http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/984 Recent articles about Dana Eveland en-us Momma said there'd be days like this. That doesn't make it any easier to swallow though. By the end of the first inning, the A's would need to score more than five runs to have a chance to win the game, a feat that they've accomplished only five games over the past 26, well now 27... Sat, 02 Aug 2008 22:56:05 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300005 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300005 It's amazing to me how popular BABIP has become, as I seem to be reading about it now all over the place, when just last year, no one except the Baseball Forecaster and Baseball HQ and Baseball Prospectus were basically talking about it. Yes, Patrick also talked about it in the first incarnation of the blog, but the metric was virtually missing from most pitcher analyses. Anyway, although BABIP has caught on, and I've been seeing a lot more about strand rates as well, it seems as though the pitcher HR/F allowed has been ignored. Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:59:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/297451 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/297451 In 101 years of major league play, nobody has done what rookie Brad Ziegler has accomplished since being called up this season. The submarine ball thrower pitched two innings Sunday letting up two hits and getting three K's while doing what he's ALWAYS done as a major leaguer, shut down the offense... Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:48:20 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/296645 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/296645 Albuquerque @ Iowa, W, 6-10 Tenn @ West Tenn, L, 2-10 Clearwater @ Daytona, W, 1-5 West Mich @ Peoria, W, 0-2 Eugene @ Boise, L, 10-6 AZL Angels @ AZL Cubs, W, 5-6 DSL Cubs1 @ DSL White Sox1, L, 1-3 DSL Blue Jays1 @ DSL Cubs2, W, 2-3 Performances: Felix Pie: 3/6, 1 3B, 3 RBI, slightly distraught over not even being mentioned at all in the article about the game, despite having a better day than the star: Micah Hoffpauir: 3/6, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K, 4 un-earned run error with 2 outs in the 8th.  Don't see many of those. Josh Kroeger: 2/4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  Season line: .285/.357/.486 in 288 AB with 30 BB, 56 K, 9/11 SB/SBA, 21 2B, 2 3B, 11 HR.  League Average line: .275/.347/.439.  Perfectly acceptable for a 4th OF.  He's had 55 career MLB PA and is still just 25, so the jury shouldn't completely be out on him. Jose Ascanio: 2 IP, 3 H, 4 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR.  Perhaps struggling while being on the shuttle from Iowa to Chicago, as he's given up runs in 8 of the last 9 appearances he's had in Iowa.  His peripherals are still solid for a reliever. Tyler Colvin: 0/3, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K, Outfield A (man at home).  He's still got some time to figure things out, since no one expects him to be a star and he'll still only be 23 y.o. until Sept. 2009, but you hope this is a year to regroup and put things together.  He's still got time to do that this year, but his numbers are going to look terrible no matter how good or bad he hits for 2 months at the end of the season.  You just hope he continues drawing the base on balls and has a little more power. Donald Veal: 3 IP, 4 H, 5 R (5 ER), 2 BB, 4 K, WP, HB.  3 of the 4 hits he allowed were doubles.  Not exactly encouraging.  His season numbers still aren't bad, but not bad isn't exactly good either.  He won't make it as a starter in the bigs walking 4.5 per 9 IP.  His stuff definitely suggest he'll get somewhere with it though.  He won't turn 24 until mid-Sept., so there's a little wiggle room for him to develop a little more control, but it's unlikely. Jose Ceda:1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, WP.  He's unbelievable.  He also could be an offensive lineman-in-training if he doesn't watch his weight (6'4", 275 lbs.), which makes me wonder what the Brewers would give us for him.  Corey Hart and J.J. Hardy?  If the A's aren't done selling, I see Dana Eveland and Joe Blanton going to the Brewers as well. Marquez Smith: 2/5, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 GIDP.  First 4 games @ Daytona: .385/.467/.615.  He hasn't played 2B yet in Daytona. Darwin Barney: 1/4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K. Tony Thomas: 1/3, 2 K, 1 S, 1 SB.  Has a VERY severe reverse platoon vs. LHP this season, posting a meager .171/.227/.243 vs. LHP in 70 AB this season, with solid a .301/.346/.467 line vs. RHP.  Has batted 8th when he's played against lefties for a month or so now and leads off vs. RHP.  Just turned 22 on 07/10. James Adduci: 3/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB.  Batting .300/.385/.372 in 320 AB of a good representation of a Theriot-esque OF @ Daytona this year. Steven Clevenger:  3/5, 1 R, 1 RBI.  Batting .303/.390/.370 in 165 AB of a good representation of a Theriot-esque C @ Daytona this year (he was demoted from Tenn earlier this season). Marco Carillo: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 6/13 GO/AO.  Having a solid season @ Daytona as a 21 y.o.: 3.17 ERA, 96.7 IP, 75 H, 39 R, 8 HR, 27 BB, 56 K, 0.76 GO/AO ratio.  