killeverything wrote:John Dewan's Stat Of The Week
Which leads me to my third point. Justin Verlander just won his 20th game of the season today with a 6-4 win over the Twins. As the AL plays out and speculation widens about the AL MVP ( Gonzalez, Cabrera, etc ). If Verlander gets to 22-23 wins, do you think he could walk away with the MVP?
Yonkel doesn't believe a pitcher should be eligible since they have the Cy Young. I tend to disagree ( Pedro Martinez in 1999 being the most glaring example ). Thoughts?
Verlander absolutely deserves the AL CY Young, but not the MVP. I think there have only been 2 seasons in which a pitcher should have gotten the MVP in our lifetimes - Guidry in '78 and Pedro in '99. An neither one of them got it. Verlander is having a great year but it doesn't match up with those 2 seasons. And there are 4 or 5 legitimate MVP candidates so the case can't be made that nobody deserves it more than the best pitcher.
Ellsbury is having one of those once every 20 years type of seasons from the leadoff spot: .312 BA, 166 H, 23 HR, 34 2B, 4 3B, 95 R, 82 RBI, 36 SB, .369 OBP, .889 OPS. We haven't seen a season like this since Rickey Henderson. There are several worth candidates including Gonzalez, Granderson, and Cabrera, but if the season ended today Ellsbury is MVP.
killeverything wrote:John Dewan's Stat Of The Week
Which leads me to my third point. Justin Verlander just won his 20th game of the season today with a 6-4 win over the Twins. As the AL plays out and speculation widens about the AL MVP ( Gonzalez, Cabrera, etc ). If Verlander gets to 22-23 wins, do you think he could walk away with the MVP?
Yonkel doesn't believe a pitcher should be eligible since they have the Cy Young. I tend to disagree ( Pedro Martinez in 1999 being the most glaring example ). Thoughts?
Verlander absolutely deserves the AL CY Young, but not the MVP. I think there have only been 2 seasons in which a pitcher should have gotten the MVP in our lifetimes - Guidry in '78 and Pedro in '99. An neither one of them got it. Verlander is having a great year but it doesn't match up with those 2 seasons. And there are 4 or 5 legitimate MVP candidates so the case can't be made that nobody deserves it more than the best pitcher.
Ellsbury is having one of those once every 20 years type of seasons from the leadoff spot: .312 BA, 166 H, 23 HR, 34 2B, 4 3B, 95 R, 82 RBI, 36 SB, .369 OBP, .889 OPS. We haven't seen a season like this since Rickey Henderson. There are several worth candidates including Gonzalez, Granderson, and Cabrera, but if the season ended today Ellsbury is MVP.
What about Clemens in '86? He did win the MVP, while his season was not on par with Guidry or Pedro ( no one has been that good in MLB history ), he did have a 20K game. Do you think he should have won the MVP ( him choking in the WS not withstanding I blame him for the loss )? Or do you think it should have went to an everyday player?
I think a pitcher should be eligible to get the MVP if they have a season for the ages and there are no positional players that have distinguished themselves. For example if a pitcher was to win 30 games and have an ERA around 1.50 then they most certainly can be considered most valuable, and should get the award if there are no stand out positional players. It just doesn't happen very often. And it shouldn't happen this year with 6 or 7 positional players having great seasons.
Hey Kill-
Ready for another 3 game series beginning tonight?
4 1/2 hour games that go 9 innings.
A lot of pitching changes
Plenty of hitter's stepping out of the box asking for time.
A few hit batter's for good measure
You know, stuff like that.
C.C. goes tonight. He needs to keep the ball down, and pitch backwards. So far this year the sox are sitting dead-red and hitting him hard.
SkyDog112046 wrote:I think a pitcher should be eligible to get the MVP if they have a season for the ages and there are no positional players that have distinguished themselves. For example if a pitcher was to win 30 games and have an ERA around 1.50 then they most certainly can be considered most valuable, and should get the award if there are no stand out positional players. It just doesn't happen very often. And it shouldn't happen this year with 6 or 7 positional players having great seasons.
Machado wrote:Hey Kill-
Ready for another 3 game series beginning tonight?
