SB Nation User Blog: westbrook

Postseason Surgery Likely for Grady

westbrook — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:01:25 -0000

Postseason Surgery Likely for Grady

Soloff said "there's a high index of suspicion" that Sizemore will need an operation at some point. Soloff, speaking before the last-place Indians hosted the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, said Sizemore will have to play with soreness in his elbow for the remainder of the season.

The Criticisms of CLE are the Reasons for COL's Success

westbrook — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:58:30 -0000

The Criticisms of CLE are the Reasons for COL's Success

The winning streak began only a few days after Clint Hurdle was fired as the Colorado manager {FIRE WEDGE JUST TO MAKE A CHANGE} and replaced by Jim Tracy. It was a pivotal point for the Rockies, Cook believes, because the players understood that they were responsible for Hurdle's exit {SEE! FIRE HIM!}. "A lot of us realized that it wasn't him that wasn't out there executing," Cook said.

Rockies' pitching has been nothing short of superb, surrendering four runs or less {HELLO, FAUSTO JEREMY REYES} during the entire winning streak. "I think we've been able to take the pressure off the hitters," Cook said. "A lot of games early in the year, we [in the rotation] were giving up two or three runs early, and the hitters were really not in a position to relax … Tulo [Troy Tulowitzki] was saying the other day, the clubhouse is a lot looser, and guys are expecting to win. {AS OPPOSED TO OUR GUYS WHO ARE SO TIGHTLY WOUND BY WEDGE THAT THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE APPETITES}"

[Cook's] session in front of a videotape machine with Rockies pitching coach Bob Apodaca illuminated the problem for him{WOAH, THEY MADE AN ADJUSTMENT}, however. Cook saw that just before he was driving forward in his delivery{OMG FAUSTO'S TOO DUMB TO NOTICE SOMETHING LIKE THAT}, he was leaning toward the plate, his body tilted forward slightly -- and because of this, his body was ahead of his arm in the synchronization of his mechanics. This was causing his front shoulder to turn open before his arm was in optimal position to throw, flattening out his sinker{FAUSTO!!}.

Cook made an adjustment in his bullpen session{A WHAT??}, staying upright rather than leaning, staying back long enough to create the necessary time for his arm to lock and load. Right away, he could see a difference; right away, there was a difference in performance. His ground ball ratio has increased by a factor of three {SEE, FAUSTO} since he made that adjustment, and his ERA is at 2.91 since.

Blue Jays Get Their Looch On

westbrook — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:07:06 -0000

Blue Jays Get Their Looch On

This link is allegedly to the story, but it seems to lead to nowhere as of now.

UPDATE (BREAKING!!!!!1): It now works. He's going to AAA to get some ABs, and it seems like the kind of thing where there's a date he expects to be called up by. It's for the minimum and the Rangers made an offer too. Maybe he wants to play with Scutaro, Inglett, Bullington and Tallet.

We Got Something for ST Scrub Wilson Valdez??!!

westbrook — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:37:41 -0000

We Got Something for ST Scrub Wilson Valdez??!!

Per Castro:
=== Valdez was sent to the Mets, who have multiple injuries in their infield, for a player to be named or cash. Valdez has been added to the Mets' 40-man roster and is reportedly en route to Citi Field.===

No Biting Nails, Fewer K's, More BBs

westbrook — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:26:21 -0000

No Biting Nails, Fewer K's, More BBs

Our machine is front page news on Yahoo... deservingly.

OF COURSE! It's the angle of the seating.

westbrook — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:23:16 -0000

OF COURSE! It's the angle of the seating.

"There are a couple ballparks out there that the ball just travels well. This might be one of them," New York's Mark Teixeira, who hit two of those home runs.

Fourteen of the home runs have been hit to right field, raising concern that there might be a wind tunnel in the $1.5 billion ballpark, which has wide, open concourses, as opposed to the narrow hallways in the original Yankee Stadium on the south side of 161st Street, which remains standing.

"Angle of the seating in the new stadium could have an effect on wind speed across the field," AccuWeather's Gina Cherundolo said on the company's Web site Monday. "The old Yankee Stadium had more stacked tiers and a large upper deck, acting like a solid wall, in effect, which would cause the wind to swirl more and be less concentrated.

"The new Yankee Stadium's tiers are less stacked, making a less sharp slope from the top of the stadium to the field. This shape could enable winds to blow across the field with less restriction. In addition, the slope of the seating would also lead to a 'downslope' effect in the field which, depending on wind direction, would tend to cause air to lift up in the right field."

Some really nice Indians pics I just came across on flickr: Link to the gallery (Cubs–Indians); the ...

westbrook — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:24:29 -0000

Some really nice Indians pics I just came across on flickr:
Link to the gallery (Cubs–Indians); the Marte pic is typical of a Marte pic.

Scout Thinks Crowe is Fastest in MLB

westbrook — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 02:35:56 -0000

Scout Thinks Crowe is Fastest in MLB

gonna try my own coding skills here since blockquoting doesn't work any more: Guess not Here we go, old fashioned style...
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[W]e asked a group of scouts to help us compile the five fastest men in the big leagues. Here's our top five:

4. Trevor Crowe (Indians): "You'd have a tough time convincing me he's not No. 1," said one scout.
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Also, in this column:
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Cliff Lee. The 2008 Cy Young winner is a free agent in seven months. But he had an ugly spring (46 hits in 21 2/3 innings), and he was a mess again Monday (5 IP, 10 H, 6 R). "He was awful this spring, but I chalked it up to spring training," said one scout. "He was better than that Monday, but not a whole lot. The common thread was, everything was middle-middle, and high all the time. It didn't matter what he threw. It was up, and it was out over the plate."
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March 21 - Indians v Dodgers Gamethread

westbrook — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:36:35 -0000

No Manny, but we get a Beard sighting.

Pretty good lineups on both sides, per Castro

INDIANS: CF Grady Sizemore, 2B Jamey Carroll, DH Travis Hafner, SS Jhonny Peralta, RF Ben Francisco, C Kelly Shoppach, 3B Tony Graffanino, LF Matt LaPorta, 1B Chris Gimenez. RHP Anthony Reyes.

Also available to pitch: LHP Jeremy Sowers, RHP Kirk Saarloos, RHP Vinnie Chulk, RHP Greg Aquino.

DODGERS: SS Rafael Furcal, 2B Orlando Hudson, C Russell Martin, 3B Casey Blake, 1B Doug Mientkiewicz, CF Juan Pierre, DH Valentino Pascucci, LF Mitch Jones, RF Jason Repko. RHP James McDonald.

Nice Story Regarding Team USA

westbrook — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:04:11 -0000

Nice Story Regarding Team USA

Brian McCann obviously has never been to the playoffs.