- 24,925
- 12,715
- Joined
- May 30, 2006
And they had leads in the bottom of the ninth in two of the three losses. Just a crazy hot start to the season.
2016 MLB thread. THE CUBS HAVE BROKEN THE CURSE! Chicago Cubs are your 2016 World Series champions
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by proshares,
- Start date
- Status
- 2,343
- 28
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2010
Originally Posted by JumpmanFromDaBay
Rangers at 13-3
Tigers still have no answer for them either
- 2,343
- 28
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2010
Originally Posted by JumpmanFromDaBay
Rangers at 13-3
Tigers still have no answer for them either
- 10,205
- 3,278
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2001
I said this after the cards won.........if the rangers make it back, i hope they win. they truely deserve it. (unless its against the cardinals,
)
- 10,205
- 3,278
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2001
I said this after the cards won.........if the rangers make it back, i hope they win. they truely deserve it. (unless its against the cardinals,
)
- 10,205
- 3,278
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2001
I said this after the cards won.........if the rangers make it back, i hope they win. they truely deserve it. (unless its against the cardinals,
)
- 2,343
- 28
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2010
Originally Posted by pacmagic2002
I said this after the cards won.........if the rangers make it back, i hope they win. they truely deserve it. (unless its against the cardinals,)
The Rangers are playing possessed right now and have something to prove. The real question is can they keep it up all season and remain healthy. I expect the Tigers & Rangers to battle it out for the ALCS again, but hopefully this time with a different outcome.
- 2,343
- 28
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2010
Originally Posted by pacmagic2002
I said this after the cards won.........if the rangers make it back, i hope they win. they truely deserve it. (unless its against the cardinals,)
The Rangers are playing possessed right now and have something to prove. The real question is can they keep it up all season and remain healthy. I expect the Tigers & Rangers to battle it out for the ALCS again, but hopefully this time with a different outcome.
- 11,588
- 837
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2005
Josh Hamilton is just too good.
- 11,588
- 837
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2005
Josh Hamilton is just too good.
- 6,459
- 1,841
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2008
Cody Ross' bat flip
- 6,459
- 1,841
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2008
Cody Ross' bat flip
Tigers and Rays reverse roles.
The effect of unbalanced schedules.
Blame shouldn't lie with Valentine.
Bartolo Colon could become trade target.
Yankees' top prospects show promise.
Spoiler [+]
The Detroit Tigers have a top-heavy offense that is capable of producing big innings, and they demonstrated that ability in the opening weekend of the season by posting 23 runs in two games against the Boston Red Sox. But while the Tigers are off to a 10-6 start that has seen them ranked in the top four of the ESPN.com Power Rankings in each of the first four weeks -- including second this week -- their pitching, not their hitting, has been responsible for the bulk of their success.
Since that opening series against Boston, Detroit has averaged just 3.38 runs per game. Detroit's team wOBA of .304 ranks just 21st in baseball despite strong starts from Alex Avila, Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Austin Jackson. The team has received almost zero offensive production from its second-base triumvirate of Brandon Inge, Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago, and shortstop Jhonny Peralta is slumping as well.
The Tigers also are receiving very little from the two players who surround Cabrera and Fielder in Brennan Boesch and Delmon Young. Boesch, in particular, has struggled mightily out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup. Although he homered Sunday, he was just 1-for-5, and his .538 OPS is among the worst in baseball among qualifiers.
Fortunately, the pitching, led by the Teflon-like Justin Verlander, has been stalwart.
One of the most discussed topics this past winter was that as good as Verlander was in 2011, there was just no way he could duplicate the feat in 2012. So far, he seems to be on a mission to again prove doubters wrong. Last season, he didn't generate a FIP better than 1.94 in any month, and his FIP after April 2011 was 3.76. Right now, with one start left this month, his FIP stands at 1.83, and the 1.4 WAR he already has generated is bested only by Matt Kemp and Chase Headley.
Verlander is not the only Tigers pitcher doing well, though. Drew Smyly has allowed just three runs in 16 innings, and he did so against three good offenses in the Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers. Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer have suffered some bad home run and BABIP luck, but their xFIPs point to brighter days on the horizon. (Those days might start this week with the Seattle Mariners coming to Comerica Park.)
There is no mistaking the dominance of Detroit's bullpen thus far, though. The top four arms -- Joaquin Benoit, Phil Coke, Octavio Dotel and Jose Valverde -- have been lights-out. Benoit and Valverde haven't had the crispest control, but they aren't allowing runners to score. None of them has a FIP higher than 3.63, and the fearsome foursome fired four scoreless innings in Sunday's series-finale loss to Texas. As a staff, the Tigers have the eighth-best FIP in the game at 3.46, and that's without any contributions from Doug Fister and Al Alburquerque, both of whom were major components to Detroit's success last season.
On the other side of the coin are the Tampa Bay pitchers, who were supposed to be whittling opponents' bats into neat little piles of kindling. The team is off to a decent start and placed eighth in the rankings for a second straight week, but not in the way the blueprint was drawn up. The Rays' rotation is so stacked that it didn't have room for Wade Davis, who was ranked 15th in Keith Law's prospect rankings just two years ago.
But while Davis has pitched well out of the 'pen, and Jeff Niemann and James Shields have been solid as well, the Rays' starters are struggling three days out of five. Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore and David Price do not have an xFIP better than 4.54. All three have had control issues -- Hellickson and Moore have walked more batters than they have struck out, and Price has struck out only two more than he has walked. For a trio that collectively struck out more than three batters for every one it walked last season, this is a break from character. The results are ugly. The staff's ERA, FIP and xFIP rank 27th, 26th and dead last in the majors, respectively.
Fortunately, the hitters have responded. The offense is averaging .39 more runs per game than last season in the early going, and three Rays -- Carlos Pena, Matt Joyce and Evan Longoria -- are in the top 30 in baseball in wOBA. At a .381 clip himself, Luke Scott has been a great pickup.
The Rays also saw B.J. Upton return this weekend, and his career .342 OBP and efficient base stealing are welcome additions at the top of the lineup. With Upton back, the Rays no longer need to regularly play the offensively challenged Jeff Keppinger, as they can slide Ben Zobrist back to second base.
The things we think we know change quickly as the season progresses. Few would have pegged the Tigers' pitching as the unit that would be carrying the water for them this season, and even fewer would have pegged the Tampa Bay staff as the worst in the majors.
It is early, so these things likely will continue to change. Boesch and the other struggling Tigers hitters are unlikely to be so dreadful all season, and the same goes for Hellickson, Moore and Price. But the hallmark of a good team is that others pick up the slack when those expected to do well are struggling, and that is what is happening right now for the Tigers and Rays.
Paul Swydan covers baseball for ESPN Insider. He has been writing about baseball for various publications since 2005, and can most frequently be found writing for FanGraphs. You can find his ESPN archives here, and follow him on Twitter here.
Since that opening series against Boston, Detroit has averaged just 3.38 runs per game. Detroit's team wOBA of .304 ranks just 21st in baseball despite strong starts from Alex Avila, Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Austin Jackson. The team has received almost zero offensive production from its second-base triumvirate of Brandon Inge, Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago, and shortstop Jhonny Peralta is slumping as well.
The Tigers also are receiving very little from the two players who surround Cabrera and Fielder in Brennan Boesch and Delmon Young. Boesch, in particular, has struggled mightily out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup. Although he homered Sunday, he was just 1-for-5, and his .538 OPS is among the worst in baseball among qualifiers.
Fortunately, the pitching, led by the Teflon-like Justin Verlander, has been stalwart.
One of the most discussed topics this past winter was that as good as Verlander was in 2011, there was just no way he could duplicate the feat in 2012. So far, he seems to be on a mission to again prove doubters wrong. Last season, he didn't generate a FIP better than 1.94 in any month, and his FIP after April 2011 was 3.76. Right now, with one start left this month, his FIP stands at 1.83, and the 1.4 WAR he already has generated is bested only by Matt Kemp and Chase Headley.
Verlander is not the only Tigers pitcher doing well, though. Drew Smyly has allowed just three runs in 16 innings, and he did so against three good offenses in the Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers. Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer have suffered some bad home run and BABIP luck, but their xFIPs point to brighter days on the horizon. (Those days might start this week with the Seattle Mariners coming to Comerica Park.)
There is no mistaking the dominance of Detroit's bullpen thus far, though. The top four arms -- Joaquin Benoit, Phil Coke, Octavio Dotel and Jose Valverde -- have been lights-out. Benoit and Valverde haven't had the crispest control, but they aren't allowing runners to score. None of them has a FIP higher than 3.63, and the fearsome foursome fired four scoreless innings in Sunday's series-finale loss to Texas. As a staff, the Tigers have the eighth-best FIP in the game at 3.46, and that's without any contributions from Doug Fister and Al Alburquerque, both of whom were major components to Detroit's success last season.
On the other side of the coin are the Tampa Bay pitchers, who were supposed to be whittling opponents' bats into neat little piles of kindling. The team is off to a decent start and placed eighth in the rankings for a second straight week, but not in the way the blueprint was drawn up. The Rays' rotation is so stacked that it didn't have room for Wade Davis, who was ranked 15th in Keith Law's prospect rankings just two years ago.
But while Davis has pitched well out of the 'pen, and Jeff Niemann and James Shields have been solid as well, the Rays' starters are struggling three days out of five. Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore and David Price do not have an xFIP better than 4.54. All three have had control issues -- Hellickson and Moore have walked more batters than they have struck out, and Price has struck out only two more than he has walked. For a trio that collectively struck out more than three batters for every one it walked last season, this is a break from character. The results are ugly. The staff's ERA, FIP and xFIP rank 27th, 26th and dead last in the majors, respectively.
Fortunately, the hitters have responded. The offense is averaging .39 more runs per game than last season in the early going, and three Rays -- Carlos Pena, Matt Joyce and Evan Longoria -- are in the top 30 in baseball in wOBA. At a .381 clip himself, Luke Scott has been a great pickup.
The Rays also saw B.J. Upton return this weekend, and his career .342 OBP and efficient base stealing are welcome additions at the top of the lineup. With Upton back, the Rays no longer need to regularly play the offensively challenged Jeff Keppinger, as they can slide Ben Zobrist back to second base.
The things we think we know change quickly as the season progresses. Few would have pegged the Tigers' pitching as the unit that would be carrying the water for them this season, and even fewer would have pegged the Tampa Bay staff as the worst in the majors.
It is early, so these things likely will continue to change. Boesch and the other struggling Tigers hitters are unlikely to be so dreadful all season, and the same goes for Hellickson, Moore and Price. But the hallmark of a good team is that others pick up the slack when those expected to do well are struggling, and that is what is happening right now for the Tigers and Rays.
Paul Swydan covers baseball for ESPN Insider. He has been writing about baseball for various publications since 2005, and can most frequently be found writing for FanGraphs. You can find his ESPN archives here, and follow him on Twitter here.
The effect of unbalanced schedules.
Spoiler [+]
An argument against the balanced schedule is that it would require more miles in the air -- more travel time.
[h4]Baseball's unbalanced schedules[/h4]
The number of games each team played against .500 clubs last season, inlcuding records and winning percentage (data courtesy of baseball-reference.com).
[table][tr][th=""]
Team
[/th][th=""]
G
[/th][th=""]
W
[/th][th=""]
L
[/th][th=""]
W-L%
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
BAL
[/td][td]
103
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
65
[/td][td]
0.369
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
OAK
[/td][td]
94
[/td][td]
43
[/td][td]
51
[/td][td]
0.457
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
SEA
[/td][td]
91
[/td][td]
34
[/td][td]
57
[/td][td]
0.374
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
TOR
[/td][td]
89
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
51
[/td][td]
0.427
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
COL
[/td][td]
88
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
58
[/td][td]
0.341
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
SDP
[/td][td]
85
[/td][td]
31
[/td][td]
54
[/td][td]
0.365
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
TBR
[/td][td]
84
[/td][td]
46
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.548
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
BOS
[/td][td]
84
[/td][td]
46
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.548
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
NYY
[/td][td]
82
[/td][td]
44
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.537
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
NYM
[/td][td]
82
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
44
[/td][td]
0.463
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
FLA
[/td][td]
82
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
54
[/td][td]
0.341
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
MIN
[/td][td]
81
[/td][td]
25
[/td][td]
56
[/td][td]
0.309
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
HOU
[/td][td]
80
[/td][td]
24
[/td][td]
56
[/td][td]
0.300
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CIN
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
36
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
0.493
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CHC
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
43
[/td][td]
0.411
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
KCR
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
43
[/td][td]
0.411
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CLE
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
26
[/td][td]
47
[/td][td]
0.356
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
TEX
[/td][td]
72
[/td][td]
35
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
0.486
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
WSN
[/td][td]
72
[/td][td]
35
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
0.486
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
PIT
[/td][td]
72
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
44
[/td][td]
0.389
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
LAD
[/td][td]
71
[/td][td]
33
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.465
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
LAA
[/td][td]
70
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.457
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CHW
[/td][td]
69
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
41
[/td][td]
0.406
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
SFG
[/td][td]
66
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
34
[/td][td]
0.485
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
ARI
[/td][td]
64
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
0.500
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
PHI
[/td][td]
62
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
25
[/td][td]
0.597
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
MIL
[/td][td]
61
[/td][td]
27
[/td][td]
34
[/td][td]
0.443
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
STL
[/td][td]
60
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
0.500
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
ATL
[/td][td]
60
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
0.467
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
DET
[/td][td]
51
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
23
[/td][td]
0.549
[/td][/tr][/table]
The Seattle Mariners, already stuck out in baseball's outpost in Seattle, would have to make multiple trips every year to Tampa Bay, Baltimore, New York and Boston, rather than having more games in the Pacific time zone.
But the argument for the balanced schedule is pretty compelling, because the unbalanced schedule is indisputably unfair.
How unfair? Well, imagine how the odds for a horse at the Kentucky Derby would change if Shaquille O'Neal was the jockey.
Last year, the Baltimore Orioles played 103 games against teams with records of .500 or better -- nine more than any other team and more than twice than the Detroit Tigers, who played only 51 games against teams with records of .500 or better (see chart).
The Tigers went 28-23 in games against teams with records of .500 or better, a winning percentage in line with how the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays all fared. The Texas Rangers finished below .500 in games against teams with records of .500 or better.
But Texas -- which had significantly fewer games against the .500-or-better teams than the AL East clubs -- wrecked the bad teams, going 61-29. The Tigers separated themselves by going 67-44 against the sub-.500 teams.
Detroit had more victories against sub-.500 teams than the total number of games the Orioles got to play against sub-.500 teams.
Heck, that's like putting Shaq, Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum on the same Derby horse.
And the unbalanced schedule is apparently going to get just a little more unbalanced. Next season, when the Houston Astros shift from the NL Central to the AL West and the two leagues each have 15 teams and five-team divisions, teams are expected to play 19 games against each of the teams in their own division.
For the Orioles, and some other teams, the mountaintop will get higher.
[h3]Red Sox use Bard in bullpen[/h3]
The Red Sox's losing streak ended, and Daniel Bard kicked in some help out of the bullpen.
For a day, all is well. But folks who have been with the Red Sox understand that there is significant risk involved if the team doesn't restore Bard to the starter's role, and even more if the right-hander is jerked around, from the rotation to the bullpen and back.
Remember Bard's history. He was a No. 1 pick in 2006, and at the time the selection was regarded as something of a coup for the Red Sox. But in 2007, Bard's first year in professional baseball, he had a really difficult season, posting 78 walks in 75 innings, with 27 wild pitches and eight hit batsmen.
There was great concern that Bard had acquired what is referred to in baseball as "The Thing" -- the chronic, mystifying wildness that ended the pitching careers of Steve Blass, Rick Ankiel and others.
Bard is regarded as an extremely intelligent, conscientious and thoughtful person, and he worked hard, on his mechanics and his psyche. He was sent to the Hawaiian League after the 2007 season to transition to bullpen and work with pitching coach Mike Cather. Bard and Cather tweaked mechanics -- staying over the rubber longer -- but the greatest adjustment was mental.
Bard developed a mound alter ego as a mechanism to be more aggressive and meaner as a pitcher, a departure from his off-field personality. The big breakthrough came in a game in Hawaii, when others in the organization thought he recognized the fear his stuff creates. Lots of strikes followed, and he rocketed to the big leagues.
It is largely because of his ability to make those physical and mental adjustments that the Red Sox came to believe Bard would be successful in transitioning from reliever to starter this spring -- and through his performance, front-office officials came to believe that Bard had earned that right to start. He has been more effective than some of the other Red Sox starters so far this season.
There is significant financial incentive for Bard to become a starter, of course, but even if this wasn't the case, he'd have every reason to feel like he should be in the rotation.
Moving Bard to the bullpen is like slapping a Band-Aid on a shark bite; Boston's pitching problems cannot be solved by one move. And as one rival executive who is aware of Bard's history noted Monday, it's important to be sensitive to his journey.
"The Thing is not something that ever really goes away," the executive said. "Some players overcome it and become great. But it's there."
Bard was told at the end of spring training that he is a starter. GM Ben Cherington said this again about 10 days ago, and this was the message to the right-hander Monday. This is not a course from which the Red Sox should deviate.
The Bard move to the bullpen will serve to cause only trouble, writes Michael Silverman. Bard views himself as a starter, writes Nick Cafardo.
Meanwhile, Bobby Valentine denied that there was an incident involving he and Mike Aviles in spring training.
Valentine offered some comic relief.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• Yes, the Rays will probably continue to monitor the catching market during the course of the season. But remember, their standard for improvement is pretty low. The Rays' catchers ranked 27th in OPS in 2011, so there is a reasonable expectation that there can be improvement without a major investment in an upgrade.
While Tampa Bay could theoretically chase more expensive (and available) catchers like Kurt Suzuki, historically, the Rays save their dollars for pitching. Suzuki is owed about $12 million through the end of next season.
• Batting eighth in a National League lineup has its own special challenges because of the presence of the pitcher. But A.J. Ellis, the Dodgers' No. 8 hitter, has drawn 11 walks so far this year, and his average of about 4.8 pitches per plate appearance ranks No. 1 in the NL.
• Jake Peavy has always been a full-bore competitor: hard, harder, hardest. But there has been a distinct change in his style this year, never more evident than in his outing Monday night.
From ESPN Stats & Info, how Peavy pitched his third shutout since 2005:
[h4]A slower Peavy[/h4]
Most outs in one game on off-speed pitches by Jake Peavy (since 2009).
[table][tr][th=""]
Date
[/th][th=""]
Outs
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
6/19/10
[/td][td]
17
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Monday
[/td][td]
16<<
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
8/26/11
[/td][td]
16
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
5/8/10
[/td][td]
15
[/td][/tr][tr][td]>>CG SHO, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K[/td][/tr][/table]
A. Peavy used his fastball to set up counts, throwing 43 of his 56 fastballs in the first two pitches of at-bats. After that, he primarily used his three off-speed pitches to generate outs. The Oakland Athletics were just 1-for-17 against Peavy's off-speed stuff, with three strikeouts and no walks. It's just the third time since 2009 that Peavy has gotten more than 15 outs on his off-speed pitches (see chart).
B. 54 percent of Peavy's pitches to lefties were fastballs, the highest percentage of fastballs to lefties in a start for Peavy since May 30, 2010.
C. 54 of his 79 pitches to lefties were on the outer third of the plate, tied for the most outside pitches Peavy has thrown to LHB since 2009. Lefties did not record a single hit against Peavy on an outside pitch all night.
Peavy recorded his sixth career shutout against the A's and his first against any team since May 18 of last season.
• The Atlanta Braves shipped Jair Jurrjens to the minors.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. The Indians activated Asdrubal Cabrera.
2. The Chicago Cubs cut a pitcher to make room for Michael Bowden.
3. The Rays are working out a deal with Hideki Matsui. Matsui will serve as Triple-A depth for Tampa Bay. He'll get a chance to play in the minors and show what he can do at the plate; a promotion is not guaranteed.
4. Oakland has been getting help from Australia.
5. Here are some relief pitchers who could help the Los Angeles Angels, courtesy of the Orange County Register. It's worth mentioning again: Grant Balfour might be the best reliever available right now.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Chien-Ming Wang made his first rehab start.
2. Hunter Pence has a sore shoulder, as Matt Gelb writes.
3. In Jacob Turner's return to the mound, he was terrific, writes Anthony Fenech.
4. Jon Jay has been cleared to return to the St. Louis Cardinals.
5. Jason Bay will get his ribs checked out today.
6. Astros catcher Jason Castro walked off after a scary collision. He is fortunate he didn't suffer an injury similar to that of Buster Posey, because like Posey, he had his left leg locked underneath him.
7. Kirk Gibson is not worried about Daniel Hudson.
[h3]Monday's games[/h3]
1. Kyle Kendrick gave up seven runs, too many for the Philadelphia Phillies to overcome.
2. Derek Jeter pushed his average to .411 with four more hits, and CC Sabathia was much improved.
From ESPN Stats & Info, how CC Sabathia won:
[h4]Sabathia's slider[/h4]
Some numbers on CC Sabathia's slider this season (118 pitches).
[table][tr][th=""]
Stat
[/th][th=""]
Result
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
Strikeouts
[/td][td]
22
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Walks
[/td][td]
0
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Hits
[/td][td]
6
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Average against
[/td][td]
.158
[/td][/tr][/table]
A. Sabathia's slider was dominant, throwing it to register six of his eight strikeouts. Sabathia threw a total of 34 sliders, increasing the number of times he's used the pitch for the third-consecutive start. Sabathia is turning to the pitch more for good reason -- it's been one of the most powerful in the game in 2012 (see chart).
B. Sabathia was ahead of the Rangers all night, throwing only 15 pitches when behind in the count. He has made 12 starts since the last time he threw so few pitches from behind (Aug. 1, 2011).
C. Sabathia changed his approach against the Rangers after his first trip through the lineup. On his first tour of the Rangers' 1-9 hitters, Sabathia had as many hits allowed as strikeouts (two). For that tour of the lineup, Sabathia threw 19 fastballs out of 27 pitches. After that, Sabathia threw fastballs for fewer than half his final 82 pitches, and he gave up a total of five hits.
3. Watched some of Tim Lincecum's start against the New York Mets on Monday. While he won, he was riding the edge of the abyss, pitching constantly from the stretch with an average fastball. Lincecum's fastball averaged 89.8 mph Monday, his lowest average velocity in a game since July 20, 2010.
He scrapped over five innings, as Henry Schulman writes.
4. The Kansas City Royals lost again, somehow; that's 10 straight losses and counting. The Royals are losing more than just games.
From ESPN Stats & Info: The Royals' 0-10 start at home is the worst since the 1994 Cubs (0-12). The 1913 Yankees hold the record for the worst home start in MLB history at 0-17.
8. Jason Motte had a tough night.
9. The Mets lost, and Ike Davis continues to really, really struggle.
10. The Minnesota Twins blew a lead.
11. Zack Greinke got the job done again.
12. The Cubs got to frolic.
13. It was more of the same from the Astros, writes Zachary Levine.
14. Derek Holland had a bad day.
15. The Toronto Blue Jays finished off a sweep and got a home run from Jose Bautista.
16. The Arizona Diamondbacks broke out in a big way with help from Justin Upton.
17. Bartolo Colon lost a battle against another former Cy Young winner.
18. Juan Uribe was The Man for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
[h4]Baseball's unbalanced schedules[/h4]
The number of games each team played against .500 clubs last season, inlcuding records and winning percentage (data courtesy of baseball-reference.com).
[table][tr][th=""]
Team
[/th][th=""]
G
[/th][th=""]
W
[/th][th=""]
L
[/th][th=""]
W-L%
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
BAL
[/td][td]
103
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
65
[/td][td]
0.369
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
OAK
[/td][td]
94
[/td][td]
43
[/td][td]
51
[/td][td]
0.457
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
SEA
[/td][td]
91
[/td][td]
34
[/td][td]
57
[/td][td]
0.374
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
TOR
[/td][td]
89
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
51
[/td][td]
0.427
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
COL
[/td][td]
88
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
58
[/td][td]
0.341
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
SDP
[/td][td]
85
[/td][td]
31
[/td][td]
54
[/td][td]
0.365
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
TBR
[/td][td]
84
[/td][td]
46
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.548
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
BOS
[/td][td]
84
[/td][td]
46
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.548
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
NYY
[/td][td]
82
[/td][td]
44
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.537
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
NYM
[/td][td]
82
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
44
[/td][td]
0.463
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
FLA
[/td][td]
82
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
54
[/td][td]
0.341
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
MIN
[/td][td]
81
[/td][td]
25
[/td][td]
56
[/td][td]
0.309
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
HOU
[/td][td]
80
[/td][td]
24
[/td][td]
56
[/td][td]
0.300
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CIN
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
36
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
0.493
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CHC
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
43
[/td][td]
0.411
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
KCR
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
43
[/td][td]
0.411
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CLE
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
26
[/td][td]
47
[/td][td]
0.356
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
TEX
[/td][td]
72
[/td][td]
35
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
0.486
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
WSN
[/td][td]
72
[/td][td]
35
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
0.486
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
PIT
[/td][td]
72
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
44
[/td][td]
0.389
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
LAD
[/td][td]
71
[/td][td]
33
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.465
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
LAA
[/td][td]
70
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.457
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CHW
[/td][td]
69
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
41
[/td][td]
0.406
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
SFG
[/td][td]
66
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
34
[/td][td]
0.485
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
ARI
[/td][td]
64
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
0.500
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
PHI
[/td][td]
62
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
25
[/td][td]
0.597
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
MIL
[/td][td]
61
[/td][td]
27
[/td][td]
34
[/td][td]
0.443
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
STL
[/td][td]
60
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
0.500
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
ATL
[/td][td]
60
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
0.467
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
DET
[/td][td]
51
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
23
[/td][td]
0.549
[/td][/tr][/table]
The Seattle Mariners, already stuck out in baseball's outpost in Seattle, would have to make multiple trips every year to Tampa Bay, Baltimore, New York and Boston, rather than having more games in the Pacific time zone.
