Big Time Bats in the Playoffs - NL

Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds

Buster Posey, SF Giants

Martin Prado, Atlanta Braves

Jayson Werth, Washington Nationals

Carlos Beltran, St. Louis Cardinals

The Kuroda Factor

You can look up and down the Yankees lineup and you'd recognize many of the names - Jeter, Granderson Rodriguez, Teixeira, Cano, Sabathia, Pettitte - but there is one name you rarely hear anything about.

Hiroki Kuroda.

Dude just gets it done.  Sure, his record is a mediocre 6-6.  No, he doesn't have the eye-popping strikeout numbers of Sabathia.  He's not dialing it up there at 93-94 like Nova, Hughes, or Sabathia.

But he take the ball every fifth day and gets after it.

Shit, in four of his six losses, they "vaunted" Yankees offense has scored one or no runs.  In his six wins, they've scored 5, 2, 6, 2, 9, and 3.  Not exactly the best run support.  Actually, they score just 4.54 runs a game for this him, worst among their starters, by far. Pettitte gets almost 6 runs a game, Hughes gets almost seven per game, Nova almost 7.5, and CC just over 7.

Do the Yankees like this guy like I do?

And his name is just fun to say - Hiroki Kuroda.

He's only had one season (out of four complete MLB seasons) where he's finished over .500 - 2009 with the Dodgers, when he was 8-7.  His worst season ERA?  3.76.  He's five games under .500 for his career with a 3.45 career ERA.  Tough luck, I guess.

You never hear anything bad about this guy.  His contract - a whopping $10 million a year - is a little outrageous.  He's 37 years old, so he's not exactly a young buck.  He's in his 16th season as a professional.

I thought it was a great sign when they got him and I am sticking by that.  The guy is no-nonsense, gives you a chance to win (the vast majority of the time), and is tough.

Hiroki Kuroda deserves another season over .500. 

If he continues to pitch like he is in June, he makes the Yankees even tougher.  In June, by far his best month, he's 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 20 innings (3 starts).

Of course tonight he's struggling a little bit as the game with the Braves is currently 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth.

Superhero Pitchers (Super Powers)

This year, like many in recent memory, seems to be the year of the pitcher.  Here are five of the toughest to hit against in the majors this season.

I have included record (which isn't always a good indicator of super power-dom), innings pitched (which helps any team), hits (against, of course), extra base hits allowed (none are Mets and none are Rockies, so fence depth and altitude don't factor in), strikeouts (measures their ability to put away hitters), batting average against (which is what this chart is based on), ERA (duh!), and finally their super power.

The super powers are equipped with links that clearly indicate what their powers are.

Behold, the Fearsome Fivesome!

Pitcher	Team	W-L	IP	H	XBH	K	BAA	ERA	Super Power
Gio Gonzalez	WAS	7-1*	61.2	33*	13	79	.156*	2.04	Slings 93.2 (mph)
Brandon Beachy	ATL	5-3	66.0	43	11	51	.182	1.77*	Fabulous Forearms
CJ Wilson	LAA	6-4	65.0	43	9*	59	.185	2.77	Locks(ing) Up Hitters; Tattoo
Justin Verlander	DET	5-3	81.1*	56	18	82*	.190	2.55	Inning Eating Machine; Electric Arm (94.5 mph)
Chris Capuano	LAD	7-1*	63.0	42	15	58	.190	2.14	High Socks

Fernando Rodney - "Best" Closer in 2012

The final was set and decided just now - Rays pitcher Fernando Rodney is the "best" closer in baseball this season.

Due to the fact that the Braves have hit the skids a little bit of late, Craig Kimbrel's run came to an end.

Chris Perez of the Indians has come on like a ball of fire lately and is currently tied for the Major League lead in saves with 16, but he was eliminated in the Round of Eight, by Rodney.

Here's a look at the final bracket.  Rodney has lowered his ERA 0.11 and his WHIP by 0.10 since the Tournament began and has allowed only two baserunners in that span (4 games).

Time to think of something else to chart about. 

CONGRATULATIONS FERNANDO RODNEY!!!

Oddities

• Tigers closer Jose Valverde was perfect in save chances last season - 49 for 49.  He blew one this year in his first chance, against the Red Sox.  He did pick up the win, however.
• The Mets are 4-0?  Really?
• The Rays and Padres are the only two teams with a grand slam
• The Padres are hitting .266 in day games compared to .109 in night games
• The Phillies have only 4 extra base hits - Hunter Pence has a 2B and HR, John Mayberry and Freddy Galvis have a 2B each
• The New York Yankees pitching staff has the 2nd worst WHIP at 1.74 (Atlanta is 1.78)
• The Red Sox have the worst ERA in the majors at 6.75
• The Rays are the only team with a BB:K ratio instead of a K:BB ratio
• The Braves and Twins remain the only two teams without a win

Have a great Tuesday, freaks.

