THT Daily: The Cy Youngs

Major League News for October 1

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
Chris Carpenter delivered a grand slam and a two-run double and blanked the Reds for five innings Thursday as part of a 13-0 rout.
Wow. The slam off Kip Wells was his first homer in 288 career at-bats. He entered with a career .105/.134/.118 line, making him one of the game’s worst hitting pitchers. He actually doubled his career RBI total in his first two at-bats today. Of course, he was also pretty good on the mound, even if it did take him 90 pitches to get through five innings. The win makes him 17-4 with a 2.24 ERA. He locked up the NL ERA title with his performance. Even if Tim Lincecum throws a shutout today, he’d finish at 2.38.

Bronson Arroyo has denied cheating allegations brought by Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa.
St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan also pointed a finger at Arroyo, saying that he pitched so effectively against the Redbirds by using pine tar on his cap to get a grip on the ball. The opposing pitcher, John Smoltz, was complaining all game long about the balls being too slick. Arroyo said the stain on his cap is from mud used to rub baseballs at other stadiums. After a poor start to the season, Arroyo finished 15-13 with a 3.84 ERA and bolstered his trade value.

Corey Hart’s x-rays came back positive for possible compression fractures in his right hand, stemming from his fourth and fifth fingers, meaning he is done for the season.
Bone scans will later confirm the story. For now, Hart is wearing a splint and soft case on his hand. He finishes the season with a .260/.335/.418 line and 12 home runs in 472 at-bats. His improved plate discipline has come at the expense of power, so maybe next year we’ll see him return to his hacking ways.

Jose Reyes is expected to have surgery on his torn right hamstring, which he suffered Tuesday.
The surgery is not expected to impact Reyes’ 2010 season. Agent Peter Greenberg says that Reyes will be able to start working out in December or January. The speedster had been on the verge of returning for the last couple of games before this latest setback. He may not be good for his usual 50+ steals next season.

If the schedule plays out as planned, Chris Carpenter will start Game 1 of the NLDS for the Cardinals.
Adam Wainwright will start Game 2, and Joel Pineiro will start Game 3. “Carp’s the acknowledged leader of our staff and Adam is closing quickly,” manager Tony La Russa said Wednesday. It’s a heck of a one-two punch.

Mariners activated 1B Russell Branyan from the 15-day disabled list.
Branyan might not be at full strength just yet, but he’ll fight through any lingering back discomfort in order to pad his free agent resume. The 34-year-old has hit .251/.347/.520 this season with 31 home runs and 76 RBI. He should be looking at a decent pay day this winter.

Raul Ibanez slugged a three-run homer in a win over the Astros on Wednesday night, as the Phillies clinched their third straight division title.
Ibanez is starting to hit with authority again. He has seven homers and 13 RBI in 91 at-bats this month. This, after hitting just five home runs through July and August. The Phillies have won three straight division titles for the first time since 1976-78.

Ricky Nolasco struck out 16 over 7 2/3 innings in a 5-4 win over the Braves on Wednesday night.
Nolasco struck out nine in a row at one point — one shy of Tom Seaver’s major league record. The 16 strikeouts set a new franchise record and are the most in the majors this season. Both runs that scored were unearned. Nolasco finishes a topsy-turvy 2009 campaign at 13-9 with a 5.06 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 195/44 K/BB ratio in 185 innings, spanning 31 starts. With his high ERA, he will likely be undervalued in 2010, but those who have watched him this season know how unlucky he has been. He’s one to target.

Eddie Bonine yielded two runs over five innings in a 7-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday night, as the Tigers pushed their lead in the AL Central to three games.
Bonine earned his first win of the season, scattering six hits while walking two and striking out three. He induced nine groundballs in the win, including a key double play in the first, snuffing out a rally. The 28-year-old right-hander has a 4.46 ERA and 1.51 WHIP over 10 appearances (four starts) this season. The Tigers now find themselves three games in front with four to go.

Yesterday’s Results

For the full scoop regarding yesterday’s games, read “And That Happened” at Shysterball.

