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Post by kaybli on Sept 15, 2024 10:29:55 GMT -5
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Post by chiyankee on Sept 15, 2024 10:33:19 GMT -5
Oswaldo gets a start at first.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 15, 2024 11:30:45 GMT -5
The Red Sox send righty Kutter Crawford to the mound to try and get out of the Bronx with a split of the 4-game series. Crawford has been the only Sox pitcher who started in all three prior series against the Yanks, and this series makes four for four. No need to recap his career. He's won 2 of the 3 starts, he was dominant for 7 innings in the 2nd one, which was at the Stadium, but the Yanks got even with him the next time at Fenway. Since that 3rd start against the Yanks at the end of July, which was the 2nd of 5 bad starts in a row, he's worked out of that slump and pitched solid games his last 4 starts, giving up 9 ER in 24 innings for a 3.38 ERA, but has lost all four because the Sox refused to score runs for him, just six in the four games. On the season, Crawford is now 8-14, and tied for the league lead in losses. In 30 starts, he's pitched 167 1/3 innings, allowing 136 hits, 84 runs, 76 earned, 31 HR (which leads all of MLB), and 45 walks, while striking out 155. His ERA on the season is 4.09, and his WHIP is a still excellent 1.082. The home runs allowed is a big weakness, but it's the only one on his record.
This is Crawford's 8th career start against the Bombers, along with 2 relief appearances. He's 4-1 with a 2.83 ERA. In 41 1/3 innings, he's allowed them 30 hits, 14 runs, 13 earned, 8 HR, and 12 BB with 44 K's. His WHIP against them is an outstanding 1.016, and the Yankee team quadruple slash line against him is .203/.267/.392/.659. In the three starts against the Yanks this season, he got a win in Fenway in mid-June by dominating them for 5 innings before they got to him for 2 runs in the 6th in the game in which the Sox stole everything except maybe the Yanks' jockstraps. The next time against the Yanks at the Stadium, he did a Greg Maddux imitation, and shut the Yanks down cold on 3 hits for 7 innings, needing just 68 pitches in a 3-0 Sox win. The Yanks finally got to him for 5 runs on 8 hits and 3 HR in 4 2/3 innings in a game in Fenway in late July, but Marcus Stroman was just as bad, so Crawford left with the Sox tied at 5, and the Yanks won it late of the Boston bullpen, 11-8.
Repertoire: Checking in on his pitches, because I didn't the last time the Yanks faced him 7 weeks ago...Crawford is still a 5-pitch righty who relies heavily on his 4-seamer and yes, his kutter; he also throws a sweeper, a splitter and a knuckle-curve. The 4-seamer has well above average right and average run in on righties. The cutter has slightly above average drop but much better than average break into lefties. The sweeper has below average drops and break away from righties. the splitter gets the 4th lowest amount of drop of the 65 MLB pitchers who throw a splitter; it also gets less tail away from lefties than average. The Curve has above average drops and less than average break away from righties. In run values, the cutter is a decent-sized plus, the curve is a small plus, the 4-seam and splitter are tiny minuses, and the sweeper is decent-sized minus. His FB has well below average velocity but elite spin which helps it play up, the curve spin rate is bottom 10% in MLB. His extension is also considerably below average. His average exit velocity is slightly below MLB average, the hard hit rate is below average, but the barrel rate is well above average, which would explain the low hit rate but the high HR rate. The line drive rate is well below average, as is the groundball rate, but the flyball rate is 50% , which is very high, and is another part of the high HR rate, barreled flyballs become HR, and the popup rate is above average as well. The swinging strike rate, called strike rate and CSW are all close to MLB average for starting pitchers. In "luck factors", the BABIP is very low (low line drive rate), strand rate is a bit on the low side, and the HR per flyball rate is a bit below MLB average. In other words, he doesn't allow a lot of homers because a high percentage of his flyballs go out, he allows a lot of homers because he allows a lot of flyballs. All three luck factors work in his favor, so his ERA estimators think his ERA should be near 4.70 rather than the current 4.09. The pitch mix this season is: 4-seamer averaging 92-3 about 34% of the time, cutter 87-88 about 31%, sweeper 81 about 19%, splitter 82 about 9%, and curve 77 about 7%.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 15, 2024 11:34:30 GMT -5
Playing the Name Game. For the fourth time...there are no other Kutters in MLB history, and the best Crawford, for the 4th time, is Ty Cobb's long-time running mate with the Tigers, MLB all-time triples leader Sam Crawford. Instead, I'll point out that Kutter is the 3rd pitcher named Crawford who's pitched for Boston. Paxton Crawford he pitched only 15 games in the majors in 2000 and 2001 and pitched reasonably well going 5-1 with a 4.15 ERA in 65 career innings, but his career disappeared into multiple injuries and his PED use got mentioned in the Mitchell Report. He pitched in the minors for a couple of years after, getting suspended for violating the alcohol and drug abuse policy in 2004, and pitched for the Long Island Ducks in 2005. It's almost 20 years since, and wherever Paxton is, I hope he's OK.
