Scott Baker vs. Kelvim Escobar
Escobar's posted sub-10% HR/F rates the last two seasons, so while his 3.3% HR/F rate is fluky, it's not that fluky--he's been pretty good at limiting HR. In terms of peripherals, there's not much difference between Escobar and Cy Blanton, so we could be in for another frustrating night on offense.
One piece of advice to you, young Mr. Baker--don't groove fastballs down the middle of the plate to Vlad. Boof tried that, it didn't go so well, and I'd rather not go there again.
As of right now, I'm not sure what the lineups are going to be, but check this out:
76 PA -- Tyner as DH '06 and '07
89 PA -- Tyner as CF '06 and '07
How much longer do we have to put up with a TynyDH? It was cute for a little while, but I long for offense.
Who will make the AllStar team for the Twins? Morney's gonna be there, and probably Mauer. Santana? Nathan? Hunter? Five? Probably not five.
Five would be a lot. Maybe Mauer doesn't make it, thanks to his injury, which seems kind of crazy to me, since he might be the best one of the lot. Nathan and Santana are pretty much locks, I'd think. Morneau actually might have trouble with the combined 1B/DH mess, and then of course, it comes down to which teams have one representative and whatnot.
Mauer could get voted in.
Isn't Posada among the league leaders in BA right now? Leader board + NYY = ASG
Posada is currently fourth in the ballot behind I-Rod, Mauer, and capn Tek.
Tekwars sux. Shatner much better working with Ben Folds.
and Pudge? Ok. But Posada probably should be there.
Morny, Castillo, Hunter, Nathan (maybe). I doubt Santana gets picked. Mauer only if he hurries back.
Morneau, Hunter, Santana, Clemens.
who are we trading for Clemens + cash (Not Cash, Norm)??
Agreed.
Oops. should been this:
aw, f^ck.
http://www.uticaod.com/community/halloffame/sports/images/use_cash_dave.jpg
Whozat? Roberto?
Dave Cash. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=cashda01
Batting second, the DH, Jason Tyner.
Did you say batting or battling?
Should have said bunting.
While both answers can be accepted, battling is the preferred definition.
Hey, E-6!
No, it was a walk.
hey, pally.
Sinker ever eat those eggs for stealing SBG's broom?
E-6: I recommend McMichael's gallery in Kleinsburg, Ont. (15 minutes from downtown Toronto) to see the best arrangement of Group de Sept art. I think you would like. Esp. Lawren Harris works.
Thanks, Bo. I'll look into it.
Expert analysis from the Angels' broadcasters: "Tonight the Twins send a pitcher to the mound with an ERA over 5." Thanks for studying up.
Just under 6 would be a bit closer to the truth.
I don't call them Assclowns for nothing. They earned that name through a consistent pattern of shying away from hard work, displaying any knowledge of both their own team or the opposition, and for screaming "ANGELS BASEBALL!!!!!" constantly.
Tony-O'esque AB by Castillo.
Good AB for Walky.
Gordo: "Castillo with 24 infield hits. Wily Taveras with 23 ... and one behind Castillo."
thanks for that analysis, Gordo.
Tyner 2007 EQA: .222
Tyner career EQA: .225
Tyner age: 30
Tyner unadjusted line: .255/.302/.316
.226 -- Mike Rabelo 2007 EQA
.218 -- Adam Melhuse 2007 EQA
.228 -- Gerald Laird 2007 EQA
.221 -- Jason Phillips 2007 EQA
.218 -- Gary Bennett 2007 EQA
.230 -- Nick Punto 2007 EQA
.218 -- Cesar Izturis 2007 EQA
.225 -- Jack Wilson 2007 EQA
.220 -- Tony Pena, Jr. 2007 EQA
.229 -- Royce Clayton 2007 EQa
Bunto Lite.
Do you want the fans to have to do maths? Barbaric!
Both of those outs advanced Castillo, so our hitters must really be satisfied right now.
Looks like we have a mighty small strike zone tonight.
Robbed by Kotchman. And the search for runs continues...
that's properly written as In Search Of ... Runs
NBBW just urgented me to the living room to note Deanna Troy on Closer ('Thank Yew") *Non-subtle plug for Neutrogena Ageing Plus-plus*
Was she wearing the regulation Deck Officer uniform, a Stevie Nix dress or one of those hip-accentuating jump suits?
Alas, time.
