Tag Archives: Bud Norris

September 15, 2017

Games of the Day

The Cardinals and Cubs open a three-game series that should help decide the NL Central race. Carlos Martinez faces John Lackey in the opener. Martinez comes into the game with 200 strikeouts, the first time he reached that level in his career. One tenth of those came against the Cubs, and Martinez holds a 2.25 ERA against them in three starts. Lackey allowed 33 home runs this season, only the second time in his career reaching the 30 level. The last time was in 2003 at the end of the PED era.

The Nationals are five games back of the Dodgers for best record in the National League as the teams open a weekend series in Washington. Alex Wood and Edwin Jackson square off in the opener. Wood gave up nine runs in 11 innings since returning from the disabled list, raising his ERA from 2.41 to 2.81. Jackson owns a 3.88 ERA with Washington, despite giving up 13 home runs in 58 innings.

Seattle gets to take a shot at the Astros as James Paxton faces Charlie Morton. Paxton last pitched on Aug. 10th, when a pectoral strain sent him to the disabled list. With Paxton and Felix Hernandez back, the Mariners may have enough pitching to carry them to a wild card berth. Morton is 0-2 in three start against Seattle with a 4.58 ERA.

Finally, Nick Martinez and the Rangers battle the Angels and Bud Norris. Martinez has been terrible since the All-Star break, posting a 7.88 ERA in 24 innings. His strikeouts and walks are good, but he allowed eight home runs. Norris pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings in his only start against Texas this season. His ERA is 2.64 at home, 6.45 on the road in 2017.

Enjoy!

July 6, 2016

Games of the Day

The best match-up of the day is also the first one as Michael Fulmer and the Tigers face Josh Tomlin and the Tigers in a 12:15 EDT start. Fulmer is on a roll, allowing just three runs in his last eight starts, never more than one in a game. Two of those were on solo homers. He struck out 48 and allowed just 23 hits. Tomlin goes for his tenth win. He allowed 19 home runs in 95 1/3 innings, but 13 were solo shots. That in part due to allowing just 10 walks on the season.

The Orioles send Kevin Gausman against Dodgers and Bud Norris in an afternoon game in Los Angeles. Gausman is Mr. No-Decision this season, 1-6 in 14 starts. He should be better at home, where he is 1-1 with a 2.79 ERA in six starts. He’s 0-5 on the road thanks to a 5.02 ERA, and nine of his 14 home runs. Norris makes his second Dodgers start, throwing six shutout innings in his first one. He has not allowed a run in his last 14 1/3 innings.

Martin Perez and Steven Wright battle as Texas and Boston finish their series. Perez owns a 3.39 ERA despite his walks (44) and strikeouts (51) being very close. Despite the low strikeout rate, he is not allowing many hits, holding opponents to a .259 BA. Wright’s records at home and on the road do not reflect his ERAs. He is 5-1 at Fenway with a 3.02 ERA, but 4-4 on the road with a 1.88 ERA. The Red Sox scored at least five runs in six of his home starts.

Enjoy!

July 2, 2016

The Bud Norris Era, or Who Needs Kershaw?

Bud Norris made his Los Angeles Dodgers debut and pitched six shutout innings as the Rockies fall 5-0. Norris allowed one walk while striking out eight, and the Rockies managed just two hits against him. Yes, Kershaw would have probably finished the game, but apart from the innings, it was a very Kershaw like performance. Nice job by the Dodgers filling that hole.

June 30, 2016

Injury and Trade

Clayton Kershaw wound up on the disabled list with a back injury:

The Los Angeles Dodgers say ace Clayton Kershaw received an epidural injection for his sore lower back and will be placed on the 15-day disabled list.

Manager Dave Roberts said before Thursday’s game in Milwaukee that Kershaw received the epidural Wednesday and the team should know in a few days how he responded to it.

Roberts did not know how long Kershaw is expected to be out or who would take his scheduled start on Friday at home against Colorado.

The Dodgers lose the best player on their team, and maybe the best player in the majors. That’s never a good sign. However, they moved quickly to fill his spot in the rotation:

With Clayton Kershaw on the disabled list, the Dodgers have made a move to plug their starting rotation. The team has acquired Atlanta starter Bud Norris in a five-player deal. The Dodgers will also receive minor-league outfielder Dian Toscano and a player to be named later.

