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News from around the league!

Indiansfan-possibleavatarforlgt_minorleagueball__tiny by indiansfan on

Hello everyone,

I just spent a little time looking at some headlines and thought I'd mention a few:

  • Red Sox RHP Josh Beckett will probably be out for a while, and quite possibly, miss Opening Day in Japan due to back spasms, which progressively became worse from Sunday to Monday.
  • Tigers RHP Jordan Tata was so annoyed by his latest Spring Training start (and his Spring Training to this point, as he's had some serious command problems) that he punched a door with his pitching hand.  The bone at the base of his pinky has swelled up and he'll definitely be out for the rest of Spring Training and beyond.
  • Cardinals' manager Tony LaRussa plans to bat his pitchers eighth, figuring a position player will get on more often than a pitcher will, which will likely lead to more men on base for #3 hitter Albert Pujols.  Supposedly, in two prior periods (including 1998 when Mark McGwire was the #3 hitter) of having pitchers eighth, the Cardinals' offense and W-L record has been quite positive; combine that with their offense struggling last year, and that's why LaRussa is enacting it again.
  • According to the Cardinals' latest mailbag, Juan Gonzalez, Colby Rasmus, and Brian Barton are contenders for one spot on the team. The mailbag writer, Matthew Leach, thought that Gonzalez was the front-runner a few days, but seems to think Barton may have a strong chance of grabbing that spot. I'm guessing he probably thinks Rasmus isn't quite ready yet to make his ML debut, even though he is one of the most highly-touted prospects in the Minors at this point.
    • Interesting news, to say the least, around the Majors.  :-)

    0 recs | Comment 32 comments

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    Re: News from around the league!
    These are interesting headlines.

    The LaRussa strategy warrants probabilistic investigation.  

    I don't really get the National League stuff, because I watch those games about as often as I watch pro bowling, but intuitively I don't like this design, because it seems to make it more likely that a starting pitcher will be pulled earlier for a pinch hitter; I assume that an optimal strategy would be to delay his exit, unless their bullpen is really awesome.  An NL starting pitcher is only going to get 2 or 3 ABs in a game, right?

    Seems to me that an even better strategy is to wield a lineup of better hitters.

    by jhon on Mar 10, 2008 6:58 PM EDT   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    Or get some better hitting pitchers. Seriously, what's with all the Mendozalineeans climbing the NL hills these days?

    by thevicar on Mar 10, 2008 8:06 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    Rick Ankiel is a good hitting pitcher.  Too bad he can't pitch.

    by jhon on Mar 10, 2008 8:06 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    As was Jason Marquis, while the Cardinals had him.  I love pitchers who can hit a little.  While I don't want CC to leave, if he should sign with a National League club it'd be interesting to see the kind of power numbers he posts.  

    by jhon on Mar 10, 2008 8:16 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    Don't worry, you won't see CC bat much, cuz he's gonna be wearin' pinstripes next - makes him look slimmer, don't ya know.
    "the most vehement Yankee-hating guy I know" - Jay

    by mauichuck on Mar 10, 2008 10:24 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    I've read that Ned Yost is considering doing the same thing in Milwaukee, batting the pitcher 8th & Jason Kendall 9th, because the pitcher is less likely to get on-base in front of him & thus Kendall should hit into fewer double plays (no, seriously).

    by zempf on Mar 10, 2008 9:08 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    Wow.  That logic begins to make sense, but then I wonder about the base-clogging effect.

    I still think this is acase where conventional wisdom happens to be correct.

    by jhon on Mar 11, 2008 1:34 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    The more I've thought about this, the more confused I am about this strategy.  It's complicated.  

    Over the course of a season, it will have effect of giving either more ABs to pitchers or taking away starters innings.  

    But how many innings?  What is the quality of those innings being lost, versus what their bullpens offer?

    How does this increase in workload affect the quality of the bullpen?  If one or two SP innings are lost per rotation cycle--which I think is a reasonable guess--that ammounts to ~50 IP in a season, or the work of a good reliever.

    Do starters benefit from the lighter workload? What is gained from the small increase in the percentage of PAs dedicated to pinch hitting?  Does this arrangement really lead to getting more guys on base in front of Pujols at all?  Is that inandof itself a good idea, or does it lead to Pujols getting pitched around more often?  Would it be better to bat him cleanup?

    I haven't solved this one yet, but I still think that one lineup spot will make all the difference in games.  A pitcher has to bat somewhere, but I'd want to delay his departure as long as possible.  Pretty much every manager in history agrees.

    by jhon on Mar 11, 2008 12:38 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    About the Tigers pitcher: yikes.

    by Voltaire on Mar 10, 2008 6:59 PM EDT   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    Has everyone seen Clayton Kershaw's curve?

