Archive for April, 2005

Baseball Daily

• I’ve touched on this before; David Bush away from SkyDome is not the same pitcher he is at home:
  Home: 10 starts, 4-2, 65.0, 2.77, 1.17, .230
  Away: 10 starts, 1-5, 54.2, 5.43, 1.30, .282
  He’s never pitched at Yankee Stadium.
  Another great thing about Bush is that lefties hie .293 against him and righties hit .200.


• Cliff Lee career vs KC:
  3-1, 28.1, 1.91, 0.99, .162


• Denny Batista has given up 19 hits and 11 runs in 9.1 innings against Cleveland.


• Jamie Moyer continues an amazing streak, starting his 6th straight day game this year. So far he’s 4-0 with a 2.53 ERA. His career day numbers are even with his career night numbers, although last season he was slightly worse at day. In 2003, he was slightly better.
  Career at Network Associates:
  21 starts, 10-5, 131.0, 3.50, 1.18, .244
  Last season against Oakland, Moyer was 0-1 in 4 starts with a 6.33 ERA and .345 opponent’s BA.
  


• Kelvim Escobar career indoors:
  14-21, 234.2, 5.52, 1.63, .295
  At Metrodome:
  2-2, 21.2, 6.23, 1.43, .262


• Assuming Arroyo appeals his suspension, he’s only made one career start in Arlington:
  0-0, 6.0, 3H, 2R, 2BB, 5K


• Pedro Astacio has been good this year, but he got hit hard 04.24.05 in New York. His other outings were against Oakland, Toronto, and Seattle. Career at Arlington:
  2-2, 28.0, 2.89, 1.32, .275, and 3 unearned runs.


• Brandon Backe career at Minute Maid:
  5-1, 50.0, 2.88, 1.20, .247

Baseball Daily

• Jason Schmidt’s next start is in doubt because he threw 131 pitches in his last start.


• The next big debate in sports is going to be things like this. David Dellucci came into this season a career .261 hitter with a .333 OBP. This season, not only has Dellucci’s been around .300 all season, but he’s taken 19 walks so far for an OBP of .485 and OPS of 1.118. Clearly, being more selective has improved his production but there is more too it. Dellucci has joined a growing class of major leaguers who have undergone Lasik surgery to improve their vision. Tiger Woods had it too, and to my knowledge, Troy Glaus, Brett Boone, and now Dellucci have. This college player has done it and I see now that Aaron Sele did too. Who else? Over the line or not, there should be a list of everyone who’s done it. At least so we can pick them up on our fantasy teams.


• Nate Robertson last season versus CWS:
  1-1, 26.0, 5.54, 1.38, .298
  Career at Comisky:
  0-1, 12.0, 9.00, 1.67, .340


• Jose Contreras career at Comisky:
  8 starts, 2-1, 51.1, 3.16, 1.27, .221


• Chicago (AL) is hitting .298 against LHP.


• Chicago is 8-0 in series openers. 3-0 after a win, 4-0 after a loss.


• Tim Wakefield career at Arlington:
  3-8, 60.1, 5.37, 1.52, .269
  But he’s only given up 6 homeruns in those 60 innings. Last year, Wakefield made one start in Arlington:
  0-1, 7.0, 5H, 2ER, 1HR, 0BB, 4K


• Paul Byrd career at the Metrodome:
  4 starts, 3-0, 27.0, 2.00, 1.04, .240
  Career indoors:
  7-3, 88.0, 3.17, 1.01, .229


• Carlos Silva last season against ANA:
  2-0, 21.1, 1.27, 1.27, .268
  BvsP:
  Anderson- 1/5
  Cabrera- 4/9
  DaVanon- 2/4
  Erstad- 4/11
  Figgins- 1/9
  Finley- 1/3
  Guerrero- 6/17


• Danny Haren still has only made one career start in Oakland. This 2-5 loss to the Blue Jays on 04.12.05.


• Florida is hitting .331 against LHP, .258 against RHP.


• Randy Wolf career BvsP:
  Cabrera- 5/11
  Castillo- 17/40, 1HR
  Conine- 3/10, 2HR
  Delgado- 2/9
  Encarnacion- 6/16, 3HR
  Lo Duca- 4/13, 2HR
  Lowell- 10/35, 2HR
  Pierre- 11/25
  By my math, that’s 58/159 for a .365 average and 10 HRs. Oops.


• A.J. Burnett career at Citizens Bank:
  0-1, 9.2, 1.86, 1.03, .257
  and last year againt the Phillies:
  1-1, 14.2, 2.45, 1.43, .293
  On 04.12.05 in Florida:
  9 innings, 8 hits, 2 earned runs, 0 walks, 3 strike outs.


• In Mark Mulder’s last two starts, he has not only failed to surrender an earned run, but he’s thrown 132 of his 196 pitches for strikes (67%).


• The Braves are hitting over .100 points higher against LHP (.339) than they are against RHP (.226


• Greg Maddux career at Minute Maid:
  3-1, 25.2, 4.56, 1.32, .308


• Roger Clemens career at Minute Maid:
  13-3, 147.0, 2.51, 1.02, .206

Baseball Daily

Off today.
Today’s lineup of games is uninspiring.

