CSS Button No Image Css3Menu.com

Baseball Prospectus home
  
  
Click here to log in Click here for forgotten password Click here to subscribe
BP ballpark events in New York, Anaheim and Texas

BP Articles

Search BP Articles

All Blogs

Active Columns

Authors

Article Types

Firehose

05-16

comment icon

21

Overthinking It: Brett Lawrie Was Framed
by
Ben Lindbergh

05-16

comment icon

1

Daily Hit List: Wednesday, May 16
by
Matthew Kory

05-16

comment icon

1

Future Shock: Finding Power
by
Kevin Goldstein

05-16

comment icon

18

What You Need to Know: Wednesday, May 16
by
Daniel Rathman

05-16

comment icon

13

Pebble Hunting: Kill This Nickname
by
Sam Miller

05-16

comment icon

10

The Lineup Card: 11 Surprising Early-Season Stats
by
Baseball Prospectus

05-16

comment icon

1

Value Picks: Relievers for 5/16/12
by
Dan Mennella

05-16

comment icon

7

Punk Hits: Running Hot and Cold
by
Ian Miller

05-16

comment icon

1

Collateral Damage Daily: Wednesday, May 16
by
Corey Dawkins

05-16

comment icon

3

The Platoon Advantage: Ten Excuses for Not Voting Johnny Damon Into the HOF
by
Michael Bates

05-16

comment icon

0

Prospectus Hit and Run: Beckett and Hyde
by
Jay Jaffe

05-16

comment icon

11

Manufactured Runs: The Angels, Albert Pujols, and the Politician's Fallacy
by
Colin Wyers

05-15

comment icon

5

Daily Hit List: Tuesday, May 15
by
Matthew Kory

05-15

comment icon

7

Fantasy Beat: Orange Crush(ers)
by
Jason Collette

05-15

comment icon

12

Western Front: La Casa Sucia
by
Geoff Young

05-15

comment icon

4

Value Picks: First, Third, and DH for 5/15/12
by
Michael Street

05-15

comment icon

4

Painting the Black: Living Low and Away
by
R.J. Anderson

05-15

comment icon

4

Collateral Damage Daily: Tuesday, May 15
by
Corey Dawkins

05-15

comment icon

0

What You Need to Know: Tuesday, May 15
by
Daniel Rathman

05-15

comment icon

14

Prospects Will Break Your Heart: What Could Go Wrong in 2012: Colorado Rockies
by
Jason Parks

05-15

comment icon

6

Baseball ProGUESTus: Pedro Alvarez and the Ghosts of Pirates Prospects Past
by
Pat Lackey

05-14

comment icon

17

Future Shock: Monday Morning Ten Pack
by
Kevin Goldstein

05-14

comment icon

4

Overthinking It: The Rangers' Secret Weapon
by
Ben Lindbergh

05-14

comment icon

5

Daily Hit List: Monday, May 14
by
Matthew Kory

05-14

comment icon

2

What You Need to Know: Monday, May 14
by
Daniel Rathman

05-14

comment icon

12

Collateral Damage Daily: Monday, May 14
by
Corey Dawkins

05-14

comment icon

7

Bizball: New CBA, Fans Sue MLB, Jerry McMorris Dies, and Other Picture Postcards
by
Maury Brown