Steve Crawford pitched for the Sox as a reliever for six seasons, and for the Royals for 3 years after that. in a little over 550 major league innings, he was 30-23 with a career ERA of 4.17, earning 19 saves. His best year may have been 1985, when he took over the closer role for a breif period, earning 12 saves, and finished 6-5 with an ERA of 3.76 in a career high 91 innings. He was a member of the Sox team that lost to the Mets in the 1986 World Series, and got a win in relief in the infamous game 5 of the ALCS where Donnie Moore gave up the 2-run HR to Dave Henderson that tied the game with the Angels one out away from their first AL pennant and first World Series appearance. It is said that Moore was never the same after that failure, but what is known is that less than 3 years later, that after an argument with his wife, he shot her three times, then turned the gun on himself. His wife survived and he didn't. Very, very sad story. Steve Crawford also got a win in relief of Roger Clemens in game 2 of the 1986 World Series, then got knocked around in game 4, putting that game out of reach. He was the last pitcher used by the Sox that season, when, coming on in relief of Al Nipper in game 7, he got two outs, too late. Nipper had already allowed the Mets to tack on two big insurance runs in an 8-5 loss, continuing The Curse for another 18 years.
What offbeat information can be found when taking an innocent look into the careers of two pitchers with very otherwise uninteresting careers; one Boston Crawford was named in the Mitchell Report, the other was the winning pitcher of the "Donnie Moore" game.
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Post by kaybli on Sept 15, 2024 11:35:18 GMT -5
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 15, 2024 11:37:03 GMT -5
Carlos Rodon starts for the Yanks today, looking for some consistency in an up-and-down years. He's pitched two good games in a row, but it's been a bumpy ride almost all season. He's made two starts against the Sox earlier this year. The first was a terrible one the day after Verdugo's big game in Boston which may have started the Yanks on their slide from their peak at 28 games over .500 through the last 77 games of mediocre to poor play. The second one was a very good game in the same park 6 weeks later. On the season as a whole, Rodon is 14-9 with a 4.15 ERA in 29 starts. In 158 1/3 innings, he's allowed 142 hits, 77 runs, 73 earned, 28 HR, and 50 BB with 181 K's. His WHIP on the season is slightly better than MLB average: 1.213. As I mention in almost every start he makes now, he's on multiple AL top 10 lists, some good, and some bad: tied for 5th in wins, 7th in K's and 4th in K's per 9 innings, tied for 8th in starts, but 2nd in HR allowed in the AL (behind just his opponent today, Crawford) and 3rd in most HR per 9 innings.
