THT Daily: June 12th

Major League News for June 12

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 Lynn Daily Item, Jonathan Papelbon has been fined $1,000 by Major League Baseball for violating pace-of-game guidelines.
Pitchers are allotted two minutes five seconds to get situated on the mound during local television broadcasts. Papelbon reportedly took 3:34 to accomplish the task on Wednesday night against the Yankees. “The rules are the rules,” said the Boston closer, acknowledging the fine was fair. If Papelbon is cited again, he’ll be docked $3,000. A third violation calls for a $7,000 fine.

Paul Konerko was given a cortisone shot for his thumb on Thursday.
As a result, Konerko is doubtful to be in Friday’s lineup. “I wish I could play him (Friday),” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “In the meanwhile, I’m not going to have him get hurt and give me a bad at-bat just because we need him on the field. If he can’t go the right way, if he can’t tolerate the pain, then (Josh) Fields will be playing first base.”

Mark Reynolds is on pace for 231 strikeouts this season.
Reynolds was fanned three times on Thursday, bumping his season total to 87. He struck out during 33.3 percent of his plate appearances last season, when he set the major league strikeout record at 204. With a 34.6 percent strikeout percentage this season, he’s on pace to shatter his own mark. Then again, his OPS hasn’t dipped below .812 since the second week of the season, so he’s clearly contributing when he’s able to make contact.

Ryan Perry is reportedly headed back to Detroit.
Perry was not with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens on Thursday night, sparking speculation among Detroit-based beat writers. He was 0-1 with a 3.13 ERA, 22 strikeouts and a 1.52 WHIP in 23 innings with the Tigers this season and should have never been demoted in the first place. His return could result in Jeremy Bonderman (shoulder) being placed on the disabled list.

Rays activated DH Pat Burrell from the 15-day disabled list.
Burrell missed exactly one month with a neck strain. He’ll be used as a pinch hitter for the next six games of interleague play, then it’s off to the races. The 32-year-old is batting .250/.349/.315 this season with one home run and 17 RBI in 108 at-bats.

David Ortiz went deep for the third time on the homestand in a win against the Yankees on Thursday night.
Okay, so maybe Papi doesn’t stink after all. The big man now has three homers over his last five games. He went 2-for-3 with a walk in the comeback win. The Red Sox are now 8-0 against the Yankees this season — it’s the first time the Red Sox have taken eight straight from New York since 1912 — coincidentally the first year of Fenway, when the Yankees were called the Highlanders. Ouch.

John Maine will be placed on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder soreness, according to the New York Daily News.
Fernando Nieve is the obvious replacement from the bullpen to start in Maine’s spot Saturday, but the Mets may look for a minor league replacement. Stay tuned.

Zach Greinke was charged with three runs over 7 1/3 innings as part of a no-decision in a 4-3 loss to the Indians on Thursday night.
Greinke is now winless in his last three starts, dating back to May 26. He was actually in position to win this one when he left with two runners on in the eighth, but John Bale and Joakim Soria allowed them both to score. Grienke yielded six hits in all, fanning six and walking three. His ERA now stands at 1.72 with his WHIP moving up a tick to 0.99. He’ll hope to get back in the win column against the D’Backs in his next start.

Chien-Ming Wang will have one more start before the Yankees re-evaluate his role in the rotation, according to manager Joe Girardi.
That start will come Wednesday against the Nationals. If he pitches well, he’ll remain the rotation, but if he doesn’t, all bets are off. “At some point, production is important. We told him that it’s a very important start,” Girardi said. He has a 14.34 ERA, but it bloats to 21.61 as a starter this season. Adding to the drama will be the birth of his son, as his wife is expected to be induced Tuesday if it doesn’t happen earlier. Good luck Wang.

Yesterday’s Results

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

American League
SEA     6  BAL     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
BOS     4  NYA     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
TB     11  LAA     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHA     4  DET     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE     4  KC      3    (Recap and Boxscore)
OAK     4  MIN     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
TEX     1  TOR     0    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
PIT     3  ATL     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
STL     6  FLA     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
PHI     6  NYN     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
WAS     3  CIN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
HOU     2  CHN     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
COL     5  MIL     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
ARI     2  SF      1    (Recap and Boxscore)

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

Today’s Games

National League
 ---------------
 Houston Astros at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM
  (L) Mike Hampton (4-4) vs. (R) Dan Haren (4-4)
 