4 1/2 hour games that go 9 innings.
A lot of pitching changes
Plenty of hitter's stepping out of the box asking for time.
A few hit batter's for good measure
You know, stuff like that.
C.C. goes tonight. He needs to keep the ball down, and pitch backwards. So far this year the sox are sitting dead-red and hitting him hard.
JohnfuckingLackey was pitching.On my Godamn birthday. I knew they would lose, Beckett"s tommorrow. Good luck.
Two HR for Mike Trout last night. He's the best prospect the Angels have had since...well, since I can remember. Kid is 20 years old, skipped AAA and went to the majors from AA, and has five HR in his last 10 games.
Therefore, Scioscia will sit him for a game or two after last night so that we can send fucking Abreu and Wells back out there. Sigh.
The Wild Card makes the AL East less interesting. Boston & NY pretty much have at least the WC spot locked up so now it's just about home field, and that has been shown to not be that big a deal. Nice if you can get it, but not crucial. It sort of takes the drama out of September.
SkyDog112046 wrote:The Wild Card makes the AL East less interesting. Boston & NY pretty much have at least the WC spot locked up so now it's just about home field, and that has been shown to not be that big a deal. Nice if you can get it, but not crucial. It sort of takes the drama out of September.
All the pennant races have suddenly become uninteresting. Can we just cancel the rest of the season, skip to the playoffs, and end the season before the weather REALLY gets bad?! September will only matter to September callups looking to impress.
To anyone that watches the Twins consistently? When did they become the worst defensive team in baseball? Watched the Sox beat them last night and they looked like my wife's 16 inch softball team.
Machado wrote:Hey Kill-
Ready for another 3 game series beginning tonight?
4 1/2 hour games that go 9 innings.
A lot of pitching changes
Plenty of hitter's stepping out of the box asking for time.
A few hit batter's for good measure
You know, stuff like that.
C.C. goes tonight. He needs to keep the ball down, and pitch backwards. So far this year the sox are sitting dead-red and hitting him hard.
JohnfuckingLackey was pitching.On my Godamn birthday. I knew they would lose, Beckett"s tommorrow. Good luck.
Told you the game would feature several hit batters.
Lackey is a bum for drilling Cervelli in the middle of the back after Cervelli took him over the wall in his previous at bat. WTF!!!!
I wonder if ellsbury can feel his elbow the morning after getting drilled with a 95 mph heater(that was not intentional).
C.C. neutralized a. gonzalez with that nasty slider last night.
Machado wrote:Hey Kill-
Ready for another 3 game series beginning tonight?
4 1/2 hour games that go 9 innings.
A lot of pitching changes
Plenty of hitter's stepping out of the box asking for time.
A few hit batter's for good measure
You know, stuff like that.
C.C. goes tonight. He needs to keep the ball down, and pitch backwards. So far this year the sox are sitting dead-red and hitting him hard.
JohnfuckingLackey was pitching.On my Godamn birthday. I knew they would lose, Beckett"s tommorrow. Good luck.
Told you the game would feature several hit batters.
Lackey is a bum for drilling Cervelli in the middle of the back after Cervelli took him over the wall in his previous at bat. WTF!!!!
I wonder if ellsbury can feel his elbow the morning after getting drilled with a 95 mph heater(that was not intentional).
C.C. neutralized a. gonzalez with that nasty slider last night.
Hughes vs beckett tonight
A.J. vs lester tomorrow
Cervelli got hit for his clap at the plate. Save that for the dugout. That shit's for someone like Manny or Teix, real hitters. Not rookie dumbasses. Welcome to the bigs kid.
Fuck John Lackey. Beckett and Lester are next vs. a kid who was apparently very over-rated ( by me too ) and a 82.5 million dollar bullpen pitcher. Good luck MFY.
One more time for good measure. Fuck you John Lackey. 5 years for this cock sucker?
killeverything wrote:
Cervelli got hit for his clap at the plate. Save that for the dugout. That shit's for someone like Manny or Teix, real hitters. Not rookie dumbasses. Welcome to the bigs kid.
