In today’s Rockies-Dodgers game, Jerry Hairston hit a groundball to third base. The throw pulled Todd Helton off the bag. Strike that – the throw pulled Todd Helton out of the vicinity of the bag. Tim Welke still called Hairston out.
Here’s a screengrab of where Helton was when he caught it.
Seriously, MLB, expanded use of replay. For the love of God, expanded use of replay.
As FanGraphs readers know, Brandon McCarthy made some notable changes prior to the 2011 season. As Ryan Campbell wrote last October, the A’s right-hander fined-tuned his mechanics and traded in his four-seamer for a two-seamer and a cutter. The results of his data-driven adjustments were striking. Armed with a new repertoire and approach, McCarthy emerged as a frontline starter. He wasn’t satisfied. McCarthy is in the process of perfecting a new pitch, which he talked about prior to last night’s game at Fenway Park.
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Brandon McCarthy on his new changeup: “When I started this process, I knew that I needed a changeup and that I wasn’t going to go back to my old one. Finding a grip that will work has kind of been a slow process. I need something that I can throw for strikes, where I want it, and with enough action. It also needs to be slow enough.
“My old changeup was something nobody else throws. Read the rest of this entry »
Way out in the National League West, the much-mocked Barry Zito and the much-debated Trevor Cahill are both off to good starts. Both players got their starts with the Oakland As before moving the to National League. Of more interest is that both players have, at different times, been held up as examples of pitchers for whom DIPS stats like FIP are inadequate. Without getting into lengthy discussions of each pitcher or the whole debate about DIPS (of which FIP is just one variety), let’s take a look at Zito and Cahill’s early-season performances with a glance at their past performances and see if there is anything of interest.
The Reds’ plans for Aroldis Chapman’s role on the team have never really appeared to be fully fleshed out. First he was supposed to be a starter, but then team needs for the 2010 playoff run required another reliever. The opportunity to move him back into the rotation has never been seized since, and although there was much discussion of Chapman as the Reds’ fifth starter this season, he’s remained in the bullpen for the entire year. Starting remains an option for 24-year-old, and probably the best one for the team. If the Reds are going to keep Chapman in the bullpen, however, his usage so far this season serves as excellent blueprint.
To write that Arizona Diamondbacks pitching prospect Tyler Skaggs is very good isn’t exactly going out on a limb. However, with the young lefty ranking no lower than number-21 on major prospect lists and posting gaudy double-A numbers this season, readers expect Skaggs to rank among the truly elite pitching prospects in the game. For me personally, it was Skaggs being universally ranked above Mariners Danny Hultzen this past off-season that left me anticipating he would become my standard bearer for southpaws. In this particular start, he fell a bit short.
Video after the jump
On Monday, Jeff Zimmerman and I launched our series of articles on pitcher aging. Readers should refer to introductory article, which includes general curves and a summary of the methodology. The general takeaway was that, as suspected, pitchers age differently than hitters. Generally, pitchers see their velocity peak in their early 20s and steadily decline by a full mile per hour by age 26. After that, velocity drops more sharply and continues a steep decline into a pitcher’s 30s.
Strikeout rates were tied to velocity, but not as closely after age 26. This indicates that those pitchers who survive into their late 20s and early 30s are less reliant on their velocity (and, most likely, their fastball) for strikeouts. A pitcher’s walk rate shows a some improvement through age 25 (due to starters), and then begins its decline.
In this article, I want to tease out some of the differences between starters and relievers.
Let’s quickly recap what the average aging curves look like for starters and relievers:
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Coming off a six-win season in 2010, right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez disappointed on the mound last year, splitting time between the Colorado Rockies and Cleveland Indians. His velocity dropped significantly. The dominating stuff that made him a Cy Young candidate seemingly disappeared. He became rather ordinary and frustrating for two separate fan bases. It all resulted in a below-average 4.68 ERA.
Hope for improvement existed for 2012, however. His 3.67 FIP suggested Jimenez pitched much better than his earned run average indicated — largely due to the fact that his BABIP and LOB% were both worse than his career averages — and his 88 FIP- indicated that he ranked better than league average on the mound.
Fast forward to 2012, and we clearly see that the potential improvement for Ubaldo Jimenez simply has not come to fruition. In fact, the 28-year-old continues to deteriorate on the mound. His stuff is declining precipitously, and his peripheral numbers are trending in the wrong direction.
Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.
1. Featured Game: Los Angeles NL at Colorado, 15:10 ET
2. Other Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule
4. Crowdsourcing Broadcasters: Baltimore Radio
Featured Game: Los Angeles NL at Colorado, 15:10 ET
A Note on Who’s Starting for Los Angeles
Left-hander Clayton Kershaw is starting for Los Angeles.
Regarding Some Things the Reader Likely Knows About Clayton Kershaw
In terms of Clayton Kershaw, the reader is likely aware that (a) he was the Cy Young of the National League last year, that (b) he was also among the National League leaders in pitcher WAR, and that (c) both his fastball and slider are among the best pitches in the majors.
Regarding a Thing the Reader Might Not Know About Clayton Kershaw
The reader might not know that Clayton Kershaw is one of only five pitchers (along with R.A. Dickey, Stephen Strasburg, Cole Hamels, and Jeff Samardzija) who currently possess a perfect 10 according to NERD — i.e. the made-up stat that, according to the present author, measures the likely aesthetic appeal (or, watchability) of a player or team or whatever.
Regarding to What Degree You Should Trust Said Author
Probably not that much, actually.