2010 MLB Season

[trane_fanatic]

In the rundown of the game I saw on ESPN, there looked to be some elastic strike calls in the early innings. Not enough to really grouse and all credit to RH and his fielders, but...

Actually, Tim Kurkjian and Dave Winfield made the same observation on ESPN about elastic strikes from Halladay too.

[papsrus]

To be fair, Olney credited Halladay for taking advantage of the strike zone he was given. It wasn't as though his pitches were hitting those spots by mistake. But if they're going to make the claim that the strike zone was unusually large, they should back it up with some video evidence.

Ed: typo

Edited May 31, 2010 by papsrus

[Chalupa]

In the rundown of the game I saw on ESPN, there looked to be some elastic strike calls in the early innings. Not enough to really grouse and all credit to RH and his fielders, but...

Actually, Tim Kurkjian and Dave Winfield made the same observation on ESPN about elastic strikes from Halladay too.

Sigh.

Did you watch the game? No. Look, any time someone pitches a no-no or perfect game the strike zone is going to be more favorable to the pitcher than the hitter. You need great pitching, great defense, and a favorable call or two from the umps. That's just the way it is. And if Olney, Kurkjian, and Winfield want to pretend that the other 19 guys who have thrown perfect games didn't benefit from a favorable strike zone at some point during the game they're full of shit. But let's suppose for a minute that the ump did have an "elastic strike zone" on Saturday night. Well the hitters need to adjust to it just like pitchers have to adjust when an ump has a tight strike zone. It works both ways. If the hitters notice early on that the ump is giving the pitcher the strike on the outside of the plate then they need to make a mental and/or physical adjustment.

[Chalupa]

To be fair, Olney credited Halladay for taking advantage of the strike zone he was given. It wasn't as thought his pitches were hitting those spots by mistake. But if they're going to make the claim that the strike zone was unusually large, they should back it up with some video evidence.

Exactly.

I watched the game and there were a few borderline pitches that could have gone either way but that's baseball. Sometimes you get the call and sometimes you don't. I'll say this again - for a perfect or no-no game you need great pitching, great defense, and for a couple of calls to go your way. Saturday night was just one of those nights when it all came together.

[Brad]

There's a chart in todays NYT showing the amount of time in between perfect games. In the modern era, 20 days between Braden's an Halladay's is unequalled. The longest is 12,580: Charles Robertson threw one in 1922 and the next one is Don Larsen's.

In the pre-modern era, Lee Richmond threw one for Worcester on June 12, 1880 and Monte Ward threw one for Providence on June 17.

[Dan Gould]

I still don't think they're making the playoffs, Boston's pitching will win out at the end.

I wish I could believe that but the only way that can happen is if Lackey starts pitching like a an 82.5 million dollar ace. Lester and Buchholz have been outstanding (and its really exciting to see Buchholz start to realize all of his potential - with him and Lester they could get by fine with Lackey and Beckett as 3/4). But Beckett is being pushed back because his back isn't 100% and they could see that it was effecting his arm slot, and of course on top of that he's flat out stunk to date. So they are left with Dice and Wake, and they are what they are: they may occasionally dominate but you better have your bullpen ready to pitch the last four innings whenever they are scheduled. And that's a crusher long-term (I'm wondering when they'll use an off-day to make a switch so that its not Dice and Wake in succession).

So Lackey has got to step it up and pitch like he's supposed to and if Beckett gets healthy and finds his mojo, then yeah, I think the pitching could be good enough. But right now all we've got is Lester (expected) and Buchholz (pleasant surprise).

And Papi, of course. Last year he hit number 11 forty days later, and I am guessing his BA is about 70 points above this date last year. Would be real interesting if he hits 35-40 homers and 120 RBIs. Could they really shove him out the door then? Especially knowing that Cashman would jump at the chance to let him take aim at the Little League dimensions?

[Dave James]

I could see Cashman making a move for Papelbon, but no way for Papi. This would be his last contract, so you have to figure the money/duration he'd want if he does go 35 and 120 would be ridiculous. Besides, hitting isn't what the Yankees need and even if they did, they would want to get younger. What they need are arms in the pen.

[Matthew]

I still don't think they're making the playoffs, Boston's pitching will win out at the end.

... and if Beckett gets healthy and finds his mojo, then yeah, I think the pitching could be good enough.

Buckett, for me, is the key. If, (and that's a big if), he can come back in good form, then Boston has a chance, but there is something just flat-out wrong with him, he hasn't looked good since August of last year. Hopefully, he can get his act together, or Boston has wasted a ton of money. A Lackey / Beckett tandem, on top of their game, would be tough to beat down the stretch.

