62 thoughts on “At the quarter pole: an early season review”

1. Mike L May 24, 2017 at 4:45 pm

   I’m looking for possible trades by non-contenders. Seems the economics of the game have changed over the last few years. You don’t hang in hoping for the last wild-card spot. You cash in on expiring or undervalued contracts. Even fan expectations are beginning to change. More are willing to watch their team tank if you can get a 3-1 or 4-1 return in prospects.

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   1. Doug Post authorMay 24, 2017 at 7:28 pm

      Maybe the Cubs can get Hammel back from the Royals, where he is again struggling (1-5, 6.20) for an AL club. For his career, Hammel’s ERA is almost a full run higher in the AL than the NL. He’s making only $5M this season, but $13M next year, though having KC pick up a large portion of next year’s tab might be too much to ask for a small market club.

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      1. Mike L May 24, 2017 at 9:27 pm

         Interesting idea–sort of reserving a dump made in 2014. Him and Shark for Billy McKinney, Addison Russell, and Dan Straily. And McKinney was part of another dump–Yankees trading Chapman

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2. David P May 24, 2017 at 10:24 pm

   An interesting article on Fangraphs shows that there’s very little relationship between how a team does in its first 50 games and how it does for the rest of the season.

   http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-meaning-of-a-teams-50-game-record/

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   1. Doug May 26, 2017 at 8:50 pm

      Still think teams would prefer to win those early games.

      4 of the 6 division leaders at this juncture last year ended up making the post-season.

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3. Voomo Zanzibar May 25, 2017 at 7:43 am

   The dig on Mitch Moreland is perhaps too harsh.
   He’s on pace for 4 WAR and 60+ doubles.

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   1. Doug May 25, 2017 at 1:02 pm

      Good point, Voomo. It wasn’t so much a dig as just pointing out that he’s unlikely to put up Ortiz-like numbers, at least based on his career to date.

      For his career, Moreland is much better in the first half than the second, with April and May his two best months. His current 118 OPS+ is about the same as his best full season, a 116 mark in 2015 with 23 HR and 85 RBI. With Fenway, those counting totals may inflate a bit, but seems pretty unlikely he’ll reach, say, 140 OPS+, which was Ortiz’s lowest result in his last 6 seasons.

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      1. Voomo Zanzibar May 25, 2017 at 2:23 pm

         Hey, I posted a link-filled piece 6 hours ago about Christian Bergman’s 4 IP, 14 H outing. And the website said ‘comment awaiting moderation’. Who’s the gatekeeper?

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         1. Doug May 25, 2017 at 5:07 pm

            Lots of links will pretty much guarantee your comment being treated as SPAM. I’ll see if I can override it, and get your comment posted.

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            1. Voomo Zanzibar May 26, 2017 at 5:52 pm

               Well, I guess my post is gone.
               The gist:

               Christian Bergman is the 12th player since 1913 to give up 14+ hits in no more than 4 IP.
               4th since WWII.
4. Voomo Zanzibar May 25, 2017 at 7:55 am

   Christian Berman has made history!
   One of 12 pitchers since 1913 to give up 14+ hits in 4 innings or less.

   Only the 4th since WWII.
   Here are the other three:
   http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI200704230.shtml
   http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA201309060.shtml
   http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX199804140.shtml

   Scott Sanders is one of only two to give up 16 hits in four or less.
   The other is Carl Doyle, who did it in relief:
   http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN194006080.shtml

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   1. Doug Post authorMay 30, 2017 at 2:20 am

      Cincinnati beat Doyle’s Dodgers 23-2 in that contest. Time of the game was 2 hours 19 minutes.

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5. David P May 25, 2017 at 8:23 am

   Between the end of last year and the beginning of this year, Mookie Betts went 129 PAs without striking out, the longest streak since Juan Pierre in 2004 (147 PAs). Since the streak ended, he’s struck out 15 times in 141 PAs.

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6. David P May 25, 2017 at 8:37 am

   Buster Posey is having a very weird year. Batting .353 with a .551 SLG, which includes 6 doubles and 7 homeruns. Yet he’s only managed to drive in 11 runs.

   Of course a lot of that is on him, as he’s slugging .280 with RISP vs. .728 with the bases empty.

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   1. Richard Chester May 25, 2017 at 1:29 pm

      He has come to bat with 80 ROB (33 of whom were RISP) and driven in 4 of them. He has gotten walks with 13 ROB, none with bases loaded, which leaves him with a net result of 4 runners driven in out of 67.