Norris, a 31-year-old right-hander, has posted a 4.22 earned-run average in 22 games for the Braves. In five June starts, he went 2-1 with a 2.15 ERA.

In exchange, the Dodgers gave up a pair of minor-league pitchers, left-hander Phillip Pfeifer and right-hander Caleb Dirks.

Norris owns good career strikeout number, but his walks are a little high. He also has a history of a higher ERA than FIP. The Dodgers have a decent defense, so many Norris will benefit from that. Toscano was an on-base star in Cuba, but is 27 years old and hardly a prospect. Pfeifer is a high strikeout reliever who walks a ton of batters. Dirks is a reliever who might actually be good.

April 11, 2016

Games of the Day

Free agent additions take the mound as Yovani Gallardo leads the undefeated Orioles into Boston against David Price in the Red Sox home opener. Gallardo pitched a short but effective outing in his first game, allowing two hits and one run in five innings. Price walked two and struck out 10 in six innings to earn his first win of 2016.

The Braves look for their first win as they send Bud Norris against Max Scherzer in Washington. That Nationals hit Norris well, pinning a 5.01 ERA on him in eight games, five of them starts. Scherzer gave up two solo home runs to the Braves on opening day, the only runs he allowed in seven innings. Since the middle of July, 2015, Scherzer averaged 1.68 home runs per nine innings.

The Reds play the Cubs in Chicago’s home opener, with Brandon Finnegan taking on Jon Lester. Finnegan’s six innings with one walk and nine strikeouts in his 2016 debut is remarkable not for the Ks, but for the lack of walks. He’s been a bit wild at times in his career. Lester kept the bases clear in his first start, holding the Angles to a 2 for 19 with the bases empty.

Enjoy!

June 30, 2015

The Gopher Ballers

Bud Norris pitched another poor game for the Orioles Monday night, and now owns the highest ERA in the majors among pitchers with at least 55 innings. What I find interesting about the list is that the seven worst pitchers in terms of ERA all do a pretty good job of showing control. Norris is the only one with a walk rate above 3.0 per nine innings, and Norris is just barely above that. None of them strike out a lot of batters, which leads to lots of balls in play and high hit rates. The biggest problem for this group is home runs. They are getting hit hard, and that’s leading to lots of runs. Norris allowed four home runs Monday, accounting for all five runs scored off him as Texas took the contest 8-1.

April 10, 2015

Games of the Day

The Blue Jays and Orioles open Camden Yards for the 2015 season as Mark Buehrle faces Bud Norris. These are the two AL East teams I like to finish at the top of the division. Both are off to a good start, going 2-1 in their first series against AL East foes. Buehrle begins his sixteenth season in the majors going for his 200th win. He won at least ten games the last 14 seasons, and which also represents every year he was primarily a starter. Norris cut down on his walks when he joined the Orioles, going from a 4.33 ERA with Houston to a 3.92 ERA with Baltimore.

Detroit and Cleveland open the home half of the Indians season with Alfredo Simon taking on Zach McAllister. At seasonal age 33, Simon became a full time starter for the first time, and his excellent control helped him to a 3.44 ERA. That was much lower than his FIP, so don’t be surprised to see a downturn this year. McAllister pitched much better than his 5.23 ERA. If he can repeat his three true outcomes this season, he should post an ERA in the mid threes.

It’s an all Anderson matchup in Arizona as Brett Anderson takes on Chase Anderson. (As an added bonus, Chase Anderson’s home park is Chase Field!) Brett Anderson showed he had recovered from his injuries, posting a 2.91 ERA in eight games for the Rockies in 2014. Chase posted good strikeout and walk numbers his rookie year, but needs to allow fewer home runs.

Finally, the reclamation game features Tim Lincecum of the Giants against Brandon Morrow of the Padres. After being a perennial Cy Young Award candidate for four seasons, Lincecum looked much more human the last three years. While all three of this three true outcomes have declined, his sky rocketing home run rate hurt the most. Morrow owns a 5.65 ERA over the last two seasons. He battled injuries, so staying healthy will be key for his return to effectiveness.

Enjoy!