Against the Red Sox, Rodon has an OK record. In 8 starts, he's 3-4 with a 3.88 ERA. In 46 1/3 innings, he's allowed 43 hits, 23 runs, 20 earned, 10 HR for a HR per 9 innings rate of nearly 2.00, 15 BB and struck out 58. His WHIP against Boston is a solid 1.252 (because the Sox usually have a good lineup) and the Boston quadruple slash line against Rodon is .234/.299/.451/.750. When he faced him the first time this season in June, it was a rude awakening. He had won 7 in a row coming in, he was 9-2 with an ERA under 3.00, and they demolished him, hitting shots all over the field the first two innings, scoring 5 runs off him. He stayed in the finish five innings, throwing 109 pitches, but took the loss in an 8-4 Red Sox win at Fenway, the first loss in the long slide from 28 games over .500 to just 15 over. Facing them again in Fenway at the end of July, he was much much better, giving up just 2 solo HR, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk and striking out 7 in 6 1/3 innings in an 8-2 Yankees win that won the Yanks just their second series in a month and a half.
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Post by azbob643 on Sept 15, 2024 11:41:15 GMT -5
Although it's been suggested Cole intentionally plunked Devers is the first AB, and should've done the same instead of the IBB. |
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 15, 2024 11:43:48 GMT -5
Yankees' lineup vs. Crawford:
1. Torres (2B) is 2-15 with 1 double, 1 BB and 2 K
2. Soto (RF) is 2-9 with 1 double, 1 HR, 2 RBI and 1 K
3. Judge (DH) is 6-19 with 3 HR, 4 RBI, 2 Bb and 9 K
4. Chisholm (3B) is 0-3 with 1 K
5. Stanton is 2-8 with 1 BB and 5 K
6. Dominguez (LF) has never faced Crawford
7. Volpe (SS) is 1-10 with 2 K and 1 GIDP
8. Cabrera (1B) is 2-6 with 1 solo HR;
9. Trevino (C) is 1-5 with 1 solo HR
On the bench: Grisham is 1-4; Wells (C) is 1-7 with 1 K; Rizzo (1B) is 0-7 with 1 BB, 2 K and 1 GIDP; and Verdugo (LF) is 2-8 with 1 double and 2 K
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Rd Sox' lineup vs. Rodon:
1. Duran (LF) is 1-6 with 1 double and 2 K
2. Gonzalez (2B) is 0-3
3. Devers (3B) is 4-13 with 1 double, 1 triple, 2 RBI, 1 BB and 4 K
4. O'Neill (RF) is 2-6 with 1 double, 1 RBI and 2 K
5. Wong (1B) is 2-7 with a 2-run HR, 1 BB, and 1 K
6. Yoshida (DH) is 0-3
7. Story (SS) is 0-2 with 2 K
8. Jansen (C) is 2-4 with 1 BB and 1 K
9. Rafaela (CF) is 2-7 with a solo HR and 2 K
On the bench: Refsnyder is 4-12 with 2 doubles 1 solo HR, 3 BB,and 2 K; and Casas is 0-3 with 2 K
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 15, 2024 11:47:00 GMT -5
Yesterday, the game turned on a weird decision by Cole, manager Boone and the rest of the "coaching staff". With a 1-0 lead in the 4th, 1 out and no one on base, and having hit Devers with a pitch his first time up, Cole himself intentionally walked Devers rather than face him as the tying run. The Sox promptly took advantage of the free runner: Devers stole 2nd and Cole walked O'Neill. Yoshida blooped a ground rule double to the corner in left for a run, and Abreu singled in two more, putting the Yanks in a 3-1 hole they never recovered from. The Sox knocked Cole out in the 5th with 4 more runs on 3 hits, a walk and two hit batsmen, blowing the game open, 7-1. Neither team scored again, so that's the way the game ended. Brayan Bello's command wasn't sharp but his stuff was moving violently, the Yanks couldn't square him up much. He went 5 1/2 for the win to get to 14-7 on the season, Cole's loss dropped him to 6-5 and pushed his ERA back up near 4.00. The loss snapped the Yanks 3-game winning streak and pushed them back to 23 games over .500 at 86-63 with 13 games left to play.
