We don’t know where Josh Hamilton will end up in terms of career WAR, but after the jump you can see where the other guys who hit four homers in a game ended up. Continue reading
Four Homers In A Game: Not Always A Star
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A lot of changes at closer. What does it mean?
As you know, several teams have already made a strategic change of closers, due to injury or ineffectiveness. But can we tell if the number of changes by this point in the season is actually unusual?
Mets-centric Monday notes
While most New York sports fans were transfixed by the latest overtime drama between the Rangers and Capitals in D.C., another thriller was taking shape just up the interstate.
— From the first inning to the last, and plenty in between, this Mets-Phillies game had as many big and surprising plays as any in recent memory. None was bigger or more shocking than this nine-iron for a memorable first big-league hit. Continue reading
Humber stumbles again
In a prior post, we saw that a rough outing after a perfect game was not uncommon. But Philip Humber has now pitched three times since his perfect game, with two outright clunkers. In between, he met the minimums for a Quality Start, but walked 6. In the 3 games combined, he’s allowed 20 runs (all earned) in 13.1 IP, with 5 HRs, 11 walks and 12 Ks.
Back-to-back shutouts – a vanishing breed
Jered Weaver’s no-hitter last week was actually part of an occurrence even rarer (at least, recently) than the no-hitter itself. What was this occurrence? The answer is a shutout streak – a team recording consecutive complete games with no runs allowed.
After the jump, I’ll take a closer look at this vanishing phenomenon.
Many random notes from one crazy game
- Look who suddenly has the best record in baseball!
- Continue reading
Good control, low strikeouts: A baseball rarity
A fellow baseball blogger, Sky Kalkman wrote something interesting this morning. In a post exploring the relationship between control and command for pitchers, Sky opined:
My non-expert hunch is that one of the main reasons pitchers don’t throw more pitches in the strike zone is that their stuff isn’t good enough. They aim for the edge of the zone because the cost of missing outside (a ball) isn’t as bad as the cost of missing over the heart of the plate (a line drive or home run.) A pitcher with impeccable aim but mediocre stuff won’t rate highly in control.
My first impulse was to disagree with Sky, considering Greg Maddux threw in the 80s for much of his career and was an expert at slowly widening the strike zone. With a look at the numbers, though, Sky may have a point.
Video rewind: Saturday game notes
— I’ve lost a few baseballs in the bushes, but never like this.
- Adrian Beltre as a pinch-hitter is 4 for 13 with 3 HRs. But this was the first time he really impacted a game.
Albert Pujols’ performance cost
Here’s a quick look at how much Albert Pujols’ performance has cost over his career. Continue reading
If at first … you’re probably not succeeding right now
It’s not just Albert … Through Friday 5/4, one in four qualified first basemen (6 of 24) has an OPS+ below 60 and a BA of .195 or below, with an average of 2 HRs and 7 RBI.