Friday, July 10, 2009 |
Will Carroll On Torii Hunter And Other Angels Injuries
I've determined that my epitaph is likely to be "a strain is a tear!" Once again, the confusion of terminology has come to confuse people. Hunter had an MRI on his adductor, which determined there was a Grade II strain. There, that's your proper description of the injury. More commonly, he has what gets called a "groin strain", which is less serious than a "groin tear." The word people are actually looking for with "tear" in that latter instance is "rupture," meaning that there has been a complete separation of muscle from muscle or tendon from bone. While both a Grade II and Grade III strains indicate tearing in the muscle, only the Grade III indicates rupture. Don't let the terminology fool you, though: Hunter's hurting, and the key fact here is that it's an aggravation of a chronic injury; as Hunter said, he's been "feeling it for about a month." He won't go blind, just to the DL unless there's rapid improvement.I missed yesterday's UTK, which has news about Torii, Vlad, and Kelvim Escobar:
I often say two contradictory things, so I need to explain how they actually work in concert. The operative phrases here are "don't believe your eyes" and "what you see guides us." Both statements are true, but you have to use both to understand what's going on with Vladimir Guerreo. The video showed him making a long stride as part of his throw in from the outfield, then immediately collapsing, leaving him on one knee and grabbing behind it. The "collapsing" part is a bit strong; he goes to the knee more than collapses, but I understand why that word would be used. He is grabbing behind the knee, but it's the calf, not the knee itself, which creates another confusing point. I've looked at the video several times, and you can see him push forward as he grabs, as if he's trying to stretch a cramp. So having seen all that, we have to forget it and trust the information we get from his MRI. Early indications are that he's dealing with a moderate strain at the top of his calf. Guerrero may head to the DL or be forced back to DH for a while, though he'd expose the leg to further problems. Joining Guerrero in the training room and the MRI tube was Hunter; the rangy center fielder says he has been dealing with a chronic groin strain for a month. The pain has gotten more significant, and the MRI was done both to see how significant the strain is, its precise location, and to rule out the dreaded acetabular labrum issue we've seen several times this year. Finally, the Angels are finally admitting that Escobar is likely done for the year. As I've said since the pre-season, Escobar's comeback was a long shot, and it says something about him that he was able to come back at all.
Now That's Misery: Marlins 14, Diamondbacks 7
Labels: diamondbacks, marlins, recaps, suck
Minor League Scorebook
Rodriguez, S: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Wood, B: 1-4, 1 K
Wilson, Bo: 2-4, 1 K
Johnson, B: 2-4
Pavkovich: 2-4, 1 RBI
O'Sullivan: (L, 5-3), 3.2 IP, 6 R, 6 ER, 5 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 3 HR, 6.62 ERA
Arredondo, Jo: 1.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 2.35 ERA
Conger: 2-4, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Trumbo: 3-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Florence: 4-5
Majewski, V: 2-5, 1 3B, 1 RBI
Gutierrez, Ch: 1-3, 1 RBI, 2 BB
Statia: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Reckling: (W, 5-2), 5.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 K, 5 BB, 1 HR, 2.56 ERA
Rodriguez, Fe: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 2.57 ERA
Romine, An: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Navarro, E: 2-4, 1 BB
Estrella: 2-5, 1 RBI
Colmenares: 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 K
Phillips, P: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K
Anton: 7.0 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 8 H, 7 K, 0 BB, 3.00 ERA
Haynes: (L, 0-4) (in relief), 2.2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 5 K, 1 BB, 4.43 ERA
Brooks: 3-5, 1 3B, 1 RBI
Chatwood: (L, 3-5), 4.0 IP, 6 R, 6 ER, 11 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 4.36 ERA
Alliman: 3-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Locke: (W, 2-2), 5.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 7 K, 2 BB, 3.71 ERA
Hoffmann: 1-4, 1 K
Brown, D: 3-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Repko: 0-4, 2 K
Alvarado, C: (L, 6-7), 7.0 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 8 H, 3 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 3.43 ERA
Kuo: 1.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 9.00 ERA
Lambo: 0-4, 2 K
Durbin, J: (L, 1-3), 5.0 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 K, 2 BB, 2.42 ERA
Guerra: 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 K, 2 BB, 3.18 ERA
Robinson, T: 2-4, 1 K
Baez: 2-4
Withrow: (L, 5-6), 5.0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 K, 3 BB, 4.86 ERA
Delmonico: 2-4, 1 K
Russell: 1-4, 2 K
Silverio: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K
Martin, E: (L, 4-4), 4.0 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 H, 8 K, 3 BB, 4.64 ERA
Eovaldi: 4.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 3.80 ERA
Erickson: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 K
Orr: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 K
Wallach, B: 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA
Thompson: (W, 1-0) (in relief), 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 9.45 ERA
Rondon, D: (S, 3), 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 K, 0 BB, 1.29 ERA
Labels: minors
Lather, Rinse, Re-Beat: Dodgers 11, Mets 2
The Dodgers jumped on Hernandez early for four runs in the first, and cruised after that; Jerry Manuel left him in to self-immolate for eight of the eleven runs, none of which came on a home run. I don't envy the Mets; they're a bad team this year partly because of the spectrum of injuries, but then, that's one of the consequences of building so much through free agency, too.
