Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
On Friday we learned that the A's disappointing season has largely been the result of injuries and massive offensive outage. The A's then proceeded to sweep the Yankees, scoring an average of 5 2/3 runs per game.
Tonight the Yankees open a three-game series with the American League's second most disappointing team, the Cleveland Indians. So what's Cleveland's problem? It isn't injuries, only relief pitcher Matt Miller currently resides on the Tribe's disabled list. It isn't offense, the Indians have rivaled the Yankees for the major league lead in runs scored all year (both teams have scored 359 runs thus far, though the Indians have needed one more game to reach that total). What does that leave?
That's right, pitching. Only five teams in baseball have allowed more runs than the Indians, the Brewers and post-Mazzone Braves in the NL and the terrible trio of Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Kansas City in the AL. One reason for that is that in the AL only those three embarrassments and the major-league worst Twins have less efficient defenses than the Indians, who are in a very bad way on both sides of the ball at third (ol' buddy Aaron Boone) and second (the erratic Ronnie Belliard) and will be in right field as well as soon as Casey Blake's bat crashes back to earth.
Curiously, the fact that two of the Tribe's four infielders have had their gloves turn to stone hasn't had a tremendously negative effect on extreme groundballer Jake Westbrook, but extreme flyballer Cliff Lee has been having a rough go of it. Meanwhile, new addition Jason Johnson has doubled his groundball rate and seen just about every other number on his stat sheet (save for Ks and homers) shoot up as well.
C.C. Sabathia continues to progress toward being a true ace, and Bob Wickman continues to get the job done in the ninth, but elsewhere things are, if you'll pardon the term, thin. The three best bullpen ERA's after Wickman are Rafael Betancourt's 3.57, Jeremy Guthrie's 4.63 and Rafael Perez's 0.00, the last representing a single inning's work. Other than those four and Sabathia, the only man on the staff with an ERA under 5.00 is Jake Westbrook. Guillermo Mota has been a flat disaster, closer of the future Fernando Cabrera has struggled with wildness, and would-be fifth starters Fausto Carmona and Jason Davis have been just plain hittable.
Still, as bad as things might look, that offense counts for a lot. In fact, the Tribe's Pythagorean record is four games better than their actual mark and would rank them just a game and a half behind the Yankees in the East or all alone in first in the West. Cleveland has a supply of reinforcements in the minors. If things don't shape up soon, expect to see some of them in Cleveland as we approach the All-Star break and the trading deadline.
Paul Byrd, the other big pitching addition for 2006, will take the Yankee Stadium hill for the Tribe tonight. The Yankees handled Fraiser pretty well in last year's ALDS (though that fact was obscured by Randy Johnson's own failings in Game 3). That's reassuring as Byrd has settled down after a rough April to turn in quality starts in five of his last seven outings. Opposing him will be Chien-Ming Wang, who finally turned in a solid outing against the Red Sox in his last turn.
Cleveland Indians
2006 Record: 30-32 (.484)
2006 Pythagorean Record: 34-28 (.553)
Manager: Eric Wedge
General Manager: Mark Shapiro
Home Ballpark (2005 Park Factors): Jacobs Field (94/94)
Who's Replacing Whom?
Current Roster:
1B – Ben Broussard (L)
2B – Ron Belliard (R)
SS – Jhonny Peralta (R)
3B – Aaron Boone (R)
C – Victor Martinez (S)
RF – Casey Blake (R)
CF – Grady Sizemore (L)
LF – Jason Michaels (R)
DH – Travis Hafner (L)
Bench:
R – Eduardo Perez (1B)
L – Todd Hollandsworth (OF)
L – Ramon Vazquez (IF)
R – Tim Laker (C)
Rotation:
L – C.C. Sabathia
R – Jake Westbrook
R – Paul Byrd
R – Jason Johnson
L – Cliff Lee
Bullpen:
R – Bob Wickman
R – Rafael Betancourt
R – Fernando Cabrera
L - Rafael Perez
R – Guillermo Mota
R – Jeremy Guthrie
R - Fausto Carmona
Tyical Lineup:
L – Grady Sizemore (CF)
R – Jason Michaels (LF)
L – Travis Hafner (DH)
S – Victor Martinez (C)
L – Ben Broussard (1B)/R – Eduardo Perez (1B)
R – Jhonny Peralta (SS)
R – Casey Blake (RF)
R – Rafael Belliard (2B)
R – Aaron Boone (3B)
60-day DL: R - Matt Miller
"SCOTT ERICKSON, RHP: The best pitcher on the 1991 Yankees.
