Author Archives: David Pinto
About David Pinto
I'm the former lead researcher for Baseball Tonight. Currently, I write the web log Baseball Musings, www.baseballmusings.com.
Nationals: Jordan Zimmermann takes the mound for the Nationals as they try to win their second game in a row in Philadelphia. Bryce Harper continues to get back at the Phillies for the hit by pitch by getting on base. He picked up two more singles Monday night and stole a base, giving him a .474 OBP against Philadelphia.
Phillies: Roy Halladay takes the mound against the Nationals Tuesday night. Roy may be showing his age of 35 years this season. His walks rose from 1.3 to 1.7 per nine innings, and his strikeouts fell from 8.5 to 7.0 per nine IP. Those numbers remain very good, but with that slide comes a higher ERA. Roy remains a an iron man, however, having pitched the most innings and faced the most batters in the National League this year.
Braves: Brandon Beachy takes on the Reds tonight, sporting the best ERA in the majors at 1.33. While Mike Minor allowed four home runs Monday, including one to pitcher Mike Leake, Beachy allowed just one all season. In 54 innings this season, Beachy faced a bases loaded situation just once and gave up a sacrifice fly.
Marlins: The Marlins try to take another game from Colorado as they send Ricky Nolasco to the mound. The many injuries on Miami presents an opportunity for Austin Kearns. His four for four Monday night raised his averages to .362/.423/.638, with seven of his 17 hits going for extra bases. It helps that he’s seen mostly left-handed pitching this season.
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Nationals and Phillies: The Phillies host the Nationals tonight, with Gio Gonzalez and Kyle Kendrick starting game one of the series. Gonzalez’s 11.1 strikeout per nine innings is a single season high for him, over two strikeouts better than his career average. He’s eating up NL pitchers, who struck out 11 times in 13 at bats against Gio with two sacrifice hits. Take away those Ks and he’s much closer to his career average. Keep your eye on Phillies OF Hunter Pence. In his last six games he recorded multiple hits four times and slugged three home runs.
Braves: Mike Minor pitches on the road against Cincinnati on Monday night for Atlanta. Minor is one of several pitchers this season with excellent strikeout and walk numbers who gives up a ton of hits. Opponents hit .296 against him, and eight of those hits went for home runs as they produce a .492 slugging percentage. Minor should be able to turn this around if he keeps the ball in the park.
Marlins: Miami hosts Colorado with a pair of crafty lefties pitching, Jamie Moyer and Mark Buehrle. In starts at the Marlins home, Moyer never pitched a bad game. The new stadium and a few more gray hairs might change that. The Marlins lost three players over the weekend due to injury, poor performance, or grief, but managed to take two out of three from the first place Indians. They are now just 3 1/2 games out of the division lead and tied with the Mets for the second wild card slot.
Nationals: The injury bug continues to hit the Nationals as Sandy Leon goes on the disabled list. He played his first major league game Monday night, called up to take Wilson Ramos‘s spot on the roster. He sprained his ankle in a collision at home plate. If this keeps up, Bryce Harper may end up catching after all. The Nationals go for a sweep of the Padres tonight behind Stephen Strasburg.
Braves: The Braves face Johnny Cueto with Tim Hudson on the mound Tuesday night. Hudson is once again inducing a high percentage of ground balls, but his high percentage of line drives is leading to a ton of hits as well, and a high ERA.
Marlins: Josh Johnson takes the hill for the Marlins as they try to earn a split with the Pirates. Johnson pitched well this season in terms of his home runs, walks and strikeouts, those three stats indicate his ERA should be about three runs lower than his 5.87 mark. Like Hudson, when batters do make contact, they’re making solid contact, with 27% of his balls in play going for line drives. For his career, 20% of his balls in play were liners. Look for Josh to improve on that as the season progresses.
Phillies: The Phillies try to win three in a row for the first time this season as they go for a two-game sweep of the Astros. Freddy Galvis pushed up his average 40 points in his last five games, going eight for 18 with three doubles and a triple, plus two walks.
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Phillies: The Phillies host the Astros for two games starting Monday night. Former Astros outfielder Hunter Pence faces his old team, hitting .292/.355/.519 since joining Philadelphia. In his career with the Astros he hit .290/.339/.479.
Washington: The Padres invade the nation’s capitol for two games. Wilson Ramos joined Jayson Werth and Mike Morse on the disabled list over the weekend. Three of the Nationals top offensive players are now out long term. Ramos provided a great OBP out of the catching position. Jesus Flores will take over the bulk of the duties behind the plate.
Braves: Cincinnati visits Atlanta for two days, the Braves coming home after sweeping the Cardinals. After scoring the best offense in the league 23-13 over the weekend, the Braves trail St. Louis in runs per game 5.5 to 5.4 runs. Freddie Freeman started drawing walks this month, raising his OBP without hurting his batting average.
Marlins: The Marlins welcome the Pirates for two games starting Monday. Anibal Sanchez pitches tonight. He emerged as the staff ace this season, with the best combination of strikeouts, walks, and home runs allowed among a strong staff. He’s still in the fifth slot in the rotation, however, as he will be the last of the five to make his seventh start.
