Batter's Box Interactive Magazine

We have all said our piece about the Hinske trade, and they did play a ballgame last night in Tampa we could talk about. Facing Scott Kazmir, the Jays smartly decided to work counts and find their way into the yummy Tampa bullpen. It worked.

Star of the Game: Faster than a stationary locomotive, more powerful than your average catcher, it's Super-Benjie. The GWRBI and a triple make this one a snap.

Unsung Hero: A. J. Burnett stayed within himself and threw 7 effective but not overpowering innings. Winning without his best stuff is an excellent sign for A.J.

For the Rays: The aforementioned Kazmir threw 5 shutout innings and struck out 10. Can you say ace?

Boxscore: De Nada

Elsewhere: The Orioles beat up on Jaret Wright and the Yanks...Matt Garza pitched better than against Toronto, but still absorbed his second loss...Scott Rolen brought the Cardinals back with a 7th inning homer and a 9th inning walkoff single.

Today: Scott Downs faces Kris Benson at 7:05, while the Yanks and Sox play a day-night doubleheader in Boston.

Posted by Mike Green on Friday, August 18 2006 @ 02:22 PM EDT.

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Mike Green - Friday, August 18 2006 @ 03:15 PM EDT (#153432) #

The Hinske thread is a little long, don't ya think?

League continued his fine pitching last night. It's basically been the whole season like this. A strikeout rate of 7.5, a walk rate of 1.5 and 70% of balls in play on the ground. I am sold. My hope is that John Gibbons finds a way next year to ensure that both League and Ryan have leverage indices at 1.5 or higher, as Torre has managed with Farnsworth and Rivera this year.

js_magloire - Friday, August 18 2006 @ 03:17 PM EDT (#153433) #

AJ's biggest weakness, subjectively it seems, is that when runners are on, he gets too afraid of letting them in, and well, ends up letting too many in. He needs damage control, which I think requires a certain degree of perspective. He can have good starts, or have 3 good innings, and then implode all at once (see: loss in Yankee series in NY). Last night he seemed to maintain his compusure. He needs to relax and not worry about messing up when he gets in the slightest bit of danger situations. Other than letting up a lot of hits he looks pretty darn good.

Nolan - Friday, August 18 2006 @ 03:26 PM EDT (#153436) #

In last night's game, A.J. was using only two pitches [correct me if I'm wrong...], his fastball and curve. If I remember corrctly, he also has a rarely used change-up in his repetoire. In light Brandon League's emergence in the bullpen this year, I'd love to see what he can accomplish as a starter. I've frequently heard it mentioned that he probably wouldn't survive as a starter due to having only two pitches. Could he not survive and thrive just as Burnett?

Perhaps the difference is that both of League's pitches are similar in speed [FB and slider], while AJ has a true offspeed in his curveball?

As an aside, I'm a Manitoban guy, but am coming to Toronto next week (August 22-27) for a friend's wedding and am planning to catch some games. Which are the best tickets in an under $50 range; I have never been to the Skydome, but section 129 looks good to me. Also, is the Cheer Club still around? I'd like to take in a game or two with guys from this site - It'd be fun to meet the people who match up with the different monikers. Anyways, thanks in advance.

Nolan - Friday, August 18 2006 @ 03:39 PM EDT (#153437) #

And I think I was wrong about League: his second pitch is a sinker and not a slider.

Magpie - Friday, August 18 2006 @ 05:51 PM EDT (#153456) #

Kazmir had thrown 89 pitches after 5 innings

Which is pretty normal for him, actually. But it was indeed his second start after missing three weeks with a sore shoulder and Tampa is understandably being pretty careful with him.

Mike Green - Sunday, August 20 2006 @ 01:15 PM EDT (#153636) #

Smaj, here's BP's definition of leverage index. Using the appropriate win expectancy table is a matter of judgment. How one accounts for team offence, league offence, park and opposition offence is setting the win expectancy is not obvious. To give simple examples, a 1 run lead in the top of the eighth for the Dodgers facing the Mets at home in 1965 is a much lower leverage situation than the Rockies with a 1 run lead in the top of the eighth facing the Astros of Biggio and Bagwell. In the ninth inning, leverage also depends on who is due up. Facing the Giants in 2001 with a 1 run lead in the ninth and Calvin Murray leading off, the leverage is a lot lower than if Barry Bonds leads off.

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