» 2009 » February

I’m back after a two-day hiatus. Miss me? I figured you did.

And in this two-day hiatus, the Dbacks lost twice. Maybe that means I shouldn’t disappear for a few days, right? Wrong. To me (and hopefully you as well), records mean absolutely NOTHING in Spring Training games. It does, however, bring us names to perhaps remember for the future, names like Chris Roberson.

I mentioned his name a little my last post for getting a steal, but man, he’s having a decent Spring Training. This past game, he had a HR. He may be hitting .200 but definitely doing his job and getting in runs. Another thing to note is that he is also an outfielder. The chances of starting this upcoming season would be slim to none, however, would make a decent backup if need be.

Another person to take note of is Chris Young. Yes, he’s a bigger name but he’s seeing the ball pretty well. You can’t tell me a .556 avg is NOT good! He’s never hit above .250 in a season, so it is good to see his average kind of high right now. Again, it’s spring training, but you can’t tell me it doesn’t excite you a little? Let’s see that smile!

I submit that it can NOT. I was able to get myself to a Bruins hockey game this afternoon then a Blazers lacrosse game at night. The Bruins lost to Washington in overtime on a goal that should never be given up, but they are still in first place, so things are still alright. The Blazers crushed San Jose 16-10 and they are barely behind Buffalo for first place. Everybody in Boston just seems to do well these days.

To baseball now, the Red Sox played two split squad games, and beat Northeastern University 14-0 and the Cincinnati Reds 16-5. Julio Lugo went 2 for 3 against the Reds and Jason Varitek drove in four runs, including a two-run double. Clay Buchholz tossed two scoreless innings allowing just one hit to the Reds.

The Sox travel back to Hammond Stadium on Sunday to play the Twins. First pitch is set for 1:05 and the game can be seen on NESN and MLB.TV. Josh Beckett will take the mound, followed by Tim Wakefield. Later in the game, Jonathan Papelbon will make his first appearance of the spring.

Brad Snyder hit a grand slam to put the Cubs as the only National league team to start the spring unbeaten. The Cubs used a 9 run 7th to beat the cross town rival White Sox 13-0. Micah Hoffpauier continued his strong spring with a RBI double, giving him 8 RBI’s in 4 games. Koyie Hill who is battling for the back-up catchers role also knocked in a pair with a 2 run double.

Aaron Heilman made the most of his spring start, striking out 4 of the 7 hitters that he faced. Heilman will battle Marshall, Guzman and Samardzija, for the 5th starters role in the Cubs rotation heading into the new season. Kevin Gregg who is batling Carlos Marmol for the closers role gave up one hit and struck out one batter in one inning of work.

The Cubs sit atop the cactus league standings after starting a perfect 4-0.

In other news:

Carlos Marmol has decided that he wil pitch in the WBC. Lou has told Marmol that it will not effect the battle for the closers role, and he will still be able to compete when he returns.

Corey Koskie and the Chicago Cubs agreed to a minor league contract today. Koskie will join the Cubs when team Canada are finished playing in the WBC. Koskie might be that cover for 3rd base the Cubs have been looking for all spring.

Nothing is better than a Chicago rivalry in a completely meaningless game! So let me do a short recap of how the game went.

Jeff Marquez started out good in his Spring Training debut.

Jeff Marquez, a contender for the starting rotation, got off to a good start, pitching two scoreless innings. However, Adam Russell and Ehren Wassermann didn’t fare so well. Russell did not retire a single batter, with eight runs being scored will he was pitching. As for hitting, Dewayne Wise, Jim Thome, and A.J. Pierzynski represented the black and white well.

However, that wasn’t enough, as the team struggled offensively, as well as on the mound, being given a 13-0 beating from the Cubbies.

Next Up……….The White Sox battle the Dodgers tomorrow in an away game at their home stadium. I will be starting the rotation preview tomorrow as well.

The Brewers handed the Angels their first lost of the spring. It’s pretty crazy that my friend that graduated high school last year, one class older than me, is now playing for the Brewers. He made an appearance in the Brewers’ game yesterday, scoring a run. He’s also the son of Lenny Dykstra. If anyone’s interested, my friends name is Cutter Dykstra. He’s really good, really knowledgable of the game. He could make it big in the coming years. Anyways, enough of that. Here’s the box score. And here is the recap…..

