csiems
Apr 20, 2008 Feb 24, 2012 13 86
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Mike Curto Needs Photos of Rainiers Managers Arguing
Get on it, folks.
I did some checking and found out that Ackley's first-place vote (and one of Pineda's second-place votes) came from Charley Walters, a columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He hold the distinction of being the only newspaper writer I know who actually pitched in the major leagues.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thehotstoneleague/2016768603_catching_up_with_jack_zdurienc.html?syndication=rss
Bill James Baseball Analyst Archives Online
The full run of Bill James' Baseball Analyst are available online for free in PDF format. These haven't been available for 20 years.
And It's Even on a Tuesday!
To make room for Rivera on 40-man roster, Brewers designate RHP Sean Green for assignment. Was at AAA Nashville.
Macklemore on KEXP and NPR
Who knew he had other songs? Thanks NPR.
about 1 year ago
csiems
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A Headline Designed to Bait Jeff and/or Jane Austen
Per MLB Trade Rumors:
"The Rockies have acquired Clayton Mortensen from the Athletics for minor league righty Ethan Hollingsworth according to the team's Twitter feed."
Indians Prospect Insider on M's Newest Jose Flores
Right-handed pitcher Jose Flores was nowhere close to consideration as a high level prospect and probably would not have even made the Indians Top 50 listing.
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* As for Flores, boy, what an out of nowhere pick that was by the Mariners. It is not like he is a big time power pitcher or a guy with some nasty secondary stuff. In the Parallel League this fall his fastball sat at 90-92 MPH and topped out at 94 MPH, and neither of his secondary offerings are considered anything more than average pitches now and in the future. He has nice size (he's thicker and weights more than the 6'3" 185 pounds he is listed at) and he is a strike thrower, but are you telling me the Mariners could not find such a player in the Rule 5 Draft who pitched in the upper levels of the minors last year? It’s just an odd pick as he isn't even one of the Indians' top relief prospects and I even had him as a bubble guy at High-A Kinston going into 2011 because of so much pitching depth in the Indians’ lower levels of their system.
* So where did the Mariners interest in Flores come from? Well, like every team does, they scouted him and all the Indians players all season, but they got a long look at him and the rest of the Low-A Lake County team during the Midwest League Championship Series in September. The Mariners front office was present for most of the championship series since Lake County’s opponent the Clinton Lumberkings are the Mariners Low-A affiliate. Apparently the front office saw something in him they liked even though he was wild in his playoff appearances against Clinton.
* Flores is a very inexperienced pitcher having pitched in just 79 games and throwing only 156.0 innings in five minor league seasons. He has never pitched above Low-A and has never pitched a full season (he joined Lake County last year midseason). Unless a trade is worked out, Flores will almost certainly be back with the Indians.
Workout day. I run back in from the field to get sunglasses. Locker room completely empty except Ichiro stretching on the floor and his translator sitting on the chair beside him. Sow we make small talk, and I ask him where he lives in Seattle because I lived in the suburbs.
Well, I had barely got the last word out when Ichiro says something in Japanse. Then his translator turns to me, deadpanned and straight-faced and says, "I’m going to mess with your house." The way he said it was malicious, and Ichiro is on the floor dying laughing like it was the funniest thing ever. I was just like, "OK, I’ll see you guys out there." I didn’t know what to say. It was weird.
--Jason Bay, "Two Days I'll Never Forget"
Did tRA just get a shout out?
Nick Piecoro wrote an interesting article on Max Scherzer and his use of advanced statistics that is worth a read. An excerpt:
"As such, he [Scherzer] values the pitching statistics that take fielding out of the equation and recently has become particularly interested in a stat called tERA, which assigns values to every batted ball based on trajectory, velocity and location. He also has taken time to examine his Pitch-f/x data, the information drawn from cameras that trace every pitch thrown in every big-league game."
Correct me if I am wrong, but is there such thing as tERA? Is he in fact talking about tRA? If so, congrats Matt and Graham!
