Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
October 04, 2007
Games of the Day

Game two of the Rockies-Phillies series pits two rookie pitchers against each other as Franklin Morales opposes Kyle Kendrick. Both pitchers were essential to the late season success of their clubs. Kendrick gave the Phillies a solid six innings on average, holding the opposition under 4 runs per nine innings. That's more than good enough for the Phillies offense. Morales allowed just three runs and eleven hits over his last twenty two innings.

Kendrick showed great control during the season, walking just twenty five batters in 121 innings. But he doesn't strike out many opponents either. All the balls in play led to a high number of home runs, especially in Philadelphia. Morales trades a high walk total for a low hit total, especially on the road. Away from Coors, the opposition hits just .209 with a .291 OBA. That's a great opposition OBA, no matter how you achieve it.

The Yankees and Indians get underway this evening with Chien-Ming Wang facing C.C. Sabathia. C.C. gets my vote to be Cy Cy. He was the iron man this season, leading the majors in innings pitched. His strikeout to walk ratio of over five should great power and great control. He took his 2006 season, improved upon it, and added fifty innings. Wang hasn't lost much down the stretch. Since June first, he's 16-3. The night gives him an advantage as well, as he went 13-2 under the lights. His sinker may be harder to pick up under the lights, as his K per 9 is 4.3 during the day but 5.0 when the sun goes down.

Lefties battle out west in the late game as Doug Davis hosts Ted Lilly. Davis posted nearly identical ERAs before and after the All-Star break, but his record went from 5-10 before to 8-2 after. The Diamondbacks went 12-3 in those starts, winning eight by two runs or less. Ted Lilly lowered his ERA by half a run from 2006, partly by moving to the National League but mostly by walking 26 fewer batters in 26 more innings. Ted's excellent control meant that 19 of the 28 home runs allowed came with the bases empty.

I wonder, too, how often does a team's number one home run hitter also bat leadoff? Both Soriano and Young fit the bill for the Cubs and DBacks. Neither is particularly suited to leadoff, both with low OBAs and good power. Yet, both seem to produce their best offense there.

Enjoy!


Posted by David Pinto at 09:50 AM | League Division Series | TrackBack (0)
Comments

re: kyle kendrick

kendrick becomes the first phils rookie to start in a postseason game since charlie hudson in the 1983 NLCS.

I was there for Hudson winning his game as Gary Matthews belted a homer and the Phils won 7-2 over the LA Dodgers. The next day, Carlton finished the job 7-2 in game 4 as Matthews belted another moon shot and the Phils went on to face the Orioles in the 83 World Series.

Gary Matthews was NLCS MVP.

Hudson's and Kendrick's numbers are not all that dissimilar, except that Hudson was a tall, thin kid, but their approaches were the same; Hudson didn't strike out that many batters but relied on control and a low WHIP.

Hudson did a good job in the 1983 NLCS. Here's hoping Kendrick can reproduce that terrific job that Hudson did in game three against the Dodgers in the 1983 NLCS, which was incidedentally the pivotal game of the series.

in this case, the phils must win today or they travel to colorado down 0-2.

in a stranger twist, the mayor of denver, john hickenlooper, is a native philadelphian. he often attends phils-rockies games with steve carlton (who lives in colorado) in the mayors box.

--art kyriazis, philly

Posted by: art kyriazis at October 4, 2007 12:13 PM
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