Author Archive

Daily Notes, Featuring Action News Reports

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

1. Action News Reports
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Action News Reports
Baseball news, reported with action.

First Player from 2012 Draft Recalled to Majors
The Los Angeles Dodgers have recalled left-hander Steven Rodriguez from Double-A Chattanooga just three months after selecting him 82nd overall in this year’s amateur draft, reports MLB.com’s Alex Angert. The 21-year-old Rodriguez, who attended the University of Florida, posted this line between High- and Double-A: 19.7, 14.6 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 0.0 HR/9, 0.86 FIP. According to Baseball America, Rodriguez features a “good cutter, 91-92 mph fastball, [and] plus command.” He’s expected to work in relief.

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Daily Notes: Attendance Ranks Relative to Capacity

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

1. Table: Average Per-Game Attendance Relative to Capacity
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Table: Average Per-Game Attendance Relative to Capacity
Note: it has come to the attention of the author, who is an avowed moron, not only that (a) average attendance as a percentage of capacity is available all day and all night at ESPN, but also that (b) Wendy Thurm discussed the concept last week in these very effing pages.

Regarding an Observation the Author Has Made
The author has observed that, while the absolute attendance — which is to say, the raw total — of fans at a baseball game exerts some influence over one’s experience of same, that, just as important to that experience, is the total attendance of a game relative to stadium capacity.

An Example Concerning Attendance Relative to Capacity
For some time, between 2008 and -10, the author attended a number of Portland Beavers games, then the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. While the Beavers’ home field, PGE park, had a capacity of something like 18,000, the Beavers — especially during Portland’s generally unpleasant spring nights — frequently only had attendance totals of two or three thousand. The effect was to make the games seem less urgent or immediate somehow.

A Second Example Concerning Attendance Relative to Capacity
More recently, the author has attended a number of games at Madison’s Warner Park, home of the Northwoods League’s Madison Mallards. The park has a listed capacity of ca. 7,500 and averages over 6,000 fans a per game. More than the overall attendance it is the absence of empty seats at Mallards game that compels the author to feel as though he’s at a proper event.

A Question the Author Asked
The author asked himself a question very similar to this one — namely, “Which major-league clubs feature the greatest average attendance as measured by a percentage of stadium capacity?”

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FanGraphs Audio: Dave Cameron Analyzes All Baseball

Episode 236
FanGraphs managing editor Dave Cameron, as per usual, makes his weekly appearance on FanGraphs Audio and analyzes all baseball.

Discussed:
• The decline of Dan Uggla, elaborated upon.
Jurickson Profar and Shelby Miller, two top — and recently promoted — prospects.
Kris Medlen, majors’ best pitcher (for a month, at least).

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 34 min. play time.)

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Kris Medlen’s Repertoire, Animated

Anyone who’s made his way to these electronic pages is likely well-aware that Kris Medlen has been excellent of late — is, in fact, the majors’ best pitcher over the last month by most relevant measures. Nor, really, has Medlen been more excellent of late than he was on Monday afternoon against the Colorado Rockies (box), during which game he recorded 12 strikeouts and zero walks en route to conceding just a lone, unearned run in nine innings.

While our Ben Duronio provided entirely able analysis in re Medlen just last week, it occurs to the present author that the People could tolerate more in the way of Medlen-related analysis.

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Daily Notes: Three Callups Who Aren’t Jurickson Profar

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

1. List: Three September Callups Who Aren’t Jurickson Profar
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

List: Three September Callups Who Aren’t Jurickson Profar
First of All, Regarding What Is a Callup
A callup is a call-up — as in, September call-up — with the hyphen removed, so’s to confine the entirety of this post’s title to a single line.

Second of All, Also Regarding the Title of This Post
Provided enough space, the author would likely have titled this post something to the effect of “Daily Notes, Featuring Three Notable September Call-Ups Who Aren’t Jurickson Profar,” with a view, that is, to emphasizing how the following prospects are notable in their own right — in addition, that is, to simply being not Jurickson Profar.

