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Post by chiyankee on Jun 22, 2024 14:24:52 GMT -5
Battle of veteran starters in the Bronx. The Yanks really, really need a bounce back outing by Stroman.
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Post by inger on Jun 22, 2024 14:27:15 GMT -5
It would help if Morton would start acting his age…
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Post by qwik3457bb on Jun 22, 2024 16:19:17 GMT -5
Charlie Morton starts for the Braves tonight, looking to send the Yanks to a season-high 4th straight loss, and a third straight losing series. The 40-year-old Morgan has a fairly sharp line dividing the two halves of his career, starting when he joined the Astros. Drafted by the Braves as an 18-year-old in the 3rd round of the 2002 draft, he struggled his first five seasons in the minors, pitching both in the rotation and relief at various times. He made some sort of adjustment when he got to AAA, probably finding a sinker or a splitter. He always had a low HR rate, but in 12 starts in AAA in 2008, he went 5-2 with a 2.08 ERA, and didn't allow a HR in 79 2/3 innings. The Braves called him up to start, but he bombed in their rotation, going 4-8 with a 6.15 ERA. He pitched well again for 2 months in AAA in 2009, but, needing an outfielder, the Braves traded Morton and two other prospects to the Pirates for Nate McLouth.
He pitched for the Pirates for 7 seasons, never staying in the rotation for an entire year due to injuries or ineffectiveness. There was some terrible, (2-12 with a 7.57 ERA in 2010), some good (13-16 with a 3.52 ERA in 46 starts in 2013 and 2014), and mostly, some in-between (2009, 2012, 2015, ERAs between 4.50 and 4.90). With his team control expired, the Pirates traded Morton to the Phillies, where he opened the season with 1 terrible start and 2 very good ones. In his 4th start, he tore his hamstring so badly running to 1st that he missed the rest of the season; his season was over April 23rd. At this point in his MLB career, he had been in the majors for 9 seasons, making 161 starts with a record of 46-71 and an ERA of 4.54 and a career WHIP of 1.441. A substantial, but forgettable career to that point.
In the offseason of 2016-2017, Morton crossed that bright dividing line and signed as a free agent with the Astros. They added a cutter to his 4-pitch repetoire. They somehow added 4 mph to his 4-seamer. The tail on his sinker improved from average to elite. His FB acquired 2 more inches of both "rise" and run. His splitter dropped less, but had a lot more tail to it. No one knows quite how all this happened. Superior coaching? Stickum? Changes to both his mechanics and pitch mix? However it happened, Morton broke out for the Astros in 2017 from non-entity to solid mid-rotation starter. He went 14-7 for the Astros in 25 starts with an ERA of 3.63. The Yanks beat him up in Game 3 of the ALCS, but he came back in game 7 to throw the first five of the Astros' 9 shutout innings in the 4-0 win that wrapped up the pennant. In 2018, he was better: 15-3 with a 3.13 ERA making the All-Star team. The Red Sox knocked him out early in a game in the ALCS on their way to the title. He became a free agent and signed a 2-year deal with the Rays.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Jun 22, 2024 16:22:03 GMT -5
In 2019, he was better still, leading the league in starts, striking out 240 batters, going 16-6 with a 3.03 ERA and finiishing 3rd in the AL Cy Young voting. He won the wild card game against the A's, and got a win against his old teammates, the Astros in the ALDS, though the Astros won that series. He had, at the age of 35, become a front of the rotation starter. His second year with Tampa went poorly; he struggled all season, missing the whole first half with a shoulder injury. He wound up making just 9 starts, going 2-2 with a 4.74 ERA. As the Rays always have a limited budget, they couldn't gamble on a multi-year deal on a 36-year-old with a bad shoulder, so Morton signed a two-year deal back where he started in 2002, the Braves organization. He had one more outstanding season with Atlanta in 2021, going 14-6 with a 3.34 ERA, and was in the rotation for the entire postseason until his fibula was fractured on a line drive off the bat by Yuli Gurriel. The Braves finished off winning the title without him. In 3 seasons since then, he's been a decent starter, nothing more, going 27-21 with a 3.96 ERA. This year, he's 4-3 with a 3.91 ERA. In his last 5 starts, 3 have been very good, 2 have been bad. He's shut down the Rays, the A's, and the Cubs, but the Nationals clobbered him twice, one at home and once in Washington. As for the bright dividing line: 46-71, 4.54 ERA Before Houston; 88-45 with a 3.57 ERA After Houston. His career is a poor man's version of Red Ruffing's (look it up in Baseball Reference and you'll see what I mean).
