But he gets the W, while Lidge takes another loss.

:lol: :lol: :lol: Brad Lidge :lol: :lol: :lol:

He's really being too explosively bad now, though. I was hoping he'd keep being just bad enough so that he doesn't get replaced.

Greinke sets a new Royals record with 15 Ks tonight vs. the Tribe.

It's been a long time since I have had a favorite (active, at least) MLB player, but Andrew McCutchen is getting there.

He misjudged the flyball to allow the Phils to take the lead and then goes opposite field HR, with one of the fasted HR trots I have ever seen and an "Air Jordan-esque" crossing of the plate, for the win. At worst, he is the most impressive Pirate farmhand to come along since Aramis Ramirez.

Greinke 15 ks through 8 tonight...

Edit: was 2 posts too late. but impressive by him none the less.

He's one of my favorite players already. He's a great player and you can see him make adjustments between ABs and during games. He's not only good but he's smart and learning all the time. His BA increases each time through the lineup vs. a starting pitcher and he is getting more comfortable on the basepaths. Starting next year the Buccos won't just have a token All-Star anymore.

I'm really interested to see if/how his body fills out since he is still pretty young. He looks like a pretty small guy, so I'm not sure if he is capable of adding much bulk, but if he can get a little stronger, he is going to be ridiculous.

As it is now, he looks like he can be a 20 HR/50 SB guy, along with being an elite defensive CF. At worst, I think he puts up Marquis Grissom-type numbers for the next 15-years (health permitting, of course).

I can't imagine why they keep marching Lidge out there, he didn't even record an out tonight. I'd think even Moyer would be more successful.

You got your highlight tonight. As a friend of mine joked, he was trying to catch Verlander all in one game.

According to Schaum, Banny told him that Zack told the bullpen they wouldn't be needed before the game.

SI

Frustrating night for the Halos. Several ways they could have won tonight. They just didn't execute when they needed to. Lackey seemed off (again!), and the Angels kept getting guys on base against the Tigers, and kept failing to get that one hit that would have got them a win (or at least tied).

It has been a bad stretch, losing five of six, and now the Rangers within four. The Angels need to pull out of this funk, and get back to playing their game.

They commented tonight on the local broadcast about Greinke taking the Royals' single game records for Ks tonight (15), and that he bought out Angels broadcaster Mark Gubizca (sp?) for the last mark (Gubie had 14). The other broadcasters were teasing Gubie for losing the record. ;)

Love the fact we won but it was ugly. Tigs first series win on the road since June and they're 4.5 games up in first. That is how bad the AL Central is.

Miguel Cabrera is flat out mashing now though. I am biased but he should be the MVP if the Tigs make the playoffs and he keeps this up because he literally has had no protection in the lineup, and while his average with RISP has sucked, he's carried this offense on his back since the ASB.

Yup. Bugs the hell outta me that Lackey bothered to even give him a hittable pitch. Way to go, Big John. You're "earning" that big contract in the offseason now, aren't ya?

Agreed. Although Papelbon speaking out against the trade was also dumb - and Epstein's response was hilarious. "'I think Pap feels he was misunderstood,' Epstein said. 'He's not a Rhodes Scholar to begin with. When I talked to him directly about it he couldn't have been more excited.'"

I'd call that a backhanded compliment, but I'm not sure which part is the compliment.Nothing like high expectations for a guy who's played 2 months. :) Seriously, we're projecting 15 years into the future now?Rumor is Chris Carter (great AAA hitter, but he was traded from the NL and couldn't get time in Boston because he can't field anywhere - he's also on the 40-man and wouldn't pass thru waivers) and a GCL pitcher - Rivera and Mendez are the studs there, but hopefully aren't going.The opinion on Manny was split between wasn't trying (by idiots - his OPS was ~1.000 the last 2 months in Boston) and age had begun to catch up to him (I saw some of this - which is why putting up OPS+'s over 200 in the NL until his suspension was surprising to me). And no, he was one of the very good players turning into superstars I talked about, not the castoffs like Smoltz and Lugo. I hadn't realized how poorly he's hit the last month+, bringing his OPS down to merely 5th in the league if he qualified.

