THT Daily: Job Security
Major League News for August 7
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Top Minor League Performances
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld
Yankees acquired RHP Chad Gaudin from the Padres for a player to be named later.
Gaudin will work out of the bullpen initially. He has struggled since leaving Oakland and has a dismal 5.13 ERA this season in the ultimate pitcher’s park. The Yankees are obviously hoping a change of scenery will right his career. That, or they want to put pressure on current fifth starter Sergio Mitre.
According to Corey Brock of MLB.com, the Padres have extended manager Bud Black’s contract through 2010.
The new deal also contains a club option for 2011. Black has managed the Padres to a 44-65 record this season. He went 63-99 with them in 2008 and 89-74 in 2007. The lack of improvement is an issue, but it’s not like Black has been surrounded by stars. It’s safe to say he’s done a decent job.
Brad Thompson has been suspended three games and fined an undisclosed amount for throwing at David Wright’s head Wednesday.
Thompson has filed an appeal, and denied there was intent behind the pitch in a post-game interview on Wednesday. “You throw a ball like at somebody’s head, especially after something happened earlier, and you expect a warning,” said the reliever. “I’m not going to try to hit David Wright in the head. I’m not going to hit anybody in the head.” The Mets, and the home plate umpire, saw the up-and-in fastball as retaliation for the beaning of Albert Pujols one inning earlier.
Diamondbacks placed OF Justin Upton on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique strain.
A similar injury cost him a month last year. Upton was hurt on a steal attempt in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game. It’s unfortunate timing for the 21-year-old, currently experiencing a breakthrough campaign. He is batting .301/.374/.541 with 20 home runs and 66 RBI in 441 plate appearances.
Kevin Youkilis will start in left field against the Yankees on Thursday.
Youkillis played 18 games in left in 2006 but hasn’t done so since. Playing Youkillis in left enables Terry Francona to keep Victor Martinez and Mike Lowell in the lineup and give Casey Kotchman his first start with the Red Sox.
Julio Castillo was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years probation for injuring a fan by throwing a baseball in a brawl last year.
Castillo was pitching for Single-A Peoria when a melee broke out against Dayton in late July of last year. The 22-year-old Castillo, who faced up to eight years in prison, was given a more lenient sentence because the judge believed he was remorseful.
Nelson Cruz (left ankle sprain) is experiencing too much pain to effectively throw or swing.
The Rangers are trying to hold off on placing Cruz on the disabled list, but this news could force their hand. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that a roster move is coming to add an outfielder: “A pitcher, possibly Doug Mathis, could be optioned to make room for an outfielder, possibly Brandon Boggs.”
Jason Bay doesn’t expect to play on Thursday or Friday after aggravating his hamstring during Wednesday’s game.
Bay told the media that he “has no idea” how much time he’ll miss. “…it’s definitely going to be a couple days,” Bay said. “Basically the same thing. It had calmed down, and it kicked it right back to where it was three or four days ago.” The Red Sox are short-handed with J.D. Drew also hurting, so they may put one of the two outfielders on the DL and bring back Josh Reddick.
Mets placed LHP Jon Niese on the 60-day disabled list with a torn right hamstring.
Niese will miss the remainder of the season. He injured the muscle while stretching for a throw at first base in Wednesday’s game against the Cardinals. An MRI revealed a complete tear of the right upper hamstring tendon from the bone. Niese will undergo surgery and is expected to be ready for Spring Training. He was 1-1 with a 4.21 ERA in five starts for the Mets.
Yesterday’s Results
For the full scoop regarding yesterday’s games, read “And That Happened” at Shysterball.
American League NYA 13 BOS 6 (Recap and Boxscore) LAA 9 CHA 5 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 2 MIN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 7 BAL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) KC 8 SEA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 6 OAK 4 (Recap and Boxscore) National League PHI 3 COL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) WAS 12 FLA 8 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 11 PIT 6 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 5 ATL 4 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 8 NYN 3 (Recap and Boxscore)
Check out Fangraphs’ scoreboard to see all the games in action.
