THT Daily: Manny Ramirez suspended

by Matthew Carruth
May 7, 2009

Major League News for May 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
According to the Los Angeles Times, Manny Ramirez has been suspended 50 games for a positive performance-enhancing drug test.
The suspension will reportedly go into effect immediately and he’s not expected to appeal. Ramirez is easily the biggest star ever suspended by Major League Baseball under its new performance-enhancing drug policy. He “is expected to attribute the test results to medication received from a doctor for a personal medical issue,” reports the L.A. Times. MLB.com sources have confirmed the story and are reporting that the suspension will cost him $7.7 million, or about 31 percent of his 2009 salary. He’ll be eligible to return July 3.

X-rays on Roy Oswalt’s right index finger showed no structural damage.
Oswalt is simply dealing with a bruise and should be able to make his next scheduled start. “We’ll see how it feels (Thursday),” he said. “I’m not going to throw a bullpen. I might just throw on flat ground. But it should be OK.” He’s slated to take the mound Sunday against the Padres.

According to Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals will place Rick Ankiel on the disabled list and call up outfielder Shane Robinson.
Ankiel suffered a bruised shoulder and a condition similar to whiplash after running full speed into a wall earlier this week. It seems like a wise move by the Cardinals to give him a few weeks of rest. Robinson, 24, is hitting .345/.403/.473 at Triple-A Memphis this season. He’ll see some playing time in manager Tony La Russa’s ever-changing lineup, but Colby Rasmus is going to be the biggest beneficiary.

Dennis Sarfate will undergo an angiogram Friday to determine the cause of his hand numbness.
Sarfate was placed on the disabled list on May 3, retroactive to May 2, with a circulatory problem in the middle finger of his throwing hand. The test should help the Orioles map out a rehab plan.

Oliver Perez will be placed on the 15-day disabled list shortly with patella tendinitis, Mets GM Omar Minaya revealed Wednesday night.
So much for trying him out in the bullpen. The Mets need a roster spot for Friday’s starter, Jon Niese, and Perez was the most logical choice. He’s struggled mightily and the 15 days of rest should only help him right the ship.

Wednesday’s game between the Tigers and White Sox has been postponed.
The rain wouldn’t stop falling in Chicago. Mark Buehrle was scheduled to go for the White Sox and Armando Galarraga was slated to start for the Tigers. Expect both pitchers to start Thursday instead. No makeup date has been announced.

Brian McCann (eye) has been cleared to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday.
McCann was originally scheduled to kick off his rehab assignment Wednesday at Single-A Rome, but he’s adjusting well to his new prescription glasses and will skip the lower ranks of the Braves’ farm system. He’s still hoping to return from the disabled list Friday, after only one minor league outing.

Yesterday’s Results

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

American League
BAL     4  MIN     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE     9  BOS     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
TB      4  NYA     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
KC      9  SEA     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
TOR    13  LAA     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
TEX     3  OAK     2    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
ATL     8  FLA     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYN     1  PHI     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIL    15  CIN     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHN     6  HOU     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
STL     4  PIT     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
COL    11  SF      1    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAN    10  WAS     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
ARI     3  SD      1    (Recap and Boxscore)

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

Today’s Games

National League
 ---------------
 Atlanta Braves at Florida Marlins, 12:10 PM
  (R) Jair Jurrjens (2-2) vs. (R) Anibal Sanchez (1-3)
 Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals, 1:40 PM
  (R) Ross Ohlendorf (3-2) vs. (R) Todd Wellemeyer (2-2)
 San Francisco Giants at Colorado Rockies, 3:10 PM
  (R) Matt Cain (2-1) vs. (R) Jason Marquis (4-1)
 Arizona Diamondbacks at San Diego Padres, 3:35 PM
  (R) Dan Haren (3-3) vs. (R) Chris Young (2-1)
 Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM
  (R) Braden Looper (2-1) vs. (R) Micah Owings (1-3)
 Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets, 7:10 PM
  (L) Jamie Moyer (3-1) vs. (R) Mike Pelfrey (3-0)
 Chicago Cubs at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM
  (L) Ted Lilly (3-2) vs. (R) Russ Ortiz (2-0)
 Washington Nationals at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 PM
  (R) Jordan Zimmermann (2-1) vs. (L) Randy Wolf (1-1)
 
