Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 30, 2008
Game of the Day

The North American leg of the 2008 Major League Baseball season gets underway tonight as the Washington Nationals host the Atlanta Braves. Not only is it the second opening day of the season, but the Nationals show off their new park to a National audience on ESPN. Unfortunately, the Nationals don't offer a team to match the quality of their new facility.

Tim Hudson takes on Odalis Perez in a lopsided pitching matchup. Since joining the Braves in 2005, Hudson won 43 games, one behind John Smoltz. He does this by keeping his walks low and the ball in the park. With Smoltz unable to start the opener due to an injury, Hudson steps in as a worthy replacement.

In 2007, Hudson showed almost no platoon difference. Lefties and righties posted the same batting average against him, while lefties managed two more points of slugging percentage. He did give up a few more walks to lefties, but was extremely effective against both sides of the plate.

Perez gets the opening day nod despite posting the second highest ERA in the majors since the start of the 2006 season (minimum 250 innings), 5.87. Perez actually posts good walk and home run numbers, but strikes out so few batters that all the balls in play against him turn into a ton of hits. Couple that with a .330 BA allowed with runners in scoring position during that time, and Perez's ERA isn't a surprise.

The big positive tonight for the Nationals is the return of Nick Johnson after missing a year due to a broken femur. The Nationals need big seasons from Johnson and the young newcomers Dukes and Milledge to have a chance to compete in the NL East this season.

Enjoy!

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Posted by David Pinto at 11:45 AM | Matchups | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Woohoo!! Happy Opening Day everyone!

Even though we've already had one....and the real one is tomorrow.

Happy Bastardized Opening Day everyone!

Posted by: jc at March 30, 2008 02:17 PM
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