Not great peripherals, but still young enough to show some improvement.  Control has improved significantly this year. Jovan Rosa: 1/5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K.  Still doing well as a 20 y.o., hasn't walked as much in the last month as previously, but still very good. Julio Castillo: 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 9-2 GO/AO.  Good outing from a player who went straight from the DSL to Peoria a few weeks ago and hasn't missed a beat. Josh Vitters: 1/5, 1 R, 2 K.  Deserves a promotion, but is still just 18 until the end of August.  A player the Cubs shouldn't be afraid to promote aggressively.  Hopefully starts next season @ Daytona as a 19 y.o. and perhaps one of the 5 youngest players there. Josh Harrison: 3/5, 1 R, 2 RBI, CS.  Reminds me a lot of Tony Thomas, in that he made some adjustments before the college season and tore up the league after some lesser work previous seasons.  He's hitting well at Boise and probably won't get promoted until next year. Ryan Keedy: 2/4, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K.  At .316/.422/.421 in 76 AB on the season, he hasn't shown much power as yet, but is certainly getting on base.  Can't really say much of anything about college guys in short season leagues, because most of them have already faced tougher competition than this. John Contreras: 1/3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K.  A 22 y.o. getting his first taste of professional baseball in the U.S.A., having played in the DSL previously, and tearing it up.  58 AB, .362/.391/.724, 5 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 3 BB, 12 K.  Obviously he's taken well to it. Nelson Perez: 2/4, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K.  A player AZ Phil's a fan of, but hasn't played much ball for all of the talent he supposedly posesses.  Did pretty poorly last year in this league, and is destroying it this year.  Hopefully will be finally ready for a full season league at 21 next year. Yohan Gonzalez: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.  18 y.o. who pitched well (although sparingly) for the DSL last year.  Generates lots of groundballs(2+ GO/AO ratio both seasons). Ramon Garcia: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 7/7 GO/AO.  Must have been on a pitch count, because that's the only explanation I can think of for pulling him after 6 innings of putting up all zeroes.  At 16 and with a chance to be pitching in the States next year at 17, there's obviously a lot of promise. Roneidy Mejia: 1.3 IP, 1 H, 0 R (1/1 inherited runners scored), 2 BB, 1 K, W.  The entire DSL Cubs2 pitching staff is under 20, meaning we could be seeing much more of these guys if they pitch well.  As can be expected of a young team, they don't have the best record (15-22), but that they are out there competing as one of the youngest teams in the DSL is encouraging. Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:37:58 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289941 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/289941 A review of the past week in Philly sports. Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:19:42 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281791 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281791 That was the message being visually displayed in the right field seats at the Oakland Coliseum last night. The Yankees were in town and the Taiwannese crowd packed into the stands. I have to admit that they are the nicest and coolest Yankees fans I have ever met. I much prefer them to the "used to be" or, worse, "never was" Fat guy from the Bronx group. The Wang fans knew their baseball regardless of whether of not they knew any English. The other guys couldn't tell Jumping Joe from Ryan Seacrest... seriously. Just sad that the Evil Empire allows these people to be "fans", but don't worry, with one losing season they will jump onto any other band wagon passing by. With that said, I was at the game last night and it was rough to be an A's fan. I love my guys, but they couldn't put any wood on the ball with RISP and Wang had the sinker working. That sinker lead to four double plays; one coming with the bases juiced and only one out at a point when it was just a one run game. The Yankees were looking for ways to lose this game, but the A's just wouldn't let them. Dana Eveland was a bit wild and continued his walking ways, but he finished with a respectable line of two ER over six innings. Just "poor" enough of a start to get the loss and work his record to 4-5. Wang improved to 7-2 and dropped his ERA. Wang still does not look like the dominant pitcher of the last two years, but he did enough in this game. I don't see the Yankees battling for their division this year, but they just might beat out Toronto for third. Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:07:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/276841 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/276841 The first game of a three game series at the Coliseum starts on Wednesday night pitting the Korean hurler Chien-Ming Wang of the Yankees against the rookie Dana Eveland of the Oakland Athletics. Wang hasn't really been the ace he is supposed to be of late going winless in his last six outings and pumping an ERA in those games over six. He looks to get back on track against a young rookie in Eveland who has had some control issues lately. Eveland tossed a career high seven walks in his last outing and has not escaped the fifth in his last two appearances. Eveland, however, has exceeded expectations already this season with a good number of quality starts from the middle of the rotation. I expect Wang to continue his struggles as the patient Oakland batters work the count and end his outing in the fifth. Eveland should right the ship with the "experience beyond his years" Suzuki manning the pitch selection. The Yankees can be overly aggressive with their plate control and this should be a benefit to the crafty Eveland. Giambi is on a tear and has always enjoyed the confines of the Coliseum. Tuesday night should be on different. The Yankees bullpen is a major sore spot of contention as Joba moved into the starting rotation, and I see it continuing to falter and the A's pulling away with a 6-3 victory after Street comes in and shuts down the Yankees in the top of the ninth for a save (perhaps giving New York a glimpse of an option for post Rivera closing duties). Go ahead; sound off, who will take game one? The series? Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:42:18 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/276140 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/276140 Rather than giving you the same old names that sit unappreciated on your waiver wire week after week, AccuScore fantasy expert Tim Williams takes a look back to the best waiver wire pick ups of the season , and suggests buying a guy like Johnny Cueto, while selling this week's hot pickup, Jay Bruce. Fri, 30 May 2008 13:51:03 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/272521 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/272521 If you play in a league that starts two catchers, you probably are constantly scouring the waiver wires for a solid number two option. It took a trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond for AccuScore fantasy expert Tim Williams to decide that the second catcher really doesn't matter. This week's waiver wire wonders gives you better options who will do more for your team than guys like Yadier Molina. Sat, 24 May 2008 00:25:05 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/270503 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/270503 Joba Chamberlain looks like he will finally be making his long awated transition to the starting rotation according to manager Joe Girardi. While the Yankees wait Darrell Rasner has helped shore up the rotation, Bartolo Colon returned to the majors, Chone Figgins returned from the DL, and Dusty Baker is out to ruin another young promising arm in this edition of the Fantasy Rundown. Thu, 22 May 2008 02:40:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/269574 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/269574 Between the NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, Olympic hotties, and the NFL draft, I haven't kept my eye on baseball stats at all. I was not prepared for the surprises that awaited me when I checked out the AL and NL stats leaders. Yes, I know it is only one month into the season and we shouldn't overreact, but look at some of the names atop the MLB leaderboard. Who are those guys? Hey, the Rangers Josh Hamilton and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's (LAAsOA?) Casey Kotchman are 3 and 4 in AL batting average! Hamilton, Thu, 01 May 2008 01:00:22 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/262015 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/262015 Are you tired of streamers ruining the integrity of the game in your league? Well you will find no sympathy here. AccuScore fantasy expert Tim Williams explains why streaming is perfectly acceptable, and gives you this week's Waiver Wire Wonders, which includes spot starters like Dana Eveland on Sunday against the Royals. Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:58:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/241945 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/241945 Looking at the pitching staff just 2 years ago, it's easy to see why the team finished 75-87. Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:59:12 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/237239 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/237239 Looking ahead to the coming week in fantasy baseball, FIO co-founder & editor Matt Hinzpeter discusses some of the two-start pitchers for Week 3. This is a must-read for weekly leagues or if you like to stream pitchers on your roster. Check the Favorable Match-Ups, Two-Start Pitchers to Stay Away From, and the two-start pitchers to Keep an Eye On. Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:36:03 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/235991 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/235991 Too often we make a decision because of a fantasy player's name, rather than the numbers they are putting up. AccuScore fantasy expert Tim Williams gives you just the numbers of this week's Waiver Wire Wonders, leaving it up to you to decide if a certain pitcher acquired by Billy Beane this off-season is the next Dan Haren. Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:29:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/235327 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/235327