According to Enhanced Gameday, 4 of the 5 pitches to Willits were strikes.
In Search Of ... Pitching?
Vlad th' Impaler - don't impale us... ah, GIDP.
ahhh. pitcher's best friend.
Wow, Baker got Big Bad Vlad to GIDP. Not too bad. The strike zone has been absurd so far (to the benefit of Luis Castillo, too).
Walks...will...haunt.
Or not.
Face walks.
Heintz, Lil Rod, Bartlett, Castillo, Tyner
Ugh.
Probably field a decent fast-pitch softball team.
5-4-3
*is that an area code, yet?*
Lil' Rod with a pretty quick release there. Nicely done 5-4-3.
Cool. Do unto others as they have just done to us.
2 innings, 2 DP for Baker. And 2 BB. I think I want him to pitch to contact more with those leadoff hitters. At least if he's gonna keep it down. Leadoff walks not so good, as a general rule.
That Willits walk was absurd, though. This strike zone is crazy.
uh. 3 BB I meant.
From PiPress Blog
Things have changed in the month that Joe Mauer has been out of the Twins’ lineup, and the changes affect the former batting champion, too. If Mauer is activated on Friday, as the Twins are planning on, he will probably bat second in the lineup, not his customary No. 3 spot.
Manager Ron Gardenhire, concerned about generating more offense at the top of his lineup, has tentatively decided to insert the 2006 A.L. batting champion right behind leadoff hitter Luis Castillo, and leave his 3-4-5 core of Michael Cuddyer, Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter intact.
Gardenhire said he thought about making the move last year, too, but decided not to change things when the Twins were playing so well. This year is a different story, and the manager is ready to try a different tactic.
Nice blog.
So, Christenson was really brave today.
Damn, I flubbed the line.
Why would anyone be afraid of the dumbest guy in all of baseball?
Nice.
Well, he has been awfully flexible with the lineup. By that, Moss means that he isn't rigidly having the lineup dictated by who is playing what position.
Nice #2 hitter.
Nice blog.
Thought I might be too late for this one...
No E-4?
Willits got a great jump on Baker there.
Where's the broom? We've got no chance.
Sinker stole it.
Vlagnabbit!
Nice. +10 angst points.
Vlad is a machine.
W00T!!! Interference!
Not sure if that was the right call or not, but I'll take it. I sure wouldn't want Gerry Davis umping any postseason games, though.
Yeah, and now Gameday will take 2 innings to score the play and 2 more to catch up. Dammit.
You weren't kidding. That's insane. How hard is it to score interference?
C'mon, he barely managed to both run into and get completely in front of Heintz. The Angels were hosed!
I guess Gardy wants everyone to think about how much better Punto would be in the #2 spot tonight...this lineup stinks.
Yeah, I can smell it from here, and I'm on the opposite end of I-5.
+10.
Baker looking pretty good out there tonight, strike zone and Vlad considered.
That was a weird way to end an inning. Not that I'm complaining or anything.
What exactly happened - wasn't clear from the ex-CCO'ers.
Baker threw a pitch at GM Jr's feet, and GM proceeded to fall across home plate, bumping into Heintz while Vlad was stealing. Heintz got up like he was going to throw, but didn't actually throw.
It's kind of a tough call on Matthews, because he did have to get out of the way of the pitch, but he also clearly bumped into Heintz, and you see plenty of hitters avoid pitches without falling into the catcher. Take some dancing lessons, Sarge.
Baker tosses one in and low, GM Jr. dances to get out of its way, falls over on top of the plate as Ketchup is digging for it and preparing to make a throw. GM Jr. falls into Ketchup, disrupting throw. Ump calls interference, inning over.
Way to cut through the mustard, Kris.
Cap'N Cheeseburger dropped this number on the KC club tonight:
C Sabathia (W, 9-1) 9.0 5 0 0 0 8 0 111-77 3.40
That's Cy Cheeseburger to you.
5-hitter, 5K, 0BB, 111 pitches. Notsobad.
According to Rex Hudler, Scott Baker "looks like him (Mike Mussina) in the face."
"Oh man, I shot Baker in the face!"
Wow, another stellar offensive night so far.
FACE!
Homer!
FOTF is in the zone.
Or maybe not so much since that's his 3rd hit of the road trip. Minor detail.