Instagram Feature; MLB Opening Weekend

Instagram Feature
If you've been thinking to yourself, "there sure are a lot of pictures on the top of this page" when you check out WRT, you're right, there are.  My Instagram feed is fed right to the blog.

Thanks to the people at Instagram for bringing their platform over to Android.  I can finally snap and shoot photos with my phone and share them with the world.  There's plenty of filter options to make it look like I'm a really good photographer.  I promise not to take pictures of the sky - those are severely played out and have become boring to look at - unless it's a kick ass shot.  And I am not a hipster.

MLB Opening Weekend Storylines
Baseball season is here and so are the premature headlines that are shaping the baseball world.

Here's some shocking stories and some that aren't so shocking.

• SHOCKER - The New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles are both 3-0.  They swept the Braves at Citi Field, holding them to just seven runs while scoring twelve of their own.  Johan Santana was the only starter not to get a W (Niese and Dickey both got W's).  Lucas Duda has two homeruns and David Wright is hitting .667.  For the O's, the pitching has been the story - 5 runs allowed in their three-game sweep in Minnesota.
• NO SHOCK - The World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals are picking up right where they left off and are 3-1.  They beat the Marlins in the first game stateside and then took 2 of 3 from the Prince-less Brewers.  They did all this on the road.  Carlos Beltran looks rejuvenated and Lance Lynn threw an absolute gem, striking out eight Brewers in 6.2 innings on Easter Sunday.
• SHOCKER - Yankees and Red Sox are both 0-3.  The good news for the Bombers is that the last time they started 0-3, they won 114 games and the World Series in 1998.  They got dominated by the Rays, who many experts believe will win the AL East.  Bobby Valentine was hoping to have a better start, but his Red Sox were swept by the Tigers.  They coughed up a ninth-inning lead and an eleventh-inning lead yesterday - you think they miss Papelbon?
• NO SHOCK - The Twins lack of offense.  Justin Morneau, Denard Span, and Josh Willingham are the only three with more than one hit.  Joe Mauer is hitting .100.  Mauer and Morneau are really the only two Twins who can do some damage.  It's going to be a long season in Minnesota.

Some "By The Numbers" stuff.

•  4 - Players with 3 HR's - Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Miguel Cabrera, and Corey Hart
• 10 - # of hits for Rafael Furcal, the only player in the majors with double digit hits
• 1 - Duane Below of the Tigers is the only pitcher with 2 wins - both in relief.
• 3 - Saves (2) + Wins (1) for Rays reliever Fernando Rodney, in 1.2 innings pitched
• 2 - Losses by Red Sox reliever Mark Melancon in his 1 inning pitched this season
• .500 - Fielding percentage of Angels 3B Mark Trumbo (3 errors in 6 total chances, in 2 games)
• #8 - Kurt Suzuki has thrown out 3 of 8 runners - the 5 SBA in four games is alarming for the pitchers
• 5 - # of teams sitting at 3-0 as well as teams stuck at 0-3

Let's remember, it's only three games (four for some).  I am not hitting the panic button with the Yankees nor am I anointing the Orioles the favorite in the AL East.  It is what it is, one weekend.  There are still 158/159 games to - buckle up.

White Stuff Falls; Hard Ball

We got around 8" of snow here in the Bronx overnight and the sun is shining right now, at 11:13am.  The roads are clear (the corners are dirty snow) and traffic is moving.  Alternate side parking is suspended today and tomorrow, so luckily I won't have to move my car out of the Wednesday spot behind my building.  They say suspending alternate side facilitates snow removal, which I can't figure out.

Just a lazy day in the Bronx today.  Lindsay whipped up some pancakes for breakfast and is currently in a press conference delay, keeping her from watching The View. 

I'm sorry to all the NYC school teachers - Bloomberg didn't cancel classes.  The way they were talking about this storm, I figured it'd be snowing when I woke up.  Such was not the case.  It was a lot of snow, but it was light snow.  Powder I think is the correct term.  Nathan loved it.  He'll get another crack at it around noon, when we head out for his afternoon stroll and run in the dog park.

All this white snow makes me think of making snowballs, which, you guessed it, reminds me of baseball.

Yankees baseball.

Rumor has it the Yanks are in talks with super-agent Scott Boras about adding OF Andruw Jones for the 2011 season.  The same one who played at Yankee Stadium as a teenager playing in the World Series for the Braves.  Now 33 years-old, he hit .230 with 19 jacks for the White Sox last year.  They better not overpay for this guy, but he does have some tools.