Baseball Daily

A few day game notes:

• Freddy Garcia career at Network Colloseum:
  3-2, 43.1, 3.74, 1.06, .194
  He’s also solid in day games:
  35-11, 429.1, 3.38, 1.26, .236


• Mike Hampton career at Shea:
  14-11, 210.2, 2.86, 1.29, .242
  But last yet against the Mets:
  2-1, 19.2, 7.32, 1.73, .329
  Two of those outings were at the beginning of the 2004 season:
  04.07.04 and 04.12.04
  Hampton got hot in July of last season. His last outing against NYM was 7.25.04.
  In that game he struggled only against Jose Reyes.
  Also, Carlos Beltran is 5/7 lifetime against Hampton.


• Tom Glavine has always struggled against his former team.
  1-6, 37.0, 8.76, 1.92, .353


• Teams playing their last game of a road trip today:
  Houston, 0-4 so far
  Atlanta, 1-1
  San Diego, 1-4
  Philly, 1-4
  Chicago (AL) 6-1
  Baltimore 5-0


• Still liking the Astros from yesterday. The pitching matchup is the same.


• Daniel Cabrera career vs Boston:
  2 starts, 0-1, 6.0, 12H, 11ER, 6BB, 5K


• Wakefield BvsP:
  Bellhorn- 0/3
  Damon- 10/36, 1HR
  Millar- 3/4
  Ortiz- 3/11
  Payton- 0/4
  Ramirez- 6/26
  Renteria- 3/11


• More later

• Jeremy Bonderman has struggled against Cleveland and at Jacobs field:
  2-5, 49.0, 7.35, 1.73, .302
  1-3, 22.0, 7.77, 2.00, .333


• A’s Nation thinks (read: hopes) that last night’s 9 run effort is the turning point for the A’s offense. If they can score against Garcia today, I’ll be convinced.


• Jason Isringhausen says he’s not going to ‘be slowed down all year’ by his recent injury. The Post-Dispatch speculates that Julian Tavarez will take over closer duties in Izzy’s absence.


• Armando Benitez was also hurt last night. He’s got an MRI today. No word from Alou yet who would take over as the Giants’ closer.


• LaTroy Hawkins gets another shot at closing, mostly because he’s the only option right now.


• Watch out for Danny Kolb’s job too.


• Great post from Baseball Musings about how the unexpected happened last night in Oakland.


• Also on my list of disappointments is Joel Pineiro giving up four HRs and still winning.


• The Devil Rays have been working to get better against LHPs. They called up Jomey Gomes last week, they traded for Nick Green last month, and they signed Josh Phelps and Alex Gonzalez during the offseason EDIT: Eduardo Perez too. The Rays are hitting .292 against lefties this season. The Jays are at .312. Tonight’s game is a rematch from 04.05.05


• Ryan Franklin career at Arlington:
  12 G, 5 starts, 2-3, 33.2, 8.02, 1.87, .331


• Seattle is batting .219 against LHPs.


• Al Leiter career at Coors:
  2-3, 38.0, 6.63, 1.71, .298


• The Marlins are hitting .331 against LHPs and the Rockies are hitting .315 against LHPs.

Baseball Daily

• NY Times article on Ichrio. The writer, Bob Sherwin, suggests that the Mariners’ right fielder made a slight adjustment in his batting stance on 06.24.04 and that was the cause for his second half surge last year that has carried over into a tremendous start to the 2005 season.
  USS Mariner also weighs in:

  Giving immediate credence to the June 24 Hypothesis are the numbers from that day forward. In the 480 at bats he’s recorded since moving his front leg a few inches, Ichiro has 191 hits.
  
  That’s a significant hunk of time — a little over two-thirds of an average season — at a .398 clip, folks.

• Lance Berkman’s return draws closer:

  Berkman went 3-for-5 on the day with two home runs, a double and three RBIs.
  
  “He played three innings, and all in all, did very well,” reported Garner. “It was good. Admittedly, he was a little bit slow on his takeoff in the field, but we expected that. Otherwise, there was a double hit down the line and he had to go get it, and he did a pretty good job getting there and getting it in. All in all, it was a pretty good day for him.”

• Eric Gagne:

  Dodgers closer Eric Gagne threw off a mound for the first time since going on the disabled list April 1 due to a sprained ligament in his pitching elbow. “He felt great. He had no pain,” trainer Stan Johnston said. There is no timetable for Gagne’s return.

• Yesterday’s pick up is today’s disappointment. Chad Fox was brought in to a non-save situation last night and he left with an arm injury.

  Fox, who was just installed as the Cubs’ closer, left the game with his right arm drooping in the ninth inning after throwing a pitch to the Reds’ Jason LaRue.
  The mood around the club was much the same as it was last week after a victory in St. Louis, where shortstop Nomar Garciaparra suffered a severe groin injury.

• One of my favorite finds of the week; maybe month: covers.com has matchup stats for certain umpires.


• Yes, Dewon Brazelton is 0-12 on the road for his career. Yes, his away ERA is 8.42 and his opponents’ BA is .331. But don’t take for granted that he’s going to get shelled by the Blue Jays tonight. Besides Toronto’s turnover of their hitting coach, perhaps Dewon’s road struggles are more indicative of a poor outdoor record, as opposed to a poor road record. He only has three career road dome starts, so it’s too early to call, but I’ll be watching tonight to see how well he pitches.