Holliday I wouldn't say was massacring the ball for months before - he had an .814 OPS in June and was only about .950 in July before being traded - and as you pointed out, that includes whatever portion of the .462 BAbiP occurred before switching leagues.Yes, you bring up plenty of counter-examples (although it makes little sense to compare Manny age 37 to when he was in his prime and Jason Bay was injured in 2007 - he's about the most consistent year to year hitter in the majors) but your last paragraph also encapsulates my point. While I do think the AL is marginally better, and the East in particular the toughest division in baseball, it's probably overstated by most people. That's why Julio Lugo turning into an above-average hitter and Smoltz K'ing 9 in 5 shutout IP doesn't help the perception.

For my next lightning-rod statement, which young, hyped, rival AL East pitcher more desperately needs to go back to the bullpen - Joba or David Price? I'd love to say Joba to get Yankees fans heated, but at least he has a 3rd ML-average pitch, and they might just do it and become a harder team to beat in the postseason.

Chris Carter is the definition of organizational filler. Plus, he's a DH. I've read the other player is not of significance.

I'm a veteran when it comes to the reverse jinx. :)

That comment sounds like something Zack would say. I'm going to listen to the radio archive today since I didn't get to watch the game yesterday.

Aside from the obvious extremely small sample size explanation, Smoltz certainly wouldn't be the first time Duncan has made a mechanical tweak or two to drastically improve a pitcher's performance. And he's certainly done it with much worse pitchers

SI

If you look at Manny's numbers prior to suspension, his BABIP is ridiculous as well. It was .407 in April/May. And it isn't comparing him to his prime, btw. It's comparing Manny at 37 to Manny at 35.

As for Smoltz and Lugo, Smoltz has been covered. Dave Duncan is known as a miracle worker for a reason (and lets not forget that before the Red Sox picked him up, he was cut by the Braves, an NL squad, while working in the minors). As for Lugo, he had a great couple of weeks (if that), but is coming back down to Earth big time. OPS of .367 (yes, thats OPS, NOT OBP) in the last 14 days.


Neither. Both bullpens are doing well.

THe Braves didn't cut him. They didn't offer him as much as the Red Sox in order to keep him. Instead they used the money on Derek Lowe.

It is apparent that Brad Lidge is the player on this year's team I want to hit with a crescent wrench. In years past those players were Tom Gordon, Jose Mesa, and Billy Wagner.

'94 or '95??

LOL. Well, I try to follow every year until a point where I get sick of them. And that lasted almost to the All-Star break this year!

So since I somewhat mentioned it a few posts back, here goes.

In the NL it seems like the two major awards, MVP and the Cy, are spoken for in Pujols and Lincecum.

In the AL it is far murkier. As of now Mauer is the front runner for AL MVP but Miguel Cabrera has to be right there, plus you'll have Morneau, Big Tex and others in the running.

As far as AL Cy Young goes, there is Grenike is might be the favorite right now, Halladay, Sabathia, Beckett, Verlander and even King Felix and Jared Weaver.

So who you have as the MVP/Cy come seasons end?

I wouldn't be so sure on Lincecum or Cain for that matter. They have only combined for 4 wins since the All-Star Break in 16 starts due to the lack of offense or bullpen failures during their starts. Compare that to 20 wins in their 36 starts prior to the break.

Hell, I could easily see Chris Carpenter taking the NL Cy Young. He's 14-3, leads the NL in ERA with 2.16 (and ERA+ - 194)

Pujols has MVP, but I agree on the pitcher question. Lincecum has a lot more Ks, but he has 2 fewer wins, double the walks and a higher ERA (2.43 to 2.16) than Carpenter. If SF doesn't make the postseason, I could see Carpenter or even Wainwright (15-9, 2.50 ERA) winning.

In the AL, it's between Mauer and Tex. Mauer has the stats, but Tex has the NY media. So, it's a wash at this point. But, if Tex ends with .290-40-120, I can't see him losing. CY Young is tough, but my gut says Greinke. He's just too good of a story and his numbers (197 Ks, 39 BB, 2.43 ERA) are so much better than everyone else - and he's only 2-3 behind in wins.

What if Cliff Lee keeps pitching like he has since the trade...does he get some votes for the NL Cy Young??

Good question...How did CC fair last year in the Cy Young count?

Apparently 5th... after your buddy Brad Lidge:
2008 Awards Voting - Baseball-Reference.com

There's a lot of local talk about Jeter having a shot at the MVP since he hasn't gotten one yet, which could definitely cut into that. Him and Teixera can split votes, and Mauer and Morneau can split. Should be interesting.

I'm going out on a limb here and predicting that Lidge will not get a single vote this year...

True on Carter, although I do think he can hit at the major league level. As for the other player being described as "not of significance", I'm not saying he'll be good, but how many media people think anyone below AA is of significance?