Brewers 5, Angels 3
at Maryvale Baseball Park, Phoenix
Saturday, Feb. 28

Angels at the plate: The Angels were held scoreless on three hits until the sixth, when Chris Pettit and Ryan Mount hit RBI singles off Brewers Minor Leaguer Matt Ginter. Matt Brown tied the game at 3 in the seventh with another RBI single, but the Brewers pushed ahead in the bottom of the frame and sent the Angels to their first Cactus League loss.

Brewers at the plate: Ryan Braun played seven innings in his final tuneup before departing for the World Baseball Classic, hitting a go-ahead single in the third inning and then doubling and scoring an insurance run in the seventh. Prince Fielder also hit an RBI single for Milwaukee but aptly named Minor Leaguer Brent Brewer delivered the key hit, a solo home run in the seventh that snapped a 3-3 tie and sent the Brewers to their second straight win.

Angels on the mound: Starter Shane Loux worked around three Brewers hits in two scoreless innings of work before reliever Scot Shields surrendered Milwaukee’s first run on a walk and a hit. Rich Thompson worked a scoreless sixth inning but took the loss after surrendering a pair of runs in the seventh.

Brewers on the mound: Right-hander Braden Looper was scheduled to make his unofficial Brewers debut but was scratched minutes before the game when he tweaked a muscle in his lower back. Eddie Morlan, who was supposed to appear in relief, moved up to start and held the Angels scoreless in two innings despite allowing a hit and three walks. Minor League right-hander Richie Gardner (1-0) took the win and Nick Green notched a two-inning save.

Cactus League records: Angels 3-1; Brewers 2-1-1

Up next: The Angels host the Royals on Sunday with two of the four fifth-starter candidates on display. Right-hander Dustin Moseley will start opposite Royals right-hander Gil Meche, and Nick Adenhart is scheduled to work in relief. Adenhart was supposed to pitch the Angels’ Cactus League opener on Wednesday against the White Sox, but he was scratched because of the flu.

With a few Spring games under their belts, the crowd of catchers in Mariners camp must be wondering how much management will miss starting receiver Kenji Johjima by the time he finishes playing for Japan in the World Baseball Classic. Johjima’s three-year contract, awarded last April to keep him from entering the free-agent market, is a barrier to several promising young catchers.

Spring number for catchers through Feb. 27 (Padres exhibition game not counted):

G  AB  R   H   2B  3B  HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP   SLG     AVG
J Clement     SEA    DH    2    5    1    0    0    0    0      0    0      1    0    0    0     .167    .000    .000
R Johnson    SEA    C       2    4    1    2     0    0    0      0    2      0    0    0    0    .500    .500    .500
A Moore        SEA    C       2    4    0    1     0    0    0      1    1       0    2    0    0    .250    .250    .250
J Burke          SEA    C       1    2    0    0    0    0    0      0    0      0    0    0    0    .000    .000    .000

Of course, Jeff Clement joined the team last summer, with disappointing results. He is expected to improve in his second season, and to split time between catching and designated hitter. The 25-year-old hit well in Tacoma before coming up to the major leagues in 2008. He was expected to be the catcher of the future, but several knee surgeries suggest he may be better suited to DH, a role  that will probably be dominated by Ken Griffey Jr.  Once Jr. has retired the job looks to be Clement’s.

It’s Rob Johnson, another 25-year-old receiver, who has shown the most promise in camp this spring.  This kid hit .305 at Tacoma in 2008, though his bat faltered in 32 plate appearances with the M’s  last fall.  Johnson hit a solo home run in the exhibition game against San Diego on Wednesday  and is three-for-four  with one run scored in his plate appearances during official spring games.

Then there’s Adam Moore, yet another 25-year-old catching prospect who brings real power to the plate. Having never played above AA,  more is rated by Baseball America as the Mariners’  sixth-best prospect, ahead of Johnson. He’s an excellent defensive catcher and calls a good game, something that Johjima  has been widely criticized as lacking. But he appears, at least when listening on the radio, to be little overmatched facing major-league pitchers. He has struck out and walk into plate appearances this spring.

Jamie Burke, the ancient mariner among these catchers, is a 37-year-old who’s already proven his worth to the major league club by making a combined 229 plate appearances over the past two years as a backup catcher. Burke stands a chance of being the third backstop for the team again this year, because both Moore  and Johnson need to continue to get regular opportunities to bat, which would only come in the minors.

