Mephistopheles

I don't have to say anything to back this claim up. It's simply a statement of the obvious. They mean something.

Another (wrong) post.

34 and never 21.

I suspect Meph probably won. I thought his asking was his way of bragging. I could be wrong. And BTW, this year we have an entry called Meth's System Picks. :D I did win. I haven't signed up this year yet.

Nope, that wouldn't be it either.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2009 Prospects IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP Opponent Notes --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Strasburg, Stephen.. 7.0 6 2 2 1 14 26 28 W (4-0) vs UNLV 2. White, Alex......... 6.0 5 3 2 4 8 24 28 108 W (3-0) vs Virginia Tech 3. Gibson, Kyle........ 9.0 6 0 0 4 11 32 36 124 W (3-1) vs #1 Texas 4. Volz, Kendall....... 7.0 3 4 4 3 9 22 30 106 L (1-1) vs #3 Texas A&M 5. Oliver, Andrew...... 7.0 9 6 5 1 8 28 30 L (3-1) vs #6 Cal State Fullerton 6. Minor, Mike......... 4.1 7 6 5 1 3 20 22 81 L (1-1) vs #14 Ole Miss 7. Leake, Mike......... 7.0 7 2 1 0 3 25 28 86 L (3-1) vs Kansas State 8. Smith, Blake........ 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 10 vs #24 Cal Poly 9. Tootle, Ben......... 5.0 3 1 1 3 4 18 22 78 W (1-0) vs Samford 4.2 5 5 4 4 3 17 23 99 vs Indiana 10. Heckathorn, Kyle.... 7.0 5 2 1 1 9 26 28 106 W vs #21 Kent State 11. Inman, Jeff......... Did Not Pitch - Stanford had week off 12. Tolleson, Shawn..... Did Not Pitch - Elbow 13. Lyons, Tyler........ 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 4 4 vs Arizona 8.0 12 6 6 1 6 36 38 W (3-0) vs #6 Cal State Fullerton 14. McRee, Alex......... Did Not Pitch - Rain Out 15. Wilson, Alex........ 6.1 5 4 4 0 8 23 24 105 W (2-2) vs #5 Baylor 16. Stillings, Brad..... 5.1 5 2 2 6 6 19 25 108 vs Kennesaw State 17. Thomson, Matt....... 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 4 5 vs #9 Rice 18. Morgado, Bryan...... 0.0 1 2 0 0 0 2 2 vs Louisville 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 vs Auburn 19. Fritsch, Craig...... 1.0 3 4 4 1 0 5 8 37 L (1-2) vs #3 Texas A&M 20. Dyson, Sam.......... 4.1 9 8 7 2 6 22 26 95 L (2-1) vs Mississippi State UR. Dwyer, Chris........ 7.0 6 2 2 2 5 26 29 W (2-0) vs Wake Forest --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010 Prospects IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP Opponent Notes --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Harvey, Matt........ 4.0 2 2 2 2 5 13 17 74 vs Virginia Tech 2. Loux, Barret........ Did Not Pitch - Rain Out 3. Solis, Sammy........ Did Not Pitch - Rain Out 4. Workman, Brandon.... 