I feel kind of dirty brining up steroids, but kind of interesting story - the 9th circuit has ruled that federal investigators were wrong to seize "the list" of positive samples. So the list was returned. I'm not sure what good that does - but maybe this opens the doors for lawsuits by A-Rod, Ortiz, etc, who unquestionably were harmed as the result of this unlawful seizure.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4424048

Sounds like a case of it being better to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.

I just don;t see that much mechanical tinkering as the answer within 1 start - maybe if they caught him tipping pitches, but even then I just think facing the Padres was the biggest reason.Bullpens yes, but the 2 as starters no. WHIP's over 1.5, K/BB ratio's under 2 and averaging just over 5 IP each. And while the bullpens are doing fine for the regular season, Hughes/Joba/Rivera 7/8/9 in the playoffs scares me a lot more than Aceves or Coke or Bruney as the 3rd part - especially since I don't see Sabathia, Burnett or Pettite pitching well out of the bullpen.

Sox-wise, Tim Wakefield came back and gave a stellar performance tonight. That should really help things going forward.

Pretty sure the plan is to have Joba start in the playoffs. Joba has been struggling lately on extra rest, but he's still way better than Mitre or Gaudin starting in the playoffs.

Smoltz himself was quoted as saying that while he was back in Atlanta between teams (an unidentified) someone picked up on a bad habit he had picked up involving how he was positioning his foot on the rubber. In the context of the quote, I gathered that Duncan helped him fix that & some other minor things but what I took from the blurb was that a big part of his problem (or at least what he believes was a big part) was actually identified before he even left Atlanta to head to the midwest.

You'll hear some in the media say that Hamels was great tonight. He wasn't necessarily at his 2008 post-season levels, but it was definitely a step in the right direction. Although the numbers were impressive, he did allow a few more base-runners and was in danger several times tonight. However, I will say that Hamel's performance as the game went on (aka more outs with fewer pitches) is an encouraging sign that he's on his way back.

To be honest, Hamel's struggles should have been more of a concern than the Phil's current closer fiasco. If Cole can start dealing again, we'll be fine come playoff time.

Again, Madson has a chance to make a case for him to be the closer, and he blows a save. Ugh!

From the boys over at Fangraphs

Zack Greinke Dazzles Once More | FanGraphs Baseball



That's just staggering

SI

It will be a travesty if he doesn't win the Cy Young.

Bill James' game score is pretty poor imo. Zach Greinke is not.

You mean "when", I fear :(

I'm just waiting for Sabathia or Beckett to get to 20 wins with an ERA in the mid 3's and win because Zack ends up "only" 14-9 and 250 K's with a 2.40 ERA which could have been even lower if he played in front of a league average defense (Royals last in the league; alternatively, Lincecum and Cain play in front of the 2nd best).

SI

And then to top it off Teixeira walks away with the MVP over Mauer.

This. Greinke has been the best pitcher in the AL this season.

Freddy Sanchez to the DL. Looks like he isn't getting to that magical 600PA mark and triggering an 8M option.

And I wouldn't base anything off Cole looking good vs the Pirates. I guess it was better than his last start vs the Pirates(got roughed up IIRC)

Tonights just another in a long list of games the Pirates probably could have won. For a last placed team they've probably been okay for the majority of the year. Save a few ugly assed stretches.

Like the starters are much better than last year. I think for instance they cut down the walks by about one per game.

Wow. Bruce Bochy (is there a stupider manager in baseball?) pinch hits for Ryan Garko (our "cleanup" hitter) with Bengie Molina (who's injured and can't run - more so than usual) in a 3-1 game with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th; and Bengie hits a 3 run HR. A clearly example of idiotic decision making with amazing results; I worry Buster Posey will be traded tomorrow.

Actually, Smoltz was on the Dan Patrick show, and that's exactly what he said the Cards coaches were pointing out to him, that he might have been tipping his pitches. They worked on it, and a mechanical issue, and he pinned as much on that as anything for his surprising turnaround in one game.

Pirates have looked really good in this series. First time in a while I've seen them with really good talent. If that pitching remains strong and that outfield develops, they could contend as soon as next year.

Jerry Crasnick column on espn.com about the Royals dismal season.

Nothing groundbreaking in the column really, but this paragraph jumped at me.

I know we joke about Dayton Moore collecting former Braves but every pitcher mentioned there except Ponson came through Atlanta at some point. I knew it was bad but damn.