Fuck John Lackey. Beckett and Lester are next vs. a kid who was apparently very over-rated ( by me too ) and a 82.5 million dollar bullpen pitcher. Good luck MFY.
One more time for good measure. Fuck you John Lackey. 5 years for this cock sucker?
So if lackey your version of A.J. Burnett
If only those two could have faced each other in the series.
I watched the game last night courtesy of NESN.
When Cervilli went yard, Remy referred to him as a pest-WTF!!!
NESN was so lame, they only showed "the clap at home plate" 1 inning later. Obviously that was the reason for the beaning, but why did NESN take so long to show that footage? Is that normal for them?
Kill-Guess the number of "bean balls" over the next two games?
I'll go first-At least 4 more.
How does lackey not get his ass kicked in the dugout by his teammates for showing them up anytime he feels they don't catch a ball or make the right play? The fucking ugly man did that again last night and it made me dislike the dork even more.
killeverything wrote:
Cervelli got hit for his clap at the plate. Save that for the dugout. That shit's for someone like Manny or Teix, real hitters. Not rookie dumbasses. Welcome to the bigs kid.
Fuck John Lackey. Beckett and Lester are next vs. a kid who was apparently very over-rated ( by me too ) and a 82.5 million dollar bullpen pitcher. Good luck MFY.
One more time for good measure. Fuck you John Lackey. 5 years for this cock sucker?
So if lackey your version of A.J. Burnett
If only those two could have faced each other in the series.
I watched the game last night courtesy of NESN.
When Cervilli went yard, Remy referred to him as a pest-WTF!!!
NESN was so lame, they only showed "the clap at home plate" 1 inning later. Obviously that was the reason for the beaning, but why did NESN take so long to show that footage? Is that normal for them?
Kill-Guess the number of "bean balls" over the next two games?
I'll go first-At least 4 more.
How does lackey not get his ass kicked in the dugout by his teammates for showing them up anytime he feels they don't catch a ball or make the right play? The fucking ugly man did that again last night and it made me dislike the dork even more.
It's always been said he's pretty unpopular amongst his teamates ( like Youks ). Of course that can't be confirmed.
I don't think it's going to be a beanball series. Both these teams are fighting for the division. You can't have your starters thrown out. I wouldn't be surprised if Jeter is hit. He's always hit, because he hovers the plate. Youkilis isn't supposed to be back till Friday.
I TiVo'ed last nights game and watched some of it at dinner time. Fast forwarding through the commercials and stalling and the game is only about 90 minutes.
That umpire was terrible. The strike zone kept getting larger and larger as the game went on and he was calling strikes way outside the zone to left-handed batters - a good 6"-8" off the plate. At least be consistent inning-to-inning. Can't MLB get anyone better for a Boston/NY series?
SEATTLE -- Jack Zduriencik signed a contract extension with the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday to continue as the team's general manager.
Terms of the deal were not released, but it's believed to be for at least one year with an option for 2013.
Zduriencik has been credited with replenishing Seattle's depleted talent level in the minor league system and was named MLB's executive of the year after the Mariners went from 61 wins in 2008 to 85 in his first full season.
Zduriencik took over in October 2008 after five years under former GM Bill Bavasi in which the team had just one winning season and one of the worst farm systems in baseball.
Six weeks after taking over, Zduriencik orchestrated a 12-player, three-team deal during the Winter Meetings to set the stage for the farm system's revival.
One of the reasons Tacoma ( AAA ) has been in the World Series the last two years ( 1-1 ) is because of their restocked Farm system. They were fighting to make the Playoffs this season since basically all their really good players were called up ( Ackley, Carp, Pineda, etc. ).
I've said one year after he took over Seattle will be a force in the AL West in three years.
A.J. did not lose. You must be in pain this morning?
Did you see him get that curve ball over for a strike?
Mo getting your boy a.g. to look at the 3rd strike was awesome.
That is why Mo is going to the hall of fame.
Enjoyed the telecast courtesy of MLB Network, Costas and Jim Katt.
Those two should be on every week(minimum).
Watching the game last nite I was certain the 3rd strike was a ball. Looking at pitchf/x it clearly was a strike.