IF HE WERE A POP SONG HE'D BE: "The Witch Doctor," David Seville."
I can't decide which sentence is funnier, the first or the second.
http://tinyurl.com/n5fd9
YES did a re-design of the website. I think it looks a lot better, though the PB and the PBlog used to read easier IMHO.
Victor M. is looking at a caught stealing rate of .157% (8 of 43). I can't find the stats to see what the worst rates of all-time are, but that's pretty bad. For reference, only in Piazza's last season in NY did he have worse (.137% = 13/82). Even then, that's comparing a 36 yo C to a 27 yo C.
For whatever the reason, the Yanks should run early and often and especially tonight to test if it's a fluke. One more reason to see Kevin Thompson in the lineup.
Johnny Damon CF
Melky Cabrera LF
Derek Jeter SS
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jorge Posada C
Robinson Cano 2B
Bernie Williams DH
Andy Phillips 1B
Kevin Thompson RF
asdfasdfkja Extra asdkalksjdfsdf Innings akljasldkjfalskjdf
http://tinyurl.com/nkuwo
Does anyone know about the "dust up" that Paul Byrd and Bob Wickman had recently?
He did an amazing juggling act, though, and managed to grab it before it hit the ground.
He hit the wall running at full speed. I hope he's not hurt.
=====
The victory [Sunday] also provided some redemption for Bob Wickman, who allowed a pair of inherited runners to score before posting his ninth save. Wickman allowed two runs and took the loss Saturday in a 4-3, 11-inning defeat that led to a heated locker-room exchange between the closer and Tuesday's scheduled starter Paul Byrd (5-4, 5.15 ERA).
====
TANYON STURTZE, RHP: Some players are one-hit wonders. Others are one-month wonders. Sturtze was the most celebrated 30-day pitcher in major league history.
IF HE WERE A POP SONG HE'D BE: "Blame It On the Rain," Milli Vanilli.
At least Philly didn't GIDP. Or strike out. I think he's improving a bit.
Even worse than the idea last year of sending Giambi down.
And Melky was out.
Never mind, it's early yet...
The whole damn team is over-anxious.
When even ARod make a bad out, he seems so calm and collected. Take a lesson from O'Neil. Salm the watercooler! Choke the batboy! Pull damons hair!
Express some anger Alex! It's OK (we're pissed too).
That Tibet line IS hilarious.
70 Andy is great at 1B. I don't think anyone denies it. 3B is something else again. Defensive spectrum, and all that.
Also Trenton hit into a 5-4-3 triple play.
* Pitcher Change: Octavio Dotel replaces Sean Henn.
* Ed Rogers lines out to right fielder Mitch Jones.
* Fernando Tatis strikes out swinging.
* Andy Tracy singles on a line drive to right fielder Mitch Jones.
* Luis Terrero homers (6) on a fly ball to right field. Andy Tracy scores.
* Howie Clark doubles (8) on a line drive to left fielder Terrence Long.
* Keith Reed hit by pitch.
* Val Majewski flies out to center fielder Kevin Reese.
Double plus ungood (I thought Dotel was going to start off in Trenton? Maybe he should have!)
94 Due to Tropical Storm Alberto, Dotel and Crosby were flown to Columbus to play tonight. Too much rain in Tampa to play baseball.
ARod is regressing in front of our eyes. I fear by the end of this series, he might be wearing training pants.
