John Munson/USA TODAY SportsThere have been plenty of reasons for frustration in the Bronx this season.Nobody will ever feel sorry for the New York Yankees because of their payroll, their bank account, and all of those championship flags flapping above their home ballpark. Think about this: The small handful of players who are unavailable to the Yankees because of injury today -- Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson and Kevin Youkilis -- earn more than the entire payrolls of about a third of the teams in the majors.
But the challenges the Yankees face are tangible, may cause them to stand down before the trade deadline, and may eventually prevent them from making the playoffs for just the second time since 1994. The front office made frugal moves late in spring training, and those players helped to buy time, yet there is a lot of murkiness ahead for the decision-makers, created partly by the past investments in the stars.
Granderson could get the pins removed from his fractured pinkie this week, and he is on course to come back in mid-to-late July. But the simple fact is that the Yankees have no idea -- absolutely none -- what they’ll get out of Teixeira, Jeter and Rodriguez in the second half of this season.
Teixeira received a cortisone shot Sunday and the Yankees are hopeful that this will help and he’ll bounce back. But Teixeira’s latest issue is all part of a larger problem with his wrist, and it remains possible that he’ll need season-ending surgery.
Rodriguez will take live batting practice today, and in the Yankees’ perfect world, he would come back for the last couple of months and be an above-average player at his position, which is what he was for much of last year. Jeter led the majors in hits last season, and maybe he’ll return and play that well again.
But they don’t know if any of that can happen, especially in light of the advanced age of all three of those players. If the Yankees didn’t have so many dollars invested in that trio, they would be better positioned to aggressively pursue solutions in the trade market before the July 31 deadline.
Like owners of a mansion in a bad real estate market, the practical reality is that the Yankees will have to wait. They will be blocked from making aggressive moves at first, shortstop or third base, because they can’t really acquire a player who quickly would become redundant if/when Teixeira, Jeter or Rodriguez returns.
It’s more likely the Yankees will have to be patient until the last days and hours leading up to the deadline before making their best-guess assessment of how much Rodriguez, Jeter and Teixeira can contribute.
"They’re going to be in a box,” one rival evaluator said.
Kevin Youkilis has been regressing. The Yankees are a lot like the 2012 Red Sox, writes Joel Sherman.
Around the league
• The Padres climbed over the Giants in the NL West standings by beating them in their own ballpark, and the win was created by this Will Venable catch.
• Max Scherzer is the first Tiger in more than 100 years to start a season 10-0, as George Sipple writes. He overcame ancient history, as Torii Hunter said.
From ESPN Stats and Info: Scherzer is the first starting pitcher to open 10-0 (all wins coming in starts) since Roger Clemens began the 1997 season 11-0.
How Scherzer beat the Orioles:
A) Scherzer brought his best fastball when he needed it, throwing 10 at 96 mph or higher. He had averaged fewer than four such fastballs per start entering Monday.
B) Three of Scherzer's four fastball strikeouts came on pitches of more than 96 mph. He threw five fastballs at 96-plus mph to Chris Davis with the bases loaded and two out in the fifth inning, eventually striking him out swinging on a 97 mph fastball.
C) Scherzer kept the ball away, throwing a season-high 66 percent of his pitches in the outer third of the strike zone or further outside. Seven of Scherzer's 10 strikeouts came on outside pitches.
D) All six of Scherzer's strikeouts with his off-speed pitches came the pitch directly after a fastball.
E) Scherzer held the Orioles to 0-for-16 with two strikes (although they were 7-for-9 before two strikes). Scherzer's .091 opponent batting average with two strikes is the best in the league.
Scherzer has struck out at least six in all 14 of his starts; only Pedro Martinez had longer streaks to begin a season, doing it in 15 straight games in 1999 and 29 straight in 2000.
• The sewage overflow at Oakland Coliseum that flooded the clubhouses and forced players to use the Raiders’ dressing room Sunday has been national news. But Athletics general manager Billy Beane says the smell of sewage is something the club’s employees cope with regularly, because of the nearly half-century-old infrastructure of the ballpark. "We have to live with it every day,” he said.
