Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
For the second straight start, Phil Hughes allowed five runs in six innings despite allowing only four hits. In Anaheim last week it was because he walked five and Luis Vizcaino allowed both of Hughes' bequeathed runners to score. In Detroit yesterday, Hughes walked only one, but allowed three home runs which plated all five baserunners.
Only two of those homers were really Hughes' mistake, however, as Curtis Granderson led off the game by slicing a pitch down the line in left where Hideki Matsui made a vain attempt to make a running catch, allowing the ball to skip by him and ricochet into the roomy depths of Comerica Park's left field as Granderson came all the way around with an inside-the-park home run. The two-run homers by Carlos Guillen later that inning and Marcus Thames in the third, however, were simply a case of Hughes throwing a couple of fat fastballs right over the plate. Hughes, who allowed just six home runs in 275 career minor league innings, has now allowed five in 38 2/3 major league innings. Of course, Granderson's homer was a fluke, but those homers have called attention to the fact that the ground-ball tendencies Hughes showed in the minors (2.35 groundouts per flyout in his eight minor league starts this season) have decreased in the majors (0.84 GB/FB).
That last stat is a bit misleading, as Hughes has really been all over the map, showing strong groundball tendencies in his first two starts before his hamstring injury (2.14 GB/FB) as well as in his last start in Anaheim (3:1), but occasionally extreme fly ball tendencies in his other four big league starts, topping out with his 1:11 GB/FB ratio yesterday. It could be that Hughes has been a bit tentative since coming off the DL and isn't getting on top enough on his pitches to get them low enough in the zone (his splits before and after his DL stint are rather telling, with him posting a 0.61 GB/FB ratio since and the above 2.14 ratio before). Or, given his strong groundball rate in Anaheim, there could be something else going on. Either way, it bares watching as Hughes' dominance is tied to the fact that he keeps the ball in front of his outfielders.
As for the game, despite the fact that Detroit's rookie starter Jair Jurrjens (whose name, it turns out, is pronounced exactly like it's spelled) had to leave due to a sharp pain in his shoulder after giving up a solo home run to Jason Giambi with one out in the second inning, the Yankees couldn't overcome those five runs allowed by Hughes. Robinson Cano added a three-run dinger off emergency reliever Chad Durbin in the fourth, but over the last 4 2/3 innings Bobby Seay, Joel Zumaya, and Todd Jones held the Yanks to just an opposite-field Giambi single in the ninth.
And so the Yankees lost 5-4 and have to somehow win tonight's matchup between Mike Mussina and Justin Verlander to leave Detroit with a split.
We played like a Girl with a Watering Can last night, and I think we might be Buried by Time and Dust. Hopefully, when The Drapery Falls, we can all stop Sweating Bullets, and take a Champagne Bath.
Yankees = 90 wins
Seattle = 88 wins
Detroit = 88 or 89 wins
Besides double ee's over double tt's. We're using Delacroy System Statistics this year.
Feel better. Now sleep.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vLBFlGx2uLY
Also, I'm not worried about Phil at all. The young pitching in the organization has just been too good the past couple years for me not to trust that the people in charge will turn it around.
21 6 14 5.61 77
22 7 17 4.56 81
The first full seasons as starters by Maddux and Glavine. Relax about Hughes--he's 21 y.o. and he's been hurt this year. He'll take some lumps. He'll be fine.
I think with Hughes having been built up into a "Phil Hughes has no weaknesses" prospect, people were expecting Johan Santana of 2006 instead of Johan Santana of his first season etc.
The GB/FB issue does trouble me, but not on a long term level. It seems like the game planning has him only throwing 4 seamers and curve balls, and Hughes just doesn't seem to be able to confidently control them...
This game is probably a metaphor for the season: dig a big hole, and mount a comeback that fall just short.
