No-brainer: Cliff Lee named opening day starter

Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg annouced Monday something we all knew already: Cliff Lee will get the ball on opening day.

It'll be just the second opening day start of Lee's career — his last came in 2009 with the Indians, following his Cy Young season, also at the Rangers. The Phillies open the season in Texas on March 31 at 2:05 p.m.

Even if Cole Hamels, last year's opening day starter, weren't injured, the nod probably should have gone to Lee anyway considering his tremendous 2013 campaign.

Easily the best on the Phils' staff, Lee went 14-8 with a 2.87 ERA, 222 strikeouts and just 32 walks in 222.2 innings (31 starts). His 6.94 strikeout-to-walk ratio led the majors. Plus, the 35-year-old is having a great spring with four runs, 11 hits, 13 strikeouts and two walks in 13.2 innings.

Opening day will be Lee's first return to Arlington since helping lead the Rangers to the World Series in 2010. Most recently, he tossed eight shutout innings against Texas in a 2-0 Phillies win on May 21, 2011.

Washed out

Monday's scheduled game against the Orioles in Clearwater was rained out.

Pitchers Kyle Kendrick, A.J. Burnett, Jake Diekman and Jonathan Pettibone all got work off the mound in indoor facilities.

The Phillies are off Tuesday and play the Blue Jays on Wednesday in Dunedin.

Comments

[Willard Preacher]

Oh hey, thanks for checking in admins, and for the new header. Yeah, everything here is great; couldn't be better. Anyway, see you again in a few days.

[Dickie Thong]

Phillies Acquire Koyie Hill

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/03/phillies-acquire-koyie-hill.html

[curt]

"The Phillies would be open to moving Rollins because they have Freddy Galvis." -- Salisbury

Geez.

[Fan From Fifty]

What Preacher said

[Willard Preacher]

@curt - getting closer and closer to the Sixers model of unashamedly tanking and offering no apologies for it.

[can_of_corn]

Gotta admire Roob's unique wisdom in prioritizing the all-important trait of "veteran leadership."

[aksmith]

Wow, Galvis is the answer at shorstop? And Koyie Hill is the answer to what? Too many awful utility infielders? So they needed another awful catcher.

I know it's unlikely Koyie Hill will ever see the field at CBP, but watching the transactions page for Phillies moves just gets sadder and sadder every year. They make some nice moves at the top of the roster, every once in a while, but the bottom of the roster makes you just a little nauseous.

[Steve]

Thank God for a new header. People get cranky around here after a few days. Reminds me of the SNL "Wake Up and Smile" skit.

[Juums]

Galvis's bat is terrible and probably always will be, but if you think J-Roll's bat in 2013 is the New Normal -- or if his intangibles are detrimental to the clubhouse -- then Galvis's glove provides enough value that you can say it'd be a wash if they subbed one for the other. One of the things I've liked about this Spring is that Rollins appears to have a better approach than last year and is squaring up balls more often, which lends credence to the hope he just had a fluky down-year last year to balance out his fluky good-year in 2012.

As far as Koyie Hill goes, I certainly like him more than Humberto Quintero in the same role. (I also like him better than Wil Nieves, but that's because I'm fine with a back-up C that hits like Mini-Mart but has sound game-calling and pitch-framing skills.) My question is where he fits on the depth chart: Is he the back-up at LHV, with either Joseph or Rupp starting in AAA and the other down in AA? And where does that leave Sebastian Valle, as the back-up at AA?

I assume it'll be Joseph and Hill playing for the Baconators, while Rupp and Valle are in Reading. Which kind of stinks for Rupp, as I really like the guy and would like to see him start in AAA. But you've got to think the game-plan with Joseph is try AAA again and see if he can stick behind the plate, as his skills won't likely play anywhere else on the diamond.

[Ruben Amaro Jr.]

I'm going to trade Tommy Joseph for Nate Schierholtz. That is why I signed Koyie Hill.

[PLM]

All veteran leadership necessity is void and invalid after the 2008 season. Enough of the WFC team remains that no such thing is necessary. I wasnt big on Marson but to pick up this other dud is just plain Amaro nuts.

[Mikeh]

This site is a shell of its former self. Thanks comcast!

