Japanese Superstar and possible future MLB ace Yu Darvish is racking up an under-heard of pitch count during the 2010 NPL season. Pitch Count Stats (as of Aug 13th) Total Pitches: 2303 Average per Start: 127.94 Darvish has not only averaged 128 pitches per outing, he’s also broken the 140+ pitch mark on six different occasions. This MLB season (as of August 13th), the 130...

For those of you who don’t know, Jonathan Papelbon is the Red Sox’ DB closer.  For those of you who don’t know, Spencer Pratt became famous for being a DB on MTV’s “The Hills.”  The similarities don’t end there as you will soon see: hehehehehehehe Surely there can’t be more than one person in the world who sports the Beavis hairstyle – can there? They both...

After the pen dropped another game last night, I was left wondering, how has the pen performed as a whole this season? Conventional: The Jays bullpen ERA is slightly below AL league average at 3.88 (vs 3.95). The overall win/loss record is 16 – 18 on the season Advanced: Two stats that I’ll use are WPA and WPA/LI. Following Quotes Via Fangraphs: WPA is the difference...

An adept bunter and daring baserunner, his soccer training paid off several times when he intentionally kicked the ball out of defenders’ mitts while sliding. Cleveland manager Al Lopez said Ávila had “a fine swing, a sharp eye, a good spirit of competition … and a world of confidence in himself.” – Jane Charnin-Aker Roberto Francisco Ávila González...

The independent Golden League‘s Orange County Flyers announced last week that they had signed former Chicago Cubs All-Star pitcher Mark Prior. “I want to get back out there and get some competitive games under my belt,” said Prior, who was a first-team All-American pitcher for USC in 2001. “It’s been a few years with a couple shoulder surgeries. I finally...

 *Editor’s Note:   The expressed opinions of Mr. X are those of Mr. X alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Mop Up Duty.  Mr. X chooses to remain anonymous for the reason that should he be identified, it will compromise his ability to provide Mop Up Duty readers with the most intimate and cutting edge news stories.  We at Mop Up Duty sincerely hope you are not offended...

Ah, the good old days when Canada had two major league baseball teams. Remember (A Tribute to the Montreal Expos) by Annakin Slayd ft. Rachelle Houde The Final Tribute To The Montreal Expos (scoreboard footage from the Big O after the final out in Montreal MLB baseball history) And finally the great Bill Lee: Who killed the Montreal Expos?

  “Baseball is a better game for the fans when you have two starting pitchers engaged in a duel, rather than each pitching five innings and turning it over to a long series of interchangeable relievers.” – Bill James                           I was watching an interview the other day with Hall of Fame pitcher Fergie Jenkins.  He was talking...

Alex Anthopoulos has put his money where his mouth is , making Tools the new Moneyball over Sabermetrics in Toronto. Supporting Evidence (Tools Primer) Hitting for Average Hitting for Power Running Fielding Arm Strength Scouting Staff Hires This is quickly becoming old news. From a March 2010 Bob Elliot Article Anthopoulos came up with a number of his own, hiring 32 new scouts...

Billy Koch was drafted in the 1st round (4th overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1996 Amateur Draft.  Coming out of Clemson, where he played for 3 seasons, Koch impressed Jays scouts by routinely hitting 100mph on the radar gun. After signing for a $1.45 million bonus. Koch was assigned to high-A level Dunedin of the Florida State League to start the 1997 season, Billy Koch...

 The Trenches were made up of seldom used bench players Derek Bell, Ed Sprague and Turner Ward. But don’t call them bench players because they didn’t ride the benches – they worked the trenches! Sprague didn’t play much after being called up—he had only 47 at bats—but he and two other Blue Jay reserves, outfielders Turner Ward and Derek Bell, started...

Flair and flash.

Following the recent Brett Wallace for Anthony Gose trade, reports & quotes came floating out of Jays media comparing Anthony Gose to Carl Crawford. That’s one lofty comp! Let’s see how Gose stacks up to the perennial all-star. Note: Obviously I haven’t seen Gose in live action. Assumptions on skills have been made via the various scouting comments from around...

