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Tuesday, June 26, 2007 |
Pickoff Moves
Kevin Goldstein Notices Brandon Wood Is A Good Player
Ya think?After a historically great 2005 season that included 101 extra-base hits, Wood has regressed a bit to a player with tons of power, but only a decent batting average and a disturbingly high strikeout rate. He’s made slow-and-steady improvement this year, and is now officially hot again, including a 7-for-12 weekend and four home runs in his last seven contests. Batting .321/.396/.667 in June, and .262/.352/.488 overall, Wood currently has no obvious openings in the big leagues, but one will be made for him next year.Given yesterday's news about Greg Porter, not to mention the yearlong shuffle in the outfield and at DH, the Angels seem intent on making that space. While I'm kind of skeptical that the Angels are liable to make that kind of space available any time soon, they could surprise me, too; after all, Nathan Haynes is still on the roster. On the other hand, so is Shea Hillenbrand.
ITD Names Ogden Staff
Inside The Dodgers names the Pioneer League Ogden team's coaching staff, something you rarely hear about:Field Coordinator: P.J. CareyThe two lowest levels of the Dodgers' farm system are 4-3 (Ogden) and 6-0 (GCL Dodgers) one week into the season.
Hitting Coordinator: Bill Robinson
Outfield/Base running coordinator: Gene Clines
Pitching Coordinator: Marty Reed
Catching Coordinator: Travis Barbary
Infield Coordinator: Matt Martin
THT: Jason Schmidt "A Longshot" For 2008
I'm not sure what Rick Wilton's comments are based on:Wow! I said early this spring that Schmidt had been dealing with a damaged shoulder, but I never envisioned the damage the surgeon found when he opened up the shoulder Wednesday. Schmidt has some scarring of the bursa sac, a frayed biceps tendon and a partially detached labrum. The labrum injury is the most severe and one that did not show up on the MRI. The labrum was re-attached to the bone and he will still need considerable time to allow it to heal properly. The Dodgers speculate that the damaged labrum prevented Schmidt from having complete range of motion. Thus, he lost a considerable amount velocity on his pitches.True Blue LA recently published a letter from Will Carroll rebutting his own three-year-old piece in Salon about the trauma of shoulder injuries. Of course, none of this indicates Schmidt will be back any time soon, nor how effective he will be when he returns. But if Ned Colletti deserves any credit at all as general manager, it's on this one point: he offered Schmidt more money and fewer years to be a Dodger. The lessons of Darren Dreifort and Kevin Brown haven't been forgotten, and that's important.In 2000, Schmidt had a torn labrum and frayed rotator cuff while pitching with the Pirates. He ended up missing 129 days of that season. According to several sources, this surgery is much more extensive. While Dodgers trainer Stan Conte states that Schmidt will be throwing in spring training, it is highly unlikely he will be ready for the early part of next season. Now that he has had two labrum injuries, with the most severe just occurring, his ability to pitch effectively in 2008 is a longshot.
Will Carroll On Rich Harden
In today's UTK:The bigger test than throwing hard is going to be recovery. Harden was not expected to throw back-to-back games at this stage of his rehab (and we do need to consider this as rehab), but an extended absence would need to be considered a major negative. We need to see Harden back on a mound by Thursday to say that this is working as planned. The late word from Oakland is that Harden is sounding very negative, comparing his shoulder pain now to what he had prior to going on the DL.The A's may have gotten one player back into the bullpen, but they lost another as Kiko Calero hit the 15-day DL with an inflamed shoulder.
Shorting The Angels
John Beamer has a recommendation for you, if you play the sports books: short the Angels. He saw the Halos as an 88-win team at the start of the season (a 96-win club now), and while Texas has "no chance" at the division thanks to what is arguably the worst pitching staff in the majors, Beamer thinks Oakland will put together another .600+ second half and climb back up in the standings. And it might not take all that much: if the Angels don't get their rotation settled soon, if they keep posting games like Monday's, they'll find themselves toe-to-toe with the A's or the M's come September 1, or worse, in the final week of the season.Labels: angels, athletics, dodgers, injuries
Comments:
if the Angels don't get their rotation settled soon
So what would that look like? Will they then be giving up negative runs or something? They have the second best rotation in the league, and they have two spot starters with sub 3.00 ERAs. At what point will it be settled?
if they keep posting games like Monday's
And if they keep posting stretches of games like they have for the last 30, they'll blow everyone away.
