Random Baseball Musings

[OleMissCub]

fat Nick Johnson is still in baseball...I'll be damned

[El Duderino]

too bad the bryce harper thread was hijacked:

 

Bryce Harper needed 10 stitches above his left eye after slamming his bat up against a wall and having it bounce back and hit him in the head.

Harper took his frustrations out on the wall after making an out in the seventh inning. However, the wall was victorious. Fortunately Harper didn't feel dazed and managed to avoid any serious injury. Nationals manager Davey Johnson hinted that he might have to miss a couple games, but the 19-year-old outfielder doesn't intend to miss any time.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

fat Nick Johnson is still in baseball...I'll be damned

 

I'll always remember Nick Johnson as the guy who did this:

 

1999 20 Norwich EL AA NYY

132 G

581 PA

420 ABs

114 R

145 H

33 2B

5 3B

14 HR

87 RBI

123 BB

88 K

 

.345/.525/.548/1.073

 

He was a pretty good young 1B but injuries always messed him up. Awesome skillset but never a real athletic body and looked 30 when he was 22, which is all easy to say with hindsight. Probably my ideal skillset, even with the HR power. Big fan of guys like him or Wade Boggs (or most any great hitter) who could make a contact, still draw a bunch of walks (though Jeter never walked much and he was a highly skilled hitter) hit doubles and worked the gaps, played D, and hit for average. He just didn't work out. Sans walks, that's why Castro is a future superstar if he keeps developing, and why I have some optimism in The Vitters pulling out a career.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

too bad the bryce harper thread was hijacked:

 

Bryce Harper needed 10 stitches above his left eye after slamming his bat up against a wall and having it bounce back and hit him in the head.

Harper took his frustrations out on the wall after making an out in the seventh inning. However, the wall was victorious. Fortunately Harper didn't feel dazed and managed to avoid any serious injury. Nationals manager Davey Johnson hinted that he might have to miss a couple games, but the 19-year-old outfielder doesn't intend to miss any time.

 

Rotfl that guy is such a Grade A level douche.

 

He's probably some kind of experiment.

[Post Count Padder]

fat Nick Johnson is still in baseball...I'll be damned

 

I'll always remember Nick Johnson as the guy who did this:

 

1999 20 Norwich EL AA NYY

132 G

581 PA

420 ABs

114 R

145 H

33 2B

5 3B

14 HR

87 RBI

123 BB

88 K

 

.345/.525/.548/1.073

 

He was a pretty good young 1B but injuries always messed him up. Awesome skillset but never a real athletic body and looked 30 when he was 22, which is all easy to say with hindsight. Probably my ideal skillset, even with the HR power. Big fan of guys like him or Wade Boggs (or most any great hitter) who could make a contact, still draw a bunch of walks (though Jeter never walked much and he was a highly skilled hitter) hit doubles and worked the gaps, played D, and hit for average. He just didn't work out. Sans walks, that's why Castro is a future superstar if he keeps developing, and why I have some optimism in The Vitters pulling out a career.

He had a few good seasons, most notably 2006 (.946 OPS, 4.6 bWAR). As you said, he had all the right skills but injuries took their toll. An holy ish, I coulda sworn he was at least 36. He's 33.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

Yeah he's as close to a Prior as the Yankees get...Had he grabbed 1B by the balls in 2001 (and not get hurt all the time) they might not have spent 300 million on the position since then.

 

That and I think Steinbrenner wanted to spend and didn't like the fact that he was 22 and doughy.

[OleMissCub]

Pat Listach was AL Rookie of the Year in 1992. Wasn't aware of that for some reason.

[El Duderino]

Mitch Williams in rare form tonight on MLB Network. He wants the Phillies to trade Hamels for Trumbo and... Jerome Williams.

[XZero771679666304]

Mitch Williams in rare form tonight on MLB Network. He wants the Phillies to trade Hamels for Trumbo and... Jerome Williams.

 

 

Well god knows Mitch doesn't want Trumbo at 1B. He probably expects a red carpet and rose petals to be laid out for Howard when he comes back. I've rarely seen a guy all over another's jock as squarely as Williams is planted on Ryan Howard's.

