While the Braves occupy their familiar place atop the division, winning a league-best 70% of their games, the rest of the division features a resurgent Montreal, a Mets team playing well over .500, a Marlins team playing a little under .500 and an ugly Phillies team that would be in the league’s cellar if not…
To my mind, the biggest story in the National League so far is the struggle of the Houston Astros. The three-time NL Central champs are in last place this season, with the second-worst record in the league (moving up from worst just last night). The team ERA is 14th in the league, and even after…
Raves for Rafael (And the Braves) Barely a month ago, I wrote that the Braves were taking a needless risk in rushing Rafael Furcal straight from A ball to the major leagues. While the financial ramifications are still going to crop up down the road, it is fairly obvious that from a talent standpoint, Bobby…
Yesterday’s light slate of games gives me a chance to step back and see what’s interesting around the AL. NL fans, take heart: I’ll cover your turf Wednesday. When baseball realigned in 1994, one of the major objections that was raised was the possibility of an under-.500 team winning one of the four-team divisions. In…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed RHP Jason Dickson on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 5/15 (tendinitis – hip); purchased the contract of RHP Brett Hinchliffe; transferred RHP Tim Belcher from the 15- to the 60-day DL. [5/19] It looks like the Angels rushed Jason Dickson back to no good end. Coming on the heels of losing Ken…
Read the material here at BP.com for any length of time and you’ll notice certain themes running through the writing. One of the ones we’re known to pound incessantly is the idea that pitchers, especially young ones, need to be handled carefully. Rany Jazayerli’s Pitcher Abuse Points system is an outgrowth of that belief and…
THOSE WACKY CUBS FANS “A fan came down and hit one of our guys [Chad Kreuter] in the back of the head. Literally punched him in the back of the head when he wasn’t looking. And he took his hat. That’s how the whole thing started.” — Todd Hundley, Dodgers catcher “I was worried. I’m…
Running with the Pack For better or worse, "parity" has been a buzzword in the NFL for the last decade or so. It’s the result of league rules that reward poor performance with a creampuff schedule that enables perennial sad sacks to sign Arena League quarterbacks and win the Super Bowl. Baseball’s economic disparities and…
Taking advantage of the Yankees’ complete inability to put runs on the board, the Red Sox moved into first place in the AL East this week. While the 1999 wild-card team was often referred to–OK, mostly by me–as a two-man team of Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, the 2000 version is showing considerably more depth…
No, I’m not predicting anything, just taking a look at some of the things to watch for around baseball this weekend. The race is on to see which bullpen will actually spontaneously combust first, that of the Orioles or the Cubs. The Cubs have been victimized by their relief core for the entire season, and…
One of the more regular complaints about the staff of Baseball Prospectus is that we’re prospectaholics. It’s a fair charge, because I know that we as a group, and myself in particular, are hard-core believers in the idea that minor-league performance can tell us how well players can play at the major-league level. What we…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed SS Gary DiSarcina on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 5/9; recalled 2B Trent Durrington from Edmonton. [5/11] Placed LHP Kent Mercker on the 15-day DL (cerebral hematoma). [5/12] Outrighted C Bret Hemphill to Edmonton. [5/15] Optioned 2B Trent Durrington to Edmonton; purchased the contract of 2B Keith Luuloa from Edmonton. [5/16] Hats…
As everyone now knows, Tuesday night’s Cubs-Dodgers game was notable for more than just Don Baylor’s new formula for losing ballgames–leave the starter in to die. It also introduced America to what has been a long-term problem at Wrigley Field: lousy security and half-assed attempts by the Cubs’ organization to dodge responsibility for it. Just…
As we approach the quarter mark of the season, many people are starting to assemble "surprises and disappointments" lists. Some of these lists reflect a lack of careful analysis–such as any comments about Dante Bichette‘s inept performance–but another widely-ignored problem is whether the quarter of the season just played will be representative of the season…
Taking Their Chances with Lee Stevens Through May 14th, free-swinging superstar Vladimir Guerrero has drawn 16 walks–but 10 of them (62.5%) were intentional. The highest ratio of intentional walks to overall walks since statkeepers started differentiating between them in 1955 (minimum 400 AB): Name Year IBB BB Ratio Manny Sanguillen 1971 13 19 .684 Joe…
Ho-hum. Just another run-of-the-mill evening at North America’s ballparks: In Montreal, the Expos pulled off the unlikely feat of beating Randy Johnson, as Javier Vazquez continued his delayed emergence as one of the National League’s best starters. Vazquez tossed eight shutout innings in the 2-0 win, and since his demotion last June, has an ERA…