And that Cano shot. Day-um! I lost the ball and was watching Granderson, so I figured it was an out to CF. 431'! Wowzaa.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/27/business/media/27rooney.html?ref=baseball
"The column drew immediate criticism in the blogosphere. One sports blog, www.foulballs.net, called Mr. Rooney a "senile idiot," while another, firejoemorgan.com, blasted both "the racism" and "the wrong-ness" of what he wrote. Mary Elson, managing editor for Tribune Media Services, said Mr. Rooney's editor did not think the comment touched Imus territory. "We try to give our columnists a great deal of latitude. This just wasn't considered going over the line," she said."
Hughes said after the game that with Guillen he was just trying to get a second strike with a fastball and made a fat pitch as a result. With Thames he said that despite Thames reputation as a good fastball hitter, he didn't appear to do well against his fastball in his first at-bat (four swings: miss, foul, foul, miss = K), so he tried to throw one by him on 0-1 the second time up, but he didn't miss that one.
so long.
while the wild card is technically still a possibility, they're going to need to start winning series again. soon. the clock is ticking.
go get 'em, boys.
I am however concerned that if we don't get three out of the next four, the season's going to slip away from us. If we get five back of Seattle in the L column this late, it will take an unbelievable run or a collapse. Given that Moose pitches against Verlander today, and the Sux are rolling, three out of the next four seems a difficult task. Here's hoping an extended offensive outburst is on the way...
The past couple of 'years'...? Who, Wang? That's the only guy I can think of who's come through our system in he past couple of 'years'.
And being from Taiwan, he doesn't really count!
I think they still have a very good shot at the WC, but the division doesn't look promising at all. The Angels and Mariners will beat each other up a little or one will take control. The Tigers and Indians the same. I am looking forward to this last month.
Still, he's the only decent starter out of our system who's spent any significant time in the majors (with the Yankees, anyway) since, well, Andy Pettitte.
I certainly hope Hughes & Joba amend that, though.
Man, people really are panicking about the WC. Stop and take a deep breath. The Yankees are two (2, two) games back in the WC, though three (!!!) in the loss column. The Angels and Seattle play each other seven times. The Yankees play the Mariners three times. If the Mariners continue to win every game they play, they will knock the Angels out of the playoffs. Thye will not continue to win every game (as in, they just lost two to Texas).
See above, 21 .
There has been much hand-wringing on various Yankees' sites about Hughes performance, with some commenting on how the team has 'babied' its young pitchers. We tend to focus on innings or CG when comparing pitchers in different eras, but has anyone charted pitch totals for starters in different era?
Is this the horrible, racist thing he said?
There are indeed many latino players in MLB, especially compared to 25 years ago.
We are getting VERY 'sensitive' as a society. I see ethnic comedians making fun of their own ethnicity, and people in the audience are crying with laughter.
It seems to me that ANYTHING that is said that references a persons race/ethnicity is up for being considered racist.
Remember when Dusty said he thought black players tolerated the heat better? He, a black man, was questioned as being as racist.
Aren't people who originate from hot climates black, as a natural, evolutionary defense against the sun?
I don't get it. There is still REAL racism in this world. Real hatred. People who honestly want other people dead or gone. Why are we so focused on such innocuous statements? Is this to avoid a real dialog about real racism?
Then we can panic (or not).
actually, if i recall a lecture i attended last year correctly, an argument has been made that the melanin that carries pigmentation can block certain UV rays that would be harmful to pregnancy.
It's not something to hang him for, but it reinforces many peoples' belief that Andy Rooney isn't relative to any kind of conversation these days.
It's not overt racism by any means, but it's just as there.
The racism that makes a difference is from people who effect policy and hold a strong influence on a large segment of public opinion, who are therefore held to a standard of responsibility. If anything, we should be getting on advertisers and network programmers who promote sexist or racist images in segmented neighborhoods (proliferation of alcohol ads featuring sexually suggestive models located in minority neighborhoods) or the subliminal suggestion that minority environments or minority citizens either endure or are largely involved in crime (everyday evening news).
Andy Rooney has as much authority on various opinions as those people who rant on call-in radio shows, only he's able to do it on TV and most people at least chuckle. I say, let that pass; otherwise you give him more veracity than he deserves.
