First Pitch Strikes - Continued
by natsstats on Feb 9, 2010 7:15 PM EST
4 comments
Yesterday's post on first pitch strikes examined the relationship between throwing strikes on the first pitch and ERA. Today, we'll look at the relationship between first pitch strikes and xFIP.
4 comments | 0 recs |
Washington Nationals: 2010 Draft Watch: Bryce Harper/Jameson Taillon.
by Ed Chigliak on Feb 9, 2010 2:45 PM EST
10 comments
It just so happens that two of the potential 2010 no.1 overall draft picks, Bryce Harper and Jameson Taillon were both in the news on Monday, with Harper's coach at the College of Southern Nevada talking about starting the season with Harper on the team while Taillon took the mound to throw his first pitches of his draft year in a scrimmage, the results of which made the rounds on Twitter.
CSN Coyotes' coach Tim Chambers was quoted Monday, in an article by MASNSports.com's Byron Kerr entitled, "Bryce Harper Update from College Coach", describing his early impressions of 17-year-old catcher Bryce Harper's power:
"He has 10 hits so far and most of them are for extra bases. His home run Friday was the first one I have seen over the center field wall, (Coach Chambers has been at CSN for 11 years) which is 400 feet to dead center and it's a 20 foot wall. It was a bomb."
In 8 games for the CSN Coyotes, Harper's hitting .323 with a .405 OBP, a .677 SLG, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 2 HR's, 9 RBI's and 2 stolen bases.
10 comments | 0 recs |
Tuesday Nats Stats: Pitcher Run Expectancy
by Doghouse on Feb 9, 2010 12:00 PM EST
1 comment
Okay, the last couple of posts I've put up have had tables showing how many runs the batting team expects to score starting from a given situation. You can do that math another way, and figure out how many runs the defending team expects to give up starting from a given situation, instead. This only makes a difference if you look at it team-by-team; league-wide, the "hitter" and "pitcher" run expectancies will be the same: every run a batter scores is a run some pitcher gave up. And, yes, I know this isn't really "pitcher" run expectancy so much as "defensive" run expectancy, since fielding plays a huge role (a huge negative role in our case). But enough preamble. Here's the Nats' 2009 pitcher (or defensive) run expectancy:
| Runners | no out | 1 out | 2 out |
| --- | 0.59 | 0.34 | 0.14 |
| 1-- | 0.99 | 0.61 | 0.27 |
| 12- | 1.34 | 1.01 | 0.51 |
| 123 | 1.75 | 1.77 | 0.61 |
| 1-3 | 1.73 | 1.12 | 0.60 |
| -2- | 1.21 | 0.89 | 0.40 |
| -23 | 1.91 | 1.38 | 0.58 |
| --3 | 0.89 | 1.05 | 0.50 |
Do you see teh suk? Right off, the Nats gave up 0.59 runs per inning (starting from no out, no one on) in 2009. League average is 0.48, and the Nats scored 0.47... Some more comparisons after the jump, including the Horrifying Truth About Sac Bunting.
1 comment | 0 recs |
Washington Nationals: Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll's Team Health Reports.
by Ed Chigliak on Feb 9, 2010 2:50 AM EST
0 comments
• Baseball Prospectus' writer Will Carroll's "Team Health Reports: Washington Nationals" was published Monday, and it starts with Mr. Carroll calling the Nats, "...kind of the Evil Spock of consistency to Toronto's comparative randomness when it comes to injuries," and goes on to look at the true cost of games lost to injuries, the players on the Nationals who are the biggest risks this season and those we should expect to see rebound from past struggles in 2010. As he was last season, Mr. Carroll was once again willing to answer a few questions I had as Spring Training approaches...
Federal Baseball (FB): Stephen Strasburg missed two big starts in the AFL due to injuries, with the second injury, a patellar subluxation (dislocation)* of the left knee cap, ending his Fall. Should Washington Nationals fans worry that a leg injury will force Strasburg to change his delivery/mechanics leading to more issues?
Will Carroll: "Let's be clear - a sublux and a disloc are two entirely different things. It's the difference between a fender bender and totalling the car. I think the worry is that the injury, at the time, might change his mechanics and put more stress somewhere else. We know minute changes do often have consequences. I think by holding Strasburg out at the time and spending the off-season addressing the problem with physical therapy should be enough. Known problems can be addressed and maintained. It's something to watch, but you can bet the Nats and SBC are watching it closely."
