Bleacher Report - Articles by Peter Hyndman

Midsummer Classic 2008: Catchers

Peter Hyndman — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:50:47 -0400

For the National League, Major League Baseball's All Star Game has been a wreck since 1997. Over those past eleven years, the American League has gone 10-0-1 in the game that now determines home-field advantage in the World Series.

Over the next several days, I will compare all of the leading vote-getters at each position for both leagues and determine which league has the edge at that position.

Today's position: Catcher.

National League: Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs

Soto, who has almost twice as many votes as second-place Brian McCann, has been having a tremendous rookie season for the NL's best club. He is batting .280 with 11 homers through 60 games and has one hit per game this season, more than sufficient for a rookie catcher.

In the category that many voters overlook, Soto has done a tremendous job handling the Cubs' pitching. When was the last June that we could say that Carlos Zambrano hadn't stirred things up in the Cubbies' clubhouse? Soto is a very impressive player with a great future ahead of him.

American League: Jason Varitek, Boston Red Sox

Varitek is having the type of season you would expect out of him, judging by his stats from the past two years. He is batting .257 through 54 games with seven home runs. He has struck out 50 times thus far, and walked only 18 times.

Varitek is obviously a spectacular leader, and for that reason he still wears the C on his uniform.

With Red Sox Nation on his side, this simple fact is why he leads AL catchers in votes and will likely start July 15th at Yankee Stadium. Contrary to Soto, Varitek's abilities to play are slowly diminishing and it's about time that the Red Sox part ways with him.

Advantage: Soto and the National League

Phillies-Marlins: Florida Continues Long Ball Dominance Over Phillies

Peter Hyndman — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:59:15 -0400

If Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine knew what they were talking about in the late '90s, then chicks dig the long ball. And if players from the Florida Marlins are single and searching, then the ladies should start coming to them pretty soon.

In two consecutive wins over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Fish have scored eleven runs. All of those runs have come via the coveted long ball. Two on May 31 led them to a 7-3 victory and three last night carried them to a 6-2 win, bringing them within two games of the NL East leading Phillies.

Starting with two outs in the first, Jorge Cantu ripped a solo shot off of Phillies ace Cole Hamels. Cantu added his 14th round-tripper of the year, again a solo homer off of Hamels, in the seventh inning. The derby was concluded upon Dan Uggla's walk-off four-run shot (otherwise known as a grand slam) in the bottom of the ninth off of Tom "Flash" Gordon.

For Hamels, Cantu's two homers were the only two blemishes on an otherwise near-perfect performance in Miami.

The three dingers increased Florida's major-league leading total to 101 on the year, six ahead of the Phillies.

Cantu's performance exemplified the Marlins' dominance of Hamels this season. Of the 11 home runs allowed by Hamels this year, five of them have been hit by the Marlins, against whom he has only started twice.

With the lead in hand after one inning, Andrew Miller pitched magnificently for seven plus innings, allowing only six base runners. Of the six base runners, three were doubled off, meaning that Miller faced only three more than the minimum for seven innings pitched. He did not face more than three batters in one inning until he faced five in the seventh, giving up a double to Shane Victorino and an RBI-single to Chase Utley, which tied the game at one.

However, Cantu's low, line drive home run with one down in the seventh, allowed the Marlins to quickly regain their lead. Hamels had retired seventeen straight Florida batters from the first to the seventh, but the streak began and ended after each of Cantu's dingers.

Jayson Werth drew the game's first walk to lead off the eighth, causing Fredi Gonzalez to bring in Justin Miller to replace Andrew Miller. The reliever got Pedro Feliz to pop out and then induced a 3-6-3 double play off the bat of Carlos Ruiz.

The Phillies entered the ninth down 2-1, but knowing that they weren't out of it. With twenty come-from-behind wins this season, the Phils always feel like they are in the game.

With Kevin Gregg in the game to close it out, pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs started things off by beating out an infield single and then was replaced by pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett. Bruntlett advanced to second with Jimmy Rollins' walk and stole third with Shane Victorino at the plate. Rollins, however, did not pick up on Bruntlett's steal, so he remained at first base.

Victorino wound up striking out looking, bringing up NL-Leading All-Star vote getter Chase Utley. Utley tapped one to second and the Fish got the lead runner, Rollins, at second, but were unable to catch Utley, allowing the tying run to score from third.

