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Sam Miller |
BP Unfiltered: Three-Hit Night |
Albert Pujols' three-hit night
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May 16, 2012 3:30 am
Pebble Hunting: Kill This Nickname |
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
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May 14, 2012 11:08 pm
BP Unfiltered: Brandon Morrow and Things That Happen |
Brandon Morrow can pitch from the stretch now
2010:
May 14, 2012 6:15 pm
BP Unfiltered: Baseball on the Internet |
Baseball and Mick O'Pedia
...and sometimes you're just trying to confirm a simple little thing like the size of Brandon Beachy's college and you end up reading this:
May 14, 2012 3:15 am
Pebble Hunting: The One They Missed |
How does a player go from being undrafted to having a 1.60 ERA in the big leagues?
The Braves’ 50th pick in the 2008 draft, and the 1493rd pick overall, was a guy named Dylan Lightell. I don’t know much about Dylan Lightell. I don’t believe he pitched professionally. I think he has a profile at an electronic dance music site, with the personal statement “all add’d out,” which I guess makes Derek Lowe a good comp for him. And I know that major-league baseball teams thought 1,492 draft-eligible amateurs, but not 1,493 draft-eligible amateurs, were better than he was in 2008.
But, in 2008, I would have known even less about Brandon Beachy, who wasn’t drafted at all. Thirty teams, 50 rounds, 1,504 picks, and Beachy was untouched. Major-league baseball teams thought that at least 1,504 amateurs were better than he was in 2008, but for all we know they thought 1,504,000 amateurs were better than him. They might have thought he was the very worst baseball player in the world. There is no limit to how bad they might have thought he was, because he was drafted just as much as a non-physical entity, like, say, senioritis was drafted. Brandon Beachy has a 1.60 ERA.
May 11, 2012 2:03 pm
BP Unfiltered: People and Entities Out-Walking Albert Pujols |
Albert Pujols never walks
Pardon me for hitting this point again and again, but it's by far the most fascinating part of Albert Pujols' season so far. Anybody can go into a home run drought; the difference between a home run and a flyout is, what, the width of a cuticle? It's very easy for a home-run hitter to not hit a home run. They do it all the time. But to not walk is just so deliberate, and significant. Barry Bonds never went more than seven games without a walk. Adam Dunn has never gone more than nine games without a walk. Walks don't just disappear for no reason, and Albert Pujols' walks have disappeared, and they have disappeared not just for a month but since last year's All-Star break. Delmon Young now has as many unintentional walks as Albert Pujols since last year's break. I'm not just piling on because he's in a slump. This is a genuine mysterious phenomenon! So here's a quick rundown of things with as many or more unintentional walks than Albert Pujols this year:
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May 11, 2012 4:05 am
Pebble Hunting: No Fastballs for Emilio |
If Emilio Bonifacio can't hit for power, why are pitchers walking him so often?
On Wednesday, Albert Pujols Emilio Bonifacio finally got his first extra-base hit of the season. It was his 138th plate appearance, which is fortunate, in that it kept him from matching Juan Pierre (144 plate appearances, 2010) for the longest such streak to start a season during this century.
Reporter: Did you know you just matched a record set by Pierre?
Bonifacio: Wow! Awesome!
Bonifacio: Oh, Juan Pierre?
Bonifacio: Oh ok
Bonifacio: This is a trick, right?
Reporter: Yes.
Bonifacio: Juan Pierre.
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May 10, 2012 10:48 am
BP Unfiltered: What a Giancarlo Stanton Home Run Looks Like |
Giancarlo Stanton's home run is impressive.
This is what a Giancarlo Stanton home run looks like when it is coming directly at you:
May 9, 2012 7:01 pm
BP Unfiltered: Miguel Tejada Did It |
Melvin Mora didn't.
In fact, Melvin Mora said, he recently spoke to former Oriole Miguel Tejada, who was cut this season by the San Francisco Giants, and talked about reuniting in Baltimore. “I said, ‘Why don’t we go back to the Orioles?' And he said, ‘You want to do that?'" Mora said. “I don’t know. I guess we have to see who the general manager of the Orioles is to see if he will take us back.”
-- Baltimore Sun, Nov. 11, 2011
May 9, 2012 12:31 pm
BP Unfiltered: In Bunches |
Hitting four home runs in a game doesn't mean you're hot.
Since 1900, 13 players before Josh Hamilton had hit four home runs in a game. In those 13 players' next starts, they combined to hit .260/.315/.480, with two home runs in 54 plate appearances.
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May 9, 2012 3:00 am
Pebble Hunting: The Evolution of a Save Celebration |
Is Kenley Jansen ready to close? Sam analyzes his incipient save celebration's suitability for the ninth inning.
Kenley Jansen pitched his first game on July 30, 2009. He worked a scoreless fourth inning for Inland Empire, struck out one batter, and that was it. Kenley Jansen, whom we had described as “the system’s best hope at catcher” just six months earlier, was a pitcher. Three days later, he allowed two runs in his second outing. Three days after that, he allowed three runs in his third outing, and his ERA was 22.50. Pitching is not supposed to be a simple thing. Experience matters. Making adjustments matters. Kenley Jansen has made a lot of adjustments, and he is a thrilling pitcher, and after I watch him I want to hop in a car and drive really fast and make sharp turns. But closing games isn't just about throwing strikes and getting outs and converting saves. There's the matter of the post-save ritual.
There are all sorts of post-save rituals, and not every closer dodges Matrix bullets like Jose Valverde. Last summer, Jeff Sullivan classified all 30 major-league closers' victory celebrations and grouped them into seven categories: the indifferent; the acknowledgers; the glove punchers; the fist pumpers; the adorable tiny hoppers; the showstoppers; and the other, which included only one closer, whom we might say is in a League of his own. Because he's Brandon League. That's why we capitalized League and said it like that.
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May 7, 2012 3:00 am
Pebble Hunting: Sizing up the DiSar Candidates |
Which players are the most likely to go the longest before their first walk of 2012?
No one personifies this better than Angels’ shortstop Gary DiSarcina. DiSarcina went deep into April of the 1998 season before drawing his first walk, and proudly stated that it was a goal of his to not walk all season. He believed he was a better hitter when hacking away and being "aggressive". DiSarcina’s career OBP of .291 and five full seasons of .294 or lower haven’t deterred him, or moved the Angel coaching staff to dissuade him of the notion. So in honor of our misguided friend, I’ve elected to establish the DiSar Awards.
— Joe Sheehan, 2000
On Friday, with one out in the eighth inning of the Braves' 9-8 victory over the Rockies, Kris Medlen threw a 3-1 fastball up and in to Ramon Hernandez, and the Rockies catcher took it for a ball. It was Hernandez’ first walk of the season, in his 67th plate appearance. That is the longest stretch without a walk by any player to start this season, which means Ramon Hernandez is the DiSars leader in the clubhouse.
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Pebble Hunting: Kill This Nickname
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