[Delaware Avenue]

So what exactly was Sandberg saying just last week when he said he didn't know who the opening day starter would be? Did he really think there was another viable option.

[Preacher Roe]

I've been a lurker on Beerleaguer since either 2005 or 2006 - in other words almost since its inception. I think I've posted three times in that time, as I never really had anything cogent to add to what other people much smarter and more informed than me had to say. But this is it -- the site is no longer worth coming back to. Thank you everyone for the insight, the comedy, the pointless arguments, the (usually) considered opinions. Over the years I have enjoyed commenters for different reasons - Phargo and Gbrettfan for their good humor, clout for his acerbic comments, BAP for his naive optimism :), NEPP for always being there, MVPTommy for his unintentional comic relief, CS for always finding something positive to say, the Cole and Heidi conversations, the haikus, etc. I've been missing that, and I've been missing Jason. Guess I'll go over to The Good Phight unless someone has a better suggestion. See you all, and thanks for the memories!

[denny b.]

Rupp should be the backup C for the Phils.

Nieves is horrible and is worse then most pitchers as a hitter.

Give the job to Rupp. That's what he is going to be in the majors...a backup C. Put him in that role and let him learn from Ruiz.

Koyie Hill? Please...

[jr]

4th and last attempt to post.

[mouth ralph]

Cliff Lee leads the #whitemanmarch

[Bubba]

The Phils and this site have really fallen and I was looking in the BL Archives for some remnants of past glory.Key turning point ,
The day the music died as chronicled by the once great BeerLeaguer:

Friday, October 07, 2011

Failureinphilly

DREAM SEASON ENDS IN A CRUMPLED HEAP!

WRITING ON THE WALL: CHANGE MUST COME TO PHILLIES' OFFENSE!

CHARLIE'S LONG LEASH TO STRUGGLING VETS LOOMS LARGE!

BROKEN-DOWN OFFENSE RUNS OUT OF GAS IN OCTOBER - AGAIN!

SYMBOLICALLY, BEST HITS OF GAME CARRY ONLY TO WARNING TRACK!

HOWARD BELIEVED TO HAVE TORN ACHILLES ON FINAL PLAY!

DEEP ROTATION RENDERED INCONSEQUENTIAL IN NLDS!

CARDINALS OUTPLAY PHILLIES IN ALL FACETS OF SERIES!

PHILLIES BUILDING LEGACY OF POSTSEASON FAILURE!

SEPTEMBER SWOON FORESHADOWED PENDING COLLAPSE!

OFF-SEASON SURGERY, FREE AGENCY LOOMS FOR MOST OF LINEUP!

FIELD DOWN TO CARDINALS-BREWERS, TIGERS-RANGERS

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ JUMP OFF THE CLIFF WITH OTHERS LIKE YOU! ]

Posted by J. Weitzel at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (861)

[Dragon]

Beer*Leaguer = 0ver. Very sad, indeed.

[Sil]

As go the Phils, so goes BL. Bet the farm on the under.

[cut_fastball]

Everyone is now posting on double secret probation

[LorecorE]

sarcastic Ruben Amaro Jr.: "I'm going to trade Tommy Joseph for Nate Schierholtz. That is why I signed Koyie Hill."

The worst part about this joke is that Tommy Joseph can't even get you Nate Schierholtz in 2014.

[kdon]

Concur with Preacher Roe. Was a regular poster back in the early days, got sort of a real life but still read the posts and comments regularly, but have only checked the site sporadically since Jason left. Embarrassing stuff (staff posts, not commentators). After 8 years, bye bye Beerleaguer from the bookmark list.

Will definitely remember the high times - I'd say for a blog this was a fantastic run and I couldn't have expected more.

[cut_fastball]

Quitters.

I'm hanging it out until the bitter end

[Dickie Thong]

Sources: Jimmy Rollins must lead

...there is strong sentiment within the organization that the Phillies would be better off trading him and establishing a new tone with a new shortstop, according to sources.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10626431/jimmy-rollins-philadelphia-phillies-lead-face-trade-sources

[Haverford]

This site has become useless. Its a shame. Lots of stuff going on with the team, I keep checking the site, and have to wait days for new content. Not really enough to hold my attention. Anyone have any ideas about other sites that are worth reading that actually keep up with events? Its been real, folks.

