The White Sox are a team on the rebound. After a dismal April in which they went 10-18 with a -34 run differential, they’ve turned things around and have gone 27-21 since, bringing them to within two games of .500 and to within 4.5 games of the AL Central lead. They still face a number of problems, including four starters with wOBAs below .300. But given how good their top guys have been, they can mask that for a bit until the trailers either pick up their performances, or GM Kenny Williams swings a trade for upgrades.
In the meantime, the Sox should be maximizing their resources by playing the guys who are actually hitting, and putting them in prominent lineup spots. Unfortunately, Ozzie Guillen has continued to hit one of his worst hitters atop the lineup, and doesn’t play another who has produced in his limited appearances.
Moving the Needle: Mark Trumbo’s single puts the Angels ahead in extras, +.361 WPA. While Trumbo’s single deserves attention, it was really a sequence in the late innings that defined this game. Down 4-3 with runners on first and third with two outs in the seventh, Hanley Ramirez drove in the tying run. The Angels took the lead back a half inning later on a double and a single, and then the Marlins got a Mike Stanton triple and a DeWayne Wise single to tie it back up in the next half inning. The ninth went by without incident, which gave the Angels an opportunity to strike in the 10th. Bobby Abreu started off with a walk, and, after advancing on a groundout, scored on Trumbo’s single that snuck by Hanley.
Notables
Mike Stanton: 3 for 5, 1 3B. Again, I ask why he is batting behind Greg Dobbs. Sometimes lineup order makes so little sense.
We all knew this day was coming. There was a notion that maybe this time it would be different; maybe with the new stadium in place the Marlins could afford to keep Hanley Ramirez and his rising salary. But even with that in mind his eventual trade seemed inevitable. It would be a tough sell, of course, as it is any time a team trades its franchise player. The current circumstances might make it a bit easier.
The Marlins struggles lately are well documented. After a hot start that had them 10 games over .500 in late May, they’ve dropped 22 of their last 26 and currently sit in the NL East cellar. Things can only get better, but so much has gone wrong this season that it’s unreasonable to expect a full return to their early season performance. The team’s failures, combined with Ramirez’s own struggles, could make it easier for the Marlins to part ways with him and the remainder of his contract. It might not happen at the deadline, but it certainly could happen following this season.
Moving the Needle: Wilson Ramos’s three-run blast ends the game, +.913 WPA. Hooray for vertical WPA lines. The Mariners entered the bottom of the ninth with a 5-1 lead and Brandon League on the mound. An error started the inning, and a walk made things worse. But a double play seemed to put a damper on any potential rally. But three straight singles made it a 5-3 game, setting up Ramos, who hit a hanger a long way out to left-center to send the Nationals home winners.
Notables
Nationals offense: 7 for 31, 1 HR. They had three hits in the first eight innings, and four in the last one.
Adam Kennedy: 3 for 5, 1 2B. He continues to contribute, which ranks among the more unexpected developments of the season. Who would have thought that Dustin Ackley’s promotion would affect Chone Figgins rather than Kennedy?
Doug Fister: 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K. At 99 pitches, do you think he wanted to come out for the ninth? Do you think that the result amplified that feeling?
Billy Beane made it clear this past off-season that he intended to improve the A’s offense for the 2011 season. They had performed reasonably well in 2010, finishing with a 97 wRC+, which represented an improvement over the 2008 and 2009 teams. By trading for David DeJesus and Josh Willingham, and signing Hideki Matsui, Beane moved to bring that offense above the league average level, which, combined with its young and effective pitching staff, figured to make the A’s contenders in the AL West. Many writers indeed picked the A’s over the Rangers before the season began. But the plan hasn’t exactly worked. Oakland currently sports an 86 wRC+, which is third worst in the AL. Worse yet, they’re getting their best production from the lineup spot that bats least frequently.
Moving the Needle: Tim Hudson picks himself up with a homer, +.336 WPA. The Braves managed just six hits in this game, including two doubles, but they just couldn’t cash in their runners. They were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position when Hudson came to bat in the seventh, with a runner on third and two outs. That’s when he took complete control of the game. On the first pitch he lined a shot out to left, giving his team a 2-0 lead.