Today’s Games
Standings
The graphics next to each team are called “sparklines.” They depict each team’s performance over the last month. Each “up” bar is a victory and a “down” bar is a loss. There are horizontal lines for home games and red bars represent games decided by two runs or less. “PWins” is short for Projected Wins, based on each team’s Run Differential, and is often a better measure of a team’s true strength. Other team graphs and stats can be found on our Team Page.
American League East Pwins Diff NYA 66 42 .611 0.0 62 4BOS 62 45 .579 3.5 62 0
TB 60 48 .556 6.0 62 -2
TOR 51 56 .477 14.5 57 -6
BAL 45 63 .417 21.0 47 -2
American League Central DET 57 50 .533 0.0 56 1
CHA 56 53 .514 2.0 56 0
MIN 53 55 .491 4.5 54 -1
CLE 46 62 .426 11.5 52 -6
KC 42 66 .389 15.5 42 0
American League West LAA 64 42 .604 0.0 60 4
TEX 60 47 .561 4.5 57 3
SEA 56 52 .519 9.0 49 7
OAK 47 61 .435 18.0 50 -3
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 61 45 .575 0.0 60 1
FLA 55 53 .509 7.0 52 3
ATL 55 54 .505 7.5 57 -2
NYN 51 57 .472 11.0 51 0
WAS 37 72 .339 25.5 45 -8
National League Central CHN 57 49 .538 0.0 57 0
STL 59 51 .536 0.0 58 1
MIL 54 54 .500 4.0 51 3
HOU 53 55 .491 5.0 48 5
CIN 46 61 .430 11.5 44 2
PIT 45 63 .417 13.0 50 -5
National League West LAN 67 42 .615 0.0 67 0
SF 60 48 .556 6.5 59 1
COL 59 49 .546 7.5 59 0
ARI 50 59 .459 17.0 53 -3
SD 45 65 .409 22.5 40 5
Top Minor League Games
The following list, provided by First Inning, includes the top minor league batting (based on Runs Created) and pitching (based on Game Score) performances from yesterday.
ORG LVL PLAYER AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes LAA AAA Brandon Wood...... 4 2 0 0 2 1 1 ATL A Adam Milligan..... 3 3 1 0 1 0 0 OAK AA Shane Peterson.... 4 2 1 0 1 1 1 MIL AAA Alcides Escobar... 4 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 SB LAA AA Peter Bourjos..... 4 2 2 0 0 1 1 4 RBI MIN AA Rene Tosoni....... 5 3 0 0 1 0 0 3 R OAK AA Chris Carter...... 4 3 1 0 0 1 0 3 LD COL AAA Eric Young........ 5 3 0 1 0 1 0 PHI AA Dominic Brown..... 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 BOS AA Ryan Kalish....... 4 2 0 0 1 0 1 LA AAA Blake Dewitt...... 5 3 0 1 0 0 0 BAL A+ Pedro Florimon.... 5 3 1 0 0 0 1 3 LD ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes NYY A+ D.J. Mitchell..... 6 5 1 1 8 0 0 KC A+ M. Montgomery..... 7 5 1 1 7 0 0 TB A Matthew Moore..... 5 1 1 1 9 3 0 CIN AAA Matthew Maloney... 7 5 2 2 9 3 0 BAL AA Brandon Erbe...... 8 0 0 0 5 3 0 CHC AA C. Carpenter...... 4 1 1 1 5 1 0 TB A Nick Barnese...... 5 7 3 2 8 2 0 BOS A+ Kyle Weiland...... 6 4 1 1 5 2 0 CLE A Nick Hagadone..... 3 3 1 1 5 0 0 CLE AAA Carlos Carrasco... 8 5 5 5 5 2 1 PHI A Trevor May........ 5 7 3 3 7 2 0 10 GB HOU A Brad Dydalewicz... 5 5 4 4 5 2 0
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