In other East games yesterday: Another pitcher's duel for the Tigers, but they came out on the losing end this time. Brieske opened for the 2nd straight game, and threw a scoreless inning, the O's got to "bulk reliever" Ty Madden for a run on a RBI single by Mullins to make it 1-0. It stayed that way until the 7th, when Baltimore struck for 3 on a McCann sac fly and a 2-run HR by Gunnar Henderson. The Tigers got 2 in the 9th off of Baltimore closer Dominguez on a solo HR by Meadows and a RBI single by Torkelson, but Dominguez got pinch hitter McKinstry to ground out as the tying run at the plate and the O's hung on to win 4-2. Corbin Burnes pitched like an ace for the first time in a month-and-a-half, going 7 scoreless innings, allowing just 2 hits and a BB and striking out 7 for the win to get to 14-8 on the year; Madden's only run was enough to saddle him with the loss, he's now 1-1 for the season.
At the Rogers Centre, the Jays broke open a 1-1 tie with a 4-run 6th and 2 more in the 7th, and cruised to a 7-2 win over the Cards. The key blow was a 2-run single by Schneider in the 6th that turned a 3-1 game into a 5-1 game. Jose Berrios continued his hot run to close the season, pitching 7 innings of 2 hit, 1-run ball to improve to 16-9 on the season, tying him for the AL league lead in wins. Kyle Gibson was charged with 5 runs, but the 4 in the 6th were unearned, and was still stuck with the loss, dropping to 8-7.
In Cleveland, Drew Rasmussen opened for the Rays with 2 scoreless innings, but bulk reliever Tyler Alexander got hit for a run in the 5th and three more in the 6th, giving the Guardians a 4-0 lead. The Rays got 1 in the 8th, but Cleveland struck back for 2 in the bottom for a final score of 6-1, Guardians. Bryan Rocchio doubled in the first run in the 5th, but the big hit was a 2-run single by Josh Naylor in the 6th. Lane Thomas and Jose Ramirez went back-to-back for the 2 runs in the 8th. Joey Cantillo went 5 shutout innings, allowing just 3 hits and a walk and striking out 6 for his 2nd win against 3 losses, and Alexander fell to 6-5 on the season.
Coming into the games today, the Yanks lead over the O's is back down to 2 games, and the magic number for the divisional title stayed at 12. The Red Sox got back over .500 with their win, and are 11 games behind the Yanks, the Rays loss leaves them 13 back, and the Jays win doesn't matter for the divisional race, they're already eliminated. The Wild Cards are still Baltimore, Kansas City and Minnesota, but things are getting tighter for the Twins; they lost today, and though the Tigers also lost, both the Red Sox and Mariners won, so the Tigers, M's and Sox are 2 1/2, 3 1/2 and 3 1/2 games behind the Twins for the last Wild Card. The Tigers loss to the O's hurt the Yanks in the divisional race and didn't reduce their Magic Number for the Wild Card either. Detroit is now tied with the Mariners for the Wild Card runner-up slot, both have 73 losses, and while the Yanks took the season series with the Tigers, they're tied 2-2 with the Mariners with 3 big games to play in Seattle next weekend. With yesterday's loss, if the Yanks wind up tied with the Red Sox for the last Wild Card slot (very unlikely of course), the Yanks are now screwed because the Sox just clinched the season's series with their 7th win (out of 13 games total, including today's season series finale).
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 15, 2024 11:49:48 GMT -5
In other East games today:
At 12:10 pm in Detroit, the O's and Tigers play their rubber game. Struggling rookie lefty Cade Povich (2-8, 5.91 ERA) starts for Baltimore; he pitched a great game two starts ago, but against the White Sox. Reality came crashing in last time as Boston knocked him out in the 5th with 5 hits, 4 runs and 2 HR. Keider Montero starts for Detroit; he pitched a brilliant 3-hit shutout in his last start against the Rockies, proving that he can throw a great game against someone other than the Yankees. Or proving the Yanks are as bad as the Rockies. Or something.
