Hardball Times: Learning the Language of the Clubhouse

What I’d been looking for was some insight into the ideal ground-ball rate for a hitter. The Royals were hitting the most ground balls in the league, and I thought it might be affecting their power. Since I knew Eric Hosmer was the one behind me laughing at me, I thought I’d be the adult. I asked Butler about ground balls, but I motioned at Hosmer (I see you there): “I was asking Eric about this, but are ground balls and fly balls something you think about when you get up to the plate?” ...Read More...

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: March 13, 2014 at 10:52 PM | 6 comment(s)
  Beats: anthony rizzo, billy butler, clubhouse, cubs, darwin barney, eric hosmer, jeff samardijza, media, mike moustakas, royals, ryan vogelsong

Levin: Why Rick Reilly couldn’t survive in the era of Bill Simmons and Nate Silver.

Rick Reilly checked out years ago. Now, he’s finally leaving. Reilly had it first on Twitter: The columnist will write his last story for ESPN.com on June 30 and will then transition to crafting soft-focus features for various Bristol TV properties. As Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch points out, the mothballing of Reilly’s word processor will allow ESPN.com to reshape its home page, giving Nate Silver and the new FiveThirtyEight.com a prime promotional slot alongside Bill Simmons and ...

Phils’ Rollins, Sandberg yet to talk

Shortstop Jimmy Rollins isn’t sure why he’s been benched by the Philadelphia Phillies and says manager Ryne Sandberg still hasn’t given him an explanation.

Rollins, 35, who has played all 14 of his major league seasons with Philadelphia, was left out of the lineup for Grapefruit League games Tuesday and Wednesday and again is missing from Thursday’s lineup versus the New York Yankees.

Rollins said former manager Charlie Manuel would always talk to him when he wasn’t in the lineup, ...

Dee Gordon reminds some of Maury Wills and that’s good for Dodgers - latimes.com

Maury Wills or Lenny Faedo?

Baseball-Reference’s Similar Batters through 25:
1. Lenny Faedo (976)
2. Angel Sanchez (974)
3. Jim Brideweser (970)
4. Doc Marshall (968)
5. Roxey Roach (965)
6. Ed Montague (962)
7. Harry Decker (961)
8. Ed Rowen (961)
9. Wilson Delgado (958)
10. Ed Busch (958)

Edit: Link fixed. Sorry. JF

The Curved Coin is Coming

In honor of the 75th anniversary of the Baseball Hall of Fame, the U.S. Mint has produced the nation’s first-ever curved coin. It’s a commemorative coin, which means it’s not intended for circulation.

Per the U.S. Mint, 750,000 50 cent pieces, 400,000 dollar coins, and 50,000 gold five dollar coins will be made (1.2 million coins in all). Starting March 27, they’ll sell for a good deal more than their face value, with some of that money going to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Renck: Larry Walker believes chances for Hall of Fame take pair of hits

Dead body counting stats not included.

Walker’s candidacy nosedived this year, his fourth on a crowded Hall of Fame ballot. He received 10.2 percent of the vote, a reflection of the controversy surrounding several former players who used — or are suspected of using — performance-enhancing drugs. Walker said his goal is to remain on the ballot for 15 years. He needs 5 percent to prevent falling off. Playing at Coors Field, where he hit .381 with 154 home runs in 597 games, isn’t helping his ...

In the Mets Locker Room, an Old Slur Resurfaces

In the New York Mets locker room Monday morning, I was talking with Jeff Cutler, a 30-year old Japanese American from suburban Boston who serves as the interpreter for Japanese-born pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.

We were talking casually about Asian communities in America when we heard a voice behind us.

“Jeff!”

Cutler and I turned around. It was Dan Warthen, the Mets pitching coach.

“I’m sorry I called you a ‘Chinaman’ yesterday,” Warthen told Cutler.

Long: Ervin Santana: The forgotten free agent

It seems reasonable that Santana’s new team can expect him to continue his ground ball tendencies, assuming he keep using his sinker. This is especially important against right-handed batters, as it gives him just enough of a different tool to compliment his fastball and slider. One could even argue that his performance has room for improvement if he mixed in an even greater percentage of sinkers. If Santana mixed in more sinkers, and maybe even matched his fastball usage, the results could ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 3-13-2014

New York Tribune, March 13, 1914:

The Chinese baseball team of Hawaii, which arrived [in San Francisco]...on the steamer Honolulan, owes its escape from spending the night in the detention station on Angel Island principally to the prowess of En Suey, an outfielder.

The immigration officials were deaf to protest that the players were native born American citizens, that eight were voters and six members of the Hawaiian National Guard. “We’re sorry,” said the officials, “but these men are ...

Are Managers Getting Smarter About Intentional Walks? | FanGraphs Baseball

Without getting incredibly granular, it’s hard to make a mountaintop-worthy announcement that teams are figuring out how to use the intentional walk properly. There’s more research to be done here.We do know that the overall frequency of the IBB is down, which is good. We also know that when they do happen, they are happening in higher-leverage situations than five, ten, or 15 years ago. This is almost certainly good.

Livan to make retirement official | nationals.com: News

We all knew those Dusty Baker pitch counts would eventually take their toll.

Blue Jays drafting in the Anthopoulos era

Given the talk about the state of the franchise after the Santana nonsense, here’s another article pointing out some recent failures by the Blue Jays, this time in the draft.

The Blue Jays need to draft and develop talent successfully to drive winning at the major league level.  Alex Anthopoulos adopted this as a core belief and when he was hired as general manager he focused on improving the Jays drafting and player development.  How successful has this new approach been? AA has been on ...

