Archive for the ‘baseball’ Category
Vinny Rottino Signs with Orix Buffaloes, Will Play in Japan in 2013
Vinny Rottino has found a new baseball home — in Japan.
According to this article written by Peter Jackel of the Racine Journal-Times, Rottino signed a contract with the Orix Buffaloes, a Japanese baseball team based in Osaka and Kobe, Japan, this past Friday. He’s scheduled to meet with a representative of the Buffaloes on Wednesday, and will report to Spring Training on January 21, 2013, in Osaka.
Here’s a quote from the article:
Vinny Rottino’s ultimate reward for grinding out a professional baseball career the last 10 years just might be more than 6,000 miles away.
The latest — and most lucrative — in a long list of baseball destinations for the 1998 St. Catherine’s High School graduate is Japan. The 32-year-old Rottino signed a one-year contract Friday with the Orix Buffaloes, a Nippon Professional team in the Pacific League. The contract guarantees him $350,000 with the potential of another $100,000 in incentives.
Now what’s the most interesting thing to me in all of this was this following quote:
Rottino said he received offers from the Brewers, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs after the season, but his decision to head overseas was easy.
“I heard it’s awesome in Japan,” Rottino said. “Everyone’s so polite and it’s got a lot to offer, from what I hear.”
Now, the fascination with Japanese baseball makes some sense here, especially from Rottino’s perspective. Rottino steals bases, can gain an infield hit from time to time, plays good and steady defense, and can be relied upon to be professional at all times while still having fun. These are qualities the Japanese league should appreciate.
And the parks, I’ve heard, are a bit smaller, too, so Rottino’s home run and doubles totals should go up (much less his RBI total).
So here I was, worried about where Rottino would go after the Indians DFA’d him, mostly because I was afraid no one would want him in MLB-land due to his age (32). Yet he got four offers.
Including one from the Brewers (yay!).
Of course, as Greg Giesen of the Journal-Times just confirmed at Twitter right now (in answer to my question, “Was this about the money?”), there was a potential problem with these four offers:
@barbcaffrey Yes. His contract is for $350,000. The MLB offers were minor league deals with an chance to make the majors out of spring.
I told Giesen in reply:
@GregGiesenJT Then it makes perfect sense, Greg. I’d have taken the guaranteed money, too. Plus, his style of play may really fit in there.
At any rate, it’s great that Rottino has signed a guaranteed contract worth $350,000 (with another $100,000 in incentives, no less). I wish him much success in Japan . . . and I hope that I’ll be able to figure out how to start translating Japanese baseball’s stat-lines, stat.
Baseball’s Winter Meetings, or, Why Your GM Should Sign Vinny Rottino
On December 3, 2012, the baseball Winter Meetings will be held in Nashville, TN. All thirty major league clubs, plus many minor league teams as well, will be at the Winter Meetings; much will be said, much will be hinted at, and maybe a few deals will be made to the benefit of all and sundry.
My take? I’d like to see one of these MLB GMs actually pick up a player who will help their team in every aspect of the game — Vinny Rottino.
Rottino, you see, is now a free agent. (Again.) Yet he plays many positions, has a winning attitude, and has worked incredibly hard at improving himself and his abilities over the years. And he’s been so good at keeping his body free from injury that even though he’s now chronologically thirty-two years of age, he probably can keep playing at the same level or higher for six or seven more years yet.
Ah, but you’re probably thinking, “Why do you care so much about a guy who has a lifetime major league batting average of .165, Barb?”
I care because Rottino has hit at every level, providing he’s been given a good chance to play every day. And when someone has worked this hard for this long and does have the skills, yet never gets the chance to prove himself, that just doesn’t seem right.
So to all you MLB GMs out there, listen up. Rottino is smart, hard-working, has never taken a performance-enhancing drug of any sort, plays multiple positions and plays them well, and when given a chance has hit at every level. His lifetime minor league stats of .294 with 598 RBI, 82 HR and 116 SBs over ten seasons proves that.