[Steve]

and that new shortstop is....?

[fumphis]

So where's the exodus headed? TGP for sure? Man, this is some sad sh*t.

[Five-4-One]

This site has become a tragic disgrace. Had Fios, moved and was forced to get Komkast back. Saddest day of my life. Overprice garbage with about 50 less channels for 50% more. Then the Komkast/NBC Universal destroyers had to commandeer this sight and make that about as terrible as 98% of its original television programming. Way to go NBC!

Time to find a new site with interesting discussions.

[Cyclic]

Wait, that's a Buster Olney piece? Disregarding...

Also, http://www.philliedelphia.com/ seems a better fit for me than TGP. It's more like Beerleaguer and there is virtually no established commenter community there.

[bullit]

thanks, Dickie. the comments were interesting. i'm perfectly sanquine with watching jimmy 2 more years. i thought pap was going to lead this year. asking rollins to lead is asking too much, intentionally. it's not his personality.

[Kashmir]

Cliff Lee is the opening day starter? With the wealth of talent the pitching staff has I can see why Sandberg labored to make this decision.

[Kashmir]

Per FanGraph's projections Rollins is worth about a half a win over Galvis in 600 PA - if Rollins would waive his no-trade rights. It's common knowledge he won't do it until he surpasses Schmidt's hit record. After that I have to wonder what you could get for him. If he was available today Detroit may overpay for him, but that's one if we know isn't going to happen.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/jimmy-rollins-and-the-incentives-of-vesting-options/

[ColonelTom]

This is interesting - the Pirates are actively shopping outfielder Jose Tabata:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/03/pirates-shopping-jose-tabata.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

Tabata's a capable fourth outfielder who still has some upside at age 25. (Yes, I know about the age rumors, but the league has likely investigated them pretty thoroughly by this point and found nothing damning.) He's a right-handed hitter with a virtually nonexistent platoon split over his career, so he'd help off the bench against lefties and righties. Most importantly, he gets on base at a higher clip (.342 last year) than just about anyone on the Phils' roster.

The Pirates will probably give him up cheaply just to get salary relief. Tabata is owed about $12M over the next 3 years, an amount that probably strains Pittsburgh's budget a lot more than it would Philly's. If Tabata improves, the Phils would have three team options for 2017-19.

[bittel]

Talk about a non-story. Completely shameless media outlets (talk radio at he top of the list) doing the Phillies' handiwork here.

Look, Ruben . YOU gave him the contract. YOU ought to be held to account if he sucks/turns cancerous. This campaign to smear the guy is so far over the top it's sickening (and I'm someone who initially supported Sandberg's message-sending).

He's a 10-and-5 guy, and he's only going to change his stance vis-avis being traded if he's benched long-term. But there's no cause to bench him long term, since he's far superior to what's behind him. So everyone will see his benching for what it is: an effort to get out from under an incompetently-negotiated vesting option.

[Jack]

This is going to be an epic disaster of a season.

[Will Schweitzer]

Rollins has not demonstrated that he's "far superior" to any Phillies infielder in quite some time (with the exception of Mini Mart).

Galvis is no savior, but is there anyone out there who truly believes that Rollins in 2014-2015 is such an upgrade over Galvis in 2014-2015 that it justifies a 10 million dollar difference in salary?

If they found a sucker to take Howard and Rollins in a salary dump, I'd do it in a second. I'd rather see an infield of Ruf, Utley, Galvis and Franco in 2014 if it means an extra $36 million per season to spend in the open market.

[nokwurst]

CT: in addition to Tabata, I saw the Pirates may also be looking to trade Vin Mazarro.

As much as I like Ruf, how about sending him for Tabata & Mazzaro? Pretty sure the Buccos are still looking for a 1B.

[CS]

Ruf for another out of option RP and 4th OF, no.

[Willard Preacher]

Cyclic, thanks for the alternative option. I'll definitely check it out. The one thing that I always liked about BL and the environment here was the free-flowing single thread, so that you could be sure you were always reading/posting regarding the latest and greatest. TGP has all those segmented threads that force you to jump around and make it difficult to engage with other commenters.