Also rumblings out of the Bronx indicate the Bombers are looking to add former A's stud but recently injury-prone P Justin Duchscherer.  He's only been healthy for 28+ innings the past two seasons, but what got him noticed was back in 2004-2006 when he put up some gaudy numbers coming out of the pen.  In 2008, his last healthy season, he was 10-8 with a 2.54 ERA in 141 innings pitched (he started all 22 appearances).  Would be a nice addition to the Yankees, seeing how the pitching staff has been the downfall of late.  Bring in the DUKE!

Andy Pettitte, a fan favorite in the Bronx, is still unsure of his future.  I really hope he comes back for one more year.  It's not like he's hanging on for another paycheck, I honestly think he's still got something left in the tank.  Dude was 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA last year and threw two gems in the postseason.  Sure, he was on the shelf for all of August.  Sure, he's 38 years-old.  Bring it back for one more year Andy.

Time to take Nathan out.  Jerry Springer is on.  Can't believe he's still on TV.  Or that we're watching it.  It's comic relief and makes you realize how good you actually have it, compared to these honky-tonks.

Here we come snow!

Baseball and Birthdays

Well, the Yankees almost pulled it off last night against the Phillies.  Brad Lidge's ERA went up from a 1.12 to a 2.00 and he made the game pretty interesting.  He's been pretty automatic since he's been healthy this season, so it was good that the Yanks showed a little fight.  I was on the flight back from Dallas, so I missed it.  We flew AirTran but I wish I would have gone JetBlue.  AirTran has some of the most cramped seating of any airline I've ever been on.  K, K, BB, 2B, 1B, K.  He struck out the side, but all the drama started with a two-out walk to Mark Teixeira and could have ended with a walk-off. 

The Rays are reeling (7-6 in June), the Yankees have been fairly steady (10-4 in June), as are the Sox (10-5 in June).  The Blue Jays have fallen back down to Earth and the O's are still looking for an answer.  Shaping up to be a three horse race again, for like the fifth straight season. 

I am going to the Yankees game tonight - and am just counting my blessings I don't have to suffer through a Jamie Moyer start.  Kyle Kendrick vs. Andy Pettitte.  Andy is going for win #201 as a Yankee and #238 overall.  He is putting up incredible numbers thus far, with his only real bad outing being against the Rays on May 20th (5 IP, 9 H, 7 R) in am 8-6 loss.  Looking forward to the game - it's always nice seeing a game at the Stadium, freaking thing is awesome.  It's really a sight to be seen.

The Rays are on the docket too, as Big Game James Shields takes on Tim Hudson in Atlanta.  The Yanks could take over first place tonight.  Hudson has been nothing short of dominant this year (6-2, 2.43 ERA).  He's had some command issues (30 BB in 85.1 IP) but has pitched out of the jams for the most part.  His last outing was a 2-1 CG loss to the Twins (8 IP, 7 H, 2 K).  When he's on, he's tough to hit.  Let's go Timmy.

Party at the "Copacabana", Barry Manilow turns 64 years old today.  He's still knocking them dead - I mean he should be, he's probably had a lot of $$ pumped in and out of his face.  He's made quite the transformation - I mean normally, you go from left to right, he went the opposite direction.  Wrinkles be gone, poof!!  I am kind of glad he chose Barry Manilow, seeing how he was born Barry Alan Pincus.  He was raised in Williamsburg Brooklyn.  He started off writing jingles, and his most famous being State Farm Insurance ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there...") and Band-Aid's (I am stuck on Band-Aid, 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me!").  Happy Birthday Barry, and thanks for taking on your mother's last name.

Back at work, gotta do some work.  Going to purchase some chain and lock it down at Gaelic.

Lock it up!

Hello, Newman.

Sorry for the lack of material this weekend - it's been pretty hectic - Saturday I was recruiting all day, Sunday was spent traveling.  Now it's Monday and I'm raring to go.  Got a lot of material to cover so let's hope you're ready to listen.

Saturday started with an 8:13am alarm clock, NIN's "Discipline" was the song of choice, as it is most days.  Some days, it's The Gaslight Anthem's "Boomboxes and Dictionaries", both solid choices to ease me into my day.

Let's start with the backbone of this blog - sports.

1.  Strasburg was dominant again, although he did walk as many guys (5) as he had in his previous 5 starts (1 MLB, 4 AAA).  He improved to 2-0 (Pirates and Indians) but let up his 2nd HR in as many starts, both to lefties, and both on a change up.  Either way, he's got 22 K in 12.1 IP.  The Nationals may make some noise after all.

