placed on the Sacramento DL yesterday
after separating his shoulder. Jeff Baisley and Chris Schroder both cleared waivers and are on the Sacto roster
now.
Speaking of injuries, Milton Bradley is hurt.
And speaking of last night’s game, did anyone else hear Joe Morgan say that OPS is a really great stat?]]
>
So the whole Crosby-at-3rd fiasco on Saturday was
because Giambi’s legs were tired from
having to run all the way to 3rd in the first inning of Friday’s game, the 4th of the season.
Note: The comment title has nothing to do with the forthcoming content, but in the same way that
politicians often send muted signals to future patrons and constituencies in advance of openly chasing their
support, I feel it prudent to indicate that in the Free Kraut Populist Uprising of 2012, I plan to side with The
Man.
Note 2: I’m unable to come up with any links relating to primate behavior, Ray Ratto, or statues with
holes where their asses used to be, so I’m going to talk about the A’s instead. Lame, I know.
“He can throw anywhere from 88 to 95 miles an hour,” A’s manager Bob Geren said. “He throws a hard
sinker, similar stuff to Brandon Webb. That’s his main pitch. I’m saying Webb is the kind of pitcher he can be.”
He’s thrown exactly one pitch in two starts that touched 93 mph (4/7, 4/12).
The great majority of his pitches settle in the 88-90 mph range. Which is fine, but we should probably abandon the
notion that he can crank it up to 95 “when he needs to” (or whatever the operative cliche is here).
As to the comparison with Webb, I don’t have anything to offer in the way of analysis, but just for shits and
giggles, here are the
pitch summaries for Cahill last night, Webb in an awesomely pitched game last May, and Derek Lowe on opening
night this year.
* If he turns out to be as good as either Webb or Lowe, I will shit myself with happiness while giggling.
* I’m not sure the pitch the algorithm thinks is Cahill’s changeup is actually a changeup. More likely it’s
a mishmash of miscategorized sliders and fastballs.
* Fastball/sinker velocity is pretty close to identical for all three.
* Cahill’s downward action is more similar to Lowe than Webb.
Anyway.
I suppose there’s really not much to dissect so far. He’s faced two impatient lineups, yet still managed to walk 8
batters in 12 innings (Bad). The movement on his pitches is tremendous, and the Mariners pounded lots of balls into
the dirt yesterday (Good).
I have the feeling that when he faces better lineups, his results are likely to approximate those of a certain
other talented (but at the time inexperienced) fellow in this game, which I had the misfortune of attending.
“After Ken Macha’s first victory as the Brewer’s manager, he was thrilled about receiveing the game ball. ‘I never
got a ball in Oakland — they wanted it back.’ said Macha, who managed the A’s for four years and was fired after
the 2006 American League Championship Series.”
—-
Jeez, Macha, let it go! It’s been two years. I know he was never Mr. Sunshine and Lollipops, but I don’t remember
him as being this much of a crank when he was in Oakland.
5/89 Chances that a monkey with a typewriter will type Hamlet: 1 in 35^200,000
5/89 Chances that a monkey will type Bright Lights, Big City: 1 in 35^300,000
9/02 Number of monkeys that the federal government has infected with smallpox since May 2001: 24
3/03 Number of pygmy monkeys seized from a traveler’s pants last December by L.A. customs officials: 2
6/03 Number of mine-detecting monkeys erroneously reported to have been given to the United States by
Morocco in March: 2,000
7/95 Number of people who applied for thirty-six tasting positions at an Oakland ice cream
company last winter: 10,000
10/05 Amount that Oakland residents can now be fined if their dog has not been implanted with an ID
microchip: $100
10/86 Lifespan of a baseball in a major league game (in pitches): 5
5/91 Amount of time it takes to handstitch a major league baseball, in minutes: 11
4/93 Estimated distance the average major-league home run would travel if hit on the moon, in feet: 4,200
5/05 Minimum number of cows whose skins are used each year for Major League baseballs: 45,000
this movie.
Tim Goodman on episode 5 of Breaking Bad.
Count the 2001 references.
1) Clint Mansell does the entire score.
2) The director is Zowie Bowie, who chooses to go by the name Duncan Jones.
Has anyone seen Knowing? Nick Cage is in
it, and it got bad reviews, but I’m still tempted to see it just because I went to high school in Lexington, MA.]]
>
Dodgers-Giants free
agent update:
Randy Johnson got knocked around for the second time, 7 runs in 3 2/3 innings.
Renteria is batting second, so maybe that was one of O-Cab’s contract demands.
Orlando Hudson just tripled to become the first LA Dodger to hit for the cycle.
Furcal is still healthy after eight games.
Manny has not beaten up any senior citizen co-workers today.
And on another note, Red
Sox fans REALLY PISS ME OFF!!!! I was THIS CLOSE to throwing my handful of wasabi peas at the bastard.
I do not understand why the following scenario ever happens:
Person A lives in Location A. Person A moves to Location B, and meets Person B. Person A takes every opportunity
to explain to Person B that Location A is much better than Location B in ways that Person B could not possibly
imagine.
Hey, Person A — shut the fuck up and go the hell back to Location A where you came from, unless you want to learn
to embrace Location B and maybe, oh, I don’t know, grow as a person a little bit?
Mets-Padres:
First Citi HR, Jody Gerut.
The Mets are sponsored by Domino’s Pizza now?
There was just a cat loose on the field.
Now they’re showing Bernie Madoff’s seats, available on eBay.
Steve Phillips just said that when he was GM, he heard Madoff’s name at least once a week.