I did @ GM-Carson last night, to see why he wouldn't consider attempting to court the Free Agent BL commenters over to his blog, as well. JW was a great host, but not for nothing the "glory days" of BL were held up by the posters and comments, particularly the game threads. I think THAT is what we need to try to replicate somewhere. Love them or hate them, BL was built on the backs of clout, BAP, Fatalotti, Sophist, NEPP, MG, AWH, etc.

[Reality]

You can't replicate BL. It was a moment in time with everyone you mentioned along with Iceman, jbird, TTI, doubleh, and even down to the dregs like mvptommy and cut_fastball.

Trying to bring that back won't work. Try to do something new and exciting.

[Willard Preacher]

Reality, yeah, not trying to live in the past, I just want a place where I can go and crack jokes about the height of the third baseman with similar dispositioned posters. At first glance, Cyclic's reco on philliedelphia looks to have a format that is promising (single active thread and the TypePad login should help the troll problem).

[WSJ]

Heard Ricky Ricardo say over the weekend that Rollins was "a 13 on a scale of 1-10" while signing autographs for fans and mingling with the media. Ricardo say Jimmy is usually a 6, and that it came off as a bit of a damage control campaign. It reminded me of two years ago when Chase Utley didn't have his knees in shape by ST and was unusually forthcoming (fake-ish) at his subsequent press conferences.

Anyway, the most recent example of putting lipstick on the pig that will be the 2014 Philadelphia Phillies.

[Bubba]

Lee for the opener is a no brainer.
I hope it's KK for the home opener, he has the longest Phillies tenure of the starters.

[bittel]

If they found a sucker to take Howard and Rollins in a salary dump, I'd do it in a second

Not the point. Rollins is a 10-and-5 guy. HE controls whether he stays or goes. Everything today is team-centered propaganda to create the impression Rollins is a problem, when it's the CONTRACT that's he problem.

Freddy Galvis is a borderline MLBer at best, Will. He look completely out of his depth in like 40% of his ABs. He's slow, an overrated fielder, and has less pop than Rollins typically has in a regular Rollins year. Rollins would be worth far more than .5 wins over a full 162. Be glad you won't have to find that out.

[WSJ]

From MLBTR, Houston wants a 1B.

"Stark says Houston has placed calls on Mike Carp, John Mayberry and Tyler Moore, though he classifies each of the three as an 'unlikely fit."

I'd shop JMJ to them long and hard, let's get the Ruf fluffing going in earnest, people!

[GBrettfan]

This!

http://www.thegoodphight.com/2014/3/18/5522318/stop-this-jimmy-rollins-nonsense-stop-it-now

[bittel]

Great TGF article on the Rollins propaganda. Amazing how sports fans can be so discerning about propaganda when it appears in the realm of sports, but so susceptible to it when it occurs purely in the political realm.

[Cyclic]

Even a spring training off day is brutal.

I'm so ready for baseball.

I don't know why, but every time Jack posts I get more and more excited about the Phillies in 2014. Keep up the good work, Jack.

[bullit]

thanks, GBrettf. that was a ballsy article.

[cut_fastball]

I want the Phillies to be good so Jack can twist away trying to pretend he didn't say what he did.

Also so I can make some more insane rambling posts about weird things.

[Cyclic]

Poking around the archives and I saw this gem from a header last March...

"Indeed, the Phillies have been swinging the bats fairly well this spring. With a .280 overall batting average, the team is third in the Grapefruit League and the 157 runs scored and .465 slugging percentage is second-best for the teams playing in Florida.

For now, at least, there aren't too many concerns about the Phillies' hitting."

Ahhh... the very meaningful Spring Training Stats.

[cut_fastball]

BAP tells us spring training matters a lot though.

[Steve]

David Murphy does a pretty good job of cutting through the BS and calling out RAJ/Sandberg/Bowa:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/phillies/Weve-seen-this-Jimmy-Rollins-thing-before-and-it-should-be-avoided.html

[Willard Preacher]

David Murphy seems to be using Spring Training as the basis to create some doubt surrounding Chase Utley (diminished LD%, BB/K ratio, etc.). Maybe someone should clue him in.

