One year ago tomorrow, Chris Sale nervously awaited word on where he would begin his professional career. The Florida Gulf Coast left-hander didn’t have to wait long to find out, as the White Sox called his name with the 13th overall pick of the amateur draft. A mere two months later he became the first player in his draft class to reach the big leagues, debuting on August 6 and going on to log four saves and a 1.93 ERA in 21 appearances. The 22-year-old native of Lakeland, Florida sat down to talk about the whirlwind experience of Draft Day, and the process that surrounds it.

——

David Laurila: You were drafted out of high school, by the Rockies in 2007, but didn’t sign. Why?

Chris Sale: I had a lot more to learn. Both physically and mentally, I just wasn’t mature enough to go out on my own and start living my own life. I really liked the school that I was going to, and felt that it was a better opportunity than starting my professional career. It was a big decision. I talked it over with my family, and my coaches, and everyone came to the same decision, which was that three or four years of college would be better than starting right then and there.

DL: How different was the scouting process the second time around?

Read the rest of this entry »

In the run-up to tonight’s MLB draft, the Pirates have been linked to a host of various players at different times, but this weekend the chatter all began to point toward Pittsburgh selecting UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole. This morning, Jonathan Mayo reported that the decision had been made, and Cole would indeed be the first player taken in the draft. The Pirates are choosing Cole over Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon, fellow teammate and RHP Trevor Bauer (who has frequently out-pitched Cole this year, especially of late), Virginia southpaw Danny Hultzen, and high school standout outfielder Bubba Starling.

In terms of stuff, no one can compete with Cole in this draft, and few pitchers in Major League Baseball can match up either. He’s routinely been clocked in the upper-90s, touching 100 at times, and comfortably sits in the 94-98 range. Velocity is not a question for Cole, but what made him so exciting earlier in the spring was that his changeup was drawing rave reviews. He’d always had the power fastball/slider combination, but adding a nasty changeup gave him three plus pitches that he could throw strikes with, and given his size and velocity, he’s essentially a scout’s dream.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cardinals 3, Cubs 2

Moving the Needle: Ryan Theriot ties the game in the ninth with a double, +.512 WPA. Damn WPA and its favoring of dramatic, game-tying moments in the later innings. If it weren’t for Teriot tying the game, though, there wouldn’t have been a chance for Albert Pujols to hit his second walk-off homer in two days. But let’s for a second step back and praise Theriot, who extended the game by an inning with his double. Really, even if you’re a Cards fan you have to appreciate that, if for nothing other than the feel-goodness of the walk-off.

Notables

Albert Pujols: 2 for 4, 1 HR, 1 BB. For the series he went 6 for 11 with a double and four homers. Back?

Chris Carpenter: 9 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K. He was just setting ’em up for Pujols, anyway.

Cardinals 6, Cubs 1
Cardinals 5, Cubs 4

Read the rest of this entry »

The Astros released Bill Hall last week to make room for the returning Jason Bourgeois. The 31-year-old Hall had been awful this season for the Astros, producing 0.9 wins below replacement. His fielding has eroded in recent years, and his offense, aside for what appears to be a fluky uptick last season, has left much to be desired for almost five seasons. His wOBAs since 2006? Try .317, .297, .261, .342, .269.

Sure, there was some reason to think that the .342 might be more indicative of his offensive proclivities, but the signing was odd for a team like the Astros. To guarantee $3 million at the major league level and include an option for next season suggests that the team believed Hall had some upside. They still have Jeff Keppinger under control, but his injury opened up a spot. Since Hall isn’t a puts-butts-in-seats kind of guy, it probably would have made more sense to use some farmhand in the spot until Keppinger returned.

Where did his -0.9 WAR rank, you ask? Good question, I say, as the original theme of this post changed from why signing Hall made little sense for the Astros when a realization was made scanning the leaderboards. The default setting on our leaderboards filters only for batters that qualify for a batting title. Sorting the players by WAR from the bottom up, I expected to see Hall’s name toward the top of the list. It wasn’t there. The list went:

– Chone Figgins (-1.2)
– Aubrey Huff (-0.9)
– Miguel Tejada (-0.9)
– Dan Uggla (-0.8)
– Orlando Cabrera (-0.8)
– Hideki Matsui (-0.8)

Hall was nowhere to be found, even though his -0.9 was the same as Huff’s and Tejada’s mark. Hall has been so bad this season that he doesn’t even qualify for most leaderboards.

