Archives for August 2019

8.29.19

It is not an easy task to suppress the league’s most volatile offense, yet San Diego Padres Eric Lauer just may be the Los Angeles Dodgers kryptonite thus far. While the Padres and Dodgers are on rather opposite ends when it comes to playoff contention, it is noteworthy to examine Lauer’s performances and how they may set up future matchups between the two teams when the Padres are expected to seriously contend for the NL West in the next few years.

The second year left hander always seems to come up with the right pitches at the right time against the Dodgers, which features plenty of offensive depth from both the left and right handed batters box. In a lineup that features Justin Turner, Chris Taylor, and rookie phenoms such as catcher Will Smith, there is no such thing as a weak spot. Lauer has posted a 4.48 ERA and a 7-8 record in 2019, but is now 2-0 against the Dodgers in 4 games. His ERA against the Dodgers sits at 3.13, where he has pitched 23 innings, and has surrendered 17 hits, 7 walks, and 8 earned runs for a 1.41 WHIP. However, including the three games he pitched against the Dodgers in 2018, his overall record is 5-0, and holds a 2.11 ERA over 42.2 IP, and only 10 Earned Runs.

Lauer features a sneaky fastball that he frequently adds and subtracts velocity on, keeping hitters off balance. It will be interesting to see if the Dodgers can eventually figure him out, and perhaps how the matchup will fare in what many expect to be future playoff races.

8.28.19

For the first time since 2015, the Saraperos de Saltillo have clinched a playoff berth in the Mexican Baseball League postseason. After defeating the Tecolotes de Dos Laredos by a score of 6-3, the Saraperos have ended their brief playoff drought.

Manager Roberto Vizcarra and the clubs front office made very notable additions and changes that helped the Saraperos return to the postseason. In the game against the Tecolotes de Dos Laredos, strong offensive performances from Henry Urrutia and Ricardo Serrano, coupled with a dominant pitching outing from Hector Ambriz helped them clinch the spot.

Infielders Juan Perez and Josuan Hernandez lead the team in hits, and will be integral parts of the Saraperos playoff roster. Outfielders Rainel Rosario and Henry Urrutia, who are team leaders in home runs, will need to provide necessary power output.

A notable pitcher on the staff is former San Francisco Giant, Jonathan Sanchez. Sanchez has appeared in 21 games for the Saraperos, and posts a 5.25 ERA with 101 strikeouts. The left hander from Puerto Rico threw a no-hitter for the Giants in 2009.

8.26.19

This past weekend, the two teams with the best records in the National and American Leagues met in a rare interleague matchup in Los Angeles. Two of baseball’s most historic franchises in the Los Angeles Dodgers (86-47) and New York Yankees (86-47) played a three game series in what many consider to be a preview of what’s to come in late October. Both teams feature tremendous depth in all phases of the game. Both offenses rank very high in notable offensive categories. Both teams are in the top 5 in Runs per Game, wRC+, and Home Runs in their respective leagues. Both lineups also put tremendous strain on pitchers as they both rank high in Average Pitches Seen per At-Bat.

Stat	Yankees	Dodgers
Runs/game	5.85 (1st)	5.45 (4th)
HR	241 (2nd)	227 (3rd)
Walk rate	9.2% (10th)	10.0% (1st)
Pitches/PA	4.05 (2nd)	4.01 (5th)
Chase rate	30.5% (22nd)	28.4% (27th)
wRC+*	117 (3rd)	119 (2nd)

Fans in LA were treated to excellent offensive outbursts as well as brilliant pitching performances. On Friday, Dodgers ace and Cy Young Award front runner Hyun Jin Ryu surrendered 3 home runs including a grand slam by shortstop Didi Gregorious to break the game open.

Saturday was a contrast of Friday, as both pitching staffs held the opposing offense at bay. In the 9th it was closer Kenley Jansen shutting the door on the Yankees leaving the bases loaded.