Goddamnit.
I didn't think the umpiring was bad last night. But the guy who called the first game changed the strike zone every inning and was calling strikes on stuff 6"-8" out of the zone.
johnk5150 wrote:Friday, September 2nd. The day the White Sox season officially ended.
The Angels put another nail in their coffin, and it may be the final one. Giving up 13 runs to the Twins, a season high for them. Check out Fernando Rodney's line for the game:
0.0 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 3 BB.
I'm not making that shit up. Our pitching staff has gone to shit and our hitting sucks. We keep putting Booby Abreu as a #3 hitter and DH. Vernon Wells sucks donkey balls at the plate and is a horrible fielder. We even threw Horacio Ramirez out there again last night and he has a 10.13 ERA.
This is not what a team with a $130 million payroll should look like. It's fucking embarrassing. I can't use "shit" and "suck" enough to describe this team right now.
SkyDog112046 wrote:Josh Beckett has a sprained ankle and is going to miss at least one start.
Josh Beckett did not suffer an ankle sprain Monday.
The Red Sox only classified the injury as a "sprain" because they were -- and still are -- unsure of what exactly went wrong. "It felt like it was locked up and then it popped in and out of socket or something, I don't know," Beckett explained Monday night. "I've never had anything like this. I could wake up tomorrow and feel like playing basketball. We'll just see." He was sent back to Boston to visit a specialist.
Source: WEEI.com Sep. 6
I haven't heard that he's missing a start. They could lose the next six games and still qualify for the WC. I'm not too concerned. Last time they had an ace with an ankle injury in the Playoffs.....things worked out okay.
Really this is just paranoia. Unless he's done for the season, Jon Lester is hit by a bus and Clay Buchholz is eaten by a pack of Maury show guests....leaving John Lackey as the #1 starter, they'll be alright.
*edit*
He's missing his next start. Weiland will go in his place. Leaving Weiland, Lackey and Lester against the Rays.
Justin Verlander is having a tremendous season. On Wednesday, he won his MLB best 22nd game, and the Tigers ace also leads all pitchers in innings pitched (229.0), strikeouts (232), and is the American League leader in ERA (2.44). With Verlander pitching so well, one might wonder what types and mix of pitches he uses to achieve such success.
In the forthcoming 2012 edition of The Bill James Handbook, we will be introducing a section that presents the repertoire of all pitchers in 2011. The information provided will include the frequency of each pitch thrown, as well as his average fastball velocity. As an example, here is Verlander's repertoire:
Pitch Repertoire
Player Fastball Velocity Fastball Cutter Curve Slider Change Other
Justin Verlander 95 57% - 19% 8% 17% -
*Data through games of Thursday, 9/8/11
As you can see, Verlander has mixed his pitches pretty well. He relies a fair amount on his 95-mph fastball, but compliments it with a healthy dose of curveballs and change-ups, as well as a smattering of sliders.
What might some other interesting pitcher repertoires look like?
*Data through games of Thursday, 9/8/11
Freddy Garcia has experienced something of a renaissance this season. Pitching in the vaunted AL East with only an 87-mph fastball, he has survived by throwing it less than half the time and relying more heavily on his array of breaking balls and off-speed stuff.
As the only representatives of the dying breed of knuckleballers in MLB, Tim Wakefield and R.A. Dickey present an interesting contrast. Wakefield, with the fastball of your average high school pitcher, represents the classic knuckleballer, relying almost exclusively on his knuckleball while using his fastball and curveball only sparingly to keep hitters off balance. Dickey, on the other hand, throws a good bit harder and utilizes his fastball much more than Wakefield.
Relief pitchers, of course, do not have to develop repertoires as varied as starting pitchers because they rarely face a hitter more than once in a game. The legend of Mariano Rivera tells of a pitcher that has built a 17-year Hall-of-Fame career throwing a single pitch. While he occasionally uses a traditional fastball, we can see that he does in fact throw that cut-fastball almost as frequently as Wakefield throws his knuckleball. Aroldis Chapman throws his fastball an average of 98-mph. With that kind of velocity, there is no need to throw secondary pitches as much.
