You can touch a Hot Stove, just not for very long (Baseball thread)

[El_Josharino]

in the hopes of seeing Tom Milone throw

8 innings of shutout ball, with zero strikeouts and a fastball that tops out around 85. Nutso, but he's done the same thing all through the minors. The proper adjective to describe his lefthandedness is "crafty."

[Thermofusion]

I watched a few innings of that and I'm still not sure what his strengths are, although it clearly all adds up to something. He definitely can put the ball where he wants it and confound righties, I guess. His outing reminded me a little of Pirates lefty Erik Bedard's well-pitched loss on Opening Day. I hate that they didn't let Milone pitch the complete game.

[Thermofusion]

Aww shit, Colt 45s throwback unis for the Astros tonight! Slick!

You know, considering that they've had to face Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Clayton Kershaw in 3 of their first 4 games (and considering how much they've struggled to produce runs), I think 2-2 with a 0 DIFF is a pretty fortunate start for the Bucs.

[El_Josharino]

You know, considering that they've had to face Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Clayton Kershaw in 3 of their first 4 games (and considering how much they've struggled to produce runs), I think 2-2 with a 0 DIFF is a pretty fortunate start for the Bucs.

Truth. Doesn't hurt that the Phils offense is pretty putrid at the moment, but still.

Side note: Chipper Jones, mothafuckas.

[El_Josharino]

O'Ventbrel mothafuckas.

[davy]

Side note: Chipper Jones, mothafuckas.

 

[davy]

Every time I put Alex Gordon on my fantasy team, he goes into an epic slump. I should just take it easy on the dude and leave him alone.

[El_Josharino]

Apparently the Rays' broadcast actually showed a WAR leaderboard earlier. And the announcers, rather than mock it, made informed commentary. Whoa.
Between this and Joe Madden going all lineup-optimization crazy with Carlos Pena batting 2nd, I'm liking the Rays more and more every day. If only me screaming at the screen that Heyward should be batting 2nd were to somehow get to Fredi Gonzalez...

[davy]

You think Heyward should bat 2nd?

[El_Josharino]

Absolutely, and I feel that way whether I'm thinking old-school or new-school. Here's a decent writeup on lineup optimization:
http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/3/17/795946/optimizing-your-lineup-by
"The Book" that they refer to is a book written by Tom Tango, who's done some really incredible research on situational offense. But basically, your high OBP guys go at the top of the lineup, power in the middle, speed at the back. Which makes sense. Guys who get on base more get out less. At the top of the lineup they get more at bats. More at bats to guys who get on base more = more scoring opportunities. Speed guys like Bourn don't need a home run to score, they just need to be on base going first-to-third on a single, score on a grounder, therefore batting in front of your high contact guys, ie singles hitters, ie bottom of the order/leadoff guy. With this approach, I'd probably do something like Prado, Heyward, Uggla, McCann, Chipper, Freeman, Bourn, Pastornicky, pitcher.

Even taking an old-school approach (with the caveat that I'm not using my #2 hitter to bunt, like ever. Don't give away outs. Please, Fredi. The offense has been rough enough as is without you giving away outs) I'd probably do Bourn, Heyward, Chipper, Uggla, McCann, Freeman, Prado, Pastornicky, pitcher. Prado is a pretty aggressive hitter, whereas Heyward is much more patient and walks more/takes more pitches. More pitches = more SB opportunities for Bourn. The middle of the order is self explanatory, with the big home run guy batting cleanup and the other sluggers around him. Freeman's gonna hit a lot of doubles and having an aggressive line drive guy like Prado right behind him is going to drive in some runs.

Ultimately, the difference between an optimal and old-school lineup is probably not going to be more than 10 or 12 runs a year, but still, last year 10 or 12 runs probably get the Braves into the playoffs...

[El_Josharino]

Also, this one's for Thermo:

http://www.jockular.com/14046/tragedy-of-being-oriole-over-time-robert-andino-funny

[El_Josharino]

Also, Thermo, if you're close to Delmarva, you should try to go see Dylan Bundy pitch sometime and just... just tell me about it.

[Thermofusion]

Also, this one's for Thermo:

http://www.jockular.com/14046/tragedy-of-being-oriole-over-time-robert-andino-funny

This is best thing I've seen in a long time! Forwarded that to my dad, he'll love it.