October 5, 2014

Buck Showlater and Matt Williams Think Alike

Bud Norris walks a batter with one out in the seventh. Despite having a shutout in progress, Buck Showalter removes Norris in favor of Andrew Miller. Matt made the same type of move last night with Jordan Zimmermann, and took the heat for it. I think it’s a fine decision. Once players see a pitcher two or three times in a game, they are more likely to hit him well. The Giants were going through the order for the fourth time when Zimmermann issued the walk, and the Tigers were finishing up the third time through the order against Norris. It’s a perfectly reasonable decision.

Miller does a better job than Drew Storen, and gets the outs he needed to keep the inning scoreless. The Orioles lead the Tigers 2-0 going to the eighth.

October 5, 2014

Playoffs Today

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It’s sweep Sunday as both the Orioles and Royals go for a sweep of their best of five series. The Orioles play an afternoon game at 3:45 EDT in Detroit. Bud Norris takes on David Price. Both pitchers won 15 games in the regular season, Norris losing eight, Price 12. Norris twice pitched against the Tigers early in the season and gave up nine runs in 12 2/3 innings. His walks and strikeout numbers were good, however. He went 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA in September, six of the seven runs he allowed scoring on solo home runs.

The left-hander Price pitched somewhat better against right-handed batters this season. The Orioles put just two lefties in their lineup today.

A little after 7:30 PM, the Royals host the Angels, Kansas City trying to win a berth in the ALCS at their home field. C.J. Wilson and James Shields battle. Wilson did not pitch well on the road this season, allowing ten home runs in 81 1/3 innings, helping him to a 5.31 ERA. He did win both his starts against KC, but pitched poorly, walking eight in 10 innings. That’s particularly difficult to accomplish, since the Royals batters walk so infrequently.

Shields has been quite hittable in his post-season career, with a .288/.349/.436 slash line. His career regular season slash line is .256/.304/.412. Shields has also hit five of 173 batters he faced in the post season, 2.9%. During the regular season he hits 0.9% of the batters he faces.

Enjoy!

August 23, 2014

Games of the Day

The Cubs try to be spoilers once again as Baltimore sends Bud Norris against rookie Kyle Hendricks. Norris makes the Orioles bullpen work. He averages just six innings per start. With a 3.69 ERA, however, he is a solid back of the rotation starter on a good team. Hendricks is giving the Cubs a glimpse of the future as he has great success pitching to contact. He induces a high number of ground balls, but also a high number of pop outs. Batters are swinging both over and under the ball. He throws very few fastball, and most of those are cut.

C.J. Wilson tries to stop Oakland from coming back in the division as the Angels play game two of their AL West show down against the Athletics. Jon Lester takes the mound for the home team. Wilson’s home runs and walk rates are up this season, leading to an ERA over a run higher than in 2013. Lester turned out to be the best of the Oakland acquisitions so far, with a 2.93 ERA and a 3-1 record. He’s pitching as well for the A’s as he did for the Red Sox.

Finally, Jacob deGrom and Zack Greinke square off as the Mets and Dodgers continue their west coast series. Both pitchers suffered minor ailments recently, so we’ll see how they fare this evening.

Enjoy!

August 11, 2014

Games of the Day

The Yankees travel to Baltimore to try to make a run at the first place Orioles. Chris Capuano takes on Bud Norris. Capuano cleared up his control problems since joining the Yankees, with five walks and 17 K in 19 innings, helping him to a 2.84 ERA. Norris owns a 2.61 ERA at home, thank to allowing just four of his 13 homers in Baltimore.

Possible playoff opponents Oakland and Kansas City meet in Missouri with Sonny Gray facing Yordano Ventura. Gray is off to a rough start in August, with an 0-2 record and 5.56 ERA. Ventura holds opponents to a .207 BA with runners in scoring position.

Enjoy!

August 5, 2014

Games of the Day

David Price visits New York in a Tigers uniform for the first time as he takes on Hiroki Kuroda. As Price approaches his innings total from 2013, he improved his K/BB ratio, with just 23 free passes in 170 2/3 innings. He’s already struck out 189 batters, and with two months to go can easily surpass his 218 K in 2011. Kuroda pitched much better since the start of June, although it doesn’t show up in his Won-Lost record.