• Ted Lilly has a decent history against Tampa’s two best hitters.
  Crawford- 3/15
  Huff- 2/16


• Rodrigo Lopez career at Fenway:
  5-1, 47.1, 2.09, 1.14, .218


• Joel Pinero career at Arlington:
  0-3, 32.0, 5.91, 1.44, .296


• Josh Beckett career at Coors:
  2-0, 13.0, 4.15, 1.23, .220


• The Nationals are going to rebuild their mound on May 3rd because of so many complaints that it’s terrible. Jon Lieber starts there tonight.


• I’m a little upset I chickened out on picking the Pirates yesterday. The Astros are now 1-9 on the road and I knew that Perez was going to come out throwing. More matchup notes coming later.

• Five days ago, Lopez versus Clement turned into a 1-0 duel. The only run of the game was unearned and came on a Vazquez groundout.
  Lopez is 8-4 career versus Boston, with a 3.40 ERA.
  Clement is 3-0 versus Baltimore, with a 1.33 ERA.
  A couple of other notes from covers.com:
  Under 6-0 in Clement’s last six starts.
  Home team is 1-7 in last eight meetings.


• The Rangers got their first day off of the year on Monday and Showalter sat Blalock on Sunday to give him an extra day off. The Mariners, meanwhile, have a number of players still battling the flu. They are beginning a six game, AL West road trip tonight.


• Mark Buerhle career at Network Associates:
  0-4, 41.1, 3.92, 1.16, .247


• Rich Harden career at home:
  9-4, 138.1, 3.06, 1.22, .220
  And against Chicago:
  2-1, 20.0, 2.25, 0.80, .197


• Bruce Froemming is BHP (behind home plate) tonight in Oakland. His three previous BHP games (I can’t believe I’m doing this!) this season all came in under 7 (the total for tonights game). Also, the last nine meetings between these two have been under, and the under is 4-1-1 in Oakland’s last six home games.


• Chicago is an amazing 6-0 on their current 8 game road trip. They’ve taken two in Detroit, three in KC, and last night in Oakland. No way, they go 8-0. RIght? No way?


• Andy Pettite was 2-0 last year against the Pirates, with a 0.82 ERA. He gave up 3 hits in 11 innings against them.


• Kip Wells has walked either 4 or 5 batters in each of his four starts this season. He has 18 total walks, compared to 19 Ks.


• Who is John Patterson? He started last year pretty well before falling off with a groin injury. Here’s a little mlb.com story about his turn around. Patterson did face the Phillies in April last year and he gave up 5 runs in 4 innings, including 3 HRs (Bell, Burrell, Polanco).


• Before opening day, Lieber hadn’t faced the WAS/MON franchise since 2001. He struggled against the Nats on 04.04.05, giving up 10 hits and 3 runs in 5.2, but still got the win.


• In the Phillies last four games, all on the road, they’ve hit .226, .194, .194, and 212. They’re also 0-3 after winning game 1 of a series.


• Jason Schmidt strangley struggled last year at home against San Diego.
  On 04.21.04 he gave up 7 (6 earned) in 4.0.
  On 07.22.04 he gave up 8 in 5.2.
  On 09.18.04 he gave up 5 in 7.2
  All three were SF losses. Jay Payton (now with BOS) and Mark Loretta seemed to give him the most troubles in those games.

Baseball Daily

• Chad Fox will get a shot at closing games in Dusty Baker’s new ‘closer by situation’ bullpen.


• The White Sox may call up Brandon McCarthy to start this Friday night.


• It appears to be a cool, windy day around most of the the Northeast.
  Boston, Washington, and New York are all hosting games today.


• Chen vs Wells again today.
  Their game on 4.20.05 was 1-0 BSox after five before they broke it open.
  That was in Baltimore. Today the game is at Fenway.
  Boston’s still only hitting .217 against LHPs while Baltimore is at .294.
  Boston is 6-2 at home.
  Baltimore is 7-2 on road.
  It’s about 50 degrees and windy (24 mph SW) in Boston today.


• Jon Garland at Network Colosseum:
  0-3, 14.2, 6.75, 1.91, .328
  Last season, he was a little better there:
  0-1, 7.0, 6H, 4R, 3ER, 5BB, 2K
  BvsP:
  Byrnes- 3/7
  Chavez- 5/11, 2HR
  Durazo- 2/11
  Ellis- 2/10, 1HR
  Hatteberg- 5/13, 1HR
  Kielty- 2/14, 2HR
  Kotsay- 2/8


• Barry Zito career vs CHW:
  5-1, 46.1, 3.30, 1.10, .217
  And even as he struggled last year, he was still effective against Chicago:
  1-0, 13.2, 3.29, 0.95, .220
  BvsP:
  Crede- 2/11
  Dye- 2/3
  Everett- 5/21
  Konerko- 5/19, 1HR
  Pierzynski- 0/12
  Rowand- 3/13
  Uribe- 0/5


• CHW is batting .297 against LHPs.
  They’ve won 7 in a row, 4 of which came by 1 run.
  They’re 7-0 in series openers, while Oakland is just 2-5.
  They’ve lead in all 19 games this season.


• Roy Oswalt at PNC:
  6 starts, 2-2, 42.1, 2.76, 1.13, .250
  Oliver Perez talked to his catcher after another poor start last week. He’s eventually going to turn things around.


• Houston is 1-8 on the road, Pittsburgh is 1-6 at home.
  The Astros are batting .198 against LHPs.
  The Pirates are batting .232 overall.