This will be Morton's 14th career start agains the Yanks, only 1 of which came before he got to the Astros. As with the 2017 ALCS, it's been some good and some bad, but mostly good: he's 5-3 with a 3.54 ERA against them. In 68 2/3 innings, he's allowed 51 hits, 29 runs, 27 earned, 10 HR, 27 BB and struck out 95. His career K/9 of 12.5 against the Yanks is the highest for any team he's faced more than once. His WHIP against them is a solid 1.136, and the team's quadruple slash line against Morton is .202/.286/.256/.542. His starts against them are mostly quite good, with a few blowups thrown in. His last start against them was brilliant; in mid-August last year in Atlanta, he threw 6 shutout innings of 4 hit, 1 walk ball with 10 K's, earning the W in 2-0 Braves combined shutout of the Yanks.
Repertoire: A tall (6-5) 5-pitch righty, Morton throws both fastballs, a cutter, a curve and a change. He relies heavily on the curve and fastball. This year so far, he's using the two of them a bit less than last year, and the other 3 a bit more. His FB is slightly below average in both velocity and spin, but the curve has always had one of the highest spin rates in MLB throughout his career. His gets below average extension, which may be why he uses the FB and sinker less than the three offspeed pitches. All of his pitches except for the cutter get better than average horizontal break; despite the mediocre spin rate, the FB "rise" is well above average. The pitch mix this year: the 81 mph curve 40% of the time, the 94 FB about 29%, the 85 change about 12%, the 88-89 cutter about 10%, and the 93 sinker about 9% (the difference in velocity between the 4-seam and sinker is less than that; the 4-seam averages 93.8, and the sinker 93.3).
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Post by qwik3457bb on Jun 22, 2024 16:25:50 GMT -5
Playing the name game...A ton of Charlies in MLB history; well over 200 of them. The best was Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer, The Mechanical Man, one of the top 6 or 7 second baseman in MLB history. 5th in career bWAR for second baseman, he got some MVP votes for an amazing 13 straight seasons from 1928 through 1940; he has the 16th most "MVP shares" in major league history at 4.42. He's top 100 all-time in At Bats, PA, hits, BAVG, OBA, OPS, triples, RBI and BB, and top 25 all-time in runs scored and doubles. The most infamous Charlie is White Sox player and owner Charlie Comisky, whose stinginess set the stage for the White Sox throwing the World Series in 1919. The most famous Yankees Charlie is Charlie "King Kong" Keller, who I think I've written about before.
There have been nine other Mortons in MLB history, including another Charlie, who pitched for 3 teams in the American Association in the 1880s, and one season in the NL for the first Detroit team, the Wolverines (who existed from 1881 through 1888). The Mortons also include a wonderful name: Sparrow Morton, who pitched two games for the Phillies in 1884, two years before they took on the name "Phillies". The best other Morton in MLB history is Carl Morton, who pitched 8 seasons in the NL for the Expos and Braves, going 87-92 with a 3.53 ERA, winning 15 games or more in 4 of the 8 seasons, winning the NL Rookie of the Year and getting downballot Cy Young and MVP votes in 1970. He sadly died in 1983 at the age of 39 after having a heart attack while jogging.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Jun 22, 2024 16:27:41 GMT -5
Marcus Stroman goes for the Yanks. He was able to dodge bullets left and right for most of the early part of the season, but I think his poor command of the K zone (low K rate, high BB rate, very low K/BB ratio and K-BB%) is starting to catch up to him. He's very intelligent, an excellent fielder, and battles as hard as he can, but against top lineups, his stuff just doesn't seem to play anymore. It's an uphill battle for him tonight against this strong Braves offense. His surface numbers are still solid, 6-3 with a 3.08 ERA, tied for 12th in wins and 11th in ERA in the AL, but the other numbers aren't so hot: 15 starts, 84 2/3 innings, 72 hits, 33 runs, 29 earned, 10 HR, 38 BB and 61 K's. The WHIP is a tolerable 1.299, but the FIP paints a more accurate picture: 4.76, as does the xERA: 4.51.