The commissioner’s committee to study the Athletics’ desire for a new ballpark was formed just after the inauguration of President Barack Obama -- his first term, more than four years ago.
This ballpark situation stinks, writes Mark Purdy.
• On Monday’s podcast, Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti was really good in talking about the mix of tough love and empathy he employs in his job, and Freddie Freeman discussed how he refined his approach at the plate, which worked for him Monday night, when he clubbed a walk-off homer.
• Giancarlo Stanton continues to just wreck the baseball, as Juan Rodriguez writes, and Stanton ended the streak that Patrick Corbin had built.
Stanton hasn’t wasted any time since coming off the disabled list. His second home run Monday was the 100th of his career in his 400th career game. He’s the ninth player to hit at least 100 home runs by his 400th career game.
Moves, deals and decisions
1. Jim Leyland says he’s going to go with a mix-and-match closer plan.
2. Tyler Lyons will get at least one more start.
3. Alex Wood is getting the ball for the Braves today, in his first major league start, writes Carroll Rogers.
4. Bo Porter is putting his faith in Trevor Crowe. Justin Maxwell is coming back.
5. You could really argue both sides of the Jurickson Profar debate, says Nolan Ryan.
6. Ian Kennedy dropped the appeal of his suspension, which means that he can participate in the Diamondbacks’ next series against the Dodgers, in early July.
7. Bruce Bochy admitted that he botched a double-switch.
8. The Reds are going to use Tony Cingrani out of the bullpen.
9. Ruben Amaro says he doesn’t do five-year plans, as David Murphy writes.
10. Jordy Mercer is going to be getting more playing time.
11. The Pirates are expected to sign their No. 1 pick today, writes Travis Sawchik.
12. Lucas Duda is getting a shot at first base.
Dings and dents
1. Anibal Sanchez and Alex Avila landed on the disabled list.
2. Jose Reyes and Brandon Morrow have started their injury rehabilitation assignments.
3. Asdrubal Cabrera hopes to be back soon.
4. Jake Peavy is having difficulty breathing.
Monday’s games
1. The Royals are back at .500.
2. The Rangers busted their slump with one of their biggest moments of the season, as Evan Grant writes.
3. Wrote here the other day how impressed the Giants were with Josh Johnson, and the Rockies got a similar view of Johnson on Monday -- at the wrong end of a lot of zeroes. The Jays won with small ball, writes Ken Fidlin.
From ESPN Stats and Info, how Johnson dominated the Rockies:
A) Johnson had a season-high five strikeouts with his fastball, all on pitches up in the zone or above. The Rockies missed on nine of 14 swings against Johnson's high fastball.
B) All five of Johnson's strikeouts with his off-speed pitches came on pitches down in the zone or below; all five pitches were low and to Johnson's glove side.
C) He went to his slider a season-high 34 percent of the time, getting eight outs and four strikeouts with the pitch.
D) All 10 of Johnson's strikeouts were swinging.
4. Oakland blew a lead, and gave ground.
5. The Angels had a really good day at the plate.
6. Mike Leake was The Man for the Reds.
7. Domonic Brown and the Phillies got to frolic.
AL East
• Wil Myers is thrilled to get the big-league call-up. Many top prospects will have minimal time in the big leagues, some skipping Triple-A altogether, but as Myers joins the Rays, he will have had more than 1,296 plate appearances in Double- and Triple-A.
• The upcoming road trip will test the Rays’ pitching depth.
• Alfredo Aceves has been up to the task, as Michael Silverman writes.
• Daniel Nava’s return was keyed by defense, writes Peter Abraham.
• Chris Davis now leads the AL with 24 homers (five more than Miguel Cabrera), and is second to Miggy in batting (.337 to .358) and RBIs (61 to 71). We could have quite a Triple Crown race.
AL Central
• The Royals climbed into second place on a luckless night for Carlos Carrasco.
• The White Sox played some '80s tunes after breaking a losing streak, as Mark Gonzales writes.
• The Twins are struggling in their own division, as Brian Murphy writes.
AL West
• The Angels’ defense has been terrible this season.
• DJ Peterson has begun a new path, in the Seattle farm system.
NL East
• A struggling Marlins rookie got a day off.