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7. no statistician but May 25, 2017 at 11:20 pm

   Some of the big stories from this time last year were the Trevor story, the Ichiro story, the White Sox pitching story, the Cubs story. Trevor is currently batting .186. Ichiro is at .153 with an OPS+ of 16. The White Sox pitching dwindled anyway, and this year it is mediocre at best, for the reasons Doug mentions. The Cubs? Not dominating like last year by any means, but with today’s win they are 25-21 and holding their own in the division.

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8. Voomo Zanzibar May 27, 2017 at 7:29 am

   Why was Tanaka charged with a run in the Yankees’ 4-1 loss last night?
   He left with a guy on 1st.
   That runner made it 3rd on Clippard’s error, and then was thrown out at home on a grounder.

   The batter who reached on that FC came around to score as Clippard gave up a SB and a single.
   Why isn’t that Clippard’s run?

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   1. David P May 27, 2017 at 8:59 am

      Voomo – The rules state: “When pitchers are changed during an inning, the official scorer shall not charge the
      relief pitcher with any run (earned or unearned) scored by a runner who was on base at the time such relief pitcher entered the game, nor for runs scored by any runner who reaches base on a fielder’s choice that puts out a runner left on base by any
      preceding pitcher.”

      This is found in 10.16 (g). And here’s an example from the comments on the rules:

      Peter is pitching. Abel reaches first base on a base on balls. Roger relieves Peter. Baker singles, advancing Abel to third base. Charlie grounds to short, with Abel out at home plate and Baker advancing to second base. Daniel flies out. Edward singles, scoring Baker. Baker’s run is charged to Peter.

      http://www.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2007/10_the_official_scorer.pdf

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      1. Voomo Zanzibar May 27, 2017 at 5:02 pm

         Well, I suppose that makes a dollop of sense.

         … In this case, however, the run should have at least been unEarned, as Tanaka’s runner reached third because of a throwing error on a pickoff attempt by Clippard. The ground ball that followed might have been an inning-ending DP.

         A starting pitcher on the hook for a baserunner he never faced, following an error? That’s harsh.

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         1. David P May 27, 2017 at 10:03 pm

            Except you can´t assume a double play. And the error wasn´t the reason the run scored.

            That being said, I agree with run was mostly Clippard´s fault. I´ve always thought they´d be better off dividing these sorts of runs between both pitchers, but I guess that would be too messy

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9. David P May 27, 2017 at 7:40 am

   Yanks are doing weird things in the 9th inning, so far putting up a triple slash line of .299/410/386.

   So they’re hitting for average and drawing walks, but showing no power. Which is really strange since overall they’ve been one of the best power hitting teams in baseball. Wonder if there was a collective team decision to approach PAs differently in the 9th inning?

   Anyway, I’m not a PI subscriber but it looks like that BA ranks about 25th all-time for the ninth inning, and the OBP may be the best ever. But that slugging percentage and ISO??? No idea but they’d obviously rank a lot, lot lower.

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   1. Richard Chester May 27, 2017 at 12:02 pm

      Here’s the data on the 2017 Yankees. The searchable era is generally 1970 or later.
      .299 BA is tied for 22nd with 4 other teams
      .410 OBP is 2nd best
      .386 SLG is tied for 573rd with 13 other teams
      .087 SLG is tied for 1425th with 12 other teams.

      They have hit 5 EXB in the 9th inning, 2 doubles and 3 HRs.

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      1. Richard Chester May 27, 2017 at 12:07 pm

         That should be .087 ISO.

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      2. David P May 27, 2017 at 2:57 pm

         Thanks Richard! I find the difference between where they rank in OBP and ISO to be fascinating. Seems to me that has to be the result of a deliberate change in approach. Particularly given that their overall OBP is only .344 and their overall ISO is .182.

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10. e pluribus munu May 28, 2017 at 1:57 pm

    On the last thread there was a discussion about the slowing pace of games, and the trend continues this year. I wrote there, in response to a link to a Fangraphs article, that it made no sense to me that fear of increased batting power was slowing down pitchers, who needed an “extra tick” of preparation to throw harder. Today, though, I spotted a FiveThirtyEight analysis that indicates that slowing the pace of pitchers correlates strongly with increases in pitch velocity. I’m not sure the correlation is an indication of causation, but I thought I’d flag the article here, since it undercuts my earlier argument.