After intentionally walking Ryan Howard, Gregg hit Pat Burrell in the arm to load the bases. Jayson Werth attempted to squeeze in the go-ahead run, but was thrown out at first, ending the Phillies' threat.

With Hamels now out of the game after allowing two earned runs on three hits and one walk, while striking out thirteen, the Phillies turned to reliever Flash Gordon to send it to extras. However, Cantu's third hit of the game, a single, sandwiched by two walks, loaded the bases for Dan Uggla with one down. The second-baseman stroked a 3-1 fastball over the left field wall to give the Marlins the 6-2 walk off victory.

The loss puts Gordon at 5-3 on the year and he now sports a 5.19 ERA. Gregg blew his fourth save of the year, but the victory puts him at 5-2 for the season. Despite their spectacular performances, Hamels and Andrew Miller both came away with no-decisions.

Hanley Ramirez extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single in the first.

Rays-Angels: Tampa Bay Powers Its Way Past Saunders, Angels

Peter Hyndman — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:21:23 -0400

Entering Monday's matchup between the Los Angeles Angels and the Tampa Bay Rays, fans were looking for some clarification: Either Angels starter Joe Saunders was playing above his head, or maybe the entire Rays team was.

The Rays resumed their soaring season and knocked Saunders down a few pegs, riding an offensive onslaught led by 10 total bases and walk from Evan Longoria to a 13-4 victory in Anaheim.

The Rays carried baseball's fifth-best record into the game, while Saunders was trying to continue his hot start, which consisted of a 9-1 record and 2.63 ERA going into the matchup.

Both teams came into this three-game set playing very well, with L.A. having won seven straight series and Tampa Bay ten of its last thirteen. The Rays came into Angel Stadium sporting a record that was an unbelievable 18 games better than their record this time last season, and grabbed onto the game's first lead in the second inning.

Saunders—who, in his only other start against the Rays, had allowed one run in six innings of work—ran into trouble when he faced the No. 5, 6, and 7 hitters of Tampa in the second frame. Evan Longoria, Willie Aybar and Dioner Navarro each connected for home runs in consecutive at-bats to become the first trio of Rays to ever hit back-to-back-to-back homers, which put the Rays up, 3-0.

However, just as Cleveland's Cliff Lee became MLB's first 10-game winner of the year in a game against Detroit, L.A's offense woke up to back Saunders, who was also trying to reach that plateau. The Angels chipped away at the three-run deficit in each of the next three innings, beginning in the second, when designated hitter Vladmir Guerrero, who entered the game in a 4-for-25 slump, ripped a double off the top of the center field wall to lead off the inning. He scored three batters later on a Gary Matthews Jr. single, making the score 3-1.

In the top of the third, it looked like Carl Crawford, who had walked to lead off the inning, had his 18th steal of the season, but it was revoked because Longoria was called for interference as he walked across home plate after striking out, thus impeding upon Jeff Mathis' ability to throw out Crawford. Mathis, who had been called for catcher's interference earlier in the game, sold the interference very well to home plate umpire Eric Cooper, ending the Rays' threat.

Mathis and Maicer Izturis led off the home half of the third with back-to-back singles, and Mathis moved over to third on a fly ball off of the bat of Howie Kendrick. With one out, Garrett Anderson hit a fly ball to center field, which Justin Ruggiano caught with ease and then fired to Navarro, trying to get Mathis at the plate, but Navarro cut it off early, conceding the run to Mathis, and gunned down Izturis at second, who, upon seeing the throw go all the way through to the catcher, had tried to tag up and advance to second base.

Guerrero led the fourth inning off with a broken-bat single to center field and came around to score after Matthews Jr. hit his 200th career home run, a no-doubter off of Rays starter Edwin Jackson, which gave the Angels their first lead of the night, at 4-3. The Angels strung together four consecutive hits in the fourth, but only came away with the two runs from the homer. Jackson worked out of the jam by inducing Robb Quinlan into a 5-4-3, inning-ending double-play.

That lead didn't last long for Saunders and the Angels, though. After a ground out and a pop out, Carl Crawford was on first with two down. With B.J. Upton up, Crawford stole second and then scored on Upton's double to left field. Longoria followed it up with a walk, and then Aybar singled Upton home, making it 5-4 in favor of the Rays. Navarro collected two RBI by ripping a double to center field and later scored on Gabe Gross' single to right. Gross was caught stealing second to end the inning, but the damage had been done.

Five two-out runs caused Saunders, who entered the game with a 14-2 record in games following Angels' losses, to fail to make it out of the fifth inning. His line was not very pretty, allowing eight earned runs on nine hits and two walks, while striking out four, in 4 2/3 innings pitched. In the losing effort, Saunders dropped to 9-2 and saw his ERA skyrocket from 2.63 to 3.32. What did Saunders in the most was the fact that he had to work out of the stretch way too often. He allowed four lead-off baserunners to reach in five innings and did not look comfortable working out of jams.

The Rays tacked on five more runs over the last three innings, sealing a big victory over one of the league's hottest and most powerful teams. Longoria, Aybar and Navarro combined to go 9-for-13 with four home runs, nine runs, nine RBI and two walks. Longoria went deep twice.

On a positive note for the Angels, both Matthews Jr. and Guerrero went 4-for-4. Guerrero scored two runs and Matthews Jr. knocked in a run.

This overwhelming victory over one of the league's best pitchers this year gives the Rays the confidence they need as they try to steal the division lead back from the suddenly-hated Boston Red Sox.

Division Leaders Becoming More Comfortable with Each Passing Day

Peter Hyndman — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:33:18 -0400

It's about this time of year when the annual "Pretenders or Contenders" segment is featured on ESPN's Baseball Tonight and the like.

Over the past week, division leaders did their best to make this debate clearer, as they gained a combined 9.5 games over the second-place teams. The only runner-up to gain on the leader was the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had picked up a half-game on the Diamondbacks entering today's play.

In the AL East, the Boston Red Sox dethroned the Tampa Bay Rays, who started the week with a one-game cushion, by sweeping a three-game set at Fenway.

The series, of course, was nothing short of dramatic, and included not only an inter-squad brawl but also an altercation between Boston's Kevin Youkilis and Manny Ramirez.

On the week, the Sox went 5-2, while the Rays struggled, going 3-3. Still, the Rays find themselves right in the thick of a pennant race, only one game back, for the first time ever. The Red Sox are back where they expect to remain for a while, as long as they can contain their tempers and fight off injuries.

The Chicago White Sox increased their lead over challenging AL Central teams from one game to a commanding 4.5 game lead over the Minnesota Twins.

Even though no regular starter on the White Sox is batting over .300, the boys from the Southside of Chicago find themselves sitting in a very comfortable position heading into the second week of June. They can thank their pitching, who, through Saturday, had the best ERA in the Majors, at 3.31. In their current winning streak (which was at five entering Sunday), the Sox were hitting .342 as a team, scoring 42 runs, while knocking 14 round-trippers.

The pitching staff continued its dominance during the streak, as it had a 2.82 ERA and allowed only 19 runs. As long as it keeps putting up just enough runs, as it was doing earlier in the season, then you can expect to see Chicago playing in October for the first time since winning the World Series in 2005.

Out west, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim picked up two more games on the Oakland Athletics, creating a 5.5 game difference between the two teams. The Angels have been firing on all cylinders of late and have won seven straight through Saturday.

The Athletics had a five-game winning streak of their own entering their weekend matchup with the Angels, but unfortunately for them, the buzzsaw that is the LA Angels was just too much to handle. It seems that the Angels have made excelling under the radar a routine over the past few years, but they may have a difficult time fending off the upstart Athletics, especially since Rich Harden is coming back for them.

After taking two out of three from the then-division-leading Florida Marlins, the Phillies stayed hot this week by taking three of four from the Cincinnati Reds and, in doing so, completed a stellar ten-game homestand with an 8-2 record.

They then headed into Turner Field and stole two of the first three games from the Atlanta Braves to increase their lead over the Marlins to 3.5 games. With the New York Mets and Braves both struggling to stay afloat, the Marlins are showing what many believe to be their true colors.

The Phillies' offense is averaging over six runs per game in the past several weeks (even without much contribution from Ryan Howard), and the stars seem to be aligned for another division title in Philadelphia. Another unsung part of Philadelphia's success is their bullpen, led by Brad Lidge, which leads the league in ERA. Lidge has gone 16-for-16 in save opportunities this year with an ERA of one.

