Complications for Mo

post from Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog on 08 May 2012 02:01:18 PM. © Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog

Mariano Rivera?s visit with surgeons yesterday was expected to result in a date for surgery to repair a torn right ACL.
However, things didn?t go as smoothly as expected for the Yankees closer.
?We ran into complications,?? agent Fernando Cuza told The Post. ?I am referring to Dr. Ahmad and [Yankees general manager] Brian Cashman for further information.??
Neither Cuza nor the Yankees would elaborate on what was discovered when Rivera met with Yankees team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad, Dr. Russell Warren, the Giants? physician, and David Altchek, the Mets? doctor, who performed surgery on Rivera?s shoulder after the 2008 season.
It was suspected the surgeons would concur with last week?s diagnosis in Kansas City that Rivera had a torn ACL and torn meniscus and plans for season-ending surgery would be made.
?I won?t comment on that right now,?? Cashman said. ?He was at the Hospital for Special Surgery and saw Dr. Warren and then saw [Dr.] Ahmad. He was scheduled to see both.??

That's odd. Hopefully this isn't too much of a concern. If I find any more info I'll update this post. There was a report that stated that "a high-ranking team official" said today that the complications weren't that serious and that the Yankees were still gathering more information. However, they also added that "with any complications related to surgery, it can't be good news."

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SlidingIntoHome/~3/rMYF_LLU7EY/from-george.html

Digg this

Brad Penny Released from Softbank Hawks, Has Pro
Offers

post from Purple Row on 08 May 2012 02:01:13 PM. © Purple Row

DETROIT, MI - SEPTEMBER 03: Starting pitcher Brad Penny #31 of the Detroit Tigers fields the ball next to the mound and throws to first base during a MLB game against the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park on September 3, 2011 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images)

The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of Japan's Pacific League have released right-handed pitcher Brad Penny, according to a Sanspo.com article (via Patrick Newman of @npbtracker). A rough translation suggests that Penny had complained of right shoulder pain and was having difficulty adjusting to Japanese ball:

According to team officials, Penny was "unable to adapt well to baseball in Japan, [and he] strongly desired to leave."

That noted, Buster Olney is suggesting that Penny already has offers from multiple Major League teams for both starter and reliever roles:

Brad Penny has offers to be a starter and offers to be a reliever from MLB teams. Will choose soon.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) May 8, 2012

Penny, 33, signed with the Hawks in early February for $3 million. The 13th-year vet has been on six different professional rosters, including five seasons with the Marlins and five with the Dodgers between 2000-2009. Since then, Penny has bounced around teams including the Red Sox, Giants, Cardinals, and finally the Tigers before signing with the Hawks in Japan.

Could the Rockies be one of the interested teams?

With Jeremy Guthrie and Jhoulys Chacin on the DL, Drew Pomeranz expected to miss his next start after his injury in San Diego, and a bullpen suffering from overwork, the Rockies are turning to Alex White and Christian Friedrich to turn the rotation around. Given their lack of MLB innings, perhaps the Rockies acquire Penny -- as an insurance policy -- to either provide rotation depth or to function as the long man out of the pen?

ed. SB Nation MLB News is a service provided by the SB Nation News Desk to help the Purple Row staff stay on top of breaking news. As many of you know, most of us have day jobs, and we're generally unable to hit the breaking news beyond posting a fanshot for everyone to read. So while SB Nation MLB News isn't a member of the PR staff, they will be occasionally posting articles for us in an effort to make sure that you are provided with the most up-to-date breaking news as it's happening.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.purplerow.com/2012/5/8/3007374/rockies-rumors-brad-penny-released-soft
bank-hawks-japan-pro-offers-mlb-2012

Digg this

Sabermetrics: Game Score

post from The Crawfish Boxes on 08 May 2012 02:01:12 PM. © The Crawfish Boxes

If you're a regular reader of our site you may have noticed me starting to use the statistic Game Score to evaluate pitching performances, more and more

Game Score is a Bill James created statistic that takes a pitchers final pitching line and turn it into a single number. Introduced in 1988, Game Score uses a 0-114 scale to rate a pitcher. To get a score of 114 a pitcher would have to nine innings and strikeout every batter he faces. Most pitching performance fall in the 0-100 range, although there are cases of a pitcher having a Game Score above 100. To get a pitchers Game Score do the following:

Screenshot taken from Baseball Reference

Eight easy steps and you're done. If you can fill out a scorecard you can figure out a pitchers Game Score. At the very least, It would give you something to do during the later innings.