Minor sub-story: Randy Wolf changed his number to 43, his number while with the Phillies; in his first stint with the Dodgers he was 52, and started this year as 21. I doubt the Mets much cared.
Thursday, July 09, 2009 |
Joel Hanrahan Gets Win For Washington A Week After Being Traded: Nationals 11, Astros 10 (11 Innings)
Thanks to Jay Jaffe (via Facebook) for the heads-up.
Labels: astros, nationals, recaps, weird
I CAN HAZ MARINERZ TIX?
It's a Cheezburger Night wif the Seattle Mariners!!!1! (Safeco Field on Thursday, July 9) Bring awl of ur frends and familee 2 dis fun event. We will haz sum awesum pre-game festivitiez and u can meet sum noo Cheez Frends! And if u buy ur tickets thru dis speshul offer, u git a FREE Cheezburger Nite t-shirt! Woo hoo!!1!! C u awl der!...
- Join us pre-game for "Happy Cat Hour" in the Ellis Pavilion! Please enter through the door along 1st Avenue located next to the Third Base Entry. Meet Chief Cheezburger Ben Huh!
- Receive a FREE t-shirt when you purchase tickets through this special offer (while supplies last)! Pick your shirt up in the Ellis Pavilion before 6:30 pm, or stop by the table on the concourse outside section 333.
Minor League Scorebook
Rodriguez, S: 0-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Wood, B: 2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Wilson, Bo: 1-4, 1 RBI
Loux: (W, 1-2), 7.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 5 K, 1 BB, 4.24 ERA
Mosebach: (S, 3), 1.1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 2.60 ERA
Romine, An: 2-4
Navarro, E: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Kiniry: 2-3, 1 3B, 2 RBI
Phillips, P: 0-3
Torres: (W, 6-3), 7.0 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 8 K, 3 BB, 2 HR, 3.01 ERA
Kohn: (S, 1), 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA
Flores, M: (L, 4-4), 5.0 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 8 H, 4 K, 2 BB, 1 HR, 3.75 ERA
Scholl: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 3 BB, 4.15 ERA
Wing: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 K
Mann: 3-5, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 1 K
Brannon: 3-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Andrew, C: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 3.72 ERA
Garrett: (W, 1-0) (in relief), 3.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 5.40 ERA
Alvarez, Ri: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K
Mallard: 3-5, 1 RBI
Trout: 2-4, 1 RBI, 2 K
Oliver, E: 2-5, 1 RBI
Almanzar, Je: 2-4
Martinez Mesa, F: (W, 2-0), 7.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 8 K, 5 BB, 1.89 ERA
Bachanov: (H, 2), 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 4.50 ERA
The Trout is hitting .571/.700/.929, Jon Bachanov pitched a scoreless inning, and that's about all I need for consolation right now. Also, this Martinez Mesa kid seems to be pretty good, but the walks are worrying.