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    1. David P May 29, 2017 at 6:55 am

       EPM – I saw that article but didn’t think it necessarily contradicted the points you made in the other thread.

       Seems to me that’s there’s a clear breakdown somewhere in the theory. The theory being that pitchers need to throw extra hard so that these behemoth batters don’t put the ball in play and hit a homerun. On the one hand, it works in the sense that the Fangraphs article that I linked to in the other thread shows that balls in play have dropped significantly. On the other hand, it’s not working because batters keep hitting more and more home runs (which may just be simple physics…the harder a ball is thrown, the further it can be hit).

       I’ve often wondered if, in focusing so much on how hard a pitcher throws, teams have ignored other important qualities such as being able to hit your locations, changing speeds, and having movement on your pitches. So that we now have a lot of pitchers who throw hard but throw straight. No clue how to study that but that’s my theory.

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11. no statistician but May 28, 2017 at 11:54 pm

    Jim Bunning’s death on May 26th: my recollection of him as a player is unfortunately clouded by his senatorial career. No HOFer in Congress. Can’t find anything on line that suggests he was suffering from a dementia of some kind later in life—although his behavior made me think it—but he apparently had an incapacitating stroke several months ago and died in hospice care.

    Bill James described Bunning as a pitcher who had so much stuff that paradoxically it ended up losing his teams some games. When he was taken out in late innings, the relievers’ offerings were like batting practice to opposing hitters.

    His four-year run with the Phillies, 1964-67, flew under the radar at the time, what with the substantially bigger win totals of Koufax and Marichal, but he was right with them in many respects.

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    1. Doug Post authorMay 30, 2017 at 2:13 am

       Notwithstanding James’s speculation, for Bunning’s 11 year peak (1957-67), his teams had a .576 winning percentage in games he started, and .509 when he didn’t. The difference is 11 games over 162.

       Bunning and Tom Seaver share the record of 11 consecutive 200 IP seasons with 175 strikeouts.

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    2. e pluribus munu May 30, 2017 at 7:00 pm

       When I was a forlorn refugee Brooklyn fan in NYC, during the years before the coming of the Mets, my chief passion was to visit the Stadium to root for the team I felt most likely to beat the Yankees: Detroit. Lary, Bunning, Foytack, and Hartvig — er, Mossi — were my heroes. Nothing any of them did in the US Senate afterwards could tarnish their gleam in my memory. And I actually can’t recall Lary, Foytack and Mossi ever putting that to the test anyway.

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       1. no statistician but May 30, 2017 at 11:29 pm

          Actually, Bunning had poor luck against the Yankees, especially in NY, where he was 2-5 with a 4.33 ERA. Frank Lary, of course, was far different, and Don Mossi, once he became a starter, at least won more than he lost against the Bombers. In 1959, the only season between 1946 and 1964 in which the Yankees won fewer than 92 games, the Tigers went 14-8 against them, Mossi going 6-2, Lary 5-1, Foytack 2-1.

          Bunning, though, was 1-2 with an ERA of 7.31.

          That was a really strange team, the ’59 Tigers. Worth some commentary.

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          1. e pluribus munu May 31, 2017 at 9:49 am

             I noticed that, nsb, and I think it let me pinpoint when I saw Bunning pitch. For years, I used to tell friends that I had a perfect record at the Stadium — meaning (if Voomo will forgive me) that the Yankees never won when I was there (I think until 1961) — and I fixed on the Tigers as the best bet to keep that streak going. I remember Bunning’s falling-off-the-mound delivery (viewed from the third-base side), so my guess is that I saw Bunning shut the Yankees out on Sunday, June 15, 1958, and didn’t catch him in ’59.

             I’d be interested to know what oddity caught your eye about the ’59 Tigers, other than their unusual dominance of the Yankees that year (they had actually had the league’s best record again the Yankees in ’58, too).

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             1. no statistician but May 31, 2017 at 8:31 pm

                I think we may be in the dead horse section of this thread, so I’ll make my reply in Doug’s thread on Bunning. Maybe tonight or maybe not.
12. Ken May 29, 2017 at 9:28 am

    The Royals are hitting .199 with RISP thru May 28th (49 games). Next worst is .213 by the Indians. Lowest RISP for a full season since 1950 is .201 by the 1969 Padres, lowest in AL is .207 by the 1963 Senators.

