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Post by desousa on Sept 1, 2024 9:47:41 GMT -5
No Duke Ellis in todays lineup.
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Post by chiyankee on Sept 1, 2024 9:57:21 GMT -5
Verdugo has been so awful that Boone is hitting him 9th. If only they another LF in the minors who could hit.
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Post by Max on Sept 1, 2024 10:34:29 GMT -5
Verdugo has been so awful that Boone is hitting him 9th. If only they another LF in the minors who could hit. Yep, and also if only that same player was a switch hitter with power that can also play CF. |
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Post by inger on Sept 1, 2024 10:58:19 GMT -5
No Duke Ellis in todays lineup. Wait til Stanton walks. Then Ellis swipes second, third, and home, and keeps running until he scores 7 runs without stopping… |
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 1, 2024 11:32:00 GMT -5
In the rubber game, the Cards send out righty junkballer control specialist Miles Mikolas to face the Yanks. Drafted by the Padres in the 7th round of the 2009 June Amateur Draft, San Diego let him pitch in 15 games and throw 53+ innings at summer-A that same season. In 2010, they moved him to a permanent relief role and he threw 81+ excellent innings in 60 games at low-A, and 72 superb innings of relief in 62 games in high-A and AA the next season. In 2012, he pitched 11 more games of quality relief in AA and the Padres called him to the majors to work in low leverage situations. His ERA was fine in 13 games, but the fabulous control he showed in AA did not travel with him to the Padres; he walked 9 in 13 2/3 innings. They sent him back to AAA and he again pitched very well in 12 innings, but still gave up 6 BB. He was called up for 2 games and sent back down again for 6. In mid-August, he was called up for the final time, and pitched OK in 10 final relief games, again mostly in low leverage. He spent nearly all of 2013 in AAA, pitched fairly well, being called up twice for one inning of one game each. After the season, the Padres traded Mikolas and Jaff Decker to the Pirates for outfielder Alex Dickerson. A month later, the Pirates turned around and traded Mikolas to the Rangers for 1st base prospect Chris McGuiness. He opened 2014 in AAA, and pitched well in 10 games, but the Rangers decided that after 4 years as a reliever, they'd turn him back into a starters. They stretched him out over 7 starts in AAA, then called him to the majors in early July. He was battered in 10 starts, 2-5 with a 6.44 ERA, but his last start of the season was his best: 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball against Seattle for just his 2nd win.
That November, the Rangers simply released Mikolas, and when no other major league team showed sufficient interest, he left to sign with the Yomiuri Giants of NPB. In 2015 he was 13-3 with a 1.92 ERA but in 2016, he split time between the minor and major league branches of the Giants. He broke through again in 2017, going 14-8 with a 2.25 ERA. After 2017 was over, he came back to the U.S. and signed a 2-year deal with the Cards. He had a tremendous season for the Cards upon his return: 18-4, leading the NL in wins, a .283 ERA and finished 6th in the Cy Young voting. He wasn't nearly as good in 2018, 9-14 with a 4.16 ERA, but it still earned Mikolas a 4-year extension at a hefty raise in February of 2019. Mikolas missed the entire 2020 season not due to COVID, or evading COVID as a few players did, but because of surgery to repair a flexor tendon in his right arm.
Mikolas returned to action in May, 2021, with 3 rehab starts at AAA. He came up to the majors, made one start, reinjured his right forearm and missed two more months on the IL. The Cards rehab for Mikolas was an odd regression, 2 short starts at AAA, 2 slightly longer ones at AA, and a 7-inning start at high-A. He came back to the majors in late August and made 8 so-so starts to finish the season. In 2022, he made essentially a full comeback, going 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA. He was worse last year, going 9-13 with a 4.78 ERA, and leading MLB in hits allowed and the NL in runs allowed. This year, he's gotten slightly worse: 8-10 with a 5.23 ERA. In 27 starts, he's pitched 149 2/3 innings, allowing 164 hits, 88 runs, 87 earned, 21 HR, 24 BB and striking out 102. His WHIP for the season is basically average: 1.256. His ratios are all bad except for the BB/9, which is the 2nd best in the NL. Among 30 qualified NL starters, Mikolas has the 3rd highest H/9, the lowest K/9, but the 5th best K/BB because the BB rate is so low.
