MLB 2009 Season

[WorldB3]

Nice win for the Giants last night, and of course, right after I dump on Rowand, he goes and hits a three run homer . So, I'm holding my nose and semi-rooting for a Yankees sweep this weekend

On another thread I was hoping for Rowand to sit out, who hit the clutch 3 run homer so Fred Lewis could start who pitch hit k'd with runners on 2nd and 3rd and didn't even run out of the batters box. If I never see Fred Lewis again it will be too soon. Never thought I would hate a bay area player as much as Jack Cust but Fred earned it.

Did the Red Sox even play last night? all I saw on the ticker was the Jets @ Patriots score.

[Matthew]

Nice win for the Giants last night, and of course, right after I dump on Rowand, he goes and hits a three run homer . So, I'm holding my nose and semi-rooting for a Yankees sweep this weekend

On another thread I was hoping for Rowand to sit out, who hit the clutch 3 run homer so Fred Lewis could start who pitch hit k'd with runners on 2nd and 3rd and didn't even run out of the batters box. If I never see Fred Lewis again it will be too soon. Never thought I would hate a bay area player as much as Jack Cust but Fred earned it.

Did the Red Sox even play last night? all I saw on the ticker was the Jets @ Patriots score.

Left field is a black hole for the Giants this year, it's an awful combination, this Lewis/Valez two-headed monster out there. Neither can field worth a darn.

[WorldB3]

Zito is a head case.

say what you want but his life time record when he get 4 runs or more is 19-2 in the orange and black, and 104-6 in his 10-year career.

look at any box score from any night and a lot of teams can manage 4 runs.

Well...not exactly.

Zito has 41 losses against only 29 wins....in his 2 1/2 [seems like 50] years with the Giants.

He has given up 291 runs, 507 hits, pitched an average of 174 innings in only 91 games [that's two innings a game on average] and has been behind in runs before the third inning this year 8 times out of his 11 losses against a 4.29 ERA.

In short:

Zito sucks

Yes, exactly. In the 21 games the Giants have got 4 or more runs when he started he has won 19 of them.

Not sure where you got your math above. For the his career with the Giants I have 524 innings pitched and 507 hits allowed.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/z/zitoba01.shtml

This year he has given up 139 hits in 148 innings. Anyting less than a hit per inning is considered good.

Yes the walks drive me nuts and his WHIP isn't so hot but he is now a legitimate middle rotation starter again. Doesn't justify the contract but still not as bad as you think.

As for Nate, Bochy doesn't play young players, I want to see what he can do when he plays everyday. Its stupid to have hitting coming off the bench when your starting lineup lacks hitting.

[Noj]

Aaron Rowland's batting stance is a dead ringer for that of former Dodger third baseman, Ron Cey, a.k.a. The Penguin.

Up over and out.

I never thought of that, but you're dead on!

My mom and I were sharing a laugh at Rowand's stance during a game earlier this season. Looks constipated up there! Don't give him a pitch to drive, though.

Wolfy drives in both Dodger runs and pitches great in a 2-1 victory over the Cubbies. The Dodger offense is still dreadfully mired in a rut, with seemingly everybody swinging at bad pitches and having poor patience at the plate.

[Tim McG]

He has given up 291 runs, 507 hits, pitched an average of 174 innings in only 91 games [that's two innings a game on average]

Huh? You're having some serious math problems up there. As a Giant he's averaged 5.83 innings a start - in other words he makes it into the 6th. I'm not saying he was a good signing for the price, but it's not a 2 IP per start average.

Good catch, Quincy.

My math skill is virtually nonexistant....I appreciate you setting it right.

However, it is a rare day when Zito makes it past the 5th inning. Statistically, those rare occasions he does pitch in the later innings will skew the actuality of the sad fact that as a starter, he is only good for half a game at most. He's usually done an inning or two before the 5th.

Edited August 22, 2009 by GoodSpeak

[Tim McG]

Aaron Rowland's batting stance is a dead ringer for that of former Dodger third baseman, Ron Cey, a.k.a. The Penguin.

Up over and out.

I never thought of that, but you're dead on!

My mom and I were sharing a laugh at Rowand's stance during a game earlier this season. Looks constipated up there! Don't give him a pitch to drive, though.

