Archive for August, 2009
Game 125: Joba returns
Posted by: | CommentsEarlier this afternoon, Joe previewed this Texas series. For an extended look at the Rangers, you should check that out. Tonight’s storyline, though, revolves around Joba Chamberlain. The young pitcher, nearing his innings limit, is making his first start in eight days.
Since the All Star Break, Joba has pulled a bit of a Jekyll-and-Hyde routine. In his first three starts after the break, he went 3-0 with a 0.83 ERA. In 21.2 innings, he allowed just 8 hits and 8 walks while striking out 19. In his three most recent starts, though, Joba has been less than impressive. Over those starts, he is 1-1 with an unsightly 6.75 ERA. Over 16 innings, he has allowed 18 hits and 12 walks while striking out just 12. Hopefully, the good Joba will return tonight.
In other Joba-related news, the Yanks said that Joba will pitch on Sunday on regular rest. After tonight’s outing and his Sunday start, Joba will have but four starts left in September.
Game time is 7:05 p.m., and it’s a My9 Tuesday night special.
Derek Jeter SS
Johnny Damon LF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Hideki Matsui DH
Jorge Posada C
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Melky Cabrera CF
More praise for Phil Hughes
Posted by: | CommentsDave Allen at FanGraphs is the latest to pen a piece complimentary of Phil Hughes, who has emerged as a bullpen force for the best team in the land. Allen explains how the move to pen has allowed Hughes’ stuff to play, which is exactly what you’d expect to happen. After dealing with this for the last two years, it looks like we might end up having another starter-or-reliever debate on our hands next year. Thankfully, this is not debate to the guys calling the shots.
Previewing the Texas series
Posted by: | CommentsAfter a long three-game series up in Boston last weekend to cap a 10-game road trip, the Yanks have six games at home before hitting the road again. These will be match-ups against teams contending for the playoffs. More than that, they’re teams within striking distance, but are still a few games back of the Wild Card and AL Central division races. Since they mean a lot for the opponents, they mean something for the Yankees. First up is the Texas Rangers, who roll into town for three games starting tonight.
Texas enters the series a game and a half back of the Wild Card — and if not for an egregious blunder by Jose Contreras last night, they might have been just a half game back. Each win for the Yanks helps out the Sox, but that’s of no matter right now. The Sox will do what the Sox will do, and the Yankees just have to keep on winning. The further they pull ahead now, the more rest they can afford their regulars heading into the playoffs. If Texas leaves the series down 4.5 to the Sox in the Wild Card, so be it.
Offense vs. Offense
Both the Yanks and the Rangers have powerful offenses, ranking first and second in the league in home runs and slugging percentage. Other than that, though, the Yankees clearly have the superior squad. They lead the league in OBP, where the Rangers rank 12th in the AL. The difference in their respective team batting averages — .280 to .259 — is also stark. In fact, Texas ranks below league average in average and OBP.
The problem with the Rangers is that their offense only works well in the comfy confines of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. There they have a .834 team OPS, with a slash line of .276/.343/.491, all more than respectable numbers for a team overall. Put them on the road, though, and they’re a shell of that team, hitting .240/.295/.417. The good news for them is that Yankee Stadium is a hitter’s park as well. The bad news is that it plays to the team’s weakness.
The Yankees have had so much success in their new digs because of the lefty power they bring to the table. Texas’s left-handed hitters represent a weak point for the team. Against righties their offense posts a line of .246/.306/.426, and against lefties that slumps all the way to .229/.271/.397. They have to be thanking their lucky stars that they avoid CC Sabathia in the final series between the two teams.
As a final note on the Rangers’ road offense, those numbers are actually brought up by good numbers at Angel Stadium of Anaheim (where they hit even better than at home), Minute Maid Park, and Camden Yards. Those are all subject to the small sample size warning, but at all other parks the team is pretty atrocious — including a .749 OPS at Yankee Stadium during the series earlier in the year.
At home, the Yankees are one hell of a team. They post a .276/.361/.494 line as a team, adding up to an insane .855 OPS. That bodes well for them in this series, considering Texas’s offensive deficiencies on the road. The difference between the two teams is that the Yankees actually hit well on the road: .284/.355/.466, a .821 OPS.