Hu: 0-5, 2 K
Hoffmann: 2-5, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 1 BB
Repko: 1-6, 2 K
Garcia, S: 2-5, 1 2B
Lindblom: 2-2, 1 RBI
Lindblom: 3.2 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 8 H, 4 K, 4 BB, 1 HR, 5.59 ERA
Bonilla: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 4.54 ERA
DeBarr: (BS, 2), 0.2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 K, 0 BB, 7.22 ERA
Threets: (W, 3-0) (in relief), 1.1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 1.62 ERA
Nivar: 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI
Bell: 1-3, 2 BB
May: 3-4, 1 2B, 5 RBI
Lambo: 1-5, 1 RBI, 2 K
Garate: 0-1
Mitchell, R: 1-2, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Chick: 5.2 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 8 H, 2 K, 3 BB, 3.78 ERA
Corcoran: (W, 3-6) (in relief), 1.1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 5.62 ERA
Garate: (S, 4), 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 K, 1 BB, 2.16 ERA
Baez: 2-4
Lara: 2-4, 1 RBI, 2 K
Sexton, T: (W, 5-8), 6.1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 6 H, 6 K, 1 BB, 2.72 ERA
Melgarejo: 1.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 4.76 ERA
McCarter: (S, 5), 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 2.77 ERA
Pedroza: 1-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
Delmonico: 1-5, 1 BB, 1 K
Russell: 2-5, 1 3B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 K
Silverio: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Hatch: 1-3, 2 BB, 2 K
Miller, J: (W, 4-5), 7.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 7 K, 2 BB, 4.53 ERA
Smit, K: 2.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 5.57 ERA
Sands: 2-4, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 K
Yount: 2-2, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Songco, M: 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Wise: 3-6, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Orr: 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Iden: 1-3, 2 BB
Vasquez: (W, 1-1), 5.0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 K, 4 BB, 5.93 ERA
Tavarez, G: 2.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 4.26 ERA
Guzman, Am: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA
Labels: minors
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 |
Two Lousy Games
Baseball Is A Funny Game Dep't: Mets 5, Dodgers 4
- How do you lose when the opposition allows more walks? Nine walks, and the Dodgers still lost. Kuroda had nothing, or damn near to it, outlasted by Oliver Freaking Perez, f'r chrissakes.
- Well, At Least There Was Some Entertainment To Make Up For The Loss: In the seventh, Mark Loretta came to the plate and somehow managed to bounce a ball off the first base bag about thirty feet in the air. Mets first baseman Daniel Murphy fielded the ball while running toward second base and threw behind him to reliever Bobby Parnell to just nip Loretta for the second out. It was as crazy a play as I've seen since Jose Molina threw backwards to K-Rod at the plate to nail the Indians baserunner.
Update: Via Jon:
- K-Rod gave up yet another longball, this time to Manny Ramirez. But the Mets still won. The reason why was the Dodgers stranding twelve baserunners. Gah.
Welcome To Second Place, Dr. Santana: Rangers 8, Angels 1
Santana was sitting mostly 92-93 from what I could tell with a quick inspection of Gameday data, and got knocked around accordingly; earlier optimistic comments about his poor performance appear ill-founded.Andruw Jones homered three times. There's a certain irony that I'm sponsoring his page, doubled up by the fact that I have a snarky comment posted there.
The Angels are not a good team.
Labels: angels, dodgers, mets, rangers, recaps
Dodgers Disable Belisario
Labels: dodgers, injuries, transactions
Mitch Jones Clears Waivers, Returns To AAA Albuquerque
Matt Welch Skewers The Marlins New Stadium
Particularly since A) the team has spent (if I'm not mistaken) less on payroll the past four years than any other major league team, a combined $104 million from 2006-2009, and not surprisingly B) has produced inferior (if occasionally promising) product, going 17 games under .500 during that stretch, even though C) Picasso-owning, 7,000-square-foot-Upper-East-Side-apartment-living team owner Jeffrey Loria has seen the value of his franchise rise to an estimated $277 million since he bought it for $158 million in 2002.
Labels: marlins
Stick A Fork In Kelvim Escobar
Minor League Scorebook
Rodriguez, S: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K
Wood, B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Wilson, Bo: 1-4, 1 2B
Pavkovich: 2-4, 1 RBI
Bell, T: (L, 2-2), 8.0 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 8 H, 3 K, 2 BB, 2 HR, 1.95 ERA
Statia: 0-4
Florence: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Trumbo: 0-3, 2 K
Gutierrez, Ch: 2-4, 1 K
Ortiz, W: 2-4, 1 RBI, 2 K
Walden: (L, 1-5), 3.2 IP, 7 R, 7 ER, 7 H, 3 K, 4 BB, 1 HR, 4.95 ERA
Diaz, Am: 1.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 1 HR, 4.50 ERA
Rodriguez, Fe: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 3.60 ERA
Herndon: 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 4.15 ERA
Romine, An: 2-4
Phillips, P: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K
Thorne: (L, 0-4), 6.2 IP, 6 R, 4 ER, 11 H, 5 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 4.08 ERA
Amarista: 2-2, 1 BB
