Marlon Byrd won’t be facing live pitching in the near future, having suffered multiple facial fractures when hit by an errant Alfredo Aceves fastball on Saturday. When he does get back into action, he’ll go back to following a detailed routine that has served him well. The 33-year-old Cubs outfielder is a .294 hitter over the past four-plus seasons, and was hitting .308 at the time of the injury.

Prior to Saturday’s game, Byrd sat down to talk about how he prepared to face Florida’s Chris Volstad earlier in the week, and the results of each at bat.

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Byrd, on preparing for the game: “My pre-game preparation stays the same; nothing changes. I go in and do my one-hand drills, which I’ve been doing since 2003. I started that with Bobby Abreau. I’m seeing the ball coming right at me when I’m doing my flips. First I start with my two-hand swing, with a short bat to make sure the ball gets close to me, then I go to a one-hand drill to make sure my bottom hand is where it should be.

“Everything in the beginning is with a short bat. The reason you use a short bat is because the longer the bat is, the further your hands can go and you can still hit the ball. If you do that with a short bat, you won’t even hit it, so it teaches you to keep your hands inside the ball. It makes sure that your hands stay close to your chest, going to the ball, which helps you stay inside the ball when you swing.

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In the first inning of yesterday’s game against the Mets, Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson ripped a low and inside pitch well over the right-field wall at Yankee Stadium. It was his 16th home run of the year, just two behind the torrid pace Jose Bautista has set. Most stories written about Granderson marvel at the turnaround he has made: since he and hitting coach Kevin Long tweaked his swing last August he has hit 30 home runs, which is the second most in baseball during that span (to Bautista, of course). What I haven’t yet seen is how Granderson’s spot on the defensive spectrum makes his run more remarkable.

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Bill Singer
Director of Pro Scouting
Washington Nationals

Mr. Singer:

I am writing you to report on a pitcher I recently scouted who may be of value to the Washington Nationals organization. The American League Central division is a very winnable race for the Detroit Tigers and the club should be looking for veteran help in July. One player of interest in the system, who may be attainable is left-handed, triple-A starter Charlie Furbush. The organization’s first call-up option from the triple-A rotation should be Andrew Oliver, leaving his fellow southpaw as an expendable item for the right price.

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Chase Utley did a one-man adaptation of P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster stories.

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. Expanded previews for two games: Cincinnati at Philadelphia and Los Angeles (NL) at Houston.

2. Shorter, but no less charming, previews of three more games: Boston at Cleveland, Tampa Bay at Detroit, and Seattle at Minnesota.

3. Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of tonight’s games.

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There’s something rather interesting going on over in the AL West; the only four team division in baseball is really only offering three different teams this year. There are still four franchises, but Oakland and Seattle have apparently decided to put the exact same team on the field this year.

If you go to the team pages here on the site, it’s impossible to avoid the similarities. We’ll start on the mound, which is where both teams strengths lie.

SEA: 2.78 BB/9, 7.26 K/9, 0.55 HR/9, 44.6% GB%, .290 BABIP, 5.8% HR/FB, 3.10 FIP, 3.50 xFIP
OAK: 2.97 BB/9, 7.11 K/9, 0.55 HR/9, 49.4% GB%, .288 BABIP, 6.5% HR/FB, 3.18 FIP, 3.45 xFIP

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Indians 5, Reds 4. The Indians took the lead in the eighth on a risky play. With runners on first and third and two out Ezequiel Carrera laid down a drag bunt. He swerved to avoid the tag from Nick Masset, and I have to think he was at least close to running out of the baseline. But he did not, and Shin-Soo Choo scored. Also, that makes two RBI hit-by-pitches on Friday, as Choo got plunked in the sixth. Also notable about the sixth: Travis Wood did not allow a hit until that inning, but he made it only one out into the inning.

Indians 2, Reds 1. One inning contained all the offensive action here. The Reds scratched across a run on a ground out, but then the Indians answered when Travis Buck hit a two-run homer. Otherwise, it was all Josh Tomlin and Homer Bailey. Tomlin went seven, allowing just three hits and striking out three. Bailey also went seven, with four hits and four strikeouts.

Indians 12, Reds 4. Edinson Volquez stunk again, allowing seven hits and walking four through 2.2 innings. It’s hard to justify keeping him in the rotation at this point. Asdrubal Cabrera led the way for the Indians, going 5 for 5 with two homers and 5 RBI. Michael Brantley and Shin-Soo Choo also had multi-hit games.

Also in this issue: Braves over Angels | Diamondbacks over Twins | Orioles over Nationals | Marlins over Rays | Red Sox over Cubs | Brewers over Rockies | White Sox over Dodgers | Phillies over Rangers | Pirates over Tigers | Cardinals over Royals | Mariners over Padres | Yankees over Mets | Giants over A’s | Astros over Blue Jays

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Frequently people wonder when the site was last updated and if FanGraphs stats included the previous night’s games. Now you no longer have to do the legwork yourself and you can easily see in the footer when the site’s stats were last updated.

Typically our stats load finishes up between 5am and 6am Eastern time.

The Phillies entered the season relying heavily on the pitching staff after several seasons of scoring runs at will. Jayson Werth signed with the Nationals and Chase Utley was thought to be sidelined for an undetermined amount of time. The downgrade from Werth to some combination of Ben Francisco, Domonic Brown, and John Mayberry was substantial. Even more significant was the dropoff in performance from Utley to the three-headed monster of Wilson Valdez, Pete Orr, and Michael Martinez.

The outfield situation remains in flux, especially with the recent injury to Shane Victorino, but the second base situation is now solved as the Phillies welcome Utley back tonight.

The Phillies are averaging 3.83 runs per game, worse than all National League teams aside from the Pirates, Giants, Padres, and Dodgers. However, the pitching staff has been so effective that the Phillies have the best record in the league at 28-18.

The idea was always that, if the team could hold down the fort until a healthy Utley returned, his supplanting of the replacement level second base triumvirate early enough in the season would help cement their bid as a serious contender.

Though it has gotten to the point that a nifty fantasy strategy might involve adding whoever faces their lineup, the aforementioned sentiment remains true: replacing Valdez, Orr, and Martinez with Utley makes a big difference. Utley’s return invites two questions:

1) What can the Phillies expect from him over the rest of the season?
2) Is his return enough to stave off the Marlins and Braves?

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The 2011 draft class is being hyped as one of the best in recent memory. With less than three weeks until draft day it’s time to zero in on some of this year’s best prospects. Over the next couple weeks I’ll be profiling some of the higher-profile players.

With Vanderbilt starter Sonny Gray on the mound Thursday night, Vandy fell to Georgia 5-4. Although Gray’s line- 4 runs, 9 hits, 3 walks, and 6 strikeouts over 6 innings- was unimpressive, he showed electric stuff at times, and still projects as a top-10 pick.

Coming out of high school in 2008, Gray dropped to the Cubs in the 27th round primarily because of his strong commitment to Vanderbilt. Listed at only 5’11” 180, Gray will always have to answer questions about his small stature, but he has big-league stuff. Thursday night, his fastball ranged from 89-93, sitting mostly at 92, and the pitch featured good action, tailing away from left-handed hitters. When Gray is able to keep his fastball low in the strike zone, he makes it tough on hitters to elevate the ball, as evidenced by his 1.96:1 GO/AO ratio this year.

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