Mets 9, Padres 8

Moving the Needle: Lucas Duda walks off with a two-run single, +.479 WPA. Carlos who? OK, so maybe Duda hasn’t set the world on fire since taking over for Beltran full-time. He is, after all, just 9 for 34 (.264) since July 27th, and that counts his 3 for 5 last night. But he seems to come through in the big moments. The Mets and Padres were tied at four heading into the eighth, but the Padres put four on the board to take a commanding lead. Yet the Mets still had fight. They crossed a pair in the eighth and then rallied again in the ninth. After the Mets crept to within one, Heath Bell uncorked a wild pitch that proved his undoing. That put runners on second and third, meaning Duda’s single won the game.

Notables

Cameron Maybin: 3 for 5, 1 2B. He scored twice. His amazingly productive season on the road continues, even at a pitcher’s haven such as Citi.

David Wright: 2 for 5, 1 HR. He drove in three, including a two-run shot and an RBI single in the ninth.

Also in this issue: White Sox 7, Orioles 6 | Astros 9, Diamondbacks 1 | Red Sox 8, Twins 6 | Rockies 10, Reds 7 | Rays 2, Royals 1 | Braves 8, Marlins 1 | Rangers 9, Mariners 2 | Phillies 5, Dodgers 3 | Pirates 5, Giants 0

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Dan Uggla was starting to look like a candidate for worst-acquisition-of-the-offseason. Hitting just .170/.234/.306 on June 10th, the Altanta Braves second baseman had hardly lived up to expectations. Right as it looked as if things could get no worse, Uggla began to turn things around. While he started to come around slowly toward the end of June, Uggla completely exploded in July. Though it’s early, Uggla seems to have carried that momentum into August, and currently carries a 29 game hit streak. Even though luck is often a major factor in these types of surges, Uggla has been pretty damn good the last month and a half.
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Somebody’s getting to second base.

Generally speaking, the Leaderboards of Pleasure represent an attempt to isolate those qualities which most appeal to the learned baseballing fan and to identify which players, teams, etc. possess them most bountifully.

As you look over this week’s edition of Leaderboards of Pleasure, prepare yourself for these shocking discoveries:

The Royals Are Young and Talented
For those fans whose interest is confined exclusively to the present season — and this is a totally legitimate way to enjoy the sport — then Kansas City, owners of a 0% chance of making the playoffs, are of minimal interest. However, for those fans who have some interest beyond wins and losses in 2011, then the Royals are very much a team to watch. Nor will the recent promotion of 23-year-old second baseman Johnny Giavotella — who slashed .338/.390/.481 (.367 BABIP) with a 8.0% BB and 11.3% K in 503 plate appearances at Triple-A Omaha — alter this for the worse.

Dustin Pedroia Is the League’s Most Underrated Player, Sort Of
Obviously, it depends on how one defines underrated; however, if the definition is something to the effect of “the degree to which a player has provided value beyond what his fantasy-type stats suggest,” then Pedroia really has been underrated more than any other player.

Dustin Ackley and Chase Utley Are Currently Engaged in a Handsome-Off
And everyone’s a winner.

1. Team NERD Leaderboard
2. Underrated Player Leaderboard
3. Player NERD Leaderboard
4. Pitcher NERD Leaderboard

See the full leaderboards via the magic of Google Docs.

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As we enter the meaty part of the dog days of summer, divisional races are beginning to crystallize. Outside of the eastern divisions, where the Phillies are running away and hiding and the Red Sox and Yankees both have iron grips on playoff spots, things should get very interesting. Milwaukee, St. Louis, Arizona, San Francisco, Texas and Anaheim are six of the top 11 teams in this weeks’ Rankings. And in each team, there’s something for every fan. You like hitting? The Rangers, Cards and Brew Crew comprise three of the seven best offenses in the game. If you are drawn more so to pitching, then the top five staffs of the Giants and Angels have you covered — Ervin Santana has allowed just three runs in his last 34 innings, and he’s only the Angels’ third-best pitcher! And let’s not forget about the D-backs, who have a Major League-best 44.6 UZR, thanks in large part to the range of their glovely outfield trio of Gerardo Parra, Chris Young and Justin Upton. If this sounds a bit like a baseball infomercial, it’s because it sort of is. I know I’m likely preaching to the choir with this audience, but this is a really great time for baseball, and I hope we can all step back and appreciate how strong the game is right now. Read the rest of this entry »

I came across this blurb a couple days ago over at HardBall Talk (originally from ESPN Boston):

“David [Ortiz] is (too) proud and respectful to say how he feels in public, but the guy feels hurt, upset by the way that he is being ignored by the Red Sox,” said the unnamed source. “After all he’s done here and having a good season, he was at least hoping to be approached by the team to talk about his future.”

On one hand, David Ortiz has a point. He’s in the midst of his best season since 2007 — his .390 wOBA is impressive — and as one of the most-loved players on the Red Sox, it would seem like a common courtesy that the team would reach out to him about a new contract. If you can help it, you certainly don’t want to annoy one of your star players during the stretch run.

