This one’s good for the ol’ run differential.
Game 115 Spillover Thread
I like where this is going.
Staten Island nearly no-hits Auburn in win
Make sure you scroll down for tonight’s game thread.
Triple-A Scranton
Game 1 (4-2 loss to Norfolk in 7 innings) makeup of yesterday’s rain out
Kevin Russo: 0 for 1, 2 BB – he’s been on base 133 times in 65 games
Reegie Corona, Juan Miranda & John Rodriguez: all 0 for 3 – Corona committed a throwing error on the same day he was named the Best Defensive Second Baseman in the Eastern League
Austin Jackson: 1 for 2, 1 BB
Shelley Duncan, Cody Ransom & Yurendell DeCaster: all 1 for 3 – Shelley hit a solo jack & K’ed … Ransom doubled & scored a run
Brian Peterson: 0 for 3, 1 K – Frankie Cervelli will be back from his hand injury soon, so his days are numbered
Romulo Sanchez: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 4-3 GB/FB, 1 E (fielding) – 49 of 80 pitches were strikes (61.3%)
Mark Melancon: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HB, 3-2 GB/FB – 24 of 37 pitches were strikes (64.9%)
Open Thread: Link dump edition
Ah west coast baseball. Nothing quite like staying up past your bedtime to watch the Yanks. Here’s some stray links to help you pass the time…
- Finally, a Michael Kay drinking game. We need to come up with one for Sterling now.
- After inking a deal with Cablevision to broadcast Yankee games online a few months ago, the service is now expanding to include Verizon FiOS subscribers. Time Warner can’t be far behind, right? Eh, doesn’t matter, their sevice sucks anyway.
- What side of The Damon Debate are you on? I’d be cool with a one year deal plus an option, but only at a reduced cost. Like, $5M per plus incentives.
- Baseball America polled scouts, managers, etc., and named Austin Jackson the Best Batting Prospect in the Triple-A International Leage (subs. req’d). Zach McAllister has the Best Control and Reegie Corona is the Best Defensive Second Baseman in the Double-A Eastern League.
- Jayson Stark has a great piece on the Stephen Strasburg situation, which I suggest you check out. The signing deadline is next Monday at midnight, and I’m still in the camp that thinks he’s going to sign. It’s almost impossible for his stock to be any higher, and if he has to “settle” for $15-18M, he’d still crush the previous draft record and be set for life. How can you turn that down as a 21-yr old?
- While on the subject of the draft, Bradley Suttle’s $1.3M bonus in 2007 is no longer a fourth round record. The Royals broke it today when they signed ex-Yank draftee Chris Dwyer for $1.5M. Suttle, meanwhile, is out for the year with a shoulder issue.
- Olympic baseball is no more. At least until 2020. I might as well point you towards this post from my 2008 Olympics coverage since we just talked about Strasburg.
- Bryce Harper: good at baseball.
- Former Yankee Andy Cannizaro was traded to the White Sox. Andy hit .250-.333-.625 in nine plate appearances with the Bombers back in 2006.
- Joe would kill me if I didn’t mention this: Les Paul, the man who invented the electric guitar and is responsible for rock music as we know it, passed away today. At 94-yrs old, the dude was still playing shows in the city this year. A true legend.
Anyway, use this as your open thread for the night. We’ve got a few hours to kill before the Yanks-Fightin’ Ichiros game starts, so talk about whatever you like here. Just be cool.
Late add by Joe: Over the past few weeks I’ve been noticing a trend in the comments that get sent to the spam filter. Not only do most baseball-reference links go there, but if you use the word badass, without a space, your comment will not show up. Why that is, I have no idea. It’s just that ever “please moderate comment” email I get seems to have that word in it.
The rise of David Robertson
After starting the season in a downright dreadful fashion, the Yankees’ bullpen has righted itself and become a legitimate weapon. Most of the credit goes to the arrival of Al Aceves and the awesomeness of Phil Hughes, and rightly so, but they’re not alone in the bullpen’s revival. Since the start of June, David Robertson has pitched in 25 games for the Yanks, striking out 37 batters in 26 innings, contributing to his AL-best 12.69 K/9. Opponents are hitting just .204 off him in that time, and his groundball-flyball ratio is a studly 1.90. Sure, Robertson’s 5.13 BB/9 is too high, but he’s walked just four batters in his last 12 innings, so he’s improving. He’s also added velocity throughout the season.
Robertson absolutely annihilated the minors after signing for $200,000 out of The University of Alabama as a 17th round pick in 2006, and it looks like he’s starting to get over that rookie hump. As far as non-setup middle relievers go, it doesn’t get much better than David Robertson right now.
Clean sweep
Jimmy Paredes, Zoilo Almonte, Neil Medchill, DeAngelo Mack, Francisco Rondon, and Adam Warren are all headed to the NY-Penn League All Star Game. The game is being held on the campus of my alma mater, so if there’s any RAB readers out there kickin’ it at Penn State, make sure you check the game out next Tuesday. Boston’s Ryan Westmoreland is by far the best prospect elected to the game.
Triple-A Scranton was washed out. I’m assuming they’ll play two tomorrow since they aren’t scheduled to play Norfolk any more this year.
Double-A Trenton (3-2 win over Reading)
Austin Krum, PJ Pillitere, James Cooper & Edwar Gonzalez: all 0 for 3 – Krum drove in a run & K’ed twice … Edwar K’ed
Matt Cusick: 2 for 4, 1 R
Eduardo Nunez: 1 for 4
Chris Malec, Marcos Vechionacci & Justin Snyder: all 1 for 3 – Malec homered & drove in two … Vech doubled … Snyder doubled, scored a run & K’ed
Jeremy Bleich: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 9-1 GB/FB – 20-4 K/BB ratio in his last 17 IP
Kanekoa Texeira: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1-0 GB/FB – 86.1 IP is a career high … by like, a lot
Wilkins Arias: 0.1 IP, zeroes, 0-1 GB/FB
Humberto Sanchez: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K – picked a runner off first
Jose Valdez: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1-1 GB/FB
Game 114 Spillover Thread III
Nasty pitch.
I wonder if they realize they have a flight to Seattle after the game. End this shizz already.