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13. Voomo Zanzibar May 30, 2017 at 7:56 am

    With the return of Adrian Beltre, Joey Gallo bumped Mile Napoli to the bench (at least for a night).
    Gallo knocked one over the wall and whiffed twice.
    He’s now on pace for:

    50 HR
    108 H
    108 R
    104 RBI
    73 BB
    225 SO
    .205 BA
    609 PA
    57 percent TTO

    As many runs as hits is a neat trick.
    Only been done once in a qualifying season:

    117/111 … Max Bishop (587 PA in 1930)

    Thrice with 200+ PA:

    43/43 … Willie Wilson (1978)
    40/40 … Rickey (2002)
    48/47 … Tillie Shafer (1912)

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    1. David P May 30, 2017 at 7:08 pm

       Gallo also has the lowest batting average for a season with ISO of .300 or greater. The current lowest is a 227 BA by Carlos Pena in 2009, followed by Harmon Killebrew at .243 in 1962. (Khris Davis currently has a .227 BA and a .301 ISO so he’s trying to make the list as well).

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    2. yippeeyappee June 6, 2017 at 11:47 am

       Shouldn’t TTO be FTO? HBP is fielding-independent. Or do people just like 3 because it’s easier?

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14. Doug May 30, 2017 at 12:20 pm

    Seattle set a new franchise record last week with 5 consecutive games scoring just one run. That also ties the major league record long streak for scoring exactly one run. For the season, the Mariners have scored one run or less in 14 of 52 games, tied with the Giants and one game less than the Royals.

    The longest streak scoring one run or less belongs to the 1963 Colt .45s with 9 games, two games longer than any other team.

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15. David P May 30, 2017 at 9:23 pm

    In tonight’s game against the A’s, the Indians pitchers became just the 3rd team to have 19+ Ks and 10+ hits allowed in a 9 inning game.

    The other two instances both involved the Mariners. One was Randy Johnson’s 19 K game against the A’s in 1997:

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SEA/SEA199706240.shtml

    The other was Angels doing against the Mariners in 2012:

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA201209250.shtml

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16. Voomo Zanzibar May 31, 2017 at 12:36 pm

    Devon Travis is on pace for 63 doubles with a .293 OBP !

    Most 2-baggers with an OBP under.300:

    44 … Khalil Greene
    43 … Jimmy Rollins
    42 … Bert Niehoff (led league in 1916)
    42 … Alex Gonzalez
    41 … Ken Reitz
    40 … Cesar Cedeno (led league in 1971)
    40 … Mariano Duncan

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    1. Doug June 1, 2017 at 12:59 pm

       I’m pretty sure his OBP will crest .300 by year’s end. Travis was scuffling in the low .100’s in April. Started to come out of it a bit after Albert Pujols gave him a little pep talk (“don’t get down on yourself”) at first base, then really started to rake in May when he made a small adjustment in his stance to back off the plate slightly to avoid getting jambed on inside pitches.

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17. Voomo Zanzibar May 31, 2017 at 12:55 pm

    Charlie Blackmon is on pace for 24 triples… all at home.

    Most home 3-baggers:

    19 … Curt Walker (19/1 split)
    18 … Sam Crawford
    18 … Paul Waner
    16 … Edd Roush

    Since 1969:
    14 … Christian Guzman
    14 … Willie Wilson
    14 … George Brett
    13 … Ryne Sandberg
    13 … Carl Crawford

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    1. Richard Chester May 31, 2017 at 1:11 pm

       24 of Chief Wilson’s seasonal record 36 triples in 1912 were at home.

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       1. Voomo Zanzibar May 31, 2017 at 2:11 pm

          Ah yes. Play index runs from 1913

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18. Voomo Zanzibar May 31, 2017 at 1:26 pm

    Paul Goldschmidt is on pace for 36 SB and a .994 OPS

    35 SB and .995 OPS has been achieved 20 times, but most of the names are from the wayback… Cobb, Sisler, Shoeless, Speaker.

    Since 1957:

    1.080 … Bonds
    1.076 … Bonds
    1.033 … Mays (1957)
    1.031 … Bonds
    1.020 … Joe Morgan
    1.016 … Rickey
    1.010 … Vlad
    1.003 … Molitor

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19. Daniel Longmire June 2, 2017 at 2:00 am

    There was an interesting scenario yesterday afternoon: the Cardinals were batting against the Dodgers with runners at second and third and 1 out. Tommy Pham hits a sharp grounder to third, and the 3B (Hérnandez) begins chasing the runner (Piscotty) towards home. The catcher (Barnes) receives a toss from Hérnandez, and chases Piscotty back to third. He tags him after he slides back to the bag, but the other runner (Gyorko) is already standing on third. Barnes tags Gyorko, then Piscotty gets up and begins walking away, thinking that he is out because of Gyorko’s presence. Barnes tags him for a second time. Meanwhile, Pham has advanced to second on the play.