The current most popular way to evaluate a pitchers single game performance is the quality start, which has only two qualifications: go at least six innings and allow three runs or less, that's it. That's even simpler than Bill James Game Score, and probably one of the reasons why it's caught on and Game Score has stayed relatively unused, even within the sabermetrics community. Quality start is a very vague statistic though and doesn't tell the entire story of an outing, Game Score does.

A study by Jeff Angus showed that a Game Score of 50 typically means that the pitcher gave their team slightly over a 50% chance to win the game. The numbers don't match up exactly, but they're close enough that you get a good idea of how much a pitching performance contributed to that teams chances of winning based of Game Score.

Last summer, John Dewan suggested anything above a 65 should be considered a gem. I won't go into detail regarding that idea, but I did want to give some idea how to gauge a performance. I've read in another location, and I apologize for not being able to find the source and give proper credit, that anything above 60 is considered a great start. According to Angus' study a 60 Game Score resulted in a 62% winning percentage for teams in 2007.

What I like about Game Score is that it gives you a single number in which to compare starts between the pitcher himself and his rotation mates. I also like that it's an all inclusive stat.

Earned Run Average is just that it averages runs per nine innings, it does not account for hits, walks, unearned runs and strikeouts. You know that already, though, and that's why you use Fielding Independent Pitching and it's variants which only looks at what a pitcher can control, hits walks and strikeouts. It doesn't, however, take into account any runs scored. Game Score accounts for both.

Game Score isn't perfect and has its own flaws, and I'm not suggesting it replace any of the other statistics, but it is a better indicator of a pitching performance than the more popularly used Quality Start statistic.

After the jump we'll look at some observations of Game Score for the Astros 2012 season and some past observations.

The Astros as a staff have had eight Game Scores above 60 this season, four of which Dewan would describe as gems.
The Astros have had eight games in the 50-60 range. So in 16 of the 29 games the pitching staff has given the team a greater than 50% chance of winning the game.
The pitcher with the best Game Score this season was Wandy Rodriguez's fourth start April 22, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wandy's line: 7IP, 3H, 0R, 3BB, 6SO for a Game Score of 74.
The pitcher with the lowest Game Score this season was Kyle Weiland's second start April 16, against the Washington Nationals. Weiland's line: 5.2IP, 10H, 6ER, 4BB, 2SO for a Game Score of 23.
Wandy Rodriguez is the only starter, with more than two starts, to have an average Game Score above 50, with 59.14.For comparison Justin Verlander's average Game Score this season is 66.5.
In Jordan Lyles one start he posted a 54 Game Score.
Bud Norris is very close to 50 with a 49.67 average, which I guess of could of rounded up to 50.
The six pitcher no-hitter by the Astros in 2003 against the New York Yankees resulted in a 97 Game Score.
In 1977 J.R. Richard's average Game Score was 60.39. 20 years later Daryl Kile would post a 61.12 Game Score in 1997.
Pedro Martinez's 2000 season, quite possibly the best pitched season ever, resulted in a 73.28 Game Score average.

There are other stats that can highlight some of the observations I've made above, but somehow they aren't as much fun to look at.