At Rogers Centre at 1;37 pm, the Jays go for the sweep over the Cards. Miles Mikolas (8-11, 5.55 ERA) starts for St. Louis; he got annihilated by the Mariners last time out, has pitched 3 bad games in a row, and hasn't won now in 8 starts. Cuba import Yariel Rodriguez (1-6, 4.42 ERA) starts for Toronto. He pitched a fine game against the Braves last time, 1 run in 5 innings with just 2 hits, 1 BB and 6 K, but went unrewarded, getting a no-decision.
At 1:40 at Progressive Field, the Guardians try for a split of their 4-game series vs. the Rays. Taj Bradley (6-10, 4.40) starts for Tampa, desperately hoping to end a seven-week slump. He's now pitched 8 poor-to-terrible starts in a row, just 2 bare minimum quality starts of 3 runs in 6 innings among them. Ben Lively (11-9, 4.01 ERA) throws for Cleveland, he had to leave his last start against the Rays after just 2 innings after being hit on the leg by a batted ball.
And at 1:37 pm, it's Crawford vs. Rodon at the Stadium.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 15, 2024 11:51:45 GMT -5
And now, The Sunday Standings™ for Sunday, September 15th:
In the AL Central:
The Guardians went 4-3 this week, and are in 1st in the Central at 85-64. They've now won 10 of 16 after losing 16 of 24 to fall to 17 games over .500. The Royals went 4-2 despite losing 2 of 3 to the Yanks. they're now 15 games over .500 and are 3 behind Cleveland. The Twins continued slumping, losing 4 of 6, and have now lost 17 of 25 since hitting their high water mark of 70-53 in mid-August. they're now just 8 over .500 and have turned the 3rd Wild Card race into a real battle. Minnesota is now 3 1/2 behind KC and 6 1/2 out of 1st. The Tigers stayed hot, going 4-2 and are now 3 games over .500, and have won 21 of 31. They're just 2 1/2 behind Minnesota in both the divisional race and the Wild Card race, but 6 behind the Royals and 9 games out of 1st with 13 to play. The White Sox won yesterday to finish the week at 2-4, and their drive for history continues. They're now 34-115 on the season, on pace for 37-125, .228, and if they finish that way, they're going to better the 1916 A's modern-worst Win Percentage (.235) and the 1962 Mets record loss total (120).
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In the West...
The Astros split 6 games for the 2nd straight week, and lead the West at 80-68. After a hot 100-game run (62-38), they're 6-6 in their last 12 games, but now they're more dangerous because they have Kyle Tucker back off the IL. The Mariners appear to have righted the ship after two terrible months going 20-33, but is it too late? They went 4-2 this week, and have won 7 out of 10, getting back to 3 games over .500 and are 4 1/2 behind Houston. The defending champs Rangers' surge (winning 10 of 13) came to and end this week when they dropped 4 of 6 to fall back to 7 under .500. Their tragic numbers for elimination are: 5 for the West division title, and 7 for the 3rd Wild Card. The A's split 6 games and are still 19 games under .500. They're already eliminated in the West and their tragic number for elimination in the Wild Card is down to 1. (They might already be eliminated if the Twins have a series left against the Mariners or Tigers). The Angels had a miserable week, going 1-5 to drop to 28 games under, and are 4 1/2 behind Oakland to get out of the AL West basement, they've been eliminated from the playoffs for almost a week now.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 15, 2024 11:53:40 GMT -5
The current AL Wild Cards...The O's still have the leading Wild Card. The 2nd and 3rd Wild Cards are still the Royals and the Twins. The Tigers and Mariners are tied for the chase position, both 2 1/2 back of the Twins, and the Sox are 3 1/2 back. The Rays are barely breathing at 5 1/2 back, Their tragic numbers are 1 for the AL East title and 9 for a Wild Card slot. The Rangers and Jays' magic number for elimination for a Wild Card is 7.
