THT Daily: August 20th, 2009
Major League News for August 20
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
Reds placed RHP Johnny Cueto on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 16, with right shoulder inflammation.
Cueto is hoping to rejoin the rotation the day he’s eligible. The sophomore is 0-6 with a 10.63 ERA over his last eight starts and is 8-10 with a 4.61 ERA overall. The week-and-a-half of rest should only help.
Joba Chamberlain told reporters Wednesday that he will make six more starts, with “a little wiggle room” if the AL East race tightens.
Joba is 8-3 this season with a 3.98 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. He has collected 109 strikeouts in 126 2/3 innings. “I expect the unexpected at all times, but at least I have a good idea of what the plan is,” Chamberlain said Wednesday. “Mentally, for me to know that this is the plan for the rest of the year, it’s definitely calming.” He’s hoping there won’t be “Joba Rules” next season.
The Nationals have named Mike Rizzo as their next general manager.
Rizzo was acting in an interim role this season following the firing of Jim Bowden. He led the Nats through the Stephen Strasburg negotiations and even spun a few decent trades. The post is deserved.
According to FOXSports.com, right-hander Jon Garland has cleared waivers and can now be traded to any team.
Garland has a 3.60 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break and would make a fine fourth or fifth starter on a number of contending teams. Money may be an issue, however. With a $6.25 million salary this season, a $10 million option for 2010 or a $2.5 million buyout, the 29-year-old is owed at least $4 million.
Rich Harden tossed seven innings of one-hit ball in a 7-1 win over the Padres on Wednesday night.
A fantastic effort by Harden, limiting the Padres to three walks and a lonely single by Adrian Gonzalez. He retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced, including striking out the side in the fifth. Harden struck out eight in the win. He has a 1.64 ERA in seven starts since the All-Star break.
Mariano Rivera notched his AL-best 36th save against the Athletics on Wednesday night.
The accolades keep coming for Mo,’ as he has converted 32 consecutive save opportunities — a new career-high. Rivera has compiled a near spotless 1.90 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 57/8 K/BB ratio this season. Yep, he’s the best closer of all-time.
Jason Marquis earned his 14th win on Wednesday night against the Nationals, tying Adam Wainwright for the National League lead.
It may be short-lived with Wainwright going up against the Dodgers. Nonetheless, Marquis continues to get it done, somehow. He yielded three runs on nine hits over six innings on Wednesday, walking one and fanning one. He lines up for an important matchup against the Giants next.
Jered Weaver hurled a complete-game shutout in a 3-0 win over the Indians on Wednesday night.
Weaver follows up his worst start of the season with one of his best. He notched his fourth complete game of the season — second in the league to Roy Halladay and Zack Greinke — scattering seven hits while walking one and whiffing three. Now 13-4 with a 3.89 ERA, fantasy owners hope a strong finish is in store.
Dodgers placed RHP Hiroki Kuroda on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 15, with a concussion.
Jeff Weaver will take his spot in the rotation for now. Kuroda is eligible to return just before the rosters expand in September.
Yesterday’s Results
For the full scoop regarding yesterday’s games, read “And That Happened” at Shysterball.
American League TB 3 BAL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) BOS 6 TOR 1 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 4 KC 2 (Recap and Boxscore) LAA 3 CLE 0 (Recap and Boxscore) SEA 3 DET 1 (Recap and Boxscore) NYA 3 OAK 2 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 5 TEX 4 (Recap and Boxscore) National League ATL 15 NYN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) PHI 8 ARI 1 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 5 WAS 4 (Recap and Boxscore) SF 1 CIN 0 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU 6 FLA 3 (Recap and Boxscore) PIT 3 MIL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 3 LAN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 7 SD 1 (Recap and Boxscore)
Check out Fangraphs’ scoreboard to see all the games in action.
