SB Nation - Jose Lima

Weekend Mug 11/15

Fatter than Joey — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:50:01 -0000

by Pat Sullivan - AP

This dude hates Spaghettio's, and hates that you love them.

Hello Kids!

I see your Regular Dad has dropped you off at your Weekend Dad's doorstep. Apparently Mr. Fancypants has better things to do, than keeping you kids up to date about the Milwaukee Brewers this weekend. I have no idea what happened to your Regular Dad, one can only guess... in any case, let me turn off the Carmen Electra workout tape, put on some fresh sweatpants, open up a can of Spaghettio's and tell you all about the Brewers.

One thing my therapist encourages me to do every morning, is to google Ned Yost, and then reassure myself that Ned Yost, or his evil offspring, Ned Yost IV, can no longer hurt me. I thought it was interesting that this quote from Ned Yost, was produced by the google engine.

The Atlanta Braves were in last place for years and years before I got there.

The fact that Yost didn't make the finalist stage, and that the Astros eventually hired Brad Mills, is probably evidence that someone in Houston can muster up enough brain activity to fog a mirror, contrary to previous reports of a flatlining front office.

Doug Melvin showed his own mirror fogging prowess by declining the option on Brewer souvenir generator Braden Looper. The Brewers will have to pay Looper $1M for the opportunity to decline his option, however they will save $5.5M in salary for 2010, and probably another $400K in lost baseballs. Looper is a type B free agent now, and while the Brewers could offer Looper arbitration, it is unlikely, since Looper stands to make as much money in the arbitration process as his declined option would have provided.

Bleacher Report thinks Melvin did the right thing in declining Looper's option, however argues that unless the Brewers dump Jeff Suppan, the Brewers will still suck at pitching.
Along the same lines, Rob Neyer snips TH, and rips Looper, and wonders why Melvin just can't DFA Bush, Parra and Suppan. (TH story)
FireDougMelvin.com reminds us, that while we put new Hefty bags on the windows on our double-wide by releasing Looper, we are still living in the trailer park.
Quick! Name the only 4 pitchers in the history of MLB that were able to give up 39 or more homeruns in under 200 IP. (Answer: Jose Lima 48/196.1; Eric Milton 40/186.1; Shawn Boskie 40/189.1; Braden Looper 39/194.2)
Quote from Braden Looper:

"I tried the best I can to get the ball down because that's my whole game"

In other Brewer News:

The Brewers passed on RyDo to get CarGo.
Former Brewer draftpick Andrew Bailey, went from TJ surgery to potential ROY winner
Is Edwin Jackson a good fit? Is he worth a Mat Gamel?
I did not know Ken Macha was 1st cousins with Hal Newhouser, I am guessing through marriage.
Deputy Braun is opening a grill, and scored his 2nd Silver Slugger award
Ben Sheets is awaiting offers from all 30 MLB teams.
Mark Mulder and Doug Melvin are talking
Seth McClung was interviewed about Twittering, and is generous with his High School.
Eric Gagne wants to pitch in MLB again... as a starter... he developed a cutter, which apparently is helping his batted balls adhere to the laws of physics.
What's dumber than signing Doug Davis? Answer: Getting into a bidding war for Doug Davis

In other MLB news:

Jack Wilson signed a 2 year deal with the Mariners. The Fielding Bible says Wilson is the best fielding SS in MLB. The Home & Garden Bible says Wilson is an above replacement yard gnome.
RJ Swindle signed a minor league deal with the Rays.
Justin Huber has a weekend dad in Japan
Carl Crawford is pissed beyond belief
Rafael Betancourt needs a new Regular Dad

Your Regular Dad is always making you take quizzes, where you have to do math, and are required to spell names correctly. What is wrong with him? -- Weekend Daddy just wants you to match up these Weekend Grannies with the crimes they committed, isn't that more fun?

This is generally the place in the Mug where Regular Dad generally wishes some (but usually not all) former Brewers a Happy Birthday. Instead of doing that, why don't we join the greatest Brewer of all-time, Sixto Lezcano, in wishing young Jimmy Salladay a happy birthday.

A gathering of Angels appeared above my head
They sang to me this song of hope and this is what they said:
Weekend Dad is greater than Regular Dad

Dodgers Should Know When To Walk Away, Know When To Run From Padilla

Eric Stephen — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:18:48 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

Vicente Padilla back for 2010? No thanks.

