Baseball Articles
I'm confused. Cliff Lee failed to pitch through six innings last night against Kansas City for the third consecutive start (and only the third time all season) and that's a reason to panic? Please. Lee is going to be just fine and so will the Texas Rangers.
Why would this be a cause for concern? Pitchers are allowed to have off games. Pitchers are allowed to struggle a little bit this late in the season. Pitchers who have thrown a gem or two in the postseason and World Series are allowed to have off games. A couple of bad performances aren't signs that it's the end of the world. And it certainly doesn't mean the 2008 Cy Young winner isn't trying.
Last week, Colin Cowherd accused Lee of tanking it against bad teams like the Baltimore Orioles. He accused him of not caring about the Texas Rangers, not liking the heat and only showing off his talent against the elite teams in the majors.
"When he pitches against elite teams, he is showcasing his talent," Cowherd said. "Against the Orioles, he mails it in. That's a dude who gets out of town. The minute the season ends, he will go to the Yankees and jettison the Rangers."
The dumb radio host also pointed out how Lee's strikeout numbers are higher against better teams. I guess he forgot about his 13-K performance against Oakland.
Cowherd, of course, is a moron, plain and simple. Lee called him out and said whatever Cowherd heard and said was a lie.
Lee struggled in a couple starts with the Philadelphia Phillies last year at almost the same exact time of the season. On August 29 last year, he only pitched five innings and gave up three home runs, six earned runs off 10 hits and only struck out five. On September 4 pitching at Houston, he only threw for three innings, gave up six earned runs and struck out three batters. Both games resulted in losses for both the Phillies and Lee.
Did everyone panic? No. Did he struggle for the rest of the season? No. Did Philadelphia still make it to the World Series? Yes.
He hasn't even been struggling that badly. In Lee's debut against Baltimore, he gave up six earned runs, but still pitched a complete game and only got one measly run from a usually powerful offense. In his loss to Tampa Bay, the Rays scored four runs in the eighth after two Texas bad defensive lapses that extended the inning (it's not Lee's fault Rangers second baseman Joaquin Arias couldn't track down a pop-up).
After his last three bad starts, his WHIP is still 1.03 and he still leads the league in complete games with seven.
These things happen. It doesn't mean Lee is "mailing it in." It doesn't mean Texas fans should be worried. They have a guy who can go on the road and pitch a complete game in the World Series (Game 1 last year) without giving up an earned run.
Whether or not Lee signs with the Yankees in the offseason, it's hard to believe he has already made that decision. It's even harder to believe that Cowherd is a credible source. So stop panicking. Lee deserves the benefit of the doubt.- Michael Klopman
Michael, a Penn State Graduate writes for Xtra Point Football, Around the Horn Baseball, and works on the sports page at the Huffington Post.
- More on Cliff Lee: Are the Texas Rangers Overusing and Abusing Cliff Lee?
I would say I "saw" Aroldis Chapman throw a 102 MPH fastball tonight in his Major League Baseball debut, but it's more like I "heard" it.
The Cincinnati Reds' 22-year-old phenom pitched a perfect inning of relief in the Reds' 8-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers as they surged to seven games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the NL Central. (The Cards continue to fly into windows as they got shut out by the Houston Astros 3-0 for the second straight night on Wednesday, marking their fourth-straight loss. Tony LaRussa must have lost his HGH/steroid hookup. Something just isn't right in the Gateway to the West.)
Anyway, back to the man who has been quickly dubbed the "Cuban Missile." He is the real deal and appears to have a lot of moxie to go with his unbelievable arm.
In his lone strikeout (the other two outs were jam-shot weak groundouts), he started off Jonathan Lucroy with a 98 MPH on a delivery as smooth as they come. He then cranked it up to 102 on his next fastball, looking very Randy Johnson-like. Chapman then sent Lucroy back to the dugout with a nasty slider - becoming the first victim of the Cuban Missile Crisis. (No, the cheesy puns are not going to get old. Not when there is a lefty throwing 100-plus.)
Not that it wasn't already time to get really excited if you're a Reds fan - the team is going to start the month of September with a seven-game lead. However, "Chapmania" has just begun and it yet another thing that has made the 2010 Reds one of the most-intriguing stories in all of MLB.