But the argument for the balanced schedule is pretty compelling, because the unbalanced schedule is indisputably unfair.
How unfair? Well, imagine how the odds for a horse at the Kentucky Derby would change if Shaquille O'Neal was the jockey.
Last year, the Baltimore Orioles played 103 games against teams with records of .500 or better -- nine more than any other team and more than twice than the Detroit Tigers, who played only 51 games against teams with records of .500 or better (see chart).
The Tigers went 28-23 in games against teams with records of .500 or better, a winning percentage in line with how the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays all fared. The Texas Rangers finished below .500 in games against teams with records of .500 or better.
But Texas -- which had significantly fewer games against the .500-or-better teams than the AL East clubs -- wrecked the bad teams, going 61-29. The Tigers separated themselves by going 67-44 against the sub-.500 teams.
Detroit had more victories against sub-.500 teams than the total number of games the Orioles got to play against sub-.500 teams.
Heck, that's like putting Shaq, Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum on the same Derby horse.
And the unbalanced schedule is apparently going to get just a little more unbalanced. Next season, when the Houston Astros shift from the NL Central to the AL West and the two leagues each have 15 teams and five-team divisions, teams are expected to play 19 games against each of the teams in their own division.
For the Orioles, and some other teams, the mountaintop will get higher.
[h3]Red Sox use Bard in bullpen[/h3]
The Red Sox's losing streak ended, and Daniel Bard kicked in some help out of the bullpen.
For a day, all is well. But folks who have been with the Red Sox understand that there is significant risk involved if the team doesn't restore Bard to the starter's role, and even more if the right-hander is jerked around, from the rotation to the bullpen and back.
Remember Bard's history. He was a No. 1 pick in 2006, and at the time the selection was regarded as something of a coup for the Red Sox. But in 2007, Bard's first year in professional baseball, he had a really difficult season, posting 78 walks in 75 innings, with 27 wild pitches and eight hit batsmen.
There was great concern that Bard had acquired what is referred to in baseball as "The Thing" -- the chronic, mystifying wildness that ended the pitching careers of Steve Blass, Rick Ankiel and others.
Bard is regarded as an extremely intelligent, conscientious and thoughtful person, and he worked hard, on his mechanics and his psyche. He was sent to the Hawaiian League after the 2007 season to transition to bullpen and work with pitching coach Mike Cather. Bard and Cather tweaked mechanics -- staying over the rubber longer -- but the greatest adjustment was mental.
Bard developed a mound alter ego as a mechanism to be more aggressive and meaner as a pitcher, a departure from his off-field personality. The big breakthrough came in a game in Hawaii, when others in the organization thought he recognized the fear his stuff creates. Lots of strikes followed, and he rocketed to the big leagues.
It is largely because of his ability to make those physical and mental adjustments that the Red Sox came to believe Bard would be successful in transitioning from reliever to starter this spring -- and through his performance, front-office officials came to believe that Bard had earned that right to start. He has been more effective than some of the other Red Sox starters so far this season.
There is significant financial incentive for Bard to become a starter, of course, but even if this wasn't the case, he'd have every reason to feel like he should be in the rotation.
Moving Bard to the bullpen is like slapping a Band-Aid on a shark bite; Boston's pitching problems cannot be solved by one move. And as one rival executive who is aware of Bard's history noted Monday, it's important to be sensitive to his journey.
"The Thing is not something that ever really goes away," the executive said. "Some players overcome it and become great. But it's there."
Bard was told at the end of spring training that he is a starter. GM Ben Cherington said this again about 10 days ago, and this was the message to the right-hander Monday. This is not a course from which the Red Sox should deviate.
The Bard move to the bullpen will serve to cause only trouble, writes Michael Silverman. Bard views himself as a starter, writes Nick Cafardo.
Meanwhile, Bobby Valentine denied that there was an incident involving he and Mike Aviles in spring training.
Valentine offered some comic relief.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• Yes, the Rays will probably continue to monitor the catching market during the course of the season. But remember, their standard for improvement is pretty low. The Rays' catchers ranked 27th in OPS in 2011, so there is a reasonable expectation that there can be improvement without a major investment in an upgrade.
While Tampa Bay could theoretically chase more expensive (and available) catchers like Kurt Suzuki, historically, the Rays save their dollars for pitching. Suzuki is owed about $12 million through the end of next season.
• Batting eighth in a National League lineup has its own special challenges because of the presence of the pitcher. But A.J. Ellis, the Dodgers' No. 8 hitter, has drawn 11 walks so far this year, and his average of about 4.8 pitches per plate appearance ranks No. 1 in the NL.
• Jake Peavy has always been a full-bore competitor: hard, harder, hardest. But there has been a distinct change in his style this year, never more evident than in his outing Monday night.
From ESPN Stats & Info, how Peavy pitched his third shutout since 2005:
[h4]A slower Peavy[/h4]
Most outs in one game on off-speed pitches by Jake Peavy (since 2009).
[table][tr][th=""]
Date
[/th][th=""]
Outs
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
6/19/10
[/td][td]
17
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Monday
[/td][td]
16<<
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
8/26/11
[/td][td]
16
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
5/8/10
[/td][td]
15
[/td][/tr][tr][td]>>CG SHO, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K[/td][/tr][/table]
A. Peavy used his fastball to set up counts, throwing 43 of his 56 fastballs in the first two pitches of at-bats. After that, he primarily used his three off-speed pitches to generate outs. The Oakland Athletics were just 1-for-17 against Peavy's off-speed stuff, with three strikeouts and no walks. It's just the third time since 2009 that Peavy has gotten more than 15 outs on his off-speed pitches (see chart).
B. 54 percent of Peavy's pitches to lefties were fastballs, the highest percentage of fastballs to lefties in a start for Peavy since May 30, 2010.
C. 54 of his 79 pitches to lefties were on the outer third of the plate, tied for the most outside pitches Peavy has thrown to LHB since 2009. Lefties did not record a single hit against Peavy on an outside pitch all night.
Peavy recorded his sixth career shutout against the A's and his first against any team since May 18 of last season.
• The Atlanta Braves shipped Jair Jurrjens to the minors.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. The Indians activated Asdrubal Cabrera.
2. The Chicago Cubs cut a pitcher to make room for Michael Bowden.
3. The Rays are working out a deal with Hideki Matsui. Matsui will serve as Triple-A depth for Tampa Bay. He'll get a chance to play in the minors and show what he can do at the plate; a promotion is not guaranteed.
4. Oakland has been getting help from Australia.
5. Here are some relief pitchers who could help the Los Angeles Angels, courtesy of the Orange County Register. It's worth mentioning again: Grant Balfour might be the best reliever available right now.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Chien-Ming Wang made his first rehab start.
2. Hunter Pence has a sore shoulder, as Matt Gelb writes.
3. In Jacob Turner's return to the mound, he was terrific, writes Anthony Fenech.
4. Jon Jay has been cleared to return to the St. Louis Cardinals.
5. Jason Bay will get his ribs checked out today.
6. Astros catcher Jason Castro walked off after a scary collision. He is fortunate he didn't suffer an injury similar to that of Buster Posey, because like Posey, he had his left leg locked underneath him.
7. Kirk Gibson is not worried about Daniel Hudson.
[h3]Monday's games[/h3]
1. Kyle Kendrick gave up seven runs, too many for the Philadelphia Phillies to overcome.
2. Derek Jeter pushed his average to .411 with four more hits, and CC Sabathia was much improved.
From ESPN Stats & Info, how CC Sabathia won:
[h4]Sabathia's slider[/h4]
Some numbers on CC Sabathia's slider this season (118 pitches).
[table][tr][th=""]
Stat
[/th][th=""]
Result
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
Strikeouts
[/td][td]
22
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Walks
[/td][td]
0
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Hits
[/td][td]
6
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Average against
[/td][td]
.158
[/td][/tr][/table]
A. Sabathia's slider was dominant, throwing it to register six of his eight strikeouts. Sabathia threw a total of 34 sliders, increasing the number of times he's used the pitch for the third-consecutive start. Sabathia is turning to the pitch more for good reason -- it's been one of the most powerful in the game in 2012 (see chart).
B. Sabathia was ahead of the Rangers all night, throwing only 15 pitches when behind in the count. He has made 12 starts since the last time he threw so few pitches from behind (Aug. 1, 2011).
C. Sabathia changed his approach against the Rangers after his first trip through the lineup. On his first tour of the Rangers' 1-9 hitters, Sabathia had as many hits allowed as strikeouts (two). For that tour of the lineup, Sabathia threw 19 fastballs out of 27 pitches. After that, Sabathia threw fastballs for fewer than half his final 82 pitches, and he gave up a total of five hits.
3. Watched some of Tim Lincecum's start against the New York Mets on Monday. While he won, he was riding the edge of the abyss, pitching constantly from the stretch with an average fastball. Lincecum's fastball averaged 89.8 mph Monday, his lowest average velocity in a game since July 20, 2010.
He scrapped over five innings, as Henry Schulman writes.
4. The Kansas City Royals lost again, somehow; that's 10 straight losses and counting. The Royals are losing more than just games.
From ESPN Stats & Info: The Royals' 0-10 start at home is the worst since the 1994 Cubs (0-12). The 1913 Yankees hold the record for the worst home start in MLB history at 0-17.
8. Jason Motte had a tough night.
9. The Mets lost, and Ike Davis continues to really, really struggle.
10. The Minnesota Twins blew a lead.
11. Zack Greinke got the job done again.
12. The Cubs got to frolic.
13. It was more of the same from the Astros, writes Zachary Levine.
14. Derek Holland had a bad day.
15. The Toronto Blue Jays finished off a sweep and got a home run from Jose Bautista.
16. The Arizona Diamondbacks broke out in a big way with help from Justin Upton.
17. Bartolo Colon lost a battle against another former Cy Young winner.
18. Juan Uribe was The Man for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Blame shouldn't lie with Valentine.
Spoiler [+]
BOSTON -- Most of the Red Sox players had scurried out of the Boston clubhouse by the time reporters arrived after Saturday's debacle. "I'm not talking today," David Ortiz said, before quietly exiting.
A few Red Sox players did stick around, from Mike Aviles to Jarrod Saltalamacchia to Felix Doubront, to talk about their historically horrific collapse. But most of the responsibility for answering questions had been left to Bobby Valentine. Seventeen days into his first season as manager of the Red Sox, his entrance into the packed press room felt a little like a condemned prisoner being marched in front of a firing squad. The pointed questions came at him from all directions, and he absorbed the full brunt of implication in each.
"I think we've hit bottom," he said. "If this isn't bottom, we'll find some new ends of the earth."
It became evident at Fenway on Saturday that so long as the Red Sox continue to play badly, Valentine will continue to answer for the sins of a franchise. The angry fans want to show their displeasure, and they can't boo owners John Henry and Tom Werner, who don't wear uniforms and don't appear on the field. They can't boo club president Larry Lucchino, nor general manager Ben Cherington. Theo Epstein is in Chicago now. Josh Beckett doesn't play every game, Carl Crawford isn't here yet. Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia have been spared.
So the fans booed Valentine, as he journeyed repeatedly to and from the dugout throughout Saturday's game. Alfredo Aceves surrendered the last of Boston's 9-0 lead on Saturday, when Nick Swisher clubbed a two-run double off the center field wall, and as Valentine emerged from the dugout to relieve the pseudo closer, the boos began. Valentine accepted the ball from Aceves, patted him on the backside as he walked off -- and the booing stopped.
Then, after Valentine handed the ball to a reliever and turned to walk to the dugout, the booing resumed. To review: One of the half-dozen pitchers who turned a 9-0 lead into a 15-9 loss was spared, but Valentine was booed. It's not business, it's personal.
Maybe throughout New England today, some of those same fans will peruse the box scores and understand that blaming Valentine for the state of the Red Sox is a little like screaming at a bank teller for the collapse of the financial markets in 2008. The Boston pitching is atrocious, and has been for a while now, with an ERA over six since the start of September 2011.
Aceves has an ERA of 24.00; http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/29446/mark-melanconMark Melancon was sent to the minors earlier this week with an ERA close to 50; Justin Thomas' ERA is 7.71; Vicente Padilla's 9.82; http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/28675/franklin-moralesFranklin Morales is one of the sturdier contributors, at 6.35.
The Red Sox had a 9-1 lead at the end of six innings, when Valentine made the decision to remove Doubront after 99 pitches. Valentine could have asked Doubront to at least start the seventh, but he felt that taking the young lefty out was "a no-brainer," he said. It's early in the season, Doubront was nearing the end of his day, anyhow; managers want young pitchers such as Doubront to feel good about themselves, and an ugly seventh inning could have muddled the day for him.
But the Red Sox crumbled after Doubront left, exposing Valentine to the question of why he took out the pitcher. If a manager can't count on his bullpen to hold an eight-run lead with nine outs to go, the problems go way beyond that one decision.
Henry, Lucchino and Cherington met with Valentine after the game, and Cherington told reporters that the discussion was held, in part, to make sure that everybody involved knew they were all in this situation together. Behind closed doors, there was presumably more to it than that. The Red Sox owners are known to be as anxious as some of the fans who booed Valentine, and as Valentine acknowledged before his meeting, everything will be considered.
Could they talk about moving Daniel Bard back to the bullpen? Sure. Could they call up Aaron Cook for the rotation? Of course. Could they discuss some options in the trade market? Absolutely.
But to steal a line appropriate for this week, this is like shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic. Moving Bard to the closer's role doesn't guarantee that Bard is going to succeed in that role, and it opens up a hole in the rotation -- and only Doubront has a lower ERA among the Red Sox's starters than Bard's 4.63. Some rival evaluators in the dining area wondered about whether Clay Buchholz's back is still bothering him, and preventing him from driving the ball down in the strike zone. Beckett pitched better the last two starts, but he is a long way from being the elite pitcher that he has been in the past. Jon Lester still struggles with early-inning pitch counts.
Daisuke Matsuzaka may or may not help when he rejoins the rotation in a month or so. The only sure thing is that Valentine will be the funnel for the displeasure of Red Sox fans every time he walks on the field. He tipped his cap after his last pitching change Saturday, in acknowledging the boos, but there will be no courtesies returned unless the pitching improves.
Valentine has crossed into the Joe Kerrigan Zone, writes Dan Shaughnessy. Cherington said he's very satisfied with Valentine. Blame the bullpen, not Bobby V, writes Steve Buckley. The Boston situation is in hell, writes Michael Silverman. It was a total disaster, writes Peter Abraham.
The Red Sox's psyche may be damaged beyond repair, writes Bob Klapisch.
The Yankees scored two late touchdowns, writes David Waldstein. Freddy Garcia was terrible again, Anthony McCarron writes. The Yankees' rally can't hide New York's rotation mess.
Meanwhile: Michael Pineda had a setback.
From the Elias Sports Bureau:
The last time a team scored seven runs in consecutive innings in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry was on June 19, 2000, when the Yankees scored nine in the eighth and then seven in the ninth in a 22-1 win.
The Yankees' 15-9 win over the Red Sox marked the second time in the modern era that a team trailed by at least nine runs and ended up winning the game by at least six runs.
[h3]Humber's perfect game[/h3]
• When Philip Humber faced the Orioles last week, the Baltimore dugout chatter was about how many breaking balls the right-hander was throwing -- slider after slider after slider. Good sliders, sharp sliders.
This was only a warm-up act to what the Mariners saw Saturday, as Humber threw the 21st perfect game in baseball history. Fifteen of the 27 outs Humber registered came on sliders.
More from ESPN Stats and Info on Humber's perfecto:
• Humber had the second-fewest career wins (11) in MLB history prior to his perfect game. It was only the seventh perfect game on the road, and the first since Roy Halladay in 2012.
• Plate umpire Brian Runge also called Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter three seasons ago on July 10, 2009.
• The Mariners were last no-hit by Dwight Gooden of the Yankees on May 14, 1996.
How White Sox starter Philip Humber threw a perfect game against the Mariners:
• Humber threw 32 sliders, resulting in 15 outs and six strikeouts. In his two starts this season, opponents are 1-for-22 with nine strikeouts in at-bats ending with a Humber slider.
• Humber threw his slider 13.5 percent of the time the first time through the order, then 45.8 percent of the time the next two times through the order.
• Forty-seven of Humber's 96 pitches (48.9 percent) were sliders or curveballs, his second-highest percentage since the start of last season.
• His only game with a higher percentage of breaking balls was in his only other start this season. Opponents are 1-for-29 in at-bats ending with a Humber breaking ball this season.
• He did not go to a three-ball count in the first eight innings before going to two in the ninth. Both three-ball counts ended in strikeouts, including Humber's first career strikeout in an at-bat in which he fell behind 3-0.
Pitching coach Don Cooper convinced Humber to ditch his cutter and go with the slider.
Humber isn't sure what he is doing on the list of guys who have thrown perfect games, Mark Gonzales writes. A.J. Pierzynski had to track down the final strike.
Humber is thrilled that his stuff is headed to the Hall of Fame.
Mariners fans were on their feet, cheering, Steve Kelley writes.
• Matt Kemp is absurdly hot right now: He's got nine homers already, and we're only 17 days into the season.
From ESPN Stats and Info:
Matt Kemp has hit as many home runs as the Reds and Padres and has hit more homers than the Astros, Phillies, Pirates and Cubs.
Kemp and Andre Ethier have combined for 43 RBIs this season. The two have recorded more RBIs than the Phillies (40) and Pirates (26) have as a team.
• The hits just keep on coming for the Diamondbacks, who have lost Daniel Hudson to a shoulder issue. They basically have had three of their best 10 players deal with injuries in the last week, and it's costing them: They've dropped five straight games.
• The Royals have fallen, and they can't get up: That's nine straight losses and counting for Kansas City, as Blair Kerkhoff writes. Never saw this coming. And more bad news for the Royals: Greg Holland was placed on the disabled list.
By The Numbers, from ESPN Stats and Info
1.7: Percent of people who owned Humber in ESPN.com fantasy leagues entering Saturday.
13: MLB-record games for Mark Teixeira with a home run from each side of the plate after he pulled the feat Saturday.
21: Perfect games in MLB history after Humber's outing at Seattle.
92.5: Justin Verlander's average fastball velocity Saturday, matching his lowest since 2009.
99.5: Speed of the fastball Edwin Encarnacion hit for a home run Saturday off Kelvin Herrera, the fastest pitch to be hit for a home run since June 26, 2010.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. After breaking a losing streak, the Cubs announced the trade of Marlon Byrd to the Red Sox.
2. Randy Wells was summoned from Triple-A.
3. Terry Foster thinks it's time for the Tigers to get rid of Brandon Inge.
4. Daniel Schlereth was sent to Triple-A.
5. Johnny Damon is getting ready to return.
6. There have been no recent talks between the Phillies and Cole Hamels; he will eventually reach a point where he's so close to free agency that he may inevitably decide to test the market, rather than simply accept a Philadelphia offer. The market baseline for Hamels was set by the Matt Cain contract, at five years and $112.5 million, but agents who don't represent the left-hander are certain he could get a six-year deal in free agency from the Cubs, Dodgers or some other team.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Relievers have a better shot after their second elbow surgery, John Shea writes.
2. Rest and recovery have impacted the Rockies' lineup, and will continue to do so, Troy Renck writes.
3. Ryan Zimmerman expects to be back in the Washington lineup Tuesday.
4. Cliff Lee landed on the disabled list.
[h3]Saturday's games[/h3]
1. The Brewers' offense finally broke out.
2. Carl Pavano pitched well, but lost.
3. Jered Weaver was The Man for the Angels.
4. After the Giants' game ended, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/22/SPR01O70VK.DTLBuster Posey argued.
5. The Athletics couldn't stop all of the Cleveland baserunners.
6. A Padres lefty outdueled a superstar. The Padres were able to grind out some runs, Bill Center writes.
7. The Colorado bullpen got roughed up.
8. Drew Hutchison made his debut, and the Jays won.
9. Justin Verlander cooled off the Rangers and gave the Tigers a big pick-me-up, John Lowe writes. Not one of his strikeouts Saturday came on fastballs. Earlier in the day, Rick Porcello had an ugly pitching line -- but if you watched the highlights, it wasn't as if he was giving up rockets. He had some bad luck, and some poor defense behind him.
10. The game got away from Mike Leake in a hurry.
11. Jason Kipnis had a really good day.
12. The Cardinals got shut down by an old pro.
13. The Braves are rolling: Tommy Hanson's victory Saturday was Atlanta's 10th in its last 11 games.
14. James Shields was in control again, Gary Shelton writes. B.J. Upton got his first hits and RBIs of the season.
15. The Texas offense is rolling, but http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/22/3902459/texas-rangers-split-with-detroit.htmlAdrian Beltre got hurt.
16. Jake Arrieta had a bad inning.
17. The Mets pulled it out, crazily.
18. The Nationals keep finding a way, this time with Ian Desmond ending all matters.
19. A.J. Burnett is back, and he was terrific.
20. The sixth inning took down Kyle Weiland.
21. The Marlins made a bunch of defensive mistakes.
A few Red Sox players did stick around, from Mike Aviles to Jarrod Saltalamacchia to Felix Doubront, to talk about their historically horrific collapse. But most of the responsibility for answering questions had been left to Bobby Valentine. Seventeen days into his first season as manager of the Red Sox, his entrance into the packed press room felt a little like a condemned prisoner being marched in front of a firing squad. The pointed questions came at him from all directions, and he absorbed the full brunt of implication in each.
"I think we've hit bottom," he said. "If this isn't bottom, we'll find some new ends of the earth."
It became evident at Fenway on Saturday that so long as the Red Sox continue to play badly, Valentine will continue to answer for the sins of a franchise. The angry fans want to show their displeasure, and they can't boo owners John Henry and Tom Werner, who don't wear uniforms and don't appear on the field. They can't boo club president Larry Lucchino, nor general manager Ben Cherington. Theo Epstein is in Chicago now. Josh Beckett doesn't play every game, Carl Crawford isn't here yet. Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia have been spared.
So the fans booed Valentine, as he journeyed repeatedly to and from the dugout throughout Saturday's game. Alfredo Aceves surrendered the last of Boston's 9-0 lead on Saturday, when Nick Swisher clubbed a two-run double off the center field wall, and as Valentine emerged from the dugout to relieve the pseudo closer, the boos began. Valentine accepted the ball from Aceves, patted him on the backside as he walked off -- and the booing stopped.
Then, after Valentine handed the ball to a reliever and turned to walk to the dugout, the booing resumed. To review: One of the half-dozen pitchers who turned a 9-0 lead into a 15-9 loss was spared, but Valentine was booed. It's not business, it's personal.
Maybe throughout New England today, some of those same fans will peruse the box scores and understand that blaming Valentine for the state of the Red Sox is a little like screaming at a bank teller for the collapse of the financial markets in 2008. The Boston pitching is atrocious, and has been for a while now, with an ERA over six since the start of September 2011.
Aceves has an ERA of 24.00; http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/29446/mark-melanconMark Melancon was sent to the minors earlier this week with an ERA close to 50; Justin Thomas' ERA is 7.71; Vicente Padilla's 9.82; http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/28675/franklin-moralesFranklin Morales is one of the sturdier contributors, at 6.35.
The Red Sox had a 9-1 lead at the end of six innings, when Valentine made the decision to remove Doubront after 99 pitches. Valentine could have asked Doubront to at least start the seventh, but he felt that taking the young lefty out was "a no-brainer," he said. It's early in the season, Doubront was nearing the end of his day, anyhow; managers want young pitchers such as Doubront to feel good about themselves, and an ugly seventh inning could have muddled the day for him.
But the Red Sox crumbled after Doubront left, exposing Valentine to the question of why he took out the pitcher. If a manager can't count on his bullpen to hold an eight-run lead with nine outs to go, the problems go way beyond that one decision.
Henry, Lucchino and Cherington met with Valentine after the game, and Cherington told reporters that the discussion was held, in part, to make sure that everybody involved knew they were all in this situation together. Behind closed doors, there was presumably more to it than that. The Red Sox owners are known to be as anxious as some of the fans who booed Valentine, and as Valentine acknowledged before his meeting, everything will be considered.
Could they talk about moving Daniel Bard back to the bullpen? Sure. Could they call up Aaron Cook for the rotation? Of course. Could they discuss some options in the trade market? Absolutely.
But to steal a line appropriate for this week, this is like shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic. Moving Bard to the closer's role doesn't guarantee that Bard is going to succeed in that role, and it opens up a hole in the rotation -- and only Doubront has a lower ERA among the Red Sox's starters than Bard's 4.63. Some rival evaluators in the dining area wondered about whether Clay Buchholz's back is still bothering him, and preventing him from driving the ball down in the strike zone. Beckett pitched better the last two starts, but he is a long way from being the elite pitcher that he has been in the past. Jon Lester still struggles with early-inning pitch counts.