Regarding Jurickson Profar, Who That Even Is
In the event that the reader is unfamiliar with him, here’s who Jurickson Profar is: the shortstop prospect in the Rangers system who (a) was ranked first overall on our Marc Hulet’s midseason top-50 prospect list and (b) homered in his first major-league plate appearance (action video).

The Aforementioned Three Other Call-Ups
Here are three notable prospects to’ve been promoted in September so far who are not also Jurickson Profar:

Player: Didi Gregorius, SS, CIN
Line: 558 PA, .267/.325/.396 (.304 BABIP) at Double- and Triple-A
Notes: Gregorius has been overshadowed, probably, owing to the presence both of Zack Cozart (the young and current starting shortstop) and Billy Hamilton (the very fast, but perhaps defensively inadequate, shortstop prospect) in the Reds system. Reports suggestt that the latter of that tandem will play mostly outfield at the Arizona Fall League this, uh, fall — and, provided he acquits him decently, is maybe a better fit there for the long-term. Gregorius has reached Triple-A as a 22-year-old, which is generally a promising thing.

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Daily Notes, Featuring Collin McHugh in St. Louis

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

1. Featured Game: New York NL at St. Louis, 14:15 ET
2. Today’s MLB.TV Free Game
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: New York NL at St. Louis, 14:15 ET
Regarding This Game, Why It’s Notable
One reason why this game is notable, is on account of right-hander Collin McHugh is making his second major-league start in it for the Mets — and his first major-league start in front of one of the league’s finer cameras.

Regarding McHugh, His First Major-League Start
McHugh, 25, was excellent in his first start, on August 23rd against the Rockies. Regard: 7.0 IP, 23 TBF, 9 K, 1 BB, 4 GB on 12 batted-balls (33.3%), 2.01 xFIP.

Regarding McHugh, His Repertoire
The author — who isn’t bragging or anything, but just noting it for the benefit of the reader — the author recently wrote a piece, with sexy, animated GIFs, examining McHugh’s repertoire of sexy pitches.

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FanGraphs Audio: My 91-Year-Old Grandfather

Episode 235
The host’s 91-year-old grandfather, whose opinions have been documented previously within the electronic pages of FanGraphs, is the guest on this edition of FanGraphs Audio. Discussed: ways in which the host has failed to fulfill his potential. Also: the Yankees of the 1950s. And finally: management advice for the current iteration of the Boston Red Sox.

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 37 min. play time.)

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FanGraphs Audio: Clay Buchholz, Clayton Mortensen

Episode 234
David Laurila, curator of FanGraphs’ Q&A Series, talks with Red Sox right-handers Clay Buchholz and also Clayton Mortensen.

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 18 min. play time.)

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Daily Notes, Featuring the Whole Entire Weekend

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

1. Daily Notes Programming Message
2. Notable Weekend Games
3. Complete Weekend Schedule (Including MLB.TV Free Game)

Daily Notes Programming Message
Programming Note
At the risk of disappointing the otherwise entirely cheerful reader, both the Saturday and Sunday editions of the Daily Notes will be omitted from these electronic pages as the author attends a wedding this weekend.

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Daily Notes, With a Very Sortable Table of AFL Rosters

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

1. Very Sortable Table: Arizona Fall League Rosters
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Very Sortable Table: Arizona Fall League Rosters
Regarding Yesterday, A Thing That Was Announced During It
A thing that was announced yesterday — via some manner of stone tablet and/or atop some manner of rocky peak, one assumes — was the preliminary rosters for this year’s Arizona Fall League, or AFL.

Regarding the AFL, What It Is, Again
The AFL is a league composed of myriad top prospects that takes place (geographically speaking) in the Greater Phoenix Area and (chronologically speaking) over October and November. This year’s schedule, for example, runs from October 9th until the November 17th championship game.

Regarding What the Author Has Done
What the author has done is to publish a sortable table of all presently known AFL-bound players, including both the AFL and MLB parent club for each one. Also, for the greater convenience of the reader, each player’s name includes a hyperlink to his FanGraphs player page.

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