This will be Mikolas' 2nd career start against the Yanks. The first one was an outstanding 7 1/3 innings for a win, but it was 10 years ago for the Rangers, so it's not very relevant to what kind of pitcher Mikolas is right now. He gave up 4 hits, 2 runs (earned), 1 HR, 2 BB and struck out 3. His ERA against the Yanks is 2.35, and his WHIP against them is 0.82. It's just 27 ten-year-old plate appearances, but the team's quadruple slash line against Mikolas is .167/.222/.292/.514.
Repertoire: As with Gibson yesterday, Mikolas is another kitchen-sink, junkballing, 6-pitch righty: 4-seam, slider, sinker, curve, change, sweeper and like Corbin, he also has an eephus curve he's used all of 9 times this season. The 4-seam has well below average rise and slightly below average run, the slider has average sink and below average break into lefties, the sinker has above average rise (not desirable for a sinker) and dead average tail. the curve has above average drop and average break away from righties, the change has average drop and average tail away from lefties, and the sweeper has average drop, and less than average break into lefties. By run values, the sinker is a big plus, and the 4-seam is a tiny plus, the sweeper and change are decent-sized minuses and the curve and slider are small minuses. The FB velocity is below average, the FB spin is a little below average, the curve spin is average and his extension is below average. He gets dead-average exit velocity, a below-average barrel rate and an above average hard hit rate. His line drive and popup rates are slightly above average, the grounder rate and flyball rates are slightly below. The swinging strike rate is the lowest among 63 qualified MLB starters, the called strike rate is the 5th highest, and it all balances out to the 11th worst CSW among the 63. His BABIP rate is a bit high, the strand rate is very low and the HR/FB rate is below average. That all balances out in his ERA estrimators saying his ERA should be a full run lower than it is: 4.23. His pitch mix so far this year: 4-seamer averaging 93 about 27%, slider 86 about 24%, sinker 92-3 about 23%, curve 76 about 11%, change 85-6 about 9%, slider 91 about 5% with those eephus curves once every 3 games at 68 or so being the last 0.5%
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 1, 2024 11:36:12 GMT -5
Playing the Name Game: There are only two major leaguers in history with 1st name Miles, both active: Mikolas is the best pitcher and Cubs' utility infield Mastrobuoni is the best hitter. There are 4 MLB players with last name Miles; the only one with any sort of career was light-hitting infielder Aaron Miles, who played for 9 seasons from 2003 to 2011. His career amounted to exactly 1.0 bWAR. and his best year was 2008 with the Cards, when he hit .317 in 408 PA and achieved an adjusted OPS of exactly 100. Miles is the only Mikolas in MLB history. A rather pathetic follow-up name game to the glory that was Gibson in yesterday's Name Game, no?
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 1, 2024 11:37:08 GMT -5
The Yanks send lefty Nestor Cortes out there to try to take the series from the Cards. Nestor's had an up and down season: great in April in May, terible in June and July, but great again in his last 3 starts: 3-0 with just 10 hits and 1 run allowed in 20 2/3 innings, striking out 18 and walked just 2. On the season, Nestor is 8-10 with a 3.89 ERA in 27 starts. He's pitched 155 innings, allowing 146 hits, 68 runs, 67 earned, 22 HR, 31 BB and struck out 142. His WHIP for the season is again solid: 1.142. He's tied for 8th in the AL in starts, 4th in the league in BB per 9 innings and his in K/BB ratio, but he's allowed the 10th most hits, the 7th most HR, and his HR/9 is the 8th highest.
