Baseball: Around the Horn

Looking at tonight’s scores, I have a number of stray thoughts:

 

Nelson Cruz

He his 15th HR today in the Rangers’ loss to the Yankees.   He’s a great example of the fact that if a player who has consistently hit well in the minors gets enough chances, he will eventually hit in the majors.

Granted, it sometimes takes awhile.  Cruz had great minor league seasons in 2004, 2005, 2006, part of 2007, and 2008.  However, he got significant trials with the Rangers in 2006 and 2007 and didn’t play well at all.

Now, in what amounts to his third try, he’s finally put it together at the major league level.  He turns 29 on July 1, but he’s a good hitter, and the Rangers will get their money’s worth for the six years they get to control him.

 

Jack Cust

He hit his eighth HR today.  I read an article earlier in the season in the SF Chronicle, which said that Cust was going to make a concerted effort this year to cut down his swing with two strikes, so that he strikes out less and hits for a higher average. 

It's working in the sense that Cust is striking out less so far this year (27 times per hundred ABs so far this year, as compared to 42 times per 100 ABs in ‘07 and 41 times per 100 ABs in ‘08) and he’s hitting for a higher average (.253) than last year (.231). 

However, his walk and HR rates are also way down this year.  One has to wonder if it’s worth the trade-off.  There is a cost for all the times that Cust strikes out, but it’s out-weighed by the HRs he hits and the walks he draws.

Cust reached the point in his career where he was at the beginning of 2009 by swinging only at pitches that were no-doubt strikes and trying to murder those strikes.

Yes, he strikes out a lot, but a lot of players strike out a lot nowadays, in large part because teams have realized that players like Cust or Ryan Howard or Adam Dunn, who strike out a hell of lot but hit with great power and draw a lot of walks, have value even striking out more than once a game on average. 

Despite the fact that Cust only hit .231 and struck out 197 times last year, he was still a good player, finishing the season with a .375 OBP and an .851 OPS playing his home games in one of the best pitchers’ parks in baseball. 

I kind of think he had an approach that worked, and changing it may have been a mistake.  Of course, he could just be having a down year, or he’s showing age, as he is 30 this year.

 

Roy Halladay

He recorded a career high 14 K’s today and went the whole way despite giving up four runs to the Angels, all in the seventh inning.  Since Santana was traded to the Mets, Halladay has pretty much been the undisputed BEST PITCHER IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE. 

I noticed that he threw 133 pitches to get his complete game win, and I thought that when you have the best pitcher in the league, you don’t overwork the guy, especially when Halladay broke down the year after he won his Cy Young in 2003. 

He pitched 505.1 combined innings in ‘02 and ‘03 and then pitched only 274.2 combined innings in ‘04 and ‘05.  Once his arm healed fully, he pitched 220, 225.1 and 246 innings in the three seasons going into ‘09. 

You can see where this is going.  Don’t be surprised if Halladay’s arm falls off in 2010.

In the Jays’ defense, however, I checked Halladay’s game log this year, and tonight’s game was the only time in 12 starts so far this season when he has thrown more than 119 pitches. 

He has pitched at least 7 innings in every start this year, which is pretty amazing given the way the game is played now.

 

Vince Mazzaro

He pitched 6.1 shut out innings in his first major league appearance tonight, helping the A’s beat the ChiSox tonight.

He’s only 22 years old and didn’t cross my radar until a few days ago, when I noticed that he had the 4th best ERA in the Pacific Coast League so far in ‘09. 

I don’t know if he’s truly ready for prime time right now, but if he stays healthy, you’ll be hearing a lot more about him in the future. 

Besides pitching well in nine starts at Sacramento this Spring, he had a 1.90 ERA in 137.1 IP at Midland in the AA Texas League last year. 

Midland has traditionally been a great place for hitters.  The next best ERA for any of the other 12 pitchers who threw at least 100 innings at Midland since 2005 was 3.37 by now major leaguer Brad Ziegler in 2006.