[Cyclic]

Wow, Murph also sees the bench as Galvis, Nieves, Mayberry, Frandsen, Abreu.

That would fvcking suck.

[kells]

Grantland on Ruben

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/mlb-warning-philadelphia-phillies-ruben-amaro/

[Cyclic]

"Everything went completely downhill for the Phillies in mid-2012. Well, everything started to go wrong in 2010, but the team didn’t feel the effects until 2012, so nobody said anything until then."

Someone doesn't read Beerleaguer.

[Cyclic]

Thanks for the link, kells.

Many here will want to check it out and rip it to shreds. The full headline is "MLB 14-Day Warning: Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Might Not Be Terrible Anymore" and it also references Carlos Tocci as part of the next Phillies' core.

[kells]

Yep Cynic the title is misleading.
"This has all been a very long way of saying that Amaro has a reputation as the worst GM in the league, or at least close to it. And he deserves it."
I missed the fact that Amaro could have saved us the draft pick in the Papelbon contract if he waited for new CBA to kick in 2 weeks later. Brutal.

[Cum on Guys]

Bum looker. Cheeky monkey!

[GBrettfan]

Denial, distortion, superiority complex, wishful thinking, displacement? Murphy seems to nail the problems of the Phillies FO/Amaro.

Of course, that's just my opinion. I've tried to understand the difficulty of Amaro's situation up until this point, but throwing Rollins under the bus is unfair and doesn't address the real problems of the organization. It makes me angry.

[WSJ]

I think we all know by now what kind of person Amaro is. And I realize that most if not all GMs are shifty to a certain extent, but Amaro has blatantly lied (and tried to unsuccessfully backpedal) so many times that, at this point, there is no ceiling to his level of outrageousness.

When he does eventually get fired, he may never see another GM job again, that's how bad he is right now. And I realize GMs are recycled all the time, but I think Amaro has actually has done that much damage to himself.

[PLM]

Good article except this part "Well, everything started to go wrong in 2010",..What exactly is the base on this.

[clout]

Damn a new header every 4 days. Komkast busting ass on this blog

[clout]

aksmith: If Koyie Hill is the answer, you don't want to ask the question.

[MG]

Figures that Grantland article was written by Baumann.

It tries to be overly clever and witty, winds up wasting too much of the column, and doesn't really provide a through or insightful analysis.

[Jackamac]

If Koyie Hill is the answer, the question is "Why are you doing a mix of laughing and sobbing?"

[Cyclic]

What does the Phillies record at the ASB have to be to turn you into a believer?

[cut_fastball]

Bleep off, Reality/Truth Injection. Can't you figure out that "cut_fastball" is locked down in Typepad, and none of your horseshit posts are recorded as traceable back to me?

I could give a flying leap if Beerleaguer bans this handle. In fact, I will hound you until they do. Fvck off, creep, and take your obsessions over Jack's posts and bodily fluids back to 6th grade.

What a loser. Don't you have a shred of pride?

[Cyclic]

I'm probably delusional, but I actually think they will be about .500 (within 3 games) at the end of April.

Hamels will come back and in May and June they'll climb to about 3-5 games over .500. Wheels could completely come off after that, not even sure what the team will look like by then.

[Juums]

On something more lighthearted:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/03/washington-nationals-face-faa-penalty-for-using-drone-to-take-promo-pictures/

I think the Nats are inadvertently onto something here: They should have to clear all of their flyballs with the FAA. The Phils need every advantage they can get in the NL East! ...I mean, for national security purposes. Yes, that's it. National security demands it, really.

[Cyclic]

From a Philly.com article (

"Sandberg did not name Roberto Hernandez his fourth starter, but the righthander is likely to start the team's fourth game, which doubles as Wrigley Field's 100th home opener. The Phillies do not need a fifth starter until April 14. They have not yet determined whether a four- or five-man rotation is optimal for the first two weeks.

"It's right at 50-50," pitching coach Bob McClure said. "It's just a thought. We have guys who are building up along with other guys. We'll just see how health-wise we come out of this and go from there."