The United States government has spoken. Clemens has now officially been charged by the government with six counts of making false statements, perjury and obstruction of Congress. A trial date has been set for April 5, just a few blocks from where Clemens testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that he had never used performance-enhancing drugs.
Have you even seen someone so happy to take a mug shot?
Reporters tried as hard as they could to get Roger to comment, but the only words Clemens said yesterday was to Judge Reggie Walton, "Not guilty, your honor."
Here's a copy of the actual indictment.
One of the more interesting things that transpired yesterday is that after pleading "not guilty," the seemingly unconcerned Clemens, in an apparent attempt to avoid disqualification at the World Amateur Handicap Championship in Myrtle Beach, whisked himself from Washington D.C. to South Carolina where he managed to squeeze in 18 holes of golf....
For those keeping score Clemens finished with an 84. No word if he cheated.....
It remains to be seen how this will play out, but it seems obvious to this writer that Clemens genuinely believes that he will get off on a technicality and at this point he simply views this process as a nuisance. It's almost as if he's not taking anything seriously. At lunch in the courthouse's cafeteria, Clemens and his four-man legal team, led by Houston-based Rusty Hardin was seen signing autographs for the cafeteria staff....
One of the funniest musings I saw yesterday was from Terence Moore of AOL FanHouse who wrote "Clemens is a Hall of Fame liar." - Mike Cardano
Mike is the founder of Around the Horn Baseball and Xtra Point Football.
Over the past 15 seasons, I have never thought Tony La Russa should be fired. Last Wednesday, after the 5-2 loss to the Pirates, I legitimately thought, "Alright, it's over. He needs to go."
And I had a good portion of this column done, ready to post last Thursday, but I thought better of it. Maybe I was just waiting to come to my senses. Maybe I was dead-set on only blaming TLR, while the players were/are the ones going out there blowing saves, playing with no passion, and failing to get more than a couple hits against Dave Bush (and Daniel McCutchen...and J.A. Happ).
[cardsdiaspora]
No, he's done.
I think it goes without saying that we appreciate the World Series and playoff appearances, and all the good times we've had since 1996. It was a great run, a great era; but now it needs to be over. The last straw for me was La Russa not getting tossed after the Nyjer Morgan incident Saturday, or the Desmond forearm/Storen wild throw Sunday. You're getting your ass handed to you from the Nats, we don't want a five minute conversation for some camera time - go a little fucking crazy on the umps. I'm not usually in favor of having an on-field meltdown to get your team's attention, but those were the times this past weekend to do it.
A lot of TLR supporters will point out the 'Third Most Winningest Manager' stat. And although this is Kevin Slaten's main comeback, it needs to be said - La Russa is second all-time in losses. I think he's a good manager and all, but the wins total really only means he's been around a long time. If you needed a guy to come up and get a base hit, would you take Pete Rose since he's the all-time hit leader? I hope not. (In fact, I'd put 20 bucks down saying you won't, and Pete probably would too, ha...ha?). So before you lump me in with the Kingdom, let me explain - as opposed to sitting in the middle of the St. Charles Applebee's, yelling and scaring customers - with some background info:
In the down year of '03, I didn't think he deserved to be fired. After '07 and '08, I thought he should remain with the club, because ownership did a piss-poor job with contracts, signings, trades, etc. following the 2006 season. Short leash, sure...fired, no. 
I've never agreed with the pitcher hitting 8th thing, though I think the reasoning isn't the craziest thing ever. I've never liked how horribly he handles the soft media here in St. Louis. (Any listener to The Morning After knows the name Calvin May - he's the guy who always asks TLR the first question in the post-game presser, for home games only. And his question is always a softball; like in the 14-5 loss Saturday night, I'd imagine he'd say something like "Nice to see Jon Jay show some power in the first inning tonight, Tony?" Any manager in baseball would trade places right now just to be able to breeze through press conferences. The team on the field is just a bonus. And as you probably know, the questions don't get much more difficult from there. I've never understood how pissy he gets, considering how much of his ass the media kisses. /Rambling over.) And lastly, I've never liked how almost every move has to have his stamp on it. I can't say this for certain, but I think Walt Jocketty would have stood his ground on waiting to deal Ludwick until the winter - or at least would have held out for more than Jake Westbrook and some food stamps from the Padres. There have been way too many players run out of St. Louis, and I'm afraid Colby Rasmus is next on the list.
