Public Reprimand

post from Baseball Musings on 06 March 2008 11:49:00 PM. © Baseball Musings

Trey Hillman very publicly reminded his team how to run the bases after their win today: Hillman had seen too many base-running mistakes earlier in the game. His solution was to gather the entire team at the plate for what...

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The 2008 Pittsburgh Pirates: Not That Bad

post from MLB Fleece Factor on 06 March 2008 11:22:24 PM. © MLB Fleece Factor

Count the Pittsburgh Pirates as likely Hillary Clinton supporters because the last time the club had a winning season was the summer when her husband Bill was first nominated by the Democratic party - 1992. It’s hard to believe, but fifteen long years ago, a younger Jim Leyland led a team featuring a skinny Barry Bonds, [...]

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Cautious optimism is best when discussing Wood

post from MLB News Blog on 06 March 2008 10:36:12 PM. © MLB News Blog

Kerry Wood looks tantalizingly good this spring. Ken Rosenthal says Cubs fans should savor it while keeping tempered expectations.Read the full story.

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Let Another One Slip Away

post from ChicagoCubsOnline.com on 06 March 2008 10:35:51 PM. © ChicagoCubsOnline.com

Spring Training Game Eight - Cubs 1 A's 2
WP - Santiago Casilla (1-0) LP - Jose Ceda (0-1, BS 1) Save - Jerry Blevins (1)

For the second day in a row Lou Piniella's young bullpen blew a lead in the 8th inning and the Cubs' defense committed an error. Jose Ceda struggled with his command and gave up 2 runs on 2 hits with 2 walks in 1/3 of an inning. With the exception of Ceda, Piniella's staff had a good day. Jason Marquis gave up 4 hits in his 3 innings of work but did not allow a run, despite loading the bases in the 3rd inning. Kerry Wood and Bobby Howry each threw a scoreless inning of relief and Juan Mateo added another scoreless outing to his spring resume. Jose Ascanio relieved Ceda in the 9th, walked a batter to load the bases but stranded two inherited runners. Cubs pitching walked 6 more batters on Thursday.

The Cubs' offense faced an Oakland A's staff that featured mostly southpaws, and managed just 1 run on 5 hits. Kosuke Fukudome walked in the 4th and scored from 1st on a double to left by Daryle Ward. Former Cub farmhand, Jerry Blevins picked up the save.

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The DICE of last years pitching staff

post from Royals Review on 06 March 2008 10:29:23 PM. © Royals Review

From the diaries... -RR

Well, I know we have already had the conversation about Baseball Simulators in the past couple of weeks, namely the gaming types. I was being a giant nerd playing with the version I favor, Baseball Mogul 2008, today, and came across a Statistic that Baseball Mogul creator Clay Dreslough came up with. It is called DICE (Defense Independent Component ERA). You can read more about it here. It's ok..... Go read it now. It's important if you want to understand the results here.

You are back? Awesome. I hope you were able to follow it. My understanding is that DICE is the pitcher's true ERA, basically taking any variance in BABIP out of the equation and using a series of weights on other stats (like Homeruns, because they are RARELY affected by defense) to predict A defensively neutral atmosphere. I feel like given a seasons sample size, it should project pretty nicely. So, I ran last years staff through it (minimum of 39.3 IP [I wanted to make it 40, but Braun forced my hand]), minus anyone not playing for us anymore. In case you want to look at how bad Elarton and Perez were, the formula is in the link above.

Pitcher    BB    HR    HBP    K    IP        DICE
Meche    62    22    3    156    216        3.78
Bannister    44    15    6    77    165        4.16
Greinke    36    12    3    106    122        3.50
DeLa Rosa    53    20    3    82    130        5.03
Davies    26    10    3    40    50        5.74
Soria    19    3    1    75    69        2.26
Gobble    23    6    2    50    53.7        3.99
Peralta    19    9    2    66    87.7        3.55
Duckworth    23    3    1    21    46.7        4.48
Nunez    10    8    0    37    43.7        4.37
Bale    17    1    1    42    40        2.58
Braun    22    4    0    24    39.3        4.78

So, everyone, do you glean any new information from this?

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http://www.royalsreview.com/story/2008/3/6/204024/7972

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The Juice Blog: My Deepest Sympathies and Other
Items

post from The Juice Blog on 06 March 2008 10:29:00 PM. © The Juice Blog

I'm sure many readers at the Toaster were deeply saddened by the death of Dungeons and Dragons founder Gary Gygax, on Tuesday. While the only role-playing I've ever had any real interest in was more the I've been a bad schoolboy, please don't punish me too much, Headmistress, I have fond memories of my brother and his nerdy friends getting all hyped up rolling dice like they were the Rat Pack at The Sands.

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http://thejuice.baseballtoaster.com/archives/918767.html

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Tim Wakefield: Trying to hasten time to home
plate

post from MLB News Blog on 06 March 2008 10:18:38 PM. © MLB News Blog

Read the full story.

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http://mlbnewsblog.com/2008/03/06/tim-wakefield-trying-to-hasten-time-to-home-pla
te/

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Coco Crisp: Root canal his latest malady

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http://mlbnewsblog.com/2008/03/06/coco-crisp-root-canal-his-latest-malady/

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Jacoby Ellsbury: Among youngsters energizing the
vets

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http://mlbnewsblog.com/2008/03/06/jacoby-ellsbury-among-youngsters-energizing-the
-vets/

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Pap Sets Salary Standard

Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon was emphatic in his belief earlier this week that his salary should match his stature as the best young closer in the game.Read the full story.

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http://mlbnewsblog.com/2008/03/06/pap-sets-salary-standard/

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