From LEN3 (starstruck quivering reporter)
Sorry this is late, but late starts mean I have to write an, `early,'’ that is, a story to fit in the hole where the game story will go in.
I also had to finish the pre-game notes. I know I’ve been warned about not using the annoying all-caps but:
GARDY IS THINKING ABOUT BATTING JOE MAUER IN THE NO. 2 HOLE WHEN HE COMES OFF THE DL!!!!!
He pointed out LNP’s struggles in the spot and wants the OBP boost in that spot. Don’t know if it was Joe C.’s post earlier today or the California sunshine, but Gardy already has talked to some players about it, which means it will probably happen.
All that has to happen now is for Mauer to be activated from the DL.
All that has to happen now is for Mauer to be activated from the DL.
One minor detail...
Yeah, Joe made it happen! Nice blog!
Hit-and-run with Kubel at first and Heintz at the plate? That doesn't seem like a good idea to me, but I'm sure Ketchup "handles the bat well" according to Dick-n-Bert, just like everyone else on the Twins. You'd think a team with so many good bat handlers could get more hits.
You've got it all wrong, Whiffers. "Handles the bat well" is code for "can make outs in key situations." We do have lots of those guys.
Ah, but they're productive outs. Sometimes.
Yeah, those outs in the first inning were really productive.
Vintage Rodriguez...
I really wonder sometimes how guys like Lil Rod, Punto, et al, ever get walked. What's the worst thing that could happen if you throw strikes?
I think they should be beaned every at bat out of spite.
Jose Mesa is available. He could handle that bullpen role.
"Tying run in scoring position." Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Mr. Bremer.
Even starting on third base, there are some of Castillo's infield hits that Kubel couldn't score on.
We still have 2-outs, boyo.
Le sigh.
More troubles with ordering of events. This is the third game in a row (I believe) where we've had a leadoff HR followed by a couple of baserunners that didn't score. Bloops, then blast, NOT blast, then bloops. Talk about not getting the fundamentals right.
Apparently there was no way Baker could throw a ball so far outside that he wouldn't swing.
I missed Figgins hit--did Baker really leave the ball up? I'm getting so tired of that being the extent of Bert's commentary on Baker.
What counts as up? I don't even know any more. It wasn't really down--but gameday has it in the middle (vertically) of the strike zone, though it was just off the plate.
That particular criticism was probably valid this time.
I'd write Christensen with this story idea or Judd Zulgad and see if they have the balls to cover it.
Poor throw by Heintz there. Baker couldn't do a whole lot more there.
Also, Bartlett was just blatently cheating there by blocking the base. That's the most clear case of it yet.
Heintz seems to have the bad combination of a slow release with a weak arm.
Bert: "I don't understand why Baker needs his catcher to come to the mound everytime there is a runner on second base [because he's a dumbass]. A pitcher should already know [unless he's a dumbass, AAAA-scrub who leaves too many balls up]."
Whew. Baker got real lucky there. He certainly doesn't have great command tonight.
Them's fightin' words...
desygnated hytter. With two more singles, he might score.
Clearly what we need here is some bunts.
That Norm photo unfortunately reminds me of the stupid Peter King photo from CNNSI.
coffee nerdness: I had an iced coffee at Casa S before dinner tonight, with amaretto creamer and 1-pct milk.
+10...toss in a Marybeth reference and a Jeter-Meme and you could ghost write it.
That Jeter is sooo amazing. His leadership is incredible. If he were president, there would be lasting peace in the Middle East, a chicken in every pot, and A-Rod would buy his wife a Lindsay Lohan-branded stripper pole for "home workouts".
A double-play ball is almost as good as a bunt.
Might as well have him bunt these days.
Zoinks, Scoob!
If you need a good laugh, check out the latest Fire Joe Morgan entry
http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2007/06/this-has-officially-gone-too-far.html
Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
To live
Things get real ugly when Cuddyer and Morneau cool off. When does Mauer come back again?
I think they should move him to 3b!!!!
Do you? Interesting. Tell me more about this theory of yours...
Not enough capslock, misspelled words, or exclamation points. Nice effort, though.
Hell, when does RonDL come back?
He's close!
Wait! Not at all!!
You want the Insanity?
It's better than The Futility, aka Tyner at DH.
+10
And Hunter's bound to go through at least a mini-slump before long, hopefully it coincides with hot streaks from one of the other three (or even a Kubel breakout).