]]
placed on the Sacramento DL yesterday after separating his shoulder. Jeff Baisley and Chris Schroder both cleared waivers and are on the Sacto roster now. Speaking of injuries, Milton Bradley is hurt. And speaking of last night’s game, did anyone else hear Joe Morgan say that OPS is a really great stat?]] >
These are really
cool (click on the picture to cycle through them).
(Hat tip:
freekrautnomicsfreakonomics)So the whole Crosby-at-3rd fiasco on Saturday was
because Giambi’s legs were tired from
having to run all the way to 3rd in the first inning of Friday’s game, the 4th of the season.
And this is a professional athlete?
whoa.]] >
Cahill sharp, Bedard sharper, as M’s edge A’s 1-0
Note: The comment title has nothing to do with the forthcoming content, but in the same way that
politicians often send muted signals to future patrons and constituencies in advance of openly chasing their
support, I feel it prudent to indicate that in the Free Kraut Populist Uprising of 2012, I plan to side with The
Man.
Note 2: I’m unable to come up with any links relating to primate behavior, Ray Ratto, or statues with
holes where their asses used to be, so I’m going to talk about the A’s instead. Lame, I know.
95 mph = hyperbole:
He’s thrown exactly one pitch in two starts that touched 93 mph (4/7,
4/12).
The great majority of his pitches settle in the 88-90 mph range. Which is fine, but we should probably abandon the
notion that he can crank it up to 95 “when he needs to” (or whatever the operative cliche is here).
As to the comparison with Webb, I don’t have anything to offer in the way of analysis, but just for shits and
giggles, here are the
pitch summaries for Cahill last night, Webb in an awesomely pitched game last May, and Derek Lowe on opening
night this year.
(Originals here, here, and here.)
* If he turns out to be as good as either Webb or Lowe, I will shit myself with happiness while giggling.
* I’m not sure the pitch the algorithm thinks is Cahill’s changeup is actually a changeup. More likely it’s
a mishmash of miscategorized sliders and fastballs.
* Fastball/sinker velocity is pretty close to identical for all three.
* Cahill’s downward action is more similar to Lowe than Webb.
Anyway.
I suppose there’s really not much to dissect so far. He’s faced two impatient lineups, yet still managed to walk 8
batters in 12 innings (Bad). The movement on his pitches is tremendous, and the Mariners pounded lots of balls into
the dirt yesterday (Good).
I have the feeling that when he faces better lineups, his results are likely to approximate those of a certain
other talented (but at the time inexperienced) fellow in this game, which I had the misfortune of attending.
Other/different impressions?
Oh, so we’re to remain on-topic?
1. I think it’s pretty clear that Sweeney will lead the team in OF starts this year. I also think it’s pretty clear
that Cust will end up second.
2. Is Beane setting Crosby up to produce the lowest WinExp/innings-played ratio in the history of baseball?
3. I’m starting a Rajai DFA Watch right … now.
From John Shea’s quick notes in The Chronicle:
“After Ken Macha’s first victory as the Brewer’s manager, he was thrilled about receiveing the game ball. ‘I never
got a ball in Oakland — they wanted it back.’ said Macha, who managed the A’s for four years and was fired after
the 2006 American League Championship Series.”
—-
Jeez, Macha, let it go! It’s been two years. I know he was never Mr. Sunshine and Lollipops, but I don’t remember
him as being this much of a crank when he was in Oakland.
xbx made some cogent and insightful remarks over at btf only to be met with the pissiness and
whining that famously provoked British troops in 1770
Is it really only March 13? Well, good. That means this
weekend’s games were during spring training and don’t count after all. Awesome.
FSU bait]] >
Harry Kalas and Marilyn Chambers.]] >
cabbage
monkey oakland major league baseball ]] >dls making steady progress]] >
this movie. Tim Goodman on episode 5 of Breaking Bad. Count the 2001 references. 1) Clint Mansell does the entire score. 2) The director is Zowie Bowie, who chooses to go by the name Duncan Jones. Has anyone seen Knowing? Nick Cage is in it, and it got bad reviews, but I’m still tempted to see it just because I went to high school in Lexington, MA.]] >
Denny Neagle is on
Facebook!
Dodgers-Giants free
agent update:
Randy Johnson got knocked around for the second time, 7 runs in 3 2/3 innings.
Renteria is batting second, so maybe that was one of O-Cab’s contract demands.
Orlando Hudson just tripled to become the first LA Dodger to hit for the cycle.
Furcal is still healthy after eight games.
Manny has not beaten up any senior citizen co-workers today.
Uh oh. We may need to be careful about what we
say to Dustin Pedroia.
Beckett:
I cannot throw at Torii.
I must throw at Torii.
For the anglicize-everything-then-spell-phonetically-to-make-it-
sound-dirty crowd
And on another note, Red
Sox fans REALLY PISS ME OFF!!!! I was THIS CLOSE to throwing my handful of wasabi peas at the bastard.
I do not understand why the following scenario ever happens:
Person A lives in Location A. Person A moves to Location B, and meets Person B. Person A takes every opportunity
to explain to Person B that Location A is much better than Location B in ways that Person B could not possibly
imagine.
Hey, Person A — shut the fuck up and go the hell back to Location A where you came from, unless you want to learn
to embrace Location B and maybe, oh, I don’t know, grow as a person a little bit?
Mets-Padres:
First Citi HR, Jody Gerut.
The Mets are sponsored by Domino’s Pizza now?
There was just a cat loose on the field.
Now they’re showing Bernie Madoff’s seats, available on eBay.
Steve Phillips just said that when he was GM, he heard Madoff’s name at least once a week.
Chavez day-to-day. Nomah at 3B, and Crosby at 2B
tonight. Oh boy!