Rather than throwing Rottino out because he’s going to be thirty-three in April of ’13, why not sign him and give him a chance to be in your lineup every day or every other day (as Rottino hits lefthanders particularly well)? Or at least put him on your bench, as Rottino is a capable and versatile defender who can play many, many positions.
As there are some terrible teams out there (such as the Houston Astros, about to go to the American League, or the Miami Marlins after their recent fire sale), it would seem to me that Rottino has more than enough skills to be given a flyer. And once he’s there, it’s quite possible that Rottino will do more than enough to start the season in the major leagues — that is, unless the GMs wish to be ageist and insist that since Rottino’s never done all that well, he never will do all that well, either, because he’s about to turn thirty-three and only the rarest of the rare improve after that age.
That sort of argument is impossible to disprove unless Rottino gets another chance to play somewhere. And since he’s done very, very well at the AAA level (seven years and counting of AAA service), it seems likely that he’ll be offered a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training by some team.
So once again, GMs, I urge you not to be stupid. Sign Vinny Rottino. Know that the minor league players in your system will look up to him. And maybe, just maybe, your other players will learn so much from him that he’ll be like another coach — which to my mind seems like his most likely career option once his playing days are done.
Several years in the future.
October 2012 Quick Hits, Pt. 2
Time for some more quick hits, folks . . . especially as I’ve been too busy to come up with a complete blog post this week. Yet it’s wrong to neglect my blog, now, isn’t it? (Don’t answer that.)
Anyway, here’s a few things I’ve been thinking about since my last blog:
- I’m sick and tired of all the sniping about the election on Facebook. Whether you’re liberal, conservative, independent-minded or somewhere in between, watching people who otherwise like each other decide to savage each other instead over differing political beliefs just disgusts me. Jason Cordova wrote an excellent blog about this very thing; I strongly urge you to read it, then reflect upon it.
- In case you missed it, Shiny Book Review turned two years old (and Jason Cordova got the domain name, finally) . . . and I forgot to get it a present! (Unless you figure my ongoing series of book reviews is a present of sorts, that is.)
- The San Francisco Giants, behind Madison Bumgarner, won again tonight and have gone up two games to nothing over the Detroit Tigers in the 2012 World Series. So far the Giants look like a juggernaut, while the Tigers look like they’ve run out of gas. Look for more of the same in Game 3 unless the Tigers are able to regain some sense of life or energy in the meantime.
Other than that, it’s all writing, editing, and commenting, as per usual . . . and I will be reviewing Mercedes Lackey’s newest Valdemar novel, REDOUBT, tomorrow at SBR. (Due to circumstances beyond my control, my review of Michael Casey’s THE UNFAIR TRADE is going to have to wait for next week. That book requires more concentration than I’ve had lately to explain, and I want to do it justice.)
So keep an eye out for tomorrow’s book review, folks . . . and maybe between now and then, I’ll figure out something to blog about, else.
2012 NLCS: San Francisco Giants Force Game 7
Folks, two games ago, the St. Louis Cardinals had a nearly insurmountable 3-1 advantage in the National League Championship Series (NLCS).
But the resurgent San Francisco Giants have looked extremely sharp in their last two games, winning game 5 by a score of 5-0 behind Barry Zito, and Game 6 by a score of 6-1 behind Ryan Vogelsong. This means that the Giants have tied up the NLCS at three games apiece and have now forced Game 7, which will be played on October 22, 2012 (otherwise known as tomorrow evening).
I got a chance to listen to the last two innings of the game (courtesy of ESPN Radio 540 in Milwaukee), and I enjoyed it; not only did the Cardinals lose, 6-1, they lost to Vogelsong, who three short years ago was a nearly complete unknown. (Of course, since then he’s done more than a little to prove he’s an outstanding major league starting pitcher, posting records of 13-7 with a 2.71 ERA in 2011 and 14-9 with a 3.37 ERA in 2012.)
Best of all, this was the second time that Vogelsong won in this series, as he previously beat Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals on the 15th by a score of 7-1. And this is the third time Vogelsong has won in the playoffs . . . out of three tries. Impressive!
