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According to Maury Brown from Biz of Baseball, “MLB is on pace to have attendance down slightly from last season’s total… Leading the way in declines are the Mets, who are averaging 6,339 less per game than in their first season in Citi Field… followed by the Indians, Blue Jays, and Brewers.”
I posted an article on SB Nation’s fantasy page offering fantasy owners a new metric to rank starting pitcher based on strikeouts per 100 pitches. I stumbled upon this metric over at Rich Lederer’s site-The Baseball Analysts.
Here is an excerpt from my article:
Here is a quote from his article:
As detailed in Strikeout Proficiency (Part Two), K/P has the highest correlation in each of the five run measures (ERA, R/G, ERC, FIP, and DIPS). K/BF has the second-highest correlation and K/IP has the lowest correlation. In any other words, K/P > K/BF > K/IP.
Head on over to SB Nation’s fantasy page to check out the rankings.
Something I missed from Tuesday’s news has to be the fact that Josh Johnson will miss his start on Friday, and has the potential to be shut down for the rest of the season. With the Marlins as far out of the race as they are, there’s really no reason to push him to get back even remotely quickly, so he could very well become droppable by the end of the week.
Coco Crisp stands out to me as someone who could be a very good player for next season. He stole his 24th base of the year last night, and also hit his 8th homerun. His line, over a 162 game pace: .271, 108 runs, 19 homeruns, 91 runs batted in, 58 stolen bases. Clearly, you can’t assume health with someone as injury prone as Crisp, but it’s something to remember when looking at deeper plays and late round players.
Where should Brett Myers rank for next year? He threw 7 shutout inning last night and struck out 8 to get the victory. He now has a 2.91 ERA on the year, and while wins are going to remain hard to come by, the rest of his numbers look very good and similar to previous years he has had.
Ryan Howard hit his 28th homerun of the season and drove in 6 runs last night against the Marlins. He now has 95 RBI on the season, and he’s going to be underrated for next year in my opinion. He’s not hitting for the power he usually does, and is unlikely to get past 35 this year, but he’s hitting for a better average and is still driving in runs. I think he probably belongs in the top 20 overall, but near the bottom of that group.
Jamie Garcia didn’t exactly have the start he was looking for yesterday as he allowed 7 earned runs over 4 innings. He did still strike out 4, but he has been a bit up and down of late, and I would be concerned that when the Cardinals concede the race, they’ll shut him down for the season.
Cory Luebke had a great start against the Dodgers last night, striking out 7 and allowing just 3 base runners and no runs en route to the victory for the Padres. If you need pitching, keep an eye on him and his matchups for the rest of the season.
Phil Hughes will also be skipped for his next start, but that appears to be the result of his innings limit for the season. Hopefully you didn’t need that start in your weekly leagues, but you knew this was a possibility.
Here’s the Tennessee Smokies’ (Cubs’ Double-A) spirit crew with “Smokies Ladies.” Be nice. They’re probably college students, hospitality majors, who need the three credits for this internship, and will sing any awful thing put in front of them. [via Cubs Fan Report] More »
One lucky fan got struck by a piece of history at a Toronto Blue Jays game on Monday night. According to the AP, a middle-aged man was hit by a falling “B” from a sign honoring Jackie Robinson after the sign was struck by a foul ball. The man was treated with ice packs, then returned to his seat.
“I was very surprised, because I didn’t expect a ‘B’ to fall on me,” said the guy. The two-foot-high letter fell down some stairs in the stands and was picked up by another fan, Bruno DeRose, who resembles the producer from Borat.
DeRose raised the letter above his head like he just won the Stanley Cup to applause from fans. When security took the letter away, the crowd booed.
“They should have at least given me a couple of tickets or a ball,” DeRose said. ”I couldn’t believe it happened.”
Here’s video of the falling sign, and the ensuing celebration.
We now take you into Dusty’s Corner, where Reds manager Dusty Baker riffs on who he thinks is cool. This cat thinks his first baseman, Joey Votto, is one of those people.
“I mean, Joey’s cool. He’s real cool. He’s a cool dude.”
Now, from any other manager that compliment would rank up there with “my mom thinks I’m cool.” However, Baker might be the coolest manager in the game. A lifelong wristband and toothpick aficionado, Baker is described by Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty as one of the coolest characters in baseball.
So, who else does Dusty Baker think is cool?
“John Lee Hooker is cool,” Baker said. “Santana” — the musician, that is — “is cool. Orlando Cepeda is cool. Clapton is cool. Lude’s [Ludacris] cool.”
Baker also thinks the Dos Equis guy is really cool. Makes sense, isn’t he the “most interesting man in the world”?
In a league full of squares, Dusty Baker is Miles Davis.
H/T SPORTSbyBROOKS
Photo via
Tim Lincecum went 6 2/3 innings and notched 11 strikeouts in his win against the Diamondbacks yesterday. Ray posted about his top 10 starters for next season, and didn’t include him. I am inclined to agree that there are 10 more starters I would want more than Lincecum right now for next year. That said, he’s probably going to end up being a bit of a sleeper because he seems unlikely to be ranked based on what he’ll produce in 2011.
Justin Verlander has been having an almost forgotten season in Detroit, and had a great start last night. He recorded his 15th win of the season, striking out 7 and allowing just 1 earned run over 7 innings. On the season, he’s now struck out 179 and has a 3.53 ERA. He’s not going to break into my top 10 for next year, but I think he’s definitely going to be top 15.