2.  The Yankees completed a sweep of the Astros and in the process, moved into a tie atop the AL Beast with the Rays.  There's a World Series rematch series, beginning tonight in the Bronx, as CC Sabathia takes on Roy Halladay.  The Phillies are looking to regain their mo-jo (4-6 in their last 10 games) and crawl back into the NL Least race (3.5 behind 1st place Atlanta) while the Yanks look to distance themselves from the rest of baseball.  I hope I get a good pitching match up Thursday when I go with Lindsay and our fathers - I think it's looking like Moyer vs. Pettitte.

3.  Ted Lilly had a no-hit bid into the 9th against the White Sox, but settled for a 1-hitter and a 1-0 Cubs win.  We were in a bar here in Dallas, and there were a few Chicago fans - one guy, who everyone else refused to give pounds to regardless of how many times he tried - was the epitome of what a White Sox fan is (as told to me by another patron from Chicago).  Obnoxious.  A total jackass.  He was whining when they pinch-hit Juan Pierre to lead off the ninth, then after he broke up the no-no, he said he knew he was going to get a hit - douche.  This guy was shouting all night, almost fell off his stool several times, and was almost forcing his girlfriend (so it seemed) into making out with him - sloppy.

On Saturday, I was up at Blind Brook HS for a game after a showcase at Pace.  BBHS has quite possibly the nicest facilities for a high school I've ever seen.  Field turf abounds - football field, baseball field, soccer field, softball field - they might even have field turf in the hallways.  Almost like VCP.  Anyway, the thing that stuck out was a parent who was chirping the whole game.  Similar to a major league game, every pop up was a HR (or so he reacted), every ground ball was "just missed", and every strikeout looking was outside.  Anyway, same game, same guy - the 7 hitter snuck a dribbler between the first- and second-baseman, to which Super-Dad blurted out, "He squecked that one through there!"  Now, I'm no English major, but "squeaked" is a word.  Squecked, not a word.  #1 Dad.

Sunday was filled with air travel and ground transportation.  LaGuardia to Charlotte, Charlotte to Dallas-Ft. Worth.  The tail end of the trip was turbulent, to put it lightly.  I started getting sick from bouncing around in my seat.  Once we got below the clouds (all 3 minutes of it) and landed, it was great.  The landing was the smoothest part of the flights.  Got off the plane, went to find some "Shared Transportation" and got in.  There were 5 others in there, all going to right near where we were going.  The van was full, but the driver was convinced he may be able to pick up another passenger, so he drove around the airport (to every terminal) trying to find someone else to cram in.  Once he realized he had wasted over 25 minutes worth of gas, he decided to take to the roads, and eventually dropped us off at the hotel.  It was like riding on a wooden roller coaster with no seat belt - pretty scary.  Not quite sure if he was legal.

We strolled around Downtown Dallas a little, I of course snapped some photos, and then we went into CVS - the biggest CVS I have ever seen (I guess everything really is bigger in Texas).  While meandering through the aisles, Lindsay saw a guy and said "He looks like the guy from Jurassic Park" so I looked.  Wasn't sure who she meant, I mean it has been over ten years since I've seen the movie.  We were looking through the "Trial Size" stuff, and I saw the man again - NEWMAN!!  I wanted to be sure, so creepily stared at him for a few seconds.  Then I went up and asked if he was Wayne Knight, and that I was a huge fan (which is an exaggeration) but he is freakin' NEWMAN.  If you've never seen Seinfeld and are reading this, welcome to Earth.  Turns out he's in town shooting a show for FOX, The Good Guys.  I got him to take a picture with me - CVS was empty, so I didn't care.  Had it been full of patrons, I probably would have just taken a sneaky photo of him.  I will publish the photo when I get back to the BX.  How cool is that?

FACT:  Dallas's Downtown shuts down on Sunday.  We found a neat little Mexican restaurant for lunch - Sol Irlandes - we didn't stay for the karaoke at night though.

Passed out several times after getting back from lunch, but managed to stay awake long enough to grab a bite at Press Box Grill.  That's where we were blessed with the Chicago fans.  Ate, had a drink, left as soon as Lilly let up the lone hit in the game, and came back to the hotel to pass out.

Today I will venture out and try to find a place to eat some breakfast.  Lindsay is at the conference so I will explore, maybe I'll bump into another celeb.  Probably not, but I can care less.  NEWMAN!

Hello Big D!

NL (L)East

With the Mets deciding to finally play some baseball, there seems to be a race for supremacy in the NL East.  Well, the supremacy belongs to the Phillies, but there is at least a race for first place.  Only 2.5 games seperate the 1st-place Phillies from the 5th-place Nationals.