7.0 2 0 0 2 7 21 23 96 W (3-1) vs Missouri 5. Blair, Kyle......... 8.0 7 4 1 1 9 33 34 L (1-1) vs #9 Rice 6. Pomeranz, Drew...... 4.0 4 3 2 5 5 17 22 104 vs Vanderbilt 7. Hernandez, Chris.... 6.0 6 4 2 1 5 24 26 97 vs Duke 8. Ranaudo, Anthony.... 6.0 6 3 3 3 13 22 29 110 vs Kentucky 9. Tepesch, Nick....... 8.0 7 2 2 3 4 28 33 103 vs #1 Texas 10. Alexander, Scott.... 2.0 3 3 3 3 2 9 12 49 vs Wichita State 11. McGuire, Deck....... 7.0 9 4 2 4 7 29 34 121 W (4-0) vs Boston College 12. Bettis, Chad........ 2.0 1 0 0 1 2 5 8 34 vs Nebraska 4.1 3 0 0 2 4 15 17 W (2-0) vs Nebraska 13. Eibner, Brett....... 1.1 5 3 2 0 1 8 11 42 L (1-2) vs Centenary 14. Ruffin, Chance...... 8.1 5 2 2 1 3 29 31 104 L (3-1) vs Missouri 15. Raley, Brooks....... 8.0 4 1 1 1 9 27 28 115 W (4-0) vs #5 Baylor 16. Rasmussen, Rob...... 2.0 7 7 7 1 2 13 16 67 vs East Carolina 17. Robles, Tanner...... Did Not Pitch 18. Danieli, Evan....... Did Not Pitch - MRI on Shoulder 19. Osich, Josh......... Did Not Pitch 20. Green, Cole......... 5.0 6 3 3 2 3 21 24 78 vs Missouri UR. Goeddel, Erik....... Did Not Pitch --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2011 Prospects IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP Opponent Notes --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Cole, Gerrit........ 5.0 3 3 3 1 12 19 20 89 vs East Carolina 2. Meyer, Alex......... 6.0 0 0 0 1 6 18 19 71 W (1-1) vs Georgetown 5.0 2 3 3 5 6 15 22 93 L (1-1) vs #4 LSU 3. Maronde, Nick....... 5.0 4 2 1 1 5 20 21 94 vs #18 Arkansas 4. Gray, Sonny......... 3.2 2 1 1 2 3 12 14 W (1-0) vs #14 Mississippi 5. Monneyham, Brett.... Did Not Pitch - Stanford had week off 6. Hultzen, Danny...... 7.0 4 1 1 2 13 23 26 115 W (4-0) vs Florida State 7. Jungmann, Taylor.... 4.0 0 0 0 2 4 12 14 67 W (3-0) vs Missouri 8. Winkler, Kyle....... Did Not Pitch - Rain Out 9. Palazzone, Michael.. 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 3 4 vs Le Moyne 2.2 4 3 3 2 4 13 15 vs Alabama 10. Pill, Tyler......... 7.0 11 3 3 0 5 31 31 W (3-0) vs Rhode Island 11. O'Sullivan, Ryan.... 4.1 8 5 5 2 2 19 22 79 vs UCLA 12. Cooper, Jordan...... 7.0 6 1 1 0 8 26 28 95 W (2-0) vs #11 Pepperdine 13. Hales, Ross......... 1.2 3 2 2 0 3 8 8 35 vs #6 Cal State Fullerton 14. Dicharry, Austin.... Rain Out - Starts 3/17 vs Rice 15. Roach, Donnie....... 2.0 0 0 0 1 1 6 7 vs Michigan 16. Tanner, Cecil....... 4.0 3 2 0 1 2 15 16 W (2-0) vs Le Moyne 1.2 1 0 0 0 3 6 6 24 vs Alabamaa 17. Marrs, Daniel....... 0.2 1 0 0 1 0 3 4 17 vs Winthrop 18. Moore, Navery....... Did Not Pitch 19. Denhardt, Mike...... Did Not Pitch - Rain Out 20. Carpenter, Ryan..... 7.0 9 2 2 2 10 27 29 113 W (3-1) vs Utah Valley ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't think he can hit a fastball going for his head.

