THT Daily: Job Security

Major League News for August 7

Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Top Minor League Performances

You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/

Player News

Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld
Yankees acquired RHP Chad Gaudin from the Padres for a player to be named later.
Gaudin will work out of the bullpen initially. He has struggled since leaving Oakland and has a dismal 5.13 ERA this season in the ultimate pitcher’s park. The Yankees are obviously hoping a change of scenery will right his career. That, or they want to put pressure on current fifth starter Sergio Mitre.

According to Corey Brock of MLB.com, the Padres have extended manager Bud Black’s contract through 2010.
The new deal also contains a club option for 2011. Black has managed the Padres to a 44-65 record this season. He went 63-99 with them in 2008 and 89-74 in 2007. The lack of improvement is an issue, but it’s not like Black has been surrounded by stars. It’s safe to say he’s done a decent job.

Brad Thompson has been suspended three games and fined an undisclosed amount for throwing at David Wright’s head Wednesday.
Thompson has filed an appeal, and denied there was intent behind the pitch in a post-game interview on Wednesday. “You throw a ball like at somebody’s head, especially after something happened earlier, and you expect a warning,” said the reliever. “I’m not going to try to hit David Wright in the head. I’m not going to hit anybody in the head.” The Mets, and the home plate umpire, saw the up-and-in fastball as retaliation for the beaning of Albert Pujols one inning earlier.

Diamondbacks placed OF Justin Upton on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique strain.
A similar injury cost him a month last year. Upton was hurt on a steal attempt in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game. It’s unfortunate timing for the 21-year-old, currently experiencing a breakthrough campaign. He is batting .301/.374/.541 with 20 home runs and 66 RBI in 441 plate appearances.

Kevin Youkilis will start in left field against the Yankees on Thursday.
Youkillis played 18 games in left in 2006 but hasn’t done so since. Playing Youkillis in left enables Terry Francona to keep Victor Martinez and Mike Lowell in the lineup and give Casey Kotchman his first start with the Red Sox.

Julio Castillo was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years probation for injuring a fan by throwing a baseball in a brawl last year.
Castillo was pitching for Single-A Peoria when a melee broke out against Dayton in late July of last year. The 22-year-old Castillo, who faced up to eight years in prison, was given a more lenient sentence because the judge believed he was remorseful.

Nelson Cruz (left ankle sprain) is experiencing too much pain to effectively throw or swing.
The Rangers are trying to hold off on placing Cruz on the disabled list, but this news could force their hand. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that a roster move is coming to add an outfielder: “A pitcher, possibly Doug Mathis, could be optioned to make room for an outfielder, possibly Brandon Boggs.”

Jason Bay doesn’t expect to play on Thursday or Friday after aggravating his hamstring during Wednesday’s game.
Bay told the media that he “has no idea” how much time he’ll miss. “…it’s definitely going to be a couple days,” Bay said. “Basically the same thing. It had calmed down, and it kicked it right back to where it was three or four days ago.” The Red Sox are short-handed with J.D. Drew also hurting, so they may put one of the two outfielders on the DL and bring back Josh Reddick.

Mets placed LHP Jon Niese on the 60-day disabled list with a torn right hamstring.
Niese will miss the remainder of the season. He injured the muscle while stretching for a throw at first base in Wednesday’s game against the Cardinals. An MRI revealed a complete tear of the right upper hamstring tendon from the bone. Niese will undergo surgery and is expected to be ready for Spring Training. He was 1-1 with a 4.21 ERA in five starts for the Mets.

Yesterday’s Results

For the full scoop regarding yesterday’s games, read “And That Happened” at Shysterball.

American League
NYA    13  BOS     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAA     9  CHA     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE     2  MIN     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
DET     7  BAL     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
KC      8  SEA     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
TEX     6  OAK     4    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
PHI     3  COL     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
WAS    12  FLA     8    (Recap and Boxscore)
ARI    11  PIT     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAN     5  ATL     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
SD      8  NYN     3    (Recap and Boxscore)

Check out Fangraphs’ scoreboard to see all the games in action.

Today’s Games

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     66  42 .611    0.0   62     4    
BOS     62  45 .579    3.5   62     0    
TB      60  48 .556    6.0   62    -2    
TOR     51  56 .477   14.5   57    -6    
BAL     45  63 .417   21.0   47    -2    
American League Central     
DET     57  50 .533    0.0   56     1    
CHA     56  53 .514    2.0   56     0    
MIN     53  55 .491    4.5   54    -1    
CLE     46  62 .426   11.5   52    -6    
KC      42  66 .389   15.5   42     0    
American League West        
LAA     64  42 .604    0.0   60     4    
TEX     60  47 .561    4.5   57     3    
SEA     56  52 .519    9.0   49     7    
OAK     47  61 .435   18.0   50    -3    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     61  45 .575    0.0   60     1    
FLA     55  53 .509    7.0   52     3    
ATL     55  54 .505    7.5   57    -2    
NYN     51  57 .472   11.0   51     0    
WAS     37  72 .339   25.5   45    -8    
National League Central     
CHN     57  49 .538    0.0   57     0    
STL     59  51 .536    0.0   58     1    
MIL     54  54 .500    4.0   51     3    
HOU     53  55 .491    5.0   48     5    
CIN     46  61 .430   11.5   44     2    
PIT     45  63 .417   13.0   50    -5    
National League West        
LAN     67  42 .615    0.0   67     0    
SF      60  48 .556    6.5   59     1    
COL     59  49 .546    7.5   59     0    
ARI     50  59 .459   17.0   53    -3    
SD      45  65 .409   22.5   40     5    

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            AB  H 2B 3B HR BB SO  Notes
LAA AAA Brandon Wood...... 4  2  0  0  2  1  1  
ATL A   Adam Milligan..... 3  3  1  0  1  0  0  
OAK AA  Shane Peterson.... 4  2  1  0  1  1  1  
MIL AAA Alcides Escobar... 4  1  0  0  1  1  0  2 SB
LAA AA  Peter Bourjos..... 4  2  2  0  0  1  1  4 RBI
MIN AA  Rene Tosoni....... 5  3  0  0  1  0  0  3 R
OAK AA  Chris Carter...... 4  3  1  0  0  1  0  3 LD
COL AAA Eric Young........ 5  3  0  1  0  1  0  
PHI AA  Dominic Brown..... 3  1  0  1  0  1  0  
BOS AA  Ryan Kalish....... 4  2  0  0  1  0  1  
LA  AAA Blake Dewitt...... 5  3  0  1  0  0  0  
BAL A+  Pedro Florimon.... 5  3  1  0  0  0  1  3 LD

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
NYY A+  D.J. Mitchell..... 6  5  1  1  8  0  0  
KC  A+  M. Montgomery..... 7  5  1  1  7  0  0  
TB  A   Matthew Moore..... 5  1  1  1  9  3  0  
CIN AAA Matthew Maloney... 7  5  2  2  9  3  0  
BAL AA  Brandon Erbe...... 8  0  0  0  5  3  0  
CHC AA  C. Carpenter...... 4  1  1  1  5  1  0  
TB  A   Nick Barnese...... 5  7  3  2  8  2  0  
BOS A+  Kyle Weiland...... 6  4  1  1  5  2  0  
CLE A   Nick Hagadone..... 3  3  1  1  5  0  0  
CLE AAA Carlos Carrasco... 8  5  5  5  5  2  1  
PHI A   Trevor May........ 5  7  3  3  7  2  0  10 GB
HOU A   Brad Dydalewicz... 5  5  4  4  5  2  0

First Inning’s Major and Minor League Daily Reports:

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