05-14

comment icon

7

Resident Fantasy Genius: A Bad Month to Be, Or Own, a Closer
by
Derek Carty

05-14

comment icon

15

Pebble Hunting: The One They Missed
by
Sam Miller

05-14

comment icon

1

Prospectus Hit and Run: A Not-So-Dandy Return
by
Jay Jaffe

05-14

comment icon

2

Transaction Analysis: Vlad to Be There
by
R.J. Anderson

05-14

comment icon

6

Out of Left Field: On Hitting .400
by
Matthew Kory

05-11

comment icon

22

Overthinking It: A Fond Farewell to the Fake to Third
by
Ben Lindbergh

05-11

comment icon

6

Value Picks: Outfielders for 5/11/12
by
Rob McQuown

05-11

comment icon

4

Daily Hit List: Friday, May 11
by
Matthew Kory

05-11

comment icon

11

Prospectus Game of the Week: A Strange Start in Baltimore
by
Jonathan Bernhardt

05-11

comment icon

30

Raising Aces: Where's Ubaldo?
by
Doug Thorburn

05-11

comment icon

5

Pebble Hunting: No Fastballs for Emilio
by
Sam Miller

05-11

comment icon

3

What You Need to Know: Friday, May 11
by
Daniel Rathman

05-11

comment icon

3

The BP Wayback Machine: Making Waves in the West
by
Christina Kahrl

05-11

comment icon

15

Prospectus Hit and Run: Donnie Buntball
by
Jay Jaffe

05-11

comment icon

6

Collateral Damage Daily: Friday, May 11
by
Corey Dawkins

05-11

comment icon

1

The Stats Go Marching In: All About Velocity
by
Max Marchi

05-11

comment icon

4

Weekly Planner: Week Seven
by
Paul Sporer

05-10

comment icon

0

Overthinking It: Finding the Perfect Imbalance
by
Ben Lindbergh

05-10

comment icon

5

Daily Hit List: Thursday, May 10
by
Matthew Kory

05-10

comment icon

4

Resident Fantasy Genius: Trades of Grey
by
Derek Carty

05-10

comment icon

21

Inside The Park: Can Teams Protect Their Pitchers?
by
Bradford Doolittle

05-10

comment icon

2

What Scouts Are Saying: Mixed Reviews
by
Adam Sobsey, Bradley Ankrom and Kevin Goldstein

05-10

comment icon

4

What You Need to Know: Thursday, May 10
by
Daniel Rathman

Go to Archives...

This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today!

May 16, 2012 9:22 am

Overthinking It: Brett Lawrie Was Framed

21

Ben Lindbergh

Brett Lawrie was right to be upset about the two strikes that got him ejected on Tuesday, but framer extraordinaire Jose Molina had as much to do with the calls as umpire Bill Miller.

On Tuesday night, the Rays beat the Blue Jays 4-3. All of the scoring was over by the seventh, but the real action occurred in the bottom of the ninth, when Brett Lawrie was ejected by umpire Bill Miller after arguing balls and strikes, first with loud body language, then with loud words, and finally by transforming his helmet into flying suspension bait. Lawrie probably brushes his teeth more intensely than you’ve ever done anything, so you can only imagine what he looks like when he’s called out on borderline pitches in a close game against a division rival. Actually, that’s not true—imagining it isn’t the only thing you can do. You can also watch this video:

The rest of this article is restricted to Baseball Prospectus Subscribers.

Not a subscriber?

Click here for more information on Baseball Prospectus subscriptions or use the buttons to the right to subscribe and get access to the best baseball content on the web.


Cancel anytime.


That's a 33% savings over the monthly price!


That's a 33% savings over the monthly price!

Already a subscriber? Click here and use the blue login bar to log in.

This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today!

May 16, 2012 9:15 am

Daily Hit List: Wednesday, May 16

1

Matthew Kory

Have you ever heard of this team called the Rays?

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today!

May 16, 2012 8:35 am

Future Shock: Finding Power

1

Kevin Goldstein

The major league power outage could have its cause in the minor leagues, writes Kevin Goldstein.

Home runs are down nearly twenty percent from their 2004 peak, and scouts have made it clear that, based on what they are seeing in the minors, the downward trend is going to continue. With Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper in the big leagues and Seattle's Jesus Montero beginning the year there, all of a sudden there are precious few power hitters in the minors. While there are plenty of theories as to the cause, there's no obvious answer as to why.

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

Brett Lawrie crossed the line when he threw his batting helmet at an umpire.

The Tuesday Takeaway
Brett Lawrie can hit, and the 22-year-old is rapidly learning how to pick it at the hot corner. But the questions about his makeup that led the Brewers to ship him to the Blue Jays in a one-for-one deal that brought back Shaun Marcum reared their ugly heads again last night in an incident that is likely to result in a suspension.

At the plate with nobody on and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, with Toronto trailing Tampa Bay 4-3, Lawrie worked the count to 3-1. Then, home plate umpire Bill Miller clearly gipped him of a walk, calling a Fernando Rodney fastball that crossed the plate at least four inches outside a strike. The payoff pitch was a changeup that threatened the upper fringe of the zone but stayed an inch or so too high. Miller rang Lawrie up, and—moments later—the young third baseman seemed ready to ring the ump’s bell.


More...

This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today!

