SB Nation User Blog: CraveCase

Bud Selig Interview

CraveCase — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:55:18 -0000

Did anyone watch or listen to Mike and Mike on ESPN this morning? Bud Selig was on and talked about the state of baseball. Two of the more interesting points he talked about was revenue sharing and Golic's protest to having the All-Star game deciding home-field advantage. I missed a majority of what he said about the All-Star game, but he did impress me in the idea that he believes baseball is starting to come out of dark times.

Comments/Questions?

Baserunning, and such...

CraveCase — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 02:51:09 -0000

During yesterday's game, they showed a graphic of the '85* Cards vs. the '08 Cards. Admittingly, I could not hear what they were saying because I was at a bar and the sound was muted, but the I think it made the point.

In detail, they pointed to the wide margin between the baserunning stats, or more specifically, the stolen base stats. Let me start with some numbers:

1985 (season total): 314 stolen bases, ranked 1st in NL

2008 (projected total): 64 stolen bases, ranked 12th (dead last) in NL

1985 Stolen Base Leader: Vince Coleman, 110 Total Stolen Bases

2008 Stolen Base Leader (as of 6/28): Cesar Izturis, 6 Stolen Bases

My question, where have all the speedsters gone? In my very non-intensive analysis of the current team, I think the management has foregone speed for power:

1985 Hitting Stats: .264/.336/.379, 87 HRs

2008 Hitting Stats (projected): .273/.350/.420, 162 HRs

Basically, I think we need speed. It's the only thing on the offensive side of the ball that is lacking. I know that's not the focus of many teams anymore, but I look at players like Jose Reyes and Joey Gathright from the Royals (who got two infield hits in one game off the Cardinals) as much bigger impacts than getting a long single, and then getting stuck onbase. Luckily the positions I believer we could upgrade at (2B/SS, LF/RF) have some options for speed.

OR we somehow get LaRussa and Oquendo to start sending some runners.

Speizio signed minor league deal with Braves

CraveCase — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:56:48 -0000

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/03/braves-sign-sco.html

How does this make sense? Is he in less trouble than we assumed? I agree that he needed to be released, but I pretty much assumed that the decision was a "of-course-we-release-him" move.

Cardinals' Cy Young

CraveCase — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:41:23 -0000

So this story
(http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/10/santana-would-c.html)
got me to go to
(http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/features/cy).
And it made me wonder "Who is the Cardinals' Cy Young of '07?"

Luckily the ESPN Cy Young Predictor had a formula (which you can find at the bottom of the page), and I ran it with all 25, yes, 25 pitchers that the Cardinals used at various points this season (this includes Spiezio and Miles, but limits players to while they pitched for the Cardinals [like Maroth]).

Here's the stats that I got for Cards only: [editor's note, by CraveCase] Correct WHIP

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	Wins	Losses	Saves	IP	ERA	WHIP	CYP
Izzy	4	0	32	65.33	2.48	1.07	126.80
Wainwright	14	12	0	202.00	3.70	1.40	100.56
Springer	8	1	0	66.00	2.18	0.91	72.17
Looper	12	12	0	175.00	4.94	1.34	56.47
Thompson	8	6	0	129.33	4.73	1.52	44.27
Franklin	4	4	1	80.00	3.04	1.01	39.61
Pineiro	6	4	0	63.67	3.96	1.27	38.70
Percival	3	0	0	40.00	1.80	0.85	35.22
Wellemeyer	3	2	0	63.67	3.11	1.27	31.62
Flores	3	0	1	55.00	4.25	1.56	28.97
Johnson	1	1	0	38.00	4.03	1.24	10.11
Jimenez	3	0	0	42.00	7.50	1.74	8.33
Wells	7	17	0	162.67	5.70	1.62	5.54
Cate	0	0	0	16.00	3.38	1.69	3.89
Hancock	0	1	0	12.67	3.55	1.50	0.79
Spiezio	0	0	0	1.00	0.00	1.00	0.56
Keisler	0	0	0	17.33	5.19	1.50	0.05
Falkenborg	0	1	0	18.67	4.82	1.61	-0.30
Miles	0	0	0	2.00	9.00	1.50	-0.89
Dove	0	0	0	3.00	15.00	2.00	-3.25
Carpenter	0	1	0	6.00	7.50	1.67	-3.42
Cavazos	0	0	0	20.00	10.35	2.15	-10.64
Mulder	0	3	0	11.00	12.27	2.64	-14.64
Reyes	2	14	0	107.33	6.04	1.41	-22.20
Maroth	0	5	0	38.00	10.66	2.32	-31.97

Now, I don't think the equation is perfect, but it does get the point across quite well. Izzy and Wainwright get top spots, while Reyes and Maroth are the losers (no big surprises). What do you all think? Does anything stick out to you all?

Poll

Cardinals' Cy Young for '07

Izzy

26 votes

Wainwright

43 votes

Looper

0 votes

Springer

2 votes

Franklin

2 votes

Thompson

1 votes

74 votes | Poll has closed

Start to the Second Half

CraveCase — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 19:25:48 -0000

Now I don't usually post. I'm usually just a reader, but I feel like I need to address the fact that Kip Wells is starting our second half tonight. DO the Cardinals not notice that their "effort" to get back on track is being completely messed up from the very beginning. This goes against any logic, sabermetrics, gut feelings, or common sense. I understand that the Cards don't have a prime selection of starting pitchers, but is Kip Wells honestly the best choice for starting a "comeback"?