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Sam Miller |
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Albert Pujols is in pain and slow.
On Sunday, Albert Pujols sat out. The Angels are off Monday, so he'll get the two-day rest, after which, Mike Scioscia says, the Angels will "see where he is Tuesday." Which might just mean "we'll see if he feels better Tuesday." Or if might mean "we'll see where he is Tuesday, as we decide what to do about this." The team "stepped up" his treatment Saturday. Poor guy keeps trying, keeps being hard to watch, keeps being in a lot of pain.
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May 6, 2013 5:00 am
Pebble Hunting: What Scott Kazmir Looks Like Now |
Reviewing Kazmir's performance in his first victory since 2010.
On Saturday, Scott Kazmir and the Indians faced Joe Mauer and the Twins. Kazmir was looking for his first victory since 2010, and he got it. Mauer was looking to break out of a 4-for-38 stretch that had dropped his OBP nearly 100 points. He reached base twice, but only once against Kazmir, and with weak contact.
Previous history:
For three seasons, Scott Kazmir and Joe Mauer shared space at the top of prospect lists. From 2003 to 2005, Kazmir ranked 11th, 12th, and seventh on Baseball America’s lists, while Mauer was fourth, first, and first. Each player debuted in 2004; each started the 2005 season on a major-league roster, and each had a strong rookie season—though Kazmir (3.7 WARP) finished just ninth in Rookie of the Year voting, behind Jesse Crain, while Mauer (3.0 WARP) received no votes, behind Jesse Crain. They faced off in three games through 2008, with each player demonstrating some of his signature skill: Mauer banged out three line drive singles in 10 trips to the plate, while Kazmir struck out Mauer, one of baseball’s toughest tasks, three times.
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May 6, 2013 5:00 am
BP Daily Podcast: Effectively Wild Episode 196: The New Scott Kazmir/The Future of the Angels |
Ben and Sam discuss Scott Kazmir's win over the weekend, then talk about the Angels' outlook for the rest of this season and beyond.
May 3, 2013 5:00 am
Pebble Hunting: Baseball Out of Context |
What assorted still images suggest about how baseball is played.
It’s the year 3030.
Good morning, and welcome to the International Conference On Reverse Engineering The Rules Of 21st Century Recreational Activities. I’ll be leading this breakout session on a sport called baseball, one of the most popular recreational activities of the era. Much writing about the sport exists from the era, but most of it is vague and mawkish, describing the sport’s qualities in the abstract but offering few specifics. That means that we know, for instance, that baseball has quote no clock, no ties and no Liberal intrusions into the organized progression end quote, but we have never known whether it is played on land or in air, what equipment is needed for it, how a victor is determined, or why anybody would watch it. Now, for the first time, we can answer those questions. A recent cache of photos, the only images known to exist from the era, has recently been discovered. We believe that these images provide all the information necessary to recreate America’s Past Time. Break out the skunks, everybody. It’s time to play baseball!
May 3, 2013 5:00 am
BP Daily Podcast: Effectively Wild Episode 195: Bad Body Language/Upgrading Bullpens/Steroids and the Children/BABIP and Bad Luck |
Ben and Sam discuss whether a pitcher's body language can cost him strikes, whether it's worth trading for relievers early in the season, a study about perceptions of steroid use, and whether a low BABIP is always unlucky.
May 2, 2013 5:00 am
BP Daily Podcast: Effectively Wild Episode 194: Outlawing Endless Games/Would Baseball Be Better Without Playoffs? |
Ben and Sam discuss whether the league will ever take steps to prevent extremely long games, then talk about what baseball would be like without playoffs.
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May 1, 2013 5:00 am
Transaction Analysis: Cardinals Un-Rzep |
The Cardinals demote a struggling reliever, Casper Wells lands again, the Marlins will be without Stanton, and Shelley Duncan gets a DFA.
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Ben and Sam answer listener emails about whether good minor-league teams could beat bad major-league teams, the Braves and Ks, whether the Jays should regret letting John Farrell go, and more.
April 30, 2013 5:00 am
BP Daily Podcast: Effectively Wild Episode 192: Stephen Strasburg's New Injury Scare/The Underhyped Manny Machado |
Ben and Sam discuss the news about Stephen Strasburg's forearm and talk about why Manny Machado's performance this season hasn't gotten more attention.
April 29, 2013 4:06 pm
BP Unfiltered: The Week In Albert Pujols Playing Through Pain, April 22-April 28 |
Albert Pujols slowly continues to be slow.
When last we saw our hero, he was limping slowly to first base because of (at best) the pain of his plantar fasciitis or (at worse) lingering effects from his "very minor" offseason knee surgery or (at worst) some undisclosed foot, ankle, knee, or hip injury still to be diagnosed. He was trying his best but he was in a lot of pain. He was slow.
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April 29, 2013 5:00 am
Pebble Hunting: Ross Detwiler and Baseball's Most Extreme BABIP |
What can we learn about hitting from a pitcher with five career hits?
As you know, pitchers seem to demonstrate a small amount of control over their BABIPs, and hitters seem to demonstrate a larger amount of control over their BABIPs. Within reason, at least. No active player has a career BABIP below .244, and no active player has a career BABIP higher than .368, unless you lower the plate appearance threshold to something too low to be significant.
But if you lower the plate appearance threshold to something too low to be significant, then you get to include everybody, including pitchers. Your BABIP if you played baseball would likely be null,
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April 29, 2013 5:00 am
BP Daily Podcast: Effectively Wild Episode 191: The Significance of the Blue Jays' Slow Start/Justin Upton and Internet Gloating |
Ben and Sam discuss how deep a hole the Blue Jays have dug, then talk about whether it's fair for people to gloat about the Diamondbacks' decision to trade Justin Upton based on what's happened so far this season.
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