• The Mets are hitting .316 against LHPs


• Ramirez and Heilman faced each other 04.09.05 and the Braves won at home, 6-3. Both starters didn’t make it past the 5th inning.


• Heilman BvsP:
  Estrada- 2/8
  Furcal- 2/11
  Giles- 4/7
  C Jones- 3/8, 2HR
  A Jones- 4/11, 1HR
  Jordan- 1/2, 1HR
  LaRoche- 4/7, 1HR


• Braves Beat reports that Atlanta is hitting .282/.363/.466 at home and just .214/.271.325 on the road.


• Paul Wilson career at Wrigley:
  0-3, 27.2, 7.48, 1.70, .289


• Mark Prior career vs CIN:
  1-2, 34.2, 1.82, 0.89, .190
  Prior beat the Reds 7-1 on 04.19.05.


• Wes Obermueller made 1 start at Busch in 2003 and he only lasted 2.1, giving up 7H, 7ER, and walked 3.
  Larry Walker is 2/2 with a HR and Jim Edmonds is 2/3 with a HR against him.


• Jeff Suppan BvsP:
  Branyan- 0/9
  Cirillo- 5/17
  Clark- 7/12, 2HR
  Helms- 3/10
  Jenkins- 4/22
  Lee- 9/38, 2HR
  Overbay- 4/10
  Spivey- 3/11


• STL is 9-1 over their last 10 with a 1.78 team ERA. Suppan threw 8.1 scoreless innings in Milwaukee on 04.15.05.


• Javier Vazquez at Dodger Stadium:
  1-3, 23.0, 4.70, 1.26, .239


• The DBacks are coming off a three game sweep of SD at home. They’re 9-3 at Bank One, and 2-5 on the road.
  The Dodgers are 5-0 at home.

• Paul Wilson last season at Wrigley:
  0-0, 10.2, 15H, 11R, 10ER, 5HR, 7BB, 8K


• Mark Prior has had a disturbing trend of pitching much better away from Wrigley, than in it.
  In 2004 his was 5.23, 1.50, .282 at home and 2.53, 1.16, .210 away.


• Juff Suppan also has that trend going.
  2004 at home:
  6-8, 4.75, 1.52, .299
  Away:
  10-1, 3.55, 1.20, .226

Hockey News

Quick catch up on the NHL. The Ice Block pointed me to these two sources for news of NHL players in Europe.

Jamie Fitzpatrick’s winners and losers.
NHLPA Members in Europe

These two links don’t really mean much now, but when it comes time to scout the 2005-06 season, if there is one, we’ll need any info we can get from the 2004-05 season that was (for some). Just because there wasn’t a NHL, doesn’t mean hockey players weren’t getting better or getting worse.

Baseball Daily

Light today, in honor of draft day.

• Brad Penny will start tomorrow in Coors.


• Eric Bedard career vs TOR:
  2 starts, 0-1, 6.1, 12.79, 2.37, .321


• Toronto is batting .315 against LHPs this season.


• David Bush at Skydome:
  9 starts, 4-1, 57.0, 3.00, 1.23, .237
  Career on the road:
  10 starts, 1-5, 54.2, 5.43, 1.30, .282
  Also, LHBs are hitting .293 against Bush while RHBs are hitting .211. Mora, Tejada, Sosa, Lopez, the heart of the Orioles order, all right handed.


• Chan Ho Park has been a little better this year.
  In one career start at Yankee Stadium, he threw:
  1-0, 6.0, 7H, 2R, 1BB, 6K
  BvsP:
  Giambi- 5/9
  Jeter- 1/3
  Martinez- 2/5, 2HR
  Posada- 0/2
  Sheffield- 0/6
  Womack- 11/45, 1HR


• Jaret Wright at Yankee Stadium:
  1-2, 18.2, 11.57, 2.30, .373
  That may be in part because LHBs are hitting .297 off Wright.


• Randy Wolf at Turner:
  4-4, 57.0, 4.26, 1.42, .243
  BvsP:
  Estrada- 3/6
  Franco- 5/16
  Furcal- 8/35
  Giles- 3/13
  A. Jones- 7/43, 1HR
  C. Jones- 12/36, 3HR
  Jordan- 3/18
  Mondesi- 6/10


• Tim Hudson BvsP shows that even though he’s never faced the Phillies, Jim Thome has gone 7/13 with 4HRs against him. But check the boxscore to see if Thome is playing.


• Atlanta is hitting .290 vs LHP, Philadelphia is hitting .286 vs RHB.
  The Phillies are 3-3 in game twos, 0-3 after a win, 3-0 after a loss.
  The Braves are 3-3 in game twos, 1-3 after a win, 2-0 after a loss.
  Atlanta beat Philly 6-2 yesterday.


• Odalis Perez at Coors:
  3-3, 39.1, 6.18, 1.55, .331
  BvsP:
  Barnes- 4/6
  Gonzalez- 5/12
  Helton- 16/35
  Holliday- 2/4
  Miles- 2/7
  Wilson- 2/15

Peavy at Bank One:
1-4, 21.2, 11.22, 2.03, .315
But last year he was better:
1-0, 6.0, 3.00, 0.83, .182

Baseball Daily

Late Edition today, due to the extra stats. I’m determined not to fall after going 7 for 7 in picks yesterday.