At any rate, Game 7 tomorrow night will be between Matt Cain of the Giants and Kyle Lohse of the Cards. Cain got chased in Game 3, giving up three runs in six and 2/3 innings of work, so he is in need of a bit of redemption, while Lohse benefited from Cain’s rare off-day even though Lohse pitched only five and 2/3 innings during that same game (to his credit, Lohse did give up only one run).
So keep an eye on whatever happens during Game 7 — though to my mind, it’s much more likely that the Giants will win than the Cardinals, especially as the Giants are at home. (Confidential for Matt Cain — Lohse is hittable. Really. So do yourself a favor and study the films accordingly; a timely hit, from you, may be the difference between success and failure in Game 7.)
Whichever team wins will be facing the Detroit Tigers, winners of the American League Championship Series. Detroit is a strong team that has pitching (Justin Verlander and a cast of thousands) and great hitting, though not-so-wonderful defense; their line-up features American League Triple Crown Winner Miguel Cabrera and former Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder. (It will be interesting to see how Fielder does in his very first World Series appearance.)
I believe that the Giants would be the stronger team against the Tigers, but that the Cardinals are perhaps a better-balanced team than the Giants. Either way, though, I’m hoping that the Giants, not the Cardinals, will win Game 7 tomorrow evening and be on their way to the ’12 World Series.
Milwaukee Brewers 2012 End-of-the-season Wrap-up
As promised, here’s my end-of-the-season assessment of the Milwaukee Brewers.
While most writers have concentrated on the Brewers’ pitchers major league-leading 29 blown saves (ouch!), or the many injuries to key players (first baseman Mat Gamel, pitcher Chris Narveson, and shortstop Alex Gonzalez suffered season-ending injuries early, while catcher Jonathan Lucroy and pitcher Shaun Marcum spent significant time on the disabled list), or the weak first-half performances by Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks and third baseman Aramis Ramirez as reasons why the Brewers finished third in the National League Central and missed the second Wild Card slot by four games, I’d rather focus on something else.
Put simply, the Brewers had an extremely inconsistent season. Some months, the Brewers looked terrible. Other months, the Brewers looked like world-beaters — with one of their best months being the month of September (which is why they were in Wild Card contention at all).
This is the main reason the Brewers could lead the league in positive categories like runs scored, home runs, and strikeouts (by pitchers), and also lead in such a horrible category as blown saves at the same time.
In other words, the 2012 season for the Brewers was one of some very high highs, some very low lows, and one of remarkably puzzling statistics.
That said, some players stood out more than others.
On the bad side:
Closer John Axford had the most inconsistent year of his young career. While his stat line doesn’t look that bad — 35 saves in 44 chances, a 4.67 ERA, a 1.44 WHIP, a 5-8 record and 93 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings — the fact remained that Axford’s ERA was much higher in 2012 than it was in 2011, when Axford posted a 1.95 mark along with 46 saves in 48 opportunities. And of course Axford blew far too many saves, actually losing his job as a closer for a while before regaining it after a series of sparkling performances as a set-up man in July (Axford posted three holds during that time).
But at least Axford was able to regain his form, as he looked much better toward the end of the year. This bodes well for his future with the Brewers.
Backup closer/set-up man Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez had an even more inconsistent year than Axford; while K-Rod had 32 holds, by far the most on the club, K-Rod also had only three saves in 10 opportunities (seven blown saves, in short), a 2-7 record, and a 4.38 ERA in 72 innings of work.
As K-Rod had an $8M contract last season and vastly underperformed considering his talent and overall reputation, it’s obvious that unless K-Rod takes a serious pay cut, he’s likely headed to another team.
The rest of the Brewers bullpen (save only Jim Henderson): for whatever reason, most of the bullpen looked like deer caught in the headlights for the vast majority of the 2012 season. There were reasons for this — for example, the death of Jeff Adcock the long-time assistant groundskeeper, who knew all of the relievers extremely well, certainly played a part in the Brewers’ overall inconsistency.
