Pitch 4: Breaking ball, out of the strike zone, check-swing, strike three. I am not upset because Drew struck out, it happens to him, it happens to everyone. But it would have been a good move to at least try and hit that fastball that Wood gave you.
In 31 career starts against the Yanks, Pedro has a 3.03 ERA in the regular season. In 211 innings he has wiffed 257 Yankee hitters, while walking only 58. Pedro has a WHIP of 1.00. That is completely dominant. This is not only the most successful franchise in the history of the sport, but is also the most successful of the past 12 seasons as well, seasons in which Pedro has taken the mound against them.
Dustin Pedroia: OPS+ 86: Speaking of picking it up...I guess that is what the Orioles pitching staff allows a hitter to do. Although, I do not want to dismiss the offensive explosion of the last few days completely.
After all, they did "rock" Orioles "Ace" Jeremy Guthrie, and last time I checked, he is a pretty good pitcher. But anyway, Pedroia has reached base 10 times in the past four games. His OBP is now roughly league-average, and his slugging has broken the .400 mark. And both of those categories should only improve from here on out.
Well, this stinks if true. Jed Lowrie may or may not have been the future at the SS position. Now, the organization and its fans may or may not have to wait and find out. Not good news.
If Lowell goes down, Youk can shift to third and David Ortiz and Chris Carter can share the 1B/DH spots. Or even Rocco could DH at times.
If Daisuke suffers from "arm fatigue." Which could also be labeled as "we are being careful with him because of the the WBC." Then Justin Masterson can shift from the pen to the rotation.
But Theo has built a team that can handle suspensions, injuries, performance issues, more than just about any team in the game of baseball.
And the organization as a whole has built a farm system that has the players to either be quality Major Leaguers, fill temporary holes, or be traded to address any of these "holes."
So get it done today, Wake. I just hope the knuckler, knuckels. It is definitely early, and panic is not running through my mind.
Sample size, sample size, sample size! Remember the thing that increases the accuracy of whatever the available data happens to…
The bullpen has had to pick up some of the load so far. So hopefully Penny can get some decent innings in. But Brad is still "coming back, so realistically five, maybe six innings is all we should expect.
The Angels do not get on base much, and they haven't hit for all that much power of late. I am a stat-guy. So I believe that an offense needs to do these things to score enough runs. There is only so much that can happen as a result of "hit and runs" and taking the extra base. Now, taking the extra base is great, and often overlooked--as is baserunning in general. But a team must get on base enough, in order to score enough.
The Abreu acquisition was great. For that amount of money, the team put aside their philosophy of having only players who can play defense, and sacrificed "it" for a little offense. There is no risk in signing Abreu, and he should still hit for average, get on base, and flash enough power to make him a quality all-around player.
Victor Martinez should get back on track upon returning from injury. Martinez may not be a great catcher, but he actually has value outside of the batters box, unlike Hafner. I expect good things out of Martinez this season, maybe not great things, but good. Shoppach will handle some of the duties behind the plate as well, which will help Victor stay rested. If Carlos Santana can make his way up to the big leagues this season, Victor could basically stay at first, and Shoppach could be moved for another piece, since they will need something, somewhere, eventually...