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I don't know what Vicente Padilla news was more troubling yesterday: that he was accidentally shot yesterday in a hunting accident, or that the Dodgers want him back. Look, don't get me wrong, Padilla pitched wonderfully for the Dodgers -- well, at least until Game 5 of the NLCS. Including the playoffs, Padilla pitched much better for the Dodgers than he did at any point with the Rangers:

Team	Years	G	IP	HR/9	BB/9	K/9	ERA	FIP	WHIP	ERA+
Rangers	2006-2009	103	599.1	1.13	3.41	6.20	4.90	4.75	1.475	92
Dodgers	2009	11	56.2	1.11	2.54	8.10	3.34	3.80	1.129	125

Padilla's strikeout rate had plummeted the past few years with the Rangers, from 6.7 in 2007 to 5.9, to 4.9. Then it spiked with the Dodgers to 8.1. Is the difference between the two leagues really that great? Bringing Padilla back smacks of Jose Lima all over again. After 2004, the arbitration rules were different and actually helped prevent Lima's return after his out-of-nowhere performance. Bringing Lima back wasn't a good idea then -- he wasn't good for four years prior to joining the Dodgers, and his final 36 starts after leaving produced a 7.26 ERA, suggesting his performance in LA was a fluke -- and bringing back Padilla for 2010 isn't a good idea now.

Before we get swayed by 11 games, we should remember that upon his release by Texas, his Ranger teammates openly applauded their general manager for getting rid of Padilla. They hated him. Did Padilla's attitude change with his move to the Dodgers? Sure it did! He was on his best behavior because he was on a contract drive. Using the Manny Ramirez Principle, the Dodgers should only bring someone with a checkered past back if his two months with the club produced Hall of Fame-type numbers. Padilla was good, but he wasn't that good.

As for yesterday's shooting, that really doesn't concern me, at least for now. Padilla seems to be fine, according to his agent, so there aren't health concerns. This doesn't appear to be another Plaxico Burress situation, at least on the surface, so there aren't likely to be any legal concerns.

For what it's worth, the 2010 Bill James Handbook projects Padilla in 2010 to have a 4.66 ERA and 4.73 FIP. We know the Dodgers will likely sign at least one starting pitcher this offseason. Unless the offer is a one-year contract for a few million bucks, perhaps with some incentives built in, the Dodgers should stay away from the Vicente Padilla sweepstakes. Otherwise, he is a bad gamble.

Point/Counterpoint: Astros Managerial Search*

davoag — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:00:44 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Acta, obviously dejected he won't be an Astro

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*The part of Devil's Advocate will be played by Davo.

Is it really that bad that the Astros lost out on Manny Acta?

We've gone over his resume a ton, but let's talk about this one little thing: .385.

That's his winning percentage as a major league manager. No Cleveland manager has ever been hired with a career winning percentage that low, according to Chris Jaffe over at THT. The Indians have only been around since, oh, 1901 or so. The Astros have been around since '62, but still managed to hire someone with a worse record than Acta. That would be Preston Gomez in 1971. Gomez was coming off a disastrous four-year stretch as the skipper of the San Diego Padres.

But, wait, you say...Acta was sabotaged by a terrible Nationals team! He wasn't given a chance to win and did what he could with a bad product. I submit to you this man. Pena not only took a bad Royals team over .500 for the first time since 1994, he did it with Jose Lima playing a prominent role. Jose "Casa Ole" Lima! That the team lost 100 games the next season or that Pena hasn't gotten a whiff of another job opportunity since shows something, right?

Okay, so you still think losing Acta was a big real, right? Because Acta is this informed individual who uses advanced stats and doesn't like small ball. Let me posit another hypothesis: what if the only reason you like Acta's managerial style so much is because he's allowed you to see it? Look at the interviews he's done, how candid he's been with his quotes and how much information is out there on his process. Doesn't that strike you as odd? It's almost like he's running a campaign....go look on Google right now for Brad Mills. Do it, I'll wait...

What did you find? Not a whole lot. The guy's been managing forever in the minors, has been a bench coach on one of the best, smartest run teams of this decade and we have no quotes about his style? No interviews detailing his usage of splits or UZR numbers? What if Acta is just a better self-promoter? What if our whole perception of him is exactly what he intends us to see and is figment of our collective imaginations?

Now you've gone too far, you say. I probably did, yes. But it still strikes me as odd that Acta is as open as he's been about everything. Didn't he have a blog too at some point this season? Was I dreaming that? It should be considered is all. Do we want our local skipper to have a better relationship with Justice than with Drayton?

