All-Star Lineups through Week 11

The races are getting down to the wire, with voting only open through June 28.

AL
C Jorge Posada (2, Rodriguez)
1B (ha) David Ortiz (1)
2B B.J. Upton (4, Polanco)
3B Alex Rodriguez (1)
SS Derek Jeter (1)
OF Magglio Ordonez (4, Guerrero)
OF Ichiro Suzuki (3, M. Ramirez)
OF Vladimir Guerrero (1, Suzuki)
SP Dan Haren
RP J.J. Putz

NL
C Russell Martin (1)
1B Prince Fielder (1)
2B Chase Utley (1)
3B Miguel Cabrera (2, Wright)
SS Jose Reyes (1)
OF Matt Holliday (7, Beltran)
OF Barry Bonds (4, Griffey)
OF Aaron Rowand (>15, Soriano)
SP Jake Peavy
RP Takashi Saito

PAP

Also, taking a look at the Pitcher Abuse Points report, we see again that the Giants are running their rotation into the ground.

6. Barry Zito
8. Matt Cain
9. Matt Morris
13. Noah Lowry

Is this the fault of Dave Righetti, the pitching coach who has been with San Francisco for several years, or Bruce Bochy, who arrived in the offseason? Part of the problem may be the Giant bullpen - it ranks 20th in WXRL.

By the way, the #1 pitcher on the Pitcher Abuse Points report, A.J. Burnett, had to leave yesterday's game due to a shoulder strain.

That's Nasty! (Week of June 11)

I'm going to be in Puerto Rico for a week starting tomorrow, so let's go ahead and crown Justin Verlander as this week's nasty pitcher. His line yesterday against the Brew Crew:

IP: 9
H: 0
R: 0
BB: 4
SO: 12
GmSc: 95

That's Nasty! (Week of June 4)

Special extended edition of That's Nasty! this week to give credit (and hell) to several pitchers. First off, the best performance of the week was turned in by Jon Lieber on Saturday against the Royals. His line:

IP: 9
H: 3
R: 0
BB: 0
SO: 11
GmSc: 92

Just dominant. Two singles and a double allowed for the whole game, with 11 strikeouts mixed in. Also of note, C.C. Sabathia had the best start of the day on both days he pitched, Tuesday and Sunday.

On the other side of things, three pitchers turned in outings that had a GameScore of less than 10: Roy Halladay (6), Tom Glavine (5), and Kameron Loe (4). Loe's line on Thursday against the Tigers:

IP: 2.2
H: 9
R: 9
BB: 1
SO: 1

All-Star Lineups through Week 10

Starting this week, I'll give each player's pole position in the All-Star balloting race, followed by the leading vote-getter at their position.

AL
C Jorge Posada (4, F. Rodriguez*)
1B Mark Teixeira (>5, Ortiz)
2B B.J. Upton (5, Cano)
3B Alex Rodriguez (1)
SS Derek Jeter (1)
OF Magglio Ordonez (5, Guerrero)
OF Vladimir Guerrero (1, M. Ramirez)
OF Grady Sizemore (6, Ichiro)
SP Dan Haren
RP J.J. Putz

NL
C Russell Martin (1)
1B Prince Fielder (2, Pujols)
2B Chase Utley (1)
3B Miguel Cabrera (2, Wright)
SS Hanley Ramirez (>5, Reyes)
OF Matt Holliday (8, Beltran)
OF Barry Bonds (4, Griffey)
OF Aaron Rowand (>15, Soriano)
SP Jake Peavy
RP Rafael Soriano

*Fucking Ivan Rodriguez. Makes the damn All-Star team every year even though he doesn't deserve it. At least Mike Piazza's not on the radar this year (yet).

Braves Update

Alfonso Soriano hit three home runs against the Braves last night. Lance Cormier's first two starts have been disastrous, both against Chicago...8 ER in 4 IP last week, 5 ER in 3.2 IP this week. Ugh. This was supposed to be the rock at the back of our rotation? Is Cormier looking to become the latest incarnation of Mark Redman?

The Braves selected Jason Heyward, a power-hitting, toolsy outfielder from a Georgia high school, as their first pick in the draft. Both BA and BP had nothing but positive things to say about the pick. Our sandwich pick, Jonathan Gilmore, is also projected as a raw power hitter.

