Thursday afternoon I was lucky enough to catch the last minor league start for Stephen Strasburg in my beautiful hometown of Buffalo. I woke up to thunderstorms which made me incredibly nervous but the weather cleared up in time for the 1:05 EST start. Strasburg was great although there were some minor red flags (please note, "minor"). Here are my thoughts and observations on him; I used the stadium radar gun for all numbers referenced.
-Strasburg struggled a little with his command which was probably a case of nerves since I heard he knew Rotowire sent a scout to the game. Of the 89 pitches thrown, 54 went for strikes (60.6|PERCENT|). He threw a first-pitch ball to each of the first five batters and 12 of the 19 he faced not doing a good job of getting ahead in the count. 18 total pitches were fouled off which helped push his pitch count up over the five innings.
-After walking the pitcher for the first base runner of the game, Strasburg was noticeably upset on the mound for not getting a call earlier in the count. He was upset enough to get a visit from his pitching coach as well as the whole infield. The next batter singled before he got an inning-ending fly out.
-Despite other reports to the contrary (again going by the stadium radar gun), he showed some signs of fatigue in the fifth inning. In the first inning he was routinely in the high 90s, registering 97 mph three times, 98 mph twice and 99 mph twice. In the fifth inning he got to 96 mph once and everything else was only in the 93-95 mph range. I love my use of "only" there as I'm sure many pitchers would love to be able to throw in that range.
-Strasburg went 1-for-2 at the dish (he's 2-for-3 for the 'Cuse) and scored a run (off of one of two Mike Jacobs' errors). He looked very comfortable at the plate and while he won't be Micah Owings or Carlos Zambrano I think he'll be much better than the average pitcher at the plate, for what it's worth.
-Overall, I was very impressed and think he's everything you've heard and read about. I advocated trading Strasburg in redraft leagues when I stepped in for Mark Stopa's Barometer column a couple of weeks ago and still feel the same way. The most Strasburg will pitch is 100 innings after throwing 55.1 innings in the minors. The Nats probably won't let him work late into games which means he'll rely on the bullpen to get him wins. Wait until he has his game against Pirates and send out feelers to the league to see what you can get in return for him.
-A couple of random Buffalo notes. Bisons' third baseman Mike Hessman leads the International League with 18 homers in only 203 at-bats. He's obviously not a prospect at 32 and is blocked at both corners with the Mets. However he could be an interesting pickup in deep or NL-only leagues if he finds his way to the majors via trade or injury at some point this season. Note of amusement: If you're near Buffalo on June 12, they're having this https://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/promotions/page.jsp?ymd=20100511&content|UNDER|id=9965214&vkey=promo|UNDER|t422&fext=.jsp&sid=t422gathering at Coca-Cola Field, where the Bisons play. There's an intergalactic battle after the game to help draw fans out. I guess I'll have to be on the lookout for Ewoks that day.
Notables:
-The Jim Joyce saga continued to be the main story in baseball today, with both the Tigers and Joyce earning more respect with their comments and approach to the incident. Gallaraga brought out the lineup card to a tearful Joyce who manned up and umpired the game despite having option to sit it out. As a consolation prize, Gallaraga was rewarded with a Corvette by General Motors. Who says we're in a recession? Bud Selig announced there would be no reversal of the call.
-When do we start thinking of Jered Weaver as a top-15 pitcher? He lowered his ERA to 2.74 with seven innings of shutout ball and nine strikeouts. For the season he has 83 strikeouts in 75.2 innings. On the other side Zack Greinke took the loss and fell to 1-7 despite a 3.60 ERA.
-Kurt Suzuki blasted two homers on Thursday, giving him three in the last two games while going 6-for-14 for the series in Boston.
-C.C. Sabathia gave up two home runs but limited the damage to three runs. This was his first win since May 3.
- Josh Johnson allowed only one run over seven innings and now has a 0.53 ERA over his last five starts. Teammate Chris Coghlan stayed on fire, going 2-for-3. That's now an 8-for-14 run over his last four games to raise his batting average from .217 to .249.
-Orioles skipper Dave Trembley is expected to be fired on Friday. The Orioles have been hit pretty hard by injuries - Brian Roberts, Mike Gonzalez, Felix Pie, Koji Uehara and I think even Nolan Reimold wasn't 100|PERCENT| back from his Achilles' issue. Whoever was ultimately responsible for the Garrett Atkins signing should be gone also.
Save Chances:
-Brian Fuentes, converted. Fuentes allowed a two-run homer to Willie Bloomquist (yes, Willie Bloomquist) and while he got two strikeouts he also issued two free passes. I'd say it's 50/50 he holds the closer role from Fernando Rodney for the rest of the season.
-Andrew Bailey, converted. Bailey pitched the final two innings, allowing one home run en route to his 12th save.
-Matt Capps, blown save. Capps gave up a walk-off two-run shot to the recently hot Carlos Lee and was the victim of a Cristian Guzman error with two outs. All three runs were unearned, so relax Capps' owners.
-Matt Lindstrom, blown save, cheap win. Lindstrom had been horrible lately, giving up six runs over his last four outings, a four inning span. If you're desperate for saves, take a flier on Brandon Lyon. Remember he, and not Lindstrom has a two-year deal.
-Mariano Rivera, converted. Two Ks, one walk, 12th save. Would you expect any less?
-Leo Nunez, converted adventurously. Nunez allowed a run on three hits but escaped with his 12th save.
-Bobby Jenks, converted. It was announced that Jenks was fit to return to the closer role which he did successfully. He allowed one hit and struck out two in a scoreless ninth to record his first save since May 22.
Other Closer Outings:
-Jose Valverde struck out two with a six-run lead. This is usually the spot where a closer gives up four runs in a third of an inning. Instead, Valverde lowered his ERA to 0.42.
Non-Closer Outings:
- It's worth noting that today that both of Capps' understudies – Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen – combined to throw 2.1 scoreless innings. If Capps gets dealt at some point, who closes?
Lineup-ology:
-Cameron Maybin was out of the lineup with a lefty on the mound. Look for more days off against southpaws as the year goes on.
Tough Days:
-Tim Wakefield was roughed up again giving up six runs (two homers) over six innings. This was to the Oakland Athletics, not the Rays, Blue Jays or Yankees. That's 15 runs over his last 9.2 innings.
-David Huff gave up five runs in three innings, striking out none. Will he be the same going forward after the A-Rod line drive?
Injuries:
-Jason Bartlett (hamstring) was officially placed on the 15-day DL. Kelly Shoppach will be activated on Friday, which means the Rays will carry three catchers. This won't last; will Dioner Navarro be calling somewhere else home soon?
-Chipper Jones will wait a couple of days to see if his finger needs a cortisone shot which would probably lead to a DL stint.
-Justin Duchscherer was moved to the 60-day DL. Unless you've been under a rock, cut bait with him in redraft leagues.
Stolen Bases:
-Erick Aybar 2 (9), Howie Kendrick (6), Scott Podsednik (17), Eric Patterson 2 (5), Bill Hall (3), Cristian Guzman (1), Roger Bernadina (3), Cody Ross (3), Juan Pierre (21), Julio Borbon (8), Ichiro Suzuki 3 (16), Jack Wilson (3), Michael Saunders (1)
Caught Stealing:
Home Runs:
-Torii Hunter (9), Willie Bloomquist (2), Marco Scutaro (3), Bill Hall (5), Jeremy Hermida (5), Kurt Suzuki 2 (7), Jack Cust (1), Kevin Kouzmanoff (5-two in two days), Magglio Ordonez (8), Miguel Cabrera (16, can you say AL-MVP?), Lance Berkman (6), Carlos Lee (7), Kevin Cash (1), Luke Scott (10-ready to go on another tear?), Adam Jones (6), Alex Rodriguez (8), Brett Gardner (3-already more than I thought), Andruw Jones (10), Alex Rios (12), Troy Glaus (10-that's four in five games!), Jose Lopez (4)
Pickups?!?!
-As previously mentioned, Brandon Lyon and Fernando Rodney both have closers in front of them (Lindstrom and Fuentes) who seem to be on the brink of losing the hold of their respective spots. If you need saves, throw them on your bench as speculative pickup.
-I'll recap some of the later games in the morning.