• Mike Zunino is enrolled in Baseball U, writes Ryan Divish.
• Washington continues to drift. But there is this: Bryce Harper is making progress.
• Denard Span’s swing is a problem, writes Adam Kilgore.
• For the Mets, a new face has arrived. This could be the start of something big, writes John Harper.
NL Central
• Here’s yet another gem taken late in the draft developing in the St. Louis farm system.
• Shelby Miller took care of business.
• The Cubs’ frustration continues to build.
• Dale Sveum isn’t worried about the perception of fans.
NL West
• Carlos Gonzalez is good enough to carry the Rockies in Troy Tulowitzki’s absence, writes Troy Renck.
• The son of a former Giant haunted the Giants.
• For a couple of days, Don Mattingly will be king again.
Good works
The Rays’ Sam Fuld has had Type 1 diabetes since he was 10. The past two years, he has partnered with the University of South Florida Diabetes Center to host a two-day clinic in February for kids with juvenile diabetes. Sam runs the camp and recruits the instructors, all of whom are Type 1 diabetics. Also for the past two years, he has been the keynote speaker at Juvenile Diabetes Day at All Children’s Hospital. In April, he also spoke to 100 nursing students from the USF nursing program.
Other stuff
• The Angels thought about drafting Tim Tebow.
• The phone-book incident is part of Steve Sparks’ legacy, writes Tom Haudricourt.
• The Dodgers’ Stan Kasten is shaped by his father’s lessons, writes Bill Plaschke.
And today will be better than yesterday.
"There are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there's 50 feet of crap ... and then there's us" -- Brad Pitt as Billy Beane in "Moneyball"
ATLANTA -- Many miles from here, an embarrassment for baseball played out Sunday. If it was an isolated case of a burst pipe, or days of torrential rain, well, then you might understand how a Major League Baseball clubhouse would have sewage all over the floor.
But as any member of the Oakland Athletics from recent seasons will tell you, sewage has been a running theme for years, especially after the Raiders play their home games. It just so happened that this time, it happened as a result of the flushing that took place during baseball games. This from Ryan Divish:
ATLANTA -- Many miles from here, an embarrassment for baseball played out Sunday. If it was an isolated case of a burst pipe, or days of torrential rain, well, then you might understand how a Major League Baseball clubhouse would have sewage all over the floor.
But as any member of the Oakland Athletics from recent seasons will tell you, sewage has been a running theme for years, especially after the Raiders play their home games. It just so happened that this time, it happened as a result of the flushing that took place during baseball games. This from Ryan Divish:
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ATLANTA -- Braves slugger Evan Gattis has a total of two hits in 21 at-bats in June, so the threat of his impact on games probably outweighs his actual production.
But the mere threat is tangible, maybe because rival pitchers, catchers and managers have all seen what he can do to a baseball. Like when he crushed a neck-high Stephen Strasburg fastball beyond the bullpens back in April, or earlier this week, when he turned a pitch into a cloud of rosin -- literally -- in San Diego.
But the mere threat is tangible, maybe because rival pitchers, catchers and managers have all seen what he can do to a baseball. Like when he crushed a neck-high Stephen Strasburg fastball beyond the bullpens back in April, or earlier this week, when he turned a pitch into a cloud of rosin -- literally -- in San Diego.
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Top pitchers, hitters at specific pitches 
June, 14, 2013
Jun 14
10:18
AM ET
By
Buster Olney | ESPN.com
It took a while for Mike Minor to develop full confidence in his fastball, but now, throwing that pitch inside is the default decision for him. “If I’m not sure what I want to do,” he said earlier this season, “I just throw the fastball.”
And it shows. I asked ESPN researcher Justin Havens to dig out some top 10 lists for pitchers and hitters in relation to specific pitches -- the fastball, changeup, slider and curveball -- to determine who is throwing these types the best and who is hitting them the best. Here is his answer:
And it shows. I asked ESPN researcher Justin Havens to dig out some top 10 lists for pitchers and hitters in relation to specific pitches -- the fastball, changeup, slider and curveball -- to determine who is throwing these types the best and who is hitting them the best. Here is his answer:
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iles Kennedy/Philadelphia Phillies/Getty ImagesJonathan Papelbon could be the cure for what ails the Tigers.There is so much to like about the Tigers this year, a rival evaluator said earlier in the day -- their rotation is outstanding, they have a really good offense and their outfield defense mitigates some of the problems created by their infield defense. The evaluator noted that in his team’s internal metrics the Tigers are the best team in the majors, and by a significant margin.
