MLB 2014 season thread

btw, impressive debut by toro tanaka in debut last nite at Toronto. gave up leadoff home to Cabrera and had shaky second inning but gpt it together foe first 'w' with this seven inning, 97 pitch effort:

3 runs (2 earned), six hits, zero bb, 8 k's.

and he passed the eyes test. dude has some serious stuff. consistent 91 mph on fastball, topped off at 94.

 

Watched a few innings. The movement on his pitches is nasty. Joey Bats struck out swinging and looked pretty bad in the process.

 

"Time, time, time, see what's become of me, while I look around for my possibilities ... "

On October 2, 2005, 162nd game of the season, LHP Zach Duke started for Pittsburgh and LHP Chris Capuano started for Milwaukee. Brewers needed a win to finish 82-80. Capuano was 18-11, Duke 7-2. Both were two of the strong young lefties in baseball, one more seasoned and a little stronger.

Box: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT200510020.shtml

Fifteen minutes ago in Fenway: Capuano is middle-relieving for the Red Sox against the Brewers and doing a nice job, while Duke is middle-relieving for the Brewers in a high-leverage situation. Duke came in with runners on first and second and no one out. His first pitch produced a 4-6-3. His fifth pitch produced a weak chopper that should've put an end to the thread but Segura charged and bumbled the ball to allow the tying run to score -- preventing starter Wily Peralta from a chance to notch a win.

6-6 going into bottom-7.

Weird to see Capuano and Duke in these roles 9 years later.

After that 8-2 rookie season in '05, Duke is 42-74.

After that 18-12, Capuano hasn't been the same either. Four 12-loss seasons and 2+ seasons lost to surgeries.

 

I know nobody gives a shit, but Zach Duke helped put my fantasy team in the playoffs in '05. He will be forever on my good side.

 

Yet another blown out elbow. This time it is Jameson Taillon of the Pirates, one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. He was expected to make his major league debut this season. Now he's scheduled for Tommy John surgery.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2014/04/06/Bucs-Taillon-to-have-Tommy-John-surgery/stories/201404060208

 

Giants beat writer from Dodger Stadium:

Apparently, the Dodgers PA announcer also happens to be a teacher and he was away this weekend on a field trip. So the Dodgers had Jason Bateman step in today, and he mostly played it straight — including when Buster Posey came up. But then, as the day wore on …

Alex Pavlovic @AlexPavlovic
Jason Bateman: "Shortstop, another Brandon, Crawford."

Alex Pavlovic @AlexPavlovic
Guest PA announcer Jason Bateman: "Rally killer, Hunter Pence."

 

That one hurts for them.

 

Fangraphs with a great article about pitches right down the being called balls.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/balls-right-down-the-middle-already/

 

The Lee pitch doesn't appear at first glance to be a clear down-the-pipe Zone 5 pitch. I'm sure it was, but I'd have guessed Zone 6 looking at the video. Still, though, it doesn't sound like there's any expectation that they're going to drop below the 99.7 percent accuracy rate they've been hitting.

I thought the most interesting part was the obvious makeup pitch Gonzalez got to end the inning, because that clearly was not a strike.

 

The camera angle on Lee's pitch is pretty extreme.

 

Yu Darvish's march to the 2014 AL Cy Young is under way. Seven scoreless, 89 pitches, 65 for strikes.

 

Capuano made the all-star game in 2006 and started the 2007 season 5-0. From there it all went to shit. Not only did he not win the rest of that season, the Brewers did not win a single game in which he pitched. And then it got worse as he needed the second Tommy John surgery of his career in 2008. Missed both the 2008 and 2009 seasons. But you have to admire his perseverance. He's notched another 31 big-league victories since.

Also, he ranks in the top 5 of nicest people I've ever covered.