This Week in Baseball 8/11 - 8/17

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Watching Bob Howry pitch allows me to briefly sympathize with Tigers and Mets fans. Whether it's a tied or one-run game or a blowout, he sucks. He probably hasn't jeopardized the Cubs' victory tonight because they plated 11, but his appearance forced Lou to actually get someone competent in the pen into the game. Meanwhile, Michael Wuertz continues to rot in AAA because he struggles with his command at times, which is much worse than a guy who gives up a homer every time he tows the rubber.

[Guest Cal Moriarty]

Michael Wuertz is pretty awful.

 

Sounds like instant replay is coming very soon. Now we can get finally foul-pole home run calls 100% right. We will still get stolen bases, strikeouts, trapped balls, pickoffs, and hit batsmen like 72% right.

[Bored 0]

Brad Ziegler's scoreless inning streak ended today at 39 innings. There is now officially no reason to pay attention to the A's for the rest of the year.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Os put up an 8 run inning highlighted by Lou Montanez getting 2 hits and 2 RBI in the inning. Hes showing he can hit in the majors after leading the Eastern League with a .335 avg, 29 HR and 98 RBI through early August, including a 5-6 8 RBI game on 8/1 just before he got called up to replace Adam Jones. He even hit a HR in his first major league AB vs LA last week. Im hoping that he takes Payton's 4th OFer role next year, though everyone seems to question his defense in the OF.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

...the offense just isn't coming through. Melky and Cano have killed us this year, Girardi can sit Melky but Cano has to play because he's just potentially too good to take out of there. Losing Posada hurt us a lot because even though nobody expects him to have a repeat of 2007 he's a tough, professional hitter and a fixture in the lineup for the last decade. Jeter is having, for him, a bad year, putting up the lowest OPS of his career so far, and he hasn't run very much either. This is actually worse than the year where he started out in that long slump, because once he got out of it he was red hot for the rest of the season. This year he's just been average all season. So that's 4 spots in the lineup where we're not getting the production we need, everyone else has been good, but when you rely on your offense so heavily it's not enough.

 

This is a very astute observation and I am surprised that this hasn't gotten a little more attention from the media. One of the things that was truly remarkable about the Yankees over the past decade was their ability to get elite offensive production from the traditional, up-the-middle defensive positions (C, SS, 2B and CF). That was really the backbone of the offensive machine that won the titles and it's what kept them as the best offense in baseball throughout the '00s.

 

New York is going to have a ton of money to spend in the next few years and it will be interesting to see how they address the offensive side of the equation. Jeter could be in a season-long slump, but it's not crazy to suggest that he may be in his decline phase of his career. Posada is most likely going to have to DH or play first from here on out. How they address those two player's roles in the next couple of years could be interesting. They've lived with their respective defensive deficiences because the bats were so good, but that might not be the case going forward.

 

Cano and Melky are both sub-.300 in OBP. It's not like Melky is having good at-bats or even looking like he has a clue at the plate. He just takes 3 weak hacks and sits down. Cano's always been a slasher with a high average/low OBP but this year neither the average or the power are there. Jeter's have a down year/begining his decline, and Matsui and Posada are out for the season. That's just the line-up. Wang is probably out for the year, Pettitte has been bad since the ASB, Chamberlain's down, and Hughes and IPK were basically non-factors this year. The worst thing about 2008 is that going into next season, the young guys will be on innings caps again because of injury/ineffectiveness this year. It's stunting their growth terribly. If Mike Mussina wasn't having the year he is, they wouldn't even be in the postseason conversation. They've patched it together once again with guys like Ponson, Rasner, and Giese. Jose Molina (great C, awful hitter) was the starting catcher for most of the season.

[Bored 0]

Awesome.

[2GOLD 0]

Gotta love Earl. Granted he would have been removed from the league immediately for this but god. Ozzie Guillen should take notes, thats how someone insults Terry Crowley.

[snuffbox 0]

The incredible Cubs destroyed the Braves in that series. The Brewers lost to the Padres and now prepare to be swept out of Los Angeles. Another season sticking to the script.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

They just won eight damn games in a row and are leading the Wild Card. They've lost like six games since the ASB. What exactly do you want?

[jimmy no nose 0]

I haven't paid too close attention to the draft pick signings this year, but it looks like there have been some unexpected turns. First Yankee first rounder and Scott Boras client Gerrit Cole has apparently decided he won't go to the Yankees no matter how much they offer because he wants to go to UCLA. Then in possibly more unexpected news the Pittsburgh Pirates set the record for bonus money given to a 6th rounder when they gave Robbie Grossman a $1 million bonus to lure him away from Texas. He's the only non-first or second rounder this year to sign for a million dollars. What is going on in this world?

[snuffbox 0]

They just won eight damn games in a row and are leading the Wild Card. They've lost like six games since the ASB. What exactly do you want?

 

1) I'd kinda like them to win when playing the hapless Padres with ASG starter Ben Sheets on the mound.

 

2) I'm not sure how much room for bitching about me you have with your above post concerning Bob Howry. The Brewers have a much weaker bullpen situation. Your in first place and have the best team in th NL, by far, what more do you want?

 

3) I'm playing off Czech's 'best team in the league but can never win' gimmick. What more do you want?

[Smartly Pretty 0]

I'm fine with Brewers fans being over antsy. The team is never in the playoffs, and they traded their top prospect this year for a pitcher who won't be there next year. Is Ben Sheets an impending UFA too? The Brewers could suck a major dick next year if the cards don't fall their way. Let snuffbox freak out if he wants to, I say.

[snuffbox 0]

Yes, Ben Sheets will be gone next year, too.