There is just one problem: The guy charged with getting the last outs of games isn’t getting enough outs.
All of the Tigers’ good work Wednesday unraveled when Jose Valverde gave up a game-tying home run to Lorenzo Cain with two outs in the ninth inning, and then Detroit lost in extra innings, a gut-wrencher. Valverde acknowledged afterward that he hung the pitch to Cain, but Jim Leyland was in no mood to talk about Valverde’s role moving forward, Tom Gage writes:
An irritated Jim Leyland was a strike away from having a normal postgame news conference instead of cutting it short after 1 1/2 minutes because reporters were "late" to his office ... when they weren’t.
It can’t be said, however, Leyland was in no mood to answer a question about Valverde.
"It was a high split," he said about the home run pitch. "It didn’t split too good and the kid hit it out of the ballpark.
"He left it up out over the plate."
And he paid the price for it.
But so did the Tigers, which is what concerns Leyland most.
Here he is with a closer that no matter how much the Tigers want to think is reliable, isn’t.
Valverde has blown three saves in 12 opportunities. But the last four times he’s pitched have been scary.
From ESPN Stats & Info: How Valverde blew the save:
A) Cain's game-tying homer came on a splitter from Valverde, the only non-fastball Valverde threw during his outing.
B) Valverde has thrown 20 splitters in his past six games and allowed three home runs among those 20 pitches. He allowed no hits on the 21 splitters he threw in his first 12 appearances of the season.
Hitters went 3-for-39 with zero home runs against Valverde in his first 12 outings of the season, and are 10-for-27 with five homers in his past six appearances.
If there was a simple and easy alternative to Valverde, the Tigers would find it, because the marching orders from owner Mike Ilitch are simple: Win a championship. When Victor Martinez got hurt two winters ago, Detroit didn’t replace him with a combination of journeymen and internal options; the Tigers spent more than $200 million on Price Fielder. When it looked like Anibal Sanchez might sign with the Cubs last winter, the Tigers stepped up and paid Sanchez like a No. 1 starter, even though they already have two of those in Verlander and Max Scherzer. In the summer of 2011, GM David Dombrowski made one of the most aggressive and adept trades of the year in prying Doug Fister away from the Seattle Mariners. So nobody can accuse the Tigers of not being proactive.
But the simple fact is that there are very, very few relief options available to them in the market.
I asked some rival evaluators who have a feel for the trade market about the closer candidates who could be available before the July 31 trade deadline, and the response was: Not much, at all.
Sure, you could call the Astros about 32-year-old Jose Veras, who has 11 saves this year, and the Mets aren’t playing for anything this year, so they’d listen on Brandon Lyon. Kevin Gregg, perhaps. Mike Gonzalez.
Jesse Crain is having a dominant season for the White Sox, with an 0.60 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 30 innings. He is in the last year of his three-year deal with Chicago, making $4.5 million this year. "I know he hasn’t closed yet," wrote one official, "but I don’t know why he couldn’t do it."
But for the Tigers, he might be off limits; in order for Detroit to land him, the White Sox would have to be willing to swap one of their best relievers to an archrival with more than two months to go in the regular season. Good luck with that.
If Toronto drifts once and for all, then maybe you could make a deal for Casey Janssen, who could be the focus of a lot of teams looking for bullpen help; he can fill any role, and he is respected for the way he competes, and throws strikes. Janssen has issued just three walks and has 21 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings, and he has a $4 million team option for 2014, which won’t scare anybody away.
But as one of the evaluators noted, if you’re in Detroit’s position -- with a championship-caliber rotation and a championship-caliber lineup -- then you’re going to want a guy with the stuff to crush hitters in Octobers, and Janssen is more about moxie than velocity, given his average fastball of 89.9 mph.
