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It's time the Rox to start babying Tulowitzki

There have been so many injuries at this point that it's hard to consider it bad luck....

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Cubs have good trade chips to bargain with.

General manager Theo Epstein has pitching to offer and will be looking to grab good prospects....

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Each league features unlikely saves leader

Despite the unlikely circumstances, these two closers are leading their league....

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Indians' bullpen needs to revert to former self

The once reliable back end of the Indians bullpen has suddenly turned for the worst....

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Domonic Brown: after the hype had gone

Brown has become what the Phillies really needed....

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Puig is the new face of Dodgertown

Talk about bursting onto the scene....

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A-Rod - an immovable object.

There was a time when Alex Rodriguez was considered the best player in baseball.  Now he’s essentially a pariah in New York....

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No way Verlander gets voted into Home Run Derby

About a week ago, Verlander said that he would participate in this year’s Home Run Derby if voted in....

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It's time the Rox to start babying Tulowitzki

by Jonathan Leshanski on 19 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

It's time the Rox to start babying Tulowitzki

At what point do you simply write off a player as too fragile?  It depends on how much talent they have, and Troy Tulowitzki is immensely talented.  When he’s playing he’s one of the best shortstops, possibly the best, in the game.  The problem is that in his seven-year career he’s only twice played 150 games or more, and only one additional time did he manage more than 122 games. Photo by SD Dirk, used under creative commons license. Some people have dubbed him Larry Walker 2.0.  Maybe that comparison is fair, maybe it’s not.  Larry Walker in his 16-year career...

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Cubs have good trade chips to bargain with.

by Jonathan Leshanski on 18 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

Cubs have good trade chips to bargain with.

The trade deadline is approaching, and one of the teams most likely to make some deals are the Chicago Cubs.  General manager Theo Epstein has pitching to offer and will be looking to grab good prospects.  Ideally he’d like those close to major league ready, but he certainly wants to add to the farm system so that when the team is ready to compete they can field a good number of homegrown players as well as having some blue chip type trading assets. Scott Feldman Photo by Scott LaChance816, used under creative commons license. While they probably won’t be trading much in...

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Each league features unlikely saves leader

by Jim Mancari on 17 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

Each league features unlikely saves leader

Each league features unlikely saves leaderBy Jim MancariIf you said Mariano Rivera and Jason Grilli would be leading their respective league in saves in mid June before the season started, many people would have thought you were crazy.In any other year, Rivera wouldn’t at all be a stretch, but coming off a torn ACL at the age of 43, it was difficult to predict how he would come back. The Pirates' Jason Grilli Photo by Sports Crazy, used under creative commons license. But Grilli, who had never been a team’s primary closer in his prior 10 seasons, was not even supposed to...

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Indians' bullpen needs to revert to former self

by Zach Shafron on 16 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

Indians' bullpen needs to revert to former self

Since the late 2000's, if your baseball team didn't have the lead after the sixth inning against the Cleveland Indians, you could call it a game. The trio of right handed submarine style pitcher Joe Smith, right handed reliever Vinnie Pestano and right handed gunslinger Chris "Pure Rage" Perez have eliminated any sort of rally years in the late innings. Smith would do his thing in the seventh, dazzling Clevelanders with his unusual delivery and realease point making it very difficult for hitters to see the ball off of him. Pestano would attempt to hold to lead in the eighth....

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Domonic Brown: after the hype had gone

by Jonathan Leshanski on 15 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

Domonic Brown: after the hype had gone

Three years ago, Domonic Brown wasn’t really ready.  Sure, there was plenty of hype -- he was tagged “a superstar in the making” -- but he was only 23 and had less than 300 ABs at Class AAA.  Nonetheless fans and pundits were looking at a 22 home run season split between AA-AAA and 62 big league at bats.  It didn’t matter that he was over-matched in his big league at bats, hitting just .210 in them.  Everyone saw the .327 average split between AA and AAA. Photo by Rory Connell, used under creative commons license. So 2011 was supposed to...

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Puig is the new face of Dodgertown

by Jim Mancari on 14 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

Puig is the new face of Dodgertown

Talk about bursting onto the scene.This famous cliché is always tossed around when a player has a hot start to his career. But to use another cliché, Yasiel Puig takes the cake.Through his first nine games, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 22-year-old phenom batted .471 with four home runs and 10 RBIs, including a number of clutch hits. He became just the second player since 1900 to hit four home runs in his first five games, with the other being Mike Jacobs of the New York Mets in 2005. Photo by kla4067, used under creative commons license. Puig, who was scratched...

