I have news for those readers wondering where I've gone over the past week. I've decided my experiment of putting all my content on MLB Notebook was a success and I'm now over there full time with no crossover posting to Home Run Trot. Please keep reading my content over there if you're not doing so already. I've joined Zach Sanders who is also a great baseball writer. Ricky Zanker is also a part-time contributor. You may know Ricky from The Rays Party. If not, start reading his work.
I've moved to MLBNB full time because of the greater exposure of higher daily readership and because I don't have to run the site all by myself. It's much easier for me. Home Run Trot isn't shutting down. I'm going to keep my hands on the name, just in case and because I have a few surprises planned for the offseason that I will post here. I'll also still read e-mails at either hrtrot@gmail.com or jonathan@mlbnotebook.com.
If any friends of Home Run Trot would like to have their link placed on MLB Notebook or possibly have an article posted on MLBNB, e-mail me and I'll see what can be done since you've all been good to me basically getting me from Home Run Trot to MLB Notebook.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Thursday's Games of the Day
Continuing the experiment, Thursday's Games of the Day can also be found over at MLB Notebook. You can find that post here.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
What to do with Juan Pierre
My latest article is up on MLB Notebook. As the title suggests, it's about the Dodgers and the issue they'll be facing once Manny Ramirez returns from his suspension. Juan Pierre is actually proving to be a very able replacement, just minus the power Ramirez has.
The article can be found here.
Wednesday's Games of the Day
Wednesday again brings us a full slate of interleague games with some great matchups. Here are my games of the day:
White Sox at Cubs: Ok, let's try starting the Crosstown Rivalry Series again. Tuesday's game was rained out. Wednesday's game features John Danks going against Ryan Dempster. Dempster is 17-3 with a 3.09 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 25 home starts in 2008 and 2009. A.J. Pierzynski is 4-for-10 with one home run and a 1.155 OPS in his career against Dempster and has a .316 batting average, 3 home runs, 12 RBI, and a .855 OPS in 15 career games at Wrigley Field.
Los Angeles Angels at San Francisco: This game features two six game winners. You may have expected Tim Lincecum to be one of them, but probably didn't expect Matt Palmer to also have 6 wins.
Milwaukee at Cleveland: Milwaukee goes for the sweep in Cleveland. Mark DeRosa is 4-for-11 with a double and two walks against Jeff Suppan.
Washington at New York Yankees: Yes, the Nationals are still the Nationals, but they're facing Chien-Ming Wang. This could be Wang's final turn in the Yankees rotation if he can't handle the Nationals.
Florida at Boston: I'm curious to see how 2-2 Andrew Miller handles the Red Sox lineup. Also, Brad Penny will be pitching against his original team to either make his case for staying in the Sox rotation or showcasing himself for a potential trade.
Arizona at Kansas City: Kansas City took the first game of the series 5-0. Now they have Zack Greinke taking the mound in the second game. Greinke has proved human recently, but the D-Backs are 27-38, last in the NL West.
Pittsburgh at Minnesota: Ian Snell and Francisco Liriano have 3 combined wins. You'd expect 1-7 out of Snell, but not 2-7 out of Liriano. This could be one of Snell's final starts in a Pirates uniform. Expect Liriano's third straight quality start.
Detroit at St. Louis: Justin Verlander didn't come through for Detroit in Monday's game, an 11-2 loss, but the Tigers can rebound with Edwin Jackson on the hill. Jackson has a 3-2 road record, 1.55 ERA and 0.99 in seven road starts. He pitched well in St. Louis on MAy 18, 2008, going 5.1 innings and allowing one run on six hits while striking out seven. The Cardinals average 3.6 runs per game with a .677 team OPS in June.
Tampa Bay at Colorado: David Price makes the start at Coors Field in only his sixth major league start. I'm interested to see how that goes.
Player of the Day: Chien-Ming Wang, New York Yankees. It's make or break time for Wang against Washington.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Jorge Posada is making a case to become a DH
.jpg)
My latest article, which can be found at MLB Notebook here, discusses Jorge Posada. The Yankees are a better pitching team when Jose Molina, Kevin Cash, or Francisco Cervelli are catching. But the Yankees need Posada's bat. He's a 37-year old future DH.
Here's an excerpt:
No, Mariano Rivera is not the problem. It's the rotation, excepting CC Sabathia. Since it's the whole rotation, it's the catcher as well. The rotation pitches differently when Jorge Posada catches. With Posada catching, the Yankees have an ERA of 6.31. With Jose Molina, Kevin Cash, and Francisco Cervelli behind the plate, that ERA is 3.81. Yes, Chien-Ming Wang's poor season affects Posada's pitcher ERA, but without those starts, it's still 5.47. While with the Yankees, Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina preferred other catchers. A.J. Burnett struggles when using Posada.The problem is Posada can still hit well enough to remain in the lineup. Coming into Tuesday's game he's hitting .288 with 9 home runs and 28 RBI. He also has a .940 OPS. He's an offensive catcher, which is very rare to find even in this age of baseball. That type of bat can't just be taken out of the lineup.
Fantasy Links of the Day
My laptop crashed on me for the final time this week, taking my whole Links list with it. I've managed to partially reconstruct the list. Here's what I've got for Tuesday.
Hitter Links:
Charlie Saponara thinks Jay Bruce will get better this season. I agree.
Pitching Links:
David Young says overhyped (his word, not mine) rookie pitchers are not worth it.
I'm inclined to ignore the article because so many other people would too. By ignore it I mean just not pay attention to it; I obviously agree with Young. I already don't rush out to get those pitchers in the draft. I've lost out on Tommy Hanson, David Price, and others because of that philosophy. I like it when young pitchers prove themselves first.
In Sixty Feet, Six Inches, Christopher Harris ranks ailing pitchers.
KFF
John Smoltz gives the Red Sox a six man rotation.
Prospect and Rookie Links:
After players like Nolan Reimold came out of nowhere, Al Melchoir reshuffles this year's prospects.
Ranking Links:
KFFL's Top 50. Albert Pujols is on top here.
MLB.com's Top 25 and Value 50. Arizona's Mark Reynolds tops the Value 50. Justin Verlander and Torii Hunter crack the Top 25 while Albert Pujols remains on top.
Padres top pitching prospect Mat Latos leads a list of minor leaguers to watch for.
Wednesday Links:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