However, that study may well be correct. Mother Nature is very complex is her design. Possibly some climates don't have enough sun to cross that threshold, but some do... so it is yet another marvelous environmental/evolutionary protection.
However #2: There is still so much we don't know. Since we have recently 'broken' the gene, we will be learning lots of interesting new things soon. Based on what we observe and know now, you can't always make a definitive statement. At the same time, you can't necessarily rule out said definitive statement.
29 I will confess, that as a Jew, I probably take a little more pride in the accomplishments of Israel, and Jews throughout history, then I do other cultures, and non-Jews.
Does this make me a racist?
Does 'rooting' for your 'own tribe' make you racist?
Does prefering the company of your 'own tribe' make you racist?
Is is possible that these feelings are evolutionary/instinctual, and simply part of the grand design?
How about this:
Hughes sucks. His velocity is down. I say he's a bust.
As for the team's prospects, against the Angels they performed about how I expected them too. Look the Mariners had Minnesota and Texas, and we had the Angels and Tigers. You have to expect the possibility of dropping a game or two in the standings. As for the Red Sox, well I think I could single handedly beat the ChiSox right now. Lets see how they are after the Sox/D-Rays series.
my only point was only that dusty baker's theory wasn't supported by at least a portion of the scientific community. the selection pressure is believed to be on the success rate of pregnancies, as opposed to exposure to heat. (but i'm sure that there could be another study that stands in exact opposition to this... that can happen.)
i didn't mean for that to be taken as scientific fact, though. just a theory.
The gist of it, is that Kay pointed out how much lower Wang's ERA was out of the windup versus the stretch. Whereas any idiot can see the only earned runs Wang can give up out of the windup are solo home runs. Sooo...Kay basically pointed out that Wang gives up way fewer runs on solo HRs than all other methods combined. Who woulda thunk?
He's no Jeff Karstens, that's for sure. But he definitely needs a better pitching coach than Gator, IMO.
Maybe it's true.
Maybe it's not.
Maybe Dusty was 'right'.
Maybe Dusty was 'wrong'.
My point is: WHO CARES?
My real point is that whether he is wrong or right (whatever that is), why does taking one of those 2 positions make him (or anyone else) a racist?
Hughes will be a #1 or #2. His velocity is fine for his age and situation. I say he's a big part of our future.
Hughes will be fine. The first homer I'll put down to Matsui not being a particularly good fielder. He gave up four hits, one walk, and had six strikeouts in six innings. Really, just two bad pitches. Not the first guy to do it, and won't be the last.
Seattle lost last night. So the end is just a little nearer...
or a little farther...
depending on how Seattle plays from here on out...
or how the Yankees play from here on out...
or maybe a combination of both...
Jeez... I can't figure this stuff out.
Can someone who knows help me out?
Will the Yankees make the PS?
"Sliding headfirst is both dangerous (broken fingers, jammed shoulders, etc) and inefficient. The sooner Melky Cabrera stops, the better off he and and the Yankees will be.
"Strangle him," Joe Torre said with a laugh when asked what he could do to get Melky to stop. Well, I think it was a laugh.
Anyone notice that, especially on stolen bases, both Jetes and ARod almost always go into 2nd head-first?
I do wish they would stop. Aside from being more dangerous to them, sliding feet first is more dangerous to the defender.
I compare it to Asian player recruitment because the bottom line is that these players don't come from within the country's borders and they're not drafted out of a school.
For the most part, anyway.
So what? What's where they're drafted from have anything to do with their development? The draft is not the only way players are developed, and the draft isn't really all that dominant anyway (anyone got the numbers?). I mean, if Pettite's the only drafted pitcher the Yanks have brought up recently, well fine, but same goes for Jeter vs Mo, Po, Bernie, Melky, Cano, etc. I guess your point is that "normal" development is a guy taken from the draft, but i don't think that's a worthwhile definition of 'normal' because the counterexample is so frequent.