Pitchers like Veras aren’t necessarily upgrades, said the evaluator. "Think playoff closer," he wrote in an e-mail.
The guy he thinks is the perfect fit for the Tigers is Jonathan Papelbon, the Phillies’ closer, who has pitched effectively in the midst of a lot of frustration for Philadelphia. In 22 outings, he’s got 11 saves, and only three walks and 20 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings, with a 1.59 ERA. There are no questions about whether he could handle October, given his 18 innings and 1.00 ERA in the postseason.
A lot of teams would be scared away by Papelbon’s forthcoming salary: He is making $13 million this year, and is set to make $13 million in each of the next two seasons, with a vesting option for another $13 million in 2016.
But these are the Tigers, who have demonstrated a willingness to do everything possible to win a title.
Does that include taking on an onerous contract for a power closer with October experience?
We’ll see. The Phillies would have to decide to do some re-tooling before that ever happened; maybe they would see value in moving Papelbon at a time when it’s a seller’s market among relievers.
For the readers: What would you do if you were in the Tigers’ position?
(By the way: If you’re wondering about Brian Wilson, a free agent, there still is no indication he’s even close to pitching in the big leagues as he recovers from major surgery, and like so many of the other external bullpen options, he would come with enormous risk, because of that uncertainty. He may also prefer to pitch elsewhere.)
• The Tigers’ best and most immediate option might be to move Joaquin Benoit into the closer’s role, writes Lynn Henning.
• The peaks and valleys of Pedro Strop demonstrate just how volatile the career arc of a reliever can be: He was outstanding last year, and now he’s a mess, and because he’s out of options, the Orioles are trying to be patient, Kevin Cowherd writes.
• From ESPN Stats & Info: This was the fifth time in Verlander’s career that he has pitched at least seven scoreless innings and received a no-decision. No other Tigers pitcher in the live ball era (since 1920) has more than two such career games.
Why Verlander should have won:
A) He got batters to swing at 37.9 percent of his fastballs thrown out of the zone, his highest fastball chase rate this season.
B) His fastball had its most movement of the season (minus-7.4 inches of horizontal break, 11.8 inches of vertical break -- both season highs).
C) He allowed zero "well-hit" balls in play, the third time he has done that in a game over the past five seasons (also in 2009 and 2012).
D) He did not face a batter with a runner in scoring position the entire game, the first time he has done that this season. Royals hitters were 0-for-8 with five strikeouts with a man on first base against Verlander.
• Eric Hosmer got a face full of barbecue sauce and loved it, Sam Mellinger writes.
Around the league
• Billy Butler is miffed by Robinson Cano’s second snub.
• We had Rays GM Andrew Friedman on the podcast Wednesday, and besides talking about David Price and Wil Myers, he discussed an imaginative approach to restructuring the draft.
• The Pirates took it to the Giants 12-8, and by the end of the game Starling Marte had finished with four runs; he’s on a trajectory that would take him to 105 for the season.
• Marco Scutaro might have a bent finger forever.
• Dustin Ackley has been moved to the outfield.
• If somebody had told you before the year started that Daniel Nava and Alfredo Aceves would be responsible for one of the biggest wins of the year for the Red Sox, you would have thought him/her crazy. But that’s exactly what happened Wednesday. Nava’s manager would vote for him for the All-Star Game.
• Yasiel Puig is out with a strained shoulder. This time, there was no brawl, and the Diamondbacks got a big win in extra innings.
Kirk Gibson said, again, that his team was not headhunting.
My guess is that the Dodgers will resume this discussion -- a polite way of referring to this -- the next time that Ian Kennedy pitches.
