THT Awards

Welcome to the awards.

All stats are for Monday, Aug. 26 through Sunday, Sept. 1. Please see 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

Tyler Lyons was charged with fur runs in five innings. He was in line for the loss until Mike Leake put two runners on base in the seventh inning. Relievers Manny Parra and J.J. Hoover followed Leake and allowed both base runners inherited from Leake to score and added three more of their own. The starting pitchers in the game were charged with a combined nine runs in 11 and a third and they both walked away with no-decisions.

CC Sabathia was shelled for five runs in five and two thirds on seven hits and a walk by the Orioles. He took the win as the Yankees tossed seven runs on the board against Miguel Gonzalez.

Jeff Locke and Kyle Lohse were smacked around for 10 runs in 10 innings on 21 hits and two walks. They “dueled” to a stalemate. Their bullpens combined to allow three runs in six innings.

A.J. Griffin allowed four runs in five innings on seven hits and a walk. He allowed home runs to Miguel Cabrera and Omar Infante. Anibal Sanchez allowed four runs in five innings on five hits and three walks. He allowed a home run to Coco Crisp. Griffin took the win. Sanchez escaped with a no-decision.

Brett Oberholtzer and Andre Rienzo combined to allow 12 runs in 11 and a third on 17 hits and six walks, striking out seven. Five of the hits were home runs. Oberholtzer was in line for the win until the Astros bullpen blew the lead.

A Diamondbacks blown save kept Ian Kennedy from taking the loss in his return to Phoenix despite getting shelled for six runs in four and a third on six hits and five walks.

Grant Balfour’s blown save ensured that Max Scherzer would avoid the loss despite having allowed the Athletics to score six runs in the five innings he was on the mound.

Roy Halladay and Jeff Samardzija combined to allow five runs in 11 and two thirds on 15 hits and four walks, striking out seven. Neither of them took the loss.

Felix Doubront never made it out of the fourth inning, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk. The Red Sox were up a run over the White Sox when he exited the game. He didn’t get the win because he didn’t make it through five innings, but he avoided the loss.

Bad luck division

Randall Delgado went seven innings, held the Giants to one run on three hits and two walks. He took the loss. Tim Lincecum and a trio of relievers shut out the Diamondbacks.

Hisashi Iwakuma shut out the Astros for seven innings, striking out seven, yielding only six hits, walking none. The Mariners failed to score any runs at all and Iwakuma’s efforts went for naught.

Kevin Correia held the Royals scoreless for seven innings, yielding only six hits and two walks, striking out seven. The Twins failed to score until after Correia had left the game and he played no part in the decision.

Wade Miley held the Padres to two runs in seven frames on seven hits and a walk. This resulted in his ninth loss of the season as the Snakes scored only one run off Robbie Erlin, Tim Stauffer, and Huston Street.

A blown save ended Jeremy Guthrie’s hopes of taking home a win. Guthrie had held the Jays to one run in his seven innings.

Justin Verlander had to settle for a no-decision despite holding Cleveland scoreless for seven innings. The Tigers were shut out and Verlander’s 73 game score went to waste.

Scott Feldman threw seven innings, allowing one run on six hits and a walk, striking out five Yankees. Ivan Nova pitched a shutout and Feldman had his fourth loss of the season.

Mike Pelfrey and Matt Garza combined to allow two runs in 14 innings on nine hits and three walks, striking out 16. Neither was given the win.

Alex Cobb yielded two runs in eight innings on five hits and four walks, striking out seven. The Rays scored only one run off the A’s and Cobb absorbed his third loss of the season.

Andrew Cashner and Chris Capuano combined to throw 14 innings, allowing one run each. Neither got the win.

Vulture Award

David Martinez blew the save by allowing three runs on five hits in the sixth. He went on to pitch two scoreless innings and when the Astros scored two more runs, he emerged as the winner.

Ryan Cook’s sixth blown save of the season resulted in his sixth win of the season.

Wes Littleton Award

Brett Anderson’s first career save was of the three-inning variety. The Oakland lineup had torn Doug Fister and Jose Alvarez to shreds. Anderson took over for Dan Straily at the start of the seventh with a nine-run lead. He went three innings, allowing three runs on five hits, striking out only one of the 14 Tigers he faced. He got a save for a poor performance in a game inwhich he would have had to be Vin Mazzaro bad to have been of any danger to the White Elephants.