Zduriencik’s Pitcher
by csiems on Aug 2, 2009 3:29 PM EDT
on Lookout Landing
Last week, Pro Ball NW asked the question of what characterizes "Zduriencik's player"--i.e. what player types has the Mariners' GM been targeting in trades? For hitters, the answer is easy: lefty sluggers, good defense, advanced strike-zone judgment, etc. For pitchers, however, Zduriencik has been a little harder to peg--there isn't a lot of similarity between David Aardsma, Ian Snell, and Jason Vargas.*
In my estimation, there are at least three groups of pitchers that Zduriencik has been picking up:**High Velocity Pitchers with Height Issues:
Mauricio Robles, LHP, Age: 205, 5'10"; ~91.0 FBv
Ian Snell, RHP, Age: 27, Height: 5'11"; 92.3 FBv
High Velocity Pitchers with Control Issues:
Maikel Cleto, RHP, Age: 20, Height: 6'3"; ~94.0 FBv
David Aardsma, RHP, Age: 27, Height: 6'5"; 94.0 FBv
Dan Cortes, RHP, Age: 22, Height: 6'5"; ~94.0 FBv
High Probability, Low Velocity Lefties:
Derrick Saito, LHP, Age: 21, Height: 5'9"; ~88.0 FBv
Jason Vargas, LHP, Age: 26, Height: 6'0"; 88.2 FBv
Garrett Olson, LHP, Age: 25, Height: 6'1"; 88.8 FBv
Luke French, LHP, Age: 23, Height: 6'4"; 87.2 FBv
If the average scout's ideal pitcher is 6'4" with a 92mph or better fastball and pinpoint control, all of Jack's guys have a fatal flaw and were probably undervalued by their previous owners. Not all of these guys were bought cheaply, however.
Out of the three groups, the "High Velocity Pitchers with Height Issues" was the most expensive--Robles and Snell were both likely the centerpieces of their respective deals in Zduriencik's mind and dictated what he was willing to give up for them (Wasburn and Clement/Cedeno respectively).
The "High Velocity Pitchers with Control Issues" group came surprisingly cheaply--Aardsma and Cleto especially. Perhaps enough GM's are getting tired of waiting for their "live arms" to develop major league control.
Finally, the "High Probability, Low Velocity Lefties" group seems the most interesting, as it is probably undervalued by most GM's. The Padres found out that you cannot field an entire rotation of guys known for "pitchability," but the lefties sure as hell are valuable when filling out those four and five-slots/long-relief roles in the bullpen.
Overall, I am glad that Zduriencik has not collected just one type of pitcher. He has brought guys with very different skill sets that are balanced between upside and probability. I do not know anything about building a major league rotation, but putting together a diverse portfolio of pitchers like this seems to be an effective way to proceed.
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Brad Nelson (Arrow-That-Doesn't-Mean-Anything-Anymore) Free Agency
by csiems on May 15, 2009 2:29 PM EDT
on Lookout Landing
Link at Sportsbubbler.com
My understanding is there are at least 4 teams interested in signing Brad. They'll decide sometime on Friday which team. Don't be surprised if he ends up on the West Coast.
Ussmariner.com-approved Brad Nelson is available for free agency. I don't know about you all, but I think this team could use a left-handed bat with power who can play the outfield. I am sure there will be some interest from other teams, but the Mariners can certainly offer him a bench spot with a chance to play his way into a full-time role fairly quickly.
Let's hope we are one of the four teams interested.
Anymore?
by csiems on May 27, 2008 6:45 PM EDT
on Lookout Landing
From USA Today:
"It's not a real good feeling knowing there's a target on our back," McLaren said Monday in a telephone interview. "I don't even read the computer anymore. Those blogs will eat you up, no matter what."
"My God, we know we're better than this (18-33). But I don't make excuses. I accept it. I've always been a fighter, and I will keep on fighting."
I assume that "anymore" means "since I've been a coach," and "I don't make excuses" means, "It's the players' fault."
Where Can I Find Swinging Strike Rates?
by csiems on May 7, 2008 6:39 PM EDT
on Lookout Landing
By the way, I might've been too quick to call Miguel Batista a liar. Ever since he "figured something out," he's put up a staggering swinging strike rate of 23% 16% (three starts), versus 13% a year ago and just 9% over his first four starts of 2008.
Can someone point me towards a database that tracks swinging strike rates for pitchers? Does such a thing exist? If not, how does one find the information to calculate this statistics like in the post above?
I apologize in advance if this is the wrong forum in which to bring this up.
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