Pitching vs. pitching
On the offensive side, Texas has had a good team for years. It’s on the pitching end that they always faltered. That’s the difference with this year: they’ve gotten solid performances out of their starters, and have a solid bullpen for the first time in a long time. This is especially impressive because of the team’s home venue. If these guys can pitch in a hitter’s haven, they should be able to handle themselves on the road, right?
Surprisingly, they’re a bit worse in terms of results on the road, though in overall batting lines they’re a bit better. Texas pitchers hold opposing hitters to a .728 OPS — .252/.325/.403 — on the road vs. a .758 OPS at home, though they have a 4.22 ERA on the road against a 4.06 mark at home.
It appears their pitching has been improving as well. As starters they post a team 4.47 ERA in the first half, and so far in the second half have lowered that to 3.82. Ditto their relievers who pitched to a 4.09 ERA in the first half, only to see that improve to 3.24 in the second half. So it appears that pitching is Texas’s strength this year. Go figure.
The bad news for the Texas staff — and you know I’d find some bad news for them — is that when facing batters of the opposite handedness, they’re not quite as good. That’s expected normally, but the splits are a bit pronounced in this case. Against lefties as a RHP, the Rangers have a team .766 OPS, including a .340 OBP. Against righties as a LHP, the Rangers have .835 team OPS. This is not a good tendency against a team like the Yankees, a team which is built for match-ups like this.
With their A lineup in place, as it should be tonight against righty Kevin Millwood, the Yankees will feature three lefties and four switch-hitters, with the only true righties being Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. They can trot out this lineup against Millwood and Thursday’s starter Dustin Nippert and gain a significant platoon advantage. On Wednesday they face lefty Derek Holland. Because Thursday is a day game after a night game, they could opt to rest Jorge Posada on Tuesday, putting Jose Molina in the lineup against a lefty, a favorable matchup for him. Play Hairston for Damon, and that’s four righties, three switch-hitters, and a lefty DH.
Despite the bandbox that is the new Yankee Stadium, the Bombers’ pitchers toss as well, in terms of slash stats, at home as they do on the road: a .748 OPS against at home and a .742 OPS against on the road. There is a difference in the ERA, but it also favors their home park: 4.18 at home vs. 4.58 on the road. So not only are the Yanks hitters comfortable at home, but so are the pitchers.
Pitching Matchups
Tonight: Joba Chamberlain vs. Kevin Millwood
After a relatively disappointing three years to open his Rangers tenure, Kevin Millwood has stepped up this year, leading the Rangers staff with a 3.48 ERA. He was rolling through the season’s first three months, pitching to a 2.64 ERA at the end of June. He’s hit some snags since then, and has allowed 27 runs in 42.2 innings since July 1. This includes an opponent OPS of .810. He’s started against the Yanks once this year, allowing three runs over 5.2 innings back in May.
Joba Chamberlain has been experiencing a hot and cold season in his first as a full-time starter. He burst out of the gates after the All-Star Break, allowing two runs over 21.2 innings in three starts. He then stumbled a bit, allowing 12 runs over his next 16 innings in three starts. He’s has a nice long rest since his last start on August 16.
Tomorrow: Derek Holland vs. Andy Pettitte
Rookie lefty Derek Holland has struggled in his rookie year, especially against the Yankees. In one start and one relief appearance he’s thrown 6.1 innings, allowing eight runs, seven earned and surrendering 13 hits. He moved to the rotation permanently after the All-Star Break, during which time he’s gone 4-2 with a 2.95 ERA. This includes a complete game shutout against the Angels on the road. He’s been pretty good in the two starts following that, so the Yanks shouldn’t count on seeing the same guy they hammered back in May.
Before Friday night’s start, Andy Pettitte had been pitching exceptionally, allowing just five runs, four earned, over 26 innings. He also struck out 28 to just seven walks in that span, an incredibly impressive run for the 37-year-old Pettitte. His rough start exploded on him Friday night, as he couldn’t record an out in the sixth inning. That was on a full week’s rest, so we’ll see how he does on the usual four days this time around.