[Matthew]

Game of the Day: Rockies vs. Giants: Ubaldo Jimenez goes against Tim Lincecum -- now that's a great pitching match up.

[trane_fanatic]

There's a chart in todays NYT showing the amount of time in between perfect games. In the modern era, 20 days between Braden's an Halladay's is unequalled. The longest is 12,580: Charles Robertson threw one in 1922 and the next one is Don Larsen's.

In the pre-modern era, Lee Richmond threw one for Worcester on June 12, 1880 and Monte Ward threw one for Providence on June 17.

Mat Latos of the Padres was only a hit away from a perfect game a few days after Braden. CC, Hughes, Dice-K & Romero have come very close too. There's something in the water.

Edited May 31, 2010 by trane_fanatic

[ghost of miles]

I hope you're right about Joba, Dan--you have more faith in him than I do at this point!

Interesting note from the Indians-Yanks preview about Andy Pettitte at home against Cleveland:

It's hard to believe that Andy Pettitte hasn't beaten the Cleveland Indians at home since his second season in the majors.

Pettitte will face the Indians for the first time at the new Yankee Stadium on Monday when the New York Yankees try to capture a four-game series.

The veteran is 0-4 with a 6.50 ERA in his last six starts in the Bronx against the Indians, including one postseason outing. That's quite unusual since Pettitte (6-1, 2.62 ERA) is 105-47 in his career at home for New York, but his only home victory over Cleveland (18-30) came in 1996.

The left-hander hasn't fared well against the Indians' Austin Kearns (6 for 13) and Jhonny Peralta (5 for 13 with two homers).

...as if on cue, Peralta just belted a home run off Pettitte in the top of the 2nd.

[Chalupa]

Man, the Phillies are in a BAD hitting funk right now. The Flyers scored more goals(5) then the Phillies scored runs last week. Since last Sunday they have scored 4 runs and have been shut out 5 times. It would not surprise me at all to see them swept by Atlanta and not score a run this series.

[Chalupa]

The Phillies scored a run!! The Phillies scored a run!! 6-1 in the top of the 7th.

Holy crap! They just got two more runs! 6-3 top of the 7th.

One more and they'll equal last week's total.

[ghost of miles]

I saw a stat recently showing how many times A-Rod had homered following intentional walks to Tex--happened again just now, with a grand-slam to dead center field in Yankee Stadium. Cano just followed with a solo HR, giving NY a 7-1 lead in the bottom of the 7th. Can they hold the lead? Sterling on the radio talking about a "rout," how the Yankees will "probably win this game"...hey John, didn't you just broadcast that 13-11 debacle the other day?

[ghost of miles]

OK, so I guess even the NY bullpen couldn't blow a 10-run lead today. And boy, it does seem crazy that teams are intentionally walking the .217 hitting Tex to get to A-Rod, even if it does set up a potential double-play situation. From a write-up of today's game:

Both of Rodriguez’s slams this season came after Mark Teixeira was intentionally walked ahead of him, and A-Rod is 5 for 5 with 18 RBIs when teams intentionally pitch around Teixeira.

“I felt it coming, for some reason,” Rodriguez said. “I would appreciate if we keep these numbers to ourselves, and not share them with any other managers.”

Not that it’s any big secret that Rodriguez, whose seventh homer this season gave him 590 in his career, is a tough out—even without the bases loaded.

“The best thing for us to do in that situation, once he got behind 3-1 was to just put him on and try to get a double play,” Indians manager Manny Acta said.

Even better would be avoiding the sort of situation in the first place, something the Indians failed at throughout the series.

The Indians’ top left-handed reliever, Tony Sipp, had been brought in to face Curtis Granderson twice already in the series. Both times, he gave up doubles, so this time Acta called on Rafael Perez with one out, one on and, yep, Granderson due to bat.

Granderson singled, and a wild pitch allowed him and pinch-runner Ramiro Pena take a base, leading to an intentional walk of Teixeira before.

“The whole series, basically, turned on three at-bats,” Acta said. Three times, we couldn’t make pitches to Granderson. Forget about the home runs. He came in hitting .199 against left-handed pitchers and he was 3 for 3 against our guys.”

Might just be my imagination, but NY does seem like a different team with Granderson back in the lineup. On another note, any other Yankee fans notice that Jeter and A-Rod seem to be good buddies again? I read a report to that effect during spring training this year, and their on-field rapport seems genuinely warm in a way I've never seen before during their time together on the Yanks.