Nestor is making his 2nd career start against the Cards. He did well in his first one against them 2 years ago in St. Louis in August , throwing 5 1/3 innings, allowing just 1 hit, 2 runs (earned), 4 BB and 4 K, getting a no-decision, leaving the game with the lead, but lost the win when Holmes gave up a 2-run double to Paul DeJong in the 8th. His ERA and WHIP against the Cards is 3.38 and 0.938. Again, it's just one game and 21 PA, but their quadruple slash line against him is .059/.238/.059/.297.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 1, 2024 11:39:29 GMT -5
Yankees' lineup vs. Mikolas...gives strange stats, because of the 6 Yankees hitters who've faced him, none were on the Yanks in the only game he's pitched against New York:
1. Torres (2B) has never faced Mikolas
2. Soto (RF) is 6-16 with 1 double 1 HR, 3 RBI, 4 K and 2 sac bunts (!!!)
3. Judge (CF) has never faced Mikolas
4. Wells (C) has never faced Mikolas
5. Stanton (DH) is 2-4 with a solo HR and a K
6. Chisholm (3B) is 1-2 with a K
7. Rizzo (1B) is 9-23 with 1 double, 3 BB (1 IBB) and 1 K
8. Volpe (SS) has never faced Mikolas
9. Verdugo (LF) is 1-6 with 1 double
On the bench: Grisham is 0-5 with 2 BB and 2 K.
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Cards lineup vs. Cortes: Only 3 Cards remain from the team that faced Cortes in 2022, so I'll give the stats for those three and otherwise, the lineup:
1. Winn (SS)
2. Baker (DH)
3. Arenado (3B) is 0-1 with 1 BB
4. Goldschmidt (1B) is 0-1 with 1 BB and 1 K
5. Herrera (C)
6. Donovan (2B)
7. Walker (RF)
8. Nootbaar (LF) is 0-1 with 1 BB
9. Scott (CF)
On the bench: None
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 1, 2024 11:40:18 GMT -5
Yesterday, the Yanks faced the very mediocre Kyle Gibson and he shut them down, holding them to 1 run in 7 innings, while his opponent, Will Warren surrendered a 3-run HR to Brendan Donovan as part of a 4-run 3rd, and Mark Leiter came in to throw kerosene on the fire, giving up 2 more in the 6th as the Cards built a 6-1 lead. The Yanks rallied late for 4 in the 8th, the big blow a bases-loaded double for 3 runs by Stanton, and got Wells to the plate with the tying and winning runs on base, and he put up a good battle, but chased a slider down an in on 3-2 for the K that sealed an annoying 6-5 loss. Warren dropped to 0-3, Gibson improved to 8-6, and Ryan Helsley got his 42nd save of the season.
The win dropped the Yanks back to 22 games over .500 at 79-57 with 26 left to play.
In other AL East games...The Rays stomped on ex-Yankee Randy Vazquez for 9 runs in the first four innings and never looked back, coasting to an 11-4 rout over the Padres in Tampa. Caminero hit a 3-run HR in the 2nd, and Caballero knocked in 4 with a pair of 2-run singles for the Rays. Jake Cronenworth was a triple away from the cycle and knocked in two for San Diego. Shane Baz made it through 5 innings, giving up two, and got his 2nd straight win, improving to 2-2 on the season. Vazquez took the loss to drop to 4-7. The win was just the 3rd for the Rays in their last 9 games.
In Detroit, probable Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal pitched another gem in outdueling the Red Sox Nick Pivetta, and made ex-Yankee farmhand Trey Sweeney's 2-run double in the 2nd stand up through the 8th, and the Tigers beat the Sox 2-1. Tyler O'Neill hit a solo HR in the 1st, his 25th of the season for the Sox' run. Pivetta gave up 2 runs in 6 innings, takeing the loss to drop to 5-10 on the year. Skubal gave up just 1 run on 4 hits, striking out 8 for his major-league-leading 16th win against just 4 losses. Tyler Holton pitched the 9th for his 6th save.
In Minnesota, the Jays crushed rookie Zebby Matthews for 7 in the 1st and 2 more in the 2nd, and ran away in a blowout whitewashing of the Twins, 15-0. In that big 1st, the Jays got 2-run HRs from Varsho and Horwitz, and a 2-run double from Lukes and a RBI single by Jimenez, blowing it open before the Twins ever came to bat. The Jays pounded out 23 hits against Matthews and 4-relievers, including the recently DFAed Michael Tonkin, and four of the Jays had 3 or more; Guerrero and Horwitz had 3, Lukes had 4 and Will Wagner went 5 for 6. Jose Berrios threw 6 shutout innings for his 5th win in a row, he's now 14-9 on the season, Matthews took the loss, dropping to 1-2.
