Game 68 Thread - T. Wood vs. Peavy

On another note, Jeter is just 7 hits away from Ripken and will probably end up passing Mays (11th at 3283) by the end of the season barring injury. Then let's say he puts up 3 more 170 hit seasons, which I don't think is out of the question at all. He'd then pass Cap Anson and be 6th next year, pass Tris Speaker in 2014, then pass Musial and Aaron in 2015 for 3rd place. But it would be about another 400 hits before Cobb, and another 50 or so to Rose. So I would guess he ends up finishing his career in 3rd place around 3,800 hits.

As would I

This is why I'm frustrated with Soriano. If he cares about the game and winning so much, why didn't he start trying to improve himself on defense when he was first moved to LF? Why did we have to sit for multiple years and watch him fumble around in the outfield and not care about how he defended out there, when everyone has known it was a major weakness? I like Soriano as a clubhouse leader and occasionally as a hitter, but it just boggles my mind that he has just now decided to start trying to improve himself in the field.

Wed, 06/20/2012 - 10:54am — Jumbo I'm reading the BP book "Everything you know is wrong" and just got into the chapter on 4-man rotations. It's not right next to me, but I seemed to recall a 100 pitch limit rather than 75. I would like to see it work for the Rockies so that some other teams try to copy it. In a perfect world the old closer would come back and work 3 innings for a save instead of just the ninth every day. This is related to the leverage concept and not saving your closer for the ninth, but using them when you actually need out of a jamb. ================================ JUMBO: Back in the 1950's and 1960's when the concept of the bullpen "fireman" was developed, the team's best reliever entered the game in high-risk situations in the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning and then stayed in the game and finished the game. It was not unusual for the firemen to get an AB. Teams were able to utiliyze their #1 reliever ("fireman") this way because a starter was not removed from a game pre-emptively because of pitch counts or just because it was the 9th inning and you're supposed to use your closer in save situations because "that's what they are paid to do." As long as the starter was throwing OK, he stayed in the game and the fireman was not used in that game. The best clubs had two "firemen" (a go-to #1 guy and a second fall-back option) so that one could be used for multiple innings one day and then the other one could be used the next day if the situation warranted it. The idea of the one-inning closer and pre-emptively pulling a starter did not become the norm until the 1980's. I remember the first time I heard the term "pitch count"and that was when KC's Steve Busby was returning from shoulder surgery in the 1970's and he was restricted to a certain number of pitches per outing. Pitch count limits weren't used to prevent injuries (because obviously they don't), but rather as part of an Rx for pitchers returning from a shoulder or elbow injury. BTW, the Cubs aren't doing it, but several organizations are now using a six-man rotation in the lower levels of the minors, with increased per-game pitch count limits so that the starter can pitch deeper into games. The idea is to replicate college ball, where starters normally work once a week (in college baseball the #1 guy is the so-called "Friday starter"), while at the same time holding-down a young pitcher's overall high-stress game workload (IP) for the season because the pitcher doesn't pitch in games as often. The extra off-day between starts is used for more-relaxed side-sessions ("bullpens") and/or "live" BP outings where the pitcher can work on mechanics and/or a pitch that needs work, with the pitcher throwing (in a relaxed environment) twice between starts instead of just once (which is the norm with a five-man rotation). The idea is for a pitcher never to go two days without throwing (either in a game, or in a bullpen side-session or "live" BP), and to build up the endurance needed to go deeper into games (and possibly even pitch a Complete Game). Whether that change can be integrated into a new general strategy to use a team's best reliever for multiple innings (but only when necessary) instead of pitching one inning just because it's the 9th inning and it's a "Save" situation remains to be seen, but it possibly could be.

Interesting that the Nats and Cubs have gone completely in opposite directions since Soriano left. Not including 2007-2008, of course.

But even if he were doing a bit better, he'd still be nowhere near worth the contract they gave him. Not so sure that is true. So far (including this year), Soriano will have been paid $92M. According to Fangraphs, he has been worth $73.6M, and that includes a partial year this year, but a full year of salary. So if we took off $9M (half of this 2012 salary), he would have been paid $83M and produced $73.6M in value. And that includes his terrible 2009 of 0 WAR. So it wouldn't have taken much improvement to come with 2 more WAR over 6.5 years. Now, that doesn't include the $36M he is still owed for the next two years. Which are really the problematic years of the contract. But overall Soriano hasn't actually been as bad advertised. And this year he has been pretty great.

So Hamilton touched the burglar's boobs?

Yeah, well the White Sox fans are saying Floyd = L. As they say, somebody has to lose this game.

Yes, which is odd, being that going into this season they had 8 quality starters or something like that.

The dealing of Dempster and Garza, might be the most important of the Theo era. As they have to hit on one diamond in the rough #1 or#2 starter in return.

Because of the wacky "Parent Trap" schemes they'd get into? Trust me, they're never as fun in real life.