I was emailing back and forth yesterday with some friends about whether or not Carlos Gonzalez would win the NL MVP award. He added to his resume yesterday with his 32nd home run, and now has 100 runs batted in on the season to go with his .340 batting average. Gonzalez is now leading the NL in batting average and RBI, and is only 3 homers behind the lead in that category. I think he won’t win the award unless the Rockies make the playoffs though.
Carl Crawford went 4 for 4 with 2 runs batted in last night against the Sox, and I can’t think of anyone I would rank higher than him for 2010. He is now hitting .307 with 15 homeruns, 75 runs batted in, 42 steals, and 98 runs scored. And he could end up in a better hitters’ park potentially.
Dillon Gee made his major league debut yesterday, and allowed just 1 earned run over 7 innings to get the victory. He’s a definite target for keeper leagues, as he struck out a batter per inning in AAA this season, and posted a 4:1 K/BB rate as well.
Jimmy Rollins went 2 for 3 with his 17th steal of the season last night, and I am really wondering where he should be ranked for 2011. He is hitting .240 on the season, and is on pace for 15 homers and 30+ steals for a full season based on the games he has played in. There is still upside with him more than with some other shortstops in my opinion, but I think he’s definitely not going to be in my top 5 for shortstops.
Vernon Wells hit 2 homeruns last night, and has been hot of late. He is hitting .304 with 4 homeruns in his last 7 games, and now has 27 homers on the season. I think that if he is a very streaky player, and you just need to remember that when you draft him.
Clint Narveson appears to have figured something out. He struck out 9 over 7 innings yesterday, and is probably a spot starter at this point. He has an ERA just over 4 for the month of August, but also has 20 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings pitched.
Jim Thome hit his 22nd homerun of the season, and scored 3 runs in the Twins‘ victory last night. He’s been really hot of late, having homered 4 times in his last 3 games. Granted that he only qualifies at UT, but power is still power. He’s been getting fairly regular playing time, and can definitely help a team out.
Mat Latos is probably going to have to be in my top 10 for starters next year. He had another great performance last night: 7 IP, 10 K, 1 ER, 4 baserunners. He’s not a name getting a lot of recognition for Cy Young voting, but he has a 2.21 ERA, 13 wins, a 0.96 WHIP, and 170 strikeouts in 162+ innings pitched. I’m not sure who gets displaced, but I think he honestly could be around 6 or 7 overall for me.
Here are some excerpts from Wednesday’s prospect chat over at Baseball America:
Kyle (Oxford): Do you see the recent exploits of Aroldis Chapman along with his improved control pushing him into your top ten prospects? I can’t imagine another player having a bigger upside.
Jim Callis: I don’t think he’ll be in my Top 10. He has huge upside and can lay a claim to be the hardest-throwing lefthanded ever, but he lacks polish and I’m still not convinced he’s going to wind up anywhere but in the bullpen.
It will be interesting how the Reds handle Chapman in 2011. It will not surprise me if they keep him in the bullpen.
Jim (Scranton, PA): Is Nick Franklin a top 100 prospect?
Jim Callis: Yes. He’s been better offensively and defensively than expected, and that’s saying a lot considering he was a first-round pick last year.
Franklin has showed some power this season, as he is hitting .286-,358-.494 with 22 HRs, 63 RBIs and 25 SBs.
Steve (NYC): Jim, thanks for the chat. Thoughts on Kyle Seager? I know he’s playing in High Desert, but he’s still having an impressive season, and his home/road splits are nearly identical – he’s actually been slightly better on the road.
Jim Callis: Not a potential star, but he’s one of the best second-base prospects in the minors.
Seager was the Mariners 3rd round pick in 2009, and is hitting .344-.419-.492 with 12 HRs, 66 RBIs and 13 SBs in High A.
Tony (Albuquerque): I’m in a keeper league and essentially i kept Teheran over Chapman. After last night and all the 105 mph hype I need some reassurance that i made the right choice. How do they compare to one another?
Jim Callis: I would have kept Teheran, too. Chapman obviously beat him to the big leagues, which was no surprise, but I like Teheran’s future as a starter better.
I may have the 2nd or 3rd pick in the UBA NL-only keeper league minor league draft in 2011, and am seriously considering drafting Julio Teheran.
A pretty quiet day last night with just 6 games on the docket, but still some news as always…
Chase Utley helped lead the Phillies to a wild victory yesterday against the Rockies. He went 2 for 4 with a grand slam and 6 runs batted in. I don’t think that I’ll have him in my top 10 for next season, but I think that there’s a distinct possibility that he will be a sleeper candidate because of how he’ll fall in drafts. He’s still going to be behind Robinson Cano for me, but I don’t think Utley should fall much further than the top 15 for next year.
C.C. Sabathia went 8 shutout innings and got his 19th victory of the season against the Athletics yesterday. He walked just 3, and struck out 5 in the start, and to me is probably going to win the Cy Young award. That 19 win count is going to be a big number to overlook, especially considering that the best candidate (Felix Hernandez) has only 10 so far, and at best is likely to only get to around 15.
Miguel Cabrera left the game yesterday suffering from left bicep tendinitis. Hopefully he’ll be back in the lineup tomorrow, but figured this was most definitely worth mentioning. Also from that game, Twins‘ pitcher Scott Baker left with elbow pain after throwing just 2 innings. Elbow pain is clearly not what anyone wants to hear, and we’ll have to see if he makes his next start or not.
Johan Santana left his start last night after 5 innings with a strained pectoral muscle. He did still get the win, allowing 1 earned run over 5 innings, and struck out 3. The Mets were being cautious about this, and it really wouldn’t surprise me to see them skip his next start since they are clearly out of the race.
