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Prospectus Hit List for August 24



by Matthew Kory

Hit List for August 23 Hit List for August 27
Teams are ordered based on Adjusted Hit List Factor, a computer generated number, and the author isn't responsible for the order of the teams.

It raises a good question, though. *Has* a team tried to score 14 runs every game and go 124-1?

RkTmWLW1 W2W3HLFAHLFWin Div%Win WC%Playoff%1-Day7-Day
1

73

51

72.0

75.8

75.2

.597

.616

98.4%

1.3%

99.7%

0.3%

0.4%

Adrian Beltre: lots of homers in not lots of games. Also, don't rub his head!
2

68

56

74.9

74.9

72.3

.585

.565

9.4%

60.7%

70.1%

7.4%

8.4%

The Cardinals won 13-5 and relievers Barret Browning and Edward Mujica were the stars because they got the holds! -- BizzaroBaseball Headline Recognizing The True Genius Of Middle Relievers
3

77

47

74.2

74.7

73.0

.603

.583

93.7%

5.9%

99.6%

-0.2%

-0.2%

Does Josh Beckett make sense in Washington? Only if they have unlimited funds and the desire to create an international incident by preventing a healthy ace pitcher from throwing in the postseason.
4

72

52

72.1

72.8

74.0

.586

.606

84.0%

15.5%

99.5%

0.6%

-0.4%

The Yankees have lost 7 1/2 games in the standings since July 18. Maybe team collectively stopped using PEDs?
5

71

54

71.4

69.6

69.7

.563

.544

6.3%

80.1%

86.4%

-2.0%

-7.0%

There is only one plausible explanation for the Braves getting shutout for eight innings by Barry Zito: batters' eyes dried out due to excess drooling.
6

70

55

71.1

69.6

70.5

.562

.582

15.9%

66.5%

82.4%

5.6%

25.6%

Alex Cobb simply doesn't walk anyone: batters, his kids, dogs, anyone. Go walk yourself, Alex Cobb isn't interested.
7

76

50

71.3

69.3

67.3

.563

.543

88.7%

10.0%

98.7%

-0.9%

0.2%

Does playing Miguel Cairo and his .466 OPS at first base reads like a combination of begging and a not-so-veiled threat to Joey Votto to anyone else?
8

65

60

65.4

68.6

69.4

.537

.557

1.1%

27.9%

29.0%

2.4%

-17.3%

If the Angels scored 14 runs every night they'd be 124-1. [shakes fist] Stupid Rangers!
9

67

57

64.9

67.0

67.8

.538

.558

43.8%

30.6%

74.4%

4.7%

-0.9%

Twelve strikeouts, four hits, two walks, and two runs over nine innings. Yup, I'd say Verlander Ver-landed it. [crowd cheers] Thank you! Don't forget to tip your waitress!
10

59

66

65.2

66.6

67.5

.517

.537

0.0%

0.4%

0.4%

-0.1%

-3.2%

After the Red Sox lost 14-13 in 10 innings last night, they all held hands, had a good cry, and then stayed up until all hours of the night making balloon animals.
11

64

61

67.1

66.5

65.8

.527

.507

3.0%

4.3%

7.3%

-3.5%

-7.9%

Do teams playing for a playoff spot usually trade away their starting shortstop? Asking for a friend.
12

70

55

66.9

66.5

65.8

.539

.519

84.5%

2.9%

87.4%

7.3%

34.6%

Barry Zito, clearly ramping up for a contract year in 2013, threw eight shutout innings before giving up two in the ninth.
13

68

55

69.1

66.1

66.0

.547

.567

56.2%

25.9%

82.1%

-4.4%

-8.0%

Adam Dunn needs just 19 strikeouts in the White Sox' remaining 39 games to break the American League record of 197, set by Oakland's Jack Cust in 2008.
14

67

58

66.1

64.6

64.1

.524

.504

12.5%

11.2%

23.7%

-6.5%

-24.4%

Alternate theory for why Hanley Ramirez's slugging percentage has jumped over 100 points since joining the Dodgers: he's afraid of wack-box homer carousel.
15

67

57

65.9

63.3

64.0

.525

.545

0.5%

23.5%

24.0%

-7.2%

5.3%

There are days when you look at the A's lineup, giggle a bit, shake your head and think, "Naaaah..." Yesterday was one of those days.
16

67

57

63.7

63.1

61.4

.514

.494

1.9%

24.9%

26.8%

-1.6%

-3.6%

Miss the historically bad Pirates offense of April and May. Sad they don’t make Hallmark cards, like, “Can’t believe it / you learned to hit / Only now all of / my jokes are…"
17

58

67

59.1

62.4

62.2

.483

.463

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Cole Hamels went 1-for-2 at the plate last night. Three pinch-hitters batted in his spot following his removal from the game. They went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and left four runners on base.
18

57

68

58.1

61.8

63.4

.481

.461

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

-0.1%

Failing to score against Rockies pitching is like going out for Halloween and coming back with nothing.
19

57

66

60.8

60.9

58.7

.482

.462

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Now that the Brewers have released Randy Wolf, there won't be any more Wolf Pack. How will Brewers fans elevate a mediocre player to hero status on the basis of an odd and humorous surname?
20

61

64

63.2

60.0

61.2

.491

.511

0.0%

0.1%

0.1%

-0.1%

0.1%

"The Mariners just keep on winning." -- nominee for strangest sentence uttered this season
21

56

68

59.1

57.3

58.7

.466

.486

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

-0.1%

The OPS's of the last four hitters in last night's Blue Jays lineup: .480, .655, .439, .499.
22

56

70

55.6

56.5

55.4

.443

.424

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Carlos Quentin is having a nice season but it was Branch Rickey who said, "I can finish last with you and I can finish last without you."
23

57

69

53.3

54.9

55.4

.438

.418

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

New documents discovered and posted online outline the Marlins offseason strategy: 1) Steal all Girl Scout cookies in greater Miami area; 2) Sell cookies at outrageously inflated mark-up; 3) hide profits in off-shore Cayman Islands account; 4) Something something marlins.
24

55

68

56.3

54.3

54.0

.446

.466

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Jeff Francoeur has three stolen bases. He has been caught stealing six times.
25

54

70

48.9

54.2

54.5

.427

.446

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

The Indians have announced that manager Manny Act is safe, meaning he'll probably be fired two weeks into next season.
26

51

73

52.4

54.0

53.9

.426

.446

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

On the plus side the Twins did have 12 hits and score six runs. On the minus side the entire rest of the season.
27

67

57

56.3

52.4

54.3

.464

.484

0.1%

8.3%

8.4%

-1.8%

-1.5%

If the Orioles and A's meet in the Wild Card play-in game, the world won't care at all, but the heads of many baseball analysts will explode.
28

50

73

51.7

48.9

49.3

.406

.387

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

As the team that scores the second-most runs in the National League and gives up the most, you'd expect they haven't been involved in many 1-0 games this season. And they hadn't until last night when they beat the Mets by that score.
29

47

76

50.3

47.6

48.0

.392

.373

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

By OPS+, Chicago's best hitter has been Reed Johnson (117 OPS+) followed closely by Alfonso Soriano (116).
30

39

86

43.4

43.7

43.7

.340

.322

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

If you reversed the Astros record they'd be the best in baseball by 8 1/2 games.