Moves, deals and decisions
1. A Giants pitcher was suspended.
2. Andy Dirks is getting some time off.
3. The Cardinals are moving quickly in signing their draft picks, writes Derrick Goold.
4. The Rockies signed their No. 1 pick for a whole lot of money.
Dings and dents
1. Ian Kinsler could rejoin the Rangers as soon as this weekend, writes Evan Grant.
2. Wilson Ramos suffered a setback, James Wagner writes.
3. Danny Espinosa is about to begin his injury rehab.
4. Chase Utley took some swings.
5. Clay Buchholz keeps getting backed up because of his injury issue.
6. Lou Marson continues to have shoulder pain, Sheldon Ocker writes.
7. Ryan Braun’s hand is not improving, writes Todd Rosiak.
Wednesday’s games
1. The Padres had a great series against the Braves.
2. The Nationals got a badly needed boost from Ross Ohlendorf.
3. Watched a lot of the Mets’ win against the Cardinals, and Dillon Gee was excellent.
4. Erick Aybar was The Man for the Angels.
5. The Astros keep picking on the Mariners. Jordan Lyles struck out a bunch of guys.
6. The Rangers are scuffling.
NL East
• It was a bad day for Charlie Manuel, Matt Gelb writes.
• Ike Davis is going to get a chance to try to play through his mistakes, writes Andrew Keh.
• Zack Wheeler’s toughness will help him in the big leagues, says his Triple-A pitching coach.
• The Braves haven’t decided what they’re going to do with the rotation.
• B.J. Upton has been turning it around.
NL Central
• Pirates prospect Josh Bell is starting to hit, writes Karen Price.
The Reds are just about unbeatable in Wrigley, John Fay writes.
How Reds starter Mike Leake beat the Cubs on Wednesday:
A) Cubs hitters were 0-for-6 with men on base, and did not have a man reach scoring position.
B) Cubs hitters were 0-for-10 with five strikeouts in at-bats ending with an off-speed pitch. All five strikeouts came against breaking pitches (three sliders, two curves).
C) He threw 59 of 103 pitches (57.3 percent) to the outer third or farther away. Cubs hitters were 1-for-11 in at-bats ending with a pitch in that location.
NL West
• For the Giants, the problems continue, Henry Schulman writes.
AL East
• Phil Hughes struggled.
• The Orioles have baseball’s best defense.
• Tim Britton writes about how advance scouting translates for the Red Sox.
• The Blue Jays’ starting pitching has just not been good.
• Luke Scott is trying to fight through his slump.
AL Central
• Ubaldo Jimenez got some power support.
• Terry Francona is confident that the left side of the bullpen will figure it out.
• A Twins pitching prospect has endured growing pains.
• The White Sox have changed their draft strategy.
AL West
• Oakland continues to beat the heck out of the Yankees, Susan Slusser writes.
• Sean Doolittle is working through some issues, John Hickey writes.
• The Mariners’ closer was the last to leave the dugout, which is never a good thing.
• Baseball might be Jurickson Profar’s second-best sport.
Other stuff
• Many years ago, Mike Mussina told me that when he retired, he hoped to coach high school basketball in his hometown. And now he’ll live out that dream.
• A county chairman has an idea to move the Cubs out of Wrigley Field.
• The Rockies may renovate Coors Field, writes Troy Renck.
• I think I will have to fight Jim Caple for this assignment.
• Jake Peavy is going to do something really nice.
• Mariano Rivera did a really cool thing for an Oakland employee.
And today will be better than yesterday.
One of baseball’s most popular debates in the past year has involved two players: Mike Trout or Bryce Harper?
Harper is perceived to have more power, Trout more speed. Trout is thought to have more range, Harper the better arm.
But it’s time that the conversation over the sport’s best young player be changed. It must include a third player -- the Orioles’ Manny Machado. In the year that Harper was drafted No. 1 overall, Machado was chosen two picks later, and the 20-year-old has continued to be overshadowed by Harper and Trout. He arrived in the big leagues a few months after the two last season, and hasn’t had the sort of attention that the other two have had.
This season, however, Machado has blossomed, hitting .315 in his first 65 games, with 34 extra-base hits (including 27 doubles) and 41 runs. Already, Machado is regarded as one of baseball’s best defenders on the left side of the infield.
I informally polled a bunch of talent evaluators around the sport about how they would rank the three players, and based on their answers, Machado already is viewed as a player comparable to the other two -- and there already is concern over Harper’s ability to stay healthy.
Total number of votes: 9. Points are based on 3-2-1 system. Here are the results:
Harper is perceived to have more power, Trout more speed. Trout is thought to have more range, Harper the better arm.