The Orioles and Blue Jays start a battle for first place in the AL East as Bud Norris takes on Mark Buehrle in Toronto. The Blue Jays are four games back as the teams start a three-game series. Norris had a rough time on the road this year, posting a 4.66 ERA. He allowed eight of his 12 homers away from Baltimore. Buehrle allows batters to reach base, with a .355 OBP allowed with the bases empty. That drops to .276 with runners on.

Atlanta may have a tough time ending their six-game losing streak as they send Alex Wood against Felix Hernandez. Wood pitched well against AL teams this season with a 2.84 ERA in 12 2/3 innings. Hernandez allowed just six home runs in 165 1/3 innings, four of them solo shots.

Finally, the Angels send Hector Santiago against the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw. After not allowing a run in 7 2/3 innings as a reliever, Santiago owns a 4.16 ERA as a starter and a 1-7 record. Kershaw is attempt to post a sub-2.00 ERA for the second season in a row. He’s holding opponents to a .224 OBP and a .132 BA with men in scoring position.

Enjoy!

July 9, 2014

Games of the Day

The afternoon gets off to a bang with Zack Greinke and Max Scherzer battling in Detroit. They have to hope the Tuesday night slugfest took something out of the hitters as the Dodgers and Tigers have a quick turnaround.

Doug Fister and Bud Norris try again in Baltimore after the game in Washington was rained out. They’ll make up the Tuesday postponement August 4th.

Brandon McCarthy makes his Yankees debut against the Indians and Josh Tomlin.

Chris Sale continues his quest to be the Clayton Kershaw of the AL and gain in the Cy Young race after a late start to his season. The Sox will win as the White face the Red and Rubby De La Rosa. De La Rosa is blowing away batters so far with 30 K in 32 1/3 innings and only 25 hits allowed.

Dallas Beeler suffered the luck of the Cubs as he allowed one unearned run in his first major league start but lost. He takes on another of the fine Reds pitchers, Alfredo Simon. A win by Simon today will give him nearly a quarter of the Reds victories.

The battle of Texas continues with Dallas Keuchel of the Astros taking on Yu Darvish of the Rangers. Darvish was hit on the head by a batting practice ball, so we’ll see if that hurts his performance today.

This has been quite a year, with two pitcher named Yohan starting on the same day, and now two pitchers named Dallas!

Finally, Jason Hammel makes his debut for Oakland across the bay as the Athletics face Matt Cain and the Giants. Oakland won the first two games by a combined score of 11-1.

Enjoy!

July 8, 2014

Games of the Day

The Cubs and Reds play a double header with Cy Young implications. Game one features Travis Wood against Johnny Cueto. Wood is winning despite a high ERA, as the Cubs scored five or more runs in six of his starts. Wood, if fact, has started the two highest scoring Cubs games of the season. That’s bad news for Cueto, who is battling Adam Wainwright and Clayton Kershaw for the Cy Young award. He pitched great at home this season, however, with a 1.61 ERA despite allowing seven of his nine home runs in Cincinnati.

Masahiro Tanaka tries to gain on Felix Hernandez in the Cy Young race as the Yankees face the Indians and Trevor Bauer. Lefties have not figured out Tanaka yet, as they hit just .219/.250/.329 against him. Bauer improved this season by bringing his walks down, but he’s still allowing balls to leave the park.

Bud Norris and Doug Fister square off as the battle of the mid-Atlantic continues between Baltimore and Washington. Norris is quite stingy with runners in scoring position, batters going just 10 for 73 with three walks in that situation. Fister continues his mastery of the strike zone with just six walks allowed in 70 2/3 innings.

Julio Teheran is also in the hunt for the NL Cy Young award as the Braves take on the Mets and Jacob deGrom. Teheran reduced his hits allowed by avoiding square contact. Batters are hitting line drives on 17.6% of their balls in play against Julio, as opposed to 21.2% last season. deGrom pitched better than his 1-5 record with good strikeout numbers, although his walks are a little high.

Finally, the Giants and Athletics play the second game of their home and home series with Madison Bumgarner visiting Sonny Gray. Bumgarner’s been hurt by allowing five of his nine home runs with men on base. Gray allowed six long balls all season, all of them solo shots.

Enjoy!

May 12, 2014

Games of the Day

First place teams battle in Baltimore as Rick Porcello and the Tigers take on Bud Norris and the Orioles. Porcello owns a great career record for a pitcher with a 4.46 ERA, but this season he’s doing a better job of keeping the ball in the park and striking out batters, so his 3.49 ERA helped him to a 5-1 record. He’s always been good at avoiding free passes, he stays healthy, making him a perfect back of the rotation starter for a good offensive team. Norris always posted a strikeout rate that should lead to success, but now he appears to have a defense behind him to help.

The Angels finish their series in Toronto with a battle of lefties as C.J. Wilson faces Mark Buehrle. Wilson may be the best big free agent signed by the Angels in recent years. He sports a 34-19 record and a 3.56 ERA with LAnaheim, his strength coming from a home run rate of 0.74 per nine innings. Buehrle’s low ERA comes mainly from great results with runners in scoring position. Opponents are just 3 for 39 with two walks and nine strikeouts.

Both Florida teams play on the west coast, and both games offer excellent matchups. The Rays send Cesar Ramos against The King, Felix Hernandez. Ramos has been tough to hit as a starter, allowing a .200 BA. He’s walked 14 and struck out 14 in that role, leading to a .319 OBP. He’ll need to find his control to stay successful. Fernandez issued just two intentional walks from 2009 through 2014. He issued 13 in his first four seasons. He either doesn’t get into too many IBB situations, or he just feels he can get anyone out.

Finally, Tom Koehler leads the Marlins into Los Angeles to face the Dodgers and Dan Haren. Koehler, like Ramos walks quite a few batters for a pitcher with a 1.99 ERA. He’s only allowed three homers in 45 1/3 innings, and like Ramos, doesn’t allow many hits. Haren sports an ERA of 1.86 in three starts at Dodger Stadium this season, although he did allow five unearned runs.

Enjoy!

September 2, 2013

Games of the Day

The Cardinals travel down the Ohio River to Cincinnati as Adam Wainwright takes on Mat Latos. The Cardinals share the NL Central lead with the Pirates, the Reds sitting 3 1/2 games back. Wainwright is coming off his worst start of the season, in which he gave up eight hits and two walks in two innings, leading to nine runs. There have been criticisms of Wainwright being over used this season, given his injury history. We’ll see; anyone could have a poor start. Latos’s 3.03 ERA is one of the best single season marks of his career, mostly due to his limiting home runs.

The Tigers visit a wet Beantown as Doug Fister battle John Lackey. Fister is showing his usual great control this season, walking 33 in 172 2/3 innings. Lackey owns a 2.24 ERA at Fenway, where he allowed just six of his 21 homers.

The Orioles and Indians both try to gain on the wild card leaders as they send Bud Norris and Justin Masterson to the mound. Bud is 3-1 since joining the Orioles, but he hasn’t pitched that well, posting a 4.91 ERA. He’s walked 18 in 33 innings with the O’s. Masterson was knocked around in his first start against Baltimore, giving up two homers and six runs.

Finally, the Rangers travel to Oakland to take on the Athletics in a battle for the division lead. Derek Holland faces Dan Straily. Holland is tough on the road, 7-1 with a 2.85 ERA. He’s allowed just four home runs in 94 2/3 innings, and the Oakland ballpark should not hurt that. Straily allowed 11 runs against the Rangers in three starts covering 16 innings this season.

Enjoy!

July 31, 2013

Bud Blooms for Orioles

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The Orioles won the Bud Norris sweepstakes:

The Orioles and Astros worked out a deal right before the non-waiver Trade Deadline on Wednesday that sent Houston starting pitcher Bud Norris to Baltimore in exchange for outfielder L.J. Hoes, left-hander Josh Hader and a Competitive Balance Draft pick

“I’m excited for the opportunity,” Norris told MLB.com. “I’m very thankful for Houston and the organization for everything they’ve done for me and given to me. … As I look forward, I’m excited to play in Baltimore. They’ve got a great city and a great, young team. They play together and play very hard. I’m excited to go to the postseason and make a run at something.”

Norris is a solid, middle of the rotation, pitcher. He should give them four starters with ERAs under 4.00 as they make their push for the playoffs.

Hoes has done an excellent job in his minor league career of getting on base, while Hader is just 19 with a ton of strikeouts. It looks like two nice pickups for the Astros.

July 30, 2013

Pirates Rumors

The Pirates may be dealing for Bud Norris and Alex Rios. If true, this is excellent news, as the Pirates are pulling out the stops not just to finish over .500, but to win a championship.

