Ramirez whiffs 11 in Charleston loss

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Justin Maxwell just jammed his right shoulder on last night’s homerun saving catch, so he’s not expected to miss much time.

Triple-A Scranton (1-0 win over Indianapolis)
Austin Krum, CF, Jesus Montero, C, Brandon Laird, 3B & Jordan Parraz, RF: all 0 for 4 – Krum and Laird each struck out once, Montero did twice
Ramiro Pena, SS: 2 for 4, 1 2B, 1 RBI – got picked off first … eight for his last 20
Jorge Vazquez, 1B & Luis Nunez, DH: both 1 for 3 – JoVa walked once and whiffed twice
Kevin Russo, 2B: 1 for 4, 1 2B
Dan Brewer, RF: 1 for 2, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB –
D.J. Mitchell, RHP: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 2 WP, 1 HB, 7-4 GB/FB – 59 of 96 pitches were strikes (61.5%) … the one walk was intentional … no runs allowed in three of his last seven starts
Ramon Flores, LHP: 1 IP, zeroes, 1 K – five of his nine pitches were strikes
Kevin Whelan, RHP: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 WP – ten of 16 pitches were strikes (62.5%)

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Open Thread: Wilson Ramos!

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(Photo Credit: Flickr user Keith Allison via Creative Commons license)

I don’t know if you saw it this afternoon, but ESPN’s panel of experts held what they called a Franchise Player Draft. It’s what you probably think it is, one of those “if you could start a team with any player, who would it be” things, except in draft form. The early picks were pretty predictable – Troy Tulowitzki, Joey Votto, Feliz, Hernandez, Joey Votto – but things got a little interesting later on.

Rick Sutcliffe took Neftali Feliz 23rd overall, ahead of Carlos Gonzalez, Clayton Kershaw, and Jose Bautista, and then Doug Glanville took Nationals’ catcher Wilson Ramos (!) with the final pick, number 30. I mean, if he wanted a catcher that bad, Brian McCann was still on the board. Ramos is hitting a fine .252/.336/.403 this year, but … really? Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez, and Miguel Cabrera were all on the board as well. I don’t get it. Bryce Harper (9th) and Mike Trout (12th) also went in the draft, and as great as they are, I’m not sure I could justify taking them over a proven, well-above-average big leaguer. Ryan Braun went one pick after Harper, David Price one after Trout. I know which one I’d rather have.

Anyway, here is tonight’s open thread. The Mets are playing the Pirates (Capuano vs. Correia) and the Giants are playing the Cardinals (Lincecum vs. Westbrook) on ESPN. The Stanley Cup Finals (8pm ET, NBC) also begin tonight. Plenty to occupy yourself with, so talk about all of that (and more!) here.

2011 Draft: Carl Thomore

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The draft is just five days away, so between now and then I’m going to highlight some players individually rather than lump a few together in one post.

(Photo Credit: myCentralJersey.com)

Carl Thomore | OF

Background
Mike Trout has ensured that New Jersey will no longer go under-scouted. Thomore, who attends East Brunswick High School, has already dealt with far more adversity off the field than baseball could ever match. His mother passed away due to breast cancer when he was in the sixth grade, and a brutal ankle injury nearly ended his baseball career before it started. You can read all about the gruesome injury here. Thomore is committed to Rutgers Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Florida.

Scouting Report
Thomore’s best tool is something that is in short supply these days: power. He keeps the weight on his 6-foot-1, 195 lb. frame back and generates big time bat speed from the right side, hitting the ball to all fields but doing the most damage when he pulls it to left.  An advanced approach helps his cause. Thomore is a good athlete with a strong arm, though he’s not good enough for center and profiles best in right. His bat projects to be plenty good for the position though.

Miscellany
If it wasn’t for the thwo guys at UConn (Matt Barnes and George Springer), you could make a case that Thomore is the best draft prospect from the Tri-State Area. He’s one of the better power prospects in the entire draft class, especially from the right side, and he’ll also provide value in the field. Keith Law and Baseball America have some differing opinions on Thomore; the former ranked him the 68th best draft prospect while the latter had him 112th. That’s quite a spread. Either way, he’s a second or third round guy and a personal fave.

Granderson, infield lead early All-Star Game voting

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MLB released the early results of the AL All-Star voting today, and Yankees claim the top spots in six of nine positions. The entire infield – Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez – lead at their respective positions, as does Russell Martin behind the plate. Curtis Granderson is second behind Jose Bautista in the outfield voting, which is enough to earn a starting spot. These aren’t small leads, either, we’re talking hundreds of thousands of votes between first and second place at most spots. Cano has more than twice the votes as the runner-up at second. You know what the cool thing is? Aside from Jeter, you can at least make a case that all those guys deserve to start.