Daisuke Matsuzaka may or may not help when he rejoins the rotation in a month or so. The only sure thing is that Valentine will be the funnel for the displeasure of Red Sox fans every time he walks on the field. He tipped his cap after his last pitching change Saturday, in acknowledging the boos, but there will be no courtesies returned unless the pitching improves.
Valentine has crossed into the Joe Kerrigan Zone, writes Dan Shaughnessy. Cherington said he's very satisfied with Valentine. Blame the bullpen, not Bobby V, writes Steve Buckley. The Boston situation is in hell, writes Michael Silverman. It was a total disaster, writes Peter Abraham.
The Red Sox's psyche may be damaged beyond repair, writes Bob Klapisch.
The Yankees scored two late touchdowns, writes David Waldstein. Freddy Garcia was terrible again, Anthony McCarron writes. The Yankees' rally can't hide New York's rotation mess.
Meanwhile: Michael Pineda had a setback.
From the Elias Sports Bureau:
The last time a team scored seven runs in consecutive innings in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry was on June 19, 2000, when the Yankees scored nine in the eighth and then seven in the ninth in a 22-1 win.
The Yankees' 15-9 win over the Red Sox marked the second time in the modern era that a team trailed by at least nine runs and ended up winning the game by at least six runs.
[h3]Humber's perfect game[/h3]
• When Philip Humber faced the Orioles last week, the Baltimore dugout chatter was about how many breaking balls the right-hander was throwing -- slider after slider after slider. Good sliders, sharp sliders.
This was only a warm-up act to what the Mariners saw Saturday, as Humber threw the 21st perfect game in baseball history. Fifteen of the 27 outs Humber registered came on sliders.
More from ESPN Stats and Info on Humber's perfecto:
• Humber had the second-fewest career wins (11) in MLB history prior to his perfect game. It was only the seventh perfect game on the road, and the first since Roy Halladay in 2012.
• Plate umpire Brian Runge also called Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter three seasons ago on July 10, 2009.
• The Mariners were last no-hit by Dwight Gooden of the Yankees on May 14, 1996.
How White Sox starter Philip Humber threw a perfect game against the Mariners:
• Humber threw 32 sliders, resulting in 15 outs and six strikeouts. In his two starts this season, opponents are 1-for-22 with nine strikeouts in at-bats ending with a Humber slider.
• Humber threw his slider 13.5 percent of the time the first time through the order, then 45.8 percent of the time the next two times through the order.
• Forty-seven of Humber's 96 pitches (48.9 percent) were sliders or curveballs, his second-highest percentage since the start of last season.
• His only game with a higher percentage of breaking balls was in his only other start this season. Opponents are 1-for-29 in at-bats ending with a Humber breaking ball this season.
• He did not go to a three-ball count in the first eight innings before going to two in the ninth. Both three-ball counts ended in strikeouts, including Humber's first career strikeout in an at-bat in which he fell behind 3-0.
Pitching coach Don Cooper convinced Humber to ditch his cutter and go with the slider.
Humber isn't sure what he is doing on the list of guys who have thrown perfect games, Mark Gonzales writes. A.J. Pierzynski had to track down the final strike.
Humber is thrilled that his stuff is headed to the Hall of Fame.
Mariners fans were on their feet, cheering, Steve Kelley writes.
• Matt Kemp is absurdly hot right now: He's got nine homers already, and we're only 17 days into the season.
From ESPN Stats and Info:
Matt Kemp has hit as many home runs as the Reds and Padres and has hit more homers than the Astros, Phillies, Pirates and Cubs.
Kemp and Andre Ethier have combined for 43 RBIs this season. The two have recorded more RBIs than the Phillies (40) and Pirates (26) have as a team.
• The hits just keep on coming for the Diamondbacks, who have lost Daniel Hudson to a shoulder issue. They basically have had three of their best 10 players deal with injuries in the last week, and it's costing them: They've dropped five straight games.
• The Royals have fallen, and they can't get up: That's nine straight losses and counting for Kansas City, as Blair Kerkhoff writes. Never saw this coming. And more bad news for the Royals: Greg Holland was placed on the disabled list.
By The Numbers, from ESPN Stats and Info
1.7: Percent of people who owned Humber in ESPN.com fantasy leagues entering Saturday.
13: MLB-record games for Mark Teixeira with a home run from each side of the plate after he pulled the feat Saturday.
21: Perfect games in MLB history after Humber's outing at Seattle.
92.5: Justin Verlander's average fastball velocity Saturday, matching his lowest since 2009.
99.5: Speed of the fastball Edwin Encarnacion hit for a home run Saturday off Kelvin Herrera, the fastest pitch to be hit for a home run since June 26, 2010.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. After breaking a losing streak, the Cubs announced the trade of Marlon Byrd to the Red Sox.
2. Randy Wells was summoned from Triple-A.
3. Terry Foster thinks it's time for the Tigers to get rid of Brandon Inge.
4. Daniel Schlereth was sent to Triple-A.
5. Johnny Damon is getting ready to return.
6. There have been no recent talks between the Phillies and Cole Hamels; he will eventually reach a point where he's so close to free agency that he may inevitably decide to test the market, rather than simply accept a Philadelphia offer. The market baseline for Hamels was set by the Matt Cain contract, at five years and $112.5 million, but agents who don't represent the left-hander are certain he could get a six-year deal in free agency from the Cubs, Dodgers or some other team.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Relievers have a better shot after their second elbow surgery, John Shea writes.
2. Rest and recovery have impacted the Rockies' lineup, and will continue to do so, Troy Renck writes.
3. Ryan Zimmerman expects to be back in the Washington lineup Tuesday.
4. Cliff Lee landed on the disabled list.
[h3]Saturday's games[/h3]
1. The Brewers' offense finally broke out.
2. Carl Pavano pitched well, but lost.
3. Jered Weaver was The Man for the Angels.
4. After the Giants' game ended, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/22/SPR01O70VK.DTLBuster Posey argued.
5. The Athletics couldn't stop all of the Cleveland baserunners.
6. A Padres lefty outdueled a superstar. The Padres were able to grind out some runs, Bill Center writes.
7. The Colorado bullpen got roughed up.
8. Drew Hutchison made his debut, and the Jays won.
9. Justin Verlander cooled off the Rangers and gave the Tigers a big pick-me-up, John Lowe writes. Not one of his strikeouts Saturday came on fastballs. Earlier in the day, Rick Porcello had an ugly pitching line -- but if you watched the highlights, it wasn't as if he was giving up rockets. He had some bad luck, and some poor defense behind him.
10. The game got away from Mike Leake in a hurry.
11. Jason Kipnis had a really good day.
12. The Cardinals got shut down by an old pro.
13. The Braves are rolling: Tommy Hanson's victory Saturday was Atlanta's 10th in its last 11 games.
14. James Shields was in control again, Gary Shelton writes. B.J. Upton got his first hits and RBIs of the season.
15. The Texas offense is rolling, but http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/22/3902459/texas-rangers-split-with-detroit.htmlAdrian Beltre got hurt.
16. Jake Arrieta had a bad inning.
17. The Mets pulled it out, crazily.
18. The Nationals keep finding a way, this time with Ian Desmond ending all matters.
19. A.J. Burnett is back, and he was terrific.
20. The sixth inning took down Kyle Weiland.
21. The Marlins made a bunch of defensive mistakes.
Bartolo Colon could become trade target.
Spoiler [+]
BOSTON -- It was Bartolo Colon's winter ball performance of 2010-11 that first gained him attention. Yankees bench coach Tony Pena told the team that Colon was throwing in the low-to-mid 90s, with his two-seam fastball moving all over the place.
The Yankees signed Colon, and because he had pitched so extensively in winter ball, they assumed that at some stage of the 2011 season, he would begin to lose his stuff. After all, he had missed the entire 2010 season, and hadn't thrown more than 99.1 innings since 2005.
Sure enough, Colon faded in the second half, the late life disappearing from his fastball. After posting a 3.20 ERA before the All-Star break, in 90 innings, his ERA jumped to 4.96 in the second half.
"I think he was just worn down," one rival evaluator said. "If you include what he did in winter ball, he had basically pitched a full season by the time he got to July."
The same evaluator noted that Colon did not pitch in winter ball before opening the 2012 season. "He'll keep it going longer," the evaluator said. "I bet he has a really good year."
Colon is off to an excellent start, posting a 2.63 ERA in his first four starts, and in his last outing the other day, he threw 38 consecutive strikes. Colon has allowed just one homer in his first 27.1 innings, with two walks and 19 strikeouts.
He could be one of the most sought-after trade targets, and maybe sooner rather than later. Colon's base salary for this season is a miniscule $2 million, far less than some of the alternatives that will pop up on the market, and Oakland's front office is clearly devoted to the idea of building the team for 2015-16. The Athletics could be motivated to move Colon when they perceive his value is at its highest, rather than waiting until later in the year -- before a possible late-season fade for the right-hander, who turns 39 next month.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• The Braves are scorching hot, and they got a great outing out of Brandon Beachy on Friday, as David O'Brien writes.
• Reggie Jackson, like the rest of the baseball world, has been watching Matt Kemp, who mashed his eighth homer Friday.
"Unbelievable power to right field," Jackson said.
Yep. Kemp's home run spray chart so far:
Right -- 2
Right center -- 4
Center -- 2
Left center -- 0
Left -- 0
• When the Red Sox remade Clay Buchholz for the 2010 season, a primary focus was to get him to work on his sinker -- to get his fastball down in the zone. So it caught the attention of Yankees hitters Friday that they saw almost no two-seam fastballs from Buchholz. He threw his fastball up in the zone, and they hit it, hard; according to Elias, Buchholz is only the third Red Sox pitcher in history to allow five homers in a start against the Yankees.
From ESPN Stats & Information, how Buchholz lost to the Yankees:
A) Buchholz struggled to keep his fastball down. 76 percent (38 of 50 fastballs) were up or belt high, and the Yankees went 6-for-13 with four home runs. This season, opponents are hitting .424 in at-bats ending with a Buchholz fastball up or belt high.
B) The Yankees hit Buchholz when facing two-strike counts, going 5-for-12 with three home runs.
C) The Yankees missed 5.9 percent of Buchholz's pitches they swung at (3 of 51), marking the lowest swing-and-miss percentage for Buchholz since the start of the 2009 season.
What we saw in the Red Sox last September has now melded into their start in 2012; their pitching continues to be terrible. Since Sept. 1, 2011, the Red Sox are 11-29, and their starting pitchers have an ERA of 6.72. By the end of the game Friday, Fenway fans chanted "We want Tito," referring to Terry Francona. But unless the starting pitching gets better, it doesn't matter whether the manager is Bobby Valentine or Francona or Joe McCarthy or Darrell Johnson or John McNamara or Grady Little. The rotation has been surrendering about two to three runs per game more than almost all other rotations over the last 40 games. No manager can win with that.
Bobby Valentine is already at a crossroads in Boston, writes Bob Klapisch.
The Yankees spoiled the Fenway party, writes David Waldstein. On a day to remember, the Red Sox played a game to forget, writes Dan Shaughnessy. Fenway Park is the biggest star of the team, writes Scott Lauber.
Meanwhile, Ivan Nova thinks he's the best pitcher in the world. He's a monster, Alex Rodriguez tells Ken Davidoff.
How Nova beat the Red Sox:
A) Nova threw 30 sliders, his second-most ever in a start. The Red Sox went 1-for-6 with a strikeout in at-bats ending with a slider.
B) The Red Sox put runners in scoring position in four of Nova's six innings, but went 0-for-10 with two strikeouts in those at-bats. This season, opponents are hitting .107 (3-for-2
with nine strikeouts against Nova in at-bats ending with runners in scoring position.
C) Nova went to one three-ball count against the Red Sox, getting Jason Repko to line out. In his last eight regular-season starts, Nova has not issued a walk.
From Elias:
Most consecutive decisions won in Yankees history:
Roger Clemens -- 16 (2001)
Ivan Nova -- 15 (2011-12)
%!*$** Ford -- 14 (1961)
Steve Sundra -- 14 (1938-39)
Jack Chesbro -- 14 (1904)
• As the Yankees took batting practice, Reggie Jackson walked over to a reporter. "Do you see [Eric] Chavez?" he asked. "He's killing the ball."
Almost as if on cue, Chavez rocketed a ball over the home bullpen, and over an entrance to the stands behind the bullpen, a shot that probably traveled 440 feet or so. He blasted the next pitch into the home bullpen.
"He looks strong," Jackson said.
And a few hours later, after Chavez had his first two-homer game in years, Jackson told him that had seen things in his swing before the first pitch was thrown. Chavez put on a show, writes Joel Sherman.
• Charles Steinberg, right-hand man to Larry Lucchino, was the architect of the memorable final day at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore at the end of the 1991 season, so it was not a surprise that the Red Sox borrowed from that script in honoring the 100-year-old Fenway Park. After the last game at Memorial Stadium, Brooks Robinson jogged out to his position, in uniform -- with no announcement -- followed by Frank Robinson, and Jim Palmer, and the rest of the Orioles.
Jim Rice was the first onto the field at Fenway on Friday, followed by Dwight Evans and Bill Buckner, with no word from the public address announcer, because no words were needed. Dozens of players emerged, and the last to emerge, brought to the center of the diamond, were former second baseman Bobby Doerr and former shortstop Johnny Pesky, and tears began streaming down Pesky's face. He was not alone in his emotions.
The sight of Pesky created some perspective for Pedro Martinez, as Michael Silverman writes.
Fenway shined, writes Michael Vega. Francona returned to cheers.
Martinez had a great time.
• Albert Pujols went 0-for-4 with a walk to end his nine-game hitting streak. He still has not hit a home run in 58 at-bats this season and has not hit one in his last 87 at-bats dating back to last season -- the second-longest streak of his career.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. The Orioles should send Brian Matusz to the minors, writes Eduardo Encina, to build him up. Matusz had a rough outing Friday.
2. The Tigers added some pitching depth.
3. Esmil Rogers has made a nice transition to the bullpen for Colorado, writes Patrick Saunders.
4. The plan for Jesus Montero has not changed, as Larry Stone writes.
5. The Jays are promoting a right-hander to make his debut today, as Ken Fidlin writes.
6. There are no ongoing contract talks for David Wright.
7. Jose Canseco has a new team.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Chris Narveson has a torn rotator cuff, and Marco Estrada will take his spot in the rotation, writes Adam McCalvy.
2. Justin Morneau is dealing with a sore foot.
3. Kerry Wood is on the disabled list, and Ryan Dempster is hurting, writes Dave van Dyck.
4. Jorge De La Rosa will take a big step in his comeback from elbow surgery, as mentioned within this notebook.
5. Omar Infante will be out for a few days.
6. B.J. Upton was activated off the disabled list, but he has work to do, writes Joey Johnston. Within the same notebook there is word that Reid Brignac was sent to Triple-A.
7. Justin Upton is a little better, but is still not playing, as mentioned within this Jim Gintonio notebook.
8. A Padres pitcher could be having surgery soon.
9. Carlos Ruiz has a sore wrist.
10. A.J. Burnett will make what could be his last rehab start in the minors tonight.
11. With Brett Gardner on the disabled list, the Yankees will go with a platoon.
[h3]Friday's games[/h3]
1. John Axford gave up a run in the ninth.
2. Ross Detwiler was The Man for the Nationals. From ESPN Stats & Info, how Detwiler beat the Marlins:
A) Detwiler threw 43 percent off-speed (up from 24 percent in first two starts). The Marlins went 0-for-9 in at-bats ending with an off-speed pitch (0-for-5 with curveball, 0-for-2 with both slider and change).
B) Detwiler used the off-speed with two strikes, throwing 12 of 21 pitches. Overall, the Marlins went 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts in at-bats going to two strikes (0-for-8, four strikeouts with off-speed pitches).
C) The Marlins went after off-speed pitches, swinging at 15 and missing seven. The 46.7 percent missed is the third-most for Detwiler since 2009.
3. The Royals' early-season troubles continue: They hit into a triple play, and lost their eighth consecutive decision.
4. The Reds picked up win No. 10,000.
5. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the Indians to a win.
6. The Twins won with a reshuffled deck, as John Shipley writes.
7. Adam Dunn had a big day.
8. Michael Cuddyer is hurting, but he's killing it for the Rockies.
9. Hector Noesi got knocked around.
10. Carlos Zambrano threw well, but the Marlins lost.
11. J.A. Happ got hit early.
12. The Diamondbacks have dropped four straight, and counting.
13. The Giants used their whole committee to get the last outs of their extra-inning win in New York, as Henry Schulman writes.
14. The losing streak came to an end for the Angels.
15. The Padres are owned in their own park by the Phillies.
16. Cole Hamels shut down his hometown team.
17. An inside-the-park homer to start the game was the only run the Pirates scored.
18. Lance Lynn continues to throw well for the Cardinals.
By The Numbers, from ESPN Stats & Info:
2: Inside the park home runs hit (Alex Presley and Norichika Aoki)
631: Career HRs hit by Alex Rodriguez, moving past Ken Griffey Jr. into sole possession of fifth all-time
10,000: Wins by the Reds franchise, becoming the sixth team to win 10,000 games
The Yankees signed Colon, and because he had pitched so extensively in winter ball, they assumed that at some stage of the 2011 season, he would begin to lose his stuff. After all, he had missed the entire 2010 season, and hadn't thrown more than 99.1 innings since 2005.
Sure enough, Colon faded in the second half, the late life disappearing from his fastball. After posting a 3.20 ERA before the All-Star break, in 90 innings, his ERA jumped to 4.96 in the second half.
"I think he was just worn down," one rival evaluator said. "If you include what he did in winter ball, he had basically pitched a full season by the time he got to July."
The same evaluator noted that Colon did not pitch in winter ball before opening the 2012 season. "He'll keep it going longer," the evaluator said. "I bet he has a really good year."
Colon is off to an excellent start, posting a 2.63 ERA in his first four starts, and in his last outing the other day, he threw 38 consecutive strikes. Colon has allowed just one homer in his first 27.1 innings, with two walks and 19 strikeouts.
He could be one of the most sought-after trade targets, and maybe sooner rather than later. Colon's base salary for this season is a miniscule $2 million, far less than some of the alternatives that will pop up on the market, and Oakland's front office is clearly devoted to the idea of building the team for 2015-16. The Athletics could be motivated to move Colon when they perceive his value is at its highest, rather than waiting until later in the year -- before a possible late-season fade for the right-hander, who turns 39 next month.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• The Braves are scorching hot, and they got a great outing out of Brandon Beachy on Friday, as David O'Brien writes.
• Reggie Jackson, like the rest of the baseball world, has been watching Matt Kemp, who mashed his eighth homer Friday.
"Unbelievable power to right field," Jackson said.
Yep. Kemp's home run spray chart so far:
Right -- 2
Right center -- 4
Center -- 2
Left center -- 0
Left -- 0
• When the Red Sox remade Clay Buchholz for the 2010 season, a primary focus was to get him to work on his sinker -- to get his fastball down in the zone. So it caught the attention of Yankees hitters Friday that they saw almost no two-seam fastballs from Buchholz. He threw his fastball up in the zone, and they hit it, hard; according to Elias, Buchholz is only the third Red Sox pitcher in history to allow five homers in a start against the Yankees.
From ESPN Stats & Information, how Buchholz lost to the Yankees:
A) Buchholz struggled to keep his fastball down. 76 percent (38 of 50 fastballs) were up or belt high, and the Yankees went 6-for-13 with four home runs. This season, opponents are hitting .424 in at-bats ending with a Buchholz fastball up or belt high.
B) The Yankees hit Buchholz when facing two-strike counts, going 5-for-12 with three home runs.
C) The Yankees missed 5.9 percent of Buchholz's pitches they swung at (3 of 51), marking the lowest swing-and-miss percentage for Buchholz since the start of the 2009 season.
What we saw in the Red Sox last September has now melded into their start in 2012; their pitching continues to be terrible. Since Sept. 1, 2011, the Red Sox are 11-29, and their starting pitchers have an ERA of 6.72. By the end of the game Friday, Fenway fans chanted "We want Tito," referring to Terry Francona. But unless the starting pitching gets better, it doesn't matter whether the manager is Bobby Valentine or Francona or Joe McCarthy or Darrell Johnson or John McNamara or Grady Little. The rotation has been surrendering about two to three runs per game more than almost all other rotations over the last 40 games. No manager can win with that.
Bobby Valentine is already at a crossroads in Boston, writes Bob Klapisch.
The Yankees spoiled the Fenway party, writes David Waldstein. On a day to remember, the Red Sox played a game to forget, writes Dan Shaughnessy. Fenway Park is the biggest star of the team, writes Scott Lauber.
Meanwhile, Ivan Nova thinks he's the best pitcher in the world. He's a monster, Alex Rodriguez tells Ken Davidoff.
How Nova beat the Red Sox:
A) Nova threw 30 sliders, his second-most ever in a start. The Red Sox went 1-for-6 with a strikeout in at-bats ending with a slider.
B) The Red Sox put runners in scoring position in four of Nova's six innings, but went 0-for-10 with two strikeouts in those at-bats. This season, opponents are hitting .107 (3-for-2
with nine strikeouts against Nova in at-bats ending with runners in scoring position.C) Nova went to one three-ball count against the Red Sox, getting Jason Repko to line out. In his last eight regular-season starts, Nova has not issued a walk.
From Elias:
Most consecutive decisions won in Yankees history:
Roger Clemens -- 16 (2001)
Ivan Nova -- 15 (2011-12)
%!*$** Ford -- 14 (1961)
Steve Sundra -- 14 (1938-39)
Jack Chesbro -- 14 (1904)
• As the Yankees took batting practice, Reggie Jackson walked over to a reporter. "Do you see [Eric] Chavez?" he asked. "He's killing the ball."
Almost as if on cue, Chavez rocketed a ball over the home bullpen, and over an entrance to the stands behind the bullpen, a shot that probably traveled 440 feet or so. He blasted the next pitch into the home bullpen.
"He looks strong," Jackson said.
And a few hours later, after Chavez had his first two-homer game in years, Jackson told him that had seen things in his swing before the first pitch was thrown. Chavez put on a show, writes Joel Sherman.
• Charles Steinberg, right-hand man to Larry Lucchino, was the architect of the memorable final day at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore at the end of the 1991 season, so it was not a surprise that the Red Sox borrowed from that script in honoring the 100-year-old Fenway Park. After the last game at Memorial Stadium, Brooks Robinson jogged out to his position, in uniform -- with no announcement -- followed by Frank Robinson, and Jim Palmer, and the rest of the Orioles.
Jim Rice was the first onto the field at Fenway on Friday, followed by Dwight Evans and Bill Buckner, with no word from the public address announcer, because no words were needed. Dozens of players emerged, and the last to emerge, brought to the center of the diamond, were former second baseman Bobby Doerr and former shortstop Johnny Pesky, and tears began streaming down Pesky's face. He was not alone in his emotions.
The sight of Pesky created some perspective for Pedro Martinez, as Michael Silverman writes.
Fenway shined, writes Michael Vega. Francona returned to cheers.
Martinez had a great time.
• Albert Pujols went 0-for-4 with a walk to end his nine-game hitting streak. He still has not hit a home run in 58 at-bats this season and has not hit one in his last 87 at-bats dating back to last season -- the second-longest streak of his career.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. The Orioles should send Brian Matusz to the minors, writes Eduardo Encina, to build him up. Matusz had a rough outing Friday.
2. The Tigers added some pitching depth.
3. Esmil Rogers has made a nice transition to the bullpen for Colorado, writes Patrick Saunders.
4. The plan for Jesus Montero has not changed, as Larry Stone writes.
5. The Jays are promoting a right-hander to make his debut today, as Ken Fidlin writes.
6. There are no ongoing contract talks for David Wright.
7. Jose Canseco has a new team.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Chris Narveson has a torn rotator cuff, and Marco Estrada will take his spot in the rotation, writes Adam McCalvy.
2. Justin Morneau is dealing with a sore foot.
3. Kerry Wood is on the disabled list, and Ryan Dempster is hurting, writes Dave van Dyck.
4. Jorge De La Rosa will take a big step in his comeback from elbow surgery, as mentioned within this notebook.
5. Omar Infante will be out for a few days.
6. B.J. Upton was activated off the disabled list, but he has work to do, writes Joey Johnston. Within the same notebook there is word that Reid Brignac was sent to Triple-A.
7. Justin Upton is a little better, but is still not playing, as mentioned within this Jim Gintonio notebook.
8. A Padres pitcher could be having surgery soon.
9. Carlos Ruiz has a sore wrist.
10. A.J. Burnett will make what could be his last rehab start in the minors tonight.
11. With Brett Gardner on the disabled list, the Yankees will go with a platoon.
[h3]Friday's games[/h3]
1. John Axford gave up a run in the ninth.
2. Ross Detwiler was The Man for the Nationals. From ESPN Stats & Info, how Detwiler beat the Marlins:
A) Detwiler threw 43 percent off-speed (up from 24 percent in first two starts). The Marlins went 0-for-9 in at-bats ending with an off-speed pitch (0-for-5 with curveball, 0-for-2 with both slider and change).
B) Detwiler used the off-speed with two strikes, throwing 12 of 21 pitches. Overall, the Marlins went 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts in at-bats going to two strikes (0-for-8, four strikeouts with off-speed pitches).