You realize that just about every good team loses a game here and there, right? I mean, you weren't honestly expecting them to win the next 30 or so games in a row? Teams lose ever so often. It happens.
I don't think anyone's popping the champagne yet, but I'm afraid I'll never quite understand the pessimism here after one game in which things don't break their way. Hell, they can get swept by the Royals and they'll still have no worse than a five game lead in the division.
So what would that look like? Will they then be giving up negative runs or something? They have the second best rotation in the league, and they have two spot starters with sub 3.00 ERAs. At what point will it be settled?
if they keep posting games like Monday's
And if they keep posting stretches of games like they have for the last 30, they'll blow everyone away.
You realize that just about every good team loses a game here and there, right? I mean, you weren't honestly expecting them to win the next 30 or so games in a row? Teams lose ever so often. It happens.
I don't think anyone's popping the champagne yet, but I'm afraid I'll never quite understand the pessimism here after one game in which things don't break their way. Hell, they can get swept by the Royals and they'll still have no worse than a five game lead in the division.
You realize that just about every good team loses a game here and there, right? I mean, you weren't honestly expecting them to win the next 30 or so games in a row? Teams lose ever so often. It happens.
I absolutely understand that. I also realize that Colon has had only one good start in his last six, and that against the second-worst offensive squad in an inferior league. So he will have to be replaced. Lackey floundering a bit is not unexpected, but him coming up lame is -- he's never been on the DL before. Weaver continuing to have *cough* *cough* health issues is maybe not a surprise, and I distrust the diagnosis of flu-like symptoms, unless his shoulder is indeed the problem. That's three starters right there, and God knows if Santana will be able to reproduce his recent results at Chavez Ravine the rest of the way. I see a far murkier picture here with the rotation than you apparently do. (And let's not get started on the bullpen's shallowness this year. I like Moseley as well as the next guy, but he and Bootcheck seem to be Ben Weber Part Deux.)
I absolutely understand that. I also realize that Colon has had only one good start in his last six, and that against the second-worst offensive squad in an inferior league. So he will have to be replaced. Lackey floundering a bit is not unexpected, but him coming up lame is -- he's never been on the DL before. Weaver continuing to have *cough* *cough* health issues is maybe not a surprise, and I distrust the diagnosis of flu-like symptoms, unless his shoulder is indeed the problem. That's three starters right there, and God knows if Santana will be able to reproduce his recent results at Chavez Ravine the rest of the way. I see a far murkier picture here with the rotation than you apparently do. (And let's not get started on the bullpen's shallowness this year. I like Moseley as well as the next guy, but he and Bootcheck seem to be Ben Weber Part Deux.)
So he will have to be replaced.
Again, guys go through bad stretches. It doesn't mean they're done, and it doesn't mean they have to be replaced. By this mentality, Figgins should have been "replaced" after his poor start. Tell me, why is it that everyone who has overperformed will regress to the mean, but the guys who have underperformed won't move back toward their career norms?
Lackey floundering a bit is not unexpected, but him coming up lame is -- he's never been on the DL before.
And unless I missed a news release, he's not on the DL now. He was pushed back a couple of days, and he responded by throwing eight innings and giving up three runs, all while allowing only three baserunners over the the final five. So what's your point?
I distrust the diagnosis of flu-like symptoms
This would be called paranoia.
and God knows if Santana will be able to reproduce his recent results at Chavez Ravine the rest of the way.
I can guarantee you that he won't. I'm comfortable saying that he won't average seven innings with two earned runs per start and a WHIP of 1.00 the rest of the season. But you know what? Very few other pitchers in baseball will either. Geez, talk about high standards.
