MLB Talk

[Jeffy25]

I guess it could be worse

http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_...426&statType=2

[BINGLEBOP]

welcome to the big leagues

Claggett

At least Claggett recorded an out. "Doc" Hamann did not.

[HoustonGM]

Take it away, Rany:

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it appears that having already lost the services of Alex Gordon for half the season, the Royals have suffered another blow to their playoff hopes. Joakim Soria is out indefinitely with an apparent inability to pitch.

I say “apparent” because there has no been no confirmation from the Royals on the subject. I hesitate to say that Soria is injured, because there is no evidence of an actual injury.

Nonetheless, it appears quite certain that the Mexicutioner is suffering from an ailment that prevents him from pitching. That is because the alternative explanation is that Trey Hillman has the IQ of a barnyard animal, and I think we can all agree that barnyard animals possess neither the intellect nor the communication skills necessary to obtain a job as major league manager in the first place.

See, after pitching (and picking up saves) in four of the Royals’ first seven games, Soria had not pitched in the last four – his last outing came on April 13th. He’s fully rested, and more, the Royals have an off-day tomorrow. If ever there was a game where Soria ought to be pitching, it was this one. Even if the game was a blowout, he ought to come in. Hillman said so himself. “We’ll get Jack some work somehow,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said before Sunday's game.

So clearly, Soria is suffering from an inability to pitch. If he were able to pitch, I’m certain we would have seen him to start the eighth inning this afternoon, this being the perfect time to give Soria a two-inning save opportunity with the Royals leading by a pair of runs.

[KowboyKoop]

As soon as it went down, I checked Rany's blog every ten minutes to see what he wrote. As usual, he's dead on.

Hillman is just a dumb jackass. Simple as that. Dumb for his many boneheaded decisions and a jackass for blaming the defense. It's too bad that so many of the good things going on in KC are being outweighed by this one guy's stupidity.

[asianinvasion]

So, its time to rebuild the Nat's pen I guess. Four guys out, four different guys in.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/0...l-bullpen.html

[200tang]

Courtesy of LookoutLanding



All 3 Mariners in the top tier

BTW, Endy Chavez, in 9 games has been worth 0.9 wins so far. Raul Ibanez? 0.8 so far

Take that defense doubters

[200tang]

This made me giggle too

Dukes was late to the ballpark Saturday because of his involvement in a Little League program, the Washington Post reports.

Recommendation: It's a far cry from the incidents that got him in trouble as a Rays' prospect, but manager Manny Acta didn't let Dukes off the hook. "He was late for work, he broke a team rule, and we are going to change the culture here -- regardless of how well a guy is playing," Acta said. "And it was a bizarre situation, because he was doing something that we encourage our players to do: He was out in the community doing something for some Little League program and just showed up late to work. He was very remorseful about it. He felt bad, but we have to lay the law on whoever." Saturday's benching will probably be the only discipline Dukes faces for this.
(Rotowire.com)

[KowboyKoop]

The Good: Zimmermann with 6 solid innings and in line for the win as the Nats lead 3-2 in the top of the 7th.

The Bad: Kip Wells has entered the game for Washington. Oops

[HoustonGM]

On the bullpen:

lpiklor (chicago): I know bullpen usage is a bugaboo of yours - and it's becoming one of mine by extension - but have you seen any usage yet this year that makes you glad? Is ANYone doing it the Joe Sheehan Way?

Joe Sheehan: Not as a pattern, no. As far as I can tell, every manager in baseball is picking their relievers based solely on inning and score. Until the nominal best reliever faces the middle of the lineup in the eighth inning, and the second-best guy faces the bottom of the lineup in the ninth, I'm going to ride this hobby horse.

And no, it doesn't count if the manager gets it right because he's misidentifying his pitchers.

danbrod11 (Greenwich, CT): Re: Sheehan bullpen usage...what if the manager is misidentifying his pitchers on purpose? If I know that Carlos Marmol is a better pitcher than Kevin Gregg, I am sure Pinella knows it too. But by naming Gregg his "closer" Lou is now able to use Marmol in high leverage situations without the controversy of using his "closer" in the 7th inning. I know your answer will be, "who cares about the controversy" but it would exist and be a distraction. This may be Lou's work-around.

Joe Sheehan: Maybe. But we're back to the inning issue. If the #7 spot leads off the eighth in a one-run game, in your scenario, Gregg should pitch the eighth. He won't.

The inning needs to be removed as the driving factor in these decisions. The entire closer myth is predicated on the idea that the ninth is somehow harder than the seventh and eighth, regardless of other factors. That's false, and damaging.

[Jeffy25]

why the hell did we trade Brian Barton for Blaine Boyer? I know Barton didn't have much of a spot on the depth chart, but he has a lot of pop, good speed, and is a disciplined player learning how to hit....He doesn't make big mistakes....and Boyer is a reliever who can't seem to figure it out.....is there something going on that I don't know about or is Moz just trying to make it seem like he is trying to improve our bullpen by constantly getting triple a players?

[200tang]

lol, saw this in the MLBTR live chat today

2:28
[Comment From Kyle Farnsworth]
Hey Tim, I have been working on my batting practice fastball, trying to keep it straight as an arrow and waist-high. How am I doing so far?
2:28
Not bad, might want to bring it down to 85mph though.

Pretty funny I thought xD

[gRYFYN1]

and I think we can all agree that barnyard animals possess neither the intellect nor the communication skills necessary to obtain a job as major league manager in the first place.

I'm sorry but before someone post erroneous information, they should have some proof to this .. having seen some managers that have been hired, i think this statemnt should further examined before we "assume" this kind of conclusion.

[200tang]

I'm sorry but before someone post erroneous information, they should have some proof to this .. having seen some managers that have been hired, i think this statemnt should further examined before we "assume" this kind of conclusion.

small sample size & track record & stuff.

[TheNamelessPoet]

Cardinals Acquire Blaine Boyer For Brian Barton
By Tim Dierkes [April 20 at 3:46pm CST]
According to a press release, the Cardinals acquired reliever Blaine Boyer from the Braves for outfielder Brian Barton.

Boyer, 27, was designated for assignment on Saturday to make room for Jo-Jo Reyes. When he's right, Boyer is able to get strikeouts and groundballs. Last year he dealt with a sore knee.

Barton, 26, was taken by the Cardinals from the Indians in the 2007 Rule 5 draft. He hit .268/.354/.392 in 179 plate appearances last year while playing mostly left field. Barton, an aerospace engineering major in college, was a well-regarded five-tool player prior to a 2006 knee injury. Atlanta's less-crowded outfield should present a better opportunity than St. Louis, though Barton will initially head to Triple A.

so excited i wet myself

[BINGLEBOP]

You probably do that when you're not excited though too, don't you?