C) The Marlins went after off-speed pitches, swinging at 15 and missing seven. The 46.7 percent missed is the third-most for Detwiler since 2009.
3. The Royals' early-season troubles continue: They hit into a triple play, and lost their eighth consecutive decision.
4. The Reds picked up win No. 10,000.
5. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the Indians to a win.
6. The Twins won with a reshuffled deck, as John Shipley writes.
7. Adam Dunn had a big day.
8. Michael Cuddyer is hurting, but he's killing it for the Rockies.
9. Hector Noesi got knocked around.
10. Carlos Zambrano threw well, but the Marlins lost.
11. J.A. Happ got hit early.
12. The Diamondbacks have dropped four straight, and counting.
13. The Giants used their whole committee to get the last outs of their extra-inning win in New York, as Henry Schulman writes.
14. The losing streak came to an end for the Angels.
15. The Padres are owned in their own park by the Phillies.
16. Cole Hamels shut down his hometown team.
17. An inside-the-park homer to start the game was the only run the Pirates scored.
18. Lance Lynn continues to throw well for the Cardinals.
By The Numbers, from ESPN Stats & Info:
2: Inside the park home runs hit (Alex Presley and Norichika Aoki)
631: Career HRs hit by Alex Rodriguez, moving past Ken Griffey Jr. into sole possession of fifth all-time
10,000: Wins by the Reds franchise, becoming the sixth team to win 10,000 games
Yankees' top prospects show promise.
Spoiler [+]
I made my first visit to Charleston, S.C., on Friday night for a matchup of two of the most prospect-laden teams in the minors this year, the Charleston RiverDogs (affiliated with the New York Yankees) and the West Virginia Power (Pittsburgh Pirates), giving me a look at several of the best prospects in each of those organizations. Here are some thoughts based on that game.
• Charleston center fielder Mason Williams, the top prospect in the Yankees' organization right now (given Manny Banuelos' severe control problems in Triple-A), showed his broad base of skills Friday night, including excellent range in center field and good reads on balls hit into the gaps. At the plate, he glided on to his front side when I saw him last year, but is now keeping his weight back much better and has more time to recognize and react to changes in speed.
It did appear in the game that he was trying too hard to hit for power, dropping his back shoulder too much and pulling off the ball in the process; I think there will be plenty of power there when his body matures. He also didn't show the kind of approach he had developed by the end of last season, seeing four pitches in three at-bats before a particularly wild Power reliever (whom I'll discuss below) walked him on four pitches, most of which ended up over on The Citadel's campus. (Small sample size warnings apply.)
• Catcher Gary Sanchez, the Yanks' next-best offensive prospect, showed an improved package of skills across the board. He's got an exaggerated leg kick but gets his lead foot down in time; he tends to drift out over that front side but keeps his weight back enough to drive the ball, even showing doubles power the other way thanks to strong hands and excellent hip rotation.
His defense was a pleasant surprise, as he's substantially improved over where he was last year in both receiving and throwing. I'd been warned that I might get used to seeing his face, since he was constantly turning around to chase down pitches that had gotten past him, but that wasn't an issue Friday night and he showed no difficulty catching any of the pitchers who threw. His arm strength is impressive and I got several sub-2-second pop times despite the fact that he always hesitates when taking the ball out of his glove, like he's looking for the perfect grip before throwing. He nailed Alen Hanson in the first inning with a seed that barely required the shortstop to move his glove to tag the runner, although a later throw was well wide to the shortstop side. It's 7 arm strength that plays down to 6 because of that hesitation, which is still pretty good and has the promise of more.
• Outfielder (and former third baseman) Tyler Austin was the DH on Friday night and had a rough go of it, including a strikeout against Power starter Zack Dodson that featured three absolutely futile swings on changeups in the dirt. Austin's swing is effortless, balanced throughout with a strong finish for line-drive power. He has some hip rotation but doesn't do so early enough to generate a lot of torque for more traditional home-run power, but the contact should be hard enough that he drives some balls out to left.
I like the swing and how his hands work, but the lack of adjustments -- he also struck out looking on 92 on the inside corner, even though Dodson also came inside with a fastball in a previous at-bat -- was the one negative here.
• Kelvin DeLeon was a big bonus baby a few years ago, receiving $1.1 million, and he does have significant power -- his BP was impressive and the contact he makes is hard and loud. But his swing is extremely long and his recognition of off-speed is limited at best.
• Moving on to West Virginia, the best prospect to appear in the game for the Power was shortstop Alen Hanson, who has attracted notice with a very hot start (in a very small sample) but can back most of it up with legitimate tools; I don't write up traditional scouting reports with full slates of grades, but if I were doing so for Hanson, I'd put future grades of 6 (plus) or better on his hit, run, glove, and arm tools.
Hanson is a switch-hitter whose swing from the right (natural) side has more power while his swing from the left side is more compact. Left-handed, he overstrides but keeps his weight back, shooting the bat head at the ball with a fairly flat swing on which he sometimes rolls his hands over. Hanson's right-handed swing had more loft in BP when he stayed back, although he came out of his swing a few times and just flicked his wrists through the zone. He's a plus runner who's particularly fast when he gets underway.
In the field, Hanson has soft hands and his feet work quickly and easily in both directions. His arm is comfortably plus and his throws on Friday were accurate; I see no reason he couldn't be a big league shortstop, and, given his bat, an above-average one overall.
• The Power have several other interesting bats in their lineup, all signed as international free agents like Hanson; of the group, centerfielder Gregory Polanco stood out the most, a plus runner with a pretty sound approach and the ability to manipulate the bat, although a slight wrap and high setup make his swing a little longer than it needs to be. Second baseman Jodaneli Carvajal also stood out despite one showboating-related error when he tried to backhand a hard but routine grounder that he should have played normally.
• Two premium hitting prospects on these rosters took BP but didn't get into the game. Charleston third baseman Dante Bichette Jr. missed his second game in a row but is likely to return to the lineup Saturday night; I've written before about how much I disliked his swing in high school, but he has cleaned it up significantly since signing with the Yankees. Gone is the back-side collapse and related tendency to try to jerk everything out to left field; he's much more balanced and upright through contact without costing himself any of the hip rotation that helps him generate power. He's now able to use the whole field much more effectively and drove the ball to center and right-center throughout BP.
I asked him about it prior to the game, and he said he didn't feel like the mechanical changes were "as big as you think," but that the tweaks have opened up the opposite field for him.
• West Virginia outfielder Josh Bell was a late scratch, and took most of his BP from the left side, since Charleston started a right-hander. (I would have liked to have seen more right-handed BP, however, since that's Bell's weak side.) Bell is still strong with good bat speed and control, but has developed a near-barring of his lead arm that has increased the distance his hands have to travel from the set position to contact. He's also still rolling over that front leg on some of his bigger swings, opening up his front side and pulling off the ball. There's plus raw power in there, but he'll need to firm that front side up to get to it.
• As for pitchers, West Virginia lefty Zack Dodson was impressive, pitching at 88-92 mph with an above-average curveball at 70-74 that showed good depth and two-plane break. He pitched effectively to both sides with the fastball and showed zero fear in attacking right-handed hitters on the inner half with the pitch, even pull-oriented guys like DeLeon. His changeup was below-average at 78-80, and he clearly preferred to move the fastball around rather than shift to the changeup in typical changeup counts.
Dodson lands a little bit toward the first base side of the mound but only comes across his body when he's going hard to his glove side. He stays over the rubber pretty well with just a slight drift before he gets his front leg moving, and takes a strong stride to the plate, with late, quick arm acceleration, finishing well over his front side. Everything works, and if he can improve that changeup he's at least a good fourth starter on pure ability, but with the aggressiveness to profile as an above league-average starter down the road.
• I was thrilled to see Stetson Allie enter the game in the seventh inning for my first look at him since the summer before his senior year of high school, but he retired just one of six batters he faced, walking four and rarely sniffing the strike zone. Allie threw almost all fastballs, all 94-98, but he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn at this point and I was worried he might hit someone in the head even if he was aiming for the opposite side of the plate. He tried to throw one slider and it backed up on him.
Often these severe command problems are tied to violent or unrepeatable deliveries, but while Allie has effort, that isn't the full explanation. He's always been more thrower than pitcher, which worked in Ohio high school ball but doesn't work here, which may be getting in his head at this point. He's just 21 and has too much arm strength to give up on, but I think it's fair to assume this isn't where the Pirates hoped he'd be two years after signing.
• Finally, if all this talent isn't enough to get you to a RiverDogs game, or their fantastic stadium right near downtown Charleston doesn't call you, allow me to recommend two of the more unusual concession items I've come across as potential draws to the ballpark: their duck and alligator sausages. The RiverDogs concessions team was kind enough to offer me samples of a few of their items, and those two were the biggest hits, especially the "duck dog," with a texture much softer than any other sausage I've tried; it's served with a very thin layer of a sweet/sour plum sausage. The gator (my first time eating that protein) was spicier and meatier, although the texture was a little gamier than what I'm used to. I figured these sausages -- they also offer venison, which I didn't try -- were just gimmicks, but I'd gladly order either of those outside of a ballpark.
• Charleston center fielder Mason Williams, the top prospect in the Yankees' organization right now (given Manny Banuelos' severe control problems in Triple-A), showed his broad base of skills Friday night, including excellent range in center field and good reads on balls hit into the gaps. At the plate, he glided on to his front side when I saw him last year, but is now keeping his weight back much better and has more time to recognize and react to changes in speed.
It did appear in the game that he was trying too hard to hit for power, dropping his back shoulder too much and pulling off the ball in the process; I think there will be plenty of power there when his body matures. He also didn't show the kind of approach he had developed by the end of last season, seeing four pitches in three at-bats before a particularly wild Power reliever (whom I'll discuss below) walked him on four pitches, most of which ended up over on The Citadel's campus. (Small sample size warnings apply.)
• Catcher Gary Sanchez, the Yanks' next-best offensive prospect, showed an improved package of skills across the board. He's got an exaggerated leg kick but gets his lead foot down in time; he tends to drift out over that front side but keeps his weight back enough to drive the ball, even showing doubles power the other way thanks to strong hands and excellent hip rotation.
His defense was a pleasant surprise, as he's substantially improved over where he was last year in both receiving and throwing. I'd been warned that I might get used to seeing his face, since he was constantly turning around to chase down pitches that had gotten past him, but that wasn't an issue Friday night and he showed no difficulty catching any of the pitchers who threw. His arm strength is impressive and I got several sub-2-second pop times despite the fact that he always hesitates when taking the ball out of his glove, like he's looking for the perfect grip before throwing. He nailed Alen Hanson in the first inning with a seed that barely required the shortstop to move his glove to tag the runner, although a later throw was well wide to the shortstop side. It's 7 arm strength that plays down to 6 because of that hesitation, which is still pretty good and has the promise of more.
• Outfielder (and former third baseman) Tyler Austin was the DH on Friday night and had a rough go of it, including a strikeout against Power starter Zack Dodson that featured three absolutely futile swings on changeups in the dirt. Austin's swing is effortless, balanced throughout with a strong finish for line-drive power. He has some hip rotation but doesn't do so early enough to generate a lot of torque for more traditional home-run power, but the contact should be hard enough that he drives some balls out to left.
I like the swing and how his hands work, but the lack of adjustments -- he also struck out looking on 92 on the inside corner, even though Dodson also came inside with a fastball in a previous at-bat -- was the one negative here.
• Kelvin DeLeon was a big bonus baby a few years ago, receiving $1.1 million, and he does have significant power -- his BP was impressive and the contact he makes is hard and loud. But his swing is extremely long and his recognition of off-speed is limited at best.
• Moving on to West Virginia, the best prospect to appear in the game for the Power was shortstop Alen Hanson, who has attracted notice with a very hot start (in a very small sample) but can back most of it up with legitimate tools; I don't write up traditional scouting reports with full slates of grades, but if I were doing so for Hanson, I'd put future grades of 6 (plus) or better on his hit, run, glove, and arm tools.
Hanson is a switch-hitter whose swing from the right (natural) side has more power while his swing from the left side is more compact. Left-handed, he overstrides but keeps his weight back, shooting the bat head at the ball with a fairly flat swing on which he sometimes rolls his hands over. Hanson's right-handed swing had more loft in BP when he stayed back, although he came out of his swing a few times and just flicked his wrists through the zone. He's a plus runner who's particularly fast when he gets underway.
In the field, Hanson has soft hands and his feet work quickly and easily in both directions. His arm is comfortably plus and his throws on Friday were accurate; I see no reason he couldn't be a big league shortstop, and, given his bat, an above-average one overall.
• The Power have several other interesting bats in their lineup, all signed as international free agents like Hanson; of the group, centerfielder Gregory Polanco stood out the most, a plus runner with a pretty sound approach and the ability to manipulate the bat, although a slight wrap and high setup make his swing a little longer than it needs to be. Second baseman Jodaneli Carvajal also stood out despite one showboating-related error when he tried to backhand a hard but routine grounder that he should have played normally.
• Two premium hitting prospects on these rosters took BP but didn't get into the game. Charleston third baseman Dante Bichette Jr. missed his second game in a row but is likely to return to the lineup Saturday night; I've written before about how much I disliked his swing in high school, but he has cleaned it up significantly since signing with the Yankees. Gone is the back-side collapse and related tendency to try to jerk everything out to left field; he's much more balanced and upright through contact without costing himself any of the hip rotation that helps him generate power. He's now able to use the whole field much more effectively and drove the ball to center and right-center throughout BP.
I asked him about it prior to the game, and he said he didn't feel like the mechanical changes were "as big as you think," but that the tweaks have opened up the opposite field for him.
• West Virginia outfielder Josh Bell was a late scratch, and took most of his BP from the left side, since Charleston started a right-hander. (I would have liked to have seen more right-handed BP, however, since that's Bell's weak side.) Bell is still strong with good bat speed and control, but has developed a near-barring of his lead arm that has increased the distance his hands have to travel from the set position to contact. He's also still rolling over that front leg on some of his bigger swings, opening up his front side and pulling off the ball. There's plus raw power in there, but he'll need to firm that front side up to get to it.
• As for pitchers, West Virginia lefty Zack Dodson was impressive, pitching at 88-92 mph with an above-average curveball at 70-74 that showed good depth and two-plane break. He pitched effectively to both sides with the fastball and showed zero fear in attacking right-handed hitters on the inner half with the pitch, even pull-oriented guys like DeLeon. His changeup was below-average at 78-80, and he clearly preferred to move the fastball around rather than shift to the changeup in typical changeup counts.
Dodson lands a little bit toward the first base side of the mound but only comes across his body when he's going hard to his glove side. He stays over the rubber pretty well with just a slight drift before he gets his front leg moving, and takes a strong stride to the plate, with late, quick arm acceleration, finishing well over his front side. Everything works, and if he can improve that changeup he's at least a good fourth starter on pure ability, but with the aggressiveness to profile as an above league-average starter down the road.
• I was thrilled to see Stetson Allie enter the game in the seventh inning for my first look at him since the summer before his senior year of high school, but he retired just one of six batters he faced, walking four and rarely sniffing the strike zone. Allie threw almost all fastballs, all 94-98, but he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn at this point and I was worried he might hit someone in the head even if he was aiming for the opposite side of the plate. He tried to throw one slider and it backed up on him.
Often these severe command problems are tied to violent or unrepeatable deliveries, but while Allie has effort, that isn't the full explanation. He's always been more thrower than pitcher, which worked in Ohio high school ball but doesn't work here, which may be getting in his head at this point. He's just 21 and has too much arm strength to give up on, but I think it's fair to assume this isn't where the Pirates hoped he'd be two years after signing.
• Finally, if all this talent isn't enough to get you to a RiverDogs game, or their fantastic stadium right near downtown Charleston doesn't call you, allow me to recommend two of the more unusual concession items I've come across as potential draws to the ballpark: their duck and alligator sausages. The RiverDogs concessions team was kind enough to offer me samples of a few of their items, and those two were the biggest hits, especially the "duck dog," with a texture much softer than any other sausage I've tried; it's served with a very thin layer of a sweet/sour plum sausage. The gator (my first time eating that protein) was spicier and meatier, although the texture was a little gamier than what I'm used to. I figured these sausages -- they also offer venison, which I didn't try -- were just gimmicks, but I'd gladly order either of those outside of a ballpark.
Tigers and Rays reverse roles.
The effect of unbalanced schedules.
Blame shouldn't lie with Valentine.
Bartolo Colon could become trade target.
Yankees' top prospects show promise.
Spoiler [+]
The Detroit Tigers have a top-heavy offense that is capable of producing big innings, and they demonstrated that ability in the opening weekend of the season by posting 23 runs in two games against the Boston Red Sox. But while the Tigers are off to a 10-6 start that has seen them ranked in the top four of the ESPN.com Power Rankings in each of the first four weeks -- including second this week -- their pitching, not their hitting, has been responsible for the bulk of their success.
Since that opening series against Boston, Detroit has averaged just 3.38 runs per game. Detroit's team wOBA of .304 ranks just 21st in baseball despite strong starts from Alex Avila, Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Austin Jackson. The team has received almost zero offensive production from its second-base triumvirate of Brandon Inge, Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago, and shortstop Jhonny Peralta is slumping as well.
The Tigers also are receiving very little from the two players who surround Cabrera and Fielder in Brennan Boesch and Delmon Young. Boesch, in particular, has struggled mightily out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup. Although he homered Sunday, he was just 1-for-5, and his .538 OPS is among the worst in baseball among qualifiers.
Fortunately, the pitching, led by the Teflon-like Justin Verlander, has been stalwart.
One of the most discussed topics this past winter was that as good as Verlander was in 2011, there was just no way he could duplicate the feat in 2012. So far, he seems to be on a mission to again prove doubters wrong. Last season, he didn't generate a FIP better than 1.94 in any month, and his FIP after April 2011 was 3.76. Right now, with one start left this month, his FIP stands at 1.83, and the 1.4 WAR he already has generated is bested only by Matt Kemp and Chase Headley.
Verlander is not the only Tigers pitcher doing well, though. Drew Smyly has allowed just three runs in 16 innings, and he did so against three good offenses in the Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers. Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer have suffered some bad home run and BABIP luck, but their xFIPs point to brighter days on the horizon. (Those days might start this week with the Seattle Mariners coming to Comerica Park.)
There is no mistaking the dominance of Detroit's bullpen thus far, though. The top four arms -- Joaquin Benoit, Phil Coke, Octavio Dotel and Jose Valverde -- have been lights-out. Benoit and Valverde haven't had the crispest control, but they aren't allowing runners to score. None of them has a FIP higher than 3.63, and the fearsome foursome fired four scoreless innings in Sunday's series-finale loss to Texas. As a staff, the Tigers have the eighth-best FIP in the game at 3.46, and that's without any contributions from Doug Fister and Al Alburquerque, both of whom were major components to Detroit's success last season.
On the other side of the coin are the Tampa Bay pitchers, who were supposed to be whittling opponents' bats into neat little piles of kindling. The team is off to a decent start and placed eighth in the rankings for a second straight week, but not in the way the blueprint was drawn up. The Rays' rotation is so stacked that it didn't have room for Wade Davis, who was ranked 15th in Keith Law's prospect rankings just two years ago.
But while Davis has pitched well out of the 'pen, and Jeff Niemann and James Shields have been solid as well, the Rays' starters are struggling three days out of five. Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore and David Price do not have an xFIP better than 4.54. All three have had control issues -- Hellickson and Moore have walked more batters than they have struck out, and Price has struck out only two more than he has walked. For a trio that collectively struck out more than three batters for every one it walked last season, this is a break from character. The results are ugly. The staff's ERA, FIP and xFIP rank 27th, 26th and dead last in the majors, respectively.
Fortunately, the hitters have responded. The offense is averaging .39 more runs per game than last season in the early going, and three Rays -- Carlos Pena, Matt Joyce and Evan Longoria -- are in the top 30 in baseball in wOBA. At a .381 clip himself, Luke Scott has been a great pickup.
The Rays also saw B.J. Upton return this weekend, and his career .342 OBP and efficient base stealing are welcome additions at the top of the lineup. With Upton back, the Rays no longer need to regularly play the offensively challenged Jeff Keppinger, as they can slide Ben Zobrist back to second base.
The things we think we know change quickly as the season progresses. Few would have pegged the Tigers' pitching as the unit that would be carrying the water for them this season, and even fewer would have pegged the Tampa Bay staff as the worst in the majors.
It is early, so these things likely will continue to change. Boesch and the other struggling Tigers hitters are unlikely to be so dreadful all season, and the same goes for Hellickson, Moore and Price. But the hallmark of a good team is that others pick up the slack when those expected to do well are struggling, and that is what is happening right now for the Tigers and Rays.
Paul Swydan covers baseball for ESPN Insider. He has been writing about baseball for various publications since 2005, and can most frequently be found writing for FanGraphs. You can find his ESPN archives here, and follow him on Twitter here.
Since that opening series against Boston, Detroit has averaged just 3.38 runs per game. Detroit's team wOBA of .304 ranks just 21st in baseball despite strong starts from Alex Avila, Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Austin Jackson. The team has received almost zero offensive production from its second-base triumvirate of Brandon Inge, Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago, and shortstop Jhonny Peralta is slumping as well.
The Tigers also are receiving very little from the two players who surround Cabrera and Fielder in Brennan Boesch and Delmon Young. Boesch, in particular, has struggled mightily out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup. Although he homered Sunday, he was just 1-for-5, and his .538 OPS is among the worst in baseball among qualifiers.
Fortunately, the pitching, led by the Teflon-like Justin Verlander, has been stalwart.
One of the most discussed topics this past winter was that as good as Verlander was in 2011, there was just no way he could duplicate the feat in 2012. So far, he seems to be on a mission to again prove doubters wrong. Last season, he didn't generate a FIP better than 1.94 in any month, and his FIP after April 2011 was 3.76. Right now, with one start left this month, his FIP stands at 1.83, and the 1.4 WAR he already has generated is bested only by Matt Kemp and Chase Headley.
Verlander is not the only Tigers pitcher doing well, though. Drew Smyly has allowed just three runs in 16 innings, and he did so against three good offenses in the Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers. Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer have suffered some bad home run and BABIP luck, but their xFIPs point to brighter days on the horizon. (Those days might start this week with the Seattle Mariners coming to Comerica Park.)
There is no mistaking the dominance of Detroit's bullpen thus far, though. The top four arms -- Joaquin Benoit, Phil Coke, Octavio Dotel and Jose Valverde -- have been lights-out. Benoit and Valverde haven't had the crispest control, but they aren't allowing runners to score. None of them has a FIP higher than 3.63, and the fearsome foursome fired four scoreless innings in Sunday's series-finale loss to Texas. As a staff, the Tigers have the eighth-best FIP in the game at 3.46, and that's without any contributions from Doug Fister and Al Alburquerque, both of whom were major components to Detroit's success last season.
On the other side of the coin are the Tampa Bay pitchers, who were supposed to be whittling opponents' bats into neat little piles of kindling. The team is off to a decent start and placed eighth in the rankings for a second straight week, but not in the way the blueprint was drawn up. The Rays' rotation is so stacked that it didn't have room for Wade Davis, who was ranked 15th in Keith Law's prospect rankings just two years ago.
But while Davis has pitched well out of the 'pen, and Jeff Niemann and James Shields have been solid as well, the Rays' starters are struggling three days out of five. Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore and David Price do not have an xFIP better than 4.54. All three have had control issues -- Hellickson and Moore have walked more batters than they have struck out, and Price has struck out only two more than he has walked. For a trio that collectively struck out more than three batters for every one it walked last season, this is a break from character. The results are ugly. The staff's ERA, FIP and xFIP rank 27th, 26th and dead last in the majors, respectively.
Fortunately, the hitters have responded. The offense is averaging .39 more runs per game than last season in the early going, and three Rays -- Carlos Pena, Matt Joyce and Evan Longoria -- are in the top 30 in baseball in wOBA. At a .381 clip himself, Luke Scott has been a great pickup.
The Rays also saw B.J. Upton return this weekend, and his career .342 OBP and efficient base stealing are welcome additions at the top of the lineup. With Upton back, the Rays no longer need to regularly play the offensively challenged Jeff Keppinger, as they can slide Ben Zobrist back to second base.
The things we think we know change quickly as the season progresses. Few would have pegged the Tigers' pitching as the unit that would be carrying the water for them this season, and even fewer would have pegged the Tampa Bay staff as the worst in the majors.
It is early, so these things likely will continue to change. Boesch and the other struggling Tigers hitters are unlikely to be so dreadful all season, and the same goes for Hellickson, Moore and Price. But the hallmark of a good team is that others pick up the slack when those expected to do well are struggling, and that is what is happening right now for the Tigers and Rays.
Paul Swydan covers baseball for ESPN Insider. He has been writing about baseball for various publications since 2005, and can most frequently be found writing for FanGraphs. You can find his ESPN archives here, and follow him on Twitter here.
The effect of unbalanced schedules.
Spoiler [+]
An argument against the balanced schedule is that it would require more miles in the air -- more travel time.
[h4]Baseball's unbalanced schedules[/h4]
The number of games each team played against .500 clubs last season, inlcuding records and winning percentage (data courtesy of baseball-reference.com).