Thursday: Dustin Nippert vs. A.J. Burnett
If Dustin Nippert’s name sounds familiar, it probably dates back to the 2006-2007 off-season. One of the names discussed in the Randy Johnson trade was Dustin Nippert, but the Yanks eventually ended up taking Ross Ohlendorf. The D’Backs sent him to the Rangers in 2008 when he was out of options. He’s also bounced between the pen and the rotation since joining the major league club on July 7. He’s yet to go more than six innings, though that was enough of an effort to defeat the Sox in their recent series. In the two starts surrounding that, though, he’s given up five runs each time.
We all know the deal with A.J. Burnett. He can dominate, but sometimes he runs into games like last time out against the Sox. He had his stuff, but couldn’t harness it. The good thing about A.J. is that sometimes he doesn’t have his stuff, and he can survive. The league leader in walks could use a bounce-back start after his effort against Boston on Saturday.
How much is that OF/DH in the window?
Posted by: | CommentsFor the Yankees, 2010 is shaping up to be something of a sandwich. Stuck between 2011, ideally the year of the Jesus (and perhaps A-Jax), and 2009, the year of Johnny Damon‘s and Hideki Matsui‘s impending free agency, the Yankees will see a lot of key spots in limbo next year. They could go to the wall on a few big free agents, they could re-sign those they know or they could ride out the tide.
The first one up to consider is Johnny Damon and the left field spot. On defense, Damon has been dreadful this year. His UZR is currently -7.3 after reaching 6.7 last year. Yet his offense has been tremendous. He has an .882 OPS and should reach a career high in home runs this year. He is also in the final year of a four-year contract paying him $13 million a year.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve examined how the Yankees want to bring Damon back and how Damon wants to return. Today, Jon Heyman adds his take to the Damon mix:
The Yankees intend to try to bring back Johnny Damon, probably for about $6-8 million a year (that’ll be the first offer, anyway), and might be willing to give him a second year. Damon’s been saying in the papers all year that he wants to be back, which is quite a departure from the usual free-agent script and could mean he’s that rare player amenable to a below-market contract. Yankees management loves Damon personally, too, and that doesn’t hurt.
That figure — $6-$8 million a year for two years — is pretty much what I assumed the Yankees would offer. According to Fangraphs, Damon will probably outperform his contract value this year. With a month of the season left, Damon’s value is pegged at $11.9 million. Allowing for age-related declines, I would assume a value of $10 million next year and $8-$9 million the year after. (Value, by the way, is something of an ideal figure. It’s WAR “converted to a dollar scale based on what a player would make in free agency.” That “would” requires perfect information and agreement as to a true value between the team and the player.)
Next up is Hideki Matsui. We know that Matsui likes New York, and in the comments to Joe’s most recent post, we were debating Matsui’s potential value to the 2010 Yankees. While Joe Girardi has talked about using the DH spot as a rotating half-rest spot for his aging veterans, I am of the belief that a premiere bat at DH would better serve the team. The Yankees can ill afford to lose Hideki Matsui and his 15.8 batting runs above average to a lineup that includes Ramiro Pena or Jose Molina every day.
But how much is Hideki Matsui worth? He too is playing out the last year of a four-year $52 million contract, and while Damon has met that value, Fangraphs pegs Matsui’s value as $24.2 million over the four years. Even with a monster September, Matsui won’t be worth much more than half of what he has been paid.
As long as Matsui can stay healthy enough to DH and produce as near his current levels next year, they should be willing to offer him a one-year deal with the idea that some combination of Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira and Jesus Montero will assume the DH duties in 2011. In 2007, Frank Thomas DH’d for the Blue Jays and put up similar numbers to Matsui’s 2009 campaign. He earned $5.5 million and was worth approximately $9.9 million. If the Yankees and Matsui can agree to a one-year $8 million deal for 2010, I would approve.
The Yanks could look outside of Matsui and Damon, though. They could opt for an outfield of Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher. While the defense would be stellar, the offensive production would suffer immensely. Damon’s WAR outpaces Melky’s by 2 wins and Gardner’s by 0.7 wins, mostly due to Brett’s defense. They could, as Ken Rosenthal speculated today, be in on Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, the top two free agent outfielders.
In the end, though, I’d rather give two 36-year-olds one-to-two year deals than give Jason Bay anything. I could be convinced to look at Holliday in Yankee Stadium for the right price, but with his career resurgence in St. Louis, he will be looking for a big pay day. No matter what, this off-season will be an interesting one as the Yanks look to fill a few short-term gaps and assess their organizational philosophy going forward.