UNC players selected:
Josh Horton, #90, Athletics
Luke Putkonen, #121, Tigers
Andrew Carignan, #180, Athletics
Reid Fronk, #215, Devil Rays
Benji Johnson, #528, Braves
Robert Woodard, #627, Padres

That's Nasty! (Week of May 28)

Joe Blanton beat the Twins on Saturday this week 1-0. His line:

IP 9
H 3
BB 0
R 0
SO 6
GmSc 87

Blanton needed 108 pitches to complete the game in 1 hour and 49 minutes. The three hits allowed were all singles.

All-Suck Lineups through Week 9

AL
C Jason Kendall
1B Aubrey Huff
2B Erick Aybar
3B Joe Crede
SS Ben Zobrist
OF Nelson Cruz
OF Jay Gibbons
OF Corey Patterson
SP Jeff Weaver
RP B.J. Ryan

NL
C Yorvit Torrealba
1B Rich Aurilia
2B Jamey Carroll
3B Alberto Callaspo
SS Omar Vizquel
OF Ryan Langerhans
OF Kory Casto
OF Steve Finley
SP Mark Redman
RP Jorge Julio

All-Star Lineups through Week 9

AL
C Jorge Posada
1B Kevin Youkilis
2B Brian Roberts
3B Alex Rodriguez
SS Jhonny Peralta
OF Magglio Ordonez
OF Vladimir Guerrero
OF Grady Sizemore
SP Dan Haren
RP Al Reyes

NL
C Russell Martin
1B Prince Fielder
2B Dan Uggla
3B Miguel Cabrera
SS Hanley Ramirez
OF Barry Bonds
OF Matt Holliday
OF Carlos Beltran
SP Jake Peavy
RP Takashi Saito

All-Suck Lineups through Week 8

AL
C Jason Kendall
1B Aubrey Huff
2B Erick Aybar
3B Chone Figgins
SS Ben Zobrist
OF Nelson Cruz
OF Emil Brown
OF Jay Gibbons
SP Jeff Weaver
RP B.J. Ryan

NL
C Yorvit Torrealba
1B Rich Aurilia
2B Jamey Carroll
3B Tony Graffanino
SS Adam Everett
OF Ryan Langerhans (Atlanta Model)
OF Kory Casto
OF Steve Finley
SP Mark Redman
RP Jorge Julio

All-Star Lineups through Week 8

AL
C Jorge Posada
1B Kevin Youkilis
2B B.J. Upton
3B Alex Rodriguez
SS Derek Jeter
OF Magglio Ordonez
OF Vladimir Guerrero
OF Ichiro
SP Dan Haren
RP Al Reyes

NL
C Russell Martin
1B Todd Helton
2B Chase Utley
3B Chipper Jones
SS Hanley Ramirez
OF Barry Bonds
OF Matt Holliday
OF Carlos Beltran
SP Jake Peavy
RP Takashi Saito

That's Nasty! (Week of May 21)

Isn't it funny how a lot of the best pitching performances are on Sundays? This Sunday, we had Jake Peavy, the best pitcher in baseball, going against the Brewers, who started off hot (24-10) but are in a bit of a tailspin right now, having lost 11 of their last 14 games, including Sunday's. The NL Central is so bad that they haven't lost the division lead yet, though. Anyway, Peavy's line:

7 IP
2 H
1 BB
0 R
8 K
GmSc 80

Just stellar. The two hits were a leadoff Tony Gwynn, Jr. single in the second (Peavy got two flyouts and a strikeout to follow), and a Craig Counsell leadoff single in the sixth (Suppan, trying to bunt him over, ended up bunting into a double play. Whoops.) Of Peavy's 105 pitches, 71 were thrown for strikes. Heath Bell came in to pitch a perfect eighth, including two strikeouts, and Trevor Hoffman "earned" the "save" to protect Peavy's win, 3-0.