You know, I hadn't noticed that, but Rowand's stance does resemble that of Ron Cey.

Oh and BTW, Rowand's hitting last night was key in the Giants' win over the Rocks.

Just thought I'd share

Wolfy drives in both Dodger runs and pitches great in a 2-1 victory over the Cubbies. The Dodger offense is still dreadfully mired in a rut, with seemingly everybody swinging at bad pitches and having poor patience at the plate.

Well...I'm OK with that

[Tim McG]

Zito is a head case.

say what you want but his life time record when he get 4 runs or more is 19-2 in the orange and black, and 104-6 in his 10-year career.

look at any box score from any night and a lot of teams can manage 4 runs.

Well...not exactly.

Zito has 41 losses against only 29 wins....in his 2 1/2 [seems like 50] years with the Giants.

He has given up 291 runs, 507 hits, pitched an average of 174 innings in only 91 games [that's two innings a game on average] and has been behind in runs before the third inning this year 8 times out of his 11 losses against a 4.29 ERA.

In short:

Zito sucks

Yes, exactly. In the 21 games the Giants have got 4 or more runs when he started he has won 19 of them.

Not sure where you got your math above. For the his career with the Giants I have 524 innings pitched and 507 hits allowed.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/z/zitoba01.shtml

This year he has given up 139 hits in 148 innings. Anyting less than a hit per inning is considered good.

Yes the walks drive me nuts and his WHIP isn't so hot but he is now a legitimate middle rotation starter again. Doesn't justify the contract but still not as bad as you think.

As for Nate, Bochy doesn't play young players, I want to see what he can do when he plays everyday. Its stupid to have hitting coming off the bench when your starting lineup lacks hitting.

Zito only has 8 wins. With all due respect, I don't see how he can be credited for 19 wins. Using that as a reference then, he's a winner only when sitting on the bench. That is cold comfort, indeed.

And Nate is a good player, no doubt. But his BA is inflated due to the fact he is at the plate so infrequently; not enough ABs.

Edited August 22, 2009 by GoodSpeak

[Tim McG]

Nice win for the Giants last night, and of course, right after I dump on Rowand, he goes and hits a three run homer . So, I'm holding my nose and semi-rooting for a Yankees sweep this weekend

On another thread I was hoping for Rowand to sit out, who hit the clutch 3 run homer so Fred Lewis could start who pitch hit k'd with runners on 2nd and 3rd and didn't even run out of the batters box. If I never see Fred Lewis again it will be too soon. Never thought I would hate a bay area player as much as Jack Cust but Fred earned it.

Did the Red Sox even play last night? all I saw on the ticker was the Jets @ Patriots score.

Left field is a black hole for the Giants this year, it's an awful combination, this Lewis/Valez two-headed monster out there. Neither can field worth a darn.

That's a fact, too.

Lewis couldn't catch a ball if it was handed to him.

[Dan Gould]

With nothing else to enjoy, watching Burnett get lit up is a nice thing. Its also a necessary thing because while I think Tazawa has some potential, it will never be realized with Varitek catching him. As it was said last year about Varitek's game-calling skills, "it takes a lot to put down one finger so many times". Tazawa cannot pitch like they do in the States, working off of the fastball. Its mediocre at best and has to be spotted perfectly. How many times in his brief career has the ball gotten tatooed? He's lucky so far today - Swisher just drilled a single off the Monster - but what was so comical was Varitek twice calling for the high fastball against Melky Cabrera. With a mediocre fastball, if he doesn't elevate it, its a belt-high meatball. He should stop calling for that pitch with Papelbon (who never elevates it properly) but it should be absolutely banned with Tazawa.

There. That curve that made A-Rod flinch and run away. That's what I am talking about when I say the kid has some potential. He can change speeds, throw that curve, has a decent splitter. That curve reminds me of a game in the 80s when Mark Clear threw a breaking ball to a righty that started out behind his ear and broke over the outside corner as the Yankee batter bailed out of the box. Funniest damn thing I ever saw.

[ghost of miles]

Hmm, today's NY-Boston game is not nearly as fun as last night's was. I'm sure you're enjoying it, Dan!

[Dan Gould]

No complaints

The bats have really come alive starting in Toronto - could it be 46 runs in six games now? Something like that. They've set a team mark for consecutive games with multiple home runs.