[table][tr][th=""]
Team
[/th][th=""]
G
[/th][th=""]
W
[/th][th=""]
L
[/th][th=""]
W-L%
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
BAL
[/td][td]
103
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
65
[/td][td]
0.369
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
OAK
[/td][td]
94
[/td][td]
43
[/td][td]
51
[/td][td]
0.457
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
SEA
[/td][td]
91
[/td][td]
34
[/td][td]
57
[/td][td]
0.374
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
TOR
[/td][td]
89
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
51
[/td][td]
0.427
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
COL
[/td][td]
88
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
58
[/td][td]
0.341
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
SDP
[/td][td]
85
[/td][td]
31
[/td][td]
54
[/td][td]
0.365
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
TBR
[/td][td]
84
[/td][td]
46
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.548
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
BOS
[/td][td]
84
[/td][td]
46
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.548
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
NYY
[/td][td]
82
[/td][td]
44
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.537
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
NYM
[/td][td]
82
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
44
[/td][td]
0.463
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
FLA
[/td][td]
82
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
54
[/td][td]
0.341
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
MIN
[/td][td]
81
[/td][td]
25
[/td][td]
56
[/td][td]
0.309
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
HOU
[/td][td]
80
[/td][td]
24
[/td][td]
56
[/td][td]
0.300
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CIN
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
36
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
0.493
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CHC
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
43
[/td][td]
0.411
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
KCR
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
43
[/td][td]
0.411
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CLE
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
26
[/td][td]
47
[/td][td]
0.356
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
TEX
[/td][td]
72
[/td][td]
35
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
0.486
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
WSN
[/td][td]
72
[/td][td]
35
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
0.486
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
PIT
[/td][td]
72
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
44
[/td][td]
0.389
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
LAD
[/td][td]
71
[/td][td]
33
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.465
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
LAA
[/td][td]
70
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.457
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CHW
[/td][td]
69
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
41
[/td][td]
0.406
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
SFG
[/td][td]
66
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
34
[/td][td]
0.485
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
ARI
[/td][td]
64
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
0.500
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
PHI
[/td][td]
62
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
25
[/td][td]
0.597
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
MIL
[/td][td]
61
[/td][td]
27
[/td][td]
34
[/td][td]
0.443
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
STL
[/td][td]
60
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
0.500
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
ATL
[/td][td]
60
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
0.467
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
DET
[/td][td]
51
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
23
[/td][td]
0.549
[/td][/tr][/table]
The Seattle Mariners, already stuck out in baseball's outpost in Seattle, would have to make multiple trips every year to Tampa Bay, Baltimore, New York and Boston, rather than having more games in the Pacific time zone.
But the argument for the balanced schedule is pretty compelling, because the unbalanced schedule is indisputably unfair.
How unfair? Well, imagine how the odds for a horse at the Kentucky Derby would change if Shaquille O'Neal was the jockey.
Last year, the Baltimore Orioles played 103 games against teams with records of .500 or better -- nine more than any other team and more than twice than the Detroit Tigers, who played only 51 games against teams with records of .500 or better (see chart).
The Tigers went 28-23 in games against teams with records of .500 or better, a winning percentage in line with how the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays all fared. The Texas Rangers finished below .500 in games against teams with records of .500 or better.
But Texas -- which had significantly fewer games against the .500-or-better teams than the AL East clubs -- wrecked the bad teams, going 61-29. The Tigers separated themselves by going 67-44 against the sub-.500 teams.
Detroit had more victories against sub-.500 teams than the total number of games the Orioles got to play against sub-.500 teams.
Heck, that's like putting Shaq, Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum on the same Derby horse.
And the unbalanced schedule is apparently going to get just a little more unbalanced. Next season, when the Houston Astros shift from the NL Central to the AL West and the two leagues each have 15 teams and five-team divisions, teams are expected to play 19 games against each of the teams in their own division.
For the Orioles, and some other teams, the mountaintop will get higher.
[h3]Red Sox use Bard in bullpen[/h3]
The Red Sox's losing streak ended, and Daniel Bard kicked in some help out of the bullpen.
For a day, all is well. But folks who have been with the Red Sox understand that there is significant risk involved if the team doesn't restore Bard to the starter's role, and even more if the right-hander is jerked around, from the rotation to the bullpen and back.
Remember Bard's history. He was a No. 1 pick in 2006, and at the time the selection was regarded as something of a coup for the Red Sox. But in 2007, Bard's first year in professional baseball, he had a really difficult season, posting 78 walks in 75 innings, with 27 wild pitches and eight hit batsmen.
There was great concern that Bard had acquired what is referred to in baseball as "The Thing" -- the chronic, mystifying wildness that ended the pitching careers of Steve Blass, Rick Ankiel and others.
Bard is regarded as an extremely intelligent, conscientious and thoughtful person, and he worked hard, on his mechanics and his psyche. He was sent to the Hawaiian League after the 2007 season to transition to bullpen and work with pitching coach Mike Cather. Bard and Cather tweaked mechanics -- staying over the rubber longer -- but the greatest adjustment was mental.
Bard developed a mound alter ego as a mechanism to be more aggressive and meaner as a pitcher, a departure from his off-field personality. The big breakthrough came in a game in Hawaii, when others in the organization thought he recognized the fear his stuff creates. Lots of strikes followed, and he rocketed to the big leagues.
It is largely because of his ability to make those physical and mental adjustments that the Red Sox came to believe Bard would be successful in transitioning from reliever to starter this spring -- and through his performance, front-office officials came to believe that Bard had earned that right to start. He has been more effective than some of the other Red Sox starters so far this season.
There is significant financial incentive for Bard to become a starter, of course, but even if this wasn't the case, he'd have every reason to feel like he should be in the rotation.
Moving Bard to the bullpen is like slapping a Band-Aid on a shark bite; Boston's pitching problems cannot be solved by one move. And as one rival executive who is aware of Bard's history noted Monday, it's important to be sensitive to his journey.
"The Thing is not something that ever really goes away," the executive said. "Some players overcome it and become great. But it's there."
Bard was told at the end of spring training that he is a starter. GM Ben Cherington said this again about 10 days ago, and this was the message to the right-hander Monday. This is not a course from which the Red Sox should deviate.
The Bard move to the bullpen will serve to cause only trouble, writes Michael Silverman. Bard views himself as a starter, writes Nick Cafardo.
Meanwhile, Bobby Valentine denied that there was an incident involving he and Mike Aviles in spring training.
Valentine offered some comic relief.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• Yes, the Rays will probably continue to monitor the catching market during the course of the season. But remember, their standard for improvement is pretty low. The Rays' catchers ranked 27th in OPS in 2011, so there is a reasonable expectation that there can be improvement without a major investment in an upgrade.
While Tampa Bay could theoretically chase more expensive (and available) catchers like Kurt Suzuki, historically, the Rays save their dollars for pitching. Suzuki is owed about $12 million through the end of next season.
• Batting eighth in a National League lineup has its own special challenges because of the presence of the pitcher. But A.J. Ellis, the Dodgers' No. 8 hitter, has drawn 11 walks so far this year, and his average of about 4.8 pitches per plate appearance ranks No. 1 in the NL.
• Jake Peavy has always been a full-bore competitor: hard, harder, hardest. But there has been a distinct change in his style this year, never more evident than in his outing Monday night.
From ESPN Stats & Info, how Peavy pitched his third shutout since 2005:
[h4]A slower Peavy[/h4]
Most outs in one game on off-speed pitches by Jake Peavy (since 2009).
[table][tr][th=""]
Date
[/th][th=""]
Outs
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
6/19/10
[/td][td]
17
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Monday
[/td][td]
16<<
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
8/26/11
[/td][td]
16
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
5/8/10
[/td][td]
15
[/td][/tr][tr][td]>>CG SHO, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K[/td][/tr][/table]
A. Peavy used his fastball to set up counts, throwing 43 of his 56 fastballs in the first two pitches of at-bats. After that, he primarily used his three off-speed pitches to generate outs. The Oakland Athletics were just 1-for-17 against Peavy's off-speed stuff, with three strikeouts and no walks. It's just the third time since 2009 that Peavy has gotten more than 15 outs on his off-speed pitches (see chart).
B. 54 percent of Peavy's pitches to lefties were fastballs, the highest percentage of fastballs to lefties in a start for Peavy since May 30, 2010.
C. 54 of his 79 pitches to lefties were on the outer third of the plate, tied for the most outside pitches Peavy has thrown to LHB since 2009. Lefties did not record a single hit against Peavy on an outside pitch all night.
Peavy recorded his sixth career shutout against the A's and his first against any team since May 18 of last season.
• The Atlanta Braves shipped Jair Jurrjens to the minors.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. The Indians activated Asdrubal Cabrera.
2. The Chicago Cubs cut a pitcher to make room for Michael Bowden.
3. The Rays are working out a deal with Hideki Matsui. Matsui will serve as Triple-A depth for Tampa Bay. He'll get a chance to play in the minors and show what he can do at the plate; a promotion is not guaranteed.
4. Oakland has been getting help from Australia.
5. Here are some relief pitchers who could help the Los Angeles Angels, courtesy of the Orange County Register. It's worth mentioning again: Grant Balfour might be the best reliever available right now.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Chien-Ming Wang made his first rehab start.
2. Hunter Pence has a sore shoulder, as Matt Gelb writes.
3. In Jacob Turner's return to the mound, he was terrific, writes Anthony Fenech.
4. Jon Jay has been cleared to return to the St. Louis Cardinals.
5. Jason Bay will get his ribs checked out today.
6. Astros catcher Jason Castro walked off after a scary collision. He is fortunate he didn't suffer an injury similar to that of Buster Posey, because like Posey, he had his left leg locked underneath him.
7. Kirk Gibson is not worried about Daniel Hudson.
[h3]Monday's games[/h3]
1. Kyle Kendrick gave up seven runs, too many for the Philadelphia Phillies to overcome.
2. Derek Jeter pushed his average to .411 with four more hits, and CC Sabathia was much improved.
From ESPN Stats & Info, how CC Sabathia won:
[h4]Sabathia's slider[/h4]
Some numbers on CC Sabathia's slider this season (118 pitches).
[table][tr][th=""]
Stat
[/th][th=""]
Result
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
Strikeouts
[/td][td]
22
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Walks
[/td][td]
0
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Hits
[/td][td]
6
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Average against
[/td][td]
.158
[/td][/tr][/table]
A. Sabathia's slider was dominant, throwing it to register six of his eight strikeouts. Sabathia threw a total of 34 sliders, increasing the number of times he's used the pitch for the third-consecutive start. Sabathia is turning to the pitch more for good reason -- it's been one of the most powerful in the game in 2012 (see chart).
B. Sabathia was ahead of the Rangers all night, throwing only 15 pitches when behind in the count. He has made 12 starts since the last time he threw so few pitches from behind (Aug. 1, 2011).
C. Sabathia changed his approach against the Rangers after his first trip through the lineup. On his first tour of the Rangers' 1-9 hitters, Sabathia had as many hits allowed as strikeouts (two). For that tour of the lineup, Sabathia threw 19 fastballs out of 27 pitches. After that, Sabathia threw fastballs for fewer than half his final 82 pitches, and he gave up a total of five hits.
3. Watched some of Tim Lincecum's start against the New York Mets on Monday. While he won, he was riding the edge of the abyss, pitching constantly from the stretch with an average fastball. Lincecum's fastball averaged 89.8 mph Monday, his lowest average velocity in a game since July 20, 2010.
He scrapped over five innings, as Henry Schulman writes.
4. The Kansas City Royals lost again, somehow; that's 10 straight losses and counting. The Royals are losing more than just games.
From ESPN Stats & Info: The Royals' 0-10 start at home is the worst since the 1994 Cubs (0-12). The 1913 Yankees hold the record for the worst home start in MLB history at 0-17.
8. Jason Motte had a tough night.
9. The Mets lost, and Ike Davis continues to really, really struggle.
10. The Minnesota Twins blew a lead.
11. Zack Greinke got the job done again.
12. The Cubs got to frolic.
13. It was more of the same from the Astros, writes Zachary Levine.
14. Derek Holland had a bad day.
15. The Toronto Blue Jays finished off a sweep and got a home run from Jose Bautista.
16. The Arizona Diamondbacks broke out in a big way with help from Justin Upton.
17. Bartolo Colon lost a battle against another former Cy Young winner.
18. Juan Uribe was The Man for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
[h4]Baseball's unbalanced schedules[/h4]
The number of games each team played against .500 clubs last season, inlcuding records and winning percentage (data courtesy of baseball-reference.com).
[table][tr][th=""]
Team
[/th][th=""]
G
[/th][th=""]
W
[/th][th=""]
L
[/th][th=""]
W-L%
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
BAL
[/td][td]
103
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
65
[/td][td]
0.369
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
OAK
[/td][td]
94
[/td][td]
43
[/td][td]
51
[/td][td]
0.457
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
SEA
[/td][td]
91
[/td][td]
34
[/td][td]
57
[/td][td]
0.374
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
TOR
[/td][td]
89
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
51
[/td][td]
0.427
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
COL
[/td][td]
88
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
58
[/td][td]
0.341
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
SDP
[/td][td]
85
[/td][td]
31
[/td][td]
54
[/td][td]
0.365
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
TBR
[/td][td]
84
[/td][td]
46
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.548
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
BOS
[/td][td]
84
[/td][td]
46
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.548
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
NYY
[/td][td]
82
[/td][td]
44
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.537
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
NYM
[/td][td]
82
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
44
[/td][td]
0.463
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
FLA
[/td][td]
82
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
54
[/td][td]
0.341
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
MIN
[/td][td]
81
[/td][td]
25
[/td][td]
56
[/td][td]
0.309
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
HOU
[/td][td]
80
[/td][td]
24
[/td][td]
56
[/td][td]
0.300
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CIN
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
36
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
0.493
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CHC
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
43
[/td][td]
0.411
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
KCR
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
43
[/td][td]
0.411
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CLE
[/td][td]
73
[/td][td]
26
[/td][td]
47
[/td][td]
0.356
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
TEX
[/td][td]
72
[/td][td]
35
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
0.486
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
WSN
[/td][td]
72
[/td][td]
35
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
0.486
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
PIT
[/td][td]
72
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
44
[/td][td]
0.389
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
LAD
[/td][td]
71
[/td][td]
33
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.465
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
LAA
[/td][td]
70
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
38
[/td][td]
0.457
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
CHW
[/td][td]
69
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
41
[/td][td]
0.406
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
SFG
[/td][td]
66
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
34
[/td][td]
0.485
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
ARI
[/td][td]
64
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
0.500
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
PHI
[/td][td]
62
[/td][td]
37
[/td][td]
25
[/td][td]
0.597
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
MIL
[/td][td]
61
[/td][td]
27
[/td][td]
34
[/td][td]
0.443
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
STL
[/td][td]
60
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
30
[/td][td]
0.500
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
ATL
[/td][td]
60
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
32
[/td][td]
0.467
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
DET
[/td][td]
51
[/td][td]
28
[/td][td]
23
[/td][td]
0.549
[/td][/tr][/table]
The Seattle Mariners, already stuck out in baseball's outpost in Seattle, would have to make multiple trips every year to Tampa Bay, Baltimore, New York and Boston, rather than having more games in the Pacific time zone.
But the argument for the balanced schedule is pretty compelling, because the unbalanced schedule is indisputably unfair.
How unfair? Well, imagine how the odds for a horse at the Kentucky Derby would change if Shaquille O'Neal was the jockey.
Last year, the Baltimore Orioles played 103 games against teams with records of .500 or better -- nine more than any other team and more than twice than the Detroit Tigers, who played only 51 games against teams with records of .500 or better (see chart).
The Tigers went 28-23 in games against teams with records of .500 or better, a winning percentage in line with how the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays all fared. The Texas Rangers finished below .500 in games against teams with records of .500 or better.
But Texas -- which had significantly fewer games against the .500-or-better teams than the AL East clubs -- wrecked the bad teams, going 61-29. The Tigers separated themselves by going 67-44 against the sub-.500 teams.
Detroit had more victories against sub-.500 teams than the total number of games the Orioles got to play against sub-.500 teams.
Heck, that's like putting Shaq, Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum on the same Derby horse.
And the unbalanced schedule is apparently going to get just a little more unbalanced. Next season, when the Houston Astros shift from the NL Central to the AL West and the two leagues each have 15 teams and five-team divisions, teams are expected to play 19 games against each of the teams in their own division.
For the Orioles, and some other teams, the mountaintop will get higher.
[h3]Red Sox use Bard in bullpen[/h3]
The Red Sox's losing streak ended, and Daniel Bard kicked in some help out of the bullpen.
For a day, all is well. But folks who have been with the Red Sox understand that there is significant risk involved if the team doesn't restore Bard to the starter's role, and even more if the right-hander is jerked around, from the rotation to the bullpen and back.
Remember Bard's history. He was a No. 1 pick in 2006, and at the time the selection was regarded as something of a coup for the Red Sox. But in 2007, Bard's first year in professional baseball, he had a really difficult season, posting 78 walks in 75 innings, with 27 wild pitches and eight hit batsmen.
There was great concern that Bard had acquired what is referred to in baseball as "The Thing" -- the chronic, mystifying wildness that ended the pitching careers of Steve Blass, Rick Ankiel and others.
Bard is regarded as an extremely intelligent, conscientious and thoughtful person, and he worked hard, on his mechanics and his psyche. He was sent to the Hawaiian League after the 2007 season to transition to bullpen and work with pitching coach Mike Cather. Bard and Cather tweaked mechanics -- staying over the rubber longer -- but the greatest adjustment was mental.
Bard developed a mound alter ego as a mechanism to be more aggressive and meaner as a pitcher, a departure from his off-field personality. The big breakthrough came in a game in Hawaii, when others in the organization thought he recognized the fear his stuff creates. Lots of strikes followed, and he rocketed to the big leagues.
It is largely because of his ability to make those physical and mental adjustments that the Red Sox came to believe Bard would be successful in transitioning from reliever to starter this spring -- and through his performance, front-office officials came to believe that Bard had earned that right to start. He has been more effective than some of the other Red Sox starters so far this season.
There is significant financial incentive for Bard to become a starter, of course, but even if this wasn't the case, he'd have every reason to feel like he should be in the rotation.
Moving Bard to the bullpen is like slapping a Band-Aid on a shark bite; Boston's pitching problems cannot be solved by one move. And as one rival executive who is aware of Bard's history noted Monday, it's important to be sensitive to his journey.
"The Thing is not something that ever really goes away," the executive said. "Some players overcome it and become great. But it's there."
Bard was told at the end of spring training that he is a starter. GM Ben Cherington said this again about 10 days ago, and this was the message to the right-hander Monday. This is not a course from which the Red Sox should deviate.
The Bard move to the bullpen will serve to cause only trouble, writes Michael Silverman. Bard views himself as a starter, writes Nick Cafardo.
Meanwhile, Bobby Valentine denied that there was an incident involving he and Mike Aviles in spring training.
Valentine offered some comic relief.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• Yes, the Rays will probably continue to monitor the catching market during the course of the season. But remember, their standard for improvement is pretty low. The Rays' catchers ranked 27th in OPS in 2011, so there is a reasonable expectation that there can be improvement without a major investment in an upgrade.
While Tampa Bay could theoretically chase more expensive (and available) catchers like Kurt Suzuki, historically, the Rays save their dollars for pitching. Suzuki is owed about $12 million through the end of next season.
• Batting eighth in a National League lineup has its own special challenges because of the presence of the pitcher. But A.J. Ellis, the Dodgers' No. 8 hitter, has drawn 11 walks so far this year, and his average of about 4.8 pitches per plate appearance ranks No. 1 in the NL.
• Jake Peavy has always been a full-bore competitor: hard, harder, hardest. But there has been a distinct change in his style this year, never more evident than in his outing Monday night.
From ESPN Stats & Info, how Peavy pitched his third shutout since 2005:
[h4]A slower Peavy[/h4]
Most outs in one game on off-speed pitches by Jake Peavy (since 2009).
[table][tr][th=""]
Date
[/th][th=""]
Outs
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
6/19/10
[/td][td]
17
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Monday
[/td][td]
16<<
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
8/26/11
[/td][td]
16
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
5/8/10
[/td][td]
15
[/td][/tr][tr][td]>>CG SHO, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K[/td][/tr][/table]
A. Peavy used his fastball to set up counts, throwing 43 of his 56 fastballs in the first two pitches of at-bats. After that, he primarily used his three off-speed pitches to generate outs. The Oakland Athletics were just 1-for-17 against Peavy's off-speed stuff, with three strikeouts and no walks. It's just the third time since 2009 that Peavy has gotten more than 15 outs on his off-speed pitches (see chart).
B. 54 percent of Peavy's pitches to lefties were fastballs, the highest percentage of fastballs to lefties in a start for Peavy since May 30, 2010.
C. 54 of his 79 pitches to lefties were on the outer third of the plate, tied for the most outside pitches Peavy has thrown to LHB since 2009. Lefties did not record a single hit against Peavy on an outside pitch all night.
Peavy recorded his sixth career shutout against the A's and his first against any team since May 18 of last season.
• The Atlanta Braves shipped Jair Jurrjens to the minors.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. The Indians activated Asdrubal Cabrera.
2. The Chicago Cubs cut a pitcher to make room for Michael Bowden.
3. The Rays are working out a deal with Hideki Matsui. Matsui will serve as Triple-A depth for Tampa Bay. He'll get a chance to play in the minors and show what he can do at the plate; a promotion is not guaranteed.
4. Oakland has been getting help from Australia.
5. Here are some relief pitchers who could help the Los Angeles Angels, courtesy of the Orange County Register. It's worth mentioning again: Grant Balfour might be the best reliever available right now.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Chien-Ming Wang made his first rehab start.
2. Hunter Pence has a sore shoulder, as Matt Gelb writes.
3. In Jacob Turner's return to the mound, he was terrific, writes Anthony Fenech.
4. Jon Jay has been cleared to return to the St. Louis Cardinals.
5. Jason Bay will get his ribs checked out today.
6. Astros catcher Jason Castro walked off after a scary collision. He is fortunate he didn't suffer an injury similar to that of Buster Posey, because like Posey, he had his left leg locked underneath him.
7. Kirk Gibson is not worried about Daniel Hudson.
[h3]Monday's games[/h3]
1. Kyle Kendrick gave up seven runs, too many for the Philadelphia Phillies to overcome.
2. Derek Jeter pushed his average to .411 with four more hits, and CC Sabathia was much improved.
From ESPN Stats & Info, how CC Sabathia won:
[h4]Sabathia's slider[/h4]
Some numbers on CC Sabathia's slider this season (118 pitches).
[table][tr][th=""]
Stat
[/th][th=""]
Result
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
Strikeouts
[/td][td]
22
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Walks
[/td][td]
0
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Hits
[/td][td]
6
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Average against
[/td][td]
.158
[/td][/tr][/table]
A. Sabathia's slider was dominant, throwing it to register six of his eight strikeouts. Sabathia threw a total of 34 sliders, increasing the number of times he's used the pitch for the third-consecutive start. Sabathia is turning to the pitch more for good reason -- it's been one of the most powerful in the game in 2012 (see chart).
B. Sabathia was ahead of the Rangers all night, throwing only 15 pitches when behind in the count. He has made 12 starts since the last time he threw so few pitches from behind (Aug. 1, 2011).
C. Sabathia changed his approach against the Rangers after his first trip through the lineup. On his first tour of the Rangers' 1-9 hitters, Sabathia had as many hits allowed as strikeouts (two). For that tour of the lineup, Sabathia threw 19 fastballs out of 27 pitches. After that, Sabathia threw fastballs for fewer than half his final 82 pitches, and he gave up a total of five hits.
3. Watched some of Tim Lincecum's start against the New York Mets on Monday. While he won, he was riding the edge of the abyss, pitching constantly from the stretch with an average fastball. Lincecum's fastball averaged 89.8 mph Monday, his lowest average velocity in a game since July 20, 2010.
He scrapped over five innings, as Henry Schulman writes.
4. The Kansas City Royals lost again, somehow; that's 10 straight losses and counting. The Royals are losing more than just games.
From ESPN Stats & Info: The Royals' 0-10 start at home is the worst since the 1994 Cubs (0-12). The 1913 Yankees hold the record for the worst home start in MLB history at 0-17.
8. Jason Motte had a tough night.
9. The Mets lost, and Ike Davis continues to really, really struggle.
10. The Minnesota Twins blew a lead.
11. Zack Greinke got the job done again.
12. The Cubs got to frolic.
13. It was more of the same from the Astros, writes Zachary Levine.
14. Derek Holland had a bad day.
15. The Toronto Blue Jays finished off a sweep and got a home run from Jose Bautista.
16. The Arizona Diamondbacks broke out in a big way with help from Justin Upton.
17. Bartolo Colon lost a battle against another former Cy Young winner.
18. Juan Uribe was The Man for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Blame shouldn't lie with Valentine.
Spoiler [+]
BOSTON -- Most of the Red Sox players had scurried out of the Boston clubhouse by the time reporters arrived after Saturday's debacle. "I'm not talking today," David Ortiz said, before quietly exiting.
A few Red Sox players did stick around, from Mike Aviles to Jarrod Saltalamacchia to Felix Doubront, to talk about their historically horrific collapse. But most of the responsibility for answering questions had been left to Bobby Valentine. Seventeen days into his first season as manager of the Red Sox, his entrance into the packed press room felt a little like a condemned prisoner being marched in front of a firing squad. The pointed questions came at him from all directions, and he absorbed the full brunt of implication in each.