• Add Carlos Zambrano to the blister watch.


• Torii Hunter is 9 for 9 is stolen bases this season. Before this season, he was 73 for 102 (71.5%). Last night, he was two for two, but both SBs came after he was essentially picked off.


• Buster Olney makes a good point saying that Rich Harden “is Oakland’s best pitcher right now, and might rank among the handful of pitchers who rank just behind Johan Santana as the league’s best.”

WAS at NYM
• Esteban Loaiza BvsP vs NYM:
  Beltran- 10/24
  Floyd- 4/11
  Mientkiewicz- 7/24, 1HR
  Piazza- 6/14, 1HR
  
  Loaiza career at Shea:
  0-0, 14.2, 7.98, 1.77, .350

CIN at FLA
• A.J. Burnett BvsP vs CIN:
  Casey- 10/15
  Dunn- 1/8
  Griffey- 3/9
  Kearns- 1/3
  Randa- 1/3

PHI at ATL
• The only two Braves that are hitting right now, Furcal and Giles, are a combined 10/27 against Brett Myers.
  
  Mike Hampton BvsP vs PHI:
  Abreu- 6/43
  Burrell- 3/26
  Lieberthal- 8/35, 1HR
  Polanco- 17/45
  Rollins- 8/32
  Thome- 5/21, 2HR
  
  Myers and Hampton faced each other on 4.17.05 in Philly, where the Phillies won 2-1 in the 10th inning. The game was 0-0 after nine.

HOU at STL
• Jason Marquis BvsP vs HOU:
  Bagwell- 7/17
  Biggio- 5/14
  Ensberg- 4/4
  Everett- 4/11
  Lamb- 1/10, 1HR
  Lane- 3/4

LAD at COL
• Note: The Rockies split 10 home games against the Dodgers last year, with four of the losses by two runs or fewer.
  
  Jeff Weaver has never pitched at Coors or against the Rockies.
  Interesting to note that at Bank One Ballpark, Weaver’s line is:
  3 starts, 0-0, 19.2, 2.75, 1.12, .257
  
  Jason Jennings career at Coors:
  23-14, 278.2, 5.88, 1.78, .314
  Jennings BvsP:
  Bradley- 0/5
  Choi- 1/3
  Drew- 1/2
  Izturis- 9/22
  Kent- 10/23, 2HR

SD at ARZ
• Tim Redding career at Bank One:
  0-2, 9.0, 9R, 7ER, 7.00, 2.11, .390

MIL at SF
• Reuter career vs MIL:
  8-1, 71.0, 1.90, 1.10, .194

TEX at NYY
• Chris Young is a decent prospect who’s struggled in Arlington, but he’s fared well on the road:
  2-0, 15.2, 2.30, 1.09, .226
  
  He’s never faced anyone on the current Yankee roster.
  
  Kevin Brown BvsP:
  Blalock1/7
  Dellucci- 7/17, 1HR
  Hidalgo- 2/6
  Nix- 3/8
  Soriano- 4/8, 1HR
  Teixeira- 3/9, 1HR
  Young- 4/9
  
  There is also rain in the forecast.

BAL at TOR
• Daniel Cabrera in one appearance at Skydome:
  3.2 innings, 8 hits, 7 runs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts, .421 opp BA.
  Interesting that if you take away the 6 Ks and assume the other 5 outs were made in play, Cabrera had 8 of 13 balls in play go for hits.
  
  Josh Towers career opponent BA is .301.
  At Skydome, it’s .315.
  Against the Orioles, it’s .344
  Towers BvsP:
  Bigbie- 8/12
  Gibbons- 3/12
  Lopez- 4/14, 1HR
  Mora- 6/14, 1HR
  Palmiero- 6/20
  Roberts- 7/14
  Tejada- 3/26, 1HR

BOS at TB
• Kazmir vs Wakefield again tonight.
  Kaz had that great game against Boston last year and the Red Sox are still only hitting .221 against lefties this season.
  Wakefield has amazing career numbers in Tropicana Field but Carl Crawford owns him and some of the newer Rays like Phelps, Johnson, and Lee hit well against him.

CHW at KC
• The WhiteSox are 6-0 in games one, 6-0 in games two, and 0-4 in games three of their series this season.
  
  Freddy Garcia career at Kaufman:
  2-3, 33.0, 6.82, 1.73, .352
  Beltran contributed a lot to that, going 12/28 with 3 HRs against Freddy.
  Mike Sweeney is 15/32 lifetime against him, with 2 HRs.
  
  Hernandez has experience against 8 WhiteSox.
  Half of those 8 are hittine .385 or higher against him and the other half are at .200 or .286.

CLE at SEA
• Seattle is hitting a surprisingly low .228 against LHP this season, given the two big RHBs they added.
  
  Sabathia hasn’t faced Beltre before. And Sexson is just 1/3 against him. Ichiro is batting .440 in 25 ABs against C.C.
  
  Meche’s career opponent BA at SAFECO is .239.
  Casey Blake is 3/8 with a HR against him.
• Finally, Wade Boggs speaks.

