It’s no secret that the 2012 Rockies have had a ton of bad luck (and bad everything else) in their pitching staff; some would say they’ve already capsized. Here’s a look at some historic aspects of their struggle.
Rays 8, @Angels 3: For the first time in their 52-year history, the Angels were swept in a 4-game series while allowing 7+ runs each game. Their record for 7+ runs is 5 straight games in 1999, all losses, but split among 2 series. The last time they allowed 7+ in 4 straight games was 2006; the last time in one series was 2000 to Toronto, but only 3 were losses.
As has already been remarked upon, the rookie seasons of Mike Trout and Bryce Harper are reminding a lot of people of earlier rookie seasons way back in 1951 by two players who would become first ballot HOFers. The similarities include the players being the same ages, playing the same positions, and being in different leagues. Potentially, Trout and Harper could face each other in the post season, as happened with the earlier pair in 1951.
After the jump, I’ll look more at the similarities, and differences, in these pairs of players 61 seasons removed from each other.
Posters and commenters have frequently noted here at HHS that major league hitters are striking out at an unprecedentedly high rate this season. But it is also true that in 2012 no single team is threatening to break the all-time record for most strikeouts per game by a team.
Here are the 2012 teams whose hitters are currently striking out most frequently, along with their K per game rates:
A’s 8.43 Ks per Game
Astros 8.29
Nationals 8.20
Pirates 8.10
Orioles 8.09
You can compare those numbers to the all-time highest team season strikeout rates, after the jump. Continue reading
I ran out of steam. Wanna help fill in the gaps?
@Royals 4, White Sox 2: Chris Sale, the AL’s SO/BB leader, tied a career high with 4 walks and took his 2nd loss since May 12. He used 2 IBBs to get out of jams, but he went to well once too often: After he wide-oned Billy Butler to load ’em with 2 out in the 7th, Salvador Perez golfed an ankle-high 1-2 pitch off the LF fence for the winning runs.
Sure, Barry Bonds has more career home runs than anyone else, but he is not even close to being the leader in late-inning home runs. Bonds hit 201 regular season homers after the sixth inning in his career, well behind Hank Aaron (236), Babe Ruth (233) and Willie Mays (215).
Indeed, although Bonds is the all-time career leader in homers hit in the third inning, and also the fourth inning, and he is tied with Ruth for the all-time lead in homers hit in the first inning, he is not the career leader in homers in any one inning after the fourth. I’ll look at the career leaders in homers for each inning, one by one, but first you need some exercise, so click on “Read the rest of this entry” Continue reading
It ain’t easy keeping up with the Joneses….
@Braves 6, Padres 0: It’s still hard to believe he’s retiring, but Jason Marquis won’t miss him. With 2 HRs tonight, Chipper is now 8 for 17 with 5 HRs against Marquis.
Much has been written this season about the exploits of Adam Dunn. But, until now (and with apologies to William Shakespeare), probably not this.
Dunn is among a short list of players with a peculiar “accomplishment”. Though all have played only in the expansion era, these are the only players to make this list among all players to have played their entire careers since 1901.
The quiz has been solved. Congratulations to Richard Chester! He identified that these players all have careers of 5000 PAs or more with career OPS+ of 125, yet career WAR of only 25 or less (or a 5:1 or worse OPS+ to WAR ratio). Thus, despite good offensive numbers, these players’ WAR scores are reduced dramatically due to poor defense.
Belatedly, and most imperfectly….
@Orioles 5, Red Sox 3: For 5-1/3 innings, all Baltimore could do with Aaron Cook‘s offerings was beat them into the ground. Nobody even got the ball out of the infield fair: 19 batters, 13 groundouts, 3 walks, a strikeout, a foul fly, and a soft liner to short. But J.J. Hardy‘s liner to left opened the floodgates, and Boston’s lead was washed away by a 5-run deluge.
Mariners’ ace Felix Hernandez collected his and the team’s first-ever perfecto, fanning 12 Rays in a 1-0 victory, as Seattle took the rubber match of a 3-game set with Tampa Bay. The key defensive play came on the first hitter of the game as Eric Thames tracked down a Sam Fuld drive on the warning track in the right-center field gap.
For Hernandez, the game also marked his first no-hitter after a one-hitter in 2007 and four previous two-hitters, most recently against the Yankees two starts ago on August 4th. Hernandez continues his recent hot streak with his 5th straight start allowing 5 hits or less over 7 innings or more, the longest such streak in MLB this season.
It was the third time this season the Mariners have been involved in a no-hit game, the previous times being on the losing end of Philip Humber‘s April 21st perfect game for the White Sox, and a Mariners’ team no-hitter against the Dodgers on June 8th. Seattle is the first team with two no-hit games in the same regular season since the Angels in 1973 (Nolan Ryan twice) and the Cubs in 1972 (Burt Hooton and Milt Pappas). Roy Halladay, of course, had a regular season perfect game and a post-season no-hitter for the Phillies in 2010.