Even so, the performance of Kameron Loe (6-5 record with a 4.61 ERA in 61 1/3 innings with only seven holds and two saves out of seven opportunities, compared to his 2011 statistics of 4-7 record with a 3.50 ERA in 72 innings of work with 16 holds and one save out of eight opportunities) was perplexing; the performance of Manny Parra (2-3 record with a 5.06 ERA in 58 2/3 innings of work with nine holds and zero saves out of two chances, compared with his 2010 stats of 3-10 record with a 5.02 ERA in 122 innings of work, half as a starter and half as a reliever, with no holds and no saves) was merely irritating, and while Jose Veras’ stats look good (5-4 record with a 3.63 ERA in 67 innings of work with 10 holds and one save in two opportunities), more was expected of him than this.
Now to the disappointing starter, Shaun Marcum. Marcum spent two whole months on the disabled list, and ended up with a 7-4 record with a 3.63 ERA in 124 innings of work, which looks OK. But Marcum’s 2011 record of 13-7 with a 3.54 ERA in 200 and 2/3 innings of work showed that he’s capable of much more.
Marcum’s year was disappointing because of his injuries, not because of his talent. But because he couldn’t pitch every fifth day for two months, the Brewers’ record suffered. That is an undeniable fact.
And because of Marcum’s lengthy stint on the DL, the Brewers actually waived him late in the year, hoping someone else would pick him up. When no one else did, it was obvious that the Brewers were less than pleased that Marcum was still on the roster. That’s why it seems most unlikely that Marcum will remain a Brewer in 2013, especially as he’s now a free agent.
Then we get to perhaps the most disappointing player on the entire team — Rickie Weeks. Weeks had a horrendously bad first half, as his .162 batting average on June 12, 2012, shows. And while Weeks eventually did pull his hitting form together, as his ending line of a .230 BA with 21 home runs and 63 runs batted in shows, his fielding was atrocious: a .974 fielding percentage with 16 errors and perhaps the least range of any second baseman in major league baseball.
Weeks is thirty years of age. This is significant because very few players improve their defense at this stage of the game (my favorite player, Vinny Rottino, is one of the few who demonstrably has, at least at the catcher position). But Weeks shouldn’t have had this sort of precipitous decline in his range; the only possible excuse for it is the nasty injury he suffered in 2011 where his foot, at full extension, hit the first base bag at an odd angle, which put Weeks on the disabled list for a substantial length of time.
If that’s the case, Weeks’ range should improve again now that he’s fully healed. But I’d still like to see the Brewers find Weeks a fielding mentor, as when Willie Randolph was the bench coach for the Brewers a few years ago, Weeks’ fielding improved markedly.
Now let’s get to the positives, some of which were quite surprising:
Reliever Jim Henderson came up from AAA, where he’d been the closer, and showed he has the talent and the moxie to pitch extremely well at the major league level. Henderson posted a 1-3 record with a 3.52 ERA in 30 and 2/3 innings pitched, with 14 holds and three saves in seven opportunities. Henderson was one of the few bright spots during the late July/early August part of the season, and he’s someone I’m rooting for in 2013 to cement his job as the primary set-up man for Axford.
Starter Yovani Gallardo improved from a 7-6 record at the All-Star break to finish at 16-9; his ERA was 3.66 in 204 innings. Gallardo also had 204 Ks.
The main reason Gallardo’s late season dominance was important was due to the trade of pitcher Zack Greinke in late July. Greinke had a 9-3 record with the Brewers in 123 innings of work; he also had 122 Ks, and was the undisputed ace of the staff. That’s why Gallardo had to step up in the second half of the season — and step up he did.
Right fielder/first baseman Corey Hart was a revelation at first base; after being shifted mid-season, and after not playing first base since 2006 (that at the AAA level, and only part-time), Hart posted a .995 fielding percentage with only four errors. And Hart’s hitting continued apace; Hart had a .270 average with 30 HRs and 83 RBI, which possibly would’ve been even better had he not been hobbled with a nasty injury to his plantar fascia late in the season. (Hart hit only .254 in September due to that injury.)