0 comments | 0 recs |
Washington Nationals: Late Day Links, Send Mark Zuckerman To Florida.
by Ed Chigliak on Feb 8, 2010 10:30 PM EST
13 comments
• If you haven't already read about former Washington Times' writer Mark Zuckerman's attempts to replace the funding the Times used to provide for him to travel to Spring Training, (when they covered the Washington Nationals), with user-generated funding for the expense of doing so...CLICK HERE and check out his Nats Insider site. Mr. Zuckerman's accepting donations and hoping to raise $5,000 dollars which will allow him to travel to Florida and cover Spring Training from start to finish. It's a bold plan, and one I personally support since I've always thought that the more voices and opinions on any subject the better. I'll travel to Spring Training at some point in March, but Mr. Zuckerman will be there the whole time...very NPR, as another DC writer noted...
• Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll published his Team Health Report for the Washington Nationals today, where he writes in the free portion of the article about the days and dollars the Nats lost to injury last season, as well as the real cost of such injuries:
"That is money that could have been used to bring in Orlando Hudson before he decided to accept the Twins' offer for just a million more guaranteed. The Nationals could have gone the other way with that money on pitching, too, and brought in a John Lackey type instead of spending the $15 million on Jason Marquis to be a "front of the rotation" starter."
Are you one of the DC Faithful who's expecting Elijah Dukes to have a big season in twenty-ten? Mr. Carroll writes that the 25-year-old outfielder, "...is in a state of constant comeback—much of it his own doing—but he also seems to have some terrible timing when it comes to injuries. With a more-or-less new manager and theoretically coming into his prime, Dukes could put everything together... or..."
13 comments | 0 recs |
First Pitch Strikes
by natsstats on Feb 8, 2010 6:43 PM EST
13 comments
The Washington Nationals have made big changes to their pitching staff this year. Can this squad throw strikes? How important is it for pitchers to get ahead early in the count? Does throwing a first pitch strike have any impact on a pitcher's success rate? How did the Nats current roster do in 2009? While pitchers and catchers are making their way to spring training, I thought it would be a good time to go looking for answers.
13 comments | 0 recs |
Washington Nationals: HotStove.com: Reaction To The Adam Kennedy Signing.
Tom Reese at Hot Stove.com has put together another collection of opinions on the Nationals' decision to sign free agent infielder Adam Kennedy once they failed to sign Orlando Hudson. Participating this week:
Will Yoder of The Nats Blog
Ed Chigliak of FB
Anthony Emerson of Bleacher Report.
1 day ago
Ed Chigliak
2 comments
0 recs
Washington Nationals: Weekend Rumors, Links And Tweets.
by Ed Chigliak on Feb 8, 2010 5:17 AM EST
27 comments
• DC GM Mike Rizzo spoke to MLB.com's Bill Ladson last week in an article on the Nationals' interest in free agent right-hander Chien-Ming Wang entitled, "Nationals monitoring Wang's progress", in which Mr. Rizzo signaled a shift in Washington's approach to the remaining free agent arms on the market, telling Mr. Ladson that any veteran pitcher who might still sign in the nation's capital would have to do so, "...at the Nationals' price." In the next few days, Mr. Ladson noted on Twitter, that he expected the DC GM to, "...focus on pitching the rest of the offseason," with future Hall of Famer John Smoltz, at least in Mr. Ladson's opinion, "a perfect fit", though, "...his price must come down."
• Just two weeks back, MLB.com's Bill Ladson reported via his Twitter account that, "The #Nats have talked to John Smoltz's agent recently, but there isn't any progress to report."
27 comments | 0 recs |
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NL East Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Philadelphia
|
93 | 69 | .574 | 0 | Lost 1 |
|
Florida
|
87 | 75 | .537 | 6 | Lost 1 |
|
Atlanta
|
86 | 76 | .530 | 7 | Lost 6 |
|
New York
|
70 | 92 | .432 | 23 | Won 3 |
|
Washington
|
59 | 103 | .364 | 34 | Won 7 |
(updated 2.10.2010 at 12:39 AM EST)
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