Lopez, R: 2-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Jacobo: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
Crawford: 3-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI
De Los Santos, A: 0-4, 4 K
Smith, W: (W, 7-3), 8.0 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 7 H, 6 K, 0 BB, 1 HR, 3.27 ERA
Rife: 2-5, 2 RBI
Baird: 3-4, 1 BB
Pardo: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
Ramos, K: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Arenas: (L, 0-1), 3.0 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 2.45 ERA
Almeida: 2.0 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 5 K, 0 BB, 1 HR, 4.05 ERA
Kelly: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 1.29 ERA
Dorado: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 9.82 ERA
Alvarez, Ri: 2-4, 1 K
Trout: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 3B
Almanzar, Je: 2-4
Jang: 6.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 6 K, 1 BB, 3.92 ERA
Pena, A: (L, 1-1) (in relief), 0.2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 H, 0 K, 3 BB, 4.50 ERA
Hu: 3-4, 1 BB
Hoffmann: 1-3, 1 2B, 2 BB
Repko: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB
Schmidt: 1-3, 1 K
Schmidt: 6.0 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 7 H, 6 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 3.95 ERA
Choi: (L, 2-1) (in relief), 1.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 2.36 ERA
Herrera: 3-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Baez: 0-5, 1 RBI, 1 K
Van Slyke: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Lara: 2-4, 1 3B, 2 RBI
Johnson, S: (W, 7-4), 5.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 4 K, 2 BB, 3.79 ERA
Sanfler: 2.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 4.53 ERA
Schreiber: (S, 1), 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 2 BB, 0.00 ERA
Russell: 0-1, 3 BB
Delmonico: 1-3, 1 2B
Silverio: 0-3, 1 K
Blevins, B: (L, 6-6), 6.0 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 3 K, 1 BB, 4.13 ERA
Garcia, Lu: 2.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 2.89 ERA
Songco, M: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Contreras: 6.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 3.86 ERA
Wilborn: (BS, 2), 2.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 K, 0 BB, 1 HR, 5.40 ERA
Rondon, D: (L, 0-1) (in relief), 1.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 1.50 ERA
Pericht: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Henderson, C: 2-4, 1 K
Webster: (W, 2-0), 5.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 4 K, 1 BB, 1.89 ERA
Santiago, A: (S, 2), 4.0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 5 K, 4 BB, 4.80 ERA
Labels: minors
Forget I Ever Said Anything About Texas Pitching: Rangers 8, Angels 5
And why is it that the Angels always seem to encounter Darren O'Day in these series? That's probably one of the worst screwups of the Tony Reagins era so far, but I suppose if that's the extent of your general managerial malpractice, you should be grateful.
Vlad proved that he really shouldn't be in the field, no matter how good he claims to feel, as he left the game in the eighth with a tweaked knee injured fielding a routine single hit right to him. It isn't getting better, kids.
Labels: angels, injuries, rangers, recaps
The Hot Ex-Girlfriend: Dodgers 8, Mets 0
In 2007 I wrote about how insane the design of CitiField was. It is a shrine to a team that ripped the heart out of Brooklyn and ignores the history of the team that has to actually play there.I kinda have to agree; it's almost as funny (and ironically tasteless) as the "Shrine" ad that appeared in the 2002 World Series program, with a photo of Ebbets Field. Sure, Robinson's number belongs to every team now, but in the case of the Mets, it's really awkward to remind the team of its Dodger heritage... especially right now.I had equated the Mets with a husband who pines for his hot ex girlfriend while ignoring his plain Jane but loyal wife.
I think it might be even more pathetic than that.
I think the Mets are kind of like Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character in Boogie Nights and the Dodgers are Dirk Diggler.
Remember when he bought the Transam because he wanted to impress Dirk Diggler and Dirk doesn’t care at all?That’s what’s happening here.
The Mets' new park is something of a disaster for them, or maybe more accurately, disasters have happened coincidental to their opening the new park. Among other things, the Mets have collectively hit 26 home runs at home all year, but at least they're consistent (50 HR to date); they're a punchless group wherever they go. The Mets DL is a catechism of pain, with injuries to Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, and three of their starting pitchers besides (though you could argue that Oliver Perez on the DL is a blessing in that way).
The Dodgers got quickly to Mike Pelfrey, touching him for three in the second in a fairly humiliating way, the first run scoring on a bases-loaded walk. Manny Ramirez singled in the other two, and the Dodgers were off to the races, as it were; if they didn't post a lot of big innings, they surely kept at it, extracting blood from the bullpen as well; the former Dodger Elmer Dessens relieved Pelfrey in the fourth after the latter failed to record even an out in that inning.
Meantime, Clayton Kershaw was pretty damned good, something he's been quietly doing since at least June 16. A 0.61 ERA in that span? That's Koufaxian.

