Daily Notes: Absolutely Concerning Danny Salazar’s Debut
Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of the Daily Notes.
1. Concerning Danny Salazar’s Debut
2. Today’s MLB.TV Free Game
3. Today’s Complete Schedule
Concerning Danny Salazar’s Debut
The Purpose of This Post
The purpose of this post is to announce how right-handed Cleveland prospect and fixture in the present author’s weekly Fringe Five column Danny Salazar is making his major-league debut at 12:05pm ET today against Toronto.
Regarding Salazar, What’s Compelling About Him
With regard to Salazar and what about him might appeal to a reader, here are three points for consideration:
(a) He’s recorded excellent minor-league numbers this season; and
(b) He has a plus fastball (and at least serviceable other pitches); and
(c) He was absent from most, or maybe all, notable prospect lists.
A Venn Diagram of a Compelling Prospect
Here are the same points for consideration as submitted above, but now in the form of a Venn diagram constructed by means of an online Venn diagram generator and using said generator’s default settings:
Action Footage: Danny Salazar’s Fastball
Here’s action footage of Salazar’s fastball from his most recent start for Triple-A Columbus (box) — in this case, at 95 mph for a swinging strike to Louisville’s Felix Perez:
Action Footage: Danny Salazar’s Changeup, Probably
Here’s action footage of a pitch that, given its vertical movement, is likely Salazar’s changeup — also from that game against Louisville, but in this case for a swinging strike against Henry Rodriguez:
Action Footage: Danny Salazar’s Slurve
For a number of reasons — most of them pertaining to the author’s “lack of industry” — there is no footage here of Salzar’s breaking pitch, which is something between a slider and curve, it seems. One assumes, however, that it’s also great and will suffice.
Today’s MLB.TV Free Game
Toronto at Cleveland | 12:05 ET
Salazar’s debut is actually the MLB.TV Free Game for today. Not free, but also compelling, is the Chicago Americans-Detroit game at 1:08pm — in which game Chris Sale (113.1 IP, 73 xFIP-, 3.4 WAR) faces Anibal Sanchez (86.2 IP, 66 xFIP-, 3.4 WAR).
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Cleveland Radio.
Today’s Complete Schedule
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 5.6.
Note: the following table is entirely sortable.
| Away | SP | Tm. | Gm. | Tm. | SP | Home | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R.A. Dickey | TOR | 9 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 10 | CLE | Danny Salazar* | 12:05 |
| Mike Pelfrey | MIN | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 4 | TB | Matt Moore | 12:10 |
| Ervin Santana | KC | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 5 | NYA | Andy Pettitte | 13:05 |
| Chris Sale | CHA | 10 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 10 | DET | Anibal Sanchez | 13:08 |
| Ryan Dempster | BOS | 3 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 5 | SEA | Undecided | 15:40 |
| Undecided | TEX | 5 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 3 | BAL | Miguel Gonzalez | 19:05 |
| J. Zimmermann | WAS | 9 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | PHI | Kyle Kendrick | 19:05 |
| Mat Latos | CIN | 9 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 6 | ATL | Tim Hudson | 19:10 |
| Jake Westbrook | STL | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | CHN | Edwin Jackson | 20:05 |
| Yovani Gallardo | MIL | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 6 | AZ | Wade Miley | 21:40 |
| Drew Pomeranz* | COL | 5 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 4 | LAN | Chris Capuano | 22:10 |
| M. Bumgarner | SF | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 0 | SD | Jason Marquis | 22:10 |
To learn how Pitcher and Team NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
To learn how Game NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
Denn Viagram
Viagra Den: Like an opium den, but with viagra
Surely the 5s granted to Undecideds (pitching for the Mariners and Rangers, respectively) were assessed “at discretion of very handsome author”?
Vonn diaphragm. Oops, this is not Notgraphs.
It kind of is. Where “It” refers to anything written at Fangraphs by Dear Author.
Seattle’s Undecided SP, decidedly Erasmo Ramirez, is also worth watching.
Can we please get a Nerd score for Erasmo? I have to sit him, right?
Are you starting pitchers in your fantasy league based on NERD scores? Do you have Corey Kluber, Burch Smith and assorted fungifringy types in your rotation?
there is NOTHING wrong with starting Kluber… he’s the real deal – Ks with good control
Absolutely not. It is one of the many things I now like to look at before a start. Also, I do have Kluber and think his peripherals are enticing.
Holy cow, 12:00 baseball!!
That’s great. I need something to distract me from twitter today.
Poor Rangers.
I dwell in Possibility –
A fairer House than Prose –
More numerous of Windows –
Superior – for Doors –
Of Chambers as the Cedars –
Impregnable of eye –
And for an everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky –
Of Visitors – the fairest –
For Occupation – This –
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise –
That’s my favorite Em poem!
Em’s a 10 NERD score for sure. From memory:
Salazar is not disappointing.
He has thrown 75 pitches through 5. 7 K, 1 BB, 0 H.
According to MLB.com (no clue on how accurate this is), he is touching 98-99. This guy 100% has to continue to pitch in Cleveland in some capacity or another.
How many societies can the Indians rotation handle?
I was just thinking the same thing. For a rotation that isn’t particularly good.
I was watching a good portion of his start. He was hitting 96-97 with ease and uncorked a few at 99.
Early in the game he was just blowing hitters away with the FB, but as the game went on they seemed to catch up to it and were able to foul it off a lot more and run up his pitch count. So I wonder about the movement on that pitch.
Some really filthy high-80s sliders mixed in there as well, but he had minor command issues with that pitch. He also uses what seems like some kind of split-change with very good downward movement. Announcers said he considers it his second best pitch, but at least when I was watching I didn’t see him use it all that much.
Overall a very exciting young pitcher!
Carson, I hope you’ll be including Maicer Izturis’s unimprovable thrown bat swinging strike from his second inning plate appearance against Salazar.
In addition, I move that the initials “CKS” be made to stand for “Coalition for Kluber and Salazar”.
Robert Frost, I see what you did there.
You are fun to read