Sunday featured future hall of famer in Clayton Kershaw deuling against young phenom in Domingo German. In that game, it was the Yankees offense coming out on top.

The Dodgers and Yankees have met 11 times in the World Series. This is far more than any other two franchises have met in the Fall Classic. In this series it was Aaron Judge who stood out, hitting a home run in each of the three games. It is notable that the Yankees offense is notorious for hitting well off left handed pitching, and most of the Dodgers rotation is composed of left handed starters.

8.24.19

Throughout the Mets roller coaster season, their first baseman Pete Alonso has provided the team with much needed consistency and stability. Alonso, a front runner for the National League Rookie of the Year award, has now hit a record 41 home runs before the end of August. It makes sense, as he won this years Home Run Derby in Cleveland at the All-Star Break.

 

Alonso has been at the forefront of the Mets second half push. He has displayed power to all fields, and is hitting at a .266/.369/.594 slash. The Mets first baseman leads the team in RBIs at 97, which makes sense with hitters like Jeff McNeil hitting ahead of him. Alonso gets on base fairly frequently as well. He’s drawn 60 walks in addition to his 123 total hits over 544 plate appearances.

Alonso is also among the top 25 players in WAR at 4.1. League leaders in Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger, and Christian Yelich are at 8.3, 6.8, and 6.3 respectively.

With Alonso only being 24, he should be one of the many young MLB stars that will be the faces of the sport in years to come.

8.15.19

Last month, the Houston Astros acquired Toronto Blue Jays Starter Aaron Sanchez. At that point, Sanchez had posted a 6.07 ERA and held a record of 3-13. While the statistics were not great, the Astros felt that they made a very beneficial acquisition that would hopefully help them get to the World Series in October.

It is no longer a secret how well the Astros organization is run, and how they can maximize the potential in players through their very advanced player development protocols. So far, it seems that the move to acquire Aaron Sanchez is no different. While Sanchez struggled earlier this year in Toronto, he seems to have found his footing in Houston. In fact earlier this month, Sanchez started the game where the Astros pitching staff threw a combined no-hitter. Sanchez went 6 innings, and only issued 2 walks, while striking out 6.

This begs into question, what have the Astros coaching staff altered to help Sanchez find more success? One of the possible answers could be the alteration of his pitch selection and usage.

With Toronto, Sanchez used his sinker the most at 37%, and only used his fastball 21% of the time. With the Astros, he has used his fastball the most at 34.7%, and now uses his sinker the least at 17.9%.

	FOUR-SEAM FASTBALL	SINKER	CURVEBALL	CHANGEUP
with Blue Jays	21.3%	37.0%	22.1%	19.6%
with Astros	34.7%	17.9%	28.4%	18.9%

While there is much more to Sanchez’s success than just pitch selection, it is noteworthy as perhaps the Astros have identified something to do with pitch movement or spin rate that allows him to compliment pitches better.

8.14.19

Before the 2019 season began, New York Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen strongly felt that the squad he assembled would be at the forefront of the National League East Pennant Race. After marquee offseason acquisitions of 2B Robinson Cano and CP Edwin Diaz, Van Wagenen put out a message for the rest of the league; “come and get us”.

The Mets then proceeded to play mediocre baseball and limped to the all-star break. There were a number of misfortunes the team experienced, with bad on field production and injuries. However, Van Wagenen shocked the entire league by buying at the trade deadline rather than selling. With most around the game confident that he would trade frontline starter Noah Syndegaard, Van Wagenen elected to hold onto him, and additionally add another prominent starter in Marcus Stroman.

Since the all-star break the Mets have been surging, climbing up the standings and making themselves a legitimate division and wild-card contender. At the all-star break the team was 10 games under .500, but now sit at 61-59. While they are still in 4th place in the division, they are very much within grasp of the wild-card spots.

The Mets have been playing exciting baseball recently. They have capped off come back and walk-off wins, along with the pitching