Game 89: Twins at Beantown
Posted by ubelmann on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Light Rail vs. Dice-K
Dice-K has a 5.07 xFIP so far this year, mainly fueled by a crazy 5.7 BB/G and a low, low 35.5% GB%. As a team, the Twins still don't walk very much (255 walks ranks 25th in baseball), but it seems like (outside of Gomez and Delmon) a lot of the hitters have at least an approach balanced between patience and aggression, if not an approach that favors patience.
Dice-K was on the DL for a while, but it's not as though his control looks any better since he's been back, having thrown 11 walks in 11 IP.
As an out of towner, I am thrilled to be able to watch the Twins on tv tonight. I will be enjoying adult beverages at a local bar, where I am sure that I will be taunted by Sox fans. Excellent.
I too am an out-of-towner with a rare opportunity to watch the Twins in glorious 52" HD. I'm jacked.
It sounds like you won't have to deal with the possibility of Sox fans telling you how Varitek should be starting the all-star game. I have a feeling that the odds are about 75% of that happening to me. Buffalo has a surprising amount of Boston fans.
You got me there, but I'd say there's at least a 75% chance of my wife telling me to get my #$%@! shoes off the coffee table.
Your wife lets you wear shoes in the house???!!!?!?!?!?
Well actually, no. So there's about a 90% chance she'll tell me to take off the @#$%! shoes.
Being able to watch the Twins tonight is a good news/bad news thing, though. On the one hand, I'm ecstatic that I actually get to watch them, but I have to listen to Steve Phillips, which tends to kill brain cells.
I will second that emotion. Steve Phillips might be the bane of our existence.
I'd feel betrayed too, but if I had a .234 BA and .287 OBP, I'd probably shut up about it.
If he was a Red Sock, he'd be on the all star team. Varitek is hitting .218 with 27 rbi and 18 runs scored.
Boy, the radio broadcast from Fenway is noisy.
Morneau with the wheels.
COME ON KUBES!
ATTABOY KUBES!
Yeah, I'm going to be in all-caps mode anytime Kubel is up.
Two outs with runners on first and second. Last year you'd have figured run expectancy at 0.00 with the Twins in that situation.
No matter how this season turns out, that's why it'll be fun.
Charlie Reliford's crew tonight, but no Runge. Did he get assigned to a different crew following his suspension?
Why did I know Delmon would swing at the first pitch there?
And why did I know it would be out of the strike zone. Damn
Fenway and Wrigley are my nominees for "Most Disgusting Men's Rooms in MLB". In one, you pee in a gutter on the floor; in the other, in a trough.
I get stage fright because of those damn troughs in the Dome.
I'm not a big fan of the whole "crossing swords" setup in a lot of these stadiums.
Even though crossing the streams destroyed Gozer?
Well, PECOTA said there was a very thin chance that anyone would survive that. So clearly it was a bad managerial decision.
It's not like you have to lend a helping hand to your neighbor. I always thought it was a pretty efficient setup--being a public restroom, my standards for privacy are rather low.
You know, I don't mind Delmon first pitch-swinging if that's how he'll succeed, but to do it against a pitcher with obvious control issues going on is just idiotic.
Wow, I haven't witnessed the "Delmon first pitch special" until just now.
Well, gee whillikers there Mr. Delmon, way to take a pitch...
Hehe. G. Will Liquors is my favorite adult beverage store.
Light Rail appears on track tonight. This could be a fun 3 hours and 50 minutes.
Especially if they keep showing Dark Knight trailers.
Has Baker been hitting the mid 90's with his fastball like that all year, or have I just not been paying attention? For some reason (and it might be his 10-year old appearance) I figured he was a low 90's guy.
I haven't seen him throw 95 consistently before today. Not knowing how fast Daisuke generally throws, I wonder if the gun is off or if he's just throwing harder today.
If you're looking for a pitcher's average pitch speeds on a season, fangraphs is a really good place to go. They have Scott Baker's fastball at 90.5 mph this year, compared to 90.2 last year, 91.3 in '06, and 91.8 in '05.
I think espn's gun is fast today.
everything is faster in the Big City.
Nice inning, Scoot. I think this is his first start against the Bloody Sox?
At least Baker's sharpness helped make up for Dullmon....
Oops, someone forgot to delete the periods from CC's name on the ESPN trade graphic. An intern just lost his wings.
He didn't get cc'd on the memo...
Did you see the "Rule V" in Buscher's graphic earlier? I would think they'd get that sort of thing right, since it's their job to broadcast baseball information and all, but I guess not.
I haven't been to one of these in a while.
I predict homeruns from both Punto and Span. Yes, I said Punto and Span.
obviously, WGOM privileges have given NG the ability to predict the future with infallible logic and uncanny accuracy.