 American League
 ---------------
 Seattle Mariners at Kansas City Royals, 2:10 PM
  (L) Jarrod Washburn (3-1) vs. (R) Brian Bannister (2-0)
 Texas Rangers at Oakland Athletics, 3:35 PM
  (R) Brandon McCarthy (3-0) vs. (R) Trevor Cahill (0-2)
 Minnesota Twins at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM
  (L) Glen Perkins (1-2) vs. (R) Brad Bergesen (1-0)
 Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM
  (R) Jeff Niemann (2-3) vs. (L) Andy Pettitte (2-1)
 Cleveland Indians at Boston Red Sox, 7:10 PM
  (L) Jeremy Sowers (0-0) vs. (R) Tim Wakefield (3-1)
 Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM
  (R) Armando Galarraga (3-1) vs. (L) Mark Buehrle (4-0)
 Toronto Blue Jays at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM
  (R) Robert Ray (0-0) vs. (R) Jered Weaver (2-1)

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.

A Hardball Times Update

by RJ McDaniel

Goodbye for now.


American League East        Pwins  Diff
TOR     20  10 .667    0.0   19     1    
BOS     17  11 .607    2.0   15     2    
NYA     13  14 .481    5.5   12     1    
TB      13  16 .448    6.5   15    -2    
BAL     11  17 .393    8.0   11     0    
American League Central     
KC      17  11 .607    0.0   17     0    
DET     14  12 .538    2.0   14     0    
MIN     13  15 .464    4.0   11     2    
CHA     12  14 .462    4.0   12     0    
CLE     11  17 .393    6.0   13    -2    
American League West        
TEX     15  12 .556    0.0   14     1    
SEA     15  13 .536    0.5   14     1    
LAA     12  14 .462    2.5   12     0    
OAK      9  16 .360    5.0   11    -2    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     14  11 .560    0.0   14     0    
FLA     15  13 .536    0.5   13     2    
NYN     13  13 .500    1.5   14    -1    
ATL     12  15 .444    3.0   13    -1    
WAS      7  18 .280    7.0   10    -3    
National League Central     
STL     18  10 .643    0.0   17     1    
MIL     16  12 .571    2.0   16     0    
CHN     15  12 .556    2.5   14     1    
CIN     14  13 .519    3.5   12     2    
PIT     12  15 .444    5.5   15    -3    
HOU     11  16 .407    6.5   12    -1    
National League West        
LAN     21   8 .724    0.0   20     1    
SF      13  13 .500    6.5   11     2    
ARI     12  16 .429    8.5   12     0    
SD      12  16 .429    8.5   11     1    
COL     11  15 .423    8.5   14    -3

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
SF  A+  Angel Villalona... 4  4  2  0  1  0  0  4 R
SD  A   Allan Dykstra..... 2  2  1  0  1  3  0  4 RBI
FLA AAA C. Coghlan........ 3  3  2  0  1  0  0  6 RBI !
CHC A   Josh Vitters...... 5  3  1  0  1  0  0  
WAN A+  Michael Burgess... 3  3  1  0  1  0  0  
STL AAA Jonathan Jay...... 3  2  2  0  0  0  0  2 SB
CHC A   Ryan Flaherty..... 5  2  2  0  0  0  0  
NYM A   Jefry Marte....... 6  2  1  0  1  0  1  
LA  A   D. Strange-Gordo.. 5  3  1  0  0  0  0  2 SB
PHI A+  Dominic Brown..... 4  2  1  1  0  1  2  
COL AA  C. Nelson......... 4  3  0  2  0  0  0  
TB  AAA Reid Brignac...... 4  3  1  0  0  1  0  

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
ATL AAA K. Medlen......... 7  2  0  0 10  1  0  
COL A   C. Friedrich...... 6  4  0  0 10  2  0  
ATL A   Jacob Thompson.... 8  5  2  2  6  0  0  
PHI A+  Kyle Drabek....... 6  6  3  1  9  1  0  
NYY A   D.J. Mitchell..... 7  7  3  1  8  2  0  
WAN AA  Ross Detwiler..... 5  4  0  0  7  1  0  
NYM A+  Bradley Holt...... 6  2  0  0  5  2  0  
LA  A   Nathan Eovaldi.... 6  6  3  3  6  1  0  
SEA AAA G. Hernandez...... 5  4  2  2  5  1  0  
FLA A+  Andrew Miller..... 4  3  1  1  5  1  0  7 GB
MIL A   Cody Scarpetta.... 5  3  3  1  4  2  0  
BOS AA  Junichi Tazawa.... 6  6  1  1  3  1  0  13 GB

First Inning’s Major and Minor League Daily Reports: