Category: MLB (Page 181 of 448)

      No suspension coming for Fielder

      August 6, 2009 /

      Major League Baseball has decided not to suspend Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder after he attempted to barge into the Dodgers’ clubhouse following a game Tuesday night in L.A. Fielder was upset after being on the receiving end of a retaliation pitch by Dodgers reliever Guillermo Mota and had to be stopped by teammates and security guards outside of L.A.’s clubhouse when he attempted to confront Mota following the game.

      From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

      More surprisingly, MLB isn’t suspending Dodgers reliever Guillermo Mota or manager Joe Torre, either. The penalties are undisclosed fines for Fielder and Mota and no suspensions.

      Mota obviously intentionally hit Fielder with a pitch in the ninth inning of a 17-4 loss in retaliation for Manny Ramirez being hit earlier in the game. And Torre obviously ordered it, which catcher Russell Martin admitted to after the game.

      As several of our readers pointed out yesterday, if Fielder was that angry about Mota’s retaliation pitch, then he should have confronted the reliever on the field during the game. Why he wanted until after the game is beyond me, unless he knew that his teammates would eventually stop him and thus, he wouldn’t have had to throw any punches in front of a stadium full of people. (Hey, maybe he was thinking about the children and their innocent, fragile minds.)

      Either way, it is surprising that neither Mota nor Torre will face any punishment. Usually MLB hands out one or two game suspensions for incidents like this one, although maybe the league thought that if they weren’t going to suspend Fielder, they couldn’t touch Mota or Torre either.

      MLB

      Massarotti: What’s next for Ortiz?

      August 6, 2009 /

      Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe throws out an intriguing question about Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and what his next step is after reports surfaced that he tested positive for PEDs in 2003.

      Here are the questions we all need to ask: Will anything short of a full admission from Ortiz be enough to satisfy those of us who generally are cursed with cynicism? Or is he simply doomed, regardless of what happened, because there are certain things we need to hear?

      Fans don’t appreciate being lied to, so there will still be a ton of people who will forever be upset with Big Papi no matter what he does or doesn’t admit to. But fans are also forgiving in nature as long as an athlete is honest and completely upfront with his omission.

      Take Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi and to a lesser extent, Bronson Arroyo (who recently admitted to using androstenedione and amphetamines before they were both banned in 2006) for example. All three of those players admitted that they had taken PEDs in the past, apologized for it and immediately showed regret for what they had done. Do you hear any of their names being mentioned with the likes of Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Ortiz or Ramirez? Nope.

      If Big Papi comes out and completely admits to what he did, then fans will be less forgiving. Granted, we’re not going to just forget that he ever took PEDs, but we’ll certainly be more forgiving of him when we throw stones at the players who did cheat.

      MLB

      Jeff Passan’s 25 things you didn’t know about baseball

      August 5, 2009 /

      Skip

      Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports recently discovered FanGraphs, a great baseball website which uses complicated algorithms to determine attributes about players. Passan compiled 25 intriguing stats that the common fan would never realize unless they went to this site.

      1) The best fastball in baseball is 88.4 mph.

      And it belongs to Jarrod Washburn. He also throws a slider, cutter, curveball and changeup, but his average-velocity fastball is the dagger of the bunch. At 22.4 runs above average this year, it has been more effective than the fastest (Ubaldo Jimenez) and the slowest (Jamie Moyer). The most amazing part: Washburn’s fastball was actually 8.3 runs below average last year.

      6) The best pitch in baseball is a changeup, and you’ll never guess who throws it.

      Tim Lincecum came up heralded for his blazing fastball and hammer curveball, and neither is close to his best pitch. Lincecum’s changeup has been 27.5 runs above average this year, the highest total for any pitch and almost double the second-best change, Brian Tallet’s 14-runs-above special. It’s not like Lincecum piles up the runs above average by throwing the changeup egregiously. His 5.62 runs above per 100 changeups thrown is also the best for that pitch.

      15) One person has three pitches that are among the five best in runs above average.

      More evidence that Dan Haren is the business: He’s got the best splitter in baseball (7.2 runs above average), the fourth-best cutter (13.7 above average) and the fifth-best fastball (19.3 above average).

      25) Six players in baseball do not have a weakness on a specific pitch.

      As you know, Pujols isn’t one of them. Joe Mauer is an easy guess, and it would be correct. Same with Cabrera, who has the privilege of being the only player above average in all six categories – knuckleball included. Torii Hunter(notes) just makes it, one-one hundredth a run in the black on curveballs, and his center field peer Adam Jones(notes) joins him. The two National League representatives come from the Central Division. Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto(notes) is a monster. The other is not. He hits .292. He slugs .386. He is the epitome of utility. The final player without a weakness: Skip Schumaker(notes).

      If I’m a professional baseball player, I’m checking this site everyday, as it reports useable statistics scouts are even missing. The people they have contributing to the site are all very serious and spend days mapping out an athlete’s progression or regression in various areas. Be sure to check out Passan’s entire list as well as the FanGraphs page.

      And what about that Dan Haren? These stats show that he has the stuff of a Cy Young-worthy pitcher. It should either be he or Lincecum who ends up with the award in the NL. While the Diamonbacks have no chance of making the playoffs, at least Haren can accomplish this feat on his own. As for Lincecum, his team is looking better by the day.

      MLB

      Is Jose Reyes’ season over?

      August 5, 2009 /

      Kevin Burkhardt of SportsNet New York is reporting that Mets shortstop Jose Reyes’ season could be over after flying back to the Big Apple on Tuesday to have team doctors examine his hamstring injury.

      This is when you know Reyes’ season is over – he flew back to NY today to have Mets team doctors re-examine him for right leg discomfort.

      The Mets have to shut this kid down for the rest of the season. If he needs surgery, it’s better to do it now than to wait hoping that Reyes can come back and the Mets can put together a feeble comeback.

      What happens if he rushes back onto the field and winds up hurting his leg even more than it was? Reyes is a big part of the Mets’ future and while the situation must be frustrating to everyone involved, risking a bigger injury just isn’t worth it with New York currently sitting in fourth place in the NL East and 10 games back of the Phillies.

      MLB

      Fielder goes after Mota in clubhouse following Brewers-Dodgers game

      August 5, 2009 /

      ESPN.com is reporting that Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder tried attacking Dodgers pitcher Guillermo Mota in L.A.’s clubhouse before being stopped by security guards and teammates.

      Mota drilled Fielder with two outs, apparently in retaliation for a pitch that hit Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez in the seventh inning of Los Angeles’ highest-scoring home performance in 30 years. Home plate umpire Marvin Hudson immediately ejected Mota, who slowly left the field while Fielder voiced his anger.

      When the game ended, Fielder charged through the underground tunnels at Dodger Stadium to the door of the home clubhouse, shouting obscenities with many fellow Brewers trailing behind. Several security guards and teammates Bill Hall and Casey McGehee prevented Fielder from entering the locker room in search of Mota.

      Could you imagine Mota sitting at his locker in the Dodgers clubhouse and turning to a teammate saying, “Do you hear something?”

      All of a sudden Prince Fielder busts through the doors screaming “Where the f**k is he? Where the f**k is he?!”

      I’d be telling one of the members of the clubhouse staff to wear my jersey so I could sneak out the back door.

      The rest of this series should be interesting. Milwaukee has played flat since the All-Star break and maybe this incident will fire them up. They’re still only five games back of the Cubs and Cardinals in the NL Central, so it’s not like they still can’t make a run. They certainly have enough hitting, but the pitching has been brutal.

      MLB

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