Eye of the Beholder

Monday was a bit of a slow day for news, but I still was able to ferret a couple stories that I found interesting, and if a guy as interesting as me though the stories had some merit, i.e. interest, well then you can take it to the bank – they are some darn interesting storylines.

Randy Johnson will head to the DL with a strained throwing shoulder. There still isn’t definitive news on how long he will be out, but the fear is that it will be much longer than 15 days (the hope right now is for him to return in about three weeks). What that means is that the Giants will likely have to turn back to Jonathan Sanchez, a potentially dangerous situation given his often profound struggles this season (5.94 BB/9, 1.48 K/BB, 1.69 WHIP). Still, the guy has no-hit stuff, if he could ever control it.

Tim Lincecum is quite possibly the most exciting mound presence since Pedro Martinez in his prime. The flowing hair, the stuff, the presence and the stare that says “I’m going to come right at you and there is nothing you can do about it” – the kid is the stuff of legend. Adding to the visceral feel of his presence are the dominating numbers he has produced in his short career. Through 75 starts Lincecum is 34-12, good enough for a .739 winning percentage. As a result, he is just the tenth pitcher in baseball history , since 1900 anyway, to produce a winning percentage that high through his first 75 starts. As flat out dominating as he has been, would it surprise to learn that Tim Hudson was even better through his first 75 starts with an amazing 43-13 record, good enough for a .768 winning percentage?

Rick Porcello will have his nest start skipped meaning he won’t appear again until after the All-Star break. Nothing is wrong, the team is just playing it safe with their future star so that they can avoid burning him out as he has already tossed 87 effective innings (8-6, 4.14 ERA). “We always said all along we were going to pick our spots to protect him,” manager Jim Leyland said. “It has nothing to do with yesterday’s performance, I can tell you that. … To be honest with you, I’m sure he doesn’t like it, but it’s what we’re going to do to protect him.” Smart moves like this mean that the Tigers really have Porcello’s long-term interests in mind (of course they are being selfish too because they obviously don’t want to burn out their future All-Star).

So much for the Chris Ray is going to close for the Orioles when they eventually trade George Sherrill line of thought. Ray, who has been miserable this season with a 9.28 ERA and a 2.30 WHIP, has been placed on the DL with right biceps tendonitis. At this point we have no idea how long he will be out (the club is hopeful it won’t take more than three weeks), but with his ineffectiveness and now injury, the team would be crazy to count on Ray in the second half. Jim Johnson owners in AL only leagues rejoice – you might pick up a few saves after all.

Mark Teixeira is hitting just .243 with a .800 OPS on the road. He is also hitting just .257 without a single long ball in 18 games. Amazing how a guy who is this consistent year-to-year can be so streaky within a season.

There was a report from ESPN that the Braves and Brewers were discussing a potential deal for Javier Vazquez. Really? When I heard that I thought to myself that on the surface that seemed like one stupid rumor. Good to know that my “spider-sense” was dead on as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel came out later in the day saying that the rumored deal was pure bolder dash. Sometimes I think that these guys just make up stories on slow news day. Still, it wasn’t a totally useless fishing expedition as the rumor did help to draw to the surface the recent comments of Ryan Braun. “Regardless of the reasons, we’ve got to find a way to throw the ball a little bit better for us to have success. When you’re constantly behind in games, it’s not easy and not fun.” How accurate was Braun’s analysis? The Brewers are currently 13th in the NL in ERA (4.47), tied for seventh in WHIP (1.39) and 11th in K/BB (1.96). They certainly could use an arm or two in that starting rotation.

By Ray Flowers

Give Me a Break

Most of the time I offer straight analysis. I figure data is data and I can analyze that and let it lead me to whatever conclusion is warranted. For those of you who read my work, I hope you not only see that directive in my work, but that you also enjoy the fact that I try to objectively analyze the situations I review. On the flip side, those who know me personally know me to be quick with the tongue, biting with my criticism, and far from shy about voicing a minority view point (thanks Mom and Dad for that for that inner confidence). In what follows I will present my normal analysis of a couple of players, and to that I will add a couple of personal diatribes. I’ll leave you to figure out which is which – I’m sure it’s pretty obvious.

Astros manager Cecil Cooper will not be receiving a vote of confidence from the front office after his club has lost seven games in a row. “I’ve been a GM now for 10 years…” GM Ed Wade said. “I don’t get into votes of confidence. I don’t think there’s any value to it.” Way to go Ed, I totally agree with you. Cooper should just do his job and the results will speak for themselves. Talk about being pampered with kid gloves. I don’t know about you, but if I continually spelled words wrong, missed my deadlines and offered poor analysis, you think I would be allowed to keep my job? A vote of confidence? What are you, six years old? Do your flipping job – if you need a pat on the back telling you that you did a good job I hear there is an opening in Mrs. Johnson’s kindergarten class. Maybe you can get a smiling face if you do really well too. Goodness gracious. I guess the millions of dollars everyone involved with sports makes isn’t enough. No, I’m not at all bitter, why do you ask?

Tom Glavine, yes he is still pitching, tossed five scoreless innings on Thursday in Triple-A. He wasn’t throwing very hard, most of his fastball were between 83 and 86 mph in the outing, but the zeros are zeros regardless of the speed of the pitch. Pretty amazing that a guy who can barely throw harder than I can continues to get batters out. Do I ever wish I was left-handed.

Brett Myers may be forced to go under the knife to repair his injured right hip which apparently involved some fraying, and possible tearing, of his labrum in his hip. Myers continues to confound with his astronomical HR/9 mark of 2.40. Myers has actually struggled all across the board this season with a 4.66 ERA, a 6.50 K/9 and a 2.30 K/BB mark, all of which would be five year worst’s. An injury seems as good a reason as anything else to explain his struggles.

Chris Ray has been demoted to Triple-A to find out why the heck he has been so ineffective this season. I went into the issue in a bit of depth earlier today, so I wont rehash those facts here, you can read about it by simply clicking on the link to my BABIP Piece. Guess the Orioles didn’t read what I had to say before they made the decision to demote him. Ray will be back at some point, and I still wouldn’t be at all surprised to see George Sherrill traded as we get closer to the deadline. Therefore, I would still recommend holding on to Ray in all AL-only leagues, and he should be kept on your watch list in deep mixed leagues as well despite the demotion.

Carlos Zambrano was suspended for six games by MLB on Thursday for his tirade the other day. He will miss one start as a result. It’s amazing that a guy who is 27 years old, he will be 28 on next Monday if you believe that birth certificate number (I don’t), continues to have such a fantastic lack of self control akin to Sean Avery in the NHL. That act of Zambrano’s will grow really old, really quickly, if his production continues to dwindle as it has early on this season as he has a 4.22 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP in his eight starts despite a solid 8.45 K/9 mark that would be a three year high. Shameful lack of control really no matter if he’s an All-Star or not. Make sure your kid doesn’t idolize this rotund buffoon.

By Ray Flowers