But it’s time that the conversation over the sport’s best young player be changed. It must include a third player -- the Orioles’ Manny Machado. In the year that Harper was drafted No. 1 overall, Machado was chosen two picks later, and the 20-year-old has continued to be overshadowed by Harper and Trout. He arrived in the big leagues a few months after the two last season, and hasn’t had the sort of attention that the other two have had.
This season, however, Machado has blossomed, hitting .315 in his first 65 games, with 34 extra-base hits (including 27 doubles) and 41 runs. Already, Machado is regarded as one of baseball’s best defenders on the left side of the infield.
I informally polled a bunch of talent evaluators around the sport about how they would rank the three players, and based on their answers, Machado already is viewed as a player comparable to the other two -- and there already is concern over Harper’s ability to stay healthy.
Total number of votes: 9. Points are based on 3-2-1 system. Here are the results:
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George Brett’s Hall of Fame story was well-known to Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore before he talked to Brett last month, again, about joining the Kansas City coaching staff.
Drafted by the Royals in the second round in 1971, Brett was something of a mess early in his big league career, and he was sent back to the minors with a reputation as something of a know-it-all. He surrendered completely to the instruction of hitting coach Charlie Lau and became one of baseball’s all-time great third baseman -- 3,154 hits, 317 homers, four top-3 finishes in the MVP voting, a day of honor at Cooperstown.
Brett has been joining the team in spring training for years, and there has been nothing ceremonial about his work there. He has arrived early, thrown batting practice and put in a full day -- and he came back to do it again and again. So Moore knew that if Brett became a coach, he would be all-in.
That said, what Brett has done since taking over as the Royals’ interim hitting coach 12 days ago has stunned Moore.
"It’s been amazing," said Moore. "His energy. His passion. He interacts with every single player on the team, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a hitter or a pitcher. Incredible."
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CINCINNATI -- Pitching to the St. Louis Cardinals is like standing on a hill of fire ants. You might get one or two of them, but the rest will keep coming, and they will get you.
The other day, the Reds' Mike Leake -- who has been pitching well lately -- was working a scoreless game as he faced the middle of the St. Louis lineup, and with a runner at first and one out in the fourth, the right-handed-hitting Allen Craig started fouling off pitches. All of them went to the right side, not because he was overwhelmed by Leake's stuff and he was late, but because this is the approach of almost all the St. Louis hitters: They let pitches travel deep in the strike zone to give themselves a better chance to see the ball, and they look to hit it to the opposite field or through the middle.
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Vin Scully has been doing his job since 1950, which means he saw Jackie Robinson steal home, witnessed a perfect game by Sandy Koufax, and was there when Kirk Gibson hit one of the most incredible home runs in baseball history. So if you can amaze the great Dodgers broadcaster, well, that’s saying something.
And this is what Scully said after the latest feat by Yasiel Puig, on Thursday night: “I don’t believe it!” (You can hear it here.)
Puig has been in the big leagues four days and so far all he has done is hit three homers, including a two-run shot, a three-run homer, and then Thursday’s crushing grand slam.
And this is what Scully said after the latest feat by Yasiel Puig, on Thursday night: “I don’t believe it!” (You can hear it here.)
Puig has been in the big leagues four days and so far all he has done is hit three homers, including a two-run shot, a three-run homer, and then Thursday’s crushing grand slam.
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A smart baseball executive talked the other day about how difficult the new rules have made it for teams to build through the draft. Under the old rules, organizations could divert funds into their draft spending and aggressively pay players in the later rounds -- usually talented high schoolers who had thoughts of going to college -- and build their pool of prospects.
But under the new rules, with a slotting system, that really isn’t possible anymore without rule-bending. And remember, there are also new restrictions on signing international free agents.
“The teams that already have a good group of prospects are in an incredibly strong position,” said the executive, naming the Cardinals, Rays and Pirates among those clubs. “But on the other hand, if you don’t have that kind of talent in your organization, it’s become much more difficult to get it.”
But under the new rules, with a slotting system, that really isn’t possible anymore without rule-bending. And remember, there are also new restrictions on signing international free agents.