So that said, I think he should be applauded for the job he's done here, but he needs to be gone from the 2010 Cardinals. The team has been too inconsistent this year and needs a change at the top. They need someone who isn't concerned about getting Randy Winn and Aaron Miles playing time. And really, what is there to lose? If the Cardinals led the Wild Card race, I don't think I'd want a change. But they're in bad shape right now. Trying out a new manager for the last month can either rally the team to win some games, or play some new faces from Memphis (Daniel Descalso, Lance Lynn, Eduardo Sanchez) to see what we've got for 2011.
So I know your next question: Who do you replace him with? I'm sure I'm lacking a big name or two, especially in the "recycle bin" category, but here's my rough draft:
Jose Oquendo. The easy answer, and probably the leader in the clubhouse. Although Jose acts funny sometimes. Like when he does that weird arm extension thing when Albert rounds 3rd. As if to say don't do...something, i don't know.
Fredi Gonzalez. Despite the riff with Hanley Ramirez earlier this year, Gonzalez would be an excellent choice. If he waits until the off-season, he'll get a little extra dough from a possible Braves/Dodgers/Cardinals bidding war. If not Jose, this would be my choice, but I don't think he's picking up the phone until late October.
Tony Pena. He's managed before in Kansas City. He's got the Cardinal connection. He's been a bench coach for the Yankees the past few years. I don't love it, but don't hate it either.
Mike Matheny. I don't believe he's ever managed before, but I've heard numerous times that he's a manager at some point down the line. He's got to get his feet wet in the lower minors for a few years first.
Ryne Sandberg. Cubs fans think they hate us a lot now, but there is one way to put them over the top. Somehow convincing Ryno to manage in St. Louis would be ice cold.
Joe Torre. If he left the Dodgers dugout right now, you think anyone would notice?
Red Fucking Schoendienst. He's only 87. Maybe if we campaign on FaceBook and Twitter, DeWitt will hire him for the last month?
Bobby Valentine, Mike Hargrove, Clint Hurdle. If you like guys with experience - Take your pick. The one drawback for Hurdle is that he's the Rangers hitting coach right now. They're gonna be kind of busy for at least a couple weeks into October.
Feel free to vote or comment below on who you think should take over, or call me a crazy bastard - I'm okay with that too.
The Cuban Missile is coming to Cincinnati and there is no crisis to speak of.
Well, other than perhaps for opposing batters.
Aroldis Chapman, the Reds' 22-year-old sensation from Cuba, will finally be called up to the big club on Tuesday and is expected to give immediate help to the bullpen.
The 6-foot-4 lefty racked up 125 strikeouts in 95.2 innings in AAA Louisville this year. He began the year as a starter (13 starts) but moved to the bullpen in June and has been there ever since (26 relief appearances).
Overall at Louisville, Chapman finished 9-6 with a 3.57 ERA. He gave up just 77 hits (.218 opponent batting average) but walked an alarming 52 batters. However, again, his eye-popping strikeout numbers help greatly in terms of making up for his wildness.
Chapman has been widely reported to be an extremely rare pitcher that can top out at 103 MPH with his fastball. It's almost incredible to think about his velocity considering the fact that the list of lefties that could throw over 100 MPH started and ended with Randy Johnson in recent years. However, Chapman really made noise when he hit 105 MPH on the gun on multiple occasions last week.
Now, who wonders if that gun needs a cleaning if you know what I mean, but the bottom line is that Chapman is a 22-year-old flamethrower who more than held his own at the triple-A level and it's going to be fun to see what he can do during this pennant race.
And did I mention the Reds are 6 games up on the hated Cardinals with just 31 games remaining? Oh, I did in the below post which was just published a few minutes ago? Just wanted to make sure that point was getting across.
That's 6 games up with 31 games left in case you weren't keeping track. Six games up! And my heartfelt thanks to Tony LaRussa and crew for not just going into a slump, but for doing it against a collection of some of the worst teams in baseball like the Pirates, Nationals and tonight the Astros. Quality stuff gentlemen.
And St. Louis will undoubtedly get a chance to see Mr. Chapman this weekend. Ah, this is getting better by the moment.