Today’s Games
Mariners (62-58) @ Tigers (63-56), 1:05pm
Ryan Rowland-Smith (26, LHP) vs. Jarrod Washburn (34, LHP)
Angels (73-45) @ Indians (51-68), 7:05pm
John Lackey (30, RHP) vs. Justin Masterson (24, RHP)
RedSox (68-51) @ Blue Jays (55-63), 7:07pm
Jon Lester (25, LHP) vs. Brett Cecil (22, LHP)
Orioles (48-72) @ Rays (65-54), 7:08pm
Brian Matusz (22, LHP) vs. James Shields (27, RHP)
Twins (58-62) @ Rangers (67-52), 8:05pm
Anthony Swarzak (23, RHP) vs. Derek Holland (22, LHP)
Giants (66-54) @ Reds (50-69), 12:35pm
Matt Cain (24, RHP) vs. Aaron Harang (31, RHP)
D’backs (54-67) @ Phillies (68-49), 7:05pm
Doug Davis (33, LHP) vs. Joe Blanton (28, RHP)
Rockies (67-53) @ Nationals (43-77), 7:05pm
Jason Hammel (26, RHP) vs. Garrett Mock (26, RHP)
Braves (63-57) @ Mets (56-64), 7:10pm
Kenshin Kawakami (34, RHP) vs. Johan Santana (30, LHP)
Marlins (64-56) @ Astros (58-62), 8:05pm
Josh Johnson (25, RHP) vs. Wandy Rodriguez (30, LHP)
Cardinals (69-53) @ Padres (51-71), 10:05pm
Joel Pineiro (30, RHP) vs. Tim Stauffer (27, RHP)
Cubs (61-57) @ Dodgers (71-50), 10:10pm
Tom Gorzelanny (26, LHP) vs. Jeff Weaver (32, 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 76 45 .628 0.0 71 5BOS 68 51 .571 7.0 68 0
TB 65 54 .546 10.0 67 -2
TOR 55 63 .466 19.5 62 -7
BAL 48 72 .400 27.5 51 -3
American League Central DET 63 56 .529 0.0 61 2
CHA 62 59 .512 2.0 62 0
MIN 58 62 .483 5.5 61 -3
CLE 51 68 .429 12.0 57 -6
KC 47 73 .392 16.5 47 0
American League West LAA 73 45 .619 0.0 67 6
TEX 67 52 .563 6.5 65 2
SEA 62 58 .517 12.0 55 7
OAK 53 67 .442 21.0 56 -3
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 68 49 .581 0.0 67 1
FLA 64 56 .533 5.5 60 4
ATL 63 57 .525 6.5 66 -3
NYN 56 64 .467 13.5 55 1
WAS 43 77 .358 26.5 50 -7
National League Central STL 69 53 .566 0.0 67 2
CHN 61 57 .517 6.0 62 -1
HOU 58 62 .483 10.0 52 6
MIL 58 62 .483 10.0 57 1
CIN 50 69 .420 17.5 50 0
PIT 49 70 .412 18.5 52 -3
National League West LAN 71 50 .587 0.0 73 -2
COL 67 53 .558 3.5 68 -1
SF 66 54 .550 4.5 65 1
ARI 54 67 .446 17.0 56 -2
SD 51 71 .418 20.5 46 5
Wildcard Standings American League BOS 68 51 .571 0.0 TEX 67 52 .563 1.0 TB 65 54 .546 3.0 SEA 62 58 .517 6.5 CHA 62 59 .512 7.0 National League COL 67 53 .558 0.0 SF 66 54 .550 1.0 FLA 64 56 .533 3.0 ATL 63 57 .525 4.0 CHN 61 57 .517 5.0
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 OAK AAA Brett Wallace..... 6 3 1 0 2 0 1 5 RBI ! SF A+ Roger Kieschnick.. 3 3 3 0 0 2 0 DET AAA Scott Sizemore.... 5 3 2 0 1 0 1 3 R TB AAA Desmond Jennings.. 4 3 1 1 0 0 1 2 SB BAL A+ Pedro Florimon.... 5 5 1 1 0 0 0 NYM A+ David Havens...... 5 3 1 0 1 0 1 KC AAA Kila Kaaihue...... 3 2 1 0 1 1 1 4 RBI PHI A Travis D'Arnaud... 2 2 2 0 0 1 0 OAK AAA Travis Buck....... 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 CLE AAA Lou Marson........ 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 OAK AA Chris Carter...... 4 3 0 0 1 0 1 SEA A+ Joseph Dunigan.... 4 2 0 1 1 0 1 4 RBI ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes NYY AA Z. McAllister..... 5 4 1 1 11 1 0 CLE AA Eric Berger....... 6 1 0 0 7 2 0 OAK AAA C. Mortensen...... 7 3 1 1 7 2 0 12 GB MIN A+ Tyler Robertson... 7 6 2 2 7 1 0 13 GB BAL AAA Jake Arrieta...... 7 6 1 1 6 2 0 STL AAA Jaime Garcia...... 6 4 4 4 9 1 2 WAN AAA Ross Detwiler..... 7 4 3 2 4 1 0 12 GB PIT AA Tim Alderson...... 6 6 4 3 6 2 0 SEA AAA Brandon Morrow.... 5 3 2 2 5 2 0 4 infield flies STL A+ Arquimedes Nieto.. 7 4 3 3 4 3 0 SEA A+ Michael Pineda.... 3 2 0 0 4 0 0 TEX A Neil Ramirez...... 3 2 1 1 5 1 0
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