That leaves the question of Johjima,  whom the team’s Japanese owner reportedly demanded be re-signed last year. Baseball Prospectus says of him, “he’ll either be a welcome veteran presence in the event of a Clement malfunction or one of the league’s best (and most expensive) backup catchers.” Johjima’s  performance at the plate has declined each year he’s played in the United States, and he’s hit only 39 home runs in three seasons. Having batted only .227 last year, it’s hard to justify retaining him is starting catcher.

While there are a number of other catchers  in camp to handle the overwhelming number of pitchers on hand, Johjima, Clement, and Burke appear to be shoe-ins to make the team.

New manager Don Wakamatsu worked with Johjima  on his game calling during a visit to Seattle earlier in the winter. Hopefully the presence of a veteran catcher in the person of Wakamatsu will improve Johjima’s  relationship with the pitching staff. If not, and ownership does not relent and allow the Mariners to trade away Johjima,  it may be at least another year before Johnson or Moore get to the majors.

The team, frankly, cannot afford to wait for the power.  To my eyes, it looks like Johnson is ready for his shot. That probably means Burke, not Johjima, will be bumped from the roster.

In other Mariners news: With two wins and a tie in Spring games, Don Wakamatsu has shown a keen ability  to generate runs, whether leading in a blowout or coming back to win a close game as he did today against the San Francisco Giants. This has got to give Mariners fans hope after the team’s bottom dwelling 4.14 runs per game score in 2008.

Also noted, Ken Griffey Jr. has already taken centerfield prospect Greg Halman out to dinner. Halman, in an interview during today’s KIRO broadcast gushed about the experience. As I noted the other day, Jr.’s presence, even before he begins to swing the bat, is going to boost this team.

So far there is good news and bad news about the Yankee catcher situation. The good news is that Jorge Posada has been swinging the bat well in the early going.

The bad news is that he was held out of today’s game because of minor soreness and weakness in his surgically repaired throwing shoulder. Posada and manager Joe Girardi downplayed the situation, and admittedly, soreness at the beginning of spring training is not unusual.

What is disturbing is the report of weakness in the shoulder. If Posada’s throwing shoulder is weak, then he cannot catch. If he cannot catch, he has limited value. With the arrival of Mark Teixeira, a move to first base is no longer possible. That limits Jorge to a role as a designated hitter. But Girardi has already stated Hideki Matsui will be the DH this year. So if he cannot catch, Posada has no place to play.

But worse, if Posada cannot catch, the Yankees are left with no viable player for that position. Jose Molina is a fine defensive catcher, but he cannot hit at all. Kevin Cash is a journeyman. Jesus Montero, the catcher of the future, is only 19, and not ready for prime time. Ivan Rodriguez looked like he was finished and was not resigned.

If Jorge cannot catch, the Yankees will have a permanent dead spot in the lineup at the nine hole. They can still win with that situation, but it will be a lot harder.

We will continue to monitor this situation.

ST Game #3, A’s/Brewers, Brwers 8-5

A’s lost to the Brewers on Friday too bring down their Cactus league record to 1-2. Matt Holliday had his first RBI in spring training, but he went 0 for 3. Former Giant Rajai Davis batted lead-off yesterday and made it work going 1 for 2 with an RBI. Ben Copeland, Aaron Cunningham, and Tagg Boized all had RBIs. Brad Ziegler had a perfect inning with a srtikeout. Both Jerome Williams (another former Giant) and Dana Eveland had two perfect innings in a loss for the A’s.

That is it for today, later

Random note: Go Bears! Beat them Bruins!

HAIL TO CALIFORNIA!

OK, this really does not have much to do with the Mets per se, but I felt like I had to comment on this.

As a fan of sports in general and New York sports in particular, there is one person who looms large in the media there that has a great deal of power, but maybe more than he actually FEELS he has.
That man is Mike Francesa, heretofore known as Fatcesa. I don’t usually like to get personal in my criticism, unless warranted. In his case it is warranted.

Fatcesa is a Yankee fan, and makes no bones about it. That is fine, I have no problem with that. However, letting your bias cloud your judgment, and allowing it to help you to ignore actual facts makes your supposed objectivity as a media observer suspect.

Some background, Francesa has been calling David Wright an “unclutch” player all winter, and has put forth the rumor that Ryan Church wants out of New York (supposedly does not like the fans).

The problem? There is absolutely NO basis of fact for EITHER assertion.

To attack both statements, I’ll begin with the second one first, since there is written evidence of it.

Ryan Chuch stated flatly several times, both to print reporters and on air media outlets that not only is he NOT dissatisfied with playing in New York, he actually RELISHES it. A simple google search would put that rumor to rest, but I guess fat fingers can’t type too well to actually fact find.