Wagner OK’s trade to Red Sox
Posted by: | CommentsDespite a public tiff with current Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, Billy Wagner is heading to Boston. Despite rumors last night that he would decline the trade, the left-handed reliever, 11 months removed from Tommy John Surgery, has approved a trade to the Red Sox, Jon Heyman reported a few minutes ago. Wagner has looked dominant in his rehab appearances and has thrown two scoreless innings with four strike outs for the Mets this month. The Red Sox will ship two players to be named later to New York and will pay Wagner a little over $3 million — a little over $2 million for this year plus a $1 million buyout for 2010 — for five weeks of regular season pitching.
Last week, I had urged the Yankees to claim Wagner, and in the end, one of the two teams that could block the Yankees from acquiring the lefty did so. While Wagner, poor October track record notwithstanding, is a weapon in any bullpen, I believe the Red Sox made this move as much to block the Yanks as they did to improve their own team. Such are the ways of late-season trade machinations.
Link Dump: Old news edition
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s the day after an off-day, and the Yanks are rolling. Hence, there’s nothing groundbreaking in the news. There are some tidbits we can look at before lunch time, though.
Breaking news: Baseball player likes winning. Hideki Matsui has been part of many winning Yankees teams; since his debut in 2003 the team has failed to make the playoffs only once. In the interest of continuing on a winning team, Matsui has made it known that he does like it in New York. He won’t say that he certainly wants to return, at least not to the extent of Johnny Damon, Yet we’ve heard plenty over the past few weeks that the Yanks might not necessarily want Hideki back.
He’s past his prime and has creaky knees. That’s not a good recipe. Yet Matsui can be a very useful player. See the role Eric Hinske plays this year? Hideki can do that next year and better. The problem is that he might want a more prominent role, and an AL team might be willing to give it to him. Still, he knows that he did not live up to the four-year, $52 million deal he signed after the 2005 season. Perhaps that will factor into his decision.
Make no mistake, though: Matsui could be an excellent bat off the bench/part-time player if he were so inclined.
Rosenthal on Yanks payroll, Jeter
There’s a new Ken Rosenthal column, and in it he discusses a few things Yankees. First up, Derek Jeter. We’ve talked a lot about Jete’s improved defense in 2009, and that’s not by accident. The process started two years ago, and it seems that while it helped last year, it’s taking full form this season.
After the 2007 season, Jeter decided that he needed to work harder to combat the effects of age. He began training with Jason Riley, the director of athlete performance at the Saddlebrook training center in Tampa…
“He came in two years ago with the idea to evaluate his body, see what needs to be worked on,” Riley said. “His goal is to play many more years. We wrote up a program for him not just for the offseason, but for over the next five years.
“We’re starting to see the results of having two good offseasons under his belt. You can’t ask for a more dedicated, loyal player in terms of work ethic and everything else.”
Jeter worked to achieve more power and distance with each step while also seeking to gain greater efficiency, Riley said. The two studied video to assess Jeter’s body position, and even extended their analysis to the angle of Jeter’s toes when he is in the ready position.
It’s always a good story to see a ballplayer admit his flaws and then work hard to correct them. Jeter will never admit it to the media, but his defense was an issue. Now that he’s taken the measures to correct it, perhaps we can lay off those Jeter-to-left field arguments for just one off-season.
In a bit regarding Johnny Damon’s “very likely” return to the Bronx, Rosenthal drops a line about the Yankees payroll: “The Yankees reduced their payroll from $209 million in 2008 to $201 million this season, and they expect to further reduce that number next season.” I’m not sure where he’s getting this from, but Brian Cashman has been strumming the “lower payroll” chord for a while now. I expect they’ll enter the off-season with that goal, but if something comes along that would have them raise payroll with good reason, I don’t see why they’d shy away.
Joba throws 80 pitches, adds no innings to total
Marc Carig has a bit up about Joba Chamberlain and his extended rest. He hasn’t pitched since last Sunday in Seattle, but that doesn’t mean he’s been dormant the entire time. In fact, five days ago he threw a bullpen session, comprising 80 pitches. They don’t count towards his total, of course, because they weren’t thrown within the stressful situation of a real game. Then again, bullpen coach Mike Harkey was the simulated batter, and he’s one intimidating dude.