Why thank you!
...and I'm done abusing said privileges lest they be taken away.
LOL.
+millions and millions, NG
2.1 innings, 4 strikeouts. Get me a ticket for that train.
Man, after Cliff Lee whining about bunts last night, now we have to deal with the Red Sox whining about the strike zone. Play ball or get off my lawn, dammit!
Where's Rhu_Ru??
*
*fixed that for you, ubes
Gah! Please no Dusty Baker associations with our Light Rail. There's a lot of bad mojo there, and I just don't want to tempt fate.
Whew! Much better.
Y'know, I'm not so sure that Cuddyer would have made that catch. Attaboy, DSPAN2.
Good evening. I'm listening to Philips drone on about how the Twins have to teach at the major league level. Um, doesn't Boston have a rookie in center field? Isn't Pedroia a kid? And Lester? Pfft.
The Red Sox don't have to teach, though--they just buy expensive tutors to do the teaching for them.
And Justin Masterson, who was in the supposed Santana rumors (and is on my fantasy team).
And apparently Manny only looks at the pitcher with one eye. What the hell is that: quality commentary?
Scott Bakkkkker
Wow, I guess the red sox are actually worse at GDP than the twins.
the
*clap-clap-clapclapclap*
I counted 3 strikes in that AB according to K zone. Damn I hate the Red Sox.
Keep wiggling, Light Rail! Don't lose focus now!
Scotty Wiggles.
LIGHT RAIL W000000000000000000000000000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did Baker pitch his way out of that? Or did he just get out of it?
Orel was a really great pitcher in his day, so I want to believe that he knows what he's talking about. (As opposed to Steve Phillips, who has been great at...managing to stay employed???) But sometimes he makes it hard to believe that.
Varitek really making a case for his all-star credentials tonight. He came through with a spectacular bases-loaded intangible.
Great job, Scotty B.
Four innings in eighty minutes? Inconceivable.
Yargh... ya run out to get some Culver's and come back to wireless issues. And you accidentally hit view live tv on the DVR and miss a whole bunch of game. I blame it on the humidity.
Orel and Steve both thumbs down on Schilling in the Hall of Fame.
Orel: If I'm not getting in, neither is that SOB!
Orel with 84 WARP3. Sorry, bub, not Hall-worthy.
Schilling has 113 WARP3 and 4 season with 10+ (and his stretch from '01 to '04 was pretty decent as peaks go.) Plus, he's got the whole postseason heroics extra credit tiebreaker. It wouldn't really be a travesty either way.
They mentioned Mussina, too. He's got 129 WARP3 for his career, but only one 10+ WARP3 season. (Though he has 4 seasons with 9-10 WARP3.) Mussina was certainly more consistent than Schilling, at any rate.
Boy, DSPAN sure does take good at bats.
Apparently good ABs are a zero sum game.
Jeebus, why are we talking about Mike Mussina tonight? The Yankees ARE NOT PLAYING!
And it just keeps getting better and better.
ESPN gives that much attention to all third place teams, don't they?
Oh fuck. Andy Pettitte.
And a token Met (and former Red Sox) Pedro Martinez. Meanwhile, there's a game going on.
Pedro's got 115 WARP3, and his '99 and 2000 are two of the best seasons ever. I say it's a pretty easy decision to put him in.
Pettitte's not even close--87 WARP3.
Have we already moved to the "ignore the PED history" stage with Pettitte?
What PED history? I can't see very clearly with all that mystique and aura clouding my vision.
I was thinking the same thing.
So far, the pitching today has been holding down two of the higher scoring teams in the AL. (There have been some nice defensive plays, but overall not anything out of the ordinary.)
We got ourselves an ol'-fashioned pitcher's duel. I predict it ends this inning. Casilla gets on and begins a rally.
Is Dice-K actually dealing tonight or what? Are we letting him off the hook?
Well I think Delmon definitely let him off the hook, but he's looking pretty sharp out there.
My impression so far has been that he's been getting ahead of the right-handed hitters and ultimately putting them away, but has been nibbling with left-handed hitters at the plate. It doesn't seem like he's made too many mistakes out over the plate, though--which makes sense with 3 hits and 3 walks so far--all by LH hitters.
Wow. Mauer doesn't fan that easily. Dice K must have it tonight.
I wonder what Dice-K could do if he worked with someone like Rick Anderson, Don Cooper, or Dave Duncan. He seems to have good stuff, and those pitching coaches seem to be good at working with pitchers with "stuff" to get them to throw it over the plate.
Yizer. Almost Justin. Almost.
It seemed like Morneau surprised the booth back into talking about the game that's actually going on.