Baseball Daily

• Great stuff from George Will about Greg Maddux:

  Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci collects such stories demonstrating Maddux’s knowledge of hitters. Four times in one season, Maddux, while in the dugout, warned the man sitting next to him that the batter would line a foul into the dugout. Three times the batter did. Another time Maddux said on the bench: “Watch this. The first-base coach may be going to the hospital.” The batter lined the next pitch off the coach’s chest. Once with runners on second and third and two outs, Maddux’s manager suggested an intentional walk. “Don’t worry,” said Maddux, explaining that on the third of his next pitches the batter would pop out foul to third. Maddux was wrong: The pop was a few feet fair.

• Nomar has a groin rupture. Out 2-3 months.


• Need a second baseman? Jerry Hairston is going to be counted on heavily in Chicago now.


• Baseball Musings comments on Oliver Perez:

  Oliver Perez still has not found his control. He only lasted four innings tonight, throwing 92 pitches, forty four for balls. He’s now walked 16 batters in 19 innings pitched. Perez was a huge strength for the Pirates last year; now he’s turning into the weak link in the rotation. With 11 reaching base by a hit or a walk, he’s lucky he only allowed three runs tonight.

  Also of note is that Perez’s velocity is down to around 90 mph.


• Zach Grienke:

  Zack Greinke threw some experimental knuckleballs on the sideline before the game. Greinke has done that before, although he again stressed he’s not close to using the pitch in games.
  “It’s not very good,” he said. “For one thing, my fingernails are too long.”
  Pitching coach Guy Hansen isn’t so sure.
  “That guy,” Hansen said, “can do anything he wants with a baseball.”

• Stephen Drew, the DBacks’ 2004 first round pick, signed with Camden of the Independent League.


• Lance Berkman could begin rehab assignment as soon as this weekend.


• Mark Buerhle during day games:
  24-12, 343.0, 3.59, 1.21, .254
  At Comerica:
  3-4, 60.2, 3.56, 1.10, .233
  
  All three of Jeremy Bonderman’s starts this season have been during the day.
  Over his entire career, Bonderman’s day stats are slightly better than his night stats.


• All three of John Smoltz’s starts this season have been during the day.
  Over his entire career, Smoltz’s day stats are slightly better than his night stats.
  He’s also 0-3 this season, despite pitching two very good games.
  The Braves end a 7 game road trip today in Washington.


• All three of Jon Lieber’s starts this season have been during the day.
  Over his entire career, Lieber’s day stats are slightly better than his night stats.
  He faces a 4-10 Colorado team that is coming off back to back wins and also won its first road game of the season last night.


• Ryan Dempster at Busch:
  1-3, 35.1, 7.13, 1.84, .320


• Pedro Martinez career at Pro Player:
  2-1, 24.0, 1.88, 1.08, .200


• Jason Schmidt career vs Arizona”
  10-6, 138.1, 3.12, 1.16, .217

Baseball Daily

• Brad Penny threw 79 pitches at AAA Las Vegas on Monday. He reportedly threw 97 mph and could start this weekend for the Dodgers.


• A player to key an eye on is Tigers outfielder Nook Logan. He’s played 5 full games so far (9 total) and 8 for 19 in those games. But his real asset is speed and Alan Trammell thinks Nook can swipe 50-plus.


• A move that I’ve long hoped to see, Carl Crawford may hit third in the DRays’ lineup. Crawford is a better hitter when he’s agressive and all attempts to improve CC’s OBP have been unsuccessful. He will hit .300+ and he’ll get better as he becomes more selective, but he’s not a guy who likes to walk and as a result the Rays should look elsewhere for their leadoff hitter. It’s not like they don’t have options. Alex Sanchez, Joey Gathright…. teach those guys to take a walk. They’ll do anything to keep a MLB job. When Rocco comes back, hit him second, CC third, and Huff fourth and that’s a great lefty - righty swtich. When Upton and Young come up, it’ll only get better.


• Other Rays news, go sign the petition at vincemustgo.com.


• Don’t lose sight of Gil Meche just yet. His struggles this season have been mechanical. His elbow feels better after his last start and he still has nasty stuff.


• Another guy who needs to hit somewhere besides leadoff is Corey Patterson. He and Crawford are similar hitters and Corey has been seeing more time hitting 2nd and 3rd lately.


• Peter Gammons brought up a interesting point last night about Randy Johnson. This is the first season that RJ’s opened a season in cold weather.

Oakland at Seattle
• Joel Pinero career at SAFECO:
  339.2 innings, 2.99 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, .228 BA
  
  Pinero BvsP:
  Byrnes- 1/8
  Chavez- 5/22, 1HR
  Durazo- 1/12
  Ellis- 4/16
  Hatteberg- 4/15
  Kendall- 0/4
  Kotsay- 1/5
  
  Pinero didn’t pitch well in his first start of the season but even as he struggled all of 2004, opponents still only batted .239 at home against him.
  
  Barry Zito pitched well enough to win in his last outing, at home against Anaheim, but now he’s not only back on the road, but back at SAFECO where he’s pitched surprisingly bad:
  8 starts, 1-2, 5.24, 1.54, .274
  
  Zito BvsP:
  Beltre- 1/3
  Boone- 12/41, 1HR
  Ibanez- 4/23, 1HR
  Sexson- 0/3
  Suzuki- 18/48
  Winn- 6/30

Texas at Tampa Bay
• Ryan Dreese has given up 83 hits in 59.0 career indoor innings.
  He put up better numbers against Tampa Bay last season (2.21 ERA) but 2 of his 3 starts against the Rays were in Texas.
  