"I think we've hit bottom," he said. "If this isn't bottom, we'll find some new ends of the earth."
It became evident at Fenway on Saturday that so long as the Red Sox continue to play badly, Valentine will continue to answer for the sins of a franchise. The angry fans want to show their displeasure, and they can't boo owners John Henry and Tom Werner, who don't wear uniforms and don't appear on the field. They can't boo club president Larry Lucchino, nor general manager Ben Cherington. Theo Epstein is in Chicago now. Josh Beckett doesn't play every game, Carl Crawford isn't here yet. Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia have been spared.
So the fans booed Valentine, as he journeyed repeatedly to and from the dugout throughout Saturday's game. Alfredo Aceves surrendered the last of Boston's 9-0 lead on Saturday, when Nick Swisher clubbed a two-run double off the center field wall, and as Valentine emerged from the dugout to relieve the pseudo closer, the boos began. Valentine accepted the ball from Aceves, patted him on the backside as he walked off -- and the booing stopped.
Then, after Valentine handed the ball to a reliever and turned to walk to the dugout, the booing resumed. To review: One of the half-dozen pitchers who turned a 9-0 lead into a 15-9 loss was spared, but Valentine was booed. It's not business, it's personal.
Maybe throughout New England today, some of those same fans will peruse the box scores and understand that blaming Valentine for the state of the Red Sox is a little like screaming at a bank teller for the collapse of the financial markets in 2008. The Boston pitching is atrocious, and has been for a while now, with an ERA over six since the start of September 2011.
Aceves has an ERA of 24.00; http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/29446/mark-melanconMark Melancon was sent to the minors earlier this week with an ERA close to 50; Justin Thomas' ERA is 7.71; Vicente Padilla's 9.82; http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/28675/franklin-moralesFranklin Morales is one of the sturdier contributors, at 6.35.
The Red Sox had a 9-1 lead at the end of six innings, when Valentine made the decision to remove Doubront after 99 pitches. Valentine could have asked Doubront to at least start the seventh, but he felt that taking the young lefty out was "a no-brainer," he said. It's early in the season, Doubront was nearing the end of his day, anyhow; managers want young pitchers such as Doubront to feel good about themselves, and an ugly seventh inning could have muddled the day for him.
But the Red Sox crumbled after Doubront left, exposing Valentine to the question of why he took out the pitcher. If a manager can't count on his bullpen to hold an eight-run lead with nine outs to go, the problems go way beyond that one decision.
Henry, Lucchino and Cherington met with Valentine after the game, and Cherington told reporters that the discussion was held, in part, to make sure that everybody involved knew they were all in this situation together. Behind closed doors, there was presumably more to it than that. The Red Sox owners are known to be as anxious as some of the fans who booed Valentine, and as Valentine acknowledged before his meeting, everything will be considered.
Could they talk about moving Daniel Bard back to the bullpen? Sure. Could they call up Aaron Cook for the rotation? Of course. Could they discuss some options in the trade market? Absolutely.
But to steal a line appropriate for this week, this is like shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic. Moving Bard to the closer's role doesn't guarantee that Bard is going to succeed in that role, and it opens up a hole in the rotation -- and only Doubront has a lower ERA among the Red Sox's starters than Bard's 4.63. Some rival evaluators in the dining area wondered about whether Clay Buchholz's back is still bothering him, and preventing him from driving the ball down in the strike zone. Beckett pitched better the last two starts, but he is a long way from being the elite pitcher that he has been in the past. Jon Lester still struggles with early-inning pitch counts.
Daisuke Matsuzaka may or may not help when he rejoins the rotation in a month or so. The only sure thing is that Valentine will be the funnel for the displeasure of Red Sox fans every time he walks on the field. He tipped his cap after his last pitching change Saturday, in acknowledging the boos, but there will be no courtesies returned unless the pitching improves.
Valentine has crossed into the Joe Kerrigan Zone, writes Dan Shaughnessy. Cherington said he's very satisfied with Valentine. Blame the bullpen, not Bobby V, writes Steve Buckley. The Boston situation is in hell, writes Michael Silverman. It was a total disaster, writes Peter Abraham.
The Red Sox's psyche may be damaged beyond repair, writes Bob Klapisch.
The Yankees scored two late touchdowns, writes David Waldstein. Freddy Garcia was terrible again, Anthony McCarron writes. The Yankees' rally can't hide New York's rotation mess.
Meanwhile: Michael Pineda had a setback.
From the Elias Sports Bureau:
The last time a team scored seven runs in consecutive innings in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry was on June 19, 2000, when the Yankees scored nine in the eighth and then seven in the ninth in a 22-1 win.
The Yankees' 15-9 win over the Red Sox marked the second time in the modern era that a team trailed by at least nine runs and ended up winning the game by at least six runs.
[h3]Humber's perfect game[/h3]
• When Philip Humber faced the Orioles last week, the Baltimore dugout chatter was about how many breaking balls the right-hander was throwing -- slider after slider after slider. Good sliders, sharp sliders.
This was only a warm-up act to what the Mariners saw Saturday, as Humber threw the 21st perfect game in baseball history. Fifteen of the 27 outs Humber registered came on sliders.
More from ESPN Stats and Info on Humber's perfecto:
• Humber had the second-fewest career wins (11) in MLB history prior to his perfect game. It was only the seventh perfect game on the road, and the first since Roy Halladay in 2012.
• Plate umpire Brian Runge also called Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter three seasons ago on July 10, 2009.
• The Mariners were last no-hit by Dwight Gooden of the Yankees on May 14, 1996.
How White Sox starter Philip Humber threw a perfect game against the Mariners:
• Humber threw 32 sliders, resulting in 15 outs and six strikeouts. In his two starts this season, opponents are 1-for-22 with nine strikeouts in at-bats ending with a Humber slider.
• Humber threw his slider 13.5 percent of the time the first time through the order, then 45.8 percent of the time the next two times through the order.
• Forty-seven of Humber's 96 pitches (48.9 percent) were sliders or curveballs, his second-highest percentage since the start of last season.
• His only game with a higher percentage of breaking balls was in his only other start this season. Opponents are 1-for-29 in at-bats ending with a Humber breaking ball this season.
• He did not go to a three-ball count in the first eight innings before going to two in the ninth. Both three-ball counts ended in strikeouts, including Humber's first career strikeout in an at-bat in which he fell behind 3-0.
Pitching coach Don Cooper convinced Humber to ditch his cutter and go with the slider.
Humber isn't sure what he is doing on the list of guys who have thrown perfect games, Mark Gonzales writes. A.J. Pierzynski had to track down the final strike.
Humber is thrilled that his stuff is headed to the Hall of Fame.
Mariners fans were on their feet, cheering, Steve Kelley writes.
• Matt Kemp is absurdly hot right now: He's got nine homers already, and we're only 17 days into the season.
From ESPN Stats and Info:
Matt Kemp has hit as many home runs as the Reds and Padres and has hit more homers than the Astros, Phillies, Pirates and Cubs.
Kemp and Andre Ethier have combined for 43 RBIs this season. The two have recorded more RBIs than the Phillies (40) and Pirates (26) have as a team.
• The hits just keep on coming for the Diamondbacks, who have lost Daniel Hudson to a shoulder issue. They basically have had three of their best 10 players deal with injuries in the last week, and it's costing them: They've dropped five straight games.
• The Royals have fallen, and they can't get up: That's nine straight losses and counting for Kansas City, as Blair Kerkhoff writes. Never saw this coming. And more bad news for the Royals: Greg Holland was placed on the disabled list.
By The Numbers, from ESPN Stats and Info
1.7: Percent of people who owned Humber in ESPN.com fantasy leagues entering Saturday.
13: MLB-record games for Mark Teixeira with a home run from each side of the plate after he pulled the feat Saturday.
21: Perfect games in MLB history after Humber's outing at Seattle.
92.5: Justin Verlander's average fastball velocity Saturday, matching his lowest since 2009.
99.5: Speed of the fastball Edwin Encarnacion hit for a home run Saturday off Kelvin Herrera, the fastest pitch to be hit for a home run since June 26, 2010.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. After breaking a losing streak, the Cubs announced the trade of Marlon Byrd to the Red Sox.
2. Randy Wells was summoned from Triple-A.
3. Terry Foster thinks it's time for the Tigers to get rid of Brandon Inge.
4. Daniel Schlereth was sent to Triple-A.
5. Johnny Damon is getting ready to return.
6. There have been no recent talks between the Phillies and Cole Hamels; he will eventually reach a point where he's so close to free agency that he may inevitably decide to test the market, rather than simply accept a Philadelphia offer. The market baseline for Hamels was set by the Matt Cain contract, at five years and $112.5 million, but agents who don't represent the left-hander are certain he could get a six-year deal in free agency from the Cubs, Dodgers or some other team.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Relievers have a better shot after their second elbow surgery, John Shea writes.
2. Rest and recovery have impacted the Rockies' lineup, and will continue to do so, Troy Renck writes.
3. Ryan Zimmerman expects to be back in the Washington lineup Tuesday.
4. Cliff Lee landed on the disabled list.
[h3]Saturday's games[/h3]
1. The Brewers' offense finally broke out.
2. Carl Pavano pitched well, but lost.
3. Jered Weaver was The Man for the Angels.
4. After the Giants' game ended, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/22/SPR01O70VK.DTLBuster Posey argued.
5. The Athletics couldn't stop all of the Cleveland baserunners.
6. A Padres lefty outdueled a superstar. The Padres were able to grind out some runs, Bill Center writes.
7. The Colorado bullpen got roughed up.
8. Drew Hutchison made his debut, and the Jays won.
9. Justin Verlander cooled off the Rangers and gave the Tigers a big pick-me-up, John Lowe writes. Not one of his strikeouts Saturday came on fastballs. Earlier in the day, Rick Porcello had an ugly pitching line -- but if you watched the highlights, it wasn't as if he was giving up rockets. He had some bad luck, and some poor defense behind him.
10. The game got away from Mike Leake in a hurry.
11. Jason Kipnis had a really good day.
12. The Cardinals got shut down by an old pro.
13. The Braves are rolling: Tommy Hanson's victory Saturday was Atlanta's 10th in its last 11 games.
14. James Shields was in control again, Gary Shelton writes. B.J. Upton got his first hits and RBIs of the season.
15. The Texas offense is rolling, but http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/22/3902459/texas-rangers-split-with-detroit.htmlAdrian Beltre got hurt.
16. Jake Arrieta had a bad inning.
17. The Mets pulled it out, crazily.
18. The Nationals keep finding a way, this time with Ian Desmond ending all matters.
19. A.J. Burnett is back, and he was terrific.
20. The sixth inning took down Kyle Weiland.
21. The Marlins made a bunch of defensive mistakes.
A few Red Sox players did stick around, from Mike Aviles to Jarrod Saltalamacchia to Felix Doubront, to talk about their historically horrific collapse. But most of the responsibility for answering questions had been left to Bobby Valentine. Seventeen days into his first season as manager of the Red Sox, his entrance into the packed press room felt a little like a condemned prisoner being marched in front of a firing squad. The pointed questions came at him from all directions, and he absorbed the full brunt of implication in each.
"I think we've hit bottom," he said. "If this isn't bottom, we'll find some new ends of the earth."
It became evident at Fenway on Saturday that so long as the Red Sox continue to play badly, Valentine will continue to answer for the sins of a franchise. The angry fans want to show their displeasure, and they can't boo owners John Henry and Tom Werner, who don't wear uniforms and don't appear on the field. They can't boo club president Larry Lucchino, nor general manager Ben Cherington. Theo Epstein is in Chicago now. Josh Beckett doesn't play every game, Carl Crawford isn't here yet. Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia have been spared.
So the fans booed Valentine, as he journeyed repeatedly to and from the dugout throughout Saturday's game. Alfredo Aceves surrendered the last of Boston's 9-0 lead on Saturday, when Nick Swisher clubbed a two-run double off the center field wall, and as Valentine emerged from the dugout to relieve the pseudo closer, the boos began. Valentine accepted the ball from Aceves, patted him on the backside as he walked off -- and the booing stopped.
Then, after Valentine handed the ball to a reliever and turned to walk to the dugout, the booing resumed. To review: One of the half-dozen pitchers who turned a 9-0 lead into a 15-9 loss was spared, but Valentine was booed. It's not business, it's personal.
Maybe throughout New England today, some of those same fans will peruse the box scores and understand that blaming Valentine for the state of the Red Sox is a little like screaming at a bank teller for the collapse of the financial markets in 2008. The Boston pitching is atrocious, and has been for a while now, with an ERA over six since the start of September 2011.
Aceves has an ERA of 24.00; http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/29446/mark-melanconMark Melancon was sent to the minors earlier this week with an ERA close to 50; Justin Thomas' ERA is 7.71; Vicente Padilla's 9.82; http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/28675/franklin-moralesFranklin Morales is one of the sturdier contributors, at 6.35.
The Red Sox had a 9-1 lead at the end of six innings, when Valentine made the decision to remove Doubront after 99 pitches. Valentine could have asked Doubront to at least start the seventh, but he felt that taking the young lefty out was "a no-brainer," he said. It's early in the season, Doubront was nearing the end of his day, anyhow; managers want young pitchers such as Doubront to feel good about themselves, and an ugly seventh inning could have muddled the day for him.
But the Red Sox crumbled after Doubront left, exposing Valentine to the question of why he took out the pitcher. If a manager can't count on his bullpen to hold an eight-run lead with nine outs to go, the problems go way beyond that one decision.
Henry, Lucchino and Cherington met with Valentine after the game, and Cherington told reporters that the discussion was held, in part, to make sure that everybody involved knew they were all in this situation together. Behind closed doors, there was presumably more to it than that. The Red Sox owners are known to be as anxious as some of the fans who booed Valentine, and as Valentine acknowledged before his meeting, everything will be considered.
Could they talk about moving Daniel Bard back to the bullpen? Sure. Could they call up Aaron Cook for the rotation? Of course. Could they discuss some options in the trade market? Absolutely.
But to steal a line appropriate for this week, this is like shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic. Moving Bard to the closer's role doesn't guarantee that Bard is going to succeed in that role, and it opens up a hole in the rotation -- and only Doubront has a lower ERA among the Red Sox's starters than Bard's 4.63. Some rival evaluators in the dining area wondered about whether Clay Buchholz's back is still bothering him, and preventing him from driving the ball down in the strike zone. Beckett pitched better the last two starts, but he is a long way from being the elite pitcher that he has been in the past. Jon Lester still struggles with early-inning pitch counts.
Daisuke Matsuzaka may or may not help when he rejoins the rotation in a month or so. The only sure thing is that Valentine will be the funnel for the displeasure of Red Sox fans every time he walks on the field. He tipped his cap after his last pitching change Saturday, in acknowledging the boos, but there will be no courtesies returned unless the pitching improves.
Valentine has crossed into the Joe Kerrigan Zone, writes Dan Shaughnessy. Cherington said he's very satisfied with Valentine. Blame the bullpen, not Bobby V, writes Steve Buckley. The Boston situation is in hell, writes Michael Silverman. It was a total disaster, writes Peter Abraham.
The Red Sox's psyche may be damaged beyond repair, writes Bob Klapisch.
The Yankees scored two late touchdowns, writes David Waldstein. Freddy Garcia was terrible again, Anthony McCarron writes. The Yankees' rally can't hide New York's rotation mess.
Meanwhile: Michael Pineda had a setback.
From the Elias Sports Bureau:
The last time a team scored seven runs in consecutive innings in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry was on June 19, 2000, when the Yankees scored nine in the eighth and then seven in the ninth in a 22-1 win.
The Yankees' 15-9 win over the Red Sox marked the second time in the modern era that a team trailed by at least nine runs and ended up winning the game by at least six runs.
[h3]Humber's perfect game[/h3]
• When Philip Humber faced the Orioles last week, the Baltimore dugout chatter was about how many breaking balls the right-hander was throwing -- slider after slider after slider. Good sliders, sharp sliders.
This was only a warm-up act to what the Mariners saw Saturday, as Humber threw the 21st perfect game in baseball history. Fifteen of the 27 outs Humber registered came on sliders.
More from ESPN Stats and Info on Humber's perfecto:
• Humber had the second-fewest career wins (11) in MLB history prior to his perfect game. It was only the seventh perfect game on the road, and the first since Roy Halladay in 2012.
• Plate umpire Brian Runge also called Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter three seasons ago on July 10, 2009.
• The Mariners were last no-hit by Dwight Gooden of the Yankees on May 14, 1996.
How White Sox starter Philip Humber threw a perfect game against the Mariners:
• Humber threw 32 sliders, resulting in 15 outs and six strikeouts. In his two starts this season, opponents are 1-for-22 with nine strikeouts in at-bats ending with a Humber slider.
• Humber threw his slider 13.5 percent of the time the first time through the order, then 45.8 percent of the time the next two times through the order.
• Forty-seven of Humber's 96 pitches (48.9 percent) were sliders or curveballs, his second-highest percentage since the start of last season.
• His only game with a higher percentage of breaking balls was in his only other start this season. Opponents are 1-for-29 in at-bats ending with a Humber breaking ball this season.
• He did not go to a three-ball count in the first eight innings before going to two in the ninth. Both three-ball counts ended in strikeouts, including Humber's first career strikeout in an at-bat in which he fell behind 3-0.
Pitching coach Don Cooper convinced Humber to ditch his cutter and go with the slider.
Humber isn't sure what he is doing on the list of guys who have thrown perfect games, Mark Gonzales writes. A.J. Pierzynski had to track down the final strike.
Humber is thrilled that his stuff is headed to the Hall of Fame.
Mariners fans were on their feet, cheering, Steve Kelley writes.
• Matt Kemp is absurdly hot right now: He's got nine homers already, and we're only 17 days into the season.
From ESPN Stats and Info:
Matt Kemp has hit as many home runs as the Reds and Padres and has hit more homers than the Astros, Phillies, Pirates and Cubs.
Kemp and Andre Ethier have combined for 43 RBIs this season. The two have recorded more RBIs than the Phillies (40) and Pirates (26) have as a team.
• The hits just keep on coming for the Diamondbacks, who have lost Daniel Hudson to a shoulder issue. They basically have had three of their best 10 players deal with injuries in the last week, and it's costing them: They've dropped five straight games.
• The Royals have fallen, and they can't get up: That's nine straight losses and counting for Kansas City, as Blair Kerkhoff writes. Never saw this coming. And more bad news for the Royals: Greg Holland was placed on the disabled list.
By The Numbers, from ESPN Stats and Info
1.7: Percent of people who owned Humber in ESPN.com fantasy leagues entering Saturday.
13: MLB-record games for Mark Teixeira with a home run from each side of the plate after he pulled the feat Saturday.
21: Perfect games in MLB history after Humber's outing at Seattle.
92.5: Justin Verlander's average fastball velocity Saturday, matching his lowest since 2009.
99.5: Speed of the fastball Edwin Encarnacion hit for a home run Saturday off Kelvin Herrera, the fastest pitch to be hit for a home run since June 26, 2010.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. After breaking a losing streak, the Cubs announced the trade of Marlon Byrd to the Red Sox.
2. Randy Wells was summoned from Triple-A.
3. Terry Foster thinks it's time for the Tigers to get rid of Brandon Inge.
4. Daniel Schlereth was sent to Triple-A.
5. Johnny Damon is getting ready to return.
6. There have been no recent talks between the Phillies and Cole Hamels; he will eventually reach a point where he's so close to free agency that he may inevitably decide to test the market, rather than simply accept a Philadelphia offer. The market baseline for Hamels was set by the Matt Cain contract, at five years and $112.5 million, but agents who don't represent the left-hander are certain he could get a six-year deal in free agency from the Cubs, Dodgers or some other team.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Relievers have a better shot after their second elbow surgery, John Shea writes.
2. Rest and recovery have impacted the Rockies' lineup, and will continue to do so, Troy Renck writes.
3. Ryan Zimmerman expects to be back in the Washington lineup Tuesday.
4. Cliff Lee landed on the disabled list.
[h3]Saturday's games[/h3]
1. The Brewers' offense finally broke out.
2. Carl Pavano pitched well, but lost.
3. Jered Weaver was The Man for the Angels.
4. After the Giants' game ended, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/22/SPR01O70VK.DTLBuster Posey argued.
5. The Athletics couldn't stop all of the Cleveland baserunners.
6. A Padres lefty outdueled a superstar. The Padres were able to grind out some runs, Bill Center writes.
7. The Colorado bullpen got roughed up.
8. Drew Hutchison made his debut, and the Jays won.
9. Justin Verlander cooled off the Rangers and gave the Tigers a big pick-me-up, John Lowe writes. Not one of his strikeouts Saturday came on fastballs. Earlier in the day, Rick Porcello had an ugly pitching line -- but if you watched the highlights, it wasn't as if he was giving up rockets. He had some bad luck, and some poor defense behind him.
10. The game got away from Mike Leake in a hurry.
11. Jason Kipnis had a really good day.
12. The Cardinals got shut down by an old pro.
13. The Braves are rolling: Tommy Hanson's victory Saturday was Atlanta's 10th in its last 11 games.
14. James Shields was in control again, Gary Shelton writes. B.J. Upton got his first hits and RBIs of the season.
15. The Texas offense is rolling, but http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/04/22/3902459/texas-rangers-split-with-detroit.htmlAdrian Beltre got hurt.
16. Jake Arrieta had a bad inning.
17. The Mets pulled it out, crazily.
18. The Nationals keep finding a way, this time with Ian Desmond ending all matters.
19. A.J. Burnett is back, and he was terrific.
20. The sixth inning took down Kyle Weiland.
21. The Marlins made a bunch of defensive mistakes.
Bartolo Colon could become trade target.
Spoiler [+]
BOSTON -- It was Bartolo Colon's winter ball performance of 2010-11 that first gained him attention. Yankees bench coach Tony Pena told the team that Colon was throwing in the low-to-mid 90s, with his two-seam fastball moving all over the place.
The Yankees signed Colon, and because he had pitched so extensively in winter ball, they assumed that at some stage of the 2011 season, he would begin to lose his stuff. After all, he had missed the entire 2010 season, and hadn't thrown more than 99.1 innings since 2005.
Sure enough, Colon faded in the second half, the late life disappearing from his fastball. After posting a 3.20 ERA before the All-Star break, in 90 innings, his ERA jumped to 4.96 in the second half.
"I think he was just worn down," one rival evaluator said. "If you include what he did in winter ball, he had basically pitched a full season by the time he got to July."
The same evaluator noted that Colon did not pitch in winter ball before opening the 2012 season. "He'll keep it going longer," the evaluator said. "I bet he has a really good year."
Colon is off to an excellent start, posting a 2.63 ERA in his first four starts, and in his last outing the other day, he threw 38 consecutive strikes. Colon has allowed just one homer in his first 27.1 innings, with two walks and 19 strikeouts.
He could be one of the most sought-after trade targets, and maybe sooner rather than later. Colon's base salary for this season is a miniscule $2 million, far less than some of the alternatives that will pop up on the market, and Oakland's front office is clearly devoted to the idea of building the team for 2015-16. The Athletics could be motivated to move Colon when they perceive his value is at its highest, rather than waiting until later in the year -- before a possible late-season fade for the right-hander, who turns 39 next month.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• The Braves are scorching hot, and they got a great outing out of Brandon Beachy on Friday, as David O'Brien writes.
• Reggie Jackson, like the rest of the baseball world, has been watching Matt Kemp, who mashed his eighth homer Friday.
"Unbelievable power to right field," Jackson said.
Yep. Kemp's home run spray chart so far:
Right -- 2
Right center -- 4
Center -- 2
Left center -- 0
Left -- 0
• When the Red Sox remade Clay Buchholz for the 2010 season, a primary focus was to get him to work on his sinker -- to get his fastball down in the zone. So it caught the attention of Yankees hitters Friday that they saw almost no two-seam fastballs from Buchholz. He threw his fastball up in the zone, and they hit it, hard; according to Elias, Buchholz is only the third Red Sox pitcher in history to allow five homers in a start against the Yankees.
From ESPN Stats & Information, how Buchholz lost to the Yankees:
A) Buchholz struggled to keep his fastball down. 76 percent (38 of 50 fastballs) were up or belt high, and the Yankees went 6-for-13 with four home runs. This season, opponents are hitting .424 in at-bats ending with a Buchholz fastball up or belt high.
B) The Yankees hit Buchholz when facing two-strike counts, going 5-for-12 with three home runs.
C) The Yankees missed 5.9 percent of Buchholz's pitches they swung at (3 of 51), marking the lowest swing-and-miss percentage for Buchholz since the start of the 2009 season.
What we saw in the Red Sox last September has now melded into their start in 2012; their pitching continues to be terrible. Since Sept. 1, 2011, the Red Sox are 11-29, and their starting pitchers have an ERA of 6.72. By the end of the game Friday, Fenway fans chanted "We want Tito," referring to Terry Francona. But unless the starting pitching gets better, it doesn't matter whether the manager is Bobby Valentine or Francona or Joe McCarthy or Darrell Johnson or John McNamara or Grady Little. The rotation has been surrendering about two to three runs per game more than almost all other rotations over the last 40 games. No manager can win with that.
Bobby Valentine is already at a crossroads in Boston, writes Bob Klapisch.
The Yankees spoiled the Fenway party, writes David Waldstein. On a day to remember, the Red Sox played a game to forget, writes Dan Shaughnessy. Fenway Park is the biggest star of the team, writes Scott Lauber.