What the heck is going on with that son of a Bob Cratchit? Trench Foot Timmy has been pitching like Mitch Kramer... if Mitch Kramer had rickets. Today is the trade deadline in my H2H dynasty league and instead of whooping dat ass with the Soul Pole, I packaged Lincecum and Strasburg in a deal for Jon Lester. Make the jump to see my opinions on Lincecum's troubles, future prospects and why I made the deal.
The Fastball isn't as fast as it used to be. Timmy's average Fastball (91.2 mph) is clocking in a full mph slower than last year and the difference between his 2008 Fastball and this years is nearly three mph. The pitch doesn't have the same movement as it once had either. His Slider and Curve are negatively valued for the first time in his career and although the Change-up is good (13.2 runs above average), it doesn't compare to the same pitch from 2009 (35.2 runs above average). The difference in speed between his Fastball and Change-up is now 7.5 mph. Most people look for a 10 mph difference.
The control is waning. Timmy's 3.59 BB/9 isn't completely awful, but it's the worst it has been since his rookie season in 2007. His 46.9% Zone Percentage is the first time he's dipped below 50% and his 54.5% First Strike Percentage is the worst it's ever been. Timmy is losing control of his pitches.
They're hitting him harder. When the fastball isn't as fast, the difference in mph between the Fastball and Change-up is shrinking and he isn't getting as much movement on his pitches, is it really a surprise that he is being hit harder by opposing batters? The HR/FB% is up, his .329 BABIP is the highest it's ever been and the 20.6% Line Drive Percentage is close to his career high (20.8%). His Batting Average Against is easily a career high (.252), besting worsting his .226 mark from 2007.
He's a mess and I'm not talking about that 17-year-old emo look he has going on. He says he's trying to correct too many things at once, he tried mixing it up by wearing orange striped stirrups and he started playing long toss between starts with Barry Zito. He's taken a Loss in five straight contests and has allowed four or more Earned Runs in the past four appearances. We haven't seen a vintage Timmy start since the middle of July.
So what can we expect in 2011? I have an idea and it isn't pretty. The velocity on his Fastball is trending downward. It is an obvious trend. In seven years his Fastball and Change-up will be the same pitch. OK, maybe that is going overboard, but you can't ignore the facts. There doesn't seem to be any signs of hope in the control department either. He is still striking out batters at an excellent rate (9.44 K/9), but that is down from 10.51 K/9 in 2008 and 10.42 K/9 in 2009. I expect something along the lines of a 9.00 K/9 with a 1.29 WHIP and a 3.85 ERA. Lincecum is going to be a tough projection for everyone next season and the opinions will be varied. I have no problem saying Lincecum's days of being a "male dominant monkey motherfucker" are over. I don't have much hope for him, which is why I wasn't afraid to deal him and Strasburg for Lester.
The trade heard 'round the league. My dynasty team is awesome. My dynasty team is young. And my dynasty team was loaded with players on the Disabled List. Justin Morneau, Carlos Santana, Grady Sizemore, Nelson Cruz and Stephen Strasburg were holding me down and I wanted to shed the dead weight as the trade deadline approached and we entered the playoffs. Because my team is so good and so young, I was not afraid to sacrifice talent for the good of a playoff run. I will not lose and I do not trust Lincecum going down the stretch. Plus, I don't want to have a player who is expected to sit out the entire 2011 season. Strasburg is expected to be out 12-18 months after Tommy John Surgery Stephen Strasburg Surgery. F that noise. I love me some Jon Lester and I love my chances of back-to-back championships.
What Timmy really needs is a good woman, like Martha Washington. "Behind every good man there is a woman, and that woman was Martha Washington, man, and everyday George would come home, she would have a big fat bowl waiting for him, man, when he come in the door, man, she was a hip, hip, hip lady, man."
The New York Yankees with a 2010 team payroll of over $206 million in are currently tied for the best record in baseball with the Tampa Bay Rays at 78-50.
You could look at this a few ways. You could say that they are in first place and getting their money's worth or you could say, "Hey wait a minute, the San Diego Padres have the second lowest payroll in all of baseball and they almost have the same record at 76-51!"
