It looks like Barry Bonds switched from testosterone to estrogen.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:54 pm | Players | Permalink | 2 Comments
February 28, 2006
Win for Winn
Randy Winn is going to make about twice as much money over the next three seasons as he’s made during his major league career: Winn, acquired before last season’s trading deadline from Seattle, batted .359 with 14 home runs after joining the Giants last season. The 31-year-old is on the U.S. roster for the World […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:39 pm | Players | Permalink | 5 Comments
February 28, 2006
Probabilistic Model of Range, 2005, Runs Created Against First Basemen
Here’s how the first basemen do at preventing runs on balls in play: Probabilistic Model of Range, 2005, Runs Created Against First Basemen, Original Model (minimum 200 fieldable balls in play) Player Fieldable Balls In Play Actual Outs by Fielder Predicted Outs by Fielder RCA Predicted RCA RCA/27 Outs Predicted RCA/27 Runs Saved/27 Outs Jose […]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:45 pm | Probabilistic Model of Range | Permalink | 3 Comments
February 28, 2006
Joe Btfsplk
When I was young, there was a comic strip call Lil’ Abner. One of the characters was Joe Btfsplk who walked around followed by a cloud, and was considered a jinx. Rick Ankiel is the modern day embodiment of that character. Today, he injured his knee, setting back his attempt to make the majors as […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:57 pm | Injuries | Permalink | 4 Comments
February 28, 2006
Good News, Bad News
Pedro Martinez threw from the mound today. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he still has a long way to go: Martinez threw 34 pitches to catcher Bobby Estallella with pitching coach Rick Peterson and bullpen coach Guy Conti watching. None of his pitches appeared full-speed. Martinez said he has to concentrate […]
Posted by David Pinto at 6:53 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2006
On the Radio
I was recently a guest on Without a Curse. You can listen to the show at the link.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:25 pm | Broadcasts | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 28, 2006
Burroughs Future
John Sickels wonders if there’s any hope for Sean Burroughs. I tend to think of him as the next Ben Grieve, although Grieve at least had a couple of very good years.
Posted by David Pinto at 3:36 pm | Players | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2006
Learning Speed
Rockies coach Dave Collins challenged Brad Hawpe to get faster over the winter, and Brad did just that: Hawpe isn’t about to make any Olympic bids, but after a winter of regular work with Texas Christian University track coach James Thomas, Hawpe says he reduced his time from home to first base by “three-tenths of […]
Posted by David Pinto at 3:20 pm | Base Running | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2006
Royals PItching Plans
With Zack Greinke gone, the Royals are redoing their Spring rotation. Those preparations include shuffling the piggyback rotation assignments for starting pitchers. The biggest beneficiary is lefty J.P. Howell, who replaced Greinke in the eight-man grouping. ?I wanted to get him stretched out anyway,? pitching coach Bob McClure said. ?I don?t know when Zack is […]
Posted by David Pinto at 3:08 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2006
Tie Games
There can be tie games in the World Baseball Classic. Organizers said Tuesday that games in the first two rounds of the tournament will be ended after 14 innings, even if teams remain tied. In addition, the tournament’s technical committee may suspend semifinal games after 14 innings if “pitcher availability for both teams would be […]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:35 pm | World Cup | Permalink | 4 Comments
February 28, 2006
Deadspin Previews
Deadspin started their team previews yesterday with the Devil Rays. Check the link everyday for updates.
Posted by David Pinto at 11:30 am | Team Evaluation | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2006
Mets Lineups
Willie Randolph discussed the Mets 2006 lineup yesterday. The concern of the press is will Beltran bat 2nd and will Willie split the lefties Delgado and Floyd? Reyes is penciled in as the leadoff hitter. Why doesn’t anyone ask if he belongs there. I actually like the idea of Beltran leading off, with Wright, Delgado […]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:04 am | Strategy | Permalink | 6 Comments
February 28, 2006
Q and Defense
Keith Isley posts a very interesting discussion at The Hardball Times on using the Q methedology to measure defense. One of his conclusions is that Zone Rating better agrees with subjective defensive ratings than the Probabilistic Model of Range. We could then sanity check the defensive metric by testing for correlation with the Tools and […]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:19 am | Probabilistic Model of Range | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 28, 2006
Murders Row
Even without Manny Ramirez, the Domincan Republic presents a powerful lineup, although I might flip Soriano and Alou in the batting order.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:09 am | World Cup | Permalink | 5 Comments
February 28, 2006
The Book on Runs
The first chapter of The Book discusses the statistical tools used by the authors. They calculated run values for each event, much like in The Hidden Game of Baseball. Just as you’d expect, in the higher run environment used for the latest calculation, the stolen base is even a riskier proposition. A stolen base awards […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:01 am | Books | Permalink | 3 Comments
February 28, 2006
Percival Gone
Tiger Blog reflects on the likely end of Troy Percival’s career.