There does not appear to be any harm in employing a four-man rotation.

"With the off days, if you're pitching on your fifth day, that's not pushing them," McClure said. "No one is going to pitch on their fourth day. If they have bad weather, they might pitch on the sixth day. You're not really pushing anything."

~

I think a 4-man rotation makes the most sense. I have no faith that they'll actually do it. So I look forward to blowouts every 5th day (similar to Halladay starts last year)

[Cyclic]

Forgot the link: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies_zone/Cliff-Lee-will-start-opening-day.html

[Willard Preacher]

So, we just need to "tread water in April until [insert key player's name*] comes back?" Why am I getting a surreal feeling of deja vu?

*2014 - Hamels

[Cyclic]

Exactly!

It's like a broken clock, right? That saying has to be true one of these years.

[CS]

Munson returned to AZ, roster now stands at 38.

[Reality]

cut: You are a creepy freaking weirdo. Stop dragging me into your nonsensical feuds. I have nothing to do with you stupid handle being jacked.

Focus on baseball jagoff

[Cyclic]

Quite shocked that the Rule 5 guy got sent back. It's a brave new Phillies world, perhaps.

[can_of_corn]

Count me also among those who believe throwing Jimmy under the bus makes the entire organization look bad.

The way this whole thing has gone down is much more of a negative statement about the organization (management, coaching staff) than it is about Jimmy.

Whether or not Galvis is a more economical option, it doesn't mean Jimmy should be humiliated, management should talk behind backs, and the press should be manipulated to spin a story.

While Ryno may be taking the so-called "high road" in terms of his workout rigor and discipline, that same "high road" doesn't seem to follow through to his interactions with players--especially the established ones.

[aksmith]

So Munson is gone. That's a surprise. He actually looked like he had mediocre enough stuff to stick around. Now we just need the Dodgers to run out of room and send OUR guy back. We need Rosin, now that the Dodgers' pitching coaches have straightened him out. What did that take, about five minutes?

[cut_fastball]

This just in: Reality likes to focus on "baseball jag off" (whatever that tortured, post-adolescent mind thinks that might be; the bodily fluid thing is at least consistent). Mr. Reality hopes that I do, too.

Please, sir. It's my understanding you're a schoolteacher. Such an honorable profession. Contain yourself; if only for your students.

[Reality]

First off the last comment was missing a comma but I thought any sane person would understand that.

Secondly- I don't teach school. No idea where you got that idea.

Thirdly- I am not posting as you so I would like an apology.

Fourthly- let's stay focused on baseball talk going forward...deal?

[Cyclic]

Reality-- What's your most optimistic take on the Phillies in 2014?

[cut_fastball]

Reality/TTI - I've posted here since mid-2011 and when you bragged about leaving due to much higher standards than the hoi polloi here, then, and only then, my "cut_fastball" handle was hijacked with regularity. Further, you're a teacher and the first thing you bitch about is a "comma". You are outed.

Give it up, Truth Injection. Please. Beerleaguer can be saved, but only if you stop throwing grenades; under a half-dozen handles.

Thanks in advance for your kind consideration.

[Bonehead]

Reality doth protest too much.

[Reality]

Last comment to creepy cut: I didn't know only teachers have the market on correct punctuation. That is it. I will talk baseball with those who want to actually talk baseball instead of hurling unfounded speculation at other posters. How about you do the same?

Cyclic: my guess is 73 wins....more if Hamels can get back quickly...less if he can't. The bench will remain weak if they go with what it looks like at this point.

[Reality]

Honestly cyclic it is hard to peg down a number for me in many ways. There are a lot of "ifs" that are in play. I know it is like that for a lot of teams but for the Phillies if Hamels gets back quickly, if Howard can hit lefties a little more, if Brown is for real, if Ruiz can get back to his 2012...I could see them sneaking into the playoffs. However, I could see all those "ifs" failing and we lose 95 games.

I also would never bet on all those "ifs" hitting. That would be a suckers bet.

[Bubba]

Stealth baseball tomorrow- no radio or TV.

JA Happ going against the remnants of his former team.

[MG]

Munson was another middle reliever who didn't really throw that hard (92), had average/below average command, and didn't have a quality offspeed pitch. Phils already have a bunch of those guys already.