Against the Braves, Stroman's surface record is again quite good. In 8 starts, he's 4-3 with a 2.61 ERA. Peek under the hood, and again, it's not so pretty. Just 38 innings (less than 5 per start) 41 hits, 15 runs, 11 earned, 4 HR, 11 BB and 33 K. His WHIP against them is a subpar 1.368 and their team quadruple slash line against them is not terrible, but not good, either: .272/.323/.384/.707. His last start against the Braves was his last start of the 2023 season, and he didn't get very far. After giving up 4 hits, 4 runs (2 earned) and a HR, he was lifted after just two innings and 38 pitches, and took the loss in a 5-3 Braves win in late September, to wind up the season at 10-9. The Yanks are praying he can go at least 3 innings more than that. Stange things happen ("That's baseball, Suzyn), but the Braves' lineup is hot now, so it doesn't look promising, although the sports books have the Yanks as 5 1/2-6 1/2 favorites. Not sure why. Very strong team, playing at home? Not lately, they ain't.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Jun 22, 2024 16:30:50 GMT -5
Yankees lineup vs. Morton
Volpe is 1-2 with 1 K
Soto is 7-11 (!!) with 3 HR (!!), 5 RBI, 5 BB (!) and 2 K (.636/.750/1.455/2.205 !!)
Judge is 4-21 with a double, a solo HR, 5 BB and 12 K (!!!)
Verdugo is 5-10 with 3 doubles and a BB
Stanton is 10-32 with 2 doubles, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 5 BB and 13 K (mixed bag, there; but he's just 1-14 vs. Morton since 2018 with a solo HR, 2 BB and 8 K)
Rice has never faced Morton
Torres is 4-18 with a double, 1 RBI, 2 BB and 3 K
Wells has never faced him
Cabrera hasn't either.
On the bench...LeMahieu is 10-29 with a triple, a HR, 2 RBI, 4 K and 1 GIDP, Grisham is 2-11 with a double, 1 RBI, 1 BB and 3 K.
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Braves' lineup vs. Stroman:
Kelenic is 1-3 with a K
Albies is 7-18 with 2 K
Ozuna is 1-4 with a K
Olson is 3-7 with 1 double, 1 HR, 2 RBI and 2 K
Riley is 2-7 with a BB and a GIDP
d'Arnaud is 1-4 with a K
Laureano is 0-6
Wall has never faced Stroman
Arcia is 1-6 with 1 RBI and 2 K.
On the bench: Anderson is 2-6 with a double, a BB and 3 K; Duvall is 3-7 with a HR, 3 RBI and 2 K. Murphy has never faced him.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Jun 22, 2024 16:35:55 GMT -5
Yesterday, Carlos Rodon had nothing again, and the Braves blasted him out of the game before he could get out of the 4th inning, allowing 11 hits, 3 HR and 8 runs in 3 2/3 innings. Chris Sale threw a lot of pitches, but the Yanks got nothing besides a misplayed flyball triple and a RBI grounder off Sale and four relievers, and the Braves trounced the Yanks, 8-1. The loss tied a season high 3-game losing streak, and dropped the Yanks to just 24 games over .500 at 51-27.
In other AL East action...the Pirates tried an "opener/bullpen" game against the Rays, and it backfired, as the Rays got 7 runs off the first two pitchers in 5 1/3 innings on their way to a 10-3 romp over Pittsburgh. OF Josh Lowe hit 2 HR, good for 4 RBI for the Rays, and ex-Yankee Ben Rortvedt hit a 3-run HR and had two more hits to lift his BAVG this year to .265. Funny how the Rays seem to turn unplayable players into usable pieces, idn't it? Reds' Starter Andrew Abbott struck out 10 in 5 2/3, holding the hot Red Sox lineup to just 2 runs, and Jeimer Candelario hit a couple of solo HR off Kutter Crawford early on, as the Reds beat Boston 5-2. In a game in which their pitching gave up 14 runs, the Orioles showed why they're the best team in the league anyway. After a 9-run 6th by the Astros to take a 14-3 lead, the O's didn't quit, they just got mad, scoring 1 in the 7th, and staging a furiouos 7-run rally in the 8th, and made the Astros sweat it out for a 14-11 win. Five Astros had two or more hits, but the O's didn't care, the just went and hit 4 more HR in the late innings for 7 of the 8 runs to give Houston a good scare. The Guardians took advantage of 5 Jays' walks, two singles, a double and an error to score all 7 runs in the 2nd inning of a 7-1 win over Toronto. Carlos Carrasco also took advantage by throwing 6 innings of 4-hit, 1-run ball, striking out 7 to pick up just his 3rd win of the season.
The Yanks began play today up just 1/2 game up on the O's, 10 up on the Red Sox, 13 up on the Rays, and 14 1/2 up on the Jays, and the O's loss in Houston was the only thing that kept them from falling out of 1st.