Posted by David Pinto at 8:39 am | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
February 28, 2006
Team USA Rotation
Buck Martinez announced his pitchers yesterday for the first round of the World Baseball Classic: Team USA manager Buck Martinez announced his probable pitchers for the opening round of the 16-team tournament Monday and named future Hall of Famer Clemens to start Game 3 at Scottsdale Stadium on Friday, March 10 at 1 p.m. San […]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:39 am | World Cup | Permalink | 5 Comments
February 27, 2006
Lineup Analysis Tool Up
The Lineup Analysis tool should be working again. I optimized the loop that does the run calculations, reducing two multiplies to a single add. It still takes a bit of time to run, but it should be a little less of a resource hog.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:34 pm | Blogs | Permalink | 3 Comments
February 27, 2006
The Book Is In
My copy of The Book arrived in the mail today. Now I just need to find time to read it. They spend 50 pages on the sacrifice bunt, so it looks like the three authors really researched their subjects in depth.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:32 pm | Books | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 27, 2006
New York Heroes
Canyon of Heroes is a new Yankees blog with the writer based in Japan. Check out his homage to Bernie Williams.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:03 pm | Blogs | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 27, 2006
Using the Best
The Baseball Crank charts the use of top-line pitchers over time. Note his third table; the top six pitchers used to pitch over 90% of the innings. Now, they pitch about 59% of the innings. The Crank’s point is that pitching appears to be so poor today because poor pitchers get a lot more work. […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:56 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
February 27, 2006
Guerrero Tragedy
Vald Guerrero lost three cousins in a car accident, and is temporarily away from the Angels camp. My condolences go out to Vlad and his family.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:11 pm | Deaths | Permalink | No Comments
February 27, 2006
Manely First Woman in Hall of Fame
Effa Manely took her place beside the greats of baseball today: Effa Manley became the first woman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame when the former Newark Eagles executive was among 17 people from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues chosen Monday by a special committee. Manley co-owned the Eagles with her husband, Abe, […]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:04 pm | All-Time Greats | Permalink | 2 Comments
February 27, 2006
Lineup Analysis Tool
The heavy use of the Lineup Analysis tool is taking it’s toll on the server that hosts this site. Traffic is heavy today, therefore, it may or may not work for you. Waiting to use it until this evening is probably the best bet. I’ve contacted by host to see if there’s something we can […]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:55 pm | Blogs | Permalink | 4 Comments
February 27, 2006
More Lineups
I was reading this Athletics Nation thread on lineups, and noticed another feature of the Lineup Analysis tool. Even if you don’t buy the lineups genterated by the program, it can demonstrate the balance of a team. Here’s the lineup a person on that thread ran for the Athletics. Notice that the difference between the […]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:16 am | Strategy | Permalink | 5 Comments
February 27, 2006
Life of Brian
In addition to his torn labrum, Brian Lawrence also has a torn rotator cuff: Washington Nationals right-hander Brian Lawrence had surgery Sunday to repair his torn right labrum, and during the surgery doctors also discovered that Lawrence had a torn rotator cuff, which also was repaired. The additional injury makes it more likely Lawrence will […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:14 am | Injuries | Permalink | 4 Comments
February 27, 2006
Batting Fourth
There’s a headline without an article at the Contra Costa Times. I don’t know if it’s a mistake or a real story, since I can’t find it anywhere else. But if it’s true, Alou set his lineup with Winn in the leadoff spot and Bonds batting fourth. I guess Bonds won the battle to not […]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:00 am | Strategy | Permalink | 2 Comments
February 27, 2006
Kip Wells News
There’s much more information on Kip Wells’ blood clot in the Tribune-Review: Littlefield described Wells’ condition as “definitely serious.” The axillary artery is a large blood vessel that conveys oxygenated blood to the lateral aspect of the thorax, axilla and upper limb. Its origin is at the lateral margin of the first rib. (One of […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:48 am | Illnesses | Permalink | 1 Comment
February 27, 2006
Thomas vs. Williams
You’ve probably seen the news about Kenny Williams calling Frank Thomas an idiot. But those stories don’t link to the interview that was the last straw for Kenny. Here it is. The feud between the two comes down to the diminished skills clause of Frank’s old contract: Arvia: The weird thing about this is A’s […]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:07 am | Baseball Jerks | Permalink | 5 Comments
February 27, 2006
Let’s Make a Deal
There’s a rumor of a potential Red Sox/Nationals trade: The Washington Nationals are believed to be eyeing the Red Sox for a potential deal for a starting pitcher after losing right-hander Brian Lawrence until at least August with a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Matt Clement, who is owed $9.5 million each of the […]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:48 am | Trades | Permalink | 16 Comments