This Week in Baseball 7/23 - 7/29

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Carlos Zambrano just became the first pitcher in the bigs to notch 14 wins. Who would've thought that two months ago?

[vivalaultra 0]

This is fuckin' unsane. After it was 11-0 with 2 outs in the top of the first, it's now 15-11 Padres in the bottom of the 5th with 1 out. Let's get em, 'Stros!

[mike546 0]

Just reported during the Yanks game that Joba has been moved to the bullpen at AAA. Seems like he's on his way up.

[Longdogger_Pete 0]

Kielty for Pneiro was one possible reported move.

 

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Just reported during the Yanks game that Joba has been moved to the bullpen at AAA. Seems like he's on his way up.

 

There are some people who think that Joba has more of a future as a relief ace than a frontline starter because he hasn't developed a third pitch. Regardless, he's going to play a role in the pennant race down the stretch. The Yanks did an excellent job scouting him and his "injury/fat" concerns.

[Bored 0]

That's what the Red Sox offered and the A's turned it down. Poor Joel Pineiro, A's would rather have nothing than take him on.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

So, will someone (viva, maybe?) explain to me what's going on down in Houston? They trade one of the best set-up guys available in a market that's crazy for relief pitching for a 3B so that they can DFA the incumbent who's a much better player? And they did all of this when they are 10+ games out of the playoff picture?

[vivalaultra 0]

They traded Wheeler to get a 3rd baseman who is under club control for the next 2 years who is making far less than Ensberg (who is making $4.3 million this year). It's true that in 2005 and 2006 Wheeler was one of the best set-up men in the league. However, before that, he wasn't anything great. This year, his peripherals are still good, but he's been largely ineffective. Sure, the price of pitching is high, but who knows what the market on Wheeler was? Maybe Wigginton was the best offer they received. It's true that Wheeler's been mostly good for the Astros since his stay here, but this year, he has an ERA over 5 and is only under club control till the end of next season. It was apparent that one of Qualls, Wheeler, or Lidge was going to be traded. Brad Lidge is back to being one of the 10 best relief pitchers in baseball. Qualls is very good and under control for the next three years, so Wheeler was the obvious choice.

 

I know that Ensberg's numbers look decent, especially if you throw out batting average, but, watching Ensberg over the course of the last couple years, I've come to the conclusion that sometime at the beginning of 2006, he got a copy of Moneyball or a subscription to BaseballProspectus.com and decided he wanted to be one of those guys that walked a lot. However, he also decided that in order to walk a lot, he could never swing the bat never, in any circumstance, ever again. Ensberg's role on the club was to be an RBI guy. However, in RBI situations, he was content to look at pitches, pitches right down the middle of the plate, pitches above his head, pitches inside, pitches outside. Dude looked at a lot of pitches. Granted, he walked a good deal, but, still, he was being counted on to drive in runs. He didn't do that. Ty Wigginton, in the front office's estimation, is better equipped to be an RBI man than Ensberg was. Whether that proves to be correct or not, that remains to be seen. I think, in Ensberg's case, he just feel off track and couldn't get back on. With a change of scenery and in a line-up where he won't be counted on as an RBI man, he might succeed again or he might not. The fact that the Astros had to DFA him and that nobody took a flier on him when he's been freely available since last year seems to suggest that the Ensberg market wasn't that large.

 

I think that the Ensberg case is a case where the stats don't project the whole story, but we'll see.

[Guest •]

Cardinals scored nine unanswered runs to take the lead, 9-5. Cubs are half a game back of first place.

 

I'd look for the Cardinals to make some big moves in the next day or so, by the way.

[Guest Smues]

Atlanta has scored at least a run in each of the first 7 innings, and Scott Thorman just blasted one over the pool. 14-0 in the 7th, good way to break a losing streak.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I still have trouble buying the Cards as a legit contender. They beat up a team that has been struggling for a few weeks. I've learned never to count them out, but I still think they're a second-place team at best the way things are currently structured. Winning four of seven from the teams in front of them, though, could make them buyers instead of sellers this week.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Chat on as scheduled, 9pm ET.

[MFer 0]

It doesn't help starters not named Verlander can't seem to get past five innings.

It also doesn't help that Bondo is the shittiest 1st inning pitcher ever.

 

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Viva, a poster at BTF suggests Ensberg's change last year was due to playing through a shoulder injury.

[vivalaultra 0]

Ensberg did injure his shoulder last year, but actually, he had already declined by the time he hurt it. He hurt his shoulder diving for a foul bunt in a game against the Braves at the beginning of June (either the 8th or the 9th; I think the 9th). His BA and other stats had already started declining before that. From baseballreference:

 

Mar/Apr .329/.467/.765 with 21 BB and 19 K, 9 HR, 19 RBI in 24 games.

May .216/.328/.450 with 19 BB and 28 K, 8 HR, 17 RBI in 29 games.

 

By June, his average had dipped below .150 and he only hit 1 HR in 19 games started that month. He went on the DL July 16th. Before that, in 8 games started, he had 1 HR, 3 RBI and a .200 BA. He sucked, also, in August to the tune of a .209 BA. He actually heated up in Sept./Oct. hitting .273 in 57 PAs. However, his power was zapped, as he only hit 6 HRs after the month of May.