Damn. One out from a quality start. A QUALITY START.
ubes, define real ugly!
This road trip.
It is OVER!!
Man, I hate it when I'm just a half-minute or so behind you guys. Kotchman hit it out just as I was going to ask what the hell you were talking about.
Thankfully for me, mlb's servers have been better this year for me than before, so I don't get too terribly far behind.
D'oh.
Homer
At least Kubel has been in the lineup everyday...Gordo trashing Baker..fat pitches...
Dazzle, wasn't it?
I'd say the last two pitches hit weren't fat at all.
He kept everything to Molina down. The Kotchman HR was pure, Grade A meat, though.
Yeah, things are not looking so good for Mr. Baker.
When do we see Garza?
Wouldn't it be nice if announcers mention how often the Angels have been caught stealing whenever they talk about how many bases the Angels have stolen?
I'm so sick of these motherbertin' hits in this motherbertin' stadium.
I think this must be what it feels like to be a fan of, say, the White Sox when the "piranhas" do their thing against them.
Everybody listen! We have to put a barrier between us and the hits!
Make it fast! Time is an issue!
Do as I say and you'll win!
A reef?
Guerrier left that up. Just sayin'.
Bert wasn't saying'
Definitely not a good outing for Baker though. Are the drums still beating for Garza or is he being labeled a headcase due to that one outburst?
I don't have a really good handle on whether the Twins are more reluctant to put Baker out there again or to bring up Garza and give him his wish. They'll probably decide to reinstate Ortiz after his stellar outing last night.
I hear Sidney Ponson might be available.
I heard he's reluctant to get the team haircut.
MATTINGLY! I said cut those sideburns!
Hippie.
No he didn't. Instead, Guerrier's legs just weren't strong enough.
He's with the program, pitching to contact
It's past Gordo's bedtime. (And fast approaching mine.)
We get the middle of the lineup one more time, but the Angels have Shields and Rodriguez rested. Even if Baker did give us a quality start, it hardly seems like it would matter.
Does anyone else think Escobar hasn't gotten nearly the credit he's deserved as a very solid starting pitcher? I guess he's gotten crappy run support over the years, so his W/L record is pretty bad, but he's had sub-4 ERAs the last three years and will likely exit tonight's game under 3.
Yeah, Escobar's underrated. His underratedness pales in comparison to John Lackey's underratedness, though. We are soooo screwed tomorrow.
Good call. His awesomeness caught me completely by surprise this year during a fantasy baseball draft.
I acquired Lackey for BJ Upton in a DMB league 2 seasons ago and he's been my stud ever since. If only Kazmir would progress..., then maybe I could surpass the juggernaut that is Gleeman's team.
Dude, where's our offense?
Did we leave it in the car?
Lost.
cheers...
It got pushed out a window in a high-rise.
Dude, where’s our offense?
Richfield Bloomington Honda 494 Lyndale?
Well, at least this pain has been short, and to the point, unlike the pain last night. Does Nathan need to get some work in yet? Or is that tomorrow? Seems like the top of our bullpen is pretty rested right now.
Garrett Anderson has been hit by a pitch just 5 times in 7400+ plate appearances. That's incredible.
Do we really need to LaRussa this thing? You really think the offense can score four runs? Well, at least Gardy's optimistic about the offense.
Or maybe he's trying to figure out what to do with 7 relievers and no bench.
well, given AG's review of the "top hitters" in the minors, doesn't look like TR has many (any) in-house alternatives.
It's incredible how that happens when you never trade pitching for hitting.
It's like in little league during a blowout. Everyone gets to play.
The Angels announcers will not shut up about Chris Pronger leaving tickets for Justin Morneau to the Stanley Cup game tomorrow.
DUCKS HOCKEY!!!! DUCKS HOCKEY!!!!
do we get to see
F-K-Rod?thesier has a blurb about the Twins wanting to keep Santana on regular rest after his Saturday start. Reading between the lines, with off-day Monday, I'm thinking Baker gets skipped.
Thanks for the update. I really just wish Baker would've pitched better tonight. At least we know that line is a load of crap since they constantly flip-flop on whether or not it's a good idea to keep Santana on regular rest.
Great, let's start jerking him around again. Good plan, guys.
No lefty, so can't PH for Tyner....
Twins must have dinner reservations.
Nuke it, ubes.
Twins Lose
Below .500 again.
It's so nice, he said it twice!