    What was the umpire’s decision? And was it the correct call? If not, what should have happened?

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    1. Doug Post authorJune 2, 2017 at 2:38 pm

       I think both runners should be out. Piscotty is the only player entitled to occupy third base until he reaches the next base or is put out. He never reached the next base and wasn’t put out until after the trailing runner had reached third. So, that trailing runner cannot legally occupy third.
       – When Piscotty returns to third base, Gyorko, already standing on the bag, is out for passing a baserunner ahead of him. Don’t think he even needed to be tagged.
       – When first tagged, Piscotty is not out, because he is legally occupying third base.
       – When tagged a second time, Piscotty is out for being off the base.

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       1. David P June 2, 2017 at 5:00 pm

          I agree with your analysis Doug though for some reason the ump only called Piscotty out. The only reason I can think that would be is if:

          1) The catcher tags Piscotty before he gets back to third. I’ve watched the video multiple times and that doesn’t seem to be the case. And the ump clearly signals Piscotty safe and only calls him out after he leaves the bag.
          2) The tag on Gyorko was missed. Again, I’ve watched the video and that doesn’t seem to be the case. The catcher clearly makes contact with Gyorko while both he and Piscotty are occupying third.

          That being said, it’s pretty clear that the ump is so focused on Piscotty that he barely notices Gyorko’s presence. on third. I’m really surprised the Dodgers didn’t challenge this.

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          1. Doug Post authorJune 2, 2017 at 5:39 pm

             Not challenging the call seems crazy, unless they had no challenges left.

             What if Piscotty hadn’t come off the bag? If both runners are on third base, they can’t both be safe.

             The relevant rule is:
             5.06 (7.00) Running the Bases
             (a) (7.01) Occupying the Base
             (1) A runner acquires the right to an unoccupied base when he touches it before he is out. He is then entitled to it until he is put out, or forced to vacate it for another runner legally entitled to that base.
             (2) (7.03(a)) Two runners may not occupy a base, but if, while the ball is alive, two runners are touching a base, the following runner shall be out when tagged and the preceding runner is entitled to the base, unless Rule 5.06(b)(2) (Rule 7.03(b)) applies.

             For clarity, “following runner” means trailing runner, and “preceding runner” means lead runner. Rule 5.06(b)(2) concerns a trailing runner acquiring title to a base by being forced to that base, so it would not be applicable in this instance.

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          2. Daniel Longmire June 3, 2017 at 4:54 am

             Doug, you are correct, but not for those exact reasons. Gyorko does not pass Piscotty; he is merely standing on third when Piscotty slides back in. He’s out for the rule that you cited, so he needed to be tagged.

             David, another possibility (admittedly a stretch) that Orel Hershisher floated was that since Pham had advanced to second by the time Gyorko was tagged at third, Pham had technically “forced” Gyorko to advance, and so now third base belonged to him.

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             1. Doug June 3, 2017 at 6:47 pm

                Thanks for the correction, Daniel. I see the flaw in assuming a baserunner has been passed when two runners occupy a base during a play. If, for example, Gyorko had not been tagged, and then Piscotty left the bag and was tagged out, then Gyorko would have title to the bag, as Piscotty was now out.
20. David P June 2, 2017 at 12:41 pm

    I wonder if any team has ever shot itself in the foot as much as this years A’s. Here are some rankings:

    *Their pitchers are tied for 4th in the majors in hit batters
    *Their pitchers are tied for first in wild pitches
    *Their fielders lead the majors in errors, 15 more than the second place Braves
    *Their catchers are tied for 4th in passed balls allowed
    *Their catchers have given up the most steals in the majors and are tied for the 9th worst caught stealing %

    Last night’s game with the Indians was a classic example. The Indians scored their first run of the game on a double, followed by a passed ball and a wild pitch. The Indians later put together a 4 run 6th inning. The Indians only had 2 singles and 2 walks in the inning but were helped by two errors, another passed ball, plus the first baseman forgetting how many outs there were and letting a runner score from second on a force play. The following inning the A’s commited another error, allowing another unearned run score.

    Talk about a fundamentally unsound team!