American League
TOR    12  BOS     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
KC      4  NYA     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
TB      5  BAL     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHA     1  CLE     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE     5  CHA     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
DET     7  MIN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAA     5  TEX     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
SEA     7  OAK     0    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
FLA     5  ATL     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
PHI    10  HOU     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
WAS     7  NYN     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
PIT     4  CHN     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
PIT     8  CHN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
CIN     6  STL     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
COL    10  MIL     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
SD      5  LAN     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
SF      4  ARI     1    (Recap and Boxscore)

Check out Fangraphs’ scoreboard to see all the games in action.

Today’s Games

Twins (82-76) @ Tigers (85-73), 1:05pm
    Scott Baker (27, RHP) vs. Nate Robertson (31, LHP)
Rangers (85-73) @ Angels (94-64), 6:05pm
    Kevin Millwood (34, RHP) vs. John Lackey (30, RHP)
Orioles (60-98) @ Rays (82-76), 7:08pm
    Chris Waters (28, LHP) vs. Matt Garza (25, RHP)
Indians (65-93) @ RedSox (91-67), 7:10pm
    Carlos Carrasco (22, RHP) vs. Jon Lester (25, LHP)
Athletics (75-83) @ Mariners (82-76), 10:10pm
    Brett Anderson (21, LHP) vs. Doug Fister (25, RHP)
Cardinals (90-68) @ Reds (76-82), 12:35pm
    Chris Carpenter (34, RHP) vs. Kip Wells (32, RHP)
Brewers (77-81) @ Rockies (90-68), 3:10pm
    Manny Parra (26, LHP) vs. Aaron Cook (30, RHP)
D'backs (68-90) @ Giants (85-73), 3:45pm
    Danny Haren (28, RHP) vs. Tim Lincecum (25, RHP)
Nationals (55-103) @ Braves (86-72), 7:00pm
    Garrett Mock (26, RHP) vs. Tommy Hanson (22, RHP)
Astros (73-85) @ Phillies (92-66), 7:05pm
    Felipe Paulino  (25, RHP) vs. Cliff Lee (30, LHP)
Pirates (61-97) @ Cubs (82-76), 8:05pm
    Paul Maholm (27, LHP) vs. Jeff Samardzija (24, RHP)

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    102  57 .642    0.0   95     7    
BOS     91  67 .576   10.5   91     0    
TB      82  76 .519   19.5   84    -2    
TOR     75  84 .472   27.0   83    -8    
BAL     60  98 .380   41.5   65    -5    
American League Central     
DET     85  73 .538    0.0   80     5    
MIN     82  76 .519    3.0   82     0    
CHA     77  82 .484    8.5   78    -1    
CLE     65  93 .411   20.0   72    -7    
KC      65  94 .409   20.5   65     0    
American League West        
LAA     94  64 .595    0.0   91     3    
TEX     85  73 .538    9.0   83     2    
SEA     82  76 .519   12.0   73     9    
OAK     75  83 .475   19.0   80    -5    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     92  66 .582    0.0   91     1    
ATL     86  72 .544    6.0   90    -4    
FLA     85  74 .535    7.5   80     5    
NYN     67  92 .421   25.5   69    -2    
WAS     55 103 .348   37.0   63    -8    
National League Central     
STL     90  68 .570    0.0   88     2    
CHN     82  76 .519    8.0   84    -2    
MIL     77  81 .487   13.0   76     1    
CIN     76  82 .481   14.0   74     2    
HOU     73  85 .462   17.0   67     6    
PIT     61  97 .386   29.0   66    -5    
National League West        
LAN     93  66 .585    0.0   97    -4    
COL     90  68 .570    2.5   88     2    
SF      85  73 .538    7.5   83     2    
SD      74  85 .465   19.0   66     8    
ARI     68  90 .430   24.5   72    -4    


Wildcard Standings
American League             
BOS     91  67 .576    0.0
TEX     85  73 .538    6.0
TB      82  76 .519    9.0
MIN     82  76 .519    9.0
SEA     82  76 .519    9.0
National League             
COL     90  68 .570    0.0
ATL     86  72 .544    4.0
SF      85  73 .538    5.0
FLA     85  74 .535    5.5
CHN     82  76 .519    8.0

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

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes

First Inning’s Major and Minor League Daily Reports:

Pick A TeamARIATLBALBOSCHACHNCINCLECOLDETFLAHOUKCLAALANMILMINNYANYNOAKPHIPITSDSEASFSTLTBTEXTORWAS