  This is a fairly typical save situation.

John M Barten
12 years ago

I won’t dispute that. It’s more a reflection of the three run save oddity than a big criticism. He also actually did a good job. I have more respect for that effort than any of the other 3 saves I listed.

Still, it bears mentioning when you see a save in a game that ends 7-1.