But as weird as it may sound, I think the Red Sox are actually doing Ortiz a favor. He might not realize it now, but if the Sox had reached out to him, he might not have liked what he heard. I’m certain Ortiz will end up back in Boston, but much like Jeter’s situation this past offseason, things could get messy before the end.

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It wasn’t long ago that Jorge Posada was one of baseball’s best backstops. From 2000, the first season he stepped out of Joe Girardi’s shadow, through 2007, his last fully healthy season, he ranked first among MLB catchers in WAR. He was also the decade-long leader, filling the gap between the Ivan Rodriguez and Mike Piazza dominance of the late 90s and the more recent dominance of Joe Mauer and Brian McCann. Even in 2009 and 2010 he produced well enough, 2.9 and 2.0 WAR despite spending time on the DL in each season.

This year, the final season in his contract, the Yankees informed him that he’d be moving out from behind the plate and into the full-time DH role. The transition didn’t start well, and while he showed signs of recovery in June his production has again declined recently. Yesterday the Yankees announced that he was no longer even a part-time member of their starting lineup. Instead they will go with a platoon of Eric Chavez and Andruw Jones, with top prospect Jesus Montero waiting by the phone in Scranton. It’s certainly an odd situation for such an important player in the Yankees franchise.

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This is probably a Houston Astro.

Featured Game
Houston (4) at Arizona (8) | 21:40 ET
• NERD suggests, largely on the strength of Roy Halladay’s (10) excellence, that one would do well to watch Philadelphia-Los Angeles tonight.
• What NERD doesn’t know is the effect that watching the Dodgers can have on serotonin levels in humans.
• Another thing that NERD doesn’t know is how the Houston Astros are essentially a different team than — well, than a week ago, about.
• By my count, four of the Houston starters from Sunday’s game had made their major-league debut within the past three weeks.
• To wit: Jose Altuve (July 20th), J.D. Martinez (July 30th), Jimmy Paredes (August 1st), Jack Shuck (August 5th).

Audio Feed: Astros Television. (I’ve actually never watched their broadcast before, but some readers have suggested that Bill Brown and Jim Deshaies are above average.)

Also Playing
Here’s the complete schedule for all of today’s games, with our very proprietary watchability (NERD) scores for each one. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and RotoWire. The average NERD Game Score for today is 4.9.

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Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 3

Moving the Needle: Cody Ransom puts the DBacks ahead with a homer in the seventh, +.381 WPA. Down 3-2 in the seventh, Ransom came up with a man on and absolutely demolished a Clayton Kershaw offering. That put them up 4-3, a lead they’d hold the rest of the way. That’s his 10th career homer, which came in his 226th MLB game.

Notables

Kelly Johnson: 1 for 4, 1 HR. His two-run shot in the first staked the Diamondbacks to an early lead. It was only his third homer (of 18) against a lefty this year, though he’s actually been better against lefties in his career.

Andre Ethier: 2 for 4, 1 2B. His RBI double in the sixth tied the score and set the stage for Juan Rivera’s go-ahead single.

Also in this issue: Angels 2, Mariners 1 | Blue Jays 7, Orioles 2 | Reds 8, Cubs 7 | Red Sox 3, Yankees 2 | Nationals 3, Rockies 2 | Royals 4, Tigers 3 | Cardinals 8, Marlins 4 | White Sox 7, Twins 0 | Brewers 7, Astros 3 | A’s 5, Rays 4 | Braves 6, Mets 5 | Rangers 5, Indians 3 | Padres 7, Pirates 3 | Giants 3, Phillies 1

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News broke late last week that Johan Santana was experiencing fatigue in his surgically repaired left shoulder. Though there isn’t any new damage to the area, the news was unsettling, especially since he had just began throwing rehab assignments in the minor leagues. On July 28, his first taste of live action since September 2 of last season, Santana pitched three scoreless innings for St. Lucie, allowing two hits while striking out three. Nothing could be gleaned from the outing other than the fact that he had progressed in his rehab enough to actually pitch in a game.

Not much is known about what will happen to him from here on out. Few athletes have ever had the same surgery — Mark Prior, Chien-Ming Wang and NFL quarterback Chad Pennington round out the list of those with surgeries to fix torn anterior capsules — and the fatigue may or may not lead to further treatment. Right now, Santana will rest for a week before being reevaluated. If the fatigue subsides, he will probably continue his rehab, unless the team decides to shut him down. That decision would only hold water if the Mets felt the risk of further aggravation was high.

Though the Mets aren’t going to make the playoffs this season, meaning the return of Santana isn’t the difference between winning or losing the division or wild card, getting him back on a major league mound would have been a big boon for the organization. As the highest-paid player and best pitcher on the team, even making two or three starts in September would have re-acclimated him to higher leverage situations, when the arm tends to undertake more stress. In addition to getting him back on the mound for their own evaluations, Santana’s performance this season may have had trade ramifications.

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