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    1. Doug Post authorJune 2, 2017 at 2:47 pm

       In praising Rick Reuschel, Adam Darowski wrote on these pages about the awful defensive clubs of the 1970s Cubs teams, that would seem to be on a par with what the A’s are doing this year. I think it was the 1974 club that was the worst defensively of those Cubs teams.
       http://www.highheatstats.com/2013/02/beyond-era-why-rick-reuschel-had-hall-of-fame-value/

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21. Voomo Zanzibar June 2, 2017 at 10:02 pm

    If I ran the search correctly, Ty Blach just had the first game since 1959, and the 8th since 1913, with 6 PA and 3 BB by a pitcher.

    And he did it in 9 innings.
    The last one was Whitey Ford while throwing a 14-inning shutout:

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS1/WS1195904220.shtml

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    1. Richard Chester June 3, 2017 at 12:07 pm

       Voomo: You ran the search correctly. It is interesting to note the variation of the scores in those games. One game was a 0-0 17 inning tie. As mentioned the Ford game was a 1-0 14 inning game. The scores of the other games were 16-4, 29-4, 17-5, 17-3 and 16-4.

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       1. David P June 5, 2017 at 8:11 am

          The last pitcher to draw 3 walks in a game (regardless of # of plate appearances) was Aaron Cook on October 1, 2009. Cook’s game is even stranger in that two of the walks came with the bases loaded. No idea how many other pitchers have drawn two bases loaded walks in the same game but it can’t be very many.

          http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/COL/COL200910010.shtml

          Before Cook, you have to go back to Joaquin Andujar on June 25th, 1984 to find a pitcher who drew three walks in a game. Andujar is also the last to draw 3 walks in only 3 PAs.

          http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN198406250.shtml

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          1. Voomo Zanzibar June 5, 2017 at 11:12 am

             Well, I ran a search for hitting Pitchers with at least
             2 RBI
             2 BB, and
             0 Hits

             This wouldn’t be an exhaustive search, because it could have happened in a game in which a pitcher also had a hit, but other than Cook, this reveals one definite instance:

             Here, in 1951, Russ Meyer got two bases-loaded walks, in consecutive innings:
             http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT195105201.shtml

             In 1939, Tommy Bridges has one sacks-full-free-pass, and the other ribby on a groundout:
             http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET193907230.shtml

             And on August 24, 1925, Burleigh Grimes has the numbers, but we do not have the play-by-play.

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             1. Richard Chester June 5, 2017 at 1:50 pm

                Voomo: That search can be done more easily by using the Batting Event Finder. I did it and came up with Cook and Meyer, as you did.
22. Doug June 3, 2017 at 4:09 pm

    Couple of unusual game feats in Saturday’s Yankee game. New York had 8 hits, all for extra bases, including four home runs. Only the third time, all in this century, that a team has had 8 hits, including 4 home runs, but no singles (only the 4th time a team has had 8 XBH of any description but no singles; the fourth game was the Braves getting 9 doubles against the Giants on Aug 18, 1998).

    Those four home runs all came in the 8th inning off Toronto reliever Jason Grilli. Just the third time, again all in this century, that a reliever has allowed 4 home runs in an appearance of less than one inning.

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23. Voomo Zanzibar June 3, 2017 at 4:10 pm

    The Judge is putting together an impressive TTO (three true outcome) season.

    He is on pace for
    58 HR
    100 BB
    197 SO

    His .432 OBP is unprecedented for that level of striking out.
    Highest OBP with 190+ SO:

    .392 … Ryan Howard
    .388 … Dunn
    .375 … Cust
    .370 … Crush Davis
    .369 … Kris Bryant

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    1. Doug June 3, 2017 at 4:17 pm

       A 100 walk, 200 strikeout season would be just the second ever, after Adam Dunn in 2012 (Dunn’s OBP that year was .333).

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24. Voomo Zanzibar June 4, 2017 at 6:57 pm

    Julio Teheran got a Win today, despite giving up 11 hits and 7 earned runs.
    That’s the 18th time it’s been done in this century, 6th in the past 5 years.
    The last to do it:

    Jordan Zimmerman
    Zach Greinke
    Jon Neise
    Kyle Kendrick
    Cliff Lee

    Teheran helped his own cause, with 2 successful sacrifices and a sac fly.

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    1. Doug Post authorJune 4, 2017 at 7:07 pm

       That pair of sacrifice bunts by Teheran matches the season total for the entire Orioles team. Colorado has the most with 27, ten more than the Braves and Cardinals, tied for second with 17.

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