And yeah, I'm guessing you read the write-up on Fangraphs? There was a quote buried in that article about Bundy being the most efficient pitcher the writer had ever seen, and another write-up elsewhere praised how smart and methodical he is on the mound. Very exciting for the O's. Anyway, lately I've been lucky enough to catch a few Sally League games each year (usually the Asheville Tourists or Charleston River Dogs) so there's a chance I could luck up and see him start this summer. Also on the minor league tip, I'm a little disappointed that the Rangers skipped Profar up to AA (where he's apparently struggling) instead of giving him a month or two at High A, where I would've been a brisk 45 minute drive away from watching him play.

[davy]

Josh, man, what do you think about Josh Willingham so far? http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7373

Bourn is slumping bad and I need a producer in my OF! Willingham is available and burning up -- he currently has the 6th-highest point total among OFs. I could swap them out, or maybe drop an extra pitcher for him (Sale? Nathan?).

[El_Josharino]

I've always liked Willingham, actually. Dude jacked 30 homers in Oakland last year with a mostly anemic offense around him, so his power is real.
I don't remember if you posted what you get points for offensively, but it's likely that homers are worth more than singles and/or stolen bases, which gives and advantage to Willingham. His OBP is consistently higher than Bourn's; Willingham walks a lot more, and only strikes out slightly more, so unless SBs are worth some crazy amount of points for you guys, Willingham is probably an all around better option.

I really don't like Joe Nathan and would take joy in telling you to drop him, but the fact of the matter is that he's closing for Texas, who are going to win a lot of games and get him a lot of saves. Chris Sale could actually be pretty good, plus he's got that tasty RP eligibility, so I dunno about dropping him, but it depends on what other depth you have. It's a tough call on who to drop. Of those three, I might actually say Bourn, and maybe you can grab him again if/when he comes around.

[davy]

Lucas Duda's a possibility, too, I guess. But he's desirable for having that 1B eligibility. Plus, he's one of my pet dark horses this year. Desmond Jennings would be the only other player I'd consider swapping out. I pretty much only have him because he's ranked so highly. I have a feeling he's overrated.

[Thermofusion]

Man, just turned on the Red Sox/Rays game. Kelly Shoppach's first career stolen base just happened, and it's the funniest stolen base I've seen in some time. Shoppach slides about 15 feet short of 2nd base, stands up, then kind of stumbles and faceplants his way over to the bag. And he was safe.

[El_Josharino]

Lucas Duda's a possibility, too, I guess. But he's desirable for having that 1B eligibility. Plus, he's one of my pet dark horses this year. Desmond Jennings would be the only other player I'd consider swapping out. I pretty much only have him because he's ranked so highly. I have a feeling he's overrated.

Oh man, I like both of those dudes a bunch. I think Duda is primed to have a solid year, and if you drop Jennings I might cry. Dude should be good for 20 HR/40 SB over the course of a full season, which is really solid even if he has around a league average batting average. I want to join your league just so I can swindle you for him!

Man, just turned on the Red Sox/Rays game. Kelly Shoppach's first career stolen base just happened, and it's the funniest stolen base I've seen in some time. Shoppach slides about 15 feet short of 2nd base, stands up, then kind of stumbles and faceplants his way over to the bag. And he was safe.

Oh man. When I get home from work I must find this. What inning was it?

[Thermofusion]

Bottom of the sixth! Hilarious stuff.

[El_Josharino]

Nevermind! It's already been .gif'd and placed within the friendly confines of the internet! That shit is amazing.

[Thermofusion]

Fuck, that was fast! Link?

[El_Josharino]

http://gif.mocksession.com/2012/04/kelly-shoppach-slide/

[Thermofusion]

I'm fuckin dyin

[davy]

LOL

[Thermofusion]

Man, Matt Cain threw an excellent game against the Pirates. Efficient, well-paced. Sole hit given up to James McDonald, oddly. Bucs've been facing some of the best pitchers in baseball these first couple weeks, and their batting is due for some upward statistical correction, so I'm not stressing yet. We'll see how they fare against Patrick Duffy's Nephew tomorrow.