Meanwhile, Ivan Nova thinks he's the best pitcher in the world. He's a monster, Alex Rodriguez tells Ken Davidoff.
How Nova beat the Red Sox:
A) Nova threw 30 sliders, his second-most ever in a start. The Red Sox went 1-for-6 with a strikeout in at-bats ending with a slider.
B) The Red Sox put runners in scoring position in four of Nova's six innings, but went 0-for-10 with two strikeouts in those at-bats. This season, opponents are hitting .107 (3-for-2 with nine strikeouts against Nova in at-bats ending with runners in scoring position.
C) Nova went to one three-ball count against the Red Sox, getting Jason Repko to line out. In his last eight regular-season starts, Nova has not issued a walk.
From Elias:
Most consecutive decisions won in Yankees history:
Roger Clemens -- 16 (2001)
Ivan Nova -- 15 (2011-12)
%!*$** Ford -- 14 (1961)
Steve Sundra -- 14 (1938-39)
Jack Chesbro -- 14 (1904)
• As the Yankees took batting practice, Reggie Jackson walked over to a reporter. "Do you see [Eric] Chavez?" he asked. "He's killing the ball."
Almost as if on cue, Chavez rocketed a ball over the home bullpen, and over an entrance to the stands behind the bullpen, a shot that probably traveled 440 feet or so. He blasted the next pitch into the home bullpen.
"He looks strong," Jackson said.
And a few hours later, after Chavez had his first two-homer game in years, Jackson told him that had seen things in his swing before the first pitch was thrown. Chavez put on a show, writes Joel Sherman.
• Charles Steinberg, right-hand man to Larry Lucchino, was the architect of the memorable final day at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore at the end of the 1991 season, so it was not a surprise that the Red Sox borrowed from that script in honoring the 100-year-old Fenway Park. After the last game at Memorial Stadium, Brooks Robinson jogged out to his position, in uniform -- with no announcement -- followed by Frank Robinson, and Jim Palmer, and the rest of the Orioles.
Jim Rice was the first onto the field at Fenway on Friday, followed by Dwight Evans and Bill Buckner, with no word from the public address announcer, because no words were needed. Dozens of players emerged, and the last to emerge, brought to the center of the diamond, were former second baseman Bobby Doerr and former shortstop Johnny Pesky, and tears began streaming down Pesky's face. He was not alone in his emotions.
The sight of Pesky created some perspective for Pedro Martinez, as Michael Silverman writes.
Fenway shined, writes Michael Vega. Francona returned to cheers.
Martinez had a great time.
• Albert Pujols went 0-for-4 with a walk to end his nine-game hitting streak. He still has not hit a home run in 58 at-bats this season and has not hit one in his last 87 at-bats dating back to last season -- the second-longest streak of his career.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. The Orioles should send Brian Matusz to the minors, writes Eduardo Encina, to build him up. Matusz had a rough outing Friday.
2. The Tigers added some pitching depth.
3. Esmil Rogers has made a nice transition to the bullpen for Colorado, writes Patrick Saunders.
4. The plan for Jesus Montero has not changed, as Larry Stone writes.
5. The Jays are promoting a right-hander to make his debut today, as Ken Fidlin writes.
6. There are no ongoing contract talks for David Wright.
7. Jose Canseco has a new team.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Chris Narveson has a torn rotator cuff, and Marco Estrada will take his spot in the rotation, writes Adam McCalvy.
2. Justin Morneau is dealing with a sore foot.
3. Kerry Wood is on the disabled list, and Ryan Dempster is hurting, writes Dave van Dyck.
4. Jorge De La Rosa will take a big step in his comeback from elbow surgery, as mentioned within this notebook.
5. Omar Infante will be out for a few days.
6. B.J. Upton was activated off the disabled list, but he has work to do, writes Joey Johnston. Within the same notebook there is word that Reid Brignac was sent to Triple-A.
7. Justin Upton is a little better, but is still not playing, as mentioned within this Jim Gintonio notebook.
8. A Padres pitcher could be having surgery soon.
9. Carlos Ruiz has a sore wrist.
10. A.J. Burnett will make what could be his last rehab start in the minors tonight.
11. With Brett Gardner on the disabled list, the Yankees will go with a platoon.
[h3]Friday's games[/h3]
1. John Axford gave up a run in the ninth.
2. Ross Detwiler was The Man for the Nationals. From ESPN Stats & Info, how Detwiler beat the Marlins:
A) Detwiler threw 43 percent off-speed (up from 24 percent in first two starts). The Marlins went 0-for-9 in at-bats ending with an off-speed pitch (0-for-5 with curveball, 0-for-2 with both slider and change).
B) Detwiler used the off-speed with two strikes, throwing 12 of 21 pitches. Overall, the Marlins went 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts in at-bats going to two strikes (0-for-8, four strikeouts with off-speed pitches).
C) The Marlins went after off-speed pitches, swinging at 15 and missing seven. The 46.7 percent missed is the third-most for Detwiler since 2009.
3. The Royals' early-season troubles continue: They hit into a triple play, and lost their eighth consecutive decision.
4. The Reds picked up win No. 10,000.
5. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the Indians to a win.
6. The Twins won with a reshuffled deck, as John Shipley writes.
7. Adam Dunn had a big day.
8. Michael Cuddyer is hurting, but he's killing it for the Rockies.
9. Hector Noesi got knocked around.
10. Carlos Zambrano threw well, but the Marlins lost.
11. J.A. Happ got hit early.
12. The Diamondbacks have dropped four straight, and counting.
13. The Giants used their whole committee to get the last outs of their extra-inning win in New York, as Henry Schulman writes.
14. The losing streak came to an end for the Angels.
15. The Padres are owned in their own park by the Phillies.
16. Cole Hamels shut down his hometown team.
17. An inside-the-park homer to start the game was the only run the Pirates scored.
18. Lance Lynn continues to throw well for the Cardinals.
By The Numbers, from ESPN Stats & Info:
2: Inside the park home runs hit (Alex Presley and Norichika Aoki)
631: Career HRs hit by Alex Rodriguez, moving past Ken Griffey Jr. into sole possession of fifth all-time
10,000: Wins by the Reds franchise, becoming the sixth team to win 10,000 games
The Yankees signed Colon, and because he had pitched so extensively in winter ball, they assumed that at some stage of the 2011 season, he would begin to lose his stuff. After all, he had missed the entire 2010 season, and hadn't thrown more than 99.1 innings since 2005.
Sure enough, Colon faded in the second half, the late life disappearing from his fastball. After posting a 3.20 ERA before the All-Star break, in 90 innings, his ERA jumped to 4.96 in the second half.
"I think he was just worn down," one rival evaluator said. "If you include what he did in winter ball, he had basically pitched a full season by the time he got to July."
The same evaluator noted that Colon did not pitch in winter ball before opening the 2012 season. "He'll keep it going longer," the evaluator said. "I bet he has a really good year."
Colon is off to an excellent start, posting a 2.63 ERA in his first four starts, and in his last outing the other day, he threw 38 consecutive strikes. Colon has allowed just one homer in his first 27.1 innings, with two walks and 19 strikeouts.
He could be one of the most sought-after trade targets, and maybe sooner rather than later. Colon's base salary for this season is a miniscule $2 million, far less than some of the alternatives that will pop up on the market, and Oakland's front office is clearly devoted to the idea of building the team for 2015-16. The Athletics could be motivated to move Colon when they perceive his value is at its highest, rather than waiting until later in the year -- before a possible late-season fade for the right-hander, who turns 39 next month.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• The Braves are scorching hot, and they got a great outing out of Brandon Beachy on Friday, as David O'Brien writes.
• Reggie Jackson, like the rest of the baseball world, has been watching Matt Kemp, who mashed his eighth homer Friday.
"Unbelievable power to right field," Jackson said.
Yep. Kemp's home run spray chart so far:
Right -- 2
Right center -- 4
Center -- 2
Left center -- 0
Left -- 0
• When the Red Sox remade Clay Buchholz for the 2010 season, a primary focus was to get him to work on his sinker -- to get his fastball down in the zone. So it caught the attention of Yankees hitters Friday that they saw almost no two-seam fastballs from Buchholz. He threw his fastball up in the zone, and they hit it, hard; according to Elias, Buchholz is only the third Red Sox pitcher in history to allow five homers in a start against the Yankees.
From ESPN Stats & Information, how Buchholz lost to the Yankees:
A) Buchholz struggled to keep his fastball down. 76 percent (38 of 50 fastballs) were up or belt high, and the Yankees went 6-for-13 with four home runs. This season, opponents are hitting .424 in at-bats ending with a Buchholz fastball up or belt high.
B) The Yankees hit Buchholz when facing two-strike counts, going 5-for-12 with three home runs.
C) The Yankees missed 5.9 percent of Buchholz's pitches they swung at (3 of 51), marking the lowest swing-and-miss percentage for Buchholz since the start of the 2009 season.
What we saw in the Red Sox last September has now melded into their start in 2012; their pitching continues to be terrible. Since Sept. 1, 2011, the Red Sox are 11-29, and their starting pitchers have an ERA of 6.72. By the end of the game Friday, Fenway fans chanted "We want Tito," referring to Terry Francona. But unless the starting pitching gets better, it doesn't matter whether the manager is Bobby Valentine or Francona or Joe McCarthy or Darrell Johnson or John McNamara or Grady Little. The rotation has been surrendering about two to three runs per game more than almost all other rotations over the last 40 games. No manager can win with that.
Bobby Valentine is already at a crossroads in Boston, writes Bob Klapisch.
The Yankees spoiled the Fenway party, writes David Waldstein. On a day to remember, the Red Sox played a game to forget, writes Dan Shaughnessy. Fenway Park is the biggest star of the team, writes Scott Lauber.
Meanwhile, Ivan Nova thinks he's the best pitcher in the world. He's a monster, Alex Rodriguez tells Ken Davidoff.
How Nova beat the Red Sox:
A) Nova threw 30 sliders, his second-most ever in a start. The Red Sox went 1-for-6 with a strikeout in at-bats ending with a slider.
B) The Red Sox put runners in scoring position in four of Nova's six innings, but went 0-for-10 with two strikeouts in those at-bats. This season, opponents are hitting .107 (3-for-2
with nine strikeouts against Nova in at-bats ending with runners in scoring position.C) Nova went to one three-ball count against the Red Sox, getting Jason Repko to line out. In his last eight regular-season starts, Nova has not issued a walk.
From Elias:
Most consecutive decisions won in Yankees history:
Roger Clemens -- 16 (2001)
Ivan Nova -- 15 (2011-12)
%!*$** Ford -- 14 (1961)
Steve Sundra -- 14 (1938-39)
Jack Chesbro -- 14 (1904)
• As the Yankees took batting practice, Reggie Jackson walked over to a reporter. "Do you see [Eric] Chavez?" he asked. "He's killing the ball."
Almost as if on cue, Chavez rocketed a ball over the home bullpen, and over an entrance to the stands behind the bullpen, a shot that probably traveled 440 feet or so. He blasted the next pitch into the home bullpen.
"He looks strong," Jackson said.
And a few hours later, after Chavez had his first two-homer game in years, Jackson told him that had seen things in his swing before the first pitch was thrown. Chavez put on a show, writes Joel Sherman.
• Charles Steinberg, right-hand man to Larry Lucchino, was the architect of the memorable final day at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore at the end of the 1991 season, so it was not a surprise that the Red Sox borrowed from that script in honoring the 100-year-old Fenway Park. After the last game at Memorial Stadium, Brooks Robinson jogged out to his position, in uniform -- with no announcement -- followed by Frank Robinson, and Jim Palmer, and the rest of the Orioles.
Jim Rice was the first onto the field at Fenway on Friday, followed by Dwight Evans and Bill Buckner, with no word from the public address announcer, because no words were needed. Dozens of players emerged, and the last to emerge, brought to the center of the diamond, were former second baseman Bobby Doerr and former shortstop Johnny Pesky, and tears began streaming down Pesky's face. He was not alone in his emotions.
The sight of Pesky created some perspective for Pedro Martinez, as Michael Silverman writes.
Fenway shined, writes Michael Vega. Francona returned to cheers.
Martinez had a great time.
• Albert Pujols went 0-for-4 with a walk to end his nine-game hitting streak. He still has not hit a home run in 58 at-bats this season and has not hit one in his last 87 at-bats dating back to last season -- the second-longest streak of his career.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. The Orioles should send Brian Matusz to the minors, writes Eduardo Encina, to build him up. Matusz had a rough outing Friday.
2. The Tigers added some pitching depth.
3. Esmil Rogers has made a nice transition to the bullpen for Colorado, writes Patrick Saunders.
4. The plan for Jesus Montero has not changed, as Larry Stone writes.
5. The Jays are promoting a right-hander to make his debut today, as Ken Fidlin writes.
6. There are no ongoing contract talks for David Wright.
7. Jose Canseco has a new team.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Chris Narveson has a torn rotator cuff, and Marco Estrada will take his spot in the rotation, writes Adam McCalvy.
2. Justin Morneau is dealing with a sore foot.
3. Kerry Wood is on the disabled list, and Ryan Dempster is hurting, writes Dave van Dyck.
4. Jorge De La Rosa will take a big step in his comeback from elbow surgery, as mentioned within this notebook.
5. Omar Infante will be out for a few days.
6. B.J. Upton was activated off the disabled list, but he has work to do, writes Joey Johnston. Within the same notebook there is word that Reid Brignac was sent to Triple-A.
7. Justin Upton is a little better, but is still not playing, as mentioned within this Jim Gintonio notebook.
8. A Padres pitcher could be having surgery soon.
9. Carlos Ruiz has a sore wrist.
10. A.J. Burnett will make what could be his last rehab start in the minors tonight.
11. With Brett Gardner on the disabled list, the Yankees will go with a platoon.
[h3]Friday's games[/h3]
1. John Axford gave up a run in the ninth.
2. Ross Detwiler was The Man for the Nationals. From ESPN Stats & Info, how Detwiler beat the Marlins:
A) Detwiler threw 43 percent off-speed (up from 24 percent in first two starts). The Marlins went 0-for-9 in at-bats ending with an off-speed pitch (0-for-5 with curveball, 0-for-2 with both slider and change).
B) Detwiler used the off-speed with two strikes, throwing 12 of 21 pitches. Overall, the Marlins went 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts in at-bats going to two strikes (0-for-8, four strikeouts with off-speed pitches).
C) The Marlins went after off-speed pitches, swinging at 15 and missing seven. The 46.7 percent missed is the third-most for Detwiler since 2009.
3. The Royals' early-season troubles continue: They hit into a triple play, and lost their eighth consecutive decision.
4. The Reds picked up win No. 10,000.
5. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the Indians to a win.
6. The Twins won with a reshuffled deck, as John Shipley writes.
7. Adam Dunn had a big day.
8. Michael Cuddyer is hurting, but he's killing it for the Rockies.
9. Hector Noesi got knocked around.
10. Carlos Zambrano threw well, but the Marlins lost.
11. J.A. Happ got hit early.
12. The Diamondbacks have dropped four straight, and counting.
13. The Giants used their whole committee to get the last outs of their extra-inning win in New York, as Henry Schulman writes.
14. The losing streak came to an end for the Angels.
15. The Padres are owned in their own park by the Phillies.
16. Cole Hamels shut down his hometown team.
17. An inside-the-park homer to start the game was the only run the Pirates scored.
18. Lance Lynn continues to throw well for the Cardinals.
By The Numbers, from ESPN Stats & Info:
2: Inside the park home runs hit (Alex Presley and Norichika Aoki)
631: Career HRs hit by Alex Rodriguez, moving past Ken Griffey Jr. into sole possession of fifth all-time
10,000: Wins by the Reds franchise, becoming the sixth team to win 10,000 games
Yankees' top prospects show promise.
Spoiler [+]
I made my first visit to Charleston, S.C., on Friday night for a matchup of two of the most prospect-laden teams in the minors this year, the Charleston RiverDogs (affiliated with the New York Yankees) and the West Virginia Power (Pittsburgh Pirates), giving me a look at several of the best prospects in each of those organizations. Here are some thoughts based on that game.
• Charleston center fielder Mason Williams, the top prospect in the Yankees' organization right now (given Manny Banuelos' severe control problems in Triple-A), showed his broad base of skills Friday night, including excellent range in center field and good reads on balls hit into the gaps. At the plate, he glided on to his front side when I saw him last year, but is now keeping his weight back much better and has more time to recognize and react to changes in speed.
It did appear in the game that he was trying too hard to hit for power, dropping his back shoulder too much and pulling off the ball in the process; I think there will be plenty of power there when his body matures. He also didn't show the kind of approach he had developed by the end of last season, seeing four pitches in three at-bats before a particularly wild Power reliever (whom I'll discuss below) walked him on four pitches, most of which ended up over on The Citadel's campus. (Small sample size warnings apply.)
• Catcher Gary Sanchez, the Yanks' next-best offensive prospect, showed an improved package of skills across the board. He's got an exaggerated leg kick but gets his lead foot down in time; he tends to drift out over that front side but keeps his weight back enough to drive the ball, even showing doubles power the other way thanks to strong hands and excellent hip rotation.
His defense was a pleasant surprise, as he's substantially improved over where he was last year in both receiving and throwing. I'd been warned that I might get used to seeing his face, since he was constantly turning around to chase down pitches that had gotten past him, but that wasn't an issue Friday night and he showed no difficulty catching any of the pitchers who threw. His arm strength is impressive and I got several sub-2-second pop times despite the fact that he always hesitates when taking the ball out of his glove, like he's looking for the perfect grip before throwing. He nailed Alen Hanson in the first inning with a seed that barely required the shortstop to move his glove to tag the runner, although a later throw was well wide to the shortstop side. It's 7 arm strength that plays down to 6 because of that hesitation, which is still pretty good and has the promise of more.
• Outfielder (and former third baseman) Tyler Austin was the DH on Friday night and had a rough go of it, including a strikeout against Power starter Zack Dodson that featured three absolutely futile swings on changeups in the dirt. Austin's swing is effortless, balanced throughout with a strong finish for line-drive power. He has some hip rotation but doesn't do so early enough to generate a lot of torque for more traditional home-run power, but the contact should be hard enough that he drives some balls out to left.
I like the swing and how his hands work, but the lack of adjustments -- he also struck out looking on 92 on the inside corner, even though Dodson also came inside with a fastball in a previous at-bat -- was the one negative here.
• Kelvin DeLeon was a big bonus baby a few years ago, receiving $1.1 million, and he does have significant power -- his BP was impressive and the contact he makes is hard and loud. But his swing is extremely long and his recognition of off-speed is limited at best.
• Moving on to West Virginia, the best prospect to appear in the game for the Power was shortstop Alen Hanson, who has attracted notice with a very hot start (in a very small sample) but can back most of it up with legitimate tools; I don't write up traditional scouting reports with full slates of grades, but if I were doing so for Hanson, I'd put future grades of 6 (plus) or better on his hit, run, glove, and arm tools.
Hanson is a switch-hitter whose swing from the right (natural) side has more power while his swing from the left side is more compact. Left-handed, he overstrides but keeps his weight back, shooting the bat head at the ball with a fairly flat swing on which he sometimes rolls his hands over. Hanson's right-handed swing had more loft in BP when he stayed back, although he came out of his swing a few times and just flicked his wrists through the zone. He's a plus runner who's particularly fast when he gets underway.
In the field, Hanson has soft hands and his feet work quickly and easily in both directions. His arm is comfortably plus and his throws on Friday were accurate; I see no reason he couldn't be a big league shortstop, and, given his bat, an above-average one overall.
• The Power have several other interesting bats in their lineup, all signed as international free agents like Hanson; of the group, centerfielder Gregory Polanco stood out the most, a plus runner with a pretty sound approach and the ability to manipulate the bat, although a slight wrap and high setup make his swing a little longer than it needs to be. Second baseman Jodaneli Carvajal also stood out despite one showboating-related error when he tried to backhand a hard but routine grounder that he should have played normally.
• Two premium hitting prospects on these rosters took BP but didn't get into the game. Charleston third baseman Dante Bichette Jr. missed his second game in a row but is likely to return to the lineup Saturday night; I've written before about how much I disliked his swing in high school, but he has cleaned it up significantly since signing with the Yankees. Gone is the back-side collapse and related tendency to try to jerk everything out to left field; he's much more balanced and upright through contact without costing himself any of the hip rotation that helps him generate power. He's now able to use the whole field much more effectively and drove the ball to center and right-center throughout BP.
I asked him about it prior to the game, and he said he didn't feel like the mechanical changes were "as big as you think," but that the tweaks have opened up the opposite field for him.
• West Virginia outfielder Josh Bell was a late scratch, and took most of his BP from the left side, since Charleston started a right-hander. (I would have liked to have seen more right-handed BP, however, since that's Bell's weak side.) Bell is still strong with good bat speed and control, but has developed a near-barring of his lead arm that has increased the distance his hands have to travel from the set position to contact. He's also still rolling over that front leg on some of his bigger swings, opening up his front side and pulling off the ball. There's plus raw power in there, but he'll need to firm that front side up to get to it.
• As for pitchers, West Virginia lefty Zack Dodson was impressive, pitching at 88-92 mph with an above-average curveball at 70-74 that showed good depth and two-plane break. He pitched effectively to both sides with the fastball and showed zero fear in attacking right-handed hitters on the inner half with the pitch, even pull-oriented guys like DeLeon. His changeup was below-average at 78-80, and he clearly preferred to move the fastball around rather than shift to the changeup in typical changeup counts.
Dodson lands a little bit toward the first base side of the mound but only comes across his body when he's going hard to his glove side. He stays over the rubber pretty well with just a slight drift before he gets his front leg moving, and takes a strong stride to the plate, with late, quick arm acceleration, finishing well over his front side. Everything works, and if he can improve that changeup he's at least a good fourth starter on pure ability, but with the aggressiveness to profile as an above league-average starter down the road.
• I was thrilled to see Stetson Allie enter the game in the seventh inning for my first look at him since the summer before his senior year of high school, but he retired just one of six batters he faced, walking four and rarely sniffing the strike zone. Allie threw almost all fastballs, all 94-98, but he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn at this point and I was worried he might hit someone in the head even if he was aiming for the opposite side of the plate. He tried to throw one slider and it backed up on him.
Often these severe command problems are tied to violent or unrepeatable deliveries, but while Allie has effort, that isn't the full explanation. He's always been more thrower than pitcher, which worked in Ohio high school ball but doesn't work here, which may be getting in his head at this point. He's just 21 and has too much arm strength to give up on, but I think it's fair to assume this isn't where the Pirates hoped he'd be two years after signing.
• Finally, if all this talent isn't enough to get you to a RiverDogs game, or their fantastic stadium right near downtown Charleston doesn't call you, allow me to recommend two of the more unusual concession items I've come across as potential draws to the ballpark: their duck and alligator sausages. The RiverDogs concessions team was kind enough to offer me samples of a few of their items, and those two were the biggest hits, especially the "duck dog," with a texture much softer than any other sausage I've tried; it's served with a very thin layer of a sweet/sour plum sausage. The gator (my first time eating that protein) was spicier and meatier, although the texture was a little gamier than what I'm used to. I figured these sausages -- they also offer venison, which I didn't try -- were just gimmicks, but I'd gladly order either of those outside of a ballpark.
• Charleston center fielder Mason Williams, the top prospect in the Yankees' organization right now (given Manny Banuelos' severe control problems in Triple-A), showed his broad base of skills Friday night, including excellent range in center field and good reads on balls hit into the gaps. At the plate, he glided on to his front side when I saw him last year, but is now keeping his weight back much better and has more time to recognize and react to changes in speed.
It did appear in the game that he was trying too hard to hit for power, dropping his back shoulder too much and pulling off the ball in the process; I think there will be plenty of power there when his body matures. He also didn't show the kind of approach he had developed by the end of last season, seeing four pitches in three at-bats before a particularly wild Power reliever (whom I'll discuss below) walked him on four pitches, most of which ended up over on The Citadel's campus. (Small sample size warnings apply.)
• Catcher Gary Sanchez, the Yanks' next-best offensive prospect, showed an improved package of skills across the board. He's got an exaggerated leg kick but gets his lead foot down in time; he tends to drift out over that front side but keeps his weight back enough to drive the ball, even showing doubles power the other way thanks to strong hands and excellent hip rotation.
His defense was a pleasant surprise, as he's substantially improved over where he was last year in both receiving and throwing. I'd been warned that I might get used to seeing his face, since he was constantly turning around to chase down pitches that had gotten past him, but that wasn't an issue Friday night and he showed no difficulty catching any of the pitchers who threw. His arm strength is impressive and I got several sub-2-second pop times despite the fact that he always hesitates when taking the ball out of his glove, like he's looking for the perfect grip before throwing. He nailed Alen Hanson in the first inning with a seed that barely required the shortstop to move his glove to tag the runner, although a later throw was well wide to the shortstop side. It's 7 arm strength that plays down to 6 because of that hesitation, which is still pretty good and has the promise of more.
• Outfielder (and former third baseman) Tyler Austin was the DH on Friday night and had a rough go of it, including a strikeout against Power starter Zack Dodson that featured three absolutely futile swings on changeups in the dirt. Austin's swing is effortless, balanced throughout with a strong finish for line-drive power. He has some hip rotation but doesn't do so early enough to generate a lot of torque for more traditional home-run power, but the contact should be hard enough that he drives some balls out to left.
