Tagged: royals
It’s Time To Fire Dayton Moore!/A New Home For Jeff Francoeur
- What Was Omar Minaya Thinking!
- Mariners trade SS Yuniesky Betancourt to the Royals for RHP Danny Cortes, and LHP Derrick Saito
Glavine The Complainer, And A Marathon
- When Will The Tom Glavine Drama End?
Tom Glavine is moaning that the Braves released him for purely financial reasons, and is demanding an apology. Sure there was some financial motivation, minor league salary over 5 million dollars. But who would you rather have, a 43-year old pitcher who’s averaging 82 mph on his fastball, or a 22-year old with a blazing fastball, and one of the top pitching prospects ever. The Braves have tried to cling to the past for too long, it’s time for Atlanta to move on.
- D-backs 9 Padres 6
A win is a win, or so it is said. A comfortable 5 run, traditional 9 inning win; is different from a 18 inning marathon, where you can’t score until you’re opponent has to bring in an infielder to pitch. Arizona better hope that their starter goes the distance tomorrow, or they’re in trouble.
- MLB Draft Notes
- Stephen Strasburg will break the bonus slot system
- The Padres are fools if they take Donovan Tate at number 3
- Redrafts Aaron Crow, and Tanner Scheppers will be top 10 selections
Early AL Cy Young Candidates
Today, I am going to examine the three leading candidates for the AL Cy Young Award, but first…
- Another Day, Another Mets Injury
This was the Mets’ lineup last night, Angel Pagan CF, Luis Castillo 2B, David Wright 3B, Gary Sheffield LF, Fernando Tatis 1B, , Fernando Martinez RF, Omir Santos C, Ramon Martinez SS, Livan Hernandez P. Besides Daniel Murphy getting the night off, starters Brian Schneider (C), Carlos Delgado (1B), Jose Reyes (SS), Ryan Church (RF), and the newest starter to go down, Carlos Beltran, (CF).
- Early American League Cy Young Candidates
- RHP Roy Halladay, Blue Jays
Halladay matches up almost completely with another Cy Young candidate, the Royals’ Zack Greinke. Halladay is tied with Greinke in Wins (8), Winning Percentage (.889), and Innings Pitched (75.0). However, Halladay is second in ERA, WHIP, Complete Games, and Shutouts, in all of which he is second to Greinke. Halladay has Cy Young caliber numbers, and if Greinke fell over the edge of the Earth, Halladay would win easily.
2. RHP Justin Verlander, Tigers
Just one year after leading the league in losses, Verlander has seemingly rediscovered his strikeout power that enabled him to be the 2006 AL Rookie Of The Year, and one of the top 5 pitchers in the AL in 2007. Verlander even has a flukily high BABIP (batting average on balls in play) working against him, and has surely contributed to his 3.55 ERA. Verlander’s strikeout numbers will appeal to the average awards voter, but right now, this race is between Halladay, and Greinke.
3. RHP Zack Greinke, Royals
What is there to say about Greinke? Through 10 starts he has an ERA under 1, he leads the majors in every major statistical category; if voting was today, he’d win the Cy Young easily, and maybe the MVP award as well.
Sombreros and Crowns
When a baseball player strikes out four times in a game, he is
said to wear a golden sombrero. Without further ado, I present the
two newest members of the golden sombrero club: Mr. Jeff Larish,
, and Mr. Jordan Schafer,
,
Mr. Larish struck out four times against the Royals, and Mr. Schafer struck out
four times against the Giants.
- Pitching Triple Crown
A pitcher unofficially wins the Triple Crown when he leads the
league in, wins, ERA, and strikeouts. However, including wins in the
Triple Crown is clearly unfair to pitchers on poor teams; though some pitchers,
like Steve Carlton in 1972 playing for the
59-97 Phillies, defied this rule. As an example that using wins is
unfair, I will use the 1984 season of Bert Blyleven, playing for the
75-87 Indians. In that season, had Blyleven received slightly more run
support, he would have won at least 22 games, and the win title. Wins
depend just as much on run support as they depend on pitching performance; a
poor pitcher can pitch five innings, give up seven runs, but still win because
their team scored eight runs; a good pitcher can throw a complete game, give up
one run, but still lose because their team was shut out. I believe that
innings pitched should be used in place of wins in the Triple Crown, durability
is a trait disappearing in pitchers, because of better bullpens, and the
constant babying of starters, let the workhorses be rewarded.
Interleague “Rivalry” Matchups
- Geographical Interleague “Rivalries”
I understand that MLB is trying to create local rivalries, and some, like the Subway Series, and the Windy City Series are actually interesting, but others, such as the Battle Of The Beltway, the Rays-Marlins Series, and the Rangers-Astros Series are ridiculously one-sided. For the 2010 season maybe MLB should try something different, perhaps Classic World Series matchups, like Red Sox-Cardinals, Twins-Braves, or Orioles-Pirates.
- Mets 3 Red Sox 2
What does it take for a injury-depleted team working with a two-man bench to beat one of the best closers in the game? Answer: A miracle
- Diamondbacks 8 A’s 7
This game turned out to be a thriller at the Oakland Coliseum, the D-backs scored four runs in the 8th inning on key hits by Eric Byrnes, and Chad Tracy, tying the score at 5-5. The game went into extra innings, and the D-backs appeared to seal the game when they scored 3 runs in the top of the 11th inning, but Oakland came back in the bottom half, scoring a pair of runs off D-backs closer Chad Qualls, and had runners at the corners with one out, when Jack Hannahan grounded into a double play to end the game. The Diamondbacks won their third straight, but are still 10 1/2 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West.
- Two More Interleague Shutouts
White Sox 4 Pirates 0
Painting The Black 