Sunday, August 7, 2016

MLB Musings




MUSINGS:

Shortly after posting my article on Tim Lincecum this afternoon (A Good(?) Experiment Gone Wrong), the Angels designated him for assignment. May the halcyon days of this great pitcher be long remembered.

The Phillies officially called up Jake Thompson today to make his major league debut against the Padres. The 22 year-old right-hander has fared very well at Triple-A Lehigh Valley going 11-5 with a 2.50 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 139.2 innings. The 69th overall prospect in baseball, however, was rudely welcomed by the Padres. The rookie gave up six earned runs on seven hits and two walks before being chased after 4.1 innings. He only struck out one batter. 

Jake Arrieta is glad the month of July is behind him. After going winless in five starts (0-3) last month with a 4.88 ERA, he righted the ship today pitching eight shutout innings for the Cubs while allowing only three As hits, striking out four and walking one.

Starling Marte continued his impressive season going 2-4 including a double and one RBI against the Reds.  He also stole his 39th base, second in the Major Leagues to Milwaukee's Jonathan Villar with 41.  Marte's slash line now is at .321/.378/.474. His power numbers have waned however. He has only one homer in his last forty games and only seven for the year.

Tony Watson was able to nail down the save today after failing to do so last night. He is the projected Pirates closer now that Mark Melancon has moved on to Washington.

Chris Archer seems to be coming out of his season long slump after pitching his fourth straight quality start. The Rays 27 year-old right hander picked up his sixth win (6-15) against the Twins giving up one earned run on three hits and striking out seven.

Kansas City southpaw Danny Duffy continues to perform very well pitching his seventh quality start in his last eight outings.  Against the Blue Jays today he pitched 6.2 innings allowing two earned runs on five hits while striking out seven.  Duffy now holds a 2.97 ERA and a stellar 10.3/1.95 K/BB ratio. He has punched 132 K's in 115.1 innings pitched while only walking 25.  The 27 year-older is worthy of his 8-1 record.

It's baffling that the Blue Jays recently gave Justin Smoak a two-year 8.5 million dollar extension.  The first baseman who has difficulty making contact went 0-4 today against the Royals.  His slash line now is at an ugly .225/.316/.410.

Rangers Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress are adjusting well with their new team.  The duo was traded from the Brewers this past week.  Today Lucroy blasted two solo home runs while Jeffress pitched an inning of middle relief giving up no runs and no hits with 2 K's.

Manny Machado has cooled down considerably this past month.  In the last 30 days he has a slash line of .237/.318/.392. Tonight the Orioles 24 year-old third baseman singled and scored once against the White Sox.

 The Nationals Stephen Strasburg had a rare off day against the San Francisco Giants and was tagged for only his second loss of the season.  His record now stands at 15-2. It was only the first time this season that he was unable to make it to the fifth inning.



NEWS AND NOTES:

Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees have called a press conference for tomorrow afternoon. It is not known whether he will be released, or that he will have a reduced role with the team.

Marlins Ichiro Suzuki legged out a single against the Rockies tonight to leave him one short of 3,000 total Major League hits.

Ryan Braun had a monster night. The Milwaukee left fielder was 3-4 smashing two HR's, scoring three times, knocking in seven RBI's, and stealing his 13th base of the season.









 INJURIES:

Jordan Zimmerman who just returned from the disabled list with a strained neck lasted only one start. Today the Detroit right hand starter complained of tightness in his back and was placed on the 15-day DL. Daniel Norris is expected to replace him for Tuesday night's game against the Mariners in Seattle.

 Pittsburgh's David Freese was forced to leave tonight's game against the Reds with a sore elbow.  The extent of the injury is yet to be determined.

Detroit third baseman Nick Castellanos will be out for at least a month with a fractured fifth metacarpal bone in his left hand after being struck by a pitch thrown by the Mets' Logan Verrett. He was placed on the disabled list and will be replaced by Casey McGehee.   




Saturday, August 6, 2016

A Good(?) Experiment Gone Wrong





Does he have any gas left in the tank?  Will he rehab successfully following surgery to repair a degenerative hip? Will he be at least a small piece of the puzzle to help a woeful pitching staff? How effective will he be with whatever little stuff of his remains?

These are the questions that Angels' GM Billy Eppler and manager Mike Scioscia apparently answered in the affirmative when willing to take a chance on signing the former back-to-back Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum to a one-year prorated portion of a $2.5 million salary on May 20th. Unfortunately, their gamble has not paid off.

Lincecum's decline since 2012 has been duly documented and widely known. And rest assured the Giants' top brass was also well aware of the steady drop of the 32-year-old right hander's fastball velocity, his declining strikeout rate and his ailing hip when it did not consider re-signing him after the 2015 season. After all, the Bellevue, Washington native was relegated to the bullpen in his last year of his illustrious San Francisco career. 

Other than his debut start with Los Angeles in Oakland on June 12th (his only quality start), the results of the Lincecum experiment with the Angels have not been pretty. Since then Lincecum is 1-6 with an unsightly 10.58 ERA and 2.63 WHIP.  In 32.1 innings he has allowed 64 hits, walked 21 men and given up 11 homers (3.1 HR/9). He has performed well below a replacement level player (-0.8).

To see a once quality star and peak performer as Tim Lincecum struggle as he is currently is painful to accept. Please, Los Angeles Angels: please end this experiment gone awry now!  O' to only remember Tim Lincecum in a San Francisco Giants uniform.