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Monday's Frosty Mug

He may not be so good at high fives, but Todd Coffey's other skills made up for it yesterday.

More photos » Bill Kostroun - AP

He may not be so good at high fives, but Todd Coffey's other skills made up for it yesterday.

Some things to read while playing D&D with Vin Diesel.

Jeff Suppan surprised many of us with a solid performance yesterday, but how much weight do you put on it? Tom H. called yesterday Suppan's "Redemption Day." Two-Fisted Slopper called Suppan's outing a "great success."

With that said, Citi Field is already being credited as one of baseball's greatest pitcher's parks. Buster Olney and Ryan Braun both noted how hard it is to hit the ball out. It's likely not a coincidence that the two teams averaged less than three runs per contest this weekend despite starts from Jeff Suppan, Livan Hernandez and Nelson Figueroa.

For context, Nelson Figueroa pitched at about the same level as Jeff Suppan yesterday, and after the game he was designated for assignment.

A couple of other Citi Field tidbits: Here's Brian Anderson's view from the broadcast booth and Cute Sports' rundown of complaints about the views from the visitors bullpen and radio booth.

There were, however, no complaints about the performance of Todd Coffey. Coffey recorded eight outs for the save yesterday. Even though a pitcher who completes the last three innings of a win is awarded a save regardless of the score, Coffey's 2.2 inning save yesterday was the 17th longest save since the start of the 2008 season, and the longest in a game decided by less than four runs. Michael Hunt thinks the Brewer bullpen may have reached a turning point. Certainly, Trevor Hoffman's projected Sunday return won't hurt.

So, having salvaged one win in New York, the Brewers move on to Philadelphia, where they're not looking to avenge their 2008 playoff defeat. That's a good thing, because trading a playoff series loss for a win in April wouldn't be fair anyway.

Jason Kendall might get more than his usual day off this week, as it's being reported that he's playing with a sore arm after being hit by a foul tip over the weekend. I don't think anyone around here will be too upset if Mike Rivera gets a few extra starts.

For some, though, it's a story when their arm isn't sore. Mark Rogers hit 97 on the gun in his second outing back with Brevard County. He's on a 50 pitch limit for the first half of the season, but has pitched two trouble-free outings. (h/t FanShot)

Across the league:

Angels: Vladimir Guerrero has a torn pec muscle, will miss at least a month and may not play the field again in 2009.
Astros: Scheduled a press conference for tonight and are expected to announce they've picked up Cecil Cooper's option for 2010.
Blue Jays: Placed Michael Barrett on the DL with a torn muscle and possible fracture in his shoulder.
Braves: Designated Blaine Boyer for assignment.
Mets: Placed Brian Schneider on the DL with a strained muscle in his back.
Nationals: Placed CF Roger Bernadina on the DL with a broken ankle and Cristian Guzman on the DL with a hamstring strain. They also designated Wil Ledezma and Steven Shell for assignment and signed Ryan Zimmerman to a five year deal worth $45 million.
Padres: Placed Walter Silva on the DL with a forearm strain.
Rangers: Designated reliever Josh Rupe for assignment.
Red Sox: Brad Wilkerson, who had been playing in AAA Pawtucket, has decided to retire.
Twins: Designated Phil Humber for assignment and claimed Juan Morillo off waivers from the Rockies. Humber was considered a key part of the deal that sent Johan Santana to the Mets.

This is small sample size in all of its glory, but there's a lot of early talk about home runs flying out of New Yankee Stadium, and phrases like pitcher's nightmare are being thrown about. Maybe someone is already doing this, but it certainly doesn't look like it: If you can design a system that analyzes new ballparks and estimates their park factor before they open, you might be in line to make a lot of money.

Oh, and Mr. Met has an office at Citi Field.

Drink up.

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So, if you're scoring at home

That’s SPs Nelson Figueroa and Phil Humber, along with relievers Blaine Boyer, Wil Ledezma, Steven Shell and Josh Rupe that are all available.

"The reports are that he is getting better. The definition of better is nebulous."

by KLSnow on Apr 20, 2009 9:27 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

I always liked the way Vin Scully said ‘Ledezma.’

by Braunstalker on Apr 20, 2009 11:00 AM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

I think the Yankees

wanted A-Rod to break some home run records. too bad he’s not playing this season. :P

by gffjenks on Apr 20, 2009 10:10 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Wait, we want to see Rivera more? Wouldn’t we rather live with the hopes and dreams that our backup catcher really is a .300+ hitter?

by Mykenk on Apr 20, 2009 11:06 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Was going to comment on Suppan

But most everything has been said already, right? Do we put an unofficial moratorium on Suppan talk or just let anyone who’s sick of hearing about him ignore the persistent discussion? “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to read it.”

by ecocd on Apr 20, 2009 12:27 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

When does Coffey remember that he kinda sucks? Because you can’t expect that it is sustainable to lower your career WHIP by 60% while your K/BB rate drops alongside it.

Hopefully Riske has remembered he doesn’t suck by that point, they can just flip spots and Macha’s learning curve is better than Yost’s.

by Getting Yosted on Apr 20, 2009 12:46 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Maybe he doesn’t suck?

ERA+ 95, 131, 80, 101 (Career = 106)

1 bad year, 2 average years, 1 good year != suck in my book.

by Mykenk on Apr 20, 2009 12:49 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

For a reliever, the bar is higher

Just as the average starter is down in the 90-95 range, the average reliever is higher than 100. 131 stands out as an outlier among three below-average seasons.

Not that we should be focusing much on that anyway. Adjusted or not, ERA is more deceptive than usual when dealing with relievers.

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Apr 20, 2009 1:07 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Jorge Julio's ERA+

04-100
05-73
06-109
07-90
08-121

As part of the 2008 number, Julio posted a 583 ERA+ in 12.1 innings, or 4.6 innings fewer than Coffey has pitched as a Brewer. How soon would we expect the meltdown from Julio in a similar situation?

by Getting Yosted on Apr 20, 2009 1:19 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

For those with Kindles

I noticed that The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball is now available for the Kindle through Amazon.com for only $10, which is $5 less than tree-pulp copies.

I plan to download it later this week when I’ve run through my current book on my shiny white little, well-overpriced device, unless people have better suggestions.

by ecocd on Apr 20, 2009 2:48 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Fangraph's PitchFx

I just noticed Fangraphs started to display some pitchFx information, which is going to be quite useful now that dixie and been called up.

Out of curiosity I checked out Suppan’s information and two trends jumped out at me regarding yesterday’s start compared to his first two starts of the season.

1. It appears he took a little off all of his pitches yesterday (outside of the changup).
2. It looks like there was an increase in horizontal movement for all of his pitches yesterday compared to his first 2 starts.

Now, I don’t know enough above pitching physics to understand the correlations between these two, I would have assumed you would need to increase velocity to increase horizontal movement, but it might be something to keep an eye on as he pitches in the future.

BCB, the preferred above replacement level sarcasm supplier.

by MadJimiBrewha on Apr 20, 2009 3:49 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

“now that dixie has been called up.”

BCB, the preferred above replacement level sarcasm supplier.

by MadJimiBrewha on Apr 20, 2009 3:51 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

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