So what about Garner then? He's reliable, he's been tested. In fact, he's the only manager to ever get the Astros to the World Series. That's got to count for something, right? Except that he was fired once by this same team. The same team that featured Roy Oswalt, Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman. Those guys are the tone-setters and they know Garner. I'd argue that this is a bad thing, but is it? The real problem is that Garner didn't distinguish himself as a tactician back then, making an impact more with his calming influence on the club. This current team needs more than an emotional impact, though. They need new thinking.

Don't feel too bad for Ed, Tal and Drayton. So they have to go to their second choice. It's not that bad. Corporations do it all the time. You think ESPN doesn't turn down their top choice for editorial gigs if they ask for more money? The guy just behind you on the pile can do the job about as well as you for the pay we're offering. How is that a bad decision? Plus, will Mills or Garner really be 'managing for their job' if they get just a two-year deal? Shouldn't they always be managing that way? Winning is what we want, it's what the players want, it's what Drayton wants. Why should his employee not want that same thing right away? Certainly, I'm not advocating firing someone before those two years are up, but there should be some urgency there, regardless if they have a contract or not.

Sure, Acta would have been a nice hire, but him going to Cleveland isn't the worst thing in the world. I have thought all kinds of unkind things about Drayton and the front office's lack of commitment to winning. Lately, it's the draft and international free agent spending that gets me the most. Still, I just don't see this as the case with Acta. Sure, everyone liked him, but obviously Drayton didn't like him enough. I'm sure Wade loved C.C. last offseason too, but you didn't see McLane backing up the wheelbarrow for Sabathia. Find me two starting pitchers and a good hitter for the left side of the infield and this offseason will be considered a success.

Padilla, Dodgers Finish Sweep of Cardinals

Eric Stephen — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:10:40 -0000

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

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NLDS: Cardinals vs. Dodgers
Dodgers Win Series 3-0
Game 1	Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3
Game 2	Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2
Game 3	Dodgers 5, Cardinals 1

What better place to celebrate winning a division series than in front of The Greatest Fans in Baseball™? The Dodgers finished off the Cardinals, winning 5-1 to sweep the series, advancing to their second straight National League Championship Series.

Vicente Padilla, whose release prompted cheers from teammates in Texas, induced a different kind of cheer tonight, a congratulatory one from his Dodger teammates. When he was acquired in August, I don't even think the Dodgers expected Padilla to deliver like this. Let, there he was, etching his name into Dodger lore. Padilla was sharp all night, allowing just four hits and a walk in his seven scoreless innings. Padilla's game was the 18th in Dodger postseason history to pitch seven or more scoreless innings, and the first since Jose Lima in 2004.

Padilla, with just four wins as a Dodger this season (he was acquired on August 17), has the lowest seasonal win total by any winning Dodger starter in the postseason, narrowly beating the five wins by Roger Craig in 1955 (Craig won Game 5 that year).

The Dodgers battered Cards' starter Joel Pineiro with four singles, two doubles, and a home run, scoring four runs in his short four innings of work. On the night, the Dodgers scored all their runs with two outs:

Manny Ramirez laced a double in the first inning to score Matt Kemp
Andre Ethier hit a two-run home run in the third inning scoring Rafael Furcal
Furcal singled home Ronnie Belliard in the fourth inning
Manny Ramirez singled home Ethier in the seventh inning

Ethier and Manny were the catalysts tonight, each with three hits. Ethier finished a single short of the cycle, and Manny included two doubles among his three knocks. Furcal added two hits of his own. Furcal and Ethier each had six hits in the three-game series.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals struggled again with runners in scoring position, that is, when they had the opportunity. The Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning, but left them stranded. The Cardinals had one hit in eight at-bats with RISP (an Albert Pujols RBI single in the eighth inning), bringing their total for the series to just four hits in 30 at-bats.

The Dodgers play the winner of the Rockies-Phillies series beginning Thursday at Dodger Stadium. But there will plenty of time to dissect that matchup later. Tonight, we celebrate!

WP - Vicente Padilla (1-0): 7 IP, 4 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

LP - Joel Pineiro (0-1): 4 IP, 7 hits, 4 runs, 3 strikeouts

Box Score

2009 Dodgers Checklist
	Make The Playoffs
	Win National League West
	Best Record in the NL
	Win NLDS
	Win NL Pennant
	Win World Series

Vicente Padilla says hi to Jose Lima

Phil Gurnee — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:40:51 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

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Many people are comparing what Vicente Padilla did today to what Jose Lima did back in 2004, and while they both beat the Cardinals in a Division series, I consider what Padilla did today much more impressive. Jose Lima was facing a team who had a 2-0 game lead in the Division series, and since no team had ever come back from a 0 - 2 deficit in a division series was not feeling much pressure. Plus Lima pitched his gem in front of 55,000 screaming Dodger fans that he fed off of.