“The teams that already have a good group of prospects are in an incredibly strong position,” said the executive, naming the Cardinals, Rays and Pirates among those clubs. “But on the other hand, if you don’t have that kind of talent in your organization, it’s become much more difficult to get it.”
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Melky Cabrera was suspended for the use of performance-enhancing drugs in 2012 and lost about a third of his salary, or about $1.8 million of the $6 million that he made. Then, when he went into free agency, he signed a two-year, $16 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.
According to "Outside The Lines," Cabrera now faces a 100-game suspension, meaning that he could lose about $4.4 million in salary. So in the end, Melky Cabrera could be busted twice in two years -- and still walk away with $15.8 million for his work in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Does crime pay in Major League Baseball?
Heck yeah, it does.
According to "Outside The Lines," Cabrera now faces a 100-game suspension, meaning that he could lose about $4.4 million in salary. So in the end, Melky Cabrera could be busted twice in two years -- and still walk away with $15.8 million for his work in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Does crime pay in Major League Baseball?
Heck yeah, it does.
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Mariano Rivera is almost perfect as a reliever this season, with 19 saves and a 1.77 ERA, the sort of numbers that don’t square with the fact that he is 43 years old and announced his retirement back in March.
This isn’t quite Gale Sayers walking away from his sport, or Jim Brown, because those guys were much younger when they retired, but it is unusual for someone to quit while at the top of his profession, which is why he was asked again Sunday, in conversation, if there is any chance he would reconsider. His explanation was classic Rivera.
This isn’t quite Gale Sayers walking away from his sport, or Jim Brown, because those guys were much younger when they retired, but it is unusual for someone to quit while at the top of his profession, which is why he was asked again Sunday, in conversation, if there is any chance he would reconsider. His explanation was classic Rivera.
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Just before last Sunday night's game, Atlanta Braves hitting coach Greg Walker stood at the mouth of the dugout and talked about B.J. Upton's complicated, dysfunctional swing. Upton's front foot wasn't getting down quickly enough -- toes and heel -- and as he moved to attack the many pitches he missed, his front hip tended to turn out, like a door swinging open, far too soon before the ball got to home plate. And because of that, his bat followed, dragging out of the strike zone.
This is largely the reason why Upton has struggled so badly against anybody with a decent fastball in the past couple of years. His swing has probably been in the strike zone a minimal amount of time for a majority of his at-bats. Upton had been working on repairing his swing in the days leading up to his benching last week, and when he did side work and took batting practice, it would all look better. But once the games started, the adrenaline of the competition was added in and broke down everything.
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A few hours before the Yankees beat the Red Sox, New York general manager Brian Cashman sat down for the Sunday night conversation, and, among other topics, he talked about CC Sabathia and what he has meant to the franchise. Cashman recounted the conversations he had with Sabathia before signing him: Not only did he want Sabathia because he is a really good pitcher but he wanted Sabathia to help alter the Yankees' clubhouse dynamic, which he felt was very sterile.
Sabathia is now four wins from 200 for his career, and, no matter what happens going forward, he’ll be remembered as one of the better pitchers of his generation. But if there was a Teammate Hall of Fame -- for guys like Dale Murphy, Tim Raines -- Sabathia would be a first-ballot inductee.
Sabathia is now four wins from 200 for his career, and, no matter what happens going forward, he’ll be remembered as one of the better pitchers of his generation. But if there was a Teammate Hall of Fame -- for guys like Dale Murphy, Tim Raines -- Sabathia would be a first-ballot inductee.
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A longtime evaluator went through some of the developments for each of the American League teams -- the strong outing by Jered Weaver on Wednesday, the Rays hanging in there despite the issues that have taken down David Price and Fernando Rodney, the pitching of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Oakland, he noted, keeps winning. “That’s my pick to win this year,” he said.
To take the AL West?
“No,” he said, “to win the league.”
Oakland, he noted, keeps winning. “That’s my pick to win this year,” he said.
To take the AL West?
“No,” he said, “to win the league.”
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Buster Olney
Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of two books. "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," is a Times best-seller, and "How Lucky You Can Be", about basketball coaching legend Don Meyer, was released in 2011.
He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).
Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."
Follow Buster on Twitter: @Buster_ESPN