For all the Yankee haters out there, while that's true, if you are being honest, the San Diego Padres would not be playing .600 baseball if they were in the American League East. Sure you get to play the Orioles 18 times, but competing with the three headed monster being the best three teams in MLB, the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox, takes a toll on a teams record. Frankly, if the Blue Jays were in any other division in baseball they would probably be a playoff team as well and at 67-61 in the AL East, they have nothing to be ashamed of.
Yesterday I was reading an article talking about the Yankees and how they are plan on setting their rotation for the playoffs. With Javier Vasquez being banished to the bullpen and A. J. Burnett pitching like Bob Gibson one outing and Oliver Perez the next, the article suggested that the plan all along to move Phil Hughes to bullpen for the playoffs now has him pitching game 2 with CC Sabathia throwing game one and Andy Pettitte throwing game three. This would not only break up the two lefties but it would give Andy the potential pressure game possibly being down 0-2, tied 1-1, or to close it out. This of course all assumes that Pettitte is healthy.
Not so Fast!
Discussions of setting up the Yankee playoff pitching rotation may be a bit premature as they are currently tied with the Rays (only one of them can win the AL East) and only 4 ½ games up on the Boston Red Sox for the AL Wild Card. There is a lot of business that must to be taken care of before a playoff spot can be secured and the AL East division winner and AL Wild Card spot are not likely to be decided until the final days (perhaps the final day) of the season.
The Yankees have seven games left against the Rays and six games left against the Red Sox (including the last three of the year at Fenway Park.) With everyone in the AL East playing each other down the stretch this one could be interesting as everyone in contention has control of their own destiny.
Keep an eye on the Toronto Blue Jays as they clearly have the potential to do some damage against these three teams and would like nothing more to play spoiler. - Paul Leume
Paul is a MLB columnist from Montreal, Canada. Paul, a one-time beat writer covering the Montreal Expos for the Montreal Gazette is a proud grandfather of 3 girls and now spends his time offering his thoughts and prospective on Major League Baseball on a variety of blogs and websites throughout Al Gore's internet.
By all accounts no matter what the results of the second MRI on Washington Nationals prized possession, Stephen Strasburg, he is expected to be shut down for the rest of the season. Base on the circumstances that seems to be a reasonable thing to do, but the way they are going about it doesn't give anyone any confidence in the situation.
The initial MRI taken Sunday indicated to doctors that Strasburg simply has a strained flexor tendon in his right forearm, and I guess they feel that a more detailed MRI is warranted to double check. It seems kind of silly to me however to not have to done the correct or most detailed MRI to begin with! What's the point of a doctor providing a half ass analysis the first time around only having to do it again causing more uncertainty, time and expense? That's like bringing your car into a mechanic because you hear a funny noise coming from the engine and having the guy call you at work to tell you,
"yep, there is definitely a funny noise there, we listened to it and it appears that it's coming from under the hood just as you said it was. All indications point to the fan belt. I don't want you to drive the car anymore until we actually open the hood and look to confirm that it is in fact the fan belt."
Why not just open the hood and look the first time?
Strasburg left Saturday's game after experiencing some discomfort in his right arm and was placed on the disabled list. This was already the second time in the short time he's been with the Nationals that he's had to be shut down.
I can't help wondering if Strasburg's career is destined to follow the path of the last to guys who toed the mound with anything close to the stuff that Strasburg has at such a young age; Kerry Wood or worse, Mark Prior.
Wood has been able to make a career out of it with some on and off success, but once the arm problems started, he was never anything like the dominant player that he was when he first came up. Prior for his part, has never really been able to get back on the field.
Ask Cubs fans and see what they think. - Brian James
Brian James is an independent sports journalist covering major professional sports for over 25 years.
The Giants have been toiling in the National League for a while, a franchise that dates to 1883. Never during that span has the team won a game after trailing by as many as nine runs. They nearly accomplished the feat on Wednesday by rallying from a 10-1 deficit against the Reds to tie the contest, only to lose in 12 frames.
The Colorado Rockies, circa 1993, achieved the feat of coming back from a nine-run hole to win on Wednesday. While someone must have forgotten to put the baseballs in the humidor and reminded Jair Jurrjens that simply throwing the stitched sphere over the plate does not win big league games, regardless of the size of the advantage, the Braves were the victim of the Rockies' rally, thereby concluding a three-game sweep at Coors Field. The lone positive from the day's events was the fact that Philadelphia dropped its third straight at home to the lowly Astros, which kept Atlanta's lead at 2 1/2 games while wiping another date off the 2010 slate.