Compare Hart’s fielding and excellent range with that of former Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder in 2011 — the 5’10” Fielder had a .990 fielding percentage with 15 errors and a much smaller range than the 6’6″ Hart — and it’s clear that Hart has an excellent future ahead at first base. Because if Hart could do this well after changing positions mid-season, how well is he going to do after he’s fully recovered from his injury to his foot and has a full Spring Training under his belt in 2013?
Third baseman Aramis Ramirez ended the season with a .300 BA, 27 HR, 105 RBI and 9 SBs in 11 attempts, which seemed nearly inconceivable on April 24. 2012, as Ramirez was in his characteristic season-starting slump and was hitting only .164 with only one HR and six RBI. Ramirez’s fielding in 2012 was much better than it had been in 2011; he cut his errors in half (from 14 in ’11 to seven in ’12) and improved his fielding percentage (from .953 in ’11 to .977 in ’12) while increasing his range.
And when you consider that in 2011, the Brewers had Casey McGehee — whose .942 fielding percentage and 20 errors, along with a very small range, didn’t exactly inspire confidence — it’s obvious that Ramirez was an extremely bright spot for more than just his bat.
Right fielder Norichika Aoki hit well and improved his fielding as the season progressed; Aoki should be a serious contender for the Rookie of the Year award with his .288 BA, 30 stolen bases in 38 attempts, 10 HR and 50 RBI.
The Brewers’ young pitchers Michael Fiers, Wily Peralta and Mark Rogers all did extremely well as rookies. Fiers’ record of 9-10 is deceptive as Fiers ran out of gas in the final three weeks of the season; still, his ERA of 3.74 in 127 and 2/3 innings of work was quite promising, and his 135 Ks (a better than one strikeout per inning ratio, which is excellent for a starter) shows his talent in full measure. Rogers, who came up in August, posted a 3-1 record with a 3.92 ERA in 39 innings of work, and his 41 Ks (again, a better than one strikeout per inning ratio) bode well for Rogers’ future. And Peralta, who was called up in September, looked so good with his 2-1 record and 2.48 ERA in 29 innings of work that both Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez said Peralta has all the makings of long-term starter in the major leagues.
But I’ve saved the best for last.
Put simply, Ryan Braun is in a class by himself. Braun had perhaps his best overall season in 2012 (.319 BA, 41 HR, 112 RBI, and 30 SB in 37 attempts), easily equaling or improving upon his 2011 National League MVP effort (.332 BA, 33 HR, 111 RBI, and 33 SB in 39 attempts) despite losing teammate Prince Fielder to free agency and having to deal with clean-up man Ramirez starting off in a horrendous slump. While Ramirez eventually got it together (by the All-Star break, Ramirez was hitting .272), the fact remained that Braun didn’t have much support in the first month or so of the season, which meant Braun could be pitched around.
And, of course, due to the whole performance-enhancing drug scandal (did he or didn’t he? I believe he didn’t.), Braun was booed mercilessly in every ballpark save one: Miller Park in Milwaukee. But this didn’t stop him, nor did the rancor of various sportswriters, nor did the ruination of his reputation — absolutely nothing stopped Braun from putting up MVP-like numbers and carrying the Brewers to their 83-79 record and missing out on the second Wild Card by only a few, short games.
Ultimately, though, the Brewers 2012 season will be remembered for its inconsistency — for its excellent late-August to mid-September run to the playoffs and an above-.500 record, yes, but also for the bullpen meltdowns of mid-June to mid-July. For their excellent cadre of young starters, yes — but also for the two months of Shaun Marcum’s stint on the DL. For John Axford regaining his form, yes — but also for his losing his form, and losing it badly, mid-season.
The next question is, whither 2013? Well, a lot depends on things that can’t be known right now. For example, how many of the 2012 relieving corps will come back next year? How many injuries will the ’13 Brewers have to deal with? Will Chris Narveson be able to regain his form as a starter, or will his post-surgical recovery limit him to shorter stints out of the bullpen?
But things do look promising despite the ’12 Brewers’ puzzling inconsistency, which is far better than I thought back in early August. And that, most of all, is why I believe that the 2013 Brewers might surprise everyone and finally make it back to the World Series for the first time since 1982.