Padilla had to pitch his game against a team who was down 2 - 0 in the series with their backs to the wall. He had to pitch on the road with 55,000 Cardinal fans rooting against him. Those were the differences.

The similarities were how easy they shut down an excellent offensive team. How expectations were zip but they shocked Dodger and baseball fans everywhere. Lima was lucky to make the team out of the bullpen when the season started and then became a key part of the rotation. Padilla was so despised by Texas management they cut him loose and ate the rest of his 12, 000,000 salary. His teammates congratulated Texas management for getting rid of him. No one was very interested in him but the Dodgers gave him a shot because Bowa/Wolf felt he could help this team.

Bloggers were dubious but Padilla has been huge from the moment he joined the rotation. His numbers were nothing extra - ordinary but unlike Sherrill and Garland he cost us nothing and gave us everything. He took the ball every four days and did his job every four days, however many considered his job done when the season ended. In a bit of surprise Joe Torre decided that Padilla was the man for the job for game three in the Division series. Not Billingsley, Not Garland but the man who had been cut loose by a team desperate for pitching and willing to eat millions to make sure he never toed the rubber for their team again. Rangers loss, Dodgers gain.

And man for the job he was. Welcome to Dodger lore Mr. Padilla, Jose Lima will enjoy your company.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:07:39 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

Mike Cameron hit two home runs last night, but it was this diving attempt that drew Seth McClung's attention.

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Some things to read while making Baba Ganoush.

I'm not sure if I'm terrible luck (as tristarscoop suggested), or if I just have terrible timing, but last night was my fourth Brewer game of 2009, and I've now witnessed three terrible, ugly losses and a blown save. Barring something unforeseen, I'm done attending Brewer games for 2009, so if you have tickets for the rest of the homestand I won't be there to ruin your luck.

It took all of half an inning for me to remember why obnoxious Cub fans usually inspire me to stay away from Brewers-Cubs series. I tweeted a few anecdotes and some other observations from last night's game, but this one was the real tone-setter:

Dumbass behind me: "who's pitching?" Guy next to him: "brandon looper."

Shortly after that, we moved down a few seats to get out of the direct line of stupid. Shortly after that, the Brewers were down 7-0 and the Cub fans' ability to celebrate a meaningless victory was only paralleled by their ability to unintentionally douse each other in beer while doing so. I'll be watching tonight's game from my couch, where I'm much less likely to drift off into reconsidering homicide as a method of population control.

Of course, by allowing back-to-back home runs in the second inning, Braden Looper allowed me to see history, setting a new franchise record by allowing 37 home runs in a single season. Looper probably still has two more starts to expand his lead. Wezen-Ball has a list of franchise records set this season across baseball. Circling the Bases ranked Looper #62 among the 111 players who could be free agents this offseason.

Mike Cameron was the only Brewer to have a really good night last night. His two home runs were #20 and 21 on the season, giving him four consecutive seasons (and eight overall) with at least 20. Seth McClung also noted his diving attempted catch late in the game, down 7-1 in the waning moments of a contract year.

Speaking of McClung, congratulations to him on making it back into a big league game this season. Josh Butler also made his major league debut last night and hit a batter, sending Plunk Everyone into a flurry of activity.

With the Cardinals' win last night, the Brewers were actually eliminated from contention in the NL Central. They've still got the slimmest of outside chances for the Wild Card, but that elimination number is down to two.

Perhaps the biggest news in baseball yesterday was the Astros' decision to fire Cecil Cooper (FanShot). I was in the Fan Shop at Miller Park when I heard the news, and I misheard it the first time: I thought the Astros had fired GM Ed Wade, and Jose de Jesus Ortiz seems to agree that it would have been the more logical move.

Here's the Brewer tie in: Gordon Edes of Yahoo thinks Cooper won't be the only manager fired in the coming months, but says Ken Macha is probably safe. Meanwhile, Willie Randolph can't wait to get out of Milwaukee: within hours of Cooper being fired, he expressed in the job.

Doug Melvin picks really strange things to be upset about sometimes. As if he didn't have enough to be upset about lately, with the Brewers threatening to regress to below .500, he's on a rant about the expanded roster system (FanShot). Really? This is how Melvin spent his time yesterday? Maybe the FireDougMelvin.com domain name is going to pay off for SgtClueLs after all.