One side note, the Yanks lead the Guardians by 1 game for the best record in the AL and the O's by 2.
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Over in the NL...
In the East, the Phils stayed hot, winning for of 6 and getting to a season-high 30 games over .500 at 89-59, leading the NL East, the NL and all of MLB. The Braves have won 2 straight over the Dodgers at home, and were 4-2 this week, getting back to 14 games over .500 and with the Mets losing to the Phillies, the two teams are in a flat-footed tie for 2nd in the East and for the final NL Wild Card at 81-67 and both are now 8 out of 1st. The Mets were 3-3 this week. The Nats were also 3-3 this week, and have the exact opposite record as the Mets and Braves, 67-81. They're been eliminated in the East race for awhile, and their tragic number for Wild Card elimination is a 3-way 1. any loss by the Nats or win by the Mets, or win by the Braves, and the Nats are eliminated. The Marlins did the Marlin thing, dropping 5 of 6, and are 2 games worse than the Rockies in the battle for worst record in the NL.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 15, 2024 11:55:05 GMT -5
In the Central: The Brewers had a solid 4-2 week, and are now 86-62, leading the Central. The Cubs wasted a week going 3-3, staying 2 over .500 and trail the Brewers by 11 full games. The Cards slid faster than the Cubs, losing 4 of 6, falling to even .500, and are a game behind the Cubs and 12 out of first. Their tragic number for elimination from the division title is 3, and from the playoffs is 8. The Reds had a very good week, going 5-2, getting back to 4 under .500, but that didn't prevent them from being eliminated in the Central race, and their tragic number for the Wild Cards is 5. The Pirates won 4 in a row, but dropped their last two, and are 8 games under .500. They're eliminated in the Central, and their tragic number for the playoff is down to 4.
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Out West, the Dodgers like the Pirates, won 4 in a row, but have dropped 2 to the Braves so far this weekend. They lead the West at 87-61. The Padres went 3-2 to get to 19 games over .500 and are 3 1/2 back of LA. The defending NL Champ Diamondbacks also went 3-2 to keep pace with the Padres. Arizona is now 16 games over .500, 1 1/2 back of SD, and 5 back of LA. The Giants went 2-4, dropping to 5 games under. They just got eliminated from winning the West yesterday, and their tragic number for elimination from the playoffs is down to 5. Like the Marlins the Rockies have been eliminated from everything except finishing their 2024 schedule for a while, but they did go 4-2 this week, climbing to 35 games under, and are now 2 games ahead of the Marlins.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 15, 2024 11:57:04 GMT -5
The NL Wild Cards are held by the Padres, D'backs, with the Mets and Braves tied for the 3rd Wild Card. The Mets have a series in Atlanta early next week; that series could decide everything, because not only are the two teams tied for overall record, but also in their season series at 5 games each. The teams still sorta of in the hunt for a Wild Card are the Cubs (6 games behind, elimination number is 9), the Cards (7 games behind, elimination number is 8), the Reds (9 games behind, elimination number is 6) and the Giants (9 1/2 behind, elimination number is also 9).
And that concludes The Sunday Standings™ for this week. Sent you in 40 minutes or so for the game.
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Post by qwik3457bb on Sept 15, 2024 12:38:23 GMT -5
The Tigers pitching is coming together and is looking scary down the stretch. They're shutting down the O's again today, at least so far, up 2-0 in the top of the 6th in Detroit. Keider Montero was taken out after 5, giving up 5 hits and 1 BB, and getting 1 K, so his scoreless streak is up to 14 innings. They also have one more elite prospect pitcher who's nearly ready for the majors: Jackson Jobe, who dominated at 16 starts in AA and is regarded as the #1 AL pitching prospect by Longerhagen at Fangraphs, currently #16 in his top 100. Jobe had some sort of minor injury, missing 5 weeks in May and June, but resumed dominating when he returned. He was just promoted to AAA and made one poor start there.
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