Maybe the middle relie surprises me and De Fratus and Rosenberg pitch well and Diekman picks up from where we was last year. Bet on another year of alot of bullpen shuffling due to in effectiveness and the Phils grasping for straws again by midsummer.

[NEPP]

Like I said at the time, there is nothing wrong with taking a flier on a Rule 5 guy to see if there's something there. Sometimes it works out (Victorino, Herndon too I suppose) and most of the time it doesnt ever even affect the regular season (Blackley, Munson, etc). The Mini Mart scenario was pretty much a worst case scenario really.

[WSJ]

There were two really interesting lines from this.

1. A jab at the Phillies – “Now that even the Phillies have started a stat department, teams have moved on to the next innovation.”
2. And, that next innovation, which is medical analysis – “Until 2010, MLB didn’t have any sophisticated injury tracking system; teams kept track of injuries on sheets of paper they kept in filing cabinets, and the thoroughness of those records varied depending on the doctor and training staff. As Dodgers trainer Stan Conte said on SABR’s “Medical Analysis and Injury Prevention” panel, pre-2010 teams couldn’t even tell whether they’d reduced their rate of hamstring strains from what it had been a few years before, let alone whether pitchers were suffering fewer serious injuries than they had in the 1970s.”

What do you think is in the Phillies filing cabinet? My vote is paper napkins with diagrams of straw figures on them.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/a/23064

[Reality]

Diekman finding what he did last year will be critical to the bullpen MG. If he can do that it may be able to hide some of the dregs back there in middle relief.

[cut_fastball]

It will surprise me MG if I have a cognizant thought this season.

I remember it was around the time of the Black Friday game that I had my last one. You have no idea how hard it is to go almost 30 years without one thought that makes any sense. I've been living my life like Leo in What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

[cut_fastball]

Not me:

It will surprise me MG if I have a cognizant thought this season.

I remember it was around the time of the Black Friday game that I had my last one. You have no idea how hard it is to go almost 30 years without one thought that makes any sense. I've been living my life like Leo in What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

Posted by: cut_fastball | Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 08:43 AM

Truth Injection - or whoever the fvck you are - grow a pair, and post under your own handle. Again, this just in: what I post goes to Typepad. You are a bomb-throwing creep.

To Mike Wisniewski: Can't you lock out the "cut_fastball" handle from Beerleaguer? This site has lost any shred of integrity, and I could care less if I post here again; especially under that name.

[Cyclic]

Reality @ 1035.

Yeah, I could see that too. However unlikely, it feels good to at least have a sliver of hope going into this season.

[WSJ]

And of course, after posting that last link on baseball injury analysis, I immediately found this article about our much more forward-thinking neighbors to the west, the Pirates (the Pirates!).

http://triblive.com/sports/pirates/5784994-74/pirates-martin-calories#axzz2wP34QeHb

This spring the Pirates are experimenting with sports science technology. Prior to and during games this exhibition season, some Pirates are wearing Zephyr workload monitoring devices. Under select players' jerseys is a tight-fitting, compression shirt, which has a black, circular, detachable electronic device — about the size of a quarter — attached near the center of the chest. The device collects data from a sensor that records players' heartbeats and energy consumption.

[cut_fastball]

To Mike Wisniewski: Can't you lock out the "cut_fastball" handle from Beerleaguer? This site has lost any shred of integrity, and I could care less if I post here again; especially under that name.

Posted by: cut_fastball | Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 08:57 AM

I agree Mike. Can you just ban the cut_fastball handle? I never post anything worthwhile anyway.

[WSJ]

Seriously, Ruben Amaro please just walk across the street to the NovaCare center and talk with Chip Kelly about sports science, statistical analysis, and how to generally think like it's not 1988 anymore. At least get the ball rolling, something, anything, there is data available - use it!

74 (wins) in '14

[cut_fastball]

Not me:

I agree Mike. Can you just ban the cut_fastball handle? I never post anything worthwhile anyway.

Everyone here knows it isn't me but I feel the need to post every single time that it isn't because I am trying to protect my image of being completely senile rather than slightly senile.