Reference:

Baseball Reference Play Index Glossary

"Gem: A Pitching Masterpiece" by John Dewan

"Does "Game Score" Still Work In Today's High-Offense Game?" by Jeff Angus

Game Score - Wikipedia

Read The Full Article:
http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2012/5/8/3004968/sabermetrics-game-score

Digg this

Did You Know

post from 30-Year Old Cardboard on 08 May 2012 01:47:23 PM. © 30-Year Old Cardboard

Warren Spahn led all major league pitchers with 202 wins during the 1950′s. The second place pitcher was Robin Roberts who trailed Spahn by three with 199.

Read The Full Article:
http://bapple2286.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/did-you-know-323/

Digg this

Nats 3B Zimmerman comes off DL, Werth heads there
(Yahoo! Sports)

post from MLB News Blog on 08 May 2012 01:15:59 PM. © MLB News Blog

WASHINGTON (AP) Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman has been reinstated from the 15-day disabled list by the Washington Nationals, who put outfielder Jayson Werth on the DL.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2012/05/08/nats-3b-zimmerman-comes-off-dl-werth-heads-
there-yahoo-sports/

Digg this

Rant & Rave Tuesday

post from LADodgerTalk.com - Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Vin Scully, Andre Ethier and the Dodgers on 08 May 2012 01:02:17 PM. © LADodgerTalk.com - Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Vin Scully, Andre Ethier and the Dodgers

Read The Full Article:
http://www.ladodgertalk.com/2012/05/rant-rave-tuesday-2/

Digg this

Fish Stripes Pick 6 Leaderboard and Discussion
Thread, 05/08/12

post from Fish Stripes on 08 May 2012 01:02:01 PM. © Fish Stripes

Since SB Nation rolled out the Pick 6 game, a number of Fish Stripers have had fun making their daily picks and looking good doing so. But as of right now, we have had no way to brag about our awesome picks or tease our fellow Fish Stripers about their awful selections. So I figured an excellent way to that would be to provide consistent updates on the status of the Pick 6 board. Thus, today we debut our brand new daily Leaderboard and Discussion Thread here at Fish Stripes! Here, you will see each previous day's leaderboard along with the overall top five, and some commentary on my end as well. You can also drop your own picks for today's games and gloat about how awesome you will do.

First, let's take a look at yesterday's best.

RankPlayerPoints1Kevin Nogle68.22Miami Marlins 201258.13JLR0454.94cpmustangs1349.85bronzeagle49.36marlinsfan31544.87mblally35.28SuperRadz31.69Michael Jong31.110FishNFinz25.3

The best of yesterday's Pick 6 is SB Nation's own Kevin Nogle, who runs SB Nation's Miami Dolphins blog The Phinsider. A number of other well-recognized names amid the Fish Stripes community litter yesterday's top 10, but the frontrunner was clearly Kevin, followed a little ways away by Miami Marlins 2012 and JLR04. Other notables in the top 10 are marlisnfan315 and SuperRadz, who are neck-a-neck currently at the top of the Ichthyomancy leaderboards.

As for the overall leaderboard, let's look at the top five.

RankPlayerPoints1cpmustang13238.22Miami Marlins 2012234.53bronzeagle217.84mice day214.35JLR04197.1

There are definitely familiar names on top, with cpmustang13 holding a slim lead over Miami Marlins 2012. I see mice day and JLR04 on the leaderboards, but I have yet to see much of them on Ichthyomancy game, so I encourage everyone who is playing Pick 6 to also get on board Ichthyomancy. If you're a Marlins fan, it is a must-have daily ritual!

If you want to get involved and get in on Pick 6, it is really simple! Just click "Play Now" on the Pick 6 widget at the top of the left sidebar and log in using your SB Nation account. You will taken right to where you need to go to make your picks. You have a budget of $120 and have to pick six players: a starting pitcher, reliever, catcher, corner infielder, middle infielder, and outfielder. From there, you let your picks play and accumulate points for you, and tomorrow you can start over with a new set of six! It's the simplest daily pick'em game around, and it is a great way to get into fantasy baseball without too much time investment. Plus, the winner at Fish Stripes will get a lovely shirt-related prize from the Fish Stripes T-shirt store (don't worry, we'll get that online once again when I have some more free time)!