If as people believe (I still don't) that the Sox will make the playoffs and take care of the Angels in the first round, is it a concern that Burnett has lost most of his mojo against Boston and particularly at Fenway? He was death to us before the Yankees signed him, now he has one good start and three horrible ones. If you line up your starters with Burnett number two, he could avoid Fenway in a seven game set with the home field advantage. But certainly this is not the Burnett the Yankees thought they signed. He's actually starting to look like John Lackey at Fenway, muttering to himself.

Almost forgot to mention the best part of this - Penny was told that Wakefield is pitching his next scheduled start on Wednesday, and that Penny's status is up in the air. I am sure part of that was seeing how Tazawa would do against the same Yankee lineup. Well, Tazawa deserves another start so Penny goes to the pen or can pull a Colon and disappear for all I care.

And despite Bowden's awful game last night, I'd still rather have him start if Tazawa falters than Penny ever start another game in a Boston uniform. One bad game doesn't equal a nearly 7 ERA over two full months.

Edited August 22, 2009 by Dan Gould

[Matthew]

My "superstar of the future," Nate Schierholtz, parks one for a 3-1 Giant lead. Of course, Rowand's on base in front of Schierholtz because of getting a hit, maybe I should keep trashing him for the rest of the year....

[Tim McG]

My "superstar of the future," Nate Schierholtz, parks one for a 3-1 Giant lead. Of course, Rowand's on base in front of Schierholtz because of getting a hit, maybe I should keep trashing him for the rest of the year....

Or maybe you need to acknowledge Rowand is just having a rough stretch.

Rowand's 3-run jack yesterday sure straightened the kinks out on that one, eh?

Go Giants!

[Matthew]

Yikes! Rockies put up a 7 run sixth inning. 10-6 Rockies now.

[Tim McG]

Yikes! Rockies put up a 7 run sixth inning. 10-6 Rockies now.

Yeah, I know.

It is painful to watch.

[Dan Gould]

Interesting numbers for the "Ortiz is a cheater and he's through anyway" crowd:

Since he started hitting homers on May 20, he's tied with Mark Teixeira for most in the league, with 20.

I saw another stat recently which said that since some date in early June, he's second in the league in RBIs.

With 75 ribbies to date, and 40 games to go, seems like he's got a good shot at 100, which all things considered is pretty damn impressive, and he's got a shot at 30 homers though he has to stay hot to do that, I think. Upper 20s is a near certainty though.

Granted his BA is atrocious and his slugging and OBP way down, but if he finishes the season going like he has been, I'm not quite so distressed that he's got another year to go on his contract. Big Papi isn't done yet.

[zen archer]

The Sox have placed a waiver claim on Mets reliever Billy Wagner.

[Matthew]

I see where Omar Minaya is coming back for the Mets. I'm scratching my head over that one, the Mets are in shambles.

[Dan Gould]

I see where Omar Minaya is coming back for the Mets. I'm scratching my head over that one, the Mets are in shambles.

Well, he's under contract for a lot of money, iirc. Maybe they don't want to hire another 1-2 million dollar GM to take over a totally empty farm system and come in under ownership that lost nearly a billion dollars to Madoff.

You can bet there will be a total house-cleaning in 2010.

[Soulstation1]

The Tribe better pass the A's by Sept 1st or we might not make the play offs

[Quincy]

Interesting numbers for the "Ortiz is a cheater and he's through anyway" crowd:

Since he started hitting homers on May 20, he's tied with Mark Teixeira for most in the league, with 20.

Just for fun I Googled your last name, Papi and POS. So he got his power stroke going just 2 days after you called him a POS in this thread. Way to motivate him!

[Matthew]

The Tribe better pass the A's by Sept 1st or we might not make the play offs

They got a good start, taking two of three from Seattle.

[Soulstation1]

we need to only play seattle the next 6 weeks

we got their number for some reason

[Chalupa]

ERIC BRUNTLETT UNASSISTED TRIPLE PLAY!!!!!! PHILS WIN!!!!

[Chalupa]

I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE IT. I'VE NEVER SEEN A TRIPLE PLAY IN 40 YEARS OF BASEBALL FANDOM MUCH LESS AN UNASSISTED TRIPLE PLAY.