The Mets shutout the Phillies again last night.  The Phillies haven't scored a run against the Mets in the last 22 innings - since their 9-run outburst in the 4th inning against ace Johan Santana on May 2nd.  It doesn't get any easier for the Phillies, as Mike Pelfrey takes the bump for Los Mets, but the Phils will counter with Cole Hamels.  The Phillies roughed up Pelfrey the last time they faced him, to the tune of 6 runs and 8 hits in just four innings. 

The Mets are looking for a 3-game sweep, the Phillies are looking for some momentum heading into two road trips withing the division, at the Marlins for a three game set and then traveling to Atlanta for three.  It's a big stretch for the Phillies.

The Nationals are only 2.5 games back, but when Stephen Strasburg starts taking the hill every fifth game, that 2.5 may get a little closer.

The NL East is a tight race and seems to want to stay that way.  If I was a fan of any of those teams, I'd be psyched.  Instead, I hope Jerry Manual gets fired, Hanley hustles, Strasburg dominates, Heyward takes Strasburg yard, and Doc Halladay gets back to his early-season domination

Fire Jerry!  Time for an omelet..

Today in Sports History

2004:  40-year-old Randy Johnson throws a perfect game for the D'Backs against the Atlanta Braves.  Here's a look at the box score:

By the way, I hate this smug little bastard on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire right now.  Nice bowl cut doofus!

Kyle Farnsworth

Skin strapped on steel.  ESPN recently took a poll from various major leaguers on topics ranging from owning a gun (44% do) to the most overrated stat in baseball (BA followed by ERA).  The best topic covered was the one that got the longest story - "Who's the last guy you'd want to run into during a bench-clearing brawl?"  23% of respondents say Kyle Farnsworth.  Here's a guy who form-tackled Jeremy Affeldt after a HBP that he didn't even have anything to do with; a man who speared Cincinnati Reds pitcher Paul Wilson after he muttered something to him for throwing an inside fastball on a bunt attempt.

He probably could play linebacker in the NFL - he's a pretty imposing figure:  6'4" tall, 233 lbs., legs like telephone polls and he's all inked up.  He's got a mean streak, but you must have some set of cojones to test him out.  Ask Affeldt and Wilson.  If you never saw either fight, here it is:



He's a guy who has some pent up aggression, I mean he's started his playing career calling Wrigley Field his home for 6 years - he also has suited up for the Tigers, Braves, Yankees, Tigers, and now the Royals.  He played for Bartman's Cubs.  A perennial loser.  The Royals are garbage.  The Yankees didn't win a thing when he was there.  The Braves have been impotent in the postseason. 

He's from Witchita, which also happened to be home to the infamous BTK strangler Dennis Rader.  Read a book on the BTK - scary dude, I tell you what.  I'm not implying that everyone from Witchita is a stranger, but Kyle Farnsworth is a bad mother trucker. 

Statistically for his career, he has over a K/IP - 784.1 IP and 790 K.  I mean the guy gets the job done in the middle innings - he throws in the mid- to upper-90's - and again, he's got that mean streak.  I've seen let up some bolts, some dribblers, some solid singles, but there aren't too many guys who are going to approach him after a purpose pitch.  I suggest you read the article - it's a great piece of writing by ESPN Senior Writer and Colorado Buffalo Luke Cyphers.

Watching the highlights - Yankees won today, the Pirates (voted the worst franchise in the MLB in the aforementioned poll) beat the Cubs too.

Steel

Six Minute Saturday

Just took Nathan for a walk.  Went to see the men's lacrosse game, first quarter.  He me a nice black lab named Max.  Did they ever hit it off.  It was a real hot one out there on the blacktop so he kept needing some sips at the water fountain.

Not sure what to do the rest of the day - practice went well, 9-12, pitcher's looked very confident, located their pitches, pitched well.  4-3 we won/we lost - intrasquad. 

Trying to find some baseball on the TV, not sure if there are any games airing on the DirecTV - oops, here's the Mets game - playing the Braves - no score.  One site I can't stop looking at, it's like a college baseball heaven site is http://www.d1baseball.com/ - been hooked for years.

Weather forecast in Birmingham goes a little something like this:  Thunderstorms, Strong Winds, Rain, clear for an hour, Scattered T-Storms.  Kind of glad we are still in NY, although it's supposed to be pretty nasty here tomorrow - oh well, beats the hell out of getting scooped up by a tornado.  I'm into the Storm Chaser shows, but I ain't ready to be a part of one.

Game's on.  Take care.