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A-Rod - an immovable object.

by Jonathan Leshanski on 11 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

A-Rod - an immovable object.

There was a time when Alex Rodriguez was considered the best player in baseball.  Now he’s essentially a pariah in New York.  The fans want him gone, the Yankees would like him to be gone.  The problem is they still owe him roughly $114 million dollars, and A-Rod doesn’t want to walk away from that. Photo by Keith Allision, used under creative commons license. And Alex may still be able to play baseball, even still be a very good player.  But at 37 and coming back from hip surgery, he’s not an elite player.  That’s not anything new.  A-Rod hasn’t had...

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No way Verlander gets voted into Home Run Derby

by Jim Mancari on 10 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

No way Verlander gets voted into Home Run Derby

I absolutely love the enthusiasm from one of the game’s best pitchers, but it’s tough to consider any scenario in which Justin Verlander gets voted into the Home Run Derby.About a week ago, Verlander discussed with reporters that he would participate in this year’s Home Run Derby at Citi Field if fans voted him in. He said he could probably hit about three or four home runs and called himself a batting practice hitter. In 24 at-bats this season, not only does he not have a home run, but he also doesn’t even have a hit. Justin Verlander Photo by Keith Allison,...

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It's time for MLB to hit PED users in the wallets

by Jonathan Leshanski on 07 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

It's time for MLB to hit PED users in the wallets

Major League Baseball needs to throw the book at the players associated with the Biogenesis Clinic and to take the offensive once again on the war on PEDs.  Initial reports are that MLB has the paper trail and testimony of disgraced PED pusher Anthony Bosch, giving them enough evidence to suspend perhaps more than 20 MLB players for violating the PED policy even without any of them testing positive. And the powers that be in MLB want punitive damages added to these suspensions due to the players lying about PED use and knowingly gaming the system. Ryan Braun is he the...

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Votto’s lack of power should not cause controversy

by Jim Mancari on 06 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

Votto’s lack of power should not cause controversy

Some guys can just never please everybody.Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto has evolved into one of the best hitters in the game today. Yet, he’s recently come under scrutiny for his lack of power hitting.He has just 10 home runs and 28 RBIs this season. During his NL MVP season in 2010, he blasted 37 homers and drove in 113 runs. Photo by Keith Allison, used under creative commons license. But so what if his power numbers are a bit down (though based on games played, he’s still on pace for around 30 home runs this year)? The guy...

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Xavier Nady injured
Written by At Home Plate Staff (Contact & Archive) on April 15, 2009   

Via the LoHud Yankees Blog:

Xavier Nady had a “sharp pain” in his right elbow in the seventh inning and was taken out of the game.

...

Nady had Tommy John surgery on Sept. 29, 2001. He was injured tonight in the seventh inning when Carlos Pena singled and he threw the ball back to the infield.

“I’m definitely kind of nervous,” Nady said. “But I have to be optimistic. Hopefully it’s scar tissue breaking off. … It was very painful.”

...

Nady will have an MRI tomorrow morning and we should know more by the early afternoon. But it certainly sounds like bad news. For X’s sake, hopefully not.

One could say that's good news for Nick Swisher and possibly for the Yankees if you believe that Swisher was the better option to begin with.

 
Glavine might retire soon
Written by Bjoern Hartig (Contact & Archive) on April 15, 2009   

Tom Glavine is considering retirement if his injured shoulder does not get better soon.

While evaluating Tom Glavine's left shoulder on Tuesday, Dr. James Andrews found an inflamed rotator cuff. ...

"For me now, the glass is probably half-empty simply because I'm frustrated and tired with this whole rehab thing," Glavine said. "But at the same time, being as close as I was, I'm not willing to just say, 'OK, that's it.' I'm willing to put in a little more time. But I'm not willing to put in another six weeks to eight weeks, because by then I'm going to have to start all over again, and I'm not interested in doing that."

...

"This [shoulder] has logged a lot of innings," Glavine said. "Sooner or later, it's going to tell me I can't do this anymore. I hope this is not what it's trying to tell me. But I'm prepared if it is."