NBA Wrap-up

With the NBA season winding down (ie, the Spurs looking far superior to all of their remaining opponents) lets look back on the predictions I made in October:
East Surprise
+Milwaukee - um, oops?, that was a poor season from the Bucks, but hopefully they can continue to improve and add the right pieces in the draft
-Miami - this was pretty much on the nose, I didn't say they'd suck, but they wouldn't do well to defend their title, playing in the 2nd worst division in the East (games against the magic, bobcats, hawks) they only had the 5th best record in the East and were promptly swept out of the playoffs in the first round, they need to get younger soon
Champ: Chicago - close, maybe they'll make the jump next year

West Surprise
+Houston - well, they had home court in the playoffs, but they should have done better in the playoffs
-NOK - this was pretty much correct as well, CP3 couldn't will them into the playoffs, but they were closer to the playoffs than to Mr. Oden
Champ: SA - pretty much right on, not that I've enjoyed how its happened, I'd have preferred to see the titanic clashes between the Mavs, Suns, and Spurs, throw in an upstart like the Jazz and it might have been a little fun, oh well, we'll have to wait til next year

on a side note, the Bobcats will be drafting 8th, so I will be thinking Corey Brewer thoughts will in CO

Braves bits

Mark Redman's ass got sacked!

And Kelly Johnson's getting married!

Tampa Bay Devil Rays, On the Clock

From BA, Devil Rays scouting director R.J. Harrison has confirmed that the club's top three choices are David Price (LHP, Vanderbilt), Matt Wieters (C, Georgia Tech), and Josh Vitters (3B, Cypress [Calif.] High). The club is expected to draft one of the three.

That's Nasty! (Week of May 14)

Well, we had a few contenders this week, including Jason Bergmann taking a no-hitter into the eighth against the Braves (Brian McCann ended the bid with a home run) and A.J. Burnett's complete game dominance against the Orioles (three hits, two walks, one run [a Kevin Millar homer] and 10 strikeouts), but the "That's Nasty!" pitcher of the week is:

Matt Morris, SF
vs. OAK
IP 9
H 2
BB 2
R 1
K 9
GmSc 86

Morris edged Burnett by a hair (Burnett's Game Score was 85). He needed 127 pitches to go the distance, something that may come back to hurt him in the long run (Morris now ranks 8th in Pitcher Abuse Points). The only damage incurred was in the sixth, when Travis Buck led off with a triple and Dan Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to bring him home. The other hit came in the fourth, when Johnson doubled with one out, but Morris ended the threat by retiring Jack Cust (what a start, by the way) and Eric Chavez on strikeouts.

All-Suck Lineups through Week 7

AL
C Jason Kendall
1B Richie Sexson (ouch)
2B Josh Barfield
3B Chone Figgins (that hurts, Ryan)
SS Ben Zobrist
OF Nelson Cruz
OF Emil Brown
OF Corey Patterson
SP Jeff Weaver
RP B.J. Ryan

NL
C David Ross
1B Carlos Delgado (ouch)
2B Ramon Martinez (the Dodgers sent down Wilson Valdez and elected to keep this guy on their big league club...good call, guys)
3B Tony Graffanino (whooooo knows what club he plays for now, without peeking?)
SS Adam Everett
OF Ryan Langerhans (Atlanta Model, just will not give up the top spot)
OF Kory Casto
OF Steve Finley
SP Mark Redman (SHIP HIS ASS OUT)
RP Jorge Julio (it's going to be a while before anyone overtakes him, even though this is just the Florida Model)

All-Star Lineups through Week 7

AL
C Jorge Posada
1B Kevin Youkilis
2B B.J. Upton
3B Alex Rodriguez
SS Derek Jeter
OF Vladimir Guerrero
OF Magglio Ordonez
OF Torii Hunter
SP Dan Haren
RP Al Reyes

NL
C Russell Martin
1B Todd Helton
2B Chase Utley
3B Chipper Jones
SS Hanley Ramirez
OF Barry Bonds
OF Matt Holliday
OF Aaron Rowand
SP Tim Hudson
RP Francisco Cordero

Free Agent List

Here's a list of the big-ticket free agents at the end of this season...feel free to make a wish list of trade deadline moves for Andruw.

Just another one of the manager's "duties" taken away

What a story! An ambidextrous pitcher? A "bullpen in himself"? How awesome!