A number of pitchers with noticeably lower velocity this year either have landed on the disabled list or have had their seasons cut short due to injury. The Pirates’ Charlie Morton had Tommy John surgery (age 28, down 1.5 mph). The Tigers’ Doug Fister (age 28, down 1.1 mph) and the Blue Jays’ Brandon Morrow (age 27, down 1 mph) have both landed on the DL with oblique injuries. And the White Sox’ John Danks (age 27, down 1.5 mph) just started a stint on the DL due to elbow soreness.

Previously, I found that pitchers who lose at least 1 mph of velocity have over twice the odds of not throwing at least 40 innings in the subsequent year. This could simply be due to ineffectiveness, injury or both. A steep decline in velocity can create — or be a signal for — all sorts of problems. If a pitcher loses velocity simply due to a tired arm, they can increase their chance for injury by trying to pitch through it. Losing velocity also tends to make pitchers less effective over time. And once a pitcher loses velocity, the odds of regaining at least some of it the following year are very low (more on this below).

Today, I want to look at how age impacts the chances of regaining velocity for pitchers and then highlight some hurlers who fans should keep their eyes on this year and next year.

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We have one more week left of interleague play in the 2012 season, but to be honest, we don’t need to wait for the rest of the games to play out to realize that the American League is once again putting their dominance on full display. The AL and NL have squared off in 168 of the 252 scheduled games so far, and the whippersnappers in the American League have pounded their senior circuit brethren. The current totals: 96 wins for the AL, 72 for the NL, good for a .571 winning percentage. It isn’t just a few close games going the AL’s way either, as they’ve outscored the NL 776 to 659.

With 84 games left in interleague action, the National League would have to win 54 of them to avoid a ninth consecutive losing record against the American League. Even if the NL manages a split in the remaining games, the AL would finish with 138 wins, matching their best interleague mark since 2009, and the third best mark either league has managed since interleague play began. It’s not quite as bad as it was in 2006, when the AL went 154-98, but it’s clear that the American League is still the superior league.

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Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.

1. College World Series: Ryne Stanek to Pitch Tonight
2. Today’s Notable MLB Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

College World Series: Ryne Stanek to Pitch Tonight
What Is Happening Tonight, Specifically
Specifically, what is happening tonight is the Arkansas Razorbacks are playing the South Carolina Gamecocks in a College World Series game at 9pm ET.

What’s Happening Tonight, Even More Specifically
Even more specifically, what’s happening tonight is sophomore right-hander Ryne Stanek is pitching for Arkansas.

One Thing About Ryne Stanek
Of Stanek, Baseball America’s Aaron Fitt wrote this in March — with regard to Stanek’s prospects for the 2013 draft:

[H]is rapidly improving ability to utilize his stuff by attacking the strike zone (without trying too hard to be too fine) makes him a strong early candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 draft.

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Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.

1. Breaking: College World Series Is Romp of Emotion
2. Today’s Notable MLB Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Breaking: College World Series Is Romp of Emotion
Regarding the Title of This Post
The title of this post is designed to alert readers to a breaking news story, the substance of which story is that the College World Series — currently ongoing in Omaha, Nebraska, America — is a romp of emotion.

For Example, Why It’s a Romp of Emotion
Allow me to answer that question in the form of multiple Hot GIFs.

Robert Benincasa’s Slidepiece
Here’s Florida State reliever Robert Benincasa’s (7th round, Washington) slider, from a game in which he pitched 4.0 innings of relief, stiking out a third (5 of 15) of the batters he faced.

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That teenager with the eye black in Washington is setting records as he blazes a trail through his rookie season, but today Bryce Harper broke a record that he may not brag about. In seven plate appearances against the Yankees, the outfielder struck out five times. He becomes the youngest person to ever earn a platinum sombrero, and the first teenager. Does it matter?

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Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.

1. The College World Series, Important Knowledge About
2. Notable MLB Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

The College World Series, Important Knowledge About
The Things That Happened on Friday
The College World Series — which you’ll watch this evening and like watching — began last (Friday) night. Northeastern upstarts Stony Brook lost to UCLA, 9-1 (box). In the second game, Arizona beat Florida State by a score of 4-3 in 12 innings (box).

What That All Means
What that means is, is UCLA and Arizona will now face each other on Sunday night as part of the “winners bracket” of the double-elimination tournament. Northeastern upstarts Stony Brook will play Florida State on Sunday, as well. The loser of that latter game will be eliminated.

How the Author Feels
The author feels like, despite their loss, Florida State still has a pretty good chance of making it to the championship finals.

What Makes Him Feel That Way
What makes him feel that way is a combo package of excellent center fielder James Ramsey and also wild speculation — with a decided emphasis on the latter.

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Episode 199
RotoGraphs editor and semi-notable German-American Eno Sarris is the guest on this Fantasy Friday edition of FanGraphs Audio.

Discussed:
• How and why Shawn Camp is closing games for the Cubs.
• How and why pitchers like Shawn Camp end up closing games — and what information, generally, is predictive of future save opportunities.
• Noted prosecpts Trevor Bauer and Wil Myers: their roles in the near future.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 42 min. play time.)

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The Reds are three games up in the National League Central, despite the fact that they have been below average in more areas than they have been above average this season, but between adjustments (installing Todd Frazier as the everyday third baseman) and a scarcity of available upgrades at certain positions (it would be difficult to find a shortstop substantially better than Zack Cozart) the number of areas that Cincinnati can make impactful upgrades to shrinks quickly. It would be nice if the Reds could acquire another starting pitcher, but while Reds’ starters have been short on star power, they have been solid across the board and a upgrade there may be tough to find. Given how well their bullpen has pitched, they may be fine if Mat Latos improves. That leaves two troublesome areas — center field and left field. If they want to be more than a one and done postseason team, they will need to upgrade at these two spots.

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On April eighth, Mariners top pitching prospect Danny Hultzen allowed five earned runs in his first Double-A start. Since then, the University of Virginia product has taken the hill a dozen times for the Jackson Generals allowing only five additional earned runs. This stretch of consecutive dominant outings has Mariners fans and prospect fans alike wondering how long it will take for Hultzen to be called up to the show. His success has left me wondering if as a child, Danny Hultzen was the type to constantly ask his parents “are we there yet?” on long road trips. If so, then the left-hander is probably busy texting “Is it time yet?” to Mariners higher-ups as his combination of stuff and performance is Seattle ready.

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