Looks like Dotel has been pulled? His ERA is 18. o_O
And Bubba's now 0 for 3.
As far as A-Rod, does he really look that bad? What the hell is wrong with him? Does he have mad cow disease or that dreaded parasite from Tokyo (Kevin Brown-itis) or something?
Sox 0-2-0
Minn 0-2-0
Santana with 11 K's in 5 innings.
He needs to fire his life coach and head for Tibet. I don't think there is any Western philosophy that can help this poor guy.
Eric Duncan is at least hitting AA now - 1 for 2 with 1 BB tonight. Now at 6 for 19 since coming back with 2 HR's.
.393 / .485 / .536
Maybe we should bring him back... ;-)
How many 1-0 games have there been this year?
Tis a pretty rare event in this day and age.
11 hits total to boot.
Funny if we win this one 1:0, remember around this time last year when our pitcher struggle like hell and we finally got a 1:0 win? remember who was pitching? that's right, Wang.
It's interesting how Wang seem to have been stepping up huge many times when the teams need him since last year.
Wang was pretty good, too.
And in Columbus, Bubba Crosby has finally gotten a hit...
The summery was basically, Wang dominated the Indians, while Byrd struggled through the first few innings with a lot of free pass and hits, but the Yanks can't come through with the clutch.
Plays that stood out:
Melky running all the way across LF to catch the ball, then bang into the wall at full speed. He was wincing and holding his ribs for awhile afterward, but was apparently okay.
KT robbing what looked like an extra-base hit with a nice, running, leaping grab.
Wang getting out of trouble in the 6th, the way he usually does: GIDP.
Nothing original to add from me - just want to echo those of you who are sick of Yankee "fans" booing Yankees. If you hate these guys so much, then throw your red Yankees cap into a dumpster and stop going to games. Christ, do yourself and everyone else a favor.
If you subscribe to the baseball card theory (and, for the most part, I do), you know A-Rod's going to have a monster August-September. Just watch.
Bad month to be hated by the homeside; lots of home games at the Stadium in June.
Hopefully Joe won't hold it against him, either.
Has he been to the A-Rod school of hitting (or should I say not hitting)
Poor Phillips, too. Immediately following his error in the 9th, the YES guys went awkwardly silent as the camera showed him pulling an arrow out of his chest. He looked that distressed.
Wang was long. Mo was nasty. Farns was filthy, Myers a one-out wonder.
He'll shake it off.
Henn and Dotel; not so good their first night out.
In some ways, we should consider ourselves lucky. Ron Gardenhire seems to have Mr. Torre beat by a huge margin in bullpen mismanagement, as I understand things. (Nathan gets held out of tied games for the save that never comes; the loser in those games is often Crain - does this sound familiar?).
Nathan is far and away their best reliever - why did he only throw 1 inning? Sigh.
rally TWIN!!! PLZZZZZZZ
210 I would venture to say that you don't win 4 Seriouses in 5 years if you're "dumb". "As dumb if not dumber", is that what you really meant to say?
Gotta love the dome!
The best part of all of this is the Yanks are in first with a smorgasbord lineup. The Sux have everyone healthy expect Foulke. If they lost their LF and RF until September, we'd never hear the end of the whining and excuses. Good times all around - hopefully Andy and Gapper start again tomorrow.
"Can anyone explain to me why Papelbon pitched the 9h in a tie game? Did Tito forget we weren't playing at home?
I can't think of any reason why you waste Papelbon early in the game. He should have had the save tonight."
Is Joe Torre a member of SoSH? Actually, even Torre has given up on that philosophy (at least in a couple situations this year).
236 - truth is a constant...
But no, the Twins win, and the batter is a rookie named Jason Kubel.
Ah, baseball...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/14/sports/baseball/14pins.html
"After working out before the game, Johnson privately expressed doubts about making the start, which probably would have pushed Aaron Small into duty."
This is loud, its long, and its mean. I can't imagine what its like live.
Morons.
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