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Daily News and Notes
by Richard Van Zandt, BaseballEvolution.com



Notes through games of Thursday, June 1

Highly touted Phillies prospect Cole Hamels made his big league debut on Friday night and after having held opposing hitters to a

Daily News…

 

The Tigers hopes were dealt a big blow on Thursday when it was announced that Mike Maroth would undergo surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow.  He was placed on the DL last Friday after giving up 6 runs while retiring just one batter against the Royals.  His ERA after that game jumped from 2.45 to 3.56.  He is expected to be out until late July, at the earliest.

 

As expected, the Yankees on Thursday placed Gary Sheffield back on the DL with pain in his troublesome left wrist.  He was seen by a specialist on Wednesday and diagnosed with a torn ligament and dislocated tendon.  The move is retroactive to May 30 and while there is no timeframe for Sheffield’s return, if his wrist does not respond to conservative treatment, potential season ending surgery may be an option.

 

Bartolo Colon meanwhile made his first rehab start on Thursday, throwing 47 pitches over four scoreless innings and allowing just 2 hits.  Tossing mostly fastballs, he was consistently in the high 80’s to low 90’s and topped out at 93. He is expected to make one more start before returning to the Angels.

 

Dodger second baseman Jeff Kent went on the DL on Thursday with a wrist injury.  It is not considered serious and he should return June 12 when he is eligible.  Joel Guzman was recalled to take his spot and becomes the 8th rookie on the Dodgers 25-man roster.

 

Lost in the shuffle of the Roger Clemens signing on Wednesday was the Angels announcement that they had signed Kelvim Escobar to a three-year extension worth an astounding $28.5 million.  Escobar is 5-5 with a 3.96 ERA so far this season and is 77-74 lifetime with a 4.35 ERA.  He missed more than two months last season with surgery to his elbow.  The deal commits the Angels to Escobar through the 2009 season.  All DN&N can say is, “Wow.”

 

 

…and Notes

 

Reggie Sanders and Steve Finley are both just 1 home run away from joining Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, Bobby Bonds and Barry Bonds as the only players in history with 300 homers and 300 stolen bases.  Sanders has exactly 300 stolen bases, Finley has 316. 

 

Jose Castillo had an apparent home run called back in the 9th inning in Pittsburgh’s 4-3 win over Milwaukee on Thursday.  Castillo had homered in 5 consecutive games prior to Thursday.  Against the Brewers, Castillo was 9 for 13 with 4 HR and 14 RBI as the Pirates outscored Milwaukee 36-8 to sweep the four game series.  He had 6 home runs in the 5 game streak.

 

Castillo’s streak comes on the heels of Jason Bay’s 6-game streak that ended on Monday, three days after Castillo’s began.  Before Bay, no Pittsburgh player had homered in more than 4 straight since Dale Long’s record 8-game streak in 1956.

 

Jonathan Broxton is leading the Dodgers rookie brigade and has been downright nasty since his recall on May 1.  In 14 appearances, he has allowed just 2 ER in 17 innings (1.06) while striking out 22.

 

Getting Defensive

 

First Base

 

Among all qualified* first basemen, only Richie Sexson and Dan Johnson have yet to commit an error this season.  Ryan Howard has by far the most with 8, five more than anyone else (and giving him a .984%).  Chris Shelton has the best zone rating** with a .903 mark while Paul Konerko is last among all qualifiers with a .736 rating. 

 

Second Base

 

Mark Grudzielanek is the only second sacker in the majors without an error.  He has played 44 games without a miscue.  Rickie Weeks has been the antithesis of Grudzielanek, committing 16 errors through May (.928), the most errors by any player at any position in baseball.  And to make matters worse, Weeks’ .720 zone rating ties him with Luis Castillo for the worst mark among second basemen.  Placido Polanco is tops in that category with an impressive .911 mark, well above Aaron Hill’s .872.  Orlando Hudson has turned the most double plays with 48 while Jose Vidro has spun just 18.

 

Shortstop

 

Two shortstops, Alex Gonzalez and Omar Vizquel, have made just one error each this year, Gonzalez (.994) doing it in 43 games and Vizquel (.995) in 50.  Four have committed 11, the most among shortstops.  Those four are Felipe Lopez (.948), Rafael Furcal (.955), Ronny Cedeno (.947) and Carlos Guillen (.953).  Astros defensive wizard Adam Everett (.988) leads all SS with a .916 zone rating while Angel Berroa’s .782 is the worst.  Craig Counsell is leading in double plays with 49 (in just 40 games), while the recently demoted Russ Adams has participated in only 18 but had played in just 30 games before getting sent down.  Royce Clayton has turned just 22 DP in 50 games. 

 

Third Base

 

Edwin Encarnacion has made the most errors of all third basemen with 13 and is the only qualifier with a fielding percentage under .900 (.890; Chipper Jones is next at .916).  Aramis Ramirez (.983), Eric Chavez (.984) and Vinny Castilla (.981) have made just 2 miscues each.  Alex Rodriguez, who made just 12 errors last year and just 25 the last two, has made 9 errors already this year.  Pedro Feliz leads the majors with a .852 zone rating, while Tony Batista has a miserable mark of just .673.  Surprisingly, Chavez is the next worst at .690. 

