Inside the Majors

Archive for June, 2010

Ninety-four pitches is all it took for Stephen Strasburg to turn in one of the most high pressure pitching debuts in the history of Major League Baseball.  Strasburg missed Pittsburgh bats left and right fanning 14 batters in just 7 innings on his way to his first career win.  Even more impressive, he seemed to heat up as the game carried on, striking out the last 6 batters he faced.  Perhaps equally encouraging for Washington fans, and almost unheard of for a first time pitcher, was the zero walks issued by Strasburg. A lone 2 run homer by Delwyn Young was the lone blemish on what would’ve been a clean sheet, but the young fellow responded with the poise of veteran, retiring the next 10 players to step to the plate.

So, now a few weeks into his career, how great was his opening act and how bright is Strasburg’s future?  Read the rest of this entry »

Amid oil spills, natural disasters and turmoil abroad, we are quickly approaching a day in our nation’s capital when the eyes and attention of both left and right leaning voters will lie on the right arm of a 21-year-old kid.  Stephen Strasburg is no prophet with answers to the world’s most pressing issues, but is viewed by many scouts and GM’s as a baseball messiah of sorts, sent from his heavenly hometown of sunny San Diego to resurrect a Washington Nationals team that has been mostly lifeless since their days of exile in Montreal.  Strasburg has flown through the Nationals minor league system with a speed that usually eludes D.C.’s decision makers, making only brief pit stops in Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse before getting the called to the show.  To the surprise of few and excitement of many in Washington, Strasburg was barely touched by lower league hitters, finishing his minor league career with an impressive 7-2 record , 1.30 ERA and miniscule .80 WHIP.  He added 65 strikeouts to his stat sheet in only 55 and 1/3 innings of work. Read the rest of this entry »

In what has been announced to be Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox’s last season in the dugout, the Atlanta Braves are certainly taking their longtime manager on a roller coaster ride through the standings.  Once dead and lifeless at the bottom of the NL East cellar, including a hitless outing against Rockies’ flame thrower Ubaldo Jimenez, the Braves have surged to a 2 game lead over the second place Philadelphia Phillies, including a 3 game sweep of the Phillies earlier this month.  In a city where the Braves’ winning ways were once customary, this revival atop the standings stands in stark contrast to recent seasons.  From 1991 to 2005, with the exception of the players’ strike in the 1994 season, the Braves won an unprecedented 14 straight pennants, with a lone World Series title in 1995. Since the 2005 season, the Braves have been sitting at home come October watching the playoffs from the other side of the television screen. Read the rest of this entry »

The best young outfielder in baseball, a threat both in the batter’s box and on the base paths, nicknamed “Superman” by Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, all of this describes Grady Sizemore… in 2008.  So why then is a player so talented now being disregarded as an afterthought both in real life and fantasy baseball circles.  It was announced on Thursday that Sizemore will miss the rest of the 2010 season as a result of season-ending knee surgery.  This is just the sad end to an injury riddled downward spiral that has consumed the past year and half of Sizemore’s playing career.  Sizemore’s initial struggles can be traced back to 2009 spring training before the World Baseball Classic during which he came up limp with a bum left groin.  After what, by his standards, amounted to a very sluggish 2009 season (.246 AVG 18 HR’s 13 SB’s down from .268 AVG 33 HR’s and 38 SB’s), Sizemore opted for surgery in late September to repair a both hernia and left elbow issues that plagued him throughout the year, in hopes of being ready for the 2010 season.   Through the 2 months Sizemore was available this year, his old form largely eluded him as he batted a measly .211 with only 4 steals and not a single home run.  He will have the rest of this season and the off-season with nothing to do but ponder his playing future, but one can’t help but wonder, will Grady Sizemore ever be the same? Read the rest of this entry »

In a Shutter Island-esque turn of events few baseball analysts saw coming, David Ortiz, who spent the first month of the season cooling off the Northeast shore with wild whiffs, has found his stroke as we head towards the Midsummer Classic.   Pundits are now left scratching their heads who is this guy?  Hardly a question one would expect concerning a veteran entering his 14^th year of big league service.   Through April, Red Sox fans and opposing fans alike were calling for Ortiz’s head as he slumped his way to a .143 average with only a solo long ball to boot.  Critics worried his birth certificate is a fake and his old age was catching up to him, citing various other age discrepancies with Dominican born players.  Other naysayers trudged up old Mitchell Report findings and cited harsher PED crackdowns as the root of his poor play.  What a difference a month makes.  Riding a .363 hitting May complemented by 10 homeruns, Big Papi has raised his average to a reasonable though not spectacular .252 with an impressive 12 HR’s on the season. Read the rest of this entry »

The beauty of statistics and sports is that, as fans, we can quantify perfection.  No instance holds truer than that of the perfect game, 9 innings without allowing a walk or hit.  Throughout the lengthy annals of Major League Baseball, there have only been 20 to date.   By comparison, there have only been 19 Presidents of the United States since the same date in 1901.  Thus you can see why it is so tragic a blown call by apologetic umpire Jim Joyce, cost Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga a chance at history.  Galarraga made quick work of the Cleveland Indians through 8 and 2/3 innings until a soft struck grounder off the bat of Jason Donald culminated in a bang-bang play at first.  Slow motion replay clearly shows the ball settling into Galarraga’s glove a half-step before Donald reaches 1^st base.  The subsequent batter grounded out to conclude what should have been an unusual 28 out start.  Read the rest of this entry »