 

 

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Brewers are returning their entire offense, save Ray Durham. Sabathia and Sheets are free agents, but remember that they will get Yovani Gallardo back next season.

[snuffbox 0]

Sweet, a guy who still hasn't played a season followed by Parra, Dave Bush, the even-older Suppan, and Somebody Else! A rotation that will be questionable at best backed up by an unreliable bullpen. Hopefully Fielder, Braun, Hart, and Hall can hit 50 homeruns each and leadoff hitter Weeks can crack .240.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Gallardo's played three full seasons in the minors, and has proven himself in the Majors. He's more reliable next year than Sheets, IMO.

 

Here's a gem from Jayson Stark's chat.

 

SportsNation Jayson Stark: It's been hard to comprehend. But let's start with Robinson Cano and ARod. Is Cano's head in these games at all anymore? He hasn't been able to sustain any level of concentration all year, at the plate or in the field. And it shows. And check ARod's splits sometime when you get a chance. His overall numbers look great. But I looked a little more closely the other day when I was preparing my MVP chat. He's hitting .234 with runners in scoring position. And he has four RBIs all season in the late innings of close games. FOUR! He carried that team last year. But he's just been a number-hanger this year.

 

That .234 includes 24 walks and a .393 OBP. Clearly teams are not pitching to him in those situations. "Close and Late" stats? Nice cherry-picking. Pick tie games instead (and ANY game that is tied is clearly an important batting situation, no?), and his splits jump substantially. The problem is when you divide plate appearances into small samples, you are going to find quirks somewhere in the data.

[naiwf 0]

Melky Cabrera to the minors, and Richie Sexson got waived by the Yankees.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

1) I'd kinda like them to win when playing the hapless Padres with ASG starter Ben Sheets on the mound.

 

They won the first two games. They were facing one of the best pitchers in baseball in Jake Peavy yesterday. I don't care how good your team is, securing a victory is a real crapshoot when facing elite pitchers.

 

2) I'm not sure how much room for bitching about me you have with your above post concerning Bob Howry. The Brewers have a much weaker bullpen situation. Your in first place and have the best team in th NL, by far, what more do you want?

 

I'm just pointing out Howry's awfulness this season. I thought the post was done in calm, matter-of-fact manner. It wasn't like I was calling for his execution or anything. And since I think we're to the point where Lou isn't trusting him in non-blowout situations, I'm not exactly frantic about the situation.

 

I understand the Brewers haven't been in the playoffs in nearly 30 years, but they've got a good grip on the WC. The Cards, and second place team in the East are the only two viable contenders for that spot other than the Brewers. The Cards just lost Carpenter again, so I honestly can't see them sticking around down to the wire.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Melky Cabrera to the minors, and Richie Sexson got waived by the Yankees.

Brett Gardner and Cody Ransom to take their places. I assume Gardner becomes the center fielder for now. Ransom is a bit odd. I think the organization is down on Shelley Duncan. 2007 looks like a huge fluke for Duncan right now, as he is hitting just .213 in Scranton. Dan Giese is DL bound as well.

[jimmy no nose 0]

Cody Ransom is 32 and has yet to even approach 100 major league at bats in a season. I guess there was no one else to take a shot on, it's probably not worth it to throw Juan Miranda into the majors at this point.

[snuffbox 0]

I don't think I'm going to begin to doubt the Cards' magical ability to somehow make the playoffs no matter who gets injured.

[Failed Bridge 0]

Didn't the Yankees turn down a trade in the off-season where they would have sent Melky, Kennedy, and Tabata to the Twins for Santana? Tabata's gone now and the other two seem to be flopping.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Gotta love Earl. Granted he would have been removed from the league immediately for this but god. Ozzie Guillen should take notes, thats how someone insults Terry Crowley.

 

I guess we know why the Os wont dump Crowley as their hitting coach now. I bet anytime they bring back Earl to Camden Yards, its mighty uncomfortable between the two of em.

 

..

 

Os put up a 6 spot in the 9th on the Tigers to go up 11-2. A rather questionable call in the favor of the Os kept the inning going as Montanez probably should have been called for interference breaking up the double play by throwing his hands up causing the ball to hit him, but the umps didn't see it and the inning kept on going.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I guess we know why the Os wont dump Crowley as their hitting coach now. I bet anytime they bring back Earl to Camden Yards, its mighty uncomfortable between the two of em.

 

I'm pretty sure a guy like Crowley is ok with the joke. It really all seems tongue in cheek.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Phillies are starting Eric Bruntlett (ugh) again at third base. I humbly offer the following suggestion. In Pedro Feliz's absence, make Chris Coste the everyday third baseman. Call up Jason Jaramillo to be the backup catcher and send down Mike Cervenak. They only seem to use Cervenak as a last ditch pinch-hitter, no use keeping him around. I watched Coste play third base, he can get the job done. No more of this nonsense of giving regular starts to the (f)utility infielder.

[jimmy no nose 0]

40 minutes to go and none of the Scott Boras top picks have signed...shocking...

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Victorino got robbed there. He was definitely safe there at 1st base.

[jimmy no nose 0]

Matt Garza's 2 hit shutout of the Rangers today was one of the more impressive pitching performances of the year. Going against the league's top offense I don't think there were more than 5 fly balls against him the whole game.

[naiwf 0]

Cliff Lee is now 17-2 on a team that is 55-66, so he's +15 while the rest of his team is -26. Has there ever been a greater differential for a single pitcher in relation to his team?

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

40 minutes to go and none of the Scott Boras top picks have signed...shocking...

 

Im just glad the Os finally got Matusz signed..I was beginning to think he wouldnt.