I like the swing and how his hands work, but the lack of adjustments -- he also struck out looking on 92 on the inside corner, even though Dodson also came inside with a fastball in a previous at-bat -- was the one negative here.
• Kelvin DeLeon was a big bonus baby a few years ago, receiving $1.1 million, and he does have significant power -- his BP was impressive and the contact he makes is hard and loud. But his swing is extremely long and his recognition of off-speed is limited at best.
• Moving on to West Virginia, the best prospect to appear in the game for the Power was shortstop Alen Hanson, who has attracted notice with a very hot start (in a very small sample) but can back most of it up with legitimate tools; I don't write up traditional scouting reports with full slates of grades, but if I were doing so for Hanson, I'd put future grades of 6 (plus) or better on his hit, run, glove, and arm tools.
Hanson is a switch-hitter whose swing from the right (natural) side has more power while his swing from the left side is more compact. Left-handed, he overstrides but keeps his weight back, shooting the bat head at the ball with a fairly flat swing on which he sometimes rolls his hands over. Hanson's right-handed swing had more loft in BP when he stayed back, although he came out of his swing a few times and just flicked his wrists through the zone. He's a plus runner who's particularly fast when he gets underway.
In the field, Hanson has soft hands and his feet work quickly and easily in both directions. His arm is comfortably plus and his throws on Friday were accurate; I see no reason he couldn't be a big league shortstop, and, given his bat, an above-average one overall.
• The Power have several other interesting bats in their lineup, all signed as international free agents like Hanson; of the group, centerfielder Gregory Polanco stood out the most, a plus runner with a pretty sound approach and the ability to manipulate the bat, although a slight wrap and high setup make his swing a little longer than it needs to be. Second baseman Jodaneli Carvajal also stood out despite one showboating-related error when he tried to backhand a hard but routine grounder that he should have played normally.
• Two premium hitting prospects on these rosters took BP but didn't get into the game. Charleston third baseman Dante Bichette Jr. missed his second game in a row but is likely to return to the lineup Saturday night; I've written before about how much I disliked his swing in high school, but he has cleaned it up significantly since signing with the Yankees. Gone is the back-side collapse and related tendency to try to jerk everything out to left field; he's much more balanced and upright through contact without costing himself any of the hip rotation that helps him generate power. He's now able to use the whole field much more effectively and drove the ball to center and right-center throughout BP.
I asked him about it prior to the game, and he said he didn't feel like the mechanical changes were "as big as you think," but that the tweaks have opened up the opposite field for him.
• West Virginia outfielder Josh Bell was a late scratch, and took most of his BP from the left side, since Charleston started a right-hander. (I would have liked to have seen more right-handed BP, however, since that's Bell's weak side.) Bell is still strong with good bat speed and control, but has developed a near-barring of his lead arm that has increased the distance his hands have to travel from the set position to contact. He's also still rolling over that front leg on some of his bigger swings, opening up his front side and pulling off the ball. There's plus raw power in there, but he'll need to firm that front side up to get to it.
• As for pitchers, West Virginia lefty Zack Dodson was impressive, pitching at 88-92 mph with an above-average curveball at 70-74 that showed good depth and two-plane break. He pitched effectively to both sides with the fastball and showed zero fear in attacking right-handed hitters on the inner half with the pitch, even pull-oriented guys like DeLeon. His changeup was below-average at 78-80, and he clearly preferred to move the fastball around rather than shift to the changeup in typical changeup counts.
Dodson lands a little bit toward the first base side of the mound but only comes across his body when he's going hard to his glove side. He stays over the rubber pretty well with just a slight drift before he gets his front leg moving, and takes a strong stride to the plate, with late, quick arm acceleration, finishing well over his front side. Everything works, and if he can improve that changeup he's at least a good fourth starter on pure ability, but with the aggressiveness to profile as an above league-average starter down the road.
• I was thrilled to see Stetson Allie enter the game in the seventh inning for my first look at him since the summer before his senior year of high school, but he retired just one of six batters he faced, walking four and rarely sniffing the strike zone. Allie threw almost all fastballs, all 94-98, but he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn at this point and I was worried he might hit someone in the head even if he was aiming for the opposite side of the plate. He tried to throw one slider and it backed up on him.
Often these severe command problems are tied to violent or unrepeatable deliveries, but while Allie has effort, that isn't the full explanation. He's always been more thrower than pitcher, which worked in Ohio high school ball but doesn't work here, which may be getting in his head at this point. He's just 21 and has too much arm strength to give up on, but I think it's fair to assume this isn't where the Pirates hoped he'd be two years after signing.
• Finally, if all this talent isn't enough to get you to a RiverDogs game, or their fantastic stadium right near downtown Charleston doesn't call you, allow me to recommend two of the more unusual concession items I've come across as potential draws to the ballpark: their duck and alligator sausages. The RiverDogs concessions team was kind enough to offer me samples of a few of their items, and those two were the biggest hits, especially the "duck dog," with a texture much softer than any other sausage I've tried; it's served with a very thin layer of a sweet/sour plum sausage. The gator (my first time eating that protein) was spicier and meatier, although the texture was a little gamier than what I'm used to. I figured these sausages -- they also offer venison, which I didn't try -- were just gimmicks, but I'd gladly order either of those outside of a ballpark.
Evaluating the Royals.
Spoiler [+]
The Kansas City Royals have lost 11 consecutive games, and at 3-13, they have the worst record in baseball. Even their most ardent supporters are walking away. Whatever optimism their farm system had generated before the season began has been washed away in a sea of losses, and now, the Royals just look like the same old last place team they’ve always been.
That’s the story if you just look at wins and losses, anyway. If you look a little deeper and ask why the Royals are currently 3-13, though, the story becomes a lot more interesting.
At the plate, the Royals are averaging just 3.56 runs per game – AL average is 4.47 – third worst in the American League. They are just 0.03 runs per game better than the vaunted Mariners offense. So, the offense has been a problem, right? Well, sort of, but not in the way you might think. The Royals overall line on the season is .255/.315/.413, good for a .316 wOBA. The average AL team is hitting .253/.320/.412 with a .320 wOBA, so overall, KC has been just slightly below average at the plate in their first 16 games. So, how does a team with an average batting line score nearly a run less per game than expected?
Timing. With the bases empty, the Royals have posted a .333 wOBA, fourth best in the American League. With men on base, that’s fallen to .298 – third worst in the league. With runners in scoring position? .275, ahead of only the Oakland Athletics.
The Royals have been pretty good at starting rallies, and absolutely atrocious at getting anything out of them. If the Royals hits had come in a more normal distribution of situations, they’d have scored 68 runs instead of 57. This isn’t just a minor blip – the Royals lack of situational hitting has been a major factor in their overall record.
But, just adding 11 runs doesn’t just fix a 3-13 team, right? So, let’s look at their run prevention. They’ve given up 5.06 runs per game, fourth worst in the American League. Most of the optimism that existed about the Royals before the season related to their young hitting, so it’s not a big surprise that the run prevention hasn’t been all that good. However, the pitching hasn’t actually been as bad as you might think.
BB% – 9.8%, 12th in AL (average is 8.3%)
K%: 18.6%, 8th in AL (average is 8.6%)
HR/9: 1.00, 7th in AL (average is 1.09)
FIP: 4.16, 10th in AL (average is 4.10)
They’ve issued way too many walks (I’m looking at you, Jonathan Sanchez), but they’ve been exactly average in getting strikeouts and slightly above average at keeping the ball in the yard. The walks help push their FIP slightly below average, but they’re a lot closer to the middle of the pack than they are to the teams whose pitching staffs have truly been costing them games. So, if they have a 4.10 FIP, why are they giving up 5.06 runs per game?
Let’s go back to the splits.
Bases Empty: 3.63 FIP, 5th in AL
Men On Base: 4.77 FIP, 12th in AL
RISP: 4.00 FIP, 9th in AL
It’s basically just the same story as on offense. With the bases empty, their pitchers have been pretty darn good. Put men on base, they’ve been a lot worse, even above and beyond the normal difference that pitchers generally face pitching out of the stretch. But FIP doesn’t even tell the whole story here. Back to the splits we go, but this time, we’ll look at BABIP instead of FIP:
Bases Empty: .295 (t-10th in AL)
Men On Base: .317 (11th in AL)
RISP: .369 (14th in AL)
The Royals have given up more hits on balls in play than an average team in each situation, but they’ve been far and away the worst in baseball in BABIP with RISP – the Red Sox are the next worst AL team, and they’re even 30 points better than KC, coming in at .337. The AL average in that situation is .299.
Put together the situational FIPs and BABIPs, and opposing hitters have posted just a .705 OPS against the Royals pitching staff when the bases are empty, but an .841 OPS with men on base and an .840 OPS with runners in scoring position. As with the hitting, the distribution of when the hits have been allowed has been a huge factor in the team’s lack of production.
As it stands, the Royals have scored 57 runs and allowed 81. With a more normal distribution on timing of hits, though, it’d be pretty close to 70 for both RS and RA. And, as everyone who has been beaten to death with pythagorean expectation over the past 20 years knows, a team’s runs scored and runs allowed are a better evaluator of how a team has played than simple wins and losses. Pythag suggests that the 57/81 split in their RS/RA means that the Royals have played more like a .313 team than a .188 team, and their underlying components of run scoring and run prevention suggest that they’ve played more like a .500 team than a .313 team.
So, how should we evaluate the Royals after 16 games? The results have been atrocious, but simply changing the unsustainable distribution of their performance would drastically alter their record. There’s a reason we all look at context-neutral statistics when trying to evaluate the worth of an individual or a team, because context-specific performance contains wild fluctuations that generally hold no predictive value.
The fact that the Royals have been – by far – the worst team in baseball in the clutch during the first couple of weeks of the season doesn’t tell us anything about how they’re going to perform in those situations going forward. Looking beyond the standings reveals that the Royals have actually performed decently at times, and perhaps all this panic in Kansas City is an overreaction to events that just won’t continue. The standings tell us what has happened, but they generally don’t tell us anything about why those things have happened.
That’s why, when Sports Illustrated approached us about helping them come up with a different approach to the traditional weekly Power Rankings column, we agreed to team up with them and offer an alternative to the “re-write the standings in text form
That’s the story if you just look at wins and losses, anyway. If you look a little deeper and ask why the Royals are currently 3-13, though, the story becomes a lot more interesting.
At the plate, the Royals are averaging just 3.56 runs per game – AL average is 4.47 – third worst in the American League. They are just 0.03 runs per game better than the vaunted Mariners offense. So, the offense has been a problem, right? Well, sort of, but not in the way you might think. The Royals overall line on the season is .255/.315/.413, good for a .316 wOBA. The average AL team is hitting .253/.320/.412 with a .320 wOBA, so overall, KC has been just slightly below average at the plate in their first 16 games. So, how does a team with an average batting line score nearly a run less per game than expected?
Timing. With the bases empty, the Royals have posted a .333 wOBA, fourth best in the American League. With men on base, that’s fallen to .298 – third worst in the league. With runners in scoring position? .275, ahead of only the Oakland Athletics.
The Royals have been pretty good at starting rallies, and absolutely atrocious at getting anything out of them. If the Royals hits had come in a more normal distribution of situations, they’d have scored 68 runs instead of 57. This isn’t just a minor blip – the Royals lack of situational hitting has been a major factor in their overall record.
But, just adding 11 runs doesn’t just fix a 3-13 team, right? So, let’s look at their run prevention. They’ve given up 5.06 runs per game, fourth worst in the American League. Most of the optimism that existed about the Royals before the season related to their young hitting, so it’s not a big surprise that the run prevention hasn’t been all that good. However, the pitching hasn’t actually been as bad as you might think.
BB% – 9.8%, 12th in AL (average is 8.3%)
K%: 18.6%, 8th in AL (average is 8.6%)
HR/9: 1.00, 7th in AL (average is 1.09)
FIP: 4.16, 10th in AL (average is 4.10)
They’ve issued way too many walks (I’m looking at you, Jonathan Sanchez), but they’ve been exactly average in getting strikeouts and slightly above average at keeping the ball in the yard. The walks help push their FIP slightly below average, but they’re a lot closer to the middle of the pack than they are to the teams whose pitching staffs have truly been costing them games. So, if they have a 4.10 FIP, why are they giving up 5.06 runs per game?
Let’s go back to the splits.
Bases Empty: 3.63 FIP, 5th in AL
Men On Base: 4.77 FIP, 12th in AL
RISP: 4.00 FIP, 9th in AL
It’s basically just the same story as on offense. With the bases empty, their pitchers have been pretty darn good. Put men on base, they’ve been a lot worse, even above and beyond the normal difference that pitchers generally face pitching out of the stretch. But FIP doesn’t even tell the whole story here. Back to the splits we go, but this time, we’ll look at BABIP instead of FIP:
Bases Empty: .295 (t-10th in AL)
Men On Base: .317 (11th in AL)
RISP: .369 (14th in AL)
The Royals have given up more hits on balls in play than an average team in each situation, but they’ve been far and away the worst in baseball in BABIP with RISP – the Red Sox are the next worst AL team, and they’re even 30 points better than KC, coming in at .337. The AL average in that situation is .299.
Put together the situational FIPs and BABIPs, and opposing hitters have posted just a .705 OPS against the Royals pitching staff when the bases are empty, but an .841 OPS with men on base and an .840 OPS with runners in scoring position. As with the hitting, the distribution of when the hits have been allowed has been a huge factor in the team’s lack of production.
As it stands, the Royals have scored 57 runs and allowed 81. With a more normal distribution on timing of hits, though, it’d be pretty close to 70 for both RS and RA. And, as everyone who has been beaten to death with pythagorean expectation over the past 20 years knows, a team’s runs scored and runs allowed are a better evaluator of how a team has played than simple wins and losses. Pythag suggests that the 57/81 split in their RS/RA means that the Royals have played more like a .313 team than a .188 team, and their underlying components of run scoring and run prevention suggest that they’ve played more like a .500 team than a .313 team.
So, how should we evaluate the Royals after 16 games? The results have been atrocious, but simply changing the unsustainable distribution of their performance would drastically alter their record. There’s a reason we all look at context-neutral statistics when trying to evaluate the worth of an individual or a team, because context-specific performance contains wild fluctuations that generally hold no predictive value.
The fact that the Royals have been – by far – the worst team in baseball in the clutch during the first couple of weeks of the season doesn’t tell us anything about how they’re going to perform in those situations going forward. Looking beyond the standings reveals that the Royals have actually performed decently at times, and perhaps all this panic in Kansas City is an overreaction to events that just won’t continue. The standings tell us what has happened, but they generally don’t tell us anything about why those things have happened.
That’s why, when Sports Illustrated approached us about helping them come up with a different approach to the traditional weekly Power Rankings column, we agreed to team up with them and offer an alternative to the “re-write the standings in text form
Evaluating the Royals.
Spoiler [+]
The Kansas City Royals have lost 11 consecutive games, and at 3-13, they have the worst record in baseball. Even their most ardent supporters are walking away. Whatever optimism their farm system had generated before the season began has been washed away in a sea of losses, and now, the Royals just look like the same old last place team they’ve always been.
That’s the story if you just look at wins and losses, anyway. If you look a little deeper and ask why the Royals are currently 3-13, though, the story becomes a lot more interesting.
At the plate, the Royals are averaging just 3.56 runs per game – AL average is 4.47 – third worst in the American League. They are just 0.03 runs per game better than the vaunted Mariners offense. So, the offense has been a problem, right? Well, sort of, but not in the way you might think. The Royals overall line on the season is .255/.315/.413, good for a .316 wOBA. The average AL team is hitting .253/.320/.412 with a .320 wOBA, so overall, KC has been just slightly below average at the plate in their first 16 games. So, how does a team with an average batting line score nearly a run less per game than expected?
Timing. With the bases empty, the Royals have posted a .333 wOBA, fourth best in the American League. With men on base, that’s fallen to .298 – third worst in the league. With runners in scoring position? .275, ahead of only the Oakland Athletics.
The Royals have been pretty good at starting rallies, and absolutely atrocious at getting anything out of them. If the Royals hits had come in a more normal distribution of situations, they’d have scored 68 runs instead of 57. This isn’t just a minor blip – the Royals lack of situational hitting has been a major factor in their overall record.
But, just adding 11 runs doesn’t just fix a 3-13 team, right? So, let’s look at their run prevention. They’ve given up 5.06 runs per game, fourth worst in the American League. Most of the optimism that existed about the Royals before the season related to their young hitting, so it’s not a big surprise that the run prevention hasn’t been all that good. However, the pitching hasn’t actually been as bad as you might think.
BB% – 9.8%, 12th in AL (average is 8.3%)
K%: 18.6%, 8th in AL (average is 8.6%)
HR/9: 1.00, 7th in AL (average is 1.09)
FIP: 4.16, 10th in AL (average is 4.10)
They’ve issued way too many walks (I’m looking at you, Jonathan Sanchez), but they’ve been exactly average in getting strikeouts and slightly above average at keeping the ball in the yard. The walks help push their FIP slightly below average, but they’re a lot closer to the middle of the pack than they are to the teams whose pitching staffs have truly been costing them games. So, if they have a 4.10 FIP, why are they giving up 5.06 runs per game?
Let’s go back to the splits.
Bases Empty: 3.63 FIP, 5th in AL
Men On Base: 4.77 FIP, 12th in AL
RISP: 4.00 FIP, 9th in AL
It’s basically just the same story as on offense. With the bases empty, their pitchers have been pretty darn good. Put men on base, they’ve been a lot worse, even above and beyond the normal difference that pitchers generally face pitching out of the stretch. But FIP doesn’t even tell the whole story here. Back to the splits we go, but this time, we’ll look at BABIP instead of FIP:
Bases Empty: .295 (t-10th in AL)
Men On Base: .317 (11th in AL)
RISP: .369 (14th in AL)
The Royals have given up more hits on balls in play than an average team in each situation, but they’ve been far and away the worst in baseball in BABIP with RISP – the Red Sox are the next worst AL team, and they’re even 30 points better than KC, coming in at .337. The AL average in that situation is .299.
Put together the situational FIPs and BABIPs, and opposing hitters have posted just a .705 OPS against the Royals pitching staff when the bases are empty, but an .841 OPS with men on base and an .840 OPS with runners in scoring position. As with the hitting, the distribution of when the hits have been allowed has been a huge factor in the team’s lack of production.
As it stands, the Royals have scored 57 runs and allowed 81. With a more normal distribution on timing of hits, though, it’d be pretty close to 70 for both RS and RA. And, as everyone who has been beaten to death with pythagorean expectation over the past 20 years knows, a team’s runs scored and runs allowed are a better evaluator of how a team has played than simple wins and losses. Pythag suggests that the 57/81 split in their RS/RA means that the Royals have played more like a .313 team than a .188 team, and their underlying components of run scoring and run prevention suggest that they’ve played more like a .500 team than a .313 team.
So, how should we evaluate the Royals after 16 games? The results have been atrocious, but simply changing the unsustainable distribution of their performance would drastically alter their record. There’s a reason we all look at context-neutral statistics when trying to evaluate the worth of an individual or a team, because context-specific performance contains wild fluctuations that generally hold no predictive value.
The fact that the Royals have been – by far – the worst team in baseball in the clutch during the first couple of weeks of the season doesn’t tell us anything about how they’re going to perform in those situations going forward. Looking beyond the standings reveals that the Royals have actually performed decently at times, and perhaps all this panic in Kansas City is an overreaction to events that just won’t continue. The standings tell us what has happened, but they generally don’t tell us anything about why those things have happened.
That’s why, when Sports Illustrated approached us about helping them come up with a different approach to the traditional weekly Power Rankings column, we agreed to team up with them and offer an alternative to the “re-write the standings in text form
That’s the story if you just look at wins and losses, anyway. If you look a little deeper and ask why the Royals are currently 3-13, though, the story becomes a lot more interesting.
At the plate, the Royals are averaging just 3.56 runs per game – AL average is 4.47 – third worst in the American League. They are just 0.03 runs per game better than the vaunted Mariners offense. So, the offense has been a problem, right? Well, sort of, but not in the way you might think. The Royals overall line on the season is .255/.315/.413, good for a .316 wOBA. The average AL team is hitting .253/.320/.412 with a .320 wOBA, so overall, KC has been just slightly below average at the plate in their first 16 games. So, how does a team with an average batting line score nearly a run less per game than expected?
Timing. With the bases empty, the Royals have posted a .333 wOBA, fourth best in the American League. With men on base, that’s fallen to .298 – third worst in the league. With runners in scoring position? .275, ahead of only the Oakland Athletics.
The Royals have been pretty good at starting rallies, and absolutely atrocious at getting anything out of them. If the Royals hits had come in a more normal distribution of situations, they’d have scored 68 runs instead of 57. This isn’t just a minor blip – the Royals lack of situational hitting has been a major factor in their overall record.
But, just adding 11 runs doesn’t just fix a 3-13 team, right? So, let’s look at their run prevention. They’ve given up 5.06 runs per game, fourth worst in the American League. Most of the optimism that existed about the Royals before the season related to their young hitting, so it’s not a big surprise that the run prevention hasn’t been all that good. However, the pitching hasn’t actually been as bad as you might think.
BB% – 9.8%, 12th in AL (average is 8.3%)
K%: 18.6%, 8th in AL (average is 8.6%)
HR/9: 1.00, 7th in AL (average is 1.09)
FIP: 4.16, 10th in AL (average is 4.10)
They’ve issued way too many walks (I’m looking at you, Jonathan Sanchez), but they’ve been exactly average in getting strikeouts and slightly above average at keeping the ball in the yard. The walks help push their FIP slightly below average, but they’re a lot closer to the middle of the pack than they are to the teams whose pitching staffs have truly been costing them games. So, if they have a 4.10 FIP, why are they giving up 5.06 runs per game?
Let’s go back to the splits.
Bases Empty: 3.63 FIP, 5th in AL
Men On Base: 4.77 FIP, 12th in AL
RISP: 4.00 FIP, 9th in AL
It’s basically just the same story as on offense. With the bases empty, their pitchers have been pretty darn good. Put men on base, they’ve been a lot worse, even above and beyond the normal difference that pitchers generally face pitching out of the stretch. But FIP doesn’t even tell the whole story here. Back to the splits we go, but this time, we’ll look at BABIP instead of FIP:
Bases Empty: .295 (t-10th in AL)
Men On Base: .317 (11th in AL)
RISP: .369 (14th in AL)
The Royals have given up more hits on balls in play than an average team in each situation, but they’ve been far and away the worst in baseball in BABIP with RISP – the Red Sox are the next worst AL team, and they’re even 30 points better than KC, coming in at .337. The AL average in that situation is .299.
Put together the situational FIPs and BABIPs, and opposing hitters have posted just a .705 OPS against the Royals pitching staff when the bases are empty, but an .841 OPS with men on base and an .840 OPS with runners in scoring position. As with the hitting, the distribution of when the hits have been allowed has been a huge factor in the team’s lack of production.
As it stands, the Royals have scored 57 runs and allowed 81. With a more normal distribution on timing of hits, though, it’d be pretty close to 70 for both RS and RA. And, as everyone who has been beaten to death with pythagorean expectation over the past 20 years knows, a team’s runs scored and runs allowed are a better evaluator of how a team has played than simple wins and losses. Pythag suggests that the 57/81 split in their RS/RA means that the Royals have played more like a .313 team than a .188 team, and their underlying components of run scoring and run prevention suggest that they’ve played more like a .500 team than a .313 team.
So, how should we evaluate the Royals after 16 games? The results have been atrocious, but simply changing the unsustainable distribution of their performance would drastically alter their record. There’s a reason we all look at context-neutral statistics when trying to evaluate the worth of an individual or a team, because context-specific performance contains wild fluctuations that generally hold no predictive value.
The fact that the Royals have been – by far – the worst team in baseball in the clutch during the first couple of weeks of the season doesn’t tell us anything about how they’re going to perform in those situations going forward. Looking beyond the standings reveals that the Royals have actually performed decently at times, and perhaps all this panic in Kansas City is an overreaction to events that just won’t continue. The standings tell us what has happened, but they generally don’t tell us anything about why those things have happened.
That’s why, when Sports Illustrated approached us about helping them come up with a different approach to the traditional weekly Power Rankings column, we agreed to team up with them and offer an alternative to the “re-write the standings in text form
- 1,917
- 10
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2007
Jair jurrjens sent to the minors and Tim Hudson to return this week. JJ had lost some velocity in his fastball and wasn't himself hopefully he can work on his mechanics in the minors and come back stronger.
- 1,917
- 10
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2007
Jair jurrjens sent to the minors and Tim Hudson to return this week. JJ had lost some velocity in his fastball and wasn't himself hopefully he can work on his mechanics in the minors and come back stronger.
- 8,956
- 39
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
#Angels Albert Pujols hitless in 16 atbats & homerless in 69 atbats. Pujols has not driven in a run since April 15 & has 4 RBIs this year.
- 8,956
- 39
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
#Angels Albert Pujols hitless in 16 atbats & homerless in 69 atbats. Pujols has not driven in a run since April 15 & has 4 RBIs this year.
- 24,925
- 12,715
- Joined
- May 30, 2006
Darvish has been pretty filthy tonight...
- 24,925
- 12,715
- Joined
- May 30, 2006
Darvish has been pretty filthy tonight...
- Status