October ’12 Quick Hits, Pt. 1
Folks, I’m trying out a new browser — Mozilla Firefox — and so far, it’s working rather well. My previous browser, a version of IE, wouldn’t let me properly access the WordPress blogging site, which is one reason I haven’t done much with my blog in the past two weeks (I suspect a recent “upgrade” — by the way, why is it that upgrades seem to cause so much distress for all concerned no matter who’s doing the upgrading? — by WordPress was what caused me not to be able to use the site properly).
At any rate, there are a number of things to get to, so let’s get started.
First, Atlanta Braves P Ben Sheets — a long-time starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers — indeed retired after pitching one inning of the 162nd and final game of the regular major league baseball season.
Second, I will write an “end of the season wrap-up” blog later this week which will point out the highs and lows of the 2012 Milwaukee Brewers season; for now, all I’ll say is that it’s obvious LF Ryan Braun (with his 41 HR and 30 SB) is the Brewers 2012 MVP and that if baseball writers were objective, Braun would be likely to have his second National League MVP in as many years.
Third, I’m rather frustrated with most politics and most politicians at the moment — aside from Racine’s state Senator John Lehman, that is, and my incoming state Assemblyman, Cory Mason (Mason represented a different area of Racine prior to this year; due to redistricting, he’s now running unopposed to represent the 61st Assembly district and the seat presently held by Robert Turner (D), as Turner has retired). This is why I haven’t said much about politics in quite some time.
My basic beliefs, however, are unchanged; I believe that we’re not well served by our two major party system. I think most of the candidates we get via this system are indebted to big money interests, or worse, must be insanely wealthy themselves in order to afford to run in the first place (a la Mitt Romney of the Rs). And while I like Gary Johnson the best (he’s the Libertarian candidate for President, and is the former Republican Governor of New Mexico), I’m still undecided as to how I’ll vote this fall in the Presidential election.
Fourth, I’m still fighting a lingering sinus issue, which is one of the main reasons I haven’t been blogging overmuch in the past several weeks (well, that and the browser situation, which I’ve now remedied quite nicely). But I hope to write several blogs this week — maybe even one regarding the state of publishing, who knows? — and have a guest blog by novelist Stephanie Osborn in the pipeline that should be posted within the next two weeks also.
(Oh, yes — the reason this is “part one” of the Quick Hits for October is that I’m sure there’ll be more. Because there always are.)
Stay safe, everyone.
Former Brewers P Ben Sheets to Make One Final Start, Then Retire
Ben Sheets’ inspiring comeback has come to an end. After not pitching since August 24, 2012, the Atlanta Braves will start Sheets one, final time tomorrow — and after that, Sheets will retire.
Sheets returned from a surgery which had been called by Matthew Pouliot at Hardball Talk as “the most massive in the history of pitching” (link is here: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/08/11/ben-sheets-just-had-the-most-massive-surgery-in-the-history-of-pitching/), and as JP Starkey said at SB Nation:
Many believed Sheets would be ineffective even if he were able to return, but Sheets defied the odds and pitched well for the Braves in 2012.
Unfortunately for Sheets, he was placed on the disabled list on Aug. 25, with inflammation in his right shoulder. Sheets pitched well for the Braves, and carries a 4-4 record, 3.54 ERA and 1.34 WHIP into his final start in 2012.
Starkey goes on to give Sheets’s career numbers:
Wednesday’s start will be the 250th and final start of Sheets’ career. Sheets needs to throw just four and a third innings to log 1,600 career innings. A master of control, Sheets has struck out 1,323 in his career against just 369 walks. Sheets’ career record stands at 94-96, with a 3.78 ERA and 1.22 WHIP.
I had been hoping for a better outcome for Ben Sheets, as I’ve said all along; Sheets was a fantastic pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers, being a four-time All-Star (and one-time All-Star starter). But as Sheets said today as reported by the Sporting News (link is here: http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2012-10-02/ben-sheets-retirement-atlanta-braves-2012-milwaukee-brewers):
“I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt I’m not playing again,” Sheets told MLB.com. “No matter what, there is not enough help or money to pull me out of this one.”
