Saturday, June 26, 2004

Grip It and Rip It, Johan!

Well, another Saturday evening trip to the Metrodome wasn't in the cards tonight, so no further news on the homerun derby exploits of T.C. I'll keep my eye on the transaction wire to see if he gets signed by Montreal or K.C., though.

I did want to mention that Twins lefty Johan Santana is the first AL pitcher to rack up 100 strikeouts (in 16 starts), making it just ahead of Boston's pair of aces, Pedro Martinez (97 in 16 starts) and Curt Schilling (93 in 15 starts). Santana has gotten there first on the strength of his last two outings, both wins against the Brewers, in which he struck out 22 in 15 innings of work.

Santana got off to a slow start, garnering only one decision in his first seven starts, a 4-3 win over Detroit on April 22. Santana then won his eighth start in a 1-0 victory over Seattle on May 13 before absorbing four straight losses. In that fourth loss, 5-2 to Tampa Bay on June 3, Santana showed signs of coming around but gave up a 2-out, 3-run homer to Aubrey Huff to cap a 4-run sixth inning.

Since then, Santana has been dominant, going 4-0 with a 1.74 ERA in his last four starts, including all three of his 10+ strikeout performances this season. As reported at the Twins site at mlb.com, the turnaround was mainly mental:

'Not coincidentally, Santana's recent dominance is a result of a breakthrough side bullpen session with (Twins Pitching Coach Rick) Anderson nearly four weeks ago. Still finding his feel after off-season elbow surgery, the southpaw had been tentative about fully extending his arm in his delivery.

'"He just didn't want to reach out and get it. He was cutting it off," Anderson said. "That was a mental block he got over."'

With Santana getting past his block, look for him to be among the league leaders in strikeouts and an important piece in the Twins' efforts to win a third straight AL Central crown.

posted by Tom Renbarger 11:39 PM

Friday, June 25, 2004

One More Killer B in Texas

The big news in baseball is the trade of CF Carlos Beltran from Kansas City to Houston. It looks like a good trade on the surface, even for a rental, but I'm not sure how much Houston has actually improved in their deals with Oakland, KC, and the Mets.

The net effects of the Astros' two recent deals are the addition of Beltran and reliever David Weathers, and the subtraction of closer Octavio Dotel, outfielder Richard Hidalgo, and some fairly choice prospects.

The prospects are the price to be paid for a relatively aged core. Biggio, Bagwell, Kent and Clemens are all getting on in years, so the window is closing a little for the Astros. A now-first attitude is probably the correct one for Houston.

Beltran is a big upgrade defensively and on the basepaths. With Beltran in place, Biggio can move to left, and Beltran will track down considerably more than a game but limited-range (for a CF, anyways) Biggio. And Beltran in the 2- or 3-hole brings both power and speed to the top of the Astros' order. Beltran is a career 85% base stealer, 164 SB vs. 23 CS in about 800 games.

But I was a little surprised that Hidalgo actually has a slight edge in career OBP (.355 vs. .352) and SLG (.500 vs. .483) over Beltran. Now it's true that the 2004 Hidalgo is a pale shadow of the 2004 Beltran, but Beltran has never slugged .636 like Hidalgo did in 2000. Beltran has been the more steady performer, though, with three straight .500+ SLG seasons running and .534 clip so far this year. Perhaps Beltran can make a run a .600 SLG now that he plays his home games at Minute Maid Park.

The bullpen is a little weaker. Dotel + Brad Lidge may not be quite at the same level as Rivera + Wetteland for the '96 Yankees, but that pair is closer than Weathers + Lidge.

Bottom line is that the relievers only have about 40-50 more innings to pitch, whereas Beltran will be playing pretty much every inning of all of the Astros' 90 or so remaining games. If he can help take the Astro to a World Series it'll probably be worth it, and if somehow the Astros can re-sign him after the season that would make up for the loss of their prospects.

posted by Tom Renbarger 7:19 PM

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Watching Sports Center this morning I was reminded that it's been two years since we lost Darryl Kile. The first thing that popped into my head was that in today's environment the first thing people would assume would be the possible involvement of steroids. What a difference two years makes...

I was at Wrigley that day, here's what I wrote at the time:

Darryl Kile
1968-2002

It was a hot muggy day at Wrigley, more or less what you would expect at the start of a Chicago Summer. The natives were growing restless, the big clock on the centerfield scoreboard was well past the stated start time. It was a nationally televised game, and things slow down for TV, but the more astute fans noted that the pitchers weren't warming up in the bullpens, and the teams weren't waiting in the dugouts. Rumors circulated through the crowd - television was holding up the game for an announcement by President Bush, the players were staging a mini-strike. But the worst rumor was the one that was true.

Cub Joe Girardi announces the cancellation

Darryl Kile was found dead in his hotel room in Chicago Saturday. He appears to have died in his sleep, and no foul play is suspected. He is survived by his wife and three children, twins aged five and a one-year-old. This is the second day of sadness in the Cardinals family this week. Jack Buck passed Tuesday. Baseball cancelled the day's game between the Cubs and Cardinals, it will be made up in August. The thoughts of The Diamond Angle are with Kile's loved ones.

posted by David 8:06 AM

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Cranky All-Star Ballot

NL

1B Sean Casey

with all due respect to Pujols, Casey's having the kind of year that makes a team. The lower profile and power numbers will assure he won't get voted in, though, and Jim Thome might even squeeze him off the team.

2B Jeff Kent

I'm so bored with Jeff Kent but he keeps putting up the numbers.

3B Scott Rolen

I'm a sucker for leather, but I understand Rolen's also pretty good with the lumber.

SS Jack Wilson

Adam Everett is leading the voting right now, and is much more deserving than Renteria, who will eventually get the fans' ballot because of the Busch Stadium voters. But Jack Wilson's a "human web gem", as Peter Gammons says, and his excellent year at the plate make him the man I'd like to see play.

C Michael Barrett

Barrett's long-predicted breakout year is this year, and he's doing a great job behind the plate.

OF

Bonds. Duh.

Bob Abreu. Philly voters, where are you? Abreu's 15th in the voting!

Lance Berkman. Griffey's a good story, but Berkman's the better player this year.


AL

C Pudge

Tie-breaker for Pudge is always the entertainment value.

1B Rafael Palmeiro

No justice here: Jason Giambi leads by a huge margin, Raffy's barely 5th, but let's give some nods to the best overall first-sacker of this generation. I love Frank Thomas but he doesn't play the field.

2B Pokey Reese

So Soriano's got some offensive numbers -- he's a butcher in the field. I love the way Pokey plays.

SS Michael Young

Let the fans vote Nomar in if that's who they want to see play. Jeter probably deserves the nod after being in A-Rod's shadow on the ballot all these years, although, ironically enough, he's literally in A-Rods' shadow now.

3B A Rod

Oh, alright. I hate to do it but he's been the best.

OF

Vlad
Manny
Hideki

I hate to vote my favorite AL player, Ichiro, off the team, but everytime I look at the screen Hideki Matsui is doing something to punish the other club.

Vlad and Manny may vie for the MVP at the end of the year, depending on which club chokes.

posted by The Crank 9:35 AM