One Night Only: Hot Game Previews for June 7th

Charlie Blackmon in his natural habitat.

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. Expanded previews for three games: Rubby de la Rosa’s first-ever start (at Philadelphia), Marlin Brad Hand’s debut (against the Braves), and Charlie Effing Blackmon’s maybe debut (at San Diego).

2. Brief, but no less charming, previews for four (!) other games: Chicago (NL) at Cincinnati, New York (NL) at Milwaukee, Toronto at Kansas City, and Tampa Bay at Los Angeles (AL).

3. Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of tonight’s games.

Los Angeles Nationals (3) at Philadelphia (2) | 19:05 ET
Starting Pitchers
Dodgers: Rubby De La Rosa (N/A)
Relief: 5.0 IP, 18 TBF, 5 K, 1 BB, 5 GB on 12 batted-balls (41.7% GB)

Phillies: Roy Oswalt (5)
50.0 IP, 5.76 K/9, 2.16 BB/9, 51.6% GB, 3.81 xFIP, 102 xFIP-

De la Rosa Debuts
Rubby De la Rosa makes his first major-league start tonight — taking the place of the injured Jon Garland in the Dodger rotation.

Numbers as Starter at Double-A
Here are de la Rosa’s numbers from eight Double-A starts this season:

40.0 IP, 11.70 K/9, 4.28 BB/9, 0.23 HR/9, 2.50 FIP

Regarding His Ground-Ball Rates
Per First Inning and StatCorner, De La Rosa seems to’ve had a ground-ball rate generally in the low- to mid-50s.

Baseball America on de la Rosa
From Baseball America’s prospect handbook for 2011:

[De La Rosa] pitches at 95-96 mph and registered as high as 102 mph at Great Lakes. He’s capable of holding that velocity deep into games and finding an extra gear when he needs it. De la Rosa has two promising secondary pitches in his changeup and slider. His changeup is the more consistent of the two, with late fade at 85-89 mph.

John Sickels on de la Rosa
From a recent piece by Mr. John Sickels on de la Rosa:

I rated him as a strong Grade B prospect in the 2011 Baseball Prospect Book, but would increase that to a Grade B+ based on his performance so far this season.

A Not Entirely Gratuitous Video Use of Video
Here’s what you’ll see in the video below, from de la Rosa’s MLB debut:

0:01 – Flagrant use of the hyphenated word flame-throwing.
0:09 – Fastball, 97 mph. Swinging-strike.
0:16 – Fastball, 97 mph. Ground ball.
0:32 – Slider, 81 mph. Swinging-strike.
0:42 – Flagrant simile using word roses.

How to Pronounce Rubby
Just put your lips together and blow.

Atlanta (7) at Florida (4) | 19:10 ET
Starting Pitchers
Braves: Tommy Hanson (7)
70.1 IP, 8.83 K/9, 2.94 BB/9, 44.5% GB, 3.21 xFIP, 86 xFIP-

Marlins: Brad Hand (N/A)
Double-A: 63.2 IP, 6.22 K/9, 3.82 BB/9, 0.99 HR/9, 4.57 FIP

Regarding Brad Hand, His Deal
Today is Brad Hand’s major-league debut.

Regarding Brad Hand, His Deal, Part II
Hand isn’t a crafty lefty. He’s a lefty with a low-90s fastball and athleticism, but with a fringy changepiece, according to Baseball America.

Regarding Brad Hand, His Deal, Part III
Entering the season, Hand was rated as the sixth-overall prospect in the Marlin system by Baseball America; fifth by John Sickels; and fifth by our man Marc Hulet.

A Word That’s Used as a Verb in Sickels’ Report
Back-door.

The First Video Returned in a YouTube Search for Brad Hand
The first video returned in a YouTube search for Brad Hand is this one of someone named Brad using his hands to fish for carp.

The First Video Returned in a YouTube Search for Brad Hand, Part II
What you’ll see in same video:

1:37 – A very comfortable-seeming use of the term hammer throw.

Colorado (7) at San Diego (5) | 22:05 ET
Starting Pitchers
Rockies Ubaldo Jimenez (5)
59.2 IP, 7.84 K/9, 4.53 BB/9, 45.0% GB, 4.04 xFIP, 108 xFIP-

Padres: Tim Stauffer (7)
70.0 IP, 7.07 K/9, 2.44 BB/9, 52.6% GB, 3.18 xFIP, 85 xFIP-

Charlie Blackmon to Maybe Debut
As you may or mayn’t have heard, Charlie Blackmon, captain of Team Joy Squad 2011, was promoted to the major leagues yesterday and could (could) make his major-league debut tonight.

A Brief Scouting Report on Charlie Blackmon
He can both fly and hit like an angel.

A Second, Less Brief Scouting Report on Blackmon
Just feel the feelings:

http://youtu.be/7JDt4xIZezU

Four Other Games
Chicago Nationals (0) at Cincinnati (8) | 19:10 ET
Edinson Volquez (6) makes his first major-league start after a two-start demotion to Triple-A.

New York Nationals (4) at Milwaukee (8) | 20:10 ET
Ryan Braun is (a) apparently beloved and (b) currently having his best offensive season by kinda alot (170 wRC+).

Toronto (8) at Kansas City (10) | 20:10 ET
Vin Mazzaro makes his first major-league appearance since conceding 14 runs in just 2.1 innings on May 16th.

Tampa Bay (6) at Los Angeles Americans (6) | 22:05 ET
Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb in 47.1 Triple-A innings: 9.51 K/9, 1.90 BB/9. So far in 10.2 major-league innings: 5.91 K/9, 6.75 BB/9.

Also Playing
These games are very likely playing at some kind of sporty channel near you.

pNERD = Pitcher NERD
tNERD = Team NERD
Game = Time and Average NERD for Game
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD of 5 (or 10 for debuts)