Game 54: Four in a row?

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(Photo Credit: Amanda Rykoff)

Today marks the one-third point of the season and you know what? The Yankees have yet to win more than three games in a row this season. Can they they pull it off today and get that elusive fourth consecutive win? I hope so, that would be neat. Here’s the starting nine…

Derek Jeter, SS
Curtis Granderson, CF
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Alex Rodriguez, 3B DH
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nick Swisher, RF
Russell Martin, C
Andruw Jones, LF
Eduardo Nunez, 3B

A.J. Burnett, SP

First pitch is scheduled for 3:35pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy the game.

Some fun with stats

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We’re all just kinda killing time until the Yankees and A’s start game three of their series in a few hours, so here are a few (less intense) statistical nuggets I came across the last few days to help pass the time…

  • RISPFAIL: In their first 39 games, the Yankees hit .236 with men in scoring position. Last 14 games? It’s .276 in those spots. That coincides exactly with the end of the six game losing streak. Interestingly enough, their OBP/SLG numbers aren’t all that different: .332/.432 vs. .344/.440, respectively. Just some BABIP luck more than anything.
  • No help from RF or DH: Combined, Yankees’ right fielders and designated hitters are hitting .198/.302/.329 in 450 plate appearances. We’re talking about two positions expected to provide above-average offense, and the Yankees have gotten next to nothing out of them.
  • More DH sadness: Yankees’ designated hitters have combined for -0.6 fWAR. That’s not just Jorge Posada, that’s everyone that has filled in at DH at one time or another this year. Astros’ pitchers have been worth -0.3 fWAR at the plate this year.
  • And yet: The Yankees lead baseball with 5.26 runs per game. The Cardinals and Reds are next best at 4.91 runs per game.
  • Away from home: The Yankees have played just 23 road games this year, tied with the Cubs for the second fewest in baseball (the Royals have played just 22 on the road). Despite that, their 13 road wins are more than a dozen other teams and are tied with six others.
  • Cured: Curtis Granderson leads all of baseball with nine homers off left-handed pitchers. Chris Iannetta is second with six. Grandy had six homers off lefties in 2009 and 2010 combined, and eleven from 2008 through 2010.
  • Anti-LOOGY: Granderson obviously leads the league in homers by a lefty off lefties, but third would be Robinson Cano with four. Jay Bruce is sandwiched in between them with five. Curtis is that far out ahead of everyone.
  • Like a boss: Bartolo Colon has already thrown more innings this year (66.1 IP) than he did in four of last five years. The lone exception is 2007, when he made it to the mound for 99.1 IP. Colon’s 4.13 K/BB ratio is fifth best in the AL and eight best overall.
  • Underrated ace: CC Sabathia‘s 2.96 FIP is his lowest since 2008 and the second lowest of his career. He’s on pace to throw 253 IP as well, but that won’t happen.
  • K-Rob: Some starting pitchers with fewer strikeouts than David Robertson (35): Mike Pelfrey (34), Wade Davis (31), Brad Penny (29), Ivan Nova (27), and Carl Pavano (26).
  • BB-Rob: Some starting pitchers with fewer walks than David Robertson (15): Dan Haren (14), David Price (13), Roy Halladay (13), Bartolo Colon (12), and Jair Jurrjens (11).
  • Joba’s grounders: At 62.3%, Joba Chamberlain gets ground balls at the eighth best rate among relievers (min. 20 IP). Jonny Venters of the Braves leads MLB at 82.9% (!!!).
  • Pythag: At +67, the Yankees have the best run differential in baseball. By 22 runs. The Cardinals are the next best at +45, and the next best AL team is the Indians at +38. Only six teams in baseball are at +30 or better, and the Yankees are at two times that.

Hughes throws simulated inning, could be near rehab assignment

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Via Marc Carig, Phil Hughes threw a simulated inning today and will throw live batting practice over the weekend in Anaheim. If that goes well, there’s a chance he could go out on a minor league rehab assignment soon thereafter. At least that’s what Hughes hopes, not what the team has told him (for all we know). Either way, Phil is still a long way off, he’s going to need four or five or maybe even more minor league starts to stretch out and stuff. He basically has to go through Spring Training again.