Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
On a cold rainy afternoon in the Bronx, Shawn Chacon returned to the rotation to work his low BABIP magic against the Orioles. Turning in his first solid start of the season, Chacon only threw 57 percent of 111 pitches for strikes over seven innings, struck out just three and walked just as many, but somehow managed to hold the O's to one run on four hits. That means that just four of the 22 balls in play fell for hits, a .182 BABIP.
The Yankee bats, meanwhile, plated single runs against Daniel Cabrera in the third and fourth (the first a lead-off walk by Robinson Cano, yes you read that right, that came around to score, the second a lead-off single by Alex Rodriguez that also came around to score), then broke the game open in the sixth. That inning started with a walk to Sheffield, a Rodriguez single, and Jason Giambi's third walk in as many trips. Hideki Matsui then cracked a bases-loaded double to plate Sheff and Rodriguez and drive Cabrera from the game. After John Halama came on and got Bernie Williams to ground out, Robinson Cano drew his second walk of the game (and the season!), Kelly Stinnett popped out, and Johnny Damon reached on an infield single to Tejada at short that plated Bubba Crosby, who had come on to run for Giambi perhaps because of the weather. Eddy Rodriguez then relieved Halama and started his day by walking Derek Jeter to force in another run.
And that was the ball game. Chacon, Farnsworth and Villone combined to hold the Orioles to a pair of singles (both off Farnsworth) over the remaining three innings and the Yanks won it 6-1.
Today they hope to find another break in the rain to play the rubber game of the series. Jorge Posada will make his second start behind the plate with Randy Johnson on the mound as Johnson looks to rebound from his awful start in Toronto last time out. Bruce Chen has similar things in mind as he was absolutely lit up by the Indians in his last turn, giving up eight runs on eight hits, two of them home runs, and three walks in four innings. Last year, Chen faced Johnson in the Bronx in his first start of the year and handled the Yankees well only to have his bullpen blow the game. After that, the Yankee had his number, dropping 18 runs on him in 10 2/3 innings across their final three meetings. Here's hoping that trend continues today.
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That is to say, last year's low BABIP is perhaps more likely a result of having 'em hit to fielders all year long than Chacon being such a great pitcher.
However, some pitchers do seem to have consistently low BABIP. Chacon may be one. I do know that BABIP is the subject of a lot of discussion, it's not at the "high OPS=good" stage.
I think most contend that pitchers do not have much control over the BABIP. So, if someone posts lower than average in that department, then that is considered good luck rather than skill. So, going forward, if a pitcher's numbers have been products of such good luck, they are generally expected to level out. But with Chacon's history, it might be a skill for him.
If a groundball pitcher has bad luck (or IF defense, if you may), it can literally kill his stats. The latest person to suffer from this is Kevin Brown, which has resulted in his retirement.
Just out of curiousity what play in high school did you get the lead in?
I think Giambi has a shot at MVP. He's not the talent that ARod is, but he steps up more in tough/clutch situations.
Poor Andy Phillips. I think he's so worried about making an impression, he seems to be in a continuous brain cramp. At least he got an RBI hit.
Now he's the sickest hitter in the game and should take the #3 spot so someone can drive in his freakish number of walks.
You're right! I never thought Giambi should go. In fact, if anything, I think playing Phillips is unfair to Giambi, certainly not unfair to Andy.
43 From what I've seen Phillips is an excellend defensive first baseman. As for his arm, he plays a solid 3B too, which should tell you all you need to know about his throwing.
Oh, and Giambi owns.
I Prefer Giambi 3rd and Shef 5th. This will give us a ton of base runners 1-3. Giambino must have an OBP around .500 by now!
62 Moving Giambi up in the order makes sense no matter how you slice it, therefore, Joe won't have any part of it.
Giambi at DH and Andy at first or
Shef at DH and Andy in RF (and occasionally in LF)?
I think Shef is slow to get to balls. I would prefer more speed in the OF, especially if we keep Shef next year.
That's because Joe is a players manager, meaning the players run the team. If Sheff doesn't want to move, send him to Washington and have Frank Robinson manage him. Sheff needs to understand how good he's got it and shut his trap. Giambi would give him more RBI opportunities, and that should be plenty to get him to move. It's not like Damon has been sitting out there for Sheff to drive in.
anyway, I'd rather see Phillips at first and Giambi at DH on any given day. And I really don't mind Giambi batting 5th.
Before today's game he was "only" batting:
.343/3 HR/13 RBI/.383 OBP and slugging right around his 3 year average.
Why should Torre make a change for the sake of making a change? If they can't win with that lineup then that's nobodies fault than their own. Not the manager.
Hey Cliff, at least I was right about 1 thing. Jete in the 2 hole is going to be huge for us. He can swing away more often, and we are seeing the result.
Hey Cliff, at least I was right about 1 thing. Jete in the 2 hole is going to be huge for us. He can swing away more often, and we are seeing the result.
93 Window seats- hilarious!
And gosh, Posada is slow. :)
That is probably a play that Jeter is no where near and it just looks like a clean single.
Or maybe they just want to give Wright some work...
Damon's out, though. Bubba's in.
RJ will go CG.
But it's probably going to be Wright.
So, this should put an end to the Randy/Jorge issue, no? I mean, like yankz said, take away Tejada and RJ's got a no-hitter.
Right smack into it.
Almost vaudevillian, that.
And I have to say, his leg injury from last year came to mind.
But he wouldn't let them put Bernie in, so I guess he's all right.
I think Matsui has the work ethic to make himself a pretty good 1B and it's possible that standing on the grass is easier on Giambi's back than standing on the infield and stepping on the bag. I also think it's possible that the switch would make both players fresher. Giambi has 112 career games in LF. Am I crazy? A LF gets 300 chances a year, a 1B gets 1200. Based on the durability of the players involved I think a switch makes sense.
Note - the stats don't show Giambi to be a bad first baseman but I think he looks a bit uncomfortable on a lot of in-between plays. Imagine if Giambi said he was willing to play the corner OF to give old Gary Sheffield a rest? Sheffield might freak out and hit .400/.500/.700 at DH in anger.
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