You didn't answer the question. There is only one correct answer. And it has nothing to do with baseball.

Who won last year?

Damn, Danny Hultzen had another superlative outing and has emerged as Virginia's friday starter. He's been by the far the best freshman SP thus far. Start by start: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2011 Prospects IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP Opponent --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2/21 Hultzen, Danny...... 6.0 6 0 0 0 5 23 24 W (1-0) vs Bucknell 2/27 Hultzen, Danny...... 6.0 6 2 0 1 12 25 26 110 W (2-0) vs Fordham 3/6 Hultzen, Danny...... 7.0 5 2 2 2 9 26 28 106 W (3-0) vs Wake Forest 3/13 Hultzen, Danny...... 7.0 4 1 1 2 13 23 26 115 W (4-0) vs Florida State Hultzen is a projectable lefty who runs his fastball in the low 90s. He would have been a shoe-in for the first or second round had he been signable. He's a legit two way guy.

Stephen Strasburg Pri-O-Meter --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date Name IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP Opponent --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2/20 Strasburg, Stephen.. 5.2 3 1 0 2 11 20 23 105 W (1-0) vs Bethune-Cookman 2/26 Strasburg, Stephen.. 6.2 5 2 2 1 16 25 26 111 W (2-0) vs Nevada 3/6 Strasburg, Stephen.. 8.0 5 2 2 1 18 28 29 116 W (3-0) vs #11 San Diego 3/13 Strasburg, Stephen.. 7.0 6 2 2 1 14 26 28 W (4-0) vs UNLV --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year Name IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ERA W L --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2007 Strasburg, Stephen.. 37.0 18 11 10 15 47 128 151 2.43 1 3 2008 Strasburg, Stephen.. 97.1 61 25 17 16 133 337 366 1.57 8 3 2009 Strasburg, Stephen.. 27.1 19 7 6 5 59 99 106 1.98 4 0

I think it's rather ridiculous to dismiss the inordinately heavy workload and mistreatment of Prior simply because the evidence isn't conclusive. At his age, the amount of high pitch count games, back to back, and going back in after a shoulder injury, was bound to contribute to injury. It's not just three random games. It was something like a 20-game stretch of just ridiculous treatment. Ask yourself this: Why is a 120 pitch count a high pitch count?

Strasburg has 12 K's through 5 innings.

He goes C/OF right now. With his size, speed and arm strength, he's projected to end up a prototypical 5-tool OF. He's also the next Boras phenom. Tallion is already a Rice commit and has had his eyes on attending Rice since he was in diapers. Rice almost never loses its comments, no matter who they are.

at their position* There hasn't been a HS catcher like Mauer....well ever and there isn't one on the near horizon. There hasn't been a RHP prospect like Prior...since Clemens, if even then. And Strasburg's still a cut below. There hasn't been a college 1B prospect like Tex since...and there isn't one in college now. Bryce Harper could be the best HS OF prospect since Josh Hamilton. Jameson Tallion could be the best HS RHP prospect since Josh Beckett, but *shudder* he could be unsignable. Though he needs some work on his secondary pitches. I'll probably get out and see him Tuesday.

Well my point is that I think Strasburg will experience major shoulder surgery at some point in the near future, or at the very least, tommy john. His mechanics aren't outstanding like Prior's (were supposed to be...) and his delivery is similar to Prior's in that he puts a ton of stress on his labrum and he throws in excess of 95+ consistently (ie TJ likelihood). You'd think that Strasburg was a bigger risk than Prior, health-wise. That being said, in 2001 there were three guys who were once in a decade type prospects (Mauer, Teixeira and Prior). There's a significant drop off after Strasburg. Perhaps if a freak of nature like Bryce Harper was in this draft, you'd be able to go either way. There just isn't a guy like that.

If you flip a coin and it's on heads nine times in a row, does that mean that that you're certainly going to flip it on tails the next time?