Another note: if Andy Pettitte maintains his current W-L pace, he'll end up 21-3 on the year.

Edited June 1, 2010 by ghost of miles

[Matthew]

[ghost of miles]

I knew my post would "move" you, Matthew. Here's the NY Post report from this past March:

Jeter, Rodriguez are close friends again

Thanks much to Toronto for knocking off Tampa Bay tonight--NY now 2.5 games back.

Nats fans: Stephen Strasburg will make his big-league debut June 8. A NY Times Twitter report says sellers on StubHub are asking as much as $2000 for dugout box seats for the game.

Also, the Florida Marlins are planning to sell unused tickets from Halladay's perfect game.

[Matthew]

I get misty just thinking of the beauty that is a Jeeter / ARod bromance....

[ghost of miles]

Somehow I doubt we're going to see many more intentional walks for Tex so that pitchers can get to A-Rod:

In their two years as Yankees teammates, Teixeira has been intentionally walked in front of Rodriguez on nine occasions. The only time Rodriguez was credited with an out in his batting line was last June 12. And all that happened that time was the most memorable moment for both New York teams in the 2009 regular season: Luis Castillo dropped a Rodriguez popup, two runs scored and the Yanks walked off to beat the Mets.

In the other times, Rodriguez is 5-for-5 with two walks, a sacrifice fly and 18 RBIs. And . . . wait for it . . . Rodriguez has now hit a grand slam each of the last three times Teixeira received an intentional pass.

Free pass to Tex never a good idea

Edited June 1, 2010 by ghost of miles

[Matthew]

Sometimes, the way managers keep "going by the book" drives me insane. Really, who would you rather face? Teixeira with two on, or ARod with the bases loaded? I would go with pitching to Teixeira every time. Managers always play CYA by making moves like these, that way, after it fails, they can always say: "Well, I went by the book and played the percentages..." In other words, don't blame me.

Edited June 1, 2010 by Matthew

[Dan Gould]

He tried to get Teix to chase and went to 3-0. The only intentional ball was the last one. At that point isn't it sort of a "pick your poison" position?

:rolleyes:

[ghost of miles]

Tex was batting right at the time (Cleveland pitcher was a lefty, iirc) and granted, he's hitting .262 as a rightie (vs. .203 as a leftie) so far this year...and had clobbered a home run the night before...but still, given A-Rod's history in that situation and Tex's overall poor hitting of late, I would've probably opted to go ahead and try to pitch to him, even with the 3-0 count. Better yet, bring in the righthander before Tex comes to the plate, knowing that he hits poorly from the left side and that A-Rod (another righthander) is coming up behind him.

Dan, have you ever thought about blogging for Over the Monster? I'm not sure how the blogging set-up works for SB Nation in regards to the "official" bloggers who post on the main site (any fan can blog as a fan, but given your insights and knowledge, seems to me like you'd be a very good person to write the home-page blog posts).

Edited June 1, 2010 by ghost of miles

[Dan Gould]

It never makes sense to swing Teix around at Yankee Stadium so he can luck into a little league dimension homer. Do you ever see a pitching change to let a Yankee switch-hitter hit from the left side at home? Especially in the last year and a half?

Edited June 1, 2010 by Dan Gould

[ghost of miles]

It never makes sense to swing Teix around at Yankee Stadium so he can luck into a little league dimension homer. Do you ever see a pitching change to let a Yankee switch-hitter hit from the left side at home? Especially in the last year and a half?

...but he's hitting .203 from the left side this year. I'd be inclined to take my chances.

I still think you should write for Over the Monster.

[Dan Gould]

David Ortiz in May:

10 home runs (first time he's hit 10 in a month since August 2006)

First time since 2004 any Red Sox player hit .350+ with 25+ RBI and 10 or more home runs in a month (that was also Ortiz, and before that, only Nomar had done it, in 1999).

I know he had a ridiculous BABIP but it would be nice if he keeps it up for a while longer before he falls back to Earth a bit. So long as he doesn't have any lengthy slumps I think he'll prove that rumors of his demise are somewhat exaggerated. And you're going to see Mike Lowell depart pretty soon, I am guessing. The Angels lost their 1B, and the Rangers are supposed to still be interested. And while Lowell could be a force off the bench for PH duties, its not the best use of a roster spot, a PH and fill-in 1B/DH (who has to be run for too).