On Power Rankings and whatnot:

The Hardball Times has the Brewers at #19.
Andy Seiler's 2010 draft projections have the Brewers picking 14th.

Around baseball:

Cubs: Designated pitcher Thomas Diamond for assignment.
Rangers: Kevin Millwood clinched a vesting option last night that will pay him $12 million next season.

Meanwhile, a recent benching is costing Orlando Hudson more money every day. Hudson has an incentive in his contract paying him $10,000 per plate appearance, and it's already nearly doubled the value of his contract this season.

Are the Pirates' players apathetic about doing the things they need to do to develop? Via MLB FanHouse, I found this story suggesting the Pirates are disappointed by many of their players' reluctance to play winter ball this offseason.

Jose Lima sees Braden Looper's 37 home runs and raises him ten more: On this day in 2000, Lima allowed his 47th home run, setting a new National League single season record. The Astros lost the game, 12-5.

Happy birthday today to Mike Matheny, who appeared in 445 games as a Brewer and turns 39, and to Jeffrey Leonard, who spent half the 1988 season with the Crew and turns 54.

Drink up.

The Horror of American League Parks

Eric Stephen — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:00:20 -0000

More photos » by Paul Beaty - AP

U.S. Cellular Field is one of three AL parks the Dodgers will try to conquer this month.

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Since the beginning of the 2005 season, the Dodgers have played 33 games in American League ballparks. They have won only five of those games. They haven't been terribly unlucky either. They have scored 100 runs (3.03 per game) and given up 190 (5.76 per game), so their pythagorean record is only two games better, at 7-26. They have only had five one-run games, and they've lost them all.

They have been victimized by a vengeful Jose Lima, ran into Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano at their peaks in Minnesota, been bested by Mark Buehrle on the South Side, had their asses handed to them by Roy Halladay north of the border, lost to former farmhand Edwin Jackson in St. Petersburg, and been demonized by many Angels in Anaheim.

Part of the reason for this awful stretch has been poor starting pitching. In those 33 fateful games, Dodger starting pitchers have lasted 5.74 innings per start, which is decent enough, but they have a 5.61 ERA and a 1.468 WHIP.

The bigger problem is the Dodgers' utter inability to fill the designated hitter role with any production. Over this dreadful period, Dodger designated hitters are "hitting" .203/.266/.289, with one home run (by Luis Gonzalez) in 33 games. The chief culprit has been Olmedo Saenz, who has started 14 of the 33 games at DH, but he has been joined by such luminaries as Juan Pierre, Marlon Anderson, Antonio Perez, Kenny Lofton, Mark Sweeney, and Andruw Jones.

Here's a quick rundown the Dodgers' last 11 interleague road series.

Year	Opponent	W	L	Comment
2008	Detroit	0	3	The low point of 2008; the Kershaw rain start
2008	Angels	1	2	At least they won one
2007	Tampa Bay	1	2	The revenge of Edwin Jackson
2007	Toronto	2	1	Only series win; Chad Billingsley rejoined the rotation for good
2007	Angels	0	3	Dodgers scored 4 runs in 3 games
2006	Angels	1	2	This snapped a 15-game AL road losing streak
2006	Minnesota	0	3	Johan and the peak of Liriano
2006	Oakland	0	3	Included a 17-inning loss
2005	Angels	0	3	Dodger starters went 7 each game; still got swept
2005	White Sox	0	3	Two last-AB wins for Chicago, including a 4-run 9th off Brazoban
2005	Royals	0	3	The Lima Game II
Totals		5	28	The Dodgers are due

This year's AL gauntlet takes the Dodgers to Texas and Anaheim during the next two weekends, followed by Chicago to play the White Sox from June 23-25. But this year's Dodger team has been the best team in baseball so far. They have met just about every challenge thus far, so how about some wins in an AL park, huh?

Lima Time

R.J. Anderson — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:00:06 -0000

Random SQL fact: Brandon Backe gave up 36 homeruns this season. That's more than Milton Bradley and Michael Young hit combined last season. Yet, it's not even the worst gopherball season since 2000. Would you believe that five pitchers have given up more than 40? Here's a look:

Jose Lima 2000 48 HRA
Jamie Moyer 2004 44 HRA
Eric Milton 2004 PHI 43 HRA
Ramon Ortiz 2002 40 HRA
Eric Milton 2005 40 HRA

I find myself forgetting just how bad Jose Lima was at times, then I remember this chart from a Baseball Prospectus article a few years ago, and it all makes sense again: