Tag Archives: Chirs Narveson

June 11, 2011

Reversed Roles

Leave a reply

Going into Friday night’s game, Kyle Lohse was more likely than Chris Narveson to pitch a shutout, but the Brewers touched Lohse for four runs in five innings and Narveson shutout the Cardinals for eight innings as Milwaukee took home an 8-0 victory. Chris walked just on and struck out six.

It’s been a bit of an all or nothing year for Narveson. He’s tied with Clayton Kershaw for the MLB lead in short shutouts with four. He’s allowed enough runs in his other nine starts that his ERA stands at 4.32.

Milwaukee closes St. Louis’s lead in the NL Central to 1 1/2 games.

April 25, 2011

Games of the Day

Leave a reply
Dustin Moseley

While Jered Weaver can't lose, Dustin Moseley (above) can't seem to win, despite both posting great ERAs. Photo: Icon SMI

The Reds and Brewers battle for second place (and a shot at first) in the NL Central as Bronson Arroyo faces Chris Narveson. Arroyo pitched impressively this season in terms of walks and strikeouts with three of the former and 23 of the latter in 23 1/3 innings of work. His main problem is putting men on with the bases empty. While he’s pitched well with men on base, he’s put himself in enough scoring opportunities that teams manage to push runs across the plate against him. Narveson beats Bronson on strikeouts and home runs allowed, but has walked many more batters. He’s only given up four extra base hits, however, so the walks haven’t cost him that much.

Two of the best ERAs in the American League square off in Anaheim as Gio Gonzalez and the Athletics take on the Angels and Jered Weaver. Gonzalez sports a 1.80 ERA despite high walk and home run rates. He’s managed to hold opponents to a 1 for 17 with runners in scoring position, but we’ll see how long that lasts. Weaver, on the other hand, is doing everything right as a pitcher. He’s walking a batter every four innings, giving up a home run every 18, and striking out over nine batters per nine innings. A win tonight will give him a 6-0 April start. He would be the fifth pitcher since 1957 (the start of the Day by Day Database) to go 6-0 in April. Dave Stewart in 1988, Randy Johnson in 2000 and 2002, and Brandon Webb in 2008 were the only pitchers to accomplish the feat in that time, and I suspect you’d need to go back to the days of Cy Young to find someone else. Until teams eliminated scheduled double headers, the season didn’t start until the middle of April.

Finally, Derek Lowe takes on Dustin Moseley in the Braves/Padres contest. Lowe is off to a great start for him in strikeouts, with 24 in 27 2/3 innings. He’s been wild on the road, however, with six walks in 14 2/3 innings. Moseley carries an 0-3 record into the game despite a 1.40 ERA. In his four starts, the Padres were shutout three times and lost the other game 2-1. Dustin pitched a quality start each time out.

Enjoy!

April 20, 2011 April 20, 2011 April 9, 2011

Games of the Day

Leave a reply

The Phillies and Braves continue their series with Roy Oswalt taking on Bradnon Beachy. Oswalt pitched poorly in Atlanta during his career, bringing a 7.06 ERA at Turner Field into the game. He allowed 31 hits in 21 2/3 innings over six appearances. Beachy showed excellent control in his first start of the year, walking one and striking out seven in six innings of work.

Matt Garza and Chris Narveson battle in Milwaukee as the Cubs and Brewers play the middle game of their series. Garza pitched an all or nothing game in his first Cubs start. He neither walked not hit any of the 32 batters he faced in seven innings of work. He struck out 12, but also allowed 12 hits. It seems the Pirates either missed entirely or hit him hard. Narveson filled the the Zack Greinke role nicely, holding the Braves scoreless during his six innings of work.

Gio Gonzalez and Nick Blackburn battle at Target Field. Neither Oakland nor Minnesota scored much so far, so this gives both starters a chance to extend repeat their good first performances of 2011. Ten Mariners reached against Gio in his start, but two double plays and spreading out the hits held Seattle to one run. Blackburn showed the usual Twins control, walking one in 5 2/3 innings.

The second game of the Texas/Baltimore double header pits Matt Harrison against Jake Arrieta. Harrison has not been much of a strikeout pitcher during his career, but he K’d eight Red Sox batters in seven innings in his first start. Jake, a right-handed pitcher, held Detroit lefties to a 2 for 10 his first contest of 2011.

Finally, neither Jaime Garcia nor Matt Cain allowed a run in their first starts, Garcia going the distance and Matt lasting six innings. They play the late game as the Cardinals face the Giants. Garcia blossomed into an excellent starter last season, allowing just nine home runs in 163 1/3 innings. He does an extremely good job of keeping the ball on the ground. Cain limits batter home runs too, despite allowing a high number of fly balls. It will be an interesting study in contrasts.

Enjoy!

April 4, 2011

Games of the Day

Leave a reply

The Braves travel to Milwaukee for the Brewers season opener as Brandon Beachy takes on Chris Narveson. I’m looking forward to Beachy pitching regularly in the majors, as his last name should generate plenty of good post titles. More importantly, his minor league numbers were outstanding, 9.9 K per 9 and 2.1 walks per nine. If he can come close to those number, he’ll be known as the Georgia Peachy. Narveson moved from the bullpen to the rotation last year, at a cost to his strikeout rate. Through 2009, he averaged 9.3 K per 9 IP, but that dropped to 7.4 last season.

Jake Arrieta and the Orioles host Rick Porcello and the Tigers as Baltimore returns home in first place in the AL East, one of four undefeated teams remaining in the majors. Rick improved his walk and home run rates in his sophomore year of 2010, but saw his ERA jump up a run. In a great example of luck evening out, he outperformed his FIP in 2009, but underperformed the number in 2010. For his career, however, his 4.43 ERA is close to his 4.55 FIP. Arrieta hopes to improve as he begins his sophomore year of pitching. He struck out four fewer per nine in the majors than he did in the minors, and bring that rate back up will be important in making him a successful major league pitcher.

The Twins take on their post-season nemesis as they send Scott Baker against the Yankees and Ivan Nova in New York. Baker pitched well against the Yankees during his regular season career, although his great K, BB and HR numbers seem much better than his 4.15 ERA. Nova made big strikes in his second year at AAA, raising his K rate and lowering his walk rate. Now he needs to show he can carry that over to the majors.

Finally, Erick Bedard returns from injury. He missed the entire 2010 season and made only 15 starts in each of his first two years with Seattle. We’ll see if he’s close to the pitcher he was with the Orioles, or an injury waiting to happen. He’ll visit the Rangers, fresh off their sweep of the Red Sox. At his best, Bedard was great at inducing ground balls, something he’ll need against homer happy Texas. Derek Holland takes the hill for the Rangers. Right-handed batters tend to collect Long hits off Derek, especially at home.

Enjoy!

May 31, 2010

Staying with the Starter Too Long

1 Reply

The Brewers were cruising along with a 4-0 lead as Chris Narveson was shutting out the Marlins through five innings. The converted reliever was only averaging five innings a start, however, so Ken Macha should have been ready when he ran into trouble in the sixth inning. Two of the first four batters collected hits, one scoring on the second out. Instead of finishing off the inning, Narveson gave up a walk, homer and double before Macha lifted him. He was over 100 pitches at that point.

I appreciate a manager trying to stretch out his starter, but at some point you need to be ready to go to the bullpen, probably after the walk to Dan Uggla. Not that it mattered that much, as the Brewers pen got pounded, and Florida won 13-5. Still, you would like to see managers more aware of when their pitchers tire.

Correction: My brain seized. Bob Geren is the manager of the Brewers, not Ned Yost.

Correction: Yeah, wrong guy from the A’s. It’s Ken Macha.