Notables
Tim Hudson: 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 16 GB. The Braves came up a little short with just six hits, but the Blue Jays managed only two all game. The only reason Hudson ran into any trouble at all was because of an error to lead off the second. In the third he retired the side on four pitches, inducing three ground balls. After the second, the Blue Jays didn’t put a single ball in the air. Even without the complete game it ranks among Hudson’s best starts of the year, and that doesn’t even factor in his offensive contribution.
Ricky Romero: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K. It wasn’t his best start, but Romero did nearly all he could to hold down the Braves. Unfortunately for him, it was Hudson’s night.
Moving the Needle: Skip Schymaker hits one for Albert, +.426 WPA. The Cardinals entered the ninth with a 4-3 lead, with the 8-pitcher-1 spots coming up. In one of those moments where we remember why we love baseball, Fernando Salas surrendered a homer to Alcides Escobar, who hadn’t hit one since September 4th of last season. It was a no-doubt shot, too, into the left field corner. Salas retired the next three straight, which came in handy the next inning when Schumaker slammed a sweet, delicious cookie over the wall in right-center. It was his first career home run off a left-handed pitcher (390 PA).
Notables
Albert Pujols: 3 for 3, 1 HR. That was his eighth homer in June. Of course, the story was the wrist injury he sustained. That could keep him out for a few weeks, which is just something that the Cardinals, now tied atop the NL Central, simply do not need.
Moving the Needle: Alexi Casilla walks off with a single, +.389 WPA. Trading homers back and forth worked for the Twins and Rangers, at least through eight innings. Josh Hamilton and Delmon Young got the ball rolling, homering in the first and then the second. Michael Cuddyer, however, struck gold when his three-run shot put the Twins up 4-1. A half inning later, the Rangers manufactured a pair, and then in the eighth tied it on, yes, a Nelson Cruz homer. Luke Hughes set up the walk-off in the ninth with a leadoff double, and with two outs Casilla drove him in with what would have been a double to the left field corner.
Notables
Delmon Young: 3 for 4, 1 HR. That’s his first homer since May 22nd. Even more troubling, he has only two doubles in the interim.
Nick Blackburn: 7.1 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 6 K. No, it wasn’t a great start, even though only two of the runs were earned (still don’t like the earned run rule). But it seems that every time I look at his pitching line he has five or six Ks in six or seven innings. Yet his strikeout rate is only barely above his career average. Confirmation bias ahoy.
Moving the Needle: Nyjer Morgan caps the late-inning madness with a walk-off double, +.389 WPA. If you have MLB.tv and a few minutes today, I suggest entertaining yourself by watching the eighth inning of this game. It started with a 2-1 Brewers lead, but ended in a 6-6 tie. That meant the Brewers had to battle back in their half of the inning. They finished that comeback in the ninth when Morgan doubled into the right field corner, scoring Craig Counsell. While that was an exciting and energizing end, the real story was in the eighth.
Notables
Randy Wolf: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K. He got out before it got ugly. That one run? He balked it in.
Ryan Braun: 3 for 4, 2 2B. One of those doubles drove in two in the eighth, bringing the Brewers to within two.
Prince Fielder: 2 for 3, 2 HR, 1 BB. The second homer drove in the tying runs in the eighth. It was a moonshot no-doubter — one of the simple pleasures in the life of a baseball fan. Those were his 16th and 17th homers, which now tie him with Jay Bruce, Carlos Quentin, Matt Kemp, and Curtis Granderson for third in the league.
Ronny Paulino: 4 for 4, 1 HR. His homer in the eighth put the Mets up big. The inning also included a Jose Reyes single and stolen base, and a Carlos Beltran RBI double.
It appears that the Giants are preparing to cut their losses. Paying Miguel Tejada $6.5 million to produce -0.9 WAR won’t rank among Brian Sabean’s career highlights, but at this point it appears wiser to write off the sunk cost than continue the experiment. When the team activates Pablo Sandoval from the disabled list later this week, chances are we’ll see the Giants release one of three worst regulars in the league.
Tejada, however, is not the worst hitter in the league. Two players have managed to outdo his .223 wOBA. One is Alcides Escobar, though he at least provides value with the glove. WIth a UZR of 6 he ranks seventh in the league, and fourth among infielders; his DRS also ranks near the top of the league. But not even Escobar’s .218 wOBA sits in the league’s cellar. That dishonor belongs to Chone Figgins, with a .207 wOBA. While his leash is understandably longer than Tejada’s, I do wonder exactly how far it extends.