July 9, 2013

Games of the Day

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I like the Blue Jays/Cleveland match-up, as Josh Johnson and Ubaldo Jimenez were great pitchers once, and they might surprise you with a great game every once in a while. It would be fun if they did it on the same night.

The match-up in St. Louis should be interesting as well, as Bud Norris and the Astros face the Cardinals with Adam Wainwright. Norris pitches well for the Astros, and would be a solid #2 or #3 starter on a good team. That might make him trade bait by the end of the month. Wainwright continues to average a walk every ten innings, and has a very good chance of cutting his already low career walk rate by more than half.

Enjoy!

May 13, 2013

Games of the Day

First place teams meet in a traditional afternoon double header to make up rain outs as the Yankees take on the Indians in Cleveland. David Phelps faces Justin Masterson in game one, while Vidal Nuno makes his first MLB start in game two against Trevor Bauer. Phelps owns a high ERA despite pitching well. His FIP comes in at 3.66 while his ERA stands at 5.02. The 25 year old (seasonal age) Nuno took a while to make it through the Yankees system despite excellent walk and strikeout numbers. He owns a career 2.85 ERA in the minors. Masterson increased his strikeouts and cut down on his home runs this season, while Bauer is taking a Carlos Marmol approach to hitting. He’s walked 13 in ten innings, but only allowed three hits. So far, that translated to a 2.70 ERA.

Houston’s ace Bud Norris gets to face one of the great Detroit pitchers as Anibal Sanchez takes the mound for the Tigers. Given the poor quality of the Astros offense, Norris’s 4-3 record is quite impressive. In six night games he owns a 1.88 ERA. Sanchez comes into the game with a 1.97 ERA overall, with 58 K and just 11 walks in 45 2/3 innings.

Finally, Justin Grimm takes on A.J. Griffin as the Rangers visit the Athletics. Oakland finds themselves falling behind the Rangers in the AL West race, so this three-game series gives them a chance to play catch=up. Grimm pitched poorly in May so far, as his seven walks and two home runs in 11 2/3 innings nullified his 16 K. Griffin allowed seven home runs so far, but with a .296 OBP allowed, they are not doing too much damage.

Enjoy!

April 28, 2013

Games of the Day

Just as a side note, David Price and Doug Fister both pitch today. This means we have a chance of getting the most commercial pitching match-up since Shane Reynolds faced Pat Rapp.

R.A. Dickey returns to New York as the Blue Jays visit the Yankees to take on Phil Hughes. Dickey does not have the command of the knuckle ball he showed last season. He’s walked about 1/3 of his 2012 total in about 1/10 of the innings. Hughes put together two good starts in a row, striking out 12 and walking two in his last 14 innings.

John Lackey returns to the mound for the Red Sox as they host Houston and Bud Norris. A win by Norris today would give him half the Astros victories for the season. The Astros scored 24 runs in his five starts, but are averaging about 4 per game for other starters. Boston hasn’t missed Lackey, as the starting staff owns a 14-4 record and a 3.14 ERA.

The Nationals go for a four-game sweep of the Reds as rookie Tony Cingrani takes on early season ace Ross Detwiler. Cingrani is off to a great start in 2013 with 17 K and just three walks in 12 innings pitched. Eleven of those Ks have come in 20 AB with men on base. Detwiler has kept the ball in the park this season, allowing one home run so far, a solo shot.

The Pirates and Cardinals play the rubber game of their series with Jeff Locke battling Shelby Miller. Locke’s ERA is much better than his stat line, as he allowed four home runs and 11 walks in 21 2/3 innings, good for an FIP of 6.09 and an xFIP of 5.02. Miller, in his short major league career, has struck out 42 and allowed just one home run in 38 2/3 innings, good for a 1.40 ERA.

Kyle Lohse and the Brewers take on the one pitcher left in the Dodgers rotation, Clayton Kershaw. Lohse has been worth the draft pick so far, as he walked just two in 25 innings to help himself to a 2.52 ERA. It took Kershaw less than five full seasons to reach 1000 strikeouts. He’s only 25 years old.

Finally, ESPN offers a great interleague contest as Mike Minor and the Braves face Doug Fister and the Tigers. Both showed great control this season, both allowed just one home run, and both come into the game with three wins.

Enjoy!

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March 31, 2013

This Bud’s for You

Bud Norris pitches a fine first inning, retiring the Rangers in order, striking out one batter. He threw just 11 pitches, seven for strikes. I love his first pitch, a fastball on the lower, outside corner. Greg Maddux would be proud.

The Astros come to bat for the first time as American Leaguers.

Update: First pitch, first swing, first hit for Jose Altuve as he hits a single through the shortstop hole in the bottom of the first.

Update: The first bad call of the year as Jose Altuve is called out as he tried to advance on a ball that got away from the Rangers catcher. The replay showed he was safe.

Update: The hit is all the Astros get. No score at the end of one.

March 31, 2013

Game of the Day

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The 2013 baseball season gets underway tonight as the Houston Astros play their first game as an American League franchise as they host their state rival the Texas Rangers. Matt Harrison takes the hill for Texas against Bud Norris.

I’m not surprised that Harrison’s improvement as a pitch coincided with the arrival of Adrian Beltre in Texas. Harrison doesn’t strike out many batters, but does induce ground balls. As a left-hander, he sees a high percentage of right-handed batters. Beltre and Elvis Andrus form a brick wall on the left-side of the infield. Combine that with Harrison finding his control, and the Rangers have a pitcher with an ERA in the low threes.

Norris could use some of that defense. In three of his four seasons in the majors, his ERA came in higher than his FIP. He strikes out a ton of batters, so he keeps pressure off his defense, but his walk and home run rates somewhat negate that.

Enjoy!

May 31, 2012

Games of the Day

Most teams get this Thursday off, with only three games on the schedule. The Tigers and Red Sox finish their series with Max Scherzer facing Josh Beckett. Scherzer owns an impressive strikeout rate, but allowed ten home runs in 54 innings. He might give up 40 on the season at that rate. Beckett’s strength comes from his 15 walks in 56 1/3 innings, but he’s allowed nine home runs so far. This could be a high K, high HR game.

Bud Norris takes on Jeremy Guthrie as the Astros and Rockies finish their series in Colorado. Norris is off to a good start, but he’s less effective on the road as more balls in play fall for hits. Guthrie’s move to Colorado really hurt him as his ERA stands at 9.22 at Coors, 2.22 on the road.

Finally, the best match-up of the day pits Zack Greinke and Brewers against Chad Billingsley and the Dodgers. The Brewers go for a sweep of the four game series. Greinke ran into some trouble on the road this season. His two worst starts of the year happened in Chicago and Arizona, making his road ERA 7.03. Fifteen of the 25 runs he allowed came in those two games. Billingsley tries to end May on a high note after posting a 5.40 ERA during his five previous starts this month.

Enjoy!

May 11, 2012

Pitching in Pittsburgh

The Astros beat the Pirates 1-0 as both starters dominate the opposition. Bud Norris walked none and struck out eight as he worked six innings, and the Astros bullpen finished off the team shutout with one hit and three more Ks. Meanwhile, James McDonald allowed a run in the second inning, and that was it as he walked two and struck out eight as he lasted eight innings.

This was the 10th 1-0 game of the season. There were 56 last year, so the pace is about the same.

August 23, 2011

Games of the Day

Ian Kennedy may need to pitch a shutout to win as he leads Arizona against Washington and Jordan Zimmerman. The Arizona offense is lifeless as they cling to first place in the NL West, as they scored ten runs in their last seven games, losing six in a row.

One of the teams closing the gap on them is the Colorado Rockies who debut Alex White, one of the pitchers they acquire from Cleveland as they host the Astros and Bud Norris. Alex showed great control in the minors, walking 2.5 batters per nine innings, but in his brief stint with Cleveland walked nine batters in 15 innings. He also struck out 13.

Finally, the Padres try to gain ground themselves as they send Mat Latos against the Giants and Matt Cain. Latos is pitching well in August, posting a 2.67 ERA with 4 BB and 24 K in 27 innings. He’s only 1-2, however as the surging Padres offense hasn’t worked for him. The Padres made the most of their opportunities against Cain this season. They’ve scored eight runs in 13 innings despite just three walks, 15 strikeouts, and no home runs. Two of their three extra base hits have come with men on base against Matt.