And let's not get started on the bullpen's shallowness this year. I like Moseley as well as the next guy, but he and Bootcheck seem to be Ben Weber Part Deux.
God, I hope so! I hope they're both Ben Weber! We're talking about the same Ben Weber, right? The one that posted ERA+s of 139, 171, and 158 for three seasons before he went south? That's pretty good for the fourth and fifth guys in the bullpen!
Somewhere along the line you've convinced yourself that lo and behold, the 2007 Angels are not the 1927 Yankees, and that therefore its doom and gloom time. I'm not quite sure why.
Again, guys go through bad stretches. It doesn't mean they're done, and it doesn't mean they have to be replaced. By this mentality, Figgins should have been "replaced" after his poor start. Tell me, why is it that everyone who has overperformed will regress to the mean, but the guys who have underperformed won't move back toward their career norms?
Lackey floundering a bit is not unexpected, but him coming up lame is -- he's never been on the DL before.
And unless I missed a news release, he's not on the DL now. He was pushed back a couple of days, and he responded by throwing eight innings and giving up three runs, all while allowing only three baserunners over the the final five. So what's your point?
I distrust the diagnosis of flu-like symptoms
This would be called paranoia.
and God knows if Santana will be able to reproduce his recent results at Chavez Ravine the rest of the way.
I can guarantee you that he won't. I'm comfortable saying that he won't average seven innings with two earned runs per start and a WHIP of 1.00 the rest of the season. But you know what? Very few other pitchers in baseball will either. Geez, talk about high standards.
And let's not get started on the bullpen's shallowness this year. I like Moseley as well as the next guy, but he and Bootcheck seem to be Ben Weber Part Deux.
God, I hope so! I hope they're both Ben Weber! We're talking about the same Ben Weber, right? The one that posted ERA+s of 139, 171, and 158 for three seasons before he went south? That's pretty good for the fourth and fifth guys in the bullpen!
Somewhere along the line you've convinced yourself that lo and behold, the 2007 Angels are not the 1927 Yankees, and that therefore its doom and gloom time. I'm not quite sure why.
Tell me, why is it that everyone who has overperformed will regress to the mean, but the guys who have underperformed won't move back toward their career norms?
Not everyone, just Colon, who has a significant injury history, a history of long stretches of crappy pitching (see 2004), and is aging.
And unless I missed a news release, he's not on the DL now.
True. But Lackey's pitching like he's injured. Forget the walks, he's leaving stuff up. And don't forget the cortisone shot.
This would be called paranoia.
No, it would be called "begging off". Or are teams in your universe always forthcoming with the true nature of players' injuries?
I can guarantee you that he won't. I'm comfortable saying that he won't average seven innings with two earned runs per start and a WHIP of 1.00 the rest of the season. But you know what? Very few other pitchers in baseball will either. Geez, talk about high standards.
I would settle for a quality start or five on the road.
Somewhere along the line you've convinced yourself that lo and behold, the 2007 Angels are not the 1927 Yankees, and that therefore its doom and gloom time. I'm not quite sure why.
I've already outlined why, but since you seem to reject all of it, there's no point reciting it again.
Not everyone, just Colon, who has a significant injury history, a history of long stretches of crappy pitching (see 2004), and is aging.
And unless I missed a news release, he's not on the DL now.
True. But Lackey's pitching like he's injured. Forget the walks, he's leaving stuff up. And don't forget the cortisone shot.
This would be called paranoia.
No, it would be called "begging off". Or are teams in your universe always forthcoming with the true nature of players' injuries?
I can guarantee you that he won't. I'm comfortable saying that he won't average seven innings with two earned runs per start and a WHIP of 1.00 the rest of the season. But you know what? Very few other pitchers in baseball will either. Geez, talk about high standards.
I would settle for a quality start or five on the road.
Somewhere along the line you've convinced yourself that lo and behold, the 2007 Angels are not the 1927 Yankees, and that therefore its doom and gloom time. I'm not quite sure why.
I've already outlined why, but since you seem to reject all of it, there's no point reciting it again.
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