An Advanced Look At Gio Gonzalez
Full disclosure: I’m an avid A’s fan. I’ve been one for the entirety of my adult life. The current state state of both the A’s ownership and stadium situation is seemingly hampering spending on free agents. Given the inability to bring in Major League ready talent via signings, the A’s are forced to trades, drafts, [...]
Adam Wainwright and Josh Johnson: Injuries Moving Forward
For all the time, energy, and late nights that we work on our pre-draft rankings there are certain things that are just unknown to us. One of those variables is injury status, and 2011 that was no exception — especially for two top tier pitchers. Adam Wainwright was out for the season when forced to [...]
Cleveland Indians Bet On Grounders in Trade for Derek Lowe
After stunning the baseball world and trading for Ubaldo Jimenez at the trade deadline this year, the Indians seem to be in a rush to get the front of their rotation set for 2012. Earlier today the Indians announced a trade with the Braves for Derek Lowe for a prospect and salary relief. The Braves picked up [...]
Marlins’ Anibal Sanchez Shows Off His Shiny New Strikeouts
While perusing the FanGraphs Team Pitching Totals page I was surprised to see the Marlins so high up on the FIP leader list. They’re ranked as 9th best in all of baseball. This is mostly a surprise because after the loss of their ace, Josh Johnson, I assumed that the pitching would certainly struggle. After Javier Vazquez’s (3.57 [...]
Eric Hosmer: A Ballpark Resemblance to Nick Markakis?
Today we’re taking a look at legitimate ROY candidate Eric Hosmer and trying to find a decent statistical comp for him in hopes of putting his season into perspective and projecting, to some degree, his career going forward. I began my search reviewing all left handed rookies between the ages of 20 and 22 in [...]
Bullpens Help Pave Way for Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks
Everytime you hear a pregame posteason show, you’ll hear the same basic tenants of a “winning ball club.” Key hits, strong starter performance and of course, a strong and deep bullpen. I think bullpens are the key to the modern game. I’m not necessarily talking about having multiple LOOGY’s to get all the southpaws in [...]
Alexi Ogando and Cory Luebke: Rangers and Padres Leverage a Market Inefficiency by Turning Relievers Into Starters
Since the dawn of man, well, at least since the dawning of free agent spending man, GM’s have sought cheap and effective ways of filling out their rosters. Specifically, finding cost effective pitching staffs. Due to the violent nature of pitching, many elbows, shoulders, and careers have been lost to the fraility of the human [...]
New York Yankees World Series Dreams Rest on Ivan Nova’s Shoulders
“…and the further I investigated, the nearer the terrifying image appeared. Where I’d begun my search, the apparition had returned, staring sharply, if only to ridicule me once the results of my inquiries were unearthed.” No, those aren’t the grumblings uttered by Dr. Frankenstein, nor are they the lamentations of a bemoaned Red Sox fan [...]
San Diego Padres Centerfielder Cameron Maybin Finally Delivers on Expectations
Let’s take a trip. Join me in the DeLorean and we’ll travel back in time to revisit the first round of the 2005 First Year Player Draft. One of the deeper drafts in recent memory, we’ll take a look at 10th overall selection Cameron Maybin. Drafted out of T.C. Roberson High School in North Carolina, Maybin was talented and highly [...]
Danny Duffy And Erik Bedard Share Early Struggles Adjusting To MLB
Todd finds SABR similarities in both Red Sox Erik Bedard and Royals Danny Duffy as up-and-coming starting pitchers.