Fortunately, the Braves are off on Thursday, a fact that should give the team a chance to rest and lick its wounds after being rolled by the Rocks. The off-day also sets the stage for an important week that could go a long way toward deciding the division winner.
The Braves have 35 games remaining--20 at Turner Field and 15 on the road. That's good news, considering that the Braves are 44-17 when playing alongside Hank Aaron Drive versus a pedestrian 29-37 away from the comforts of home. The Phillies, meanwhile, have 36 games left--17 at Citizens Bank Park, where they are 42-25, and 19 on the road, where they are 28-31. Twenty-eight of Atlanta's games are against National League East clubs, the exceptions being three at PNC Park in Pittsburgh and four at home against St. Louis. The Phils have a similar schedule by facing the NL East in 25 of their 36 outings.
In all likelihood, the division will be decided in two parts of the slate. Over the next week, the Braves have the easier stretch by hosting the Marlins for three games this weekend before welcoming the Mets for four. The Phillies play the series finale against Houston on Thursday before traveling across the country to San Diego to meet the first-place Padres three times. Charlie Manuel's crew then goes to Los Angeles for three next Monday through Wednesday before making a one-day stop in Colorado on Thursday to make up a May 11 postponement. That's eight games in eight days in four cities with a cross-country flight thrown in. Not easy.
The other part is more obvious--the head-to-head three-game series in Philadelphia on September 20-22 and the season-ending three-game set in Atlanta on October 1-3. Sweeping six games for either team will be a tough task, which makes it that much more important for Bobby Cox's club to make the most of the week ahead.
The Braves definitely have an easier road ahead than the Phillies over the next five-plus weeks. But allowing the Phils to remain within striking distance is not advisable, particularly since Philadelphia has played much of its season without key components that are gradually getting back on the field. Now is the time for the Braves to play their best baseball. If Atlanta fails to create any breathing room, the two-time defending National League champs might still have life come the final weekend of the slate.
By the way, that last weekend of the year will be Cox's final series as Atlanta's manager. Might be a good idea to go ahead and secure those tickets asap.
You would have to believe that reason Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds refuse to admit that they took steroids is because they were worried more than anything else, about their legacy. It's the same reason that the players who ultimately confessed about taking PED's didn't admit to it until they were caught.
Those players however were smart enough (or were smart enough to listen to some good advice) to then do some damage control and try to put the issue behind them. Think about it, of all the players who have been caught that then held a press conference or did a TV interview where they came clean, how many of them still deal with major ramifications from the public about taking the PED's on a daily basis?
I saw Jason Giambi pinch hit last week, and but didn't enter my mind that he was a steroid user. I wouldn't have thought about at all it if I wasn't writing this article. I read article after article last week about when Andy Pettitte may be coming off the DL, and I never think of it once. Heck, I don't even think about it when I see A-Rod anymore unless someone else brings it up. The hassles the players who have come clean now endure with regard to the subject is now intermittent heckling at best. And they only came clean because they were caught!
Somewhere however, in the big heads and beady brains of Clemens and Bonds (literally big head), they think that as long as they can keep a shadow of a doubt in the minds of someone somewhere that they didn't take PED's, that they can still get into the MLB Hall of Fame.
Clemens and Bonds will take this too their grave. It's the Pete Rose syndrome. But now, as if Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds didn't have enough to worry about, Hall of Famer George Brett is hitting them where it hurts. "No Hall of Fame for you!"
In an interview on 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City, Brett said that Clemens, and other steroid users will never make the Hall of Fame. Not only that, he's basically blackballing the HOF by making certain that they don't even think of putting them in because if they do, he says that the current Hall of Famers won't attend the induction ceremonies, distancing themselves from association with the Hall.
Brett is firm in his belief that none of these players will ever be in the MLB Hall of Fame. His comments regarding Roger Clemens and other suspected / confirmed steroid users in baseball were certainly news worthy. - Mike Cardano
Mike is the founder of Around the Horn Baseball & Xtra Point Football.
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