Enjoy!

May 7, 2011

Games of the Day

The Braves try to make it two in a row against the Phillies as they send Julio Teheran in his major league debut against Kyle Kendrick. Talk about tossing someone into the fire! The 20-year-old Teheran owns a 3.04 career minor league ERA with 9.0 K per 9 innings and only 2.3 walks per nine. In five starts at AAA this season he posted a 1.80 ERA. Kendrick is off to a good start in terms of ERA, but all of that came in relief. He walked eight in 13 innings, but four of those were intentional. He only struck out two, however, which makes his ERA look too low for his other numbers.

The Pittsburgh Pirates sit just two games under .500 as they host Bud Norris and the Astros. Charlie Morton takes the mound for the Pirates. Norris is striking out batters at a prodigious rate, but his lower walk and home run rates helped him to a lower ERA. Morton has had some good results despite a high walk rate this season. The weak Astros offense should help.

Andre Ethier goes for game 31 of his hit streak as the Dodgers continue their series with the Mets. He’ll face Chris Young. Ethier, for his career, faced Young 34 times and batted .414, 12 for 29 with five walks and six home runs. It looks like a good matchup to extend the hit streak.

Finally, Alex White makes his second start for the Indians as he takes on Jered Weaver and the Angels in a battle of division leaders. White played his first professional season in 2010, then worked his way up to start at AAA this season. In four starts there he averaged 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Weaver was lights out until his start against Boston, but still holds opposing batters to a .174/.224/.245 slash line.

Enjoy!

April 3, 2011

Games of the Day

Sunday seems to feature a number of third starters who might actually be aces. John Danks hopes the White Sox keep hitting as he takes on the Indians and Justin Masterson. Danks has been consistent the last two seasons in his ERA, WHIP and strikeouts. If he can cut down on walks a bit, he could make the move to staff ace. Masterson pitched well against the White Sox in his career, with a 2.41 ERA in 41 innings of work, 35 K and 15 walks.

Jordan Zimmermann

A big year from Jordan Zimmermann would boost the Nationals rotation. Photo: Icon SMI

The Braves/Nationals game features two such pitchers. Tim Hudson returned from injury in 2010 and used his ability to induce ground balls to post a 17-9 record and a 2.83 ERA. He doesn’t strike out many batters, but he gives his fielders plenty of easy opportunities for outs. Jordan Zimmermann was the original Stephen Strasburg, down to the Tommy John surgery. He showed impressive control in his return from the procedure last year, striking out 29 and walking 10 in 31 innings. The problem he needs to solve is the home run ball, as he allowed eight in that same stretch of innings.

Roy Oswalt hosts his former team and Bud Norris as the Astros continue their series in Philadelphia. Roy posted the third lowest ERA of the previous decade, but moved to a team with the pitcher with the second lowest ERA, Roy Halladay. Bud Norris certainly can strike batters out like an ace. He needs to walk fewer to move up the rotation ladder.

Finally, Joe Saunders and Jhoulys Chacin face off in the Rockies. Joe owns the career record of an ace, but the ERA of a third starter. Without great support, Saunders winning percentage found a lower level for both the Angels and Diamondbacks in 2010. Chacin pitched impressively as a rookie, his 138 K in 137 1/3 innings helped hold opponents to 114 hits. It also earned him a 3.28 ERA. He’s only 23, so there’s still a lot of upside to Chacin’s career.

Enjoy!

August 19, 2010

Norris in Control

Bud Norris walked two Mets in seven innings and allowed two hits and two runs as the Astros win 3-2. He’s only walked six in 26 2/3 innings this month after walking 39 in his first 80 innings. He’s becoming Oswalt like in his control

May 13, 2010

Cardinals Nipped by the Bud

Bud Norris continued his dominance of the Cardinals Thursday afternoon, allowing one run over eight innings in a 4-1 Houston win. Norris held a 5.49 career ERA coming into the game, but this was only the second run and first earned run he allowed against St. Louis. In four starts covering 26 innings, he’s 4-0 with an 0.35 ERA, 18 hits, nine walks and 25 strikeouts. I’d say he has the Red Birds number.

The Astros sweep the Cardinals, and their lead is down to 0.5 games in the NL Central with a three game series against second place Cincinnati coming up. That should be fun.