The Sporting News goes on to note that:
His Wednesday start against the Pirates will be the 250th of this career and his first appearance in a game in over a month. The plan is for Sheets to throw two innings in the start.
Even though Sheets’s comeback will end after his final start, rather than continue on for a few more good years in similar fashion to Chris Capuano after his comeback from a second “Tommy John” procedure, Sheets still did very well. He helped Atlanta. He proved he can still pitch. And he’s going out the way he seems to want — by pitching one, last time, and saying goodbye to the fans after taking part in one, final pennant race.
I hope for Sheets’s sake that his final outing will be a good, strong one, and that he’ll enjoy his well-earned retirement.
But I will miss seeing him pitch. And I’m sorry that his arm wouldn’t let him have just one good, solid year before he had to contemplate the final, drastic step of retirement. Much less carry it out.
September 16, 2012 — Brewers Back in Wild Card Chase; Corey Hart Status
Folks, after all but writing the Milwaukee Brewers off a few months ago due to their bullpen meltdowns, the Brewers have quietly managed to get back into wild card contention.
Now, there are some qualifiers to consider, the first being that the Brewers are only contending for the second wild card spot, not the first — that is, if this were last year, the Brewers would not be in contention at this point as there was only one wild card available last year — and the second being that at 74-72, the Brewers are still two games over .500, which isn’t exactly a world-beating record.
However, this is much better than I thought the Brewers would be at considering it’s September 16, 2012 — they’re still in contention, they’re playing good baseball, and they’ve even taken the lead in strikeouts with 1,261 (by pitchers, not how many times the batters have struck out). This is because rookies like Mark Rogers, Mike Fiers, and the recently-called up Wily Peralta have done their jobs in addition to veteran and de facto ace Yovani Gallardo (who’s had a brilliant second half; his record is 15-8 with a 3.72 ERA and 188 Ks), and because the much-maligned relievers have quietly pulled it together, with John Axford in particular pitching much better in the past thirty-five days or so, converting on all eleven of his last save attempts (he now has 29 saves out of 38 attempts, a 5-7 record, and his ERA has fallen to 4.76). Without all of these pitchers doing their best, the Brewers would still be way under .500 and have no chance of the second wild card spot.
Better yet, Ryan Braun’s outstanding year has continued apace, even though Corey Hart has been out of the line-up and Aramis Ramirez’s year took a while to get started (as Ramirez is a notoriously slow starter, this wasn’t much of a surprise), so teams could and did pitch around Braun much of this season. Despite that, Braun is batting .312 with 40 home runs, 103 runs batted in, and 24 stolen bases in 31 attempts. Braun also has 201 career home runs with the Brewers, which leaves him fifth on the all-time list, tied with Cecil Cooper; Braun’s the sixth Brewer to reach the 200 HR plateau, and the seventh to hit 40 HRs in a season.
All of this makes for an exciting end to the 2012 season, and as a long-time Brewers fan, I’m extremely glad to see it. (Go Brewers!)
Now, let’s talk about Brewers first baseman/right fielder Corey Hart. Hart, unfortunately, has been out for a week with a sprained ankle and a partial tear in his plantar fascia, according to Brewers.com beat writer Adam McCalvy. That’s why he hasn’t pinch-hit; that’s why he’s not played the field; that’s why he’s had to rest and sit on the bench while having one of his better overall years despite his mid-season position switch from right field to first base (Hart’s stats stand with a .278 batting average, 27 HRs, 77 RBI, and 5 SBs in 5 attempts; as for his fielding stats, in 92 games played at first base, Hart has only 3 errors and a .996 fielding percentage).
Hart attempted to run the bases on Sunday and did not fare well according to McCalvy’s account. Here’s a quote from that article:
“I’m definitely aiming for Tuesday, I just wish it would have felt better today than it did,” Hart said. “It’s a little frustrating. Today was the first day I tried to run the bases, and it didn’t go as planned.”