 

Left Field

 

Seven left fielders have yet to make an error this year (Luis Gonzalez, Jason Michaels, Preston Wilson, Pat Burrell, Ryan Langerhans, Garrett Anderson and yes, even Barry Bonds).  Three others, Alfonso Soriano (.954), Adam Dunn (.951) and Scott Podsednik (.946) have made 5 each.  Langerhans has the best zone rating in left at .961 while surprisingly, Wilson, a former CF, has the worst mark at .716.  Manny Ramirez is the next worst at .760, slightly ahead of Dunn (.776).  And just where does the lumbering Bonds stand?  Well, at .898, Bonds is actually a very respectable 7th out of 24 qualifiers.  Soriano leads all LF with 9 OF assists while Anderson is the only LF without one.

 

Center Field

 

Torii Hunter, Curtis Granderson, Juan Pierre, Cory Sullivan, Brian Anderson and Steve Finley all have yet to make an error among centerfielders.  Reggie Abercrombie has some interesting company at the bottom.  Abercrombie (.970), Jim Edmonds (.968) and Vernon Wells (.972) have each made 3 errors to lead all CF.  Wells had made just 1 error total in the last two seasons, including 0 last year.  Abercrombie, though, has scored the best zone rating at .947 while Gary Matthews Jr. is dead last with an .824 mark.  Hunter has thrown out 6 base runners, most among CF’s, while Pierre, Wells, Matthews Jr. and Johnny Damon have yet to throw out anyone.

 

Right Field

 

A total of five right fielders (Kevin Mench, Alex Rios, Jason Lane, Bobby Abreu and Ichiro) have yet to misplay a ball so far while two, Geoff Jenkins (.955) and Jeff Francoeur (.951) have made 5 errors so far (Francoeur’s mark in just 53 games matches his total from last year in 14 fewer contests).  Brian Giles (.992) has the highest zone rating at .927 while Jeromy Burnitz is at the bottom at .791.  Burnitz is also the lone RF so far to have not thrown a runner out while Brad Hawpe and Ichiro have gunned down 6 each. 

 

Catcher

 

Five backstops, Jorge Posada, Damian Miller, Johnny Estrada, Joe Mauer and Ivan Rodriguez have not made an error yet this year while Ramon Hernandez (.977) has made 7 already.  Hernandez also leads all catchers with 8 passed balls while Miller and Brad Ausmus have not allowed one so far.  On the other hand, Hernandez leads all catchers, having thrown out 56% of attempted base stealers (19 of 34).  Bengie Molina has had the most difficulty gunning out runners, nailing just 13% (4 out of 30). 

 

[* To qualify, INF/OF must play in 2 of every 3 team games.  Catchers must play in 1 of every 2 team games. 

** Zone Rating - The percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive "zone," as measured by STATS Inc.]

 

The Longest Streak Pt I – Mariano Rivera was unavailable due to back spasms suffered prior to Thursday’s game against Detroit (while putting on his cleats), and it cost the Yankees a six-game winning streak.   Despite blowing an early 5-0 lead, the Yanks were in position to win the game in the 9th but Kyle Farnsworth was unable to hang on to a 6-5 lead as the Tigers came back to win and snap their 4 game slide.  That leaves the surprising Pirates with the longest winning streak in the majors after they completed a sweep of the Brew Crew with their own dramatic come from behind walk-off win yesterday.  The Pirates have won 4 straight (and 6 of 7).

 

The Longest Streak Pt II - The Pirates’ sweep of Milwaukee, coupled with Tampa’s 8-6 win over Baltimore on Thursday, leaves the Brewers with the dubious distinction of holding the longest current losing streak in the majors at 5 games.  In their win, however, the D’Rays lost Carl Crawford (19 for his last 42, .452 BA) to a strained left knee (while complaining about an umpires’ call).  He is listed as day to day, though the injury is not considered serious and he may play on Friday.

 

So you had a bad day… - The PAMF slow pitch softball team took one on the chin on Thursday as hits were scarce and runs nowhere to be found.  The final score was 5-0.  Yours truly, like most everyone else, had a bad day at the plate, taking an o-for in the loss, though some consolation could be found in a nifty sliding catch in right center.  The 0 for 3 drops the season average to .714 (10 for 14). 

 

They say it’s your birthday… - DN&N would like to wish a very happy birthday to future HOF’er Nicholas Van Zandt, who turns 7 on Saturday.  We hope you get everything you asked for and more and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

 

Got a keen eye for the statistically odd?  See something noteworthy we missed?  E-mail us and let us know and maybe we’ll include it in the next Daily News and Notes.  Have a great weekend folks and we’ll see you on Monday!




Questions or comments for Richard? Richard Van Zandt is a staff writer for Baseball Evolution who lives in San Francisco, California. You can reach him at richard@baseballevolution.com.


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