The O's and Rockies went back and forth a bit with the Rockies coming out on top, 7-5 at Coors Field. Colorado got 3 in the 2nd, the O's struck back with 2 in the 4th a 2-run HR by Santander, his 39th of the season. The Rockies got those two back in the bottom of the inning on a 2-run triple by Blackmon. The O's struck back with 3 in the 5th on solo HR by Jimenez and a 2-run single by O'Hearn. The game remained tied at 5 into the bottom of the 8th, when the Rockies got two on a single by Beck and a RBI grounder by Romo. Tyler Kinley came on in the 9th and had a wild ride, giving up a BB, throwing a WP and hitting a battier, but he struck out the side including Holliday and Rutschman to end it. Jeff Criswell pitched a scoreless 8th and was the pitcher of record when the Rockies got the two runs off Kimbrel. Criswell got his first MLB win and is now 1-0; Kimbrel took the loss to fall to 7-5. Kinley's save was his 8th this season.
Coming into the games today, the Yanks lead over the O's is still 1 1/2 games, the Sox are still 9 games back in 3rd, the Rays climb back to 11 1/2 back in 4th and the Jays gain a game and are now 13 games behind, but still in 5th. The Red Sox' loss reduced the Yankees' magic number for clinching a play-off slot to 18.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 1, 2024 12:15:46 GMT -5
In the East today: Every team in the East is playing the rubber game of their respective series:
At 1:40 pm in Comerica, the Sox start Cooper Criswell (5-4, 4.34 ERA) while the Tigers will open with reliever Beau Brieske 2-3, 4.44 ERA). Rookie Ty Madden (0-0, 1.80 ERA) will be the bulk inning "follower", it looks like.
Also at 1:40 in the FearDome™, the Padres start Dylan Cease (12-10, 3.57 ERA) vs. Ryan Pepiot for the Rays (7-6, 3.61 ERA)
At 2:10 pm in Comerica Park, the Jays start Yariel Rodriguez (1-6, 4.82 ERA). The Twins go with Bailey Ober (12-6, 4.06 ERA)
At 3:10 pm at Coors Field, the O's will start Zach Eflin (9-7, 3.22 ERA) but he's been brilliant for the O's since the trade, 4-0 with a 2.13 ERA.
And in about 20 minutes or so, it's Mikolas vs. Cortes at the Stadium.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 1, 2024 12:16:45 GMT -5
And now, The Sunday Standings™ for Sunday, September 1st.
The Guardians continued their slow slide this week, dropping 4 of 7, but they're still in first at 77-59. They've lost 17 of their last 27. The Royals also lost 4 of 7. They're still 13 games over .500 and still 2 1/2 behind Cleveland. The Twins had an even worse week, losing 5 of 6, and now just 11 games over, 1 behind KC and 3 1/2 games out of 1st. The Tigers had the best week in the Central, going 5-2 and extending their win streak to 6 before dropping back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday. The've finally climbed a game over .500 and into the Wild Card hunt, are 5 behind the Twins, 5 1/2 behind the Royals, and 8 1/2 games out of 1st. The White Sox continued their historical journey, dropping all 7 games again to extend their current losing streak to 9. They're an insane 4-41 in their last 45 games, are now 31-106, on pace for 37-125, and their win percentage is now below even the 1916 Philly A's, who have the post-1900 record for lowest WPCT in a season, (.223 to .235, the record).
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In the West...
The Astros resumed their hot play, winning 5 of 7 including their last 4. They lead the West at 74-62. The Mariners split 6 games, remaining at 2 games over and are 5 games back. The Rangers took 4 of 6 to get to 8 games under, but are rallying too late, They're 5 behind the M's and 10 out of 1st. The A's took 4 of 6 and are winning the battle to stay out of the cellar in the West. They're 18 games under, and are 5 behind Texas, 10 behind Seattle and 15 out of 1st. The Angels are losing that battle, dropping 4 of 6 this week, are now 24 games under, and 3 behind the A's.