  The Devil Rays will start John Webb on Thursday. Webbs will come in on an extra day’s rest after being held out of his scheduled AAA start Tuesday. There isn’t much info for Webb online other than he’s a 6′3 right hander who broke his ankle and missed most 03-04.

Boston at Baltimore
• David Wells has a decent history against Baltimore and at Camden Yards:
  vs Bal- 13-10, 4.06, 1.21, .270
  at Camden- 12-11, 3.51, 1.13, .260
  But Wells’ BvsP is shaky:
  Gibbons- 5/19, 1HR
  Lopez- 3/6
  Mora- 8/26, 1HR
  Roberts- 4/20
  Sosa- 3/10
  Surhoff- 19/53, 1HR
  Tejada- 10/29, 4HR
  
  Meanwhile, Bruce Chen has been good this year, and great at Camden: 2-0, 3.04, 0.97, .205
  Chen’s never faced Manny Ramirez or David Ortiz.
  
  Baltimore is batting .304 against lefties this year. Boston is batting .235 against lefties this year.


• Javier Vazquez career at Pac Bell:
  3 starts, 1-1, 2.89, 1.39, .284


• Carlos Zambrano at Busch Stadium:
  3 starts, 0-1, 21.0, 0.43, 1.19, .203
  The Cubs are 1-4 in series openers.
  St. Louis is 5-0 in series openers.


• Oliver Perez at Great American:
  4 starts, 2-0, 1.80, 1.00, .187
  

Baseball Daily

• FishStripes is taking issue with all of the Marlins’ complete games.

  For example, both of Dontrelle Willis’ complete games have come in blowouts. It probably wasn’t necessary to have Dontrelle on the mound for all nine innings in both cases. Those innings instead could have been used to help sort out roles in the bullpen.

  And…

  I hope Jack knows what he’s doing here. From the outside though it sure seems like the plan is for the pitchers to prove that they’re tough guys (and God help the reliever who comes in - relatively unused - from the pen and shows signs of rust, I can’t imagine that’s going to fly with Trader Jack) and for the lineup to be tweaked after every loss - not to be changed again until the “luck” from the change wears off (i.e. a loss).

  The argument is coming from this Palm Beach Post story where McKeon defends his decisions with this key statement:

  “What’s the big deal? If one guys throws 100 pitches in five innings, why can’t the other guy throw 108 through nine?”

  Indeed.
  One could argue that the 100 pitches in 5 innings is worse for the arm than if that it’s spread out over 9 innings.
  
  So what really is the concern?
  
  As Al Leiter points out:

  “I’ve never seen anything like this in my career,” said Al Leiter, who began playing in 1987.

  That doesn’t mean it’s bad.
  McKeon and his staff should be applauded for getting these pitchers to throw strikes.
  Challenge hitters.
  Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett, Dontrelle Willis, Al Leiter.
  Throw strikes.
  
  Becket’s pitch counts to strikes this year: 81- 54, 110- 78, 108- 64.
  Burnett: 105- 70. 103- 71, 86- 55.
  Willis: 86- 57, 114- 74, 97- 66.
  Leiter: 104- 62, 114- 62, 95- 57.
  
  This is a good thing, all these complete games.


• Prior to his last start, Roy Halladay had thrown 29.1 innings in Arlington and he had a 9.20 ERA there. Then, on April 14th, he five hit the Rangers over nine innings in their own park. Tonight, Roy will face another tough challenge as his Jays travel to Fenway Park. Halladay’s career numbers there:
  4 starts, 1-2, 22.2, 9.13, 1.63, .323


• I can’t believe it, but it’s time to start thinking about picking up Pedro Astacio. He’s dominating his third straight start.


• Since I couldn’t find this yesterday when I needed it, may it be known that the Boston Red Sox are now 62-48 on Patriot’s Day.


• Edgar Renteria is hitting .321 at Fenway. Six of his nine hits there have been for extra bases.

Venezuelan Born Major League Baseball Players

Watching this great play made by Marco Scutaro over the weekend capped off a week of me noticing that there are many great Venezuelan born baseball players in the Major Leagues today.

So I decided to look more into it:

• The Dominican Republic is known as the #1 non-U.S. source for MLB talent. Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Sammy Sosa, Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero, Adrian Beltre, and Miguel Tejada are all Dominican-born players.


• The Domician Republic has 8,833,634 residents occupying 48,380 square kilometers of land. Earlier this month, there were 91 players on Opening Day rosters who were born in the DR.


• Venezuela has 25,017,387 residents occupying 882,050 square kilometers of land. On Opening Day, there were 46 Venezuelan born players on MLB rosters.


• Last season, MLB also noted that 803 of 2,914 foreign born minor league baseball players were from Venezuela. 1,442 were Dominican born.


• Venezuela borders the Caribbean Sea, on the northern coast of South America.


• Baseball-Reference.com has a list of 169 current and past Major League Baseball players who were born in Venezuela. They do note “that this information is not complete and some player’s birthplace information is either unknown or unentered.”