 

I agree that him trying to play through his shoulder injury didn't do him any favors (actually, all of the reports I heard at that time was that he misled/outright lied to the team about how bad his shoulder actually was and that they basically forced him onto the DL), but he was in decline at least a month before that happened. And, if you look at his month by month stats this year (with a completely healthy shoulder), he was still largely poor offensively. So, I don't buy the shoulder injury excuse and his playing through it as something to base his poor performance on. What I think happened is that in 2005, I remember him getting hit by a pitch on the wrist (arm, possibly?) and missing a few games. Before that, he had a more closed batting stance. After he came back, he started tinkering with his stance, opening it up, closing it up, shifting his feet, turning his body almost completely towards the pitcher; every AB, he would have a different stance. I think his change in stance helped him to see pitches and judge balls and strikes better, but it caused him to not be able to get around as quickly on pitches or to turn on pitches, so most of the times he did make contact, he popped up weakly or rolled over and hit a groundball. If you look at his walk numbers from his first few seasons compared to his last couple of years (pre-HPB/post-HBP) it backs up my theory.

 

Pre-HBP (2002-2005): 187 BBs, 74 HRs in 1434 ABs

Post-HBP (2006-2007): 141 BBs, 31 HRs in 611 ABs

 

Also, after he fell of a cliff last season, Garner started putting him in situations designed for him to succeed; he started playing exclusively against lefties (against whom he has a .30 BA advantage compared to righties over his career) and was used more as a pinch hitter in situations where it would be more advantageous for him to walk than to get a hit (blowout games, leading off innings, etc.). Ensberg's a weird case. If you look at his walk rate and OBP and disregard his low batting average and relative lack of power, you see a guy that should be an All-Star, but, if you actually watch games where he's playing, he's just...not that productive. The last two years, he's been, at best, a platoon player or a bench guy, and $4 million dollars for a platoon player is kind of pricey.

[strummer 0]

Carlos Beltran has a torn abdominal muscle.

 

Here comes Jay Payton

[Brett Favre 0]

He was playing hurt for a while. Why not put Milledge at center?

[Vern Gagne 0]

Maybe Ensberg was a one year wonder?

[strummer 0]

Bill Robinson passes away:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?sectio...&id=2954047

[Bruiser Chong 0]

He was playing hurt for a while. Why not put Milledge at center?

BECAUSE JAY PAYTON IS COMING!

 

Thanks, Carlos. You FINALLY help the Cubs. Unless Hendry ups the ante and offers up like Rich Hill or something.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Maybe Ensberg was a one year wonder?

 

Career OPS+ of 117. This year and 2004 were the only times that he wasn't really good.

[vivalaultra 0]

Having seen every Ensberg game (and every Ensberg at-bat) since he broke into the bigs, I will continue to say that he is just not that good offensively, despite what the numbers say. Call me 'old school', but, you really have to watch the guy play to appreciate how craptastic he is in the face of some of his good numbers.

[The Man in Blak 0]

I still have trouble buying the Cards as a legit contender. They beat up a team that has been struggling for a few weeks. I've learned never to count them out, but I still think they're a second-place team at best the way things are currently structured. Winning four of seven from the teams in front of them, though, could make them buyers instead of sellers this week.

 

Which, ironically, is about the worst thing that could happen to them.

 

The last three games have been fantastic and, for the first time all year long, St. Louis seems to be playing with some fire in its belly. Maybe closing out the Friday game with So Taguchi at the keystone served as a large foot up their collective ass. As exciting as that homestand was, however, it's yet another string of games where the Cards barely creep above .500. They really needed to go 6-1, 5-2 at a minimum to have a real shot at this, but going 4-3 (with three wins on the Brewers) puts them in a very dangerous position, thinking that they can push all their chips to the middle of the table with a pair of tens.

 

None of the big names (Rolen, Isringhausen) are tradeable, obviously, but I've got a very deep fear that somebody may dangle some mediocre veteran trinket (Hey, you can call me Jon Garland!) ahead of LaDuncketty for That Anthony Reyes Kid That Hates Our Beloved Groundball Dogma. They keep saying that they won't sacrifice the future, but if Tony and co. plan on sticking around, then Reyes may not fit into the future anyway. Here's to hoping they stand pat (or deal Kip Wells or Encarnacion to some scruffy-looking GM on the streets), play the kids for next year, and actually build upon this momentum into the upcoming road trip.

[Guest •]

Which, ironically, is about the worst thing that could happen to them.

Well, I didn't say they should buy, I said they would.

 

I'd laugh really hard if after all the talk about Mark Buehrle inevitably giving the hometown discount to St. Louis, wearing his Cardinals hat in the offseason, and all that jazz, the White Sox pitcher that the Cardinals get is Jon Garland. Joke's on me, though, as he'd continue to fall ass-backwards into wins thanks to run support from Pujolends.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

To draw a recent comparison, the Cards remind me a lot of the 2004 Mets. They were, by most accounts, an average team at best. But they got hot during July, beat up on the Yankees and suddenly, the front office thought they were contenders. We all remember how that turned out. Scott Kazmir says hello.