Casey Janssen’s 24th save of the season came with him defending a three-run lead against Lyle Overbay, the withered husk of Ichiro Suzuki, and Austin Romine.

Please hold the applause

In the Leake/Lyons game from Monday detailed above, Parra was given a hold and a loss. His participation in the game amounted to walking Matt Carpenter and then inducing a Jon Jay RBI groundout. When Hoover allowed an Allen Craig grand slam, Carpenter was the run that put the Reds down to stay.

On Saturday, Kelvin Herrera was given the loss/hold combo with some assistance from Will Smith.

Any sufficiently advanced defense is indistinguishable from pitching

Joe Kelly struck out only one of the 27 Reds he faced. He walked three. The only run he allowed was on a solo home run and he took the win.

Andrew Albers struck out seven percent of the 28 Royals he faced. And while he took the loss, the damage could have been much worse as only four balls in play turned into outs.

Joe Carter Award

Gerardo Parra drove in six runs in his 24 PA. He ended the week hitting .217/.240/.435.

Leonys Martin collected five RBI but was pretty terrible overall at the plate, going .174/.208/.304 in his 24 PA.

Sanchez Award

Jarrod Dyson smacked eight hits in his 27 PA. Only one of those hits went for extra bases and that was a double. He also failed to draw any walks. He did go five for five stealing bases, but .296/.296/.333 isn’t working.

Alexei Ramirez went .286/.318/.333 in 22 PA.

Brandon Barnes went .286/.286/.333 in 21.

Harmon Killebrew Award

Giancarlo Stanton collected four hits. Two of them were home runs. One was a double. He also reached base by way of walk five times, ending with a .200/.360/.550 in 25 PA.

Three of Alfonso Soriano’s five hits were home runs. He also walked four times and went two for two on the bases. He went .192/.323/.538 in 30 PA.

Russell Martin posted a .214/.353/.643 in 17 PA.

Todd Helton went .222/.333/.778 in 21 PA.

Austin Jackson went .238/.407/.333, which was a little light on the slugging, but when you bat in front of Miguel Cabrera, we will give you a certain allowance given an OBP over .400.

Steve Balboni Award

Justin Maxwell struck out 10 times in 21 PA, posting a .105/.261/.105 line along the way.

Darin Ruf went down on strikes 10 times as well. He did it in 25 PA and hit .143/.269/.286.

Derek Jeter went .130/.192/.174 and struck out eight times in 25 PA.

Robbie Grossman led the Astros in strikeouts this week with 10. He hit .194/.194/.258 in 31 PA.

Junior Lake struck out nine times in 21 PA. .150/.227/.150.

Among other batters who struggled to make contact and struggled to post a reasonable batting line were Nick Franklin, Evan Longoria, Jordan Schafer, Wil Myers, Chris Colabello, Andrew McCutchen, Adam Dunn, and Nick Swisher.

Three true outcomes

Soriano outdid himself this week with three home runs, four walks, and 10 strikeouts in 30 PA.

Brandon Moss posted a TTO line of four homers, six walks, and nine strikeouts in 28 PA.

Joey Votto is missing the home runs, but a zero-seven-seven in 26 PA is enough for a mention.

Chris Carter is among the usual suspects here. He posted a three-five-seven in 25 PA.

Helton posted a three-three-six in only 21 PA.

The anti-TTO

Ian Kinsler did not homer or walk. He struck out only once in 26 PA.

Adam Eaton went zero-one-one in 25 PA.

Eaton’s teammate Martin Prado posted a rare zero-two-zero TTO line in 26 PA.

J.B. Shuck posted a zero-zero-three in 26 PA.

This week’s MVP

AL: Brandon Moss showed up in the TTO category. The four home runs and six walks we mentioned certainly helped get him here. He added three singles and a double along the way to a .364/.500/.955 week.

NL: Yasiel Puig and Shin-Soo Choo seem like an odd pairing to share this week’s award. However, they were more or less equal at producing runs. Puig smacked seven singles, two doubles, and two home runs, stole three bases (though he did get caught stealing twice), and walked twice in his 26 PA for a .458/.500/.792 week. Choo went .385/.448/.731 with five singles, three doubles, and two homers. He walked three times in his 29 PA.