May 16, 2012 3:30 am

Pebble Hunting: Kill This Nickname

13

Sam Miller

Bryce Harper is just the latest player to earn the most overused nickname in sports.

Bryce Harper is back in the Nationals starting lineup for Saturday night's game against the Reds. Besides stitches, Harper also got a new nickname out the the deal: "Bam Bam."The Nats Enquirer

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

In a game you can't predict, which early-season statistics seem the most unpredictable?

More...

This is a BP Fantasy article. To read it, sign up for Fantasy today!

May 16, 2012 3:00 am

Value Picks: Relievers for 5/16/12

1

Dan Mennella

Janssen, Fuentes, and Thayer are discussed in this week's Value Picks

The debate between the old and new schools as to the usefulness of defined bullpen roles is as strong as ever, and with such a high turnover rate in the early going of this season, both sides have had plenty of fodder to build their arguments. For those of us who partake in fantasy leagues, however, such philosophical pedantry is a mere luxury. Chasing saves, after all, is a dirty game, so let’s have a look at some relievers of interest.

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

Will the real Dodgers and Twins please stand up?

Today, Ian Miller joins our team. Ian previously wrote a ProGUESTus piece about minor-league baseball, and he blogs and podcasts as one half of Productive Outs. A Punk Hit, according to the Dickson Baseball Dictionary, refers to a base hit that is softly struck but placed well.  

We’re roughly 20 percent of the way through the 2012 baseball season, and I have to file a column for Wednesday. That means that it’s the perfect time to take a look at this year’s leading out-of-the-gate over- and underachievers!

More...

This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today!

May 16, 2012 3:00 am

Collateral Damage Daily: Wednesday, May 16

1

Corey Dawkins

The Dodgers lose their center fielder, and the Yankees lose their closer.

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

Just because he might get 3,000 hits doesn't mean voters can't put up a fight.

I like Johnny Damon.  I really do.  He’s been a perfectly good player, or better, for a lot of years.  But as much as I like Johnny Damon, I love the Hall of Fame much more.  I love the Hall of Fame even though it refuses to love me back, what with its induction of Jim Rice, its refusal to tell BBWAA voters that PEDs were far too pervasive to ban an entire generation, and its inconvenient location preventing yearly pilgrimages.  I love the Hall of Fame, so I will defend it from Johnny Damon.

Johnny Damon's biggest supporter for the Hall of Fame, interestingly enough, is Johnny Damon.  Damon told Tyler Kepner, "I think even if you look at my numbers now, how high I am on the runs list [33rd], how high I am on the doubles list [43rd], and you also have to take into account the ballparks that I've played in.  I've played in some pretty tough ones for left-handers.  If I played in Yankee Stadium my whole career, my 230 home runs turn into 300, easy.” He is also 56th all-time with 2,730 hits.  Damon also makes "a case for being a clean player in our generation." 

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today!

May 16, 2012 3:00 am

Prospectus Hit and Run: Beckett and Hyde

0

Jay Jaffe

Josh Beckett's alternating good and bad seasons resembles the career of a former major leaguer.

On Tuesday—his 32nd birthday, coincidentally—Josh Beckett fired seven innings of four-hit shutout ball against the Mariners, taking advantage of one of the league's weak-sister offenses to rack up a season-high nine strikeouts. The outing pared Beckett's ERA by exactly a run, from 5.97 to 4.97, and more importantly, it allowed him to put an embarrassing sequence of events in the rear-view mirror. The Red Sox had scratched Beckett from his May 5 start due to a stiff latissimus dorsi muscle; the decision was made three days in advance because the Sox wanted to prevent a minor injury from getting worse. On the day of his next turn, a report surfaced that Beckett had played a round of golf the day after the announcement—hardly beyond the pale for a pitcher between starts, but questionable conduct for a player who was supposed to be recuperating.

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.

Are the Angels just shuffling deck chairs on a sinking ship by firing hitting coach Mickey Hatcher?

It's just the middle of May, and the Los Angeles Angels have fired Mickey Hatcher, their hitting coach.

Why they are doing this is pretty clear—the Angels are already seven games behind the Rangers, and their offense is in such poor shape that they've been outscored by the Mariners. Among American League teams, only the Twins have scored fewer runs per game. Despite having the advantage of the designated hitter, the Angels are outscoring only two NL franchises, and the Padres have the excuse of playing in Petco.

The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe.