Posts belonging to Category Teams

–  What a weekend for baseball.  The Rays were able to pull within 2 games of the Red Sox and the AL Wild Card spot. The best play of this series was started by David Price’s chest, though.

–  Justin Verlander is a beast.  12 consecutive starts, and 12 consecutive wins.  Not to mention he has now won 24 games this season.  But that’s the obvious.  Here are a few nifty stats for you sabr-minded folks:  Verlander has a WAR of 7.0-still a full 1.1 WAR behind Doc Hallady; Verlander has guys swinging at pitches out of the zone at a whopping rate (33.8%); He is also only throwing pitches in the strike zone 42% of the time while getting hitters to swing and miss at a rate of 10.2%.  Dude is filthier than the turds I leave in the toilet after a night of partying.

–  Apparently Dmitri Young is ready to play baseball again…I know, I didn’t believe it either.  It must be that whole older brother/younger brother rivalry thing. I can’t think of any other reason for a 40-year-old 1B to come out of retirement after four years.

–  Being a fantasy nerd, and at the same time absolutely loathing reality television, I am so thankful for Grantland’s GLRTFL.  It now gives me a new perspective on watching the hideous programming that my girlfriend prefers.

–  Speaking of fantasy, here is a quick rundown of how the Denslow Cup standings are looking heading in to the final week:

1. Asik and Destroy  ——————-139
2. The Clownpenis. Farts  ————-137
3. So Fresh n So Sheen Sheen  ——–118.5
4. Dingo Teriyaki  ———————–113
5. tits and giggles  ———————–100
6. The Nads  ——————————-97
7. Dingleberry Smoothies  ————–90.5
8. The Blump Cornelius  —————–78.5
9. Capital City Corporate Towls  ——-62
10. Quade Steak Burritos —————–57.5
11. The Religion of Mike Hunt  ———-55
12. Ardi’s A-holes   ————————-44

As you can see there is quite a race for the championship.  Fellow writer Barfy is the manager of Clownpenis. The battle for 3^rd is a good one too, with my team (Sheen Sheen) hoping to lock down its first podium finish ever.  Editor in Chief, Mike (The Nads), is actually losing to his girlfriend Julia (tits and giggles) but has an outside shot of overtaking her.

Top 1: Mike Stanton struck out swinging against Stephen Strasburg

Top 3: struck out swinging against Strasburg

Top 6: grounded out to shortstop against Strasburg

Top 9: struck out swinging against Drew Storen

Top 11: struck out swinging against Collin Balester

Top 13: doubled to left field against Balester

Final Line: 1-for-6, 2B, RBI, 4 K

Notes: Stanton’s golden sombrero on Saturday against the Washington Nationals was his second of the season.  Two of his four strikeouts came against Strasburg, who only struck out three over six innings.  With a chance for platinum in the 13^th inning, Stanton picked up his first hit of the game with a two-out, RBI-double that gave the Marlins a 4-1 lead.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 117

Top 2: John Jaso struck out swinging against Josh Beckett

Top 4: struck out swinging against Beckett

Top 6: called out on strikes against Beckett

Top 8: struck out swinging against Daniel Bard

Final Line: 0-for-4, 4 K

Notes: While Jaso’s never been one to hit for a high average, he has always had a knack for getting on base – so much so that Joe Maddon has occasionally hit him leadoff.  In 2010, Jaso had a breakout year, as he played in 109 games and posted a .341 wOBA and 2.6 fWAR.  This season, however, the left-handed hitting catcher has posted a .291 wOBA and 0.4 fWAR over 86 games.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 116

–  Who does Shelley Duncan think he is?  He must think he is the man he makes sure all bad things happen in 3’s.  Bad joke…maybe.  But bad defensive outfielder…not last night.

–  Why in the world was Clayton Kershaw ejected for that pitch the other night?  And I better not hear the argument that he was attempting to seek revenge on Parra, either.  That means that you are telling me one of the best pitchers in baseball, a Cy Young frontrunner if you will, wanted to hit a guy and couldn’t do it?  That’s crap.  And so was his ejection.

–  You know Joe Maddon is cooler than a New Mexico winter when he doesn’t mind playing tricks like this…in the middle of a chase for a playoff spot.  And to think, that was poor little Matt Moore making his MLB debut.  Was it the trick that gave up this shot though?

–  The Astros lose again. Weird.  At least Bud Norris made this play; otherwise it was just another day at the corral for Doc Halladay.  You know the kind, one where he goes the distance, throws a shutout, only issues one walk mixed in with a healthy helping of strikeouts, and makes it look easy.  Man that guy is good.   On a short aside, I am hoping the Astros lose every single game from here on out.  Might as well make history, right?

–  Is there any pitcher more frustrating than Ricky Nolasco right now?  His yo-yo season is down right confusing.  How can a guy with that good of stuff- and it is legit stuff- not be worth the dingleberries on his own ass for half his starts?

–  Here is an outstanding article from SBNation’s baseball blog Baseball Nation.  Make sure to waste some work time and read it.