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Monday's Frosty Mug

It may be the All-Star break, but the news hasn't taken a break.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

Apparently hitting a walk-off sac fly only merits a little Gatorade bath.

It appears Ben Sheets will be the first Brewer pitcher ever to start the All-Star Game. It's an honor, certainly, but it also means I'll be holding my breath for the first 2-3 innings. Sheets also won Dayn Perry's first half NL Cy Young, which is much less prestigious but comes without the risk of injury in a meaningless game.

Home Run Derby participants can choose anyone they want to throw pitches they're going to launch into the stratosphere. Ryan Braun, given those roughly 6.4 billion options, has chosen his agent, Nez Balelo. Huh?

Beyond the Box Score is the most recent blog to debunk the "Derby Curse" theory. But if you're looking for a reason to curse during the Derby, feel free to try out the Home Run Derby drinking game.

With six starters and five spots, there's still talk that the Brewers may use a platooned fifth starter, with Dave Bush starting at home and Seth McClung starting on the road. I can't wrap my brain around that logic...statistics would suggest it would work...but how could it?

Maybe next season, one of them can close. Salomon Torres won't say if he's planning on retiring after this season.

The Sabathia trade has been met with pretty widespread approval. In fact, even Matt LaPorta thinks it was the right move.

These brawls are always entertaining when someone else's minor leaguers are in them: here's video (and crappy news coverage) of Saturday night's brawl in Huntsville's game. (h/t Brewerfan.net) I'm guessing suspensions will be coming out shortly for this mess.

On injuries:

Kelvim Escobar will have surgery to repair a torn right labrum and will miss the rest of 2008 and likely some of 2009.
Pedro Martinez left his start Saturday with a sore groin.
Dodgers P Takashi Saito will undergo an MRI to determine the severity and cause of tightness in his elbow.
Kerry Wood will miss the All-Star game due to a blister on his pitching hand.

Reports are coming out that Nats GM Jim Bowden and special assistant Jose Rijo are under investigation for skimming signing bonus money from Dominican players. Obviously, everyone involved is innocent until proven guilty. With that said, if there turns out to be truth behind the allegations, this is a slimy thing to do at best. Many, if not most Dominican players grow up in tremendous poverty, and anyone caught taking money off the top of their first opportunity to do better should never work in baseball again.

Here's a better way to produce some extra cash: Some Korean teams may consider reducing their night games to save on energy costs. The electricity needed to power one night game could power one house for more than six months.

Sabathia's home run was cool, but he's still got a long way to go to reach this milestone: With a home run Friday, Rick Ankiel has now hit more home runs (33) than he's given up (32).

So how bad is Mariners DH Jose Vidro? Apparently it depends on who you ask. Tangotiger asked the question twice, once to non-Mariner fans and once to Mariner fans, and reached an interesting conclusion.

Oh, and the guy who checks IDs at Wrigley Field is sleeping on the job.

Drink up.

0 recs | Comment 11 comments

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Comments

Display:

Houston Chronicle blog about Bowden/Rijo

Can anyone envision the phrase “fine readers” being used on the JS blog anytime soon?

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Jul 14, 2008 9:43 AM CDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

platoon pitching

is great news that ned or ted, whomever, is looking at the stats instead of going with his gut.

i have to give yost credit for this one if he actually goes through with it.

"If there is a more reactionary blog with idiotic commentary out there I'd be surprised." -On Bleed Cubbie Blue

by Michael M on Jul 14, 2008 9:53 AM CDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Platooning works

When you can identify what causes the situations that lead to players succeeding.

I just can’t understand why Bush only pitches well at home and why McClung only pitches well on the road. It just seems like we’re taking a guess at what works and making a platoon to fit it. And in the process, we’re throwing two frequently inconsistent pitchers out of rhythm by bumping them back and forth between long relief and the rotation.

Derek Jeter is day to day after being hit by a pitch and being gorilla press slammed by a Bizarro Ray.

by KLSnow on Jul 14, 2008 10:40 AM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

My only guess on McClung’s home issue is that he’s given up more home runs and more walks at home. He’s been horribly prone to the long ball in general—that was one of the reasons I had that dome theory in the first place. Also, a lot of his home issue shows up in that 2 innings of garbage time he put in on April 9th, as well as that start against Atlanta on May 29th (I think Teixeira running into him rattled him so much he shouldn’t have been put back into the game; he has issues with becoming rattled, no?)

McClung as starter:
home: 34.1 IP, 27 H, 16 ER, 19 BB, 27 K, 4 HR, 4.19 ERA
away: 21.0 IP, 24 H, 11 ER, 4 BB, 17 K, 4 HR, 4.71 ERA

I do think McClung will be an incredible asset to the bullpen, but not in this platoon arrangement.

I really haven’t studied Dave Bush’s pitching in the complex manner it deserves.

by morineko on Jul 14, 2008 12:06 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

I wonder how exactly they'd be going to use the other pitcher

when he’s in the bullpen “cycle”...you probably can’t really have him pitch long relief except on the other guy’s starting day (which would mean your platoon didn’t work out that game) or maybe plus/minus one day.

by Zeyes on Jul 14, 2008 2:07 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

2 innings on a throw day

seems reasonable, and it’s rare that Ned uses a reliever for longer than that.

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Jul 14, 2008 2:34 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

fair enough

I figured it would be one inning max in lieu of a side session, but I was really just guessing. I’d still be a little concerned about limiting your bullpen at least some of the time, but if we could really get a sub-4 ERA platoon for the fifth starter spot out of the arrangement, that seems like a small price to pay.

by Zeyes on Jul 14, 2008 2:38 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

I see a small chance

Of actually getting a sub 4 ERA platoon out of it…how can you possibly expect a starter, especially a end-of-the-rotation type, to maintain a rhythm when he’s only starting every 10th or 15th day.

Derek Jeter is day to day after being hit by a pitch and being gorilla press slammed by a Bizarro Ray.

by KLSnow on Jul 14, 2008 3:04 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Nice spelling

in that news report from Chattanooga. It says the team is “of” for the all star break. Nice editing.

by molitorfan on Jul 14, 2008 5:32 PM CDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

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