Remember Willis Otañez? You probably don’t – and I don’t blame you.  He was the backup third baseman and first baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1999.  He didn’t really do a whole lot but produced at around the level of a replacement player.  Following the 1999 season he was dispatched to the minor leagues and then bounced around from organization to...

Today the Blue Jays traded 1B prospect Brett Wallace for OF prospect Anthony Goes.  Here’s a look at what they acquired in Gose. Gose is a player who thrills scouts, despite a unimpressive line of .266/.324/.393 in 88 Florida State League games. He’s a plus-plus runner who many think will develop some power, although he certainly comes with some risk.  His overall game...

Quick Eephus Definition: An Eephus pitch (also spelled Ephus) in baseball is considered a junk pitch with very low speed. The delivery from the pitcher has very low velocity and usually catches the hitter off-guard. A few Famous Eephus Throwers: Bill Lee (named his the spaceball) Rip Sewell Pascual Perez Kazuhito Tadano Steve Hamilton Vicente Padilla is beginning to garner a reputation...

I first travelled with the Mop-up Duty boys to Comerica in 2002 on the way back from Chicago after seeing the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.  It was 3 years after the ballpark had opened in 1999 and the Tigers were a terrible team that season, going 55-106.  We saw them in early August - August 5th, 2002 to be specific.  I remember not expecting much, but for a city that...

For his entire 25-year baseball career (save for one season) Héctor Espino played in Mexico.  In Mexican professional baseball, he was the premier slugger, hitting 783 home runs in his career (combining Mexican League, Mexican Pacific League and International League numbers).  This is how he earned the nickname “The Mexican Babe Ruth.” Espino was born June 6th,...

With pitch count being a legitimate concern (and some would say offensive strategy) I wanted to see how some of the Jays starters stacked up in the stat category pitches per out. Of course pitches per out isn’t the worlds greatest stat. It doesn’t factor in type of out (flyball, linedrive, gb, etc), what’s happening to the non-out pitches (giving up a HR, etc)...

They are the forgotten ones: John Mayberry, Al Woods, Otto Velez, Cliff Johnson & Jorge Orta.  In the Blue Jays’ formative years, they were the heart of an anemic lineup and carried the Jays offense on their shoulders. In 1980 DH Otto “The Swatto” Velez,  LF Al Woods and 1B John Mayberry combined for 65 HR, 52% of the team’s total output.  Otto the...

God damn.  What good genetics have to be in those offspring. Brandy Halladay is, of course, the perfect woman and I believe Roy Halladay was created in a lab Ivan Drago-style.  Don’t be lazy, don’t be crazy – sign those kids TODAY! Such winning smiles.

Willie Upshaw took over from John Mayberry as the Toronto Blue Jays’ primary first baseman in 1982. Originally drafted by the New York Yankees in 1975, the Blue Jays acquired him through the Rule 5 draft in 1977.  He made his major league debut in 1978 and stayed on the 25 man roster as mandated by the Rule 5 rules.  He struggled in 1978 stayed in the minors for a full season...

With the recent departure of Tim Collins to the Atlanta organization in the Yunel Escobar/Alex Gonzalez trade, the Blue Jays will need a new reliever to backfill the “phenom” position that Collins left behind.  Enter Alan Farina, the new Tim Collins save for the extraordinary strikeout numbers. The 5’11″ 190-pound Farina is a 4-pitch pitcher, possessing...

Finally the AL East schedule works in favour of the Toronto Blue Jays. After Sunday afternoon’s 10 – 1 blowout of the Orioles, the Jays climbed two games above .500, at 47-45. Other Seasonal Stats * Jays are 9 – 0 against the Orioles * They have scored 48 runs (5.33 per game) and allowed only 16 (1.77) * The Jays now have a 17 – 16 record vs the AL East...

With all this talk about Yunel Escobar playing with flair, flamboyance and swagger, it reminds me of another Blue Jays infielder who used to play with a certain kind of panache: Roberto Alomar.  I think he’ll be just fine.