So Joba starts tonight on eight days’ rest. We’ll see how it affects his command. The good news is that it’s difficult to imagine him having worse command than he had his past few times out.
The dangers of having starters relieve
Posted by: | CommentsWhen Alfredo Aceves made an emergency start on July 9 in Minnesota, he did so under a strict pitch count, and he quickly reached his 65-pitch limit. For Aceves, it wasn’t a season high. That total came in his season debut when he threw 70 pitches against the Red Sox on May 4. It was, however, a recent high at the time, and he hasn’t approached that figure since early July.
In the three weeks leading up to that start, he threw five and nine pitches on back-to-back days, had two days off and then threw 43 pitches. He enjoyed another two-day rest before throwing 33 pitches. Then he had four full days off and threw five and 35 pitches before a two-day stint on the bench. On July 5, four days prior to his start, he threw 43 pitches.
Since July 9, we’ve heard a lot about Aceves’ various physical ailments. In late July, he spoke of a sore shoulder, and he hasn’t been as effective after the All Star Break as he was before. Many pixels have been burned discussing Aceves’ usage and health, and late last week, Mike looked at how Aceves has had few clunkers that inflate his numbers. As Ace has been outpitching his FIP all season, Mike noted, this period of mediocrity could just be the ever-popular market correction.
After his poor outing against the Red Sox on Sunday, Aceves spoke to reporters about his well-being, and as Peter Abraham reported, Aceves is feeling banged up. “I think my body is adjusting,” he said of relieving.
Aceves had been a starter for his entire Mexican League career and last year with the Yankees. This is the first year he has pitched out of the bullpen, and according to Abraham, Aceves feel it has “taken a physical toll.” After recovering from his sore shoulder, Aceves is now dealing with a sore lower back. “It’s not perfect, but I can pitch,” Aceves said to The Journal-News reporter. “This is my job now. I think I’m going to be fine.”
While the Yankees, on a micro level, need Aceves’ versatile down the stretch, on a macro level, his complaints provide a glimpse into the world of starters-turned-relievers. As Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain have shown, good pitchers make for great relievers. It’s easier for a pitcher to use his best pitches in short stints. He doesn’t have to mix and match to fool hitters during the second or third time through the lineup.
Yet, that transition is not without its risks. For starters used to the physical toll of a five-man rotation — start, ice, rest, throw day, rest, start — life in the bullpen is of a different nature. Pitchers have to prepare to go long but may faced with a five-pitch or nine-pitching outing. They may get the call on consecutive days or on opposite ends of a calendar week.
As the Yankees confront the reality of Phil Hughes in the bullpen and Joba Chamberlain in the starting rotation, the coaches and training staff are well aware of the physical toll of relief work. It’s why they don’t want to put Joba in the bullpen to cap his innings. How they handle Aceves down the stretch should provide a glimpse into how they plan to approach Phil Hughes’ transition back to the rotation next year. Meanwhile, with a seven-game lead and a Magic Number of 32, the Yanks can afford to rest Ace as his physical ailments require. Better now than in October.
Do the Yanks have the secret sauce to win in the playoffs?
Posted by: | Comments“Pitching wins championships.”
- Everyone who has been a fan of baseball, ever
The oldest baseball cliche in the book might just hold some merit. When it comes to a 162-game marathon, a powerhouse offense can carry a team, even if it has mediocre pitching. Just look at the 2004-2007 Yankees. None had top-tier pitching staffs, but mustered enough offensive firepower to bring the team to the playoffs. And when the offense sputtered in 2008, they fell short.
In a short series, though, against the teams that played the best over the long season, pitching becomes that much more important. Last weekend’s series against Boston is a top example. Penny and Tazawa likely don’t even pitch in a five-game series, and only one of them would pitch in a seven-game set. Their top guys, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, would get the ball as frequently as possible, making it tougher for big-time offenses to pile on the runs.
As it goes hand in hand with pitching, defense also gets top billing in a playoff series. A run-saving catch is a blip on the radar of a 162-game season, but in an environment when every run counts, it means a lot more. Let too many ground balls sneak through the infield and let enough fly balls drop in the gaps and you’re giving the opposition more opportunities to score. This can be detrimental when facing the ace of a staff.