 Inter-League
 ------------
 Minnesota Twins at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM
  (R) Kevin Slowey (8-2) vs. (R) Randy Wells (0-2)
 Atlanta Braves at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM
  (R) Tommy Hanson (0-0) vs. (R) Jason Berken (1-2)
 New York Mets at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM
  (R) Livan Hernandez (5-1) vs. (R) Joba Chamberlain (3-1)
 St. Louis Cardinals at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM
  (R) Joel Pineiro (5-6) vs. (L) David Huff (1-2)
 Detroit Tigers at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM
  (R) Rick Porcello (6-4) vs. (R) Ian Snell (1-6)
 Boston Red Sox at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM
  (L) Jon Lester (5-5) vs. (R) Joe Blanton (4-3)
 Florida Marlins at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM
  (R) Ricky Nolasco (2-6) vs. (R) Roy Halladay (10-1)
 Washington Nationals at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:38 PM
  (R) Craig Stammen (0-2) vs. (R) Matt Garza (4-4)
 Chicago White Sox at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM
  (L) Clayton Richard (2-1) vs. (R) Jeff Suppan (4-4)
 Los Angeles Dodgers at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM
  (R) Hiroki Kuroda (1-1) vs. (R) Vicente Padilla (4-3)
 Cincinnati Reds at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM
  (L) Matt Maloney (0-0) vs. (R) Luke Hochevar (1-2)
 Seattle Mariners at Colorado Rockies, 9:10 PM
  (L) Jarrod Washburn (3-4) vs. (R) Ubaldo Jimenez (4-6)
 San Diego Padres at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM
  (R) Chad Gaudin (2-4) vs. (R) Matt Palmer (5-0)
 Oakland Athletics at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM
  (R) Vin Mazzaro (2-0) vs. (R) Tim Lincecum (5-1)

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.

American League East        Pwins  Diff
BOS     36  24 .600    0.0   35     1    
NYA     34  26 .567    2.0   32     2    
TOR     34  28 .548    3.0   35    -1    
TB      31  31 .500    6.0   37    -6    
BAL     25  35 .417   11.0   24     1    
American League Central     
DET     33  27 .550    0.0   33     0    
MIN     30  32 .484    4.0   32    -2    
CHA     28  33 .459    5.5   27     1    
CLE     27  35 .435    7.0   30    -3    
KC      25  34 .424    7.5   25     0    
American League West        
TEX     34  25 .576    0.0   31     3    
LAA     29  29 .500    4.5   27     2    
SEA     30  30 .500    4.5   28     2    
OAK     27  32 .458    7.0   27     0    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     35  23 .603    0.0   33     2    
NYN     31  27 .534    4.0   31     0    
ATL     29  30 .492    6.5   28     1    
FLA     29  33 .468    8.0   28     1    
WAS     16  42 .276   19.0   22    -6    
National League Central     
MIL     33  27 .550    0.0   32     1    
STL     33  28 .541    0.5   32     1    
CIN     31  28 .525    1.5   30     1    
CHN     29  28 .509    2.5   30    -1    
PIT     28  32 .467    5.0   30    -2    
HOU     27  31 .466    5.0   26     1    
National League West        
LAN     40  21 .656    0.0   39     1    
SF      31  28 .525    8.0   30     1    
SD      28  31 .475   11.0   25     3    
COL     28  32 .467   11.5   31    -3    
ARI     26  35 .426   14.0   27    -1    

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
TOR A+  Moises Sierra..... 3  2  1  1  0  1  0  
ARI A   Rossmel Perez..... 4  2  2  0  0  0  1  
WAN A   Derek Norris...... 4  2  0  0  1  0  1  
SF  A+  Conor Gillaspie... 4  3  1  0  0  1  1  
STL AA  Daniel Descalso... 4  2  2  0  0  0  0  
BOS A   Peter Hissey...... 3  1  0  1  0  1  1  
TOR A   T. Pastornicky.... 3  2  0  0  0  2  0  
SF  A+  Nicholas Noonan... 5  3  1  0  0  0  2  
MIN AA  Wilson Ramos...... 3  1  0  0  1  1  0  
STL AA  Curt Smith........ 2  1  0  0  1  1  0  
TEX AAA M. Ramirez........ 3  2  1  0  0  1  1  
FLA AAA John Raynor....... 5  2  1  0  0  0  0  

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
NYM A   Jeurys Familia.... 6  3  1  0  6  0  0  
SF  A+  Scott Barnes...... 7  3  2  2  7  1  1  
LAA AA  Jordan Walden..... 6  4  0  0  7  2  0  
ATL AA  Scott Diamond..... 6  4  4  1  8  3  0  
CLE A   Curtis Haley...... 5  1  1  1  4  2  0  11 GB
ATL A   Brett DeVall...... 6  7  2  2  5  1  0  
OAK AAA James Simmons..... 5  4  1  1  4  1  0  
CLE A   Scott Lewis....... 3  0  0  0  3  0  0  
COL AA  Jhoulys Chacin.... 7  8  2  2  5  2  0  13 GB
BOS A   Nick Hagadone..... 3  0  0  0  4  1  0  
LAA AAA Sean O'Sullivan... 6  5  2  2  5  3  0  
NYY AA  Michael Dunn...... 2  0  0  0  3  0  0

First Inning’s Major and Minor League Daily Reports:

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