Let's take the pitchers with 30+ GS in 2003. +-----------+-------------+------+ | namefirst | namelast | GS | +-----------+-------------+------+ | Greg | Maddux | 36 | | Roy | Halladay | 36 | | Barry | Zito | 35 | | Mark | Buehrle | 35 | | John | Thomson | 35 |* | Kevin | Millwood | 35 |* | Russ | Ortiz | 34 |* | Wayne | Franklin | 34 |# | Ben | Sheets | 34 |* | Esteban | Loaiza | 34 |* | Bartolo | Colon | 34 |* | Tomokazu | Ohka | 34 | | Tim | Hudson | 34 |* | Javier | Vazquez | 34 | | Jamie | Moyer | 33 | | Woody | Williams | 33 |* | Mike | Maroth | 33 | | Hideo | Nomo | 33 |# | Roger | Clemens | 33 | | Tim | Wakefield | 33 | | John | Lackey | 33 | | Brian | Lawrence | 33 |* | Derek | Lowe | 33 | | Randy | Wolf | 33 | | Livan | Hernandez | 33 | | Kyle | Lohse | 33 | | Brad | Radke | 33 |* | Steve | Trachsel | 33 | | Andy | Pettitte | 33 |* | Wade | Miller | 33 |* | Freddy | Garcia | 33 |* | Tom | Glavine | 32 |* | Matt | Clement | 32 |* | Joel | Pineiro | 32 |* | Jake | Peavy | 32 | | Brad | Penny | 32 |* | Ramon | Ortiz | 32 | | Jon | Garland | 32 | | Ryan | Franklin | 32 | | Brett | Tomko | 32 | | Jason | Jennings | 32 |* | Kevin | Brown | 32 |* | Tim | Redding | 32 |* | Gil | Meche | 32 | | Nate | Cornejo | 32 |* | Vicente | Padilla | 32 |* | Brett | Myers | 32 | | Carlos | Zambrano | 32 | | Kerry | Wood | 32 |* | Carl | Pavano | 32 |* | Jason | Johnson | 32 | | Darren | Oliver | 32 | | Jarrod | Washburn | 32 | | Darrell | May | 32 | | Jae Weong | Seo | 31 | | Kenny | Rogers | 31 |* | Jeriome | Robertson | 31 | | Sidney | Ponson | 31 |* | Cory | Lidle | 31 | | Matt | Kinney | 31 |# | Jeff | Suppan | 31 | | Mike | Mussina | 31 | | Mike | Hampton | 31 |* | Ted | Lilly | 31 | | Brian | Anderson | 31 |* | Adam | Eaton | 31 |* | Kip | Wells | 31 |* | Mark | Hendrickson | 30 | | C.C. | Sabathia | 30 | | John | Burkett | 30 | | Elmer | Dessens | 30 |# | Odalis | Perez | 30 |* | David | Wells | 30 | | Al | Leiter | 30 |* | Mark | Prior | 30 |* +-----------+-------------+------+ * denotes they missed significant time with an arm related injury (not all but most req'd surgery), # denotes they suck and really shouldn't count because they weren't going to be starters the entire time like Darren Oliver, or they retired right during or after. There were 75 total 4 I DQ'd 33 had major arm injurys. That's 46%. 50% was a ballpark figure. I'd say I was in the ballpark. Disclaimer: There may be a few guys I missed in each direction. It's late and I am tired. Either way my 50% ballpark figure isn't completely out of line.

The typical starting pitcher is expected to have at least 1 or 2 major arm surgeries at some point in their career. It's just a given. It doesn't matter if they throw 90 pitches a game or 140 pitches. Based on that, you'd say the likelihood of a pitcher having a major arm injury in a given season is say, 10%, as a rough indicator. Then over the course of say, five seasons, well by that time there's about a 50% chance they have an injury, as a rough indicator. The stat this guy provided is useless and doesn't hold an ounce of statistical credibility. Period.

To be fair, Minnesota Twins were talking about being contracted in 2001. They didn't choose Mark Prior because of his contract demands. How'd that turn out?

Meph: I'll take NSBB delusions for $400. Alex: Answer, Dusty Baker wrecked Mark Prior with his pitch counts in his last three starts of 2003. *buzz* Alex: Meph, Meph: What is not True? Alex: Correct!

It wouldn't have mattered.

at least kiffin's a colorful guy like meyer, saban, spurrier and miles. unfortunately for him they have a combined five national titles and he has a combined five wins as a head coach at any level.

wiki standpoint would be good, though policing it would be a bitch.

I do think it's a good trade. I support this move 100%.