Elsewhere in the AL East today: the Rays trail the Pirates, 4-2 , top 6 in Pittsburgh, the Astros again lead the O's 4-1 top of the 6th in Houston, but we wait for the inevitable Oriole rally, the Guardians lead the Jays again, 5-2 in the 6th in Cleveland, and the Reds lead the Red Sox again, 3-1 in the 5th in Cincinnati.
And at 7:15 pm (more like 7:18-7:20) on the FoxSmoltzMakeMeRollMyEyesTooManyInterviewsCast, it's Morton vs. Stroman at the Stadium.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Jun 22, 2024 16:39:06 GMT -5
It would help if Morton would start acting his age… He does against some teams, but not usually the Yankees. Most of the time, anyway. |
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Post by qwik3457bb on Jun 22, 2024 16:40:18 GMT -5
OK, pre-game hoopla done with, I go to relax a bit and make dinner for myself. See you guys in about 85 minutes.
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Post by 1955nyyfan on Jun 22, 2024 17:08:04 GMT -5
Feels like Soto has been in a bit of a funk for awhile, not sure what stats say but feels like a lot of soft contact. Hope we get an offensive explosion tonight.
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Post by bumper on Jun 22, 2024 17:21:36 GMT -5
Feels like Soto has been in a bit of a funk for awhile, not sure what stats say but feels like a lot of soft contact. Hope we get an offensive explosion tonight. indeed he has. since his return from whatever that was, in 11 games he's hitting .206 w 1 HR and 3 RBI and just 1 2B. very un-soto like. he does have 14 walks so he's getting on base w .449 OBP. but not really driving the ball. so maybe he's not 100% and playing through it. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Jun 22, 2024 17:46:39 GMT -5
Playing the name game...A ton of Charlies in MLB history; well over 200 of them. The best was Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer, The Mechanical Man, one of the top 6 or 7 second baseman in MLB history. 5th in career bWAR for second baseman, he got some MVP votes for an amazing 13 straight seasons from 1928 through 1940; he has the 16th most "MVP shares" in major league history at 4.42. He's top 100 all-time in At Bats, PA, hits, BAVG, OBA, OPS, triples, RBI and BB, and top 25 all-time in runs scored and doubles. The most infamous Charlie is White Sox player and owner Charlie Comisky, whose stinginess set the stage for the White Sox throwing the World Series in 1919. The most famous Yankees Charlie is Charlie "King Kong" Keller, who I think I've written about before.
There have been nine other Mortons in MLB history, including another Charlie, who pitched for 3 teams in the American Association in the 1880s, and one season in the NL for the first Detroit team, the Wolverines (who existed from 1881 through 1888). The Mortons also include a wonderful name: Sparrow Morton, who pitched two games for the Phillies in 1884, two years before they took on the name "Phillies". The best other Morton in MLB history is Carl Morton, who pitched 8 seasons in the NL for the Expos and Braves, going 87-92 with a 3.53 ERA, winning 15 games or more in 4 of the 8 seasons, winning the NL Rookie of the Year and getting downballot Cy Young and MVP votes in 1970. He sadly died in 1983 at the age of 39 after having a heart attack while jogging. I enjoy your name game posts Qwik. I well remember Carl Morton, who was an original Expo along with other pitchers like Bill Stoneman and Dan McGinn. The days of Coco Laboy and Le Grande Orange Rusty Staub. I went to some games at Jarry Park. It was definitely minor league, probably the most amateurish major league park this side of Colt Stadium in Houston. |
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Post by qwik3457bb on Jun 22, 2024 17:56:58 GMT -5
Playing the name game...A ton of Charlies in MLB history; well over 200 of them. The best was Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer, The Mechanical Man, one of the top 6 or 7 second baseman in MLB history. 5th in career bWAR for second baseman, he got some MVP votes for an amazing 13 straight seasons from 1928 through 1940; he has the 16th most "MVP shares" in major league history at 4.42. He's top 100 all-time in At Bats, PA, hits, BAVG, OBA, OPS, triples, RBI and BB, and top 25 all-time in runs scored and doubles. The most infamous Charlie is White Sox player and owner Charlie Comisky, whose stinginess set the stage for the White Sox throwing the World Series in 1919. The most famous Yankees Charlie is Charlie "King Kong" Keller, who I think I've written about before.