...

"In Spring Training it would go away and I'd have no side effects whatsoever the next day," Glavine said. "This time, when I woke up on Monday morning, it hurt just as much."

...

Glavine won't be reevaluated until he undergoes further treatment while resting his arm for the next two weeks. At that time, he believes that he'll have a pretty good idea about whether or not it's time to end his career, which has included 305 wins and two career Cy Young Awards.

"It works better for me to have a timetable to say, 'OK, let's give it this amount of time,' and if we see some progress, then good we know we're going in the right direction," Glavine said. "If we don't, then I think at that point in time we need to sit down and honestly think about how much more I want to go through this and whether or not anything is going to change."

While I was looking forward to see Tom Glavine match up with Jamie Moyer to go for the record of lowest fastball average in a major league game and I definitely hope that Glavine's shoulder will be pain free and healthy, it would also be neat to have him and Greg Maddux enter Cooperstown together.

 
Opposite Field Power
Written by Bjoern Hartig (Contact & Archive) on April 14, 2009   

Jeremy Greenhouse of the Baseball analysts want to find out if Ryan Howard is the best field power hitter of all time.

I had a feeling Jim Thome hit a very high percentage of homers to the opposite field. He and Ryan Howard are linked in more ways than one. I have to give credit to Rich Lederer for guessing that Mike Piazza would be among the tops in percentage of homers to the opposite field. But just wait until we get to my man Howard. Sheffield, not surprisingly, pulled twenty times as many homers as he hit the other way.
...

It’s always a pleasure to see Roberto Clemente top any list. The fact that he was such an extreme opposite field power hitter might be a tidbit not many knew about, so I’m glad I can contribute one of the more trivial pieces of information to his legend. I’m surprised to see Julio Franco here. I saw a game or two of his in my day (who didn’t), and I always thought his unique batting stance would be conducive to pulling balls, kind of like Gary Sheffield’s bat wiggle. I guess holding the bat parallel to the ground delays his swing so he makes contact with the ball as it travels further in the zone. Chuck Knoblauch, who was the opposite of Franco in that he held his bat practically parallel to the ground behind him instead of over his head, pulled 75% of his homers. Also irrelevant: Franco's hit multiple homers against both Oil Can Boyd and Russ Ortiz. I doubt many others can say that.

So Ryan Howard is clearly up there. When I made my claim about Howard, it was after seeing that he was the only player in the last four years to have recorded greater than 15 homers in a season to his weak side. I was looking at Baseball Info Solutions data then, which has Howard’s 177 career homers distributed as 37.29% to left, 32.20% to center, and 30.51% to right. So the center field zone I’m using is a bit smaller than that of BIS. I think we can say pretty definitively that he’s a great opposite-field home run hitter, but Clemente seems to be in a class by himself when it comes to opposite%.

Great stuff there, don't forget to go over and check out all the tables at the very least.

 
Now pitching for the Yankees - Nick Swisher?
Written by Bjoern Hartig (Contact & Archive) on April 14, 2009   

Chien-Ming Wang gave up eight runs, but recorded only three outs and the second tier bullpen arms added seven more runs over the next six innings. With the score 15-5 in favor of the Tampa Bay Rays after seven innings, Yankees manager Joe Giradi send first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher to the mound, probably in order to save the quality arms left in the pen. Swisher gave up a hit and a walk, but also recorded a strike-out and did not give up any runs.

Watch Swisher pitch on MLB.com

 
ESPM Web Gems (April 13th)
Written by Bjoern Hartig (Contact & Archive) on April 14, 2009   

Enjoy!

 
Red Sox unpatient?
Written by Bjoern Hartig (Contact & Archive) on April 12, 2009   

The Angels lead the Red Sox 4-3 in the eight inning. Angels Reliever Scott Shields comes in and clearly struggles to find the strike zone. He walks Ortiz and Youkilis to start the frame. Then after J.D. Drew fouls out, Jason Bay walks on five pitches. With the bases loaded, Shields falls behind 2-0 to Mike Lowell, but the third baseman swing after the next pitch and pops out. The next batter Jason Varitek swings after the first pitch and lines out to center. This is usually how the Angels get themselves out of an inning, not the Red Sox.

Update: Vlad hits his first home runs of the season to lead off the next inning and give the Angels closer a bit more breathing room.

 
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