Rosenthal: Manny Ramirez, acknowledging mistakes, chases one last chance

Ramirez, in an exclusive telephone interview from Miami on Wednesday with FOX Sports, admitted that he made mistakes using performance-enhancing drugs. But he said he learned from those mistakes, and wants to share those lessons with younger players.

Yes, this was Manny Ramirez talking, talking in a way that he never has before.

“When you make a mistake in life, no matter what you do, you’re going to pay the price,” Ramirez said. “That’s what happened to all of the players that did it. I’m ...

Posnanski: The Dutch Leonard Affair

Maximum Poz!

[Tigers owner Frank] Navin and [American League president] Ban Johnson handled the [Dutch] Leonard unpleasantness in a way that will be familiar to everyone who watches political movies or followed the Tony Bosch Biogenesis story — they paid him off… At the end of the season, Ban Johnson told [Ty] Cobb and [Tris] Speaker that they needed to retire…

When the players saw Dutch Leonard’s rather flimsy evidence — two alternately specific and vague letters that did not have any ...

Brisbee: Starting lineups and rotations, as described by Google autocomplete

Pete Rose at Christ’s Church of the Valley

To be interviewed by Senior Pastor, Brian Jones: Cool Calm and Collection Basket.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Rose’s banishment from the game as well as the 10th anniversary of his admission of guilt. Yet, while players who took performance-enhancing drugs have been welcomed back to the game, Pete still remains an outcast. As someone who preaches weekly about the need for “second chances,” Brian Jones believes that it’s time Pete was offered one.

“We’ve all made ...

Tanaka and the Science Guy

John Brenkus examines two of Masahiro Tanaka’s best pitches.

Astros release Brett Wallace

KISSIMMEE, Fla.—The Houston Astros gave infielder Brett Wallace his unconditional release on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old Wallace played with the Astros for four years, mostly at first base and also at third base. He played in 79 games last season, batting .221 with 13 home runs. In eight games this spring, Wallace was 2-for-14 with eight strikeouts.

That leaves first basemen Chris Carter and rookie Jon Singleton on the roster. The Astros have 51 players remaining in camp, including 16 ...

Great Expectations, Great Variations «

Jonah Keri checks in from spring training.

Every team wants to develop its own Mike Trout or Clayton Kershaw. Not every team tries to do that in the same way, however. To better understand baseball’s competing prospect philosophies, we hit the spring training circuit.

Red Sox spring training progress report: Updates and observations - Sports - The Boston Globe

Spring training tidbits from Red Sox spring training.

How Pitch Location Affects Caught Stealing Percentage

Sometimes sabermetrics just confirms what we already know.

A “brief” history of star-crossed players, Part II - Beyond the Box Score

Will Oscar Taveras end up on this list someday?

Taveras still out, probably won’t make team

Prized outfield prospect Oscar Taveras, who had right ankle surgery last season, is sidelined indefinitely with a tight hamstring in the same leg. And Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Taveras won’t come north with the team if he can’t show he can be 100 percent and play appreciably by the end of camp in just more than two weeks, which seems unlikely.

Braves agree to terms with Ervin Santana to one-year deal | MLB.com

It will be interesting to see the contract dollars. I suspect Ervin was wise to wait.



Edit: John Heyman reports the contract is $14.1MM. I guess he just breaks even.

Who Will Be The Best Defenders in 2014? | Bill James Online

BIS gets out the crystal ball.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 3-12-2014

Frank Chance on the essential qualities of a good ballplayer, from the Toledo News-Bee, March 12, 1914:

Clean living is the first essential for a ball player…Be moderate in your smoking, don’t drink and go to bed early.
...
Get all the education you can. That is as necessary for a ball player as for a doctor or lawyer. The best students make the best ball players.

Natural ability is a most valuable asset for a ball player. Few players without natural ability ever develop into professionals and ...

Perry: VIDEO: Call overturned by new replay system for first time

Clip lasts 3:35 and as far as I know it’s still going on. 5 times they show the play…enjoy your extended NFL season.

It’s the Angels and Mariners, it’s an out call at second base reviewed under the new expanded replay system. But wait! That’s not all ...

...Let the historical record show that the new replay system has officially yielded fruit. Here’s the word from on high ..

...Let us first release balloons and then build a monument in the town square: for on this day, history hath been ...

Royals mascot welcomes Mr. Met to Twitter by hitting on his wife

Statements about “the greatest mascot in sports” do not necessarily represent the opinion of this author.

Mascots playfully taunting one another — on the Internet and in real life — is hardly new. But in an effort to “welcome” the greatest mascot in sports to Twitter, Royals mascot Sluggerrr stepped way, way over the line.

Hey @MrMet welcome to Twitter! BTW, can you ask Mrs. Met why she won’t call me back? http://t.co/MnKEbagKLQ—

  (@Sluggerrr) March 10, 2014

The Art of Pitching: Mastering the Sinkerball

My original idea for this story was a simple article discussing how Cumpton was getting advice from Morton and was working on improving his sinker. Add in some numbers from Cumpton last year, and it would be an easy story that I could file away as I tried to get ahead during the early weeks of Spring Training. But after talking with both players, I quickly realized that there was so much I didn’t know about the sinker, and about what players discuss when they’re talking to each other about ...

Bronx Baseball Daily: Should your best hitter bat third in the lineup?

I should have ran this earlier but I was in complete comment shock for over a week. “Crucially, the 1-2 hitters—Bobby Richardson and maybe Tony Kubek, if I remember correctly—were on base a lot, despite having modest averages in the .270 range.”

My ideal lineup would have three players at the top who are known for their OBP (on-base percentage). If we used the Yankees as an example, I’d place Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter in the top three spots since those three are known to ...