 

And I'm not surprised he'd trade Hamels for Trumbo, Mitch is a true HR/RBI guy.

 

I love MLB Network, but Wild Thing is a freaking caveman.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

Mitch Williams in rare form tonight on MLB Network. He wants the Phillies to trade Hamels for Trumbo and... Jerome Williams.

 

I'm learning that Mitch Williams is a sensational analyst on the most nonsense events and rumors.

[TruffleShuffle]

Mitch Williams in rare form tonight on MLB Network. He wants the Phillies to trade Hamels for Trumbo and... Jerome Williams.

 

that's not a bad idea if you replace jerome williams with mike trout.

[Smack]

How the hell did I not know that Max Scherzer has two different colored eyes?

[otis89]

How the hell did I not know that Max Scherzer has two different colored eyes?

 

I don't know how you missed that. It only got mentioned every time he pitched against the Cubs.

[Mark Priors Calves]

How the hell did I not know that Max Scherzer has two different colored eyes?

He's awesome simply for that reason. Heterochromians unite!

[Little Slide Rooter]

With the retirement of Kerry Wood, there are now 2 players remaining from the 1st round of the 2005 Amateur Draft Class. They're both pretty good.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Major_League_Baseball_Draft

[Garwilly]

With the retirement of Kerry Wood, there are now 2 players remaining from the 1st round of the 2005 Amateur Draft Class. They're both pretty good.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Major_League_Baseball_Draft

 

Braun and Tulo? :lol:

[evv98]

With the retirement of Kerry Wood, there are now 2 players remaining from the 1st round of the 2005 Amateur Draft Class. They're both pretty good.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Major_League_Baseball_Draft

 

The best of the entire daft....Tom Brady?

[Careless]

Scorecenter's fact of the day: Hamilton is the first player with 6 homers in a series since ex-cub

hee seop Choi

[El Duderino]

Chris Perez shut the door on the Marlins Saturday, striking out the side en route to his 13th save.

What did he do to celebrate another great performance? Mr. Perez ripped Cleveland's fans, of course. He told reporters, amongst other things, that he wasn't happy that home fans booed him two outings ago against the Mariners and that free agents -- he cited Carlos Beltran -- don't sign with the Indians because of a lack of fan support. Even ardent supporters of Perez in-town may now echo the sentiments of his detractors and call for a trade of the husky stopper to open the ninth-inning job for Vinnie Pestano. Unfortunately for Perez, his mouth has detracted from what has been a fabulous season thus far. Since imploding on Opening Day, he is 13-for-13 in save conversions to go with a 1.72 ERA, 15/4 K/BB rate and .153 BAA.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

I can sympathize with a player mad that his team didn't sign Carlos Beltran when he's on the FA market just sitting there. Maybe not so much this time but still...

[treebird]

if the indians trade him because their stupid fans are mad about what he says while pitching great, he will have been proven correct

[Careless]

That leg surgery on Mark Ellis apparently was even more serious than first suspected.

 

Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said Sunday if the surgery had not been performed that Ellis was mere hours away from losing his lower left leg.

 

Mattingly said Dr. Neal ElAttrache told him the muscle might have died if surgeons had performed the fasciotomy six or seven hours later.

link Done by a Cardinal, of course.

[El Duderino]

Clay Bucholz is 4-2 with a 7.77 ERA.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

To be fair Buchholz has a 6.83 FIP and 5.23 xFIP.

 

Remember when Justin Smoak was supposed to be good? Guy was barely league average last year and this year he just plain sucks. He's got a .421 OPS at home and a .669 OPS on the road this year so maybe he hates SafeCo. Problem with that is last year he OPS'd .771 at home and .674 on the road. He's not even showing some patience this year.

 

I'd still try to buy low on him if I was a crappy team barren of talent and power potential. He might be able to resurrect a career somehow, but things are just not going as expected right now for this guy.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

In other news the ancient Cliff Lee, 33, is kicking ass and taking names:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/daily-notes-a-more-better-cliff-lee/

 

Even MORE ancient Roy Halladay, 35, is still doing just fine for himself:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1303&position=P

 

Come ooooon Cole Hamels 2013! Make it happen Ricketts/Epstein/Hoyer!