There have been nine other Mortons in MLB history, including another Charlie, who pitched for 3 teams in the American Association in the 1880s, and one season in the NL for the first Detroit team, the Wolverines (who existed from 1881 through 1888). The Mortons also include a wonderful name: Sparrow Morton, who pitched two games for the Phillies in 1884, two years before they took on the name "Phillies". The best other Morton in MLB history is Carl Morton, who pitched 8 seasons in the NL for the Expos and Braves, going 87-92 with a 3.53 ERA, winning 15 games or more in 4 of the 8 seasons, winning the NL Rookie of the Year and getting downballot Cy Young and MVP votes in 1970. He sadly died in 1983 at the age of 39 after having a heart attack while jogging. I enjoy your name game posts Qwik. I well remember Carl Morton, who was an original Expo along with other pitchers like Bill Stoneman and Dan McGinn. The days of Coco Laboy and Le Grande Orange Rusty Staub. I went to some games at Jarry Park. It was definitely minor league, probably the most amateurish major league park this side of Colt Stadium in Houston. Thanks, pipp. I do a little research for each, but it seems worth it to me. Gives a little baseball history to the young'uns, and some nostalgia for we older'uns. |
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Post by qwik3457bb on Jun 22, 2024 18:05:21 GMT -5
It occurs to me that I forgot to do...
The Saturday Leaders™ for June 22nd:
Among AL hitters....
Gunner Henderson of the O's had a hot week and has retaken the MLB lead in bWAR with 5.8. Aaron Judge is 2nd at 5.3 bWAR. Juan Soto is 3rd in the AL at 4.0 bWAR, just ahead of Bobby Witt, Jr. of the Roayls.
The Guardians' Steven Kwan remains white-hot since coming of the IL since the end of May, and is up to .387. His lead is now so large ahead of Witt that even though he's still about 10 PA for being qualified, an 0 for 10 added to his hits and at bats would still leave him in first, so he's taken back the lead in BAVG. Witt is a distant 2nd at .318 Soto is currently 4th at .305, and Judge is 6th at .301, but both of them will take one step down if and when Kwan qualifies.
Soto is back in front in OBA at .428, and Judge is 2nd at .425, but Kwan might move ahead of both; he's currently at .448, but that same 0-10 would leave him in 3rd, which is where he sits, officially.
Judge still leads in slugging at .688; Soto has dropped to 4th at .568.
Oviously, Judge also leads in OPS at 1.113, and Soto is 2nd at 0.993
Judge took a day off this week, so J.J. Bleday of the A's and Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners are tied for the lead in games played with 78; Gleyber Torres missed last night's game and is tied for 3rd with Anthony Volpe and Witt at 77 games played. Judge is in a 3-way tie for 6th at 76, and Soto is in a 5-way tie for 9th at 75.
Henderson has zoomed into the lead in leads in runs with 65, but Soto is 2nd, 4 runs back. Judge is 4th, and Witt is between Soto and him. and Anthony Volpe is all by himself in 6th.
Volpe still leads the AL in both plate appearances and at-bats with 352 and 320.
Witt, Jr's still leads in hits with 99, the Astros Jose' Altuve is 2nd at 93. Volpe is 5th behind Adley Rutschman of the O's and Jarren Duran of the Red Sox. Soto is tied for 6th with Henderson and Judge is tied for 8th with Yordan Alvarez of the Astros.
Judge still leads in total bases with 187. Soto is 4th at 155, with Witt and Henderson between them, and they've opened up a gap on Soto.
Duran leads in triples at 10, Volpe is tied for 2nd with Witt at 7. Soto has 3 on the year, putting him into a 11-way tie for 10th in the AL.
Judge still leads in HR with 27, 3 ahead of Henderson, Soto is tied for 6th with Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Ramirez of the Guardians at 18.
Judge still leads in RBI with 73, Jose Ramirez of the Guardians is now 2 behind and Soto is now 4th with 56.
Soto has pulled ahead of Judge with 60 BB; Judge is 2nd, 3 behind.
Brent Rooker of the A's now lead with 91 K's, but Stanton is just 1 behind, and if he stays healthy, should take the lead from Rooker any day now. Judge is 5th with 85.
Jose Caballero of the Rays still leads in steals with 24, Witt, Jr. is 3 behind. Volpe dropped to 9th, stuck on 15.
Vinnie Pasquantino still leads with 8 sac flies; Verdugo is still 2 behind, Soto is in a 9-way tie for 6th with 4.
Tyler Freeman of the Guardians has pulled into the lead with 11 HBP. His teammate Andres Gimenez is tied with the Jays' Ryan Jeffers, 1 behind.
Justin Turner of the Jays passed both his teammate Bo Bichette and Judge to lead the AL with 13 GIDP, Judge is by himself in 2nd, having ended last night's game with his 12th of the season. Bichette is tied for 3rd with Jeremy Pena of the Astros. Trevino is in a 9-way tie for 5th with 9.
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