RockRaines

JC was almost unhittable today. He was unreal. His sidearm fastball was breaking like a slider at 95 MPH. You cant sqaure that thing up.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 01:35 PM) Last year April was a suckfest for closers, off the top of my head I know that Lidge and Chad Cordero have already had some issues this year. Bobby might not be pitching great right now but he's getting the job done when he has to. I guess nobody thinks closers blow games. Rivera was terrible at the beginning of last year, and he is the best of all time. Jenks is fine, im not worried at all. If he falters, which is not probably, I think BMAC would be dominant as well.

wow, im excited for the "should we worry about jenks" threads.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 01:24 PM) It was a meatball to Shelton, there is no doubt. However, the conditions were pretty s***ty out there. Im just happy we came away with the W. Whatever works. He obviously didnt have his good fastball and still won it. Its cool.

Good night detroit

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 01:19 PM) They catch fly balls in AAA, too. he should have made the play. It was an error, not a double. Rowand has an Error already too, so they are even.

I love the gamecast: Shelton homers HARD to left.

DOnt blow this save bobby.

Jenks must not have his good stuff today. His velocity isnt what it was a couple of days ago.

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 01:14 PM) couldn't we have traded pods or BAnderson for Thome. That was awful. hes a rookie, relax

QUOTE(Guillen'sGuy @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 01:12 PM) How's Bobby's velocity? 96

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 01:04 PM) Wrigley Field is, for the most part, a favorable park for pitchers. When the wind is blowing in, that place is nuts. Mark Buehrle had the best road ERA in the majors in 2004. I don't care what the PF stats say. Miller Park is a great place to pitch. Even a casual fan knows that. Just try to explain the home vs. away splits for Capuano and Davis. And yeah, I go on what I see and I supplement it with statistics. That's why the NBA stuff is always so funny, because defense just doesn't show up on paper. Larry Hughes is 1st Team All NBA defense, remember. Wrigley field has statistically been a great hitters park, especially with the wind blowing out and the short gaps. And the park stats do tell alot, even though there could be a correlation with the pitching staffs. But It is easier to pitch at home, no matter what park you play in. Mark shows that in his dominance in a hitters park, and his almost pedestrian numbers on the road last year. With the Brewers, they have 3 young pitchers this year, and they will definately pitch better with a home crowd. Not to mention, in that division there are probably 3 hitters parks in Cinci, Chicago, St Louis, maybe even Hou. Of course their road splits may not be that great. Fact is, the NL central is weak IMO. The Brewers right now, have the 2nd best rotation in the division until the cubs are healthy. Not to mention they have several young position players that are improving every year. This is why they are picked to be a sleeper. Last year, they finished in 3rd place and were over .500 for the first time in a long time. Their upward trend and having a decently complete pitching staff with a good closer is why they have a chance to surprise people.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 12:48 PM) LEARN ABOUT BASEBALL STADIUMS. Get to know them, frequent them. If I'm evaluating starters, I'm looking at splits. If a guy sucks in Cincinatti, it doesn't necessarily mean that he's a bad overall pitcher. If a guy puts up nice numbers in Los Angeles or San Francisco, it DOES NOT mean that he is a good pitcher. Right? how does Buehrle have over a 1.4 difference in ERA last year between his home and away splits? Des that mean hes only average because his stats are skewed toward him only being great in his home park?

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 12:46 PM) I am just arguing for th sake of arguing? Have you watched Ohka pitch on numerous occasions? He is below average at best. His home numbers in a freaking pitcher's park last year tell the story. USCF is a hitting haven. Of course Freddy and the rest of the White Sox starters are going to look better on the road. Milwaukee has the second best rotation in the NL Central? While I'm not at all impressed with 5 out of the 6 rotations in that division, I don't have the balls to say that they're the second best, because their rotation flat out sucks. Major suckfest. So, there's a little more aguing for the sake of arguing. Now, tell me all about Capuano's .280 BAA on the road, or Doug's 4.50 ERA on the road. Ok, so now its not based on stats, its based on "have you seen him pitch?" Its obviously that no matter what I say, or post, you wont budge or even take into account the other half of the argument, may its carryover from your NBA opinions. As far as parks go, and which is a hitting park etc, I looked up the 2005 stats on that, and it appears Miller Park was ranked 16th out of 30 as far as park factor. PF = ((homeRS + homeRA)/(homeG)) / ((roadRS + roadRA)/(roadG)) Considering that a number below 1.0 coincides with a favorable environment for a pitcher, Miller park comes in as the first stadium in that side of the chart at .992. Just below Wrigley field. Your "hitters haven" minute maid park comes in 23rd at a .949 which makes it one of the best pitchers parks. Of course the correlation could be because of the pitching staff, but the same could be said for Miller Park. Miller Park isnt exactly the pitchers paradise you made it out to be, as it falls just under Wrigley field in PF which is regarded as a hitters park. IN fact in 2004 Miller Park was known as a hitters park with a 1.004 PF rating ranking them 11th. Now addressing your generalization about how the white sox pitchers should be better away from their "hitters park." I only point to Mark Buehrle's 2005 numbers where he had a 2.48 ERA 1.06 WHIP at home and a 3.86 ERA and 1.33 on the road. Is this because he is only good in a certain park, or because its easier for pitcher to throw at home? You decide.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 12:04 PM) Hey Rock, I did some research for you. You know, because it is soooo silly that I only brought up WHIP numbers. :rolly Chris Capuano 2005 Splits: 1.45 Road WHIP vs. 1.33 Home WHIP .280 Road BAA v. .235 Home BAA 4.30 Road ERA vs. 3.70 Home ERA Doug Davis 2005 Splits: 1.44 Road WHIP vs. 1.20 Home WHIP .256 Road BAA vs. .218 Home BAA 4.50 Road ERA vs. 3.40 Home ERA Toma Ohka's home numbers: .290 BAA 1.45 WHIP Learn about baseball stadiums. See which parks are pitchers havens. Miller Park would qualify. Check the effing stats FOR TEH LOVE OF GOD. BTW Ohka has 11 IP in Miller park, nice sample size. And once again, what is the problem with them being good at home and worse on the road? Is it too out of the question to think that they follow the norm of being better in their home park? As far as rotations in their divisionm they are probably the 2nd best only to ST Louis IMO, which could win them the division or the wild card no problem.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 12:34 PM) What do you think of those Home vs. Road stats that I posted? You don't think that both Capuano and Davis are products of Miller Park? I don't think that they have much talent at all, but I suppose that's just me. Put them in Houston, and they're just as wack as the other guys in their 3-4-5. But they pitch in Milwaukee, and people (for whatever reason) don't realize that Miller Park is a pitching haven, so I dunno. SO what? They pitch in half their games there dont they? Ohka put up good starting pitching numbers in other stadiums as well. Freddy Garcia pitches better on the road than at home, does that makes him garbage? Seriously, its admirable that you like arguing just for the sake of arguing, but the rotation in Milwaukee is probably the 2nd best in their division. Which is good enough to make them a favorite.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 11:28 AM) This is how a lot of pitchers throw to us. They spot outside lower half on our hitters, who forget how to poke the ball the other way. I have a feeling thats what he is going to do until they change their approach. Until then he will lay us down on groundouts

