One Night Only: Hot Game Previews for June 8th

by
June 8, 2011


Look into the eyes of a Cubs fan.

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. An experiment. Instead of selected previews, the author has briefly previewed every single game.

2. Also, per usual, Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of tonight’s games.

3. A pioneer’s spirit.

American League
Minnesota (0) at Cleveland (10) | 12:05 ET
This game is the David of Joy versus the Goliath of Joy, were Goliath to’ve won.

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Oakland (1) at Baltimore (4) | 19:05 ET
Rob Neyer thinks Josh Outman is the best possible name for a pitcher. Question: is Rob Neyer the best possible name for a baseballing journalist?

Boston (7) at New York (7) | 19:05 ET
The knuckleball bonus for NERD is knuckleball usage (in percent) times five.

Detroit (2) at Texas (9) | 20:05 ET
Alexi Ogando is dealing surprisingly well with left-handed batters: 45.2 IP, 178 TBF, 5.91 K/9, 1.58 BB/9, 34.8% GB, 3.86 xFIP.

Toronto (8) at Kansas City (10) | 20:10 ET
(The never not surprising) Jose Bautista Watch: 244 PA, .348/.500/.727 (.331 BABIP), .513 wOBA, 235 wRC+, 5.0 WAR.

Seattle (2) at Chicago (2) | 20:10 ET
Jeff Sullivan presents The Amazing Chone Figgins.

Tampa Bay (6) at Los Angeles (6) | 22:05 ET
In our society today, you can just watch highlights of Peter Bourjos whenever. (Take that, past!)

National League
Chicago (0) at Cincinnati (8) | 12:35 ET
The Cubs are the National League’s answer to the Twins right now in terms of Depressing Factor (DF).

Washington (5) at San Francisco (5) | 15:45 ET
Drinking game idea: drink anytime a broadcaster mentions Yunesky Maya’s tutelage under fellow Cuban Livan Hernandez.

Colorado (7) at San Diego (5) | 18:35 ET
Charlie Blackmon in his debut: 0-for-3 with two fly outs and a ground out.

Arizona (10) at Pittsburgh (5) | 19:05 ET
“Zach Duke facing his old club” isn’t the dictionary definition of high drama.

Los Angeles (3) at Philadelphia (2) | 19:05 ET
Ten of 161 qualified pitchers have a 10 NERD. Cole Hamels is one of them.

Atlanta (7) at Florida (4) | 19:10 ET
The Marlins average 16,714 per game in a stadium designed for somewhere between 50,000 – 75,000.

St. Louis (5) at Houston (4) | 20:05 ET
Jaime Garcia (10) versus Bud Norris (9) is tonight’s best picthing matchup. Both pitchers throw an above-average number of strikes and both induce a considerably above average rate of whiffs.

New York (4) at Milwaukee (8) | 20:10 ET
Yuniesky Betancourt‘s rest-of-season ZiPS: .265/.292/.391 (.276 BABIP), .297 wOBA. Newly acquired Josh Wilson’s: .245/.294/.357 (.292 BABIP), .293 wOBA.

All the Games
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)





 

Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.

11 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
5K0ttydoesntknow
15 years ago

May I ask who are the other eight 10’ers along with Hamels and Garcia, currently?

0
Carson CistulliMember
15 years ago
Reply to  5K0ttydoesntknow

You may!

Voila; Michael Pineda, David Price, Brandon Morrow, Clayton Kershaw, Matt Garza, Zack Greinke, Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Jaime Garcia.

And the 9s: Felix Hernandez, Daniel Hudson, Tim Lincecum, Bud Norris, and James Shields.

2
Yirmiyahu
15 years ago

Some trivia for the Sox/Yankees matchup tonight (mostly stolen from Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe):

Tim Wakefield and Derek Jeter are a combined 81 years old. They have a combined 36 seasons of MLB exerience. This is their 16th year of regularly playing against each other as division rivals. They have faced off against each other in 127 plate appearances. This is by far the most faceoffs of any active batter/pitcher combo.

Is it the most of any *ever* batter/pitcher combo? I do not know.

1
matt w
15 years ago
Reply to  Yirmiyahu

Gotta be one of those old-school matchups, when pitchers pitched a thousand innings a year, there were only three teams per league, and players were bound to the same team for life.

0
matt w
15 years ago
Reply to  matt w

Wikipedia says Ty Cobb vs. Walter Johnson, but provides no source. Here’s a discussion which says no one for sure but suggests Cobb vs. Johnson and Rose vs. Niekro.

0
Mark
15 years ago
Reply to  Yirmiyahu

You may be interested in this Sporcle quiz: http://www.sporcle.com/games/DJC83/mlbmcbpm

0
dutchbrowncoat
15 years ago

“The Marlins average 16,714 per game in a stadium designed for somewhere between 50,000 – 75,000.”

i cant help but notice that 8 MLS teams draw better than the marlins. and i’d bet most fangraphs readers would have trouble even naming 8 MLS teams…

0
Poor Nuno
15 years ago
Reply to  dutchbrowncoat

I got to Galaxy and Revolution before I fell asleep.

0
Jesse
15 years ago
Reply to  Poor Nuno

oddly, i think i could name most of them

0
herve houchoua
15 years ago

pitchers evolution pNERD
………………………………

GARCIA ( stl ) 9 @ 10
NOLASCO ( flo) 7 @ 8
OGANDO ( tex) 5 @ 6 @ 7
PAVANO ( min ) 2 @ 3

FLOYD ( cws) 7 @ 6 @ 5
ARROYO ( cin ) 5 @ 4

1
locksmiths basingstoke
15 years ago

Do you know what i like the most in this blog? The picture ” Look into the eyes of a Cubs fan”. It’s a real art!

0