Bases empty: .260/.316/.362
Men on base: .294/.340/.408
Some difference, but definitely not a 'uge one.
Even more to the point, perhaps: of course Wang pitches better from the windup than from the stretch. Almost all pitchers do; otherwise, why would they use the windup at all? Also, infield defense is more constrained with men on base, which means more base hits.
Sliding serves two purposes:
1) avoiding a tag
2) rapidly decreasing momentum so as to keep players from overrunning second or third base
When you don't need to do either of those things, keep running.
As for head-first vs. feet-first: walking is really a perpetual fall, you tip your center of gravity forward then move your feet to prevent your fall. Running is a more extreme version of the same, you lean forward even further to achieve greater speed. Thus, sliding head first makes the most sense in terms of speed as your upper body is already out ahead of your feet, but poses greater injury risk. In terms of avoiding a tag, however, feet first might work best as you can see the play unfold in front of you better and can employ the old hook slides that Joe DiMaggio, for one, did so ingeniously. Sliding feet first also sends you spikes first into the defender, which can also be to your advantage. At second or third base, either is fine, it depends on the tag and the runner. Sliding into home, however, should always be feet first as you're usually sliding into a heavily armored catcher and there's less risk of injury going feet first.
In regards to the Asian w/ Latin recruit and develop, I'm under the impression that there are more barriers to direct recruitment on the Pacific Rim versus Central/South America (not South-Central) and the Caribbean. Both hold baseball in very high regard, but one is more "regimented" than the other perhaps politically, with more obligations socially (perhaps? I'm treading lightly here since it's not my forte) than the other. From a MLB team standpoint, it's much easier to recruit players in Venezuela or the D.R. as opposed to Japan or Korea and even Taiwan to an extent.
What's interesting to me is that there is a concerted effort by some involved in baseball to explore other countries that are certainly not traditional hotbeds for baseball talent (Minaya & Co.'s trip to Ghana, Cashman's foray into Mainland China for example) and plant seeds for development. If baseball were to truly develop into a global sport like soccer without either diluting the talent or interest during my lifetime, I'd be a heppy ket >;)
This analogy has always seemed a little silly to me (even for Michael Kay) because even if sliding got you there faster wouldn't the sprinters be unable to break the finish line tape? Not to mention the injuries that would result from a sprinter diving and sliding down the track.
But the other problem is that sliding on a track would hurt!
The one thing I could see you arguing is that players like Soriano, who played professionally in Japan before signing with us might be a bit different. Still, that's even a stretch.
61 I think, save Japan per above, that it's more of a lack of talent/interest/baseball infrastructure on the pac rim vs Latin America, not so much barriers.
The difference between sliding into 2nd/3rd and sliding across the finish line in track is that in track, you don't have to stop. It would be stupid to slide across the finish line because you'd get there quicker if you just kept running.
Sliding into 2nd/3rd only gets you there faster than running because you have to stop on the bag. It's easier to stop your body from a slide (by grabbing the base) than running to a dead stop. MythBusters did a great analysis of this on one of their recent shows (featuring Roger Clemens).
As to sliding head first/feet first, I have nothing new.
Now, for baserunning that's useless because you don't get called safe for diving over the bag, and for sprinting, well, you'd likely land on your head, on concrete.
Sometimes kids can dominate at that age; more often, there's a whole new learning curve once they get to the majors. That's why Earl Weaver saw long relief as the correct place to break in rookies.
I think the unrealistic expectations go beyond Hughes - and Chamberlain's instant (if limited) success probably hasn't helped. Here's one prediction I'll make, and you can hold me to it: out of Hughes, Chamberlain, Kennedy and Horne, at least one will take a substantial step backwards within the next year or two. I don't know if it will be injury, or running into a first slump and having trouble regaining command, or just getting clobbered for a stretch - but development rarely happens in a straight line, especially not with 4 young pitchers (cf. Van Poppell, Peters, Zancanaro, Dressendorfer).
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