    I could watch that all day.

    by mkwng on Mar 10, 2008 9:10 PM EDT   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    I could listen to Vin Scully all day long, too.

    by Ryan on Mar 10, 2008 10:13 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    "Public enemy number one!"

    by mkwng on Mar 10, 2008 10:21 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    I tried for 10 years.  Maybe I'd change my mind if I liked the Dodgers, but I never found the guy to either excite me or say anything earth-shatteringly insightful on a daily basis. Compared to the other Dodger voices, like Rick Monday, he's a god. But I'd still take Tom Hamilton 6 days a week and a doubleheader on Sunday.

    by Bogalusa Bomber on Mar 11, 2008 3:03 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    I think it's more the poetry of the language, his voice, and his demeanor.

    As my friend who I sent the clip to said, "Every pitch looks better when he's announcing it."

    by JulioBernazard on Mar 11, 2008 11:26 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    You're right, there is something poetic and mellifluous about his delivery.  It was probably just the Dodgers who bored me.

    by Bogalusa Bomber on Mar 11, 2008 12:35 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    For me it's not the Dodgers that I find boring, it's LA itself and, of course the Dodger fans.  They're the anathema to the old Brooklyn Dodger fan.
    "the most vehement Yankee-hating guy I know" - Jay

    by mauichuck on Mar 11, 2008 9:02 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    You're right too.  LA anesthetizes everybody after awhile.  Could be the weather and the traffic. Most of the passionate fans are out of towners anyway, and the locals lack urgency, until they start to smell a winner.  Then, everybody jumps on the bandwagon and jostles for camera time.

    by Bogalusa Bomber on Mar 12, 2008 3:27 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    Awesome - despite the rain.  Had some veal, a little vino, canoli's and expresso with my goomba's.  There's a house on Arthur just down from Fordam that's got the most awsome display of Guinea kichtz statuary I've ever seen - a Madonna, a 10-foot tall Jesus complete with illuminated heart, a huge plaster of Paris harp, at least 30 of these things in front of and at the side of the house.  It's lit up at night, just in case you missed it during the day time.  That alone was worth the trip.  I was a little pissed that I didn't bring my camera.  I'll try to get a picture next time and publish it.
    "the most vehement Yankee-hating guy I know" - Jay

    by mauichuck on Mar 12, 2008 10:26 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    I think Cliff's used to do that. I think. It's been a while since I've seen it.

    by supermarioelia on Mar 10, 2008 10:18 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    Have you seen our boy, Jeff Steven's curve ball? Equally wicked.

    by Toxicadam on Mar 11, 2008 1:03 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    Jeff Stevens' curve ball is so wicked that if the catcher misses it, it will turn completely around in mid air and hit the batter from behind.
    Free Andy Marte!

    Pronk Needs You

    by woodsmeister on Mar 11, 2008 9:03 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    I don't know where else to put this, but I feel for the second year in a row the Indians are a good betting proposition (to the extent that such a thing exists) in Vegas.  The over/under line has them at 88.5 wins.  For comparison, Boston and Detroit are both posted at 93.5 wins.

    by APV on Mar 10, 2008 9:54 PM EDT   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    I seem to remember someone last year saying that he put $50 on the Indians (to win the division or make the playoffs or whatever) at the beginning of the year & was using his winnings to buy playoff tickets. I'd love to do something like that, but have no idea where exactly one can place sports bets -- isn't that (technically, I realize, but I obviously don't know any bookies) only legal in Vegas?

    by zempf on Mar 10, 2008 11:07 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    www.tradesports.com - it's a bit of pain to fund your account now due to the patriot act, but the odds are much better than vegas and you can wager on just about anything you want at the drop of a hat.

    by ironmanatee on Mar 11, 2008 8:07 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7724

    Those (limited) stats for Tata are dreadful. He gave up 7 runs to the A's during the stretch run last year.

    Thanks for the help, Tata!

    by Toxicadam on Mar 11, 2008 1:04 AM EDT   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    Where have you gone, [next] Joe DiMaggio?

    What's with Baldelli?  What the hell is ATP, Chuck or Mario?

    by jhon on Mar 12, 2008 1:37 PM EDT   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    In short, ATP (adenosine triphosphateis) a form of energy produced by all living organisms. Produced by glycolysis in humans. It's what you need to function
    Burn on, big river, burn on...

    by Turkmenbashi on Mar 12, 2008 4:15 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    Thanks.  Where's that wikipedia link, smartguy?

    Actually, I'm in such a workday coma I can't even process a simple Wiki summary.

    by jhon on Mar 12, 2008 5:09 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

    Re: News from around the league!
    (I mean the above as raillery, you know. just so we're clear).

    This makes the Delmon trade harder to swallow.  I think they're going to rue that one big time, if they aren't already.  The breakout is coming.

    Which remainds me, every year I take a shot at making an all-star breakout list...

    by jhon on Mar 12, 2008 5:19 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

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