The current AL Wild Cards...The O's still have the leading Wild Card. The 2nd and 3rd Wild Cards are now the Royals and the Twins. The Red Sox are one or two teams within 5 games of the Royals; they're 3 1/2 back. The Mariners are 4 1/2 back, the Tigers are 5 behind, the Rays are 6 and the Jays are 7 1/2 back, respectively.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 1, 2024 12:18:37 GMT -5
Over in the NL...
In the East, the Phillies won 4 of 6, inproving to 79-56, and still in first in the division. The Braves took 4 of 7, losing 1/2 game to Philly, and are now 12 games over and 6 games behind. The Mets took 4 of 6, gaining a 1/2 game on Atlanta. They're now 8 games over, 2 behind the Braves and 7 out of 1st. The Nationals split 6 games, and are still 14 games under .500. They're 11 behind the Mets, 13 behind the Braves and 19 out of 1st. The Marlins actually had a good week, winning 4 of 7, and are just 1/2 game behind Colorado.
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In the Central: The Brewers lost their first two games this week, then won their last 5, including both ends of a doubleheader against the Reds on Thursday. They lead the Central at 80-56. Milwaukee has now won 18 of their last 25. The Cubs continued their hot play, going 5-1 this week. They've now gone 19-9 in their last 28. Chicago is now 4 games over and 10 behind the Brewers. The Cards won 4 of 7 this week, including their 1st win ever in the new Stadium yesterday, they're at dead even .500, trail the Cubs by 2 and the Cards by 12. The Reds pretty much played their way out of contention, dropping 6 of 7, including getting swept in that double header. Cincy is now 9 games under, 4 1/2 behind the Cards, 6 1/2 behind the Cubs and 16 1/2 out of 1st. The Pirates went 2-4; they've now also 9 games under and are tied with the Reds except in WPCT, the Reds have 1 more win and 1 more loss and lead by 1/2 a percentage point.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 1, 2024 12:20:21 GMT -5
Out West, the Dodgers stayed hot and are stiff-arming the D'backs and Padres away from the divisional lead. They've won 4 in a row, including two straight against Arizona this weekend. They are now 28 games over, hold the best record in MLB at 84-56, and have won 16 of 21. The Diamondbacks got to 24 wins in 30 games by sweeping the Red Sox last Sunday, but have gone 1-4 since against the Mets and Dodgers, losing their last 3. They're now 16 games over and are 6 behind LA, and also now tied with the Padres, who won 4 of 7 to also get to 16 over. The D'backs have one fewer loss and one fewer win and lead SD, .559 to .558. The Giants dropped 4 of 6, slipping back under .500 by a game. They're 8 1/2 back of both Arizona and San Diego, and 14 1/2 out of 1st. The Rockies dropped 4 of 7, slipping to 35 games under .500 and are now just 1/2 game ahead of Miami in the battle to avoid being the worst team in the NL.
The NL Wild Cards are still held by the D'backs, the Padres and the Braves. Teams within 5 games of Atlanta are: the Mets (2 games back), and the the Cubs (4 back). Teams sorta in it still are the Cards (6 back) and the Giants (6 1/2 back).
And that concludes The Sunday Standings™ for this week. See you in 15 minutes for the game.
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Post by ypaterson on Sept 1, 2024 12:23:24 GMT -5
Verdugo has been so awful that Boone is hitting him 9th. If only they another LF in the minors who could hit. This team would be improved by putting OC at 3rd and playing Jazz in left. |
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 1, 2024 12:26:36 GMT -5
The bad news is that as I expected, the Yanks did not call up Dominguez.
The good news is that with Rizzo back, for good or bad, the entire gang has been called back together with the arrival of Rizzo, at least in the lineup.
And Effross is back, but he's coming off TJ surgery, so his command will likely be not all the way back.
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