Now, as to the assertion that David Wright is not a clutch performer, there are a few caveats:

Most importantly, the actual DEFINITION of “clutch” is a ephemeral one. What actually IS “clutch”? We know it when we see it, but how do you define it? Impossible.

Second, in a famous example stated over and over by Mr. Fatcesa in one major clutch situation last September, specifically against the Cubs the last week of the season, David came up with Dan Murphy on third and none out and struck out on three ptiches. Admittedly, DW looked really bad in that particular at bat.

Does that mean that DW is NOT a clutch player? Really? ONE at bat in ONE game?

Let’s look at the actual statistics. This will get a little dry, but the numbers are stunning, in my opinion.

Everyone knows that a .300 average .400 OBP and .500 SLG are optimal numbers, Hall of Fame, even.

What are David’s numbers in “clutch” situations for his career?

Late and close (Plate appearances in the 7th or later, with the score tied, or team behind by one run with the tying run at least on deck) David has hit .307/.407/.483 for his career with 13 homers and 52 rbi in almost 400 PA.

Looks like he gets the job done.

How about in a tie game? Try .318/.394/.544 with 37 homers and 140 rbi.

Down a run? Hmm.   .323/.405/.544 with 66 homers and 256 rbi.

Down two? Wow.   .324/.421/..556 with 92 homers and 340 rbi.

How about High leverage at bats? .315/.397/.531 with 23 homers and 160 rbi.

Still think he is not clutch Fatcesa? Maybe a simple look at the well, ACTUAL FACTS would enlighten you.

I mean, really, by ANY metric you choose, David Wright is a clutch player. ONE infamous at bat does not change that fact.

Did the Mets as a team collapse in 2007? Sure. Was the 2008 season a collapse? I say more a fade than a collapse, but if you want to say the bullpen collapsed, fine.

Did David Wright collapse? Was he unclutch? Has he EVER been unclutch? The numbers say no.

Oh, and also for the record, in September 2008 Wright’s numbers were: .340/.426/.577 with 6 homers and 21 rbi.

In September 2007 he went for a .352/.432/.602 line with 6 homers and 20 rbi.

Is there any question why I turn off WFAN from my computer from 1pmto 5 pm?

If you are going to call David Wright unclutch, then you can’t be a fan of a team that blew a 2 out in the ninth, no one on, 3 games to none lead in a 4 game series.

Pot calling the kettle black, Fatcesa, pot calling the kettle black. Keep drinking the Diet Cokes, but it sure ain’t working.

Sorry for the delay, any who were pining for my thoughts (riiiiiight), I finished watching the game this morning.

Since my esteemed co-host Jeff pretty much summed up the game already, I will just make a couple of notes culled from the game and other news.

First of al, at least the team tried to fight back. Down a lot relatively early, they could have easily said that since it was a spring game, who cares, let’s get to the tee box. So that is nice.

The hitter’s are ahead of the pitchers, as to be expected, but some interesting things can be discerned about the #5 spot in the Mets rotation. First, Livan Hernandez looked really good in his two innings, lively pitches and movement on his offerings. However, the other two major candidates for the spot, Tim Redding and Freddy Garcia, are not showing ANYTHING. Redding has not even thrown a pitch and Freddy Garcia would have been better off NOT throwing a pitch.

Garcia actually looked like absolute, total, and complete garbage. His pitches were flat and had NO movement, he walked a ton of batters, gave up hits, and in general looked like the washed up fat pant load that many of us felt he was when we signed him. At least when we think of Redding, we can fool ourselves into thinking he may be a pitcher, we have not actually SEEN him do anything this year.

Garcia is a waste of oxygen in our camp at this time.

On another note, we saw a couple of the candidates for the second bullpen lefty in the game, and by far the most impressive one was Casey Fossum. Two solid shutout innings put him FIRMLY ahead of Tom Martin, Adam Bostick, Valerio De Los Santos, Heriberto Ruelas, Jon Switzer, and the newly signed Ron Villone.

I like the stockpiling arms, though, sure can’t hurt.

Oh, and Castillo went 0-3, he’s a bum! Just kidding, folks, trust me.

As always, remember, if you see Ryan Howard walking down the street, remember, Tonya Harding had the right idea.

Make him scream “why, why, why, why, why…”

LET’S GO METS!

Niese scheduled to start against Detroit today, the game is at least on radio, not sure about TV yet, but good old mlb.tv will at least have audio!