Cancel the postgame show, Guillen singles to right field after working a full count

Damn, the count works Maggs in every part of the strike zone, he flies out to BA

Crede tries to pull a low and outside pitch, grounds out to 3rd base. Obviously their gameplan is to make us hit the ball the other way, which we have a hard time doing.

AJ k's swinging 2 down Robertson is throwing nothing but stuff low and outside

top 2nd JD strikes out looking.

I cant believe we didnt capitalize with a leadoff double, that was all we did last year. IN that situation we have to get a run.

QUOTE(Jimbo's Drinker @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 10:29 AM) Here is a some interesting info that may help in your paper. I remember the day of the bartman game, the red sox and yanks played at fenway. During the game, there was a popout by the 1st base dugout, the red sox fans backed away. I remember the announcer praised the red sox fans for getting out of the way. Now, on the topic of game 6. Cubs fans do not realize that their beloved manager screwed them out of a trip to the world series. Lets do the short synopsis, Alou freaks out at Bartman, very mature. DUSTY SHOULD HAVE CALLED THE ENTIRE TEAM TO THE MOUND. But, he sits there playing with timmie the tooth pick, and lets prior s*** the bed, and gonzalez let a ball roll under his legs, among other thinkgs. So, there are no curses, just stupid managers, and bad teams making bad plays. Dont forget the whole other game they had to play the next night. They couldve won that one too.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 08:57 AM) Playoffs? This rotation f***ing sucks: B. Sheets D. Davis T. Ohka C. Capuano D. Bush R. Helling (Insurance) Check out some Doug Davis splits from 2005. His WHIP ratio away from Milwaukee was 1.45, which is pretty much terrible. Capuano's WHIP ratio away from Milwaukee was 1.43. Ohka is just beyond brutal. David Bush is their second best starter, and what does that tell you? Really, this staff belongs in Kansas City or Tampa Bay. Don't tell me that they have a shot at making the playoffs, even if the National League is a suckfest. Picking apart WHIP is just one part of the pitcher's stats. Davis had a 3.84 ERA in 2005 and 3.39 in 2004. Both seasons pitching over 200 innings. Regardless of how many hits and walks he gave up per inning, he still didnt give up that many runs, which is the focus of a pitcher. Not only that but eating 200 innings per year is a big plus as well. Last year his BAA was .235, thats pretty f***ing good IMO. Oh and so is 208 K's Capuano is also a very good yong pitcher. You AGAIN point at his WHIP as being a gauge of how great he is. Well im sorry you find his WHIP unimpressive, but I find his sub 4 ERA pretty good IMO. He went 18-12 while pitching over 200 innings as well. His BAA was .256 which is pretty dam good as well. And to address your all important WHIP concerns, in two starts this year its sub 1.0 while his BAA is .178. Sheets is an Ace, I wouldnt think I would have to go that deep into conversation about him, he just needs to stay healthy. Bush is now starting his 3rd full season starting in the majors, obviously he has room to improve. His career ERA is at 4.07 which is not bad for someone who has only pitched 3 years. He also has a pretty decent WHIP last year at 1.25, this year at .57 in one start. He is a young guy on a young staff and has shown he can improve. Ohka may be the weak link on a young starting staff, but his career numbers arent as bad as you make them out to be. You say he is beyond brutal? Well His career ERA is 3.95, which doesnt seem brutal to me. He has proven to have a higher WHIP, but has also shown in his 3 years of starting full time that he can throw around 200 innings with a fairly low ERA, even posting a 3.18 in 31 starts in 2002. Saying he is beyond brutal is taking it a little too far IMO. Cherry picking WHIP stats to prove a pitcher's worth is pretty silly IMO. ERA is probably the best idicated of a pitcher's worth, and this staff looks to be not only improving, but decent to begin with. Each arm has the potential to throw at least 200 innings, with an ERA under 4.0. That alone could win the NL central this year. Some numbers to compare between 2002 and 2004 Buehrle posted an ERA of 3.58, 4.14, 3.89 with whips 1.24, 1.35, 1.26. His away WHIP in 2005 was 1.33 Garcia's home WHIP in 2005 was 1.37