• Here’s a table of all active Venezuelan-born MLBers, as of Opening Day:
  
  

  Bobby Abreu, Philadelphia	Omar Infante, Detroit
  Edgardo Alfonzo, San Francisco	Cesar Izturis, Los Angeles
  Wilson Alvarez, Los Angeles	Maicer Izturis, LA Angels of Anaheim
  Machado Anderson, Cincinnati	Jorge Julio, Baltimore
  Tony Armas, Washington	Wilfredo Ledezma, Detroit
  Rafael Betancourt, Cleveland	Victor Martinez, Cleveland
  Henry Blanco, Chicago (NL)	Melvin Mora, Baltimore
  Miguel Cabrera, Florida	Ray Olmedo, Cincinnati
  Miguel Cairo, New York (NL)	Magglio Ordoñez, Detroit
  Giovanni Carrara, Los Angeles	Eddie Perez, Atlanta
  Marcos Carvajal, Colorado	Tomas Perez, Philadelphia
  Jose Castillo, Pittsburgh	Juan Rincon, Minnesota
  Roger Cedeño, St. Louis	Luis Rivas, Minnesota
  Gustavo Chacin, Toronto	Juan Rivera, LA Angels of Anaheim
  Raul Chavez, Houston	Francisco Rodriguez, LA Angels of Anaheim
  Alex Escobar, Washington	Johan Santana, Minnesota
  Kelvim Escobar, LA Angels of Anaheim	Marco Scutaro, Oakland
  Freddy Garcia, Chicago (AL)	Carlos Silva, Minnesota
  Alex Gonzalez, Florida	Yorvit Torrealba, San Francisco
  Luis A. Gonzalez, Colorado	Ugueth Urbina, Detroit
  Carlos Guillen, Detroit	Omar Vizquel, San Francisco
  Ramon Hernandez, San Diego	Carlos Zambrano, Chicago (NL)
  Richard Hidalgo, Texas	Victor Zambrano, New York (NL)



• Abreu, Mora, and Ordonez are all veteran stars in the Majors Leagues.
  But look also at some of the younger players who could end up being just as big as Pujols, Pedro, and Sammy.
  Victor Martinez is 26 years old; Miguel Cabrera is 22; Carlos Zambrano is 23; and Johan Santana is also 26.
  There’s also Francisco Rodriguez, 23; Gustavo Chacin, 24; and Dioner Navarro, 21.

Baseball Daily

• Pitchers with blisters equals bad. Now Johan Santana has one:

  He left Jacobs Field on Friday with his left middle finger still bothering him, but he indicated that he wasn’t worried about it.

• Gavin Floyd will move to the bullpen when Vicente Padilla comes off the DL on Tuesday.


• Ken Griffey, Jr. has not yet hit a home run this season. Griffey also failed to hit a HR during 48 spring training at-bats, and he has gone 35 without one during the season. In 1991, he didn’t homer until his 45th at-bat, his longest season-opening drought.


• J.T. Snow was 5/14 with 1 HR last season against Jake Peavy and Snow holds a .409 average with 2 HRs in 22 career at bats against the Padres RHP.


• Kerry Wood career versus CIN:
  18 starts, 12-3, 2.74, 1.09, .187, 155K in 121.1 innings
  At Great American:
  5 starts, 4-0, 3.34, 0.94, .169, 44K in 35.0 innings.

St. Louis at Pittsburgh:

• Mark Mulder BvsP vs Pittsburgh:
  Bay- 0/4
  Lawton- 5/29
  Santiago- 3/16
  Ward- 1/6
  C Wilson- 1/6
  J Wilson- 1/4


• Mulder vs PIT:
  2 starts, 2-0, 14.1, 3.14, 0.91, .173, 10 K
  At PNC Park:
  1 start, 1-0, 6.1, 5H, 2R, 1HR, 2BB, 3K


• Pujols is 4 for his last 11 with 2 HRs. Rolen is 6 for his last 9 with 2 HRs. Both face LHP Dave WIlliams today.


• Pujols is a career .388 at PNC. In 33 games there, his OPS is 1.221, fourth best among all other MLB parks over Pujols’ career.


• St. Louis is 4-0 in series openers so far. Pittsurgh is 1-3.

Baseball Daily

• The Dodgers, and all of MLB, honored Jackie Robinson last night. He played his first game with the Dodgers on April 15, 1947.


• Wow, Roy Halladay:

  Halladay (2-0) started the night with a 9.20 ERA in six career appearances at the Rangers’ hitter-friendly ballpark, but he was in control as he struck out nine and walked one in his third start.
  
  “It’s nice to go long in a close game,” Halladay said. “This has always been a tough lineup for me. I haven’t figured them out but I had a better idea than I had in the past.”

• Brandon Inge started the season batting ninth for the Tigers, but on Thursday, he was in the leadoff spot. Inge is hitting .333 through nine games.


• The Indians are batting .154 against LHPs so far this season.


• Carl Pavano BvsP versus Baltimore:
  Lopez- 7/16, 2HR
  Palmeiro- 3/4
  Sosa- 5/15, 2 HR
  
  Melvin Mora hit the ball well last night too. He may be finally breaking out of his slump.


• Josh Beckett BvsP versus NYM:
  Floyd- 2/14, 1HR
  Piazza- 3/15
  Wright- 0/5
  
  Beckett’s never faced Carlos Beltran.


• Roy Oswalt is 12-0 lifetime against the Reds.
  He beat them 5-2 on the 10th.
  But Roy’s numbers at Great American aren’t great.
  3 starts, 3-0, 19.2, 5 HR, 4.12, 1.42, .301 BA
  


• BEACH PICKS broken down:
  AL- 12-5
  NL- 8-6
  o/u- 2-2