News and notes from around the league for May 25, 2013.
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Baseball Prospectus and the Atlanta Braves invite you to join us for a great day of baseball on Saturday, June 15 at Turner Field. Thanks to the fine folks in the Braves front office, we are proud to be able to offer our guests the following:
A list of all of our ballpark events for the upcoming season.
Looking for all of our Baseball Prospectus Day ballpark events for the upcoming season? Well, you’ve come to the right place.
Below, you’ll find the dates that we are scheduled to come to your home team’s stadium. More events will be added as the dates and specifics are confirmed.
8/17 - 8/18 in Boston, MA: Sabermetrics, Scouting, and the Science of Baseball plus a BP Afterparty!
Tickets are now on sale for two amazing events in Boston on August 17 - 18, sponsored by Baseball Prospectus:
* The third annual Sabermetrics, Scouting, and the Science of Baseball conference, which features presentations from an incredible lineup of speakers including Brian Bannister, Vince Gennaro, Keith Woolner, Tom Tippett, Alan Nathan, and BP Staff including Harry Pavlidis, Doug Thorburn, Ben Lindbergh, and Dan Brooks
Bret takes a look through this past week's streamer picks and looks at where he went right (and wrong).
For those of you unfamiliar with the #streameroftheday process, I recommend one starting pitcher per day who is owned in fewer than 10% of leagues (lower than your typical standards) and post it on Twitter at @dynastyguru. And this Friday post is where I stand in front of the firing squad, fully accountable for these recommendations. I ran a longer introduction in my first post of the season, explaining why my ownership limit is much lower than most others out there, but essentially it's to be helpful in deeper mixed leagues. If you want to read the whole thing, the link is here. With the pleasantries out of the way, let's jump into the action.
With the Mariners rallying against Rangers starter Justin Grimm in the second inning on Friday night, catcher Jesus Sucre stepped into the box for his first major-league plate appearance. Sucre, a career .255/.292/.338 hitter over eight minor-league seasons, bounced into a 3-6-3 double play.
Talking to Chris Stewart and Miguel Montero about framing pitches.
Yankees catcher Chris Stewart has never had the bat to be a first-stringer, though until a recent groin injury, he was getting the bulk of the playing time behind the plate for the Bombers with Francisco Cervelli out with a fractured hand. But when Stewart does start, he adds value on defense, combining a strong arm with excellent receiving skills. According to Max Marchi, Stewart’s framing over the past five-plus seasons has been worth nearly 20 runs, an impressive total considering his sporadic playing time. Stewart stopped reading A Storm of Swords on a couch in the Yankees clubhouse long enough to answer some questions about how he receives so well.
Lefty Daniel Norris is beginning to put together the pieces that could eventually help him make good on the Blue Jays' $2 million investment.
Pitching Prospect of the Day: Daniel Norris, LHP, Blue Jays (Low-A Lansing): 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K. Well, well, well, this is the Daniel Norris we all expected to see after he received a $2 million bonus after the 2011 draft. I saw him for a three-inning miniature stint this spring, the smallest of sample sizes. The fastball can touch plus velocities; curveball flashes plus; changeup can flash plus. The problem was that everything could just leave him in one pitch. He would go from “oh man” (in a good way) to “oh man” (in an awful way) in a spam of three pitches. I am still a believer. The stuff is still there, and I believe he can put it together; 34.1 IP, 41 H, 26 ER, 21 BB, 38 K in 10 outings.
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Desperate for a starter, the Jays call up their no. 2 pitching prospect from Double-A.
The Situation: After an active offseason that included the acquisition of starting pitchers Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey, and Josh Johnson, the Blue Jays are now prepared to send their 10th starting pitcher of the season to the mound. In addition to Johnson’s injuries, J.A. Happ has been dealing with injuries of his own and Ricky Romero has been struggling through the first two months of the season. As if that weren’t enough, Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison are still several months away from returning to the mound and the club was forced to send Ramon Ortiz to the hill this week. All of that leads to the call-up of left-hander Sean Nolin, the team’s no. 2-rated pitching prospect.
Background: A sixth-round pick by the Blue Jays in 2010, Nolin has had little trouble motoring through the minor leagues. After a 6.05 ERA in six New York-Penn League starts during his professional debut, Nolin has improved at every stop. With Low-A Lansing in 2011 he posted a 3.49 ERA in 108-1/3 innings, allowing just 102 hits and 31 walks while fanning 113 batters. He followed up that strong performance with a dazzling 2.19 ERA in 17 games (15 starts) for High-A Dunedin in 2012 before being promoted to Double-A New Hampshire. In just three starts with New Hampshire, Nolin notched a 1.20 ERA and better than a strikeout per inning. After some missed time early this season due to a pulled groin, Nolin has continued his Double-A dominance with a 1.17 ERA in three more starts.
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News and notes from around the league for May 24, 2013.
Thanks to Jason Martinez and Clint Chisam of MLB Depth Charts, we'll now be bringing you daily news, notes, transactions, injury updates, and notable performances from the previous day's games...throughout the entire season! And if you like what you see here, don't forget to check out MLBDC's Insider subscription, which also includes starting pitcher rankings and matchups, top 25 batter vs. pitcher stat rankings, lineup tracker (includes lineups from past seven games), rotation report, stat tracker, and more!
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Daily Roundup: Around the League: May 25, 2013
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