What do you have to lose? About three minutes of your time everyday for a chance to brag to all the other Fish Stripers about your excellent picks! If you have not started playing, get on it today! And when you do make your picks, be sure to drop them on here and discuss them!

Read The Full Article:
http://www.fishstripes.com/2012/5/8/3007109/fish-stripes-pick-6-leaderboard-and-d
iscussion-thread-05-08-12

Digg this

Modern Baseball Trivia

Today’s Contest comes to a courtesy of Athletes in 3d which creates these very very cool, 3D[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://blog.lovemyteam.com/2012/05/08/modern-baseball-trivia/

Digg this

Where is the Yankees hunger

post from Bronx Baseball Daily » Bronx Baseball Daily, a New York Yankees blog on 08 May 2012 12:07:22 PM. © Bronx Baseball Daily » Bronx Baseball Daily, a New York Yankees blog

Read The Full Article:
http://bronxbaseballdaily.com/2012/05/where-is-the-yankees-hunger/

Digg this

Tuesday Pebble Report: Jorge De La Rosa Can't
Handle The Giants ... Of San Jose

Modesto 10, San Jose 7
Jorge De La Rosa apparently took some (bad) advice from his big league teammates and gave up a big lead for the Nuts in his second rehab start. After holding a 5-0 lead to start the second inning, De La Rosa gave up four runs on four straight singles and a Timothy Smalling fielding error accounting for all that. He stayed in the game for the third inning, but left with two outs and one man on because he was on a pitch count.

Modesto held a 5-0 lead after the first due to a Corey Dickerson RBI single and a Juan Crousset grand slam. After Juan Perez allowed two runs in the top of the fourth, Brett Tanos and Corey Dickerson struck back for three runs and the lead. According to the Modesto Bee, Dickerson should have had a home run, but the umpire didn't make that call. He wound up with a two-run triple.

Dickerson added his fourth RBI of the night on a single in the eighth inning, completing a 4-for-5, four-RBI performance. Crousset went 3-for-4 with the grand slam. Tanos and Smalling each had three hits.

NW Arkansas 6, Tulsa 2
The Drillers didn't have much of an answer for Justin Marks and the rest of the Natural's pitching staff, finding time to score just two runs and strike out 13 times. Nolan Arenado singled in the Drillers' first run on a single in the first inning while a Warren Schaeffer ground out in the seventh scored the other run.

Joe Gardner (1-1, 5.93 ERA) took the loss after allowing six runs over five innings. He allowed three straight singles in the second inning to load the bases and then allowed all three runners to score on a ground out, a fielder's choice and a sac bunt (the latter two not adding any outs to the board). In the fifth inning, Wil Myers hit his 10th home run as part of another three-run inning for the Naturals.

Josh Outman struck out two and allowed two hits in one inning of relief work.

Asheville 4, Lexington 3
Will Swanner's third home run of the season came in the bottom of the eighth inning of Monday's game and broke a 3-3 tie, putting the Tourists in line for the win. Jefri Hernandez closed things out to secure the victory

Ben Alsup started the game and allowed three runs in 6.2 innings (14-2 GO-FO), but it could have been a bit worse if not for Delino DeShields. In the fifth inning, DeShields singled and was thrown out at second by Tyler Massey on the play. In the seventh, DeShields singled once again, chasing Alsup out of the game. Kenneth Roberts came in and picked off DeShields, who was attempting to steal second.

Trevor Story went 2-for-3 with an RBI while Harold Riggins went 2-for-4 with two doubles. A throwing error on his sixth-inning double allowed a run to score. In the seventh, a passed ball by Lexington's catcher allowed another run to score.

Colorado Springs

[Monday]’s game has been postponed because of rain. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Sun July 29th. Game 1 will be @ 4:05pm.
— Sky Sox Baseball (@skysox) May 7, 2012