This all relates to a Jay Jaffe article in New York Magazine, which cites the research of Baseball Prospectus poster boy Nate Silver and former BPer and current Yankee-hater Dayn Perry. Researching 30 years of regular season and postseason data, they’ve devised a “Special Sauce” of sorts — the most important factors for a team in the postseason. Unsurprisingly, they relate to pitching and defense. Everything else doesn’t fit into the equation:
They found that age and postseason experience had no effect on a team’s chances; surprisingly, they also found no significant correlation between any measure of team offense (including bunting and stealing) and postseason success.
The three factors are a team’s strikeouts per nine ratio, adjusted for league (because NL pitchers tend to strike out more than their AL counterparts for obvious reasons) and other factors; a top-flight closer, measured by Reliever Win Expectancy Added (a WPA derivative); and a solid defense, measured by Fielding Runs Above Average. Examine these factors, goes the reasoning, and you’ll be on your way to predicting postseason success.
Since this appears on a Yankees-related website, it makes sense that the Bombers would top the list. They rank sixth in the league in adjusted K/9, first in closer ranking (duh), and third in FRAA. That sets them well ahead of the pack in the terms that Silver and Perry set forth. I do take issue with their methodology in combining the ratings.
To determine the overall score, Perry and Silver add up each team’s league rankings, leaving the team with the lowest score the favorite. Even to an untrained mathematician this seems a bit simplistic. First, it implies that all criteria are weighed equally. I’m not sure how much each of these three factors contributes in reality, but I doubt that they’re all exactly equal. Second, it doesn’t take into account the differences between teams in the rankings. For example, the Yanks rank sixth in the league in adjusted K/9 at 6.9, while the Giants rank first at 7.2. That doesn’t seem to be a big difference at all, yet it cost the Yanks five overall points. Looking at it the other way, the Giants rank second in defense with 46 FRAA, while the Yanks rank third with 33, which seems to be a significant drop-off (Dodgers are first with 55).
As John Sterling will remind you at least once a game, you can’t predict baseball. You can forecast, though, like you can forecast the weather. Silver has proven his research acumen, and he may well have come across the three biggest determining factors in a team’s ability to win in the postseason. As we know from experience, though, literally anything can happen in these series. It’s good to know that the Yanks shake out with historically good postseason teams, but nothing’s a given right now — not even the division.
Heathcott debuts, but GCL Yanks get blown out
Posted by: | CommentsJosh Towers was named International League Pitcher of the Week for the second time in the last four weeks. Dan McCutchen won it last week and Eric Hacker the week before, so that’s four straight weeks that someone with ties to the Yanks has won the award. Jairo Heredia took home Florida State League Pitcher of the Week honors.
I can’t believe I went almost the entire season without updating the standings. Better late than never, I guess. The standings on milb.com don’t get updated until the morning and I have no interest in figuring them out myself, so the standings below are coming into today and do not reflect tonight’s action.
Triple-A Scranton (7-2 loss to Buffalo) 71-54, 3.5 games up in the International League North Division … there’s 16 games left in their season
Kevin Russo, Eric Duncan & Chris Stewart: all 0 for 4, 1 K – Russo drew a walk
Ramiro Pena: 0 for 5, 1 K – 6 for his last 34 (.176)
Colin Curtis: 2 for 4, 1 R – played CF in place of Austin Jackson, who got his first day off in a month
Shelley Duncan: 1 for 1, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP
John Rodriguez & Reegie Corona: both 1 for 3, 1 BB – J-Rod K’ed twice & threw a runner out at second from LF … Corona committed a throwing error
Yurendell DeCaster: 1 for 4, 2 RBI
Anthony Claggett: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 7-5 GB/FB – 43 of 67 pitches were strikes (64.2%)
Zach Kroenke: 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 0-2 GB/FB – 22 of 35 pitches were strikes (62.9%) … 7 ER allowed in his last 5 IP
Kevin Whelan: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K – 17 of 27 pitches were strikes (63%)
Edwar Ramirez: 1 IP, zeroes, 2 K, 0-1 GB/FB – 8 of 14 pitches were strikes (57.1%)
Just 21 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.