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Phillies: The Phillies host the Padres with Vance Worley on the mound for Philadelphia. Worley comes off his worst start of the season, giving up 11 hits to the Nationals after allowing just 10 hits total in his previous two starts.
Marlins: The Marlins face the Mets Friday night. Mets shortstops are hitting a solid .270/.333/.361, while Jose Reyes stands at .233/.321/.325. Reyes is starting to pick things up, however, with four multi-hit games in his last seven played.
Braves: Atlanta heads into St. Louis to face the red-hot Cardinals offense. That could be bad news for the Braves as their pitching and defense allows 4.44 runs per game, fifth highest in the National League. Part of that is luck as their defense performs well, but the team’s ERA is about 1/2 run higher than their fielding independent (FIP) pitching would predict.
Nationals: Washington travels to Cincinnati, sending Gio Gonzalez to the mound. Gio holds the most innings pitched this season without allowing a home run, 36 2/3. The ball flies out of Great American Ballpark easily, however.
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The National League East stands as the Quality Start division. The Marlins lead the majors with 24 QS, while the Nationals stand second at 23, and the Phillies third at 22.
Nationals: Stephen Strasburg pitches for the Nationals tonight in Pittsburgh against the Pirates. He has recorded a QS in each of his starts this year.
Braves: Don’t watch Jason Heyward‘s batting average. He hit .273 in April versus .217 in May so far. However, he’s already walked as many times and hit as many home runs in May as in April, so his OBP and slugging percentage are up. Whatever questions arose due to his poor sophomore year fall to a .260/.368/.470 slash line. The Braves are off today. They begin a three-game series with the Cardinals tomorrow in St. Louis.
Marlins: The Marlins are off to an 8-1 start in May mostly due to their pitching. They’ve allowed three runs or less in eight of those games, only getting out-pitched once in those contests. They’ve only scored over four runs or more five times in that stretch. The Marlins host the Mets tomorrow night for the start of a three-game set.
Phillies: Four of the Phillies core players continue to fail to get on base this season. Hunter Pence, Shane Victorino, and Jimmy Rollins all own OBPs below .300, while Placido Polanco stands at .307. The return of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard won’t help much if these players can’t get on base around them. The Phillies are also off today, after which they start a three-game series with the Padres in Philadelphia starting Friday night.
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Hanely Ramirez winning the Marlins MVP generated some controversy. Some of his teammates thought Jorge Cantu deserved the award. Ramirez posted superior OBA and slugging numbers while playing a more demanding defensive position. However, Cantu replaced Miguel Cabrera better than anyone expected, which is probably why his teammates feel he should get the nod.
Kelly Johnson tries to extend his hit streak to 20 games against the Phillies tonight. He’s batting .405 with 13 extra-base hits during the streak.
Chase Utley ended a streak of 27 games without a home run Sunday. The Phillies second baseman hit ten home runs in his first 27 games this season.
Even after suffering a sweep by the Padres over the weekend, the Nationals are still in second place in the first draft pick sweepstakes. Seattle is on an even worse run than Washington.
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Jorge Campillo, starting for the Braves today, pitched successfully against the Mets this season. He made two starts and one relief appearance, good for a 13 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings and a 2,31 ERA.
The Marlins and Phillies combined for 45 home runs in 16 games head-to-head this season, nearly three per game. Jorge Cantu leads the Marlins with six against the Phillies. Ryan Howard leads the way for the Phillies, also with six long balls.
The Nationals landed Syracuse for their new AAA affiliate. The Chiefs switched from the Blue Jays to the Nationals because of the wealth of talent in the Nationals minor league system.
For more real-time information, news, links and stats from around MLB, check out Baseball Musings.
Hanley Ramirez injured his shoulder Wednesday night diving for a grounder. He doesn’t think he’ll miss a game, but because this was the shoulder that underwent surgery in the past, the Marlins will be careful.
Phillies Nation speculates on what the Philadelphia rotation will look like in 2009 and notes the team sports plenty of starter-ready talent. While his walks are on the high side, Happ allows few hits and few extra-base hits.
The Braves hold a 2-12 record against the Phillies. They’ve been outscored 89-62, nearly two runs a game. Atlanta has yet to defeat Philadelphia at home.
The Nationals shut down four players for the rest of the season. They feel there’s no reason to try to rush them back for the remainder of the season and risk from injury.
For more real-time information, news, links and stats from around MLB, check out Baseball Musings.
Jamie Moyer started his 7-1 run in July. He’s fared better against right-handed batters than left-handed batters in that time. Righties are posting a .646 OPS since July 1, lefties a .728 mark.
Kelly Johnson is finishing is season on a high note. In 13 September games he’s knocked out 12 extra base hits and driven in 12 runs.
The Mets righties should be looking to tee off on Odalis Perez tonight. He’s allowed 17 home runs and a .529 slugging percentage against right-handed batters.
Josh Willingham and Jeremy Hermida are both experiencing lengthy slumps that likely cost the Marlins a chance to compete for a playoff spot.
His For more real-time information, news, links and stats from around MLB, check out Baseball Musings.
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