The Chicago Cubs neither lost nor gained ground on the St. Louis Cardinals, and kept up the pace as the Major League's best team, though they are now tied with the Angels for that title.

The Cubbies went 4-3 last week, as did the Cardinals, by taking two from San Diego and one from both the Rockies and the Dodgers. So far, Chicago's offense has been potent, leading the NL in both runs and batting average, and their pitching has been exceptional, as it has a 3.73 ERA, trailing only Atlanta (3.70) and Arizona (3.71) in the NL.

Since being given closer duties, Kerry Wood has embraced his new role relatively well, going 17-for-21 in save opportunities, while posting a 2.70 ERA. It should be interesting to see how well Wood continues to do and if the Cubs will give Carlos Marmol a chance at closer, and I definitely expect to see them return to the postseason this fall.

The Arizona Diamondbacks scuffled through the past week of play, going 3-3 against the Brewers, Nationals and Pirates, but only lost a half-game in the standings to the Dodgers.

The Diamondbacks are blessed with spectacular pitching and also the fact that they are in baseball's weakest division. When they get Eric Byrnes back from the disabled list, the offense should respond very well and Arizona should begin to run away with the division.

Then again, you never can be too sure that a club managed by Joe Torre will ever be out of the playoff race before September.

So, while there have been particular surprises this year coming from the state of Florida and New York City, it's evident that the teams that were expected to be atop the standings in June are, in fact, atop the standings.

As the month of June goes on, don't be shocked if the leaders continue to slowly increase their kung-fu grips on the divisions, as October comes closer and closer into sight.

Reds-Marlins: Cody Ross, Florida Walk Off With Victory

Peter Hyndman — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 18:15:07 -0400

Saturday, June 7—A wet night in Miami led to both a 16-minute rain delay at the start of Saturday's contest between the Cincinnati Reds and the Florida Marlins. It also led to very sloppy defense between the two teams.

Once the tarp was removed from Dolphin Stadium, the Marlins built an early lead off Cincinnati ace Bronson Arroyo, tacking on two runs in the second and a run in each of the fourth and fifth innings.

However, Florida's defense collapsed in the middle innings, allowing the Reds to climb back into the game, eventually tying it at four in the sixth.

In the home half of the seventh, the Marlins added another unearned run off of reliever Jarod Burton after first baseman Joey Votto made a throwing error.

Cincinnati gained their first lead of the night by scoring three runs in the eighth, each of them charged to Logan Kensing, who also wound up with a blown save, his first of the season.

Adam Dunn started the late-inning comeback by stroking a 2-2 fastball over the centerfield wall, which tied the game at five.

Kensing settled down and retired the next two batters, but allowed Jose Valentin, who was hitting for Burton, to reach base after Valentin swung at a wild pitch for the third strike. Three straight singles, later the Reds had a 7-5 lead going into the bottom of the eighth.

After two uneventful half-innings, Reds' closer Francisco Cordero came in to close out the victory in the bottom of the ninth. Marlins' third baseman Jorge Cantu started things off with a double to left and advanced to third on a groundout by Wes Helms.

After Dan Uggla walked, Luis Gonzalez, who ripped a two-run double in the second and a solo homer in the fourth, hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Cantu.

Then with two outs, centerfielder Cody Ross launched an 0-1 fastball over the right-center field fence, sending the Marlins to an improbable 8-7 walk-off victory.

The home run was just the tip of the iceberg for Ross, who went 2-for-4 with a run, three RBI, a stolen base, an outfield assist and a walk and was definitely a key part of the Marlins' success.

Cantu also had a successful night, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. He wound up a triple shy of the cycle.

Ken Griffey Jr., started the game and went 1-for-3 with a single and two walks. He was replaced in the eighth inning by David Weathers in a double switch. Junior remains at 599 career home runs.

Florida starter Scott Olsen allowed only four hits in six innings while striking out five and walking one, but three errors in the field behind him, including Cantu's Major League leading 13th, allowed four unearned runs to score.

Olsen saw his ERA drop from 3.72 to 3.44, but only came away with a no-decision. Burke Badenhop (2-3) came away with the victory, allowing just one hit in 1.1 innings pitched.

Conversely, Reds' starter Bronson Arroyo struggled immensely, allowing four earned runs on seven hits (two of which were home runs) and two walks, though he struck out six.

He lasted only 4.2 innings, mostly because of his lack of accuracy. At one point in the second inning, Arroyo threw nine straight balls, and overall threw only 58 strikes out of 103 pitches to 23 batters faced. Cordero (2-1) got stuck with the loss and blew his third save of the year.

Mariners-Red Sox: Seattle Blanks Boston 8-0

Peter Hyndman — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 18:10:11 -0400

The Boston Red Sox turned to two-time 20-game winner Bartolo Colon on Friday night to try to extend their 13-game home winning streak, as he put forth the effort to continue his own personal success, having won his first three starts in a Red Sox uniform.

They came into the game needing to prove that the team was fine after Thursday's fiasco with the Tampa Bay Rays. Not only was there an inter-squad brawl that resulted in 38 games of suspensions issued to eight perpetrators, there was also a fisticuff between Red Sox teammates Kevin Youkilis and Manny Ramirez.

In addition to this trouble in paradise, manager Terry Francona is having to contend with a suddenly depleted Red Sox lineup. In the fourth inning of Thursday's game, outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury sprained his right wrist making a diving catch. MRI results were negative, but Ellsbury is still day-to-day. On Tuesday, designated hitter David Ortiz was placed on the 15-day DL, though he will be far from recovered when he is eligible to play again on June 18, when the Sox will be wrapping up a three-game set in Philadelphia. Early reports indicate that Ortiz will be out for at least a month. The Sox other slugger, Ramirez, was replaced yesterday after he tweaked his right hamstring during an at bat in the seventh inning, and he also sat out Friday's game because of the injury. Outfielder Brandon Moss, who started the season in Japan with the Red Sox, was recalled to fill in while Ramirez recovers. Chris Carter was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket to make room for Moss.

So, with the Red Sox facing a great deal of adversity only two days after reclaiming first place in the AL East, the question was not so much could they beat the lowly Seattle Mariners, who were facing some adversity of their own, but it was of how well they could put Thursday night behind them. The answer was not very well.

Things got of to an inauspicious start in the top of the first when, with one out, Colon surrendered a single to Jose Lopez and then walked Raul Ibanez. When Colon snared an Adrian Beltre ground ball and spun around to second base, it started to look like the Sox would get out of the first unscathed. However, miscommunication between second baseman Dustin Pedroia and shortstop Julio Lugo--neither of them covered second base--caused Colon's throw to sail into center field, allowing Lopez to score from second. The Mariners added another run on a fielder's choice and quickly were up 2-0.

The Mariners added another run in the third, aided by Colon's second error of the night and what was ruled as a throwing error on Mike Lowell, but probably should have been charged to Youkilis instead. The Mariners tacked on two more in the fourth, another in the fifth and then closed out the scoring with two runs in the seventh, handing the Red Sox their first home loss since the Blue Jays downed them, 3-0, on May 1.

The Mariners entered the contest 15.5 games behind the LA Angels, a franchise worst through 60 games, which sparked manager John McLaren to lose it after a losing effort on Wednesday night. In the first game since that explosion, the Mariners' offense provided what turned out to be more than enough run-support for ace Felix Hernandez, who continued his dominance at Fenway Park. While Ichiro Suzuki, Jose Vidro and Richie Sexson led the M's with two RBI each, the star of the game was Felix Hernandez. In his second career start in Boston, Hernandez went six innings strong, allowing no runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out five. The impressive performance improved his record to 4-5 on the year and will certainly make Red Sox fans dwell the next time he starts in Boston. In two career starts at Fenway, Hernandez is 2-0, having allowed zero runs on seven hits and five walks, while striking out eleven in fifteen innings worked.

Colon allowed six runs, three earned, on eight hits and one walk, while striking out two in five innings pitched. The eight hits are the most that he has allowed since joining the Red Sox. In filling in for Manny Ramirez, Brandon Moss went 1-for-4 with a double and three strikeouts, stranding three runners. J.D. Drew stayed hot for the Sox, going 2-for-3 and raising his June batting average to a whopping .526.