Running in a straight line was fine, but the trouble came when Hart ran along the arc along the outer edge of the infield dirt.
A bit later in the article, Hart said this:
“It’s tough, because I want to play,” Hart said. “I’ve played through a lot of injuries, but it’s one of those things where if I’m on first, I’m not going to be able to score on a double. If I’m on second, it’s going to be iffy to score on anything. Is it worth it to these guys? I feel like I wouldn’t be able to do everything I need to do.”
The last resort, Hart said, is an anti-inflammatory injection. The club’s medical officials on Sunday were mulling the pros and cons of that step.
Hart is extremely well-conditioned, a dedicated athlete, and a very good teammate, someone everyone on the Brewers, past or present, has liked — that’s not an easy feat, either, to be the guy everyone likes — and if he could get on the field, he’d be there, no questions asked. But he’s obviously frustrated, as his quotes show . . . it’s not an easy thing to come up with a nasty injury toward the end of the season, especially when your team is still in the wild card chase.
My hope for Hart is that he heals quickly but doesn’t overstrain; even though the Brewers season is winding down and they do have a shot at the second wild card, the fact is that Hart is far more important to the Brewers in the long run, which is why he needs to put his long-term goals ahead of any short-term gains if those short-term gains will harm him.
Or to put it another way — I’d like to see Corey Hart play again this season, yes. But only if he’s healthy.
A Friday Update
Folks, it’s Friday, and I know I haven’t been a great correspondent this week. There are reasons for this — most of them have to do with working on my next novel (the sequel to Elfy, which is called An Elfy Abroad — I’ve talked about EA before), not to mention finishing up not one but two edits.
All that said, I should have a book review for y’all tomorrow for Shiny Book Review’s “Romance Saturday” mini-promotion (that is, I review a romance on Saturdays, oft-times, and at least a few people have grown to expect it — a plus). So look for my review of Suzanne Enoch’s A Lady’s Guide to Improper Behavior tomorrow at SBR.
Other than that, I’ve been reading a number of very interesting books by Sean Williams — I have four of them, starting with The Crooked Letter, which should be reviewed soon — along with E.C. Myers’ very interesting sequel to last year’s Fair Coin, Quantum Coin, a book on contemporary economics by Michael Casey called The Unfair Trade, and if all else fails, I can re-read A Man Rides Through by Stephen R. Donaldson for the umpteenth time (as it’s one of my favorite “comfort books”).
As for a health update, I’m still getting over the sinus infection. But I felt better today and was able to do more, which was good.
Listening to the Milwaukee Brewers by radio at the moment; the Brewers are losing, 2-0, to the St. Louis Cardinals and are in the third inning. (There was a lengthy rain delay; the game didn’t start until after 9:00 p.m.) But even when the Brewers aren’t winning, I enjoy listening to Bob Uecker and his counterpart, Joe Block . . . Uecker’s a legend, and Block seems to enjoy being around him (as did Cory Provus before Block, last year), which makes for a good listening experience all the way around.
The Brewers are making a nice run at the moment and are now only three games below .500 with a record of 67-70. My hope is that the Brewers will be able to make it to .500 and stay there; if so, that will help to redeem a season that has been full of ups and downs.
There’s not much else going on, but as always, when something happens, I’ll be sure to let you know.
Now, back to the Brewers game . . . maybe they’ll score a run tonight, who knows?
Vinny Rottino Called Up by Cleveland Indians
There hasn’t been much of a press release about this, which is why it took me until today to find it out — but Vinny Rottino was indeed called up by the Cleveland Indians as of Monday evening.
Here’s a link to the only article I’ve found about it:
Acta says in this article that “not every single one is going to get a look equally” and that Rottino is likely to be used off the bench. (Actually, Acta nodded his head at this when the writer of this article, Anthony Odoardi, suggested it.)
But at least Rottino’s back up and is acquiring more major league service time . . . maybe he’ll still get his shot this year. Because I know if he does get his shot, he will hit and he will do well — I just don’t know how that’s to come about if his new manager isn’t willing to put him into many games.
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