Wouldn't you say that Badenhop has already emerged as the go-to guy in high leverage situations for FLA? Seems like he's been their most effective reliever, in any case.
Not blaming baseball. I just think the speculation game occurred because we saw the whole "semi-big" name in the national league.
As you've noted, I think the frenzy was in the not knowing and the interesting concept of each individual's perspective of "semi-big" names in Major League Baseball.
Definitely not blaming you for the cryptic tweet - you dispense whatever information you have available better than just about everyone else in the field.
I was following you/this story on Twitter, and I can't help but feel that the way in which the information become public helped fuel the speculation game.
This has little to nothing to do with the glee that baseball followers and writers exhibited, but you'd think that if the name of the player was released along with the news that someone failed a PED test, we wouldn't have nearly as much cause to talk about the "cloud" hovering over our game.
Just heard that WFAN (NY Sports Radio) announced he's headed for the DL. Interested in your take whenever you hear something concrete. I trust you more than I trust WFAN.
I haven't seen Andruw Jones play at all this year, but is it possible the "out of shape" issues from the past two years are resolved, allowing him to return to some semblance of his 2006 offensive and defensive form? If that's the case, I feel like he should be playing in CF regardless of Josh Hamilton's health.
I hate to beat a dead horse (I brought this up in Christina's column), but any thoughts on the drop in Joba's velocity and the increase in Verlander's?
How does Soria's injury change the likelihood of the Royals showing some willingness to transition him into the rotation?
By traditional metrics (K/9, K/BB), Wang has never been a "major league quality" pitcher, but there is no reason to think that he can't bounce back to his performance level established prior to the foot injury.
This is not a pitcher returning from complicated surgery on his shoulder or elbow, this is a pitcher trying to regain the touch on his sinker that he lost after injuring his foot running the bases. I am inclined to trust the 600 innings pitched from 2005 to 2008 as opposed to the 6 innings pitched in 2009.
That being said, when someone puts up THIS egregious a stat line, it is fair to make the assumption that something is not right, but it should be noted that a sinker that doesn't sink is just a batting practice fastball. Personally, I put my money on a 29 year old starting pitcher with a demonstrated (and consistent) skill set regaining the touch on his sinker, as opposed to the alternative, which would be an Ankiel-esque implosion.
Doesn't this prove my point? Joba was averaging around 95 with the fastball as a starter last year. He obviously still possessed the ability to throw in the high 90s as a starter in high leverage situations, but his average fastball velocity did decrease by a statistically significant amount (1-2MPH) from the 97+ he seemed to display in a number of his appearances.
This is drastically different from the 92.4 MPH 4-seamer he was throwing against the Red Sox on 4/24 or the 91.5 MPH on display vs OAK on 4/17.
I have to think Livan Hernandez has the ability to hurt the Mets' playoff chances more than Porcello. A high-upside pitcher with a great GB% HAS to provide more VORP than the worst pitcher in baseball in a tightening NL East.
The '08 starts.
One of the big reasons the Yankees (and BP!) felt strongly about returning to the rotation was the fact that his raw stuff didn't diminish drastically when his workload increased. Clearly no one expected him to continue to top out in the upper 90's with his fastball, but he seemed to hover around 94-95 with the fastball, while demonstrating that he does in fact throw 4 Major League pitches.
I think the most concerning thing for the Yankees right now HAS to be Joba's decreased velocity. Wang will improve, the bullpen's trouble has been exacerbated by Wang's inability to go deep into games, and the offense will start to look much more dangerous with an MVP at 3B instead of some negative VORP band-aid.
This year, the Yankees were counting on 500+ innings of elite starting pitching among Burnett, Sabathia, and Joba. If Joba can't hold up his end of the bargain and the suspected Burnett injury occurs, are Hughes (we'll see tonight!), Aceves, Kennedy, or even Phil Coke up to the task of filling up the back end of this rotation?
Any thoughts on whether Joba's drop in velocity might result in a trip down to AAA? No one seems to be talking much about the missing 3-4MPH these days. With Hughes, Tomko, and (dare I say?) Kennedy looking sharp in AAA, might Joba be better off getting the kinks worked out where the games don't matter?
There's a lot of mileage on a really young arm there. I think this might be an example where his usage as a young pitcher creates a larger injury risk through his age 26 or age 27 season.
I think the bigger question here has to do with long-term potential. In the beginning of the year, Tampa Bay and Arizona were viewed as two franchises who had built their rosters the \"right\" way - infusing young talent instead of going after high priced free agents, all the while utilizing the draft effectively. Clearly, Tampa Bay has moved ahead of Arizona immensely this year, but can we expect some progress from Arizona in the coming years? Are Drew, Young, and Upton going to make the big leap forward that guys like Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria made, or is Arizona just working with inferior talent?
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