Read the rest of this entry »

Every season, there’s always one thing in demand at the trade deadline — starting pitching. Nearly every contender outside of Philadelphia is in the hunt for another rotation arm, and the demand always outstrips the supply. While there’s no Cliff Lee on the block this year, there are still some interesting arms who could make a difference down the stretch. Here are the best candidates:

PLAYER: Edwin Jackson
TEAM: White Sox
POSSIBLE DESTINATION(S): Yankees, Red Sox, Reds
CONTRACT STATUS: $8.35 million, free agent at end of year
PROJECTED WAR: 1.8

The White Sox might end up trading Jackson even if they get back in the race for the AL Central title, as they currently have six starting pitchers for just five slots. Jackson is no stranger to changing teams, as he’s been dealt by Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, Detroit, and Arizona since arriving in the Major Leagues. Given the White Sox surplus of arms and his impending free agency, he’s a good bet to be packing his bags once again.

Read the rest of this entry »

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. Expanded previews for, like, six or a hundred games — hard to tell.

2. Expressly not Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of this weekend’s games — because it hurt my ulnar claw to type all that junk.

3. Frequent appeals to the Wonderful Terrific Monds Player NERD scores JUST UNVEILED TODAY!!!!111OMG1.

Read the rest of this entry »

For a season and a half, Kansas City Royals fans were subjected to the fall-down range and errant arm of Yuniesky Betancourt at shortstop. Hoppers hit to his left were all but guaranteed base hits, and booted would-be double play balls gave opponents extra chances to pummel the pitching staff. Those defensive woes were supposed to end in 2011 with Alcides Escobar, picked up from the Brewers as part of the Zack Greinke mega-deal, taking over at short for the Royals.

Escobar, a former top 20 prospect who Baseball America said “was born to play shortstop,” has been as good as advertised with the glove. Unfortunately, his bat has been so bad that it has wiped out the value provided by his exquisite range, body control and cannon arm.

Read the rest of this entry »

Since he moved to the NL in 2006, Bronson Arroyo has become well acquainted with the home run ball. Take any three-year period from 2006 through 2010 and you’ll see Arroyo’s name near the top. In fact, things have gotten worse — relatively — as time has passed. Looking at pitchers who threw 500 innings in a three-year span, Arroyo has gone from tenth (2006 to 2008) to fifth (2007 to 2009) to third (2008 to 2010) in HR/9. But he’s outdone himself this year: In 62.2 innings he has allowed 14 home runs — or a 2.01/9 IP rate. That’s the worst among qualified pitchers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wrapping up the series on trade targets, today we’ll look at a few catchers who might be available (and perhaps even desirable!) for teams in contention. With the Diamondbacks surprisingly in the race for the National League West (at least for the moment), Miguel Montero isn’t on the table (if he ever would have been), and he probably would have headed up this list. Leaving out the multitudes of generic backup catchers (the Jose Molinas and Matt Treanors [Treanor!] of the world), there isn’t much out there. Among the contenders, the Giants need to fill a Buster Posey-shaped hole and the Red Sox probably want to improve on the Jason Varitek–Jarrod Saltalamacchia Duo of Yuck. Here are four catchers might be available and/or could draw varying degrees of interest.

In no particular order…

Read the rest of this entry »

When Mark Buehrle takes the mound tonight, against the Tigers, he may or may not throw an indoor sinker to a right-handed hitter, which he recently did for the first time in several years. He might also throw a cut changeup, although it would be by accident rather than by design. Both pitches could come from either side of the rubber, as could the game’s best pickoff move, which Buehrle admits may reasonably be defined as a balk. The crafty lefty may also throw his third career no-hitter, or second perfect game, and he would do so following a simpler approach than you might imagine.

——

David Laurila: What is your approach on the mound?

Mark Buerhle: I just get the sign from the catcher and try to make the best pitch I can, to the best location. I’ve never been a guy who studies film or goes over scouting reports. I go with my catcher, and Coop [pitching coach Don Cooper] usually sits down with us and goes over the game plan beforehand. For the most part, I figure that the less that’s on my mind when I’m out there — if I’m not thinking about, and worrying about, what to throw to guys — the better off I’m going to be.

I have four pitches that I have confidence in, and I’ll throw almost all of them in any count, in any situation. I feel that if I make a quality pitch, sometimes it’s going to be a hit, but a lot of times I’m going to get an out. Who’s to say…if I’m thinking of throwing a fastball to a certain guy, and A.J. [Pierzynski] calls for a changeup, why am I right over him? I just take it as, “Hey, whichever pitch you throw down, I’ll try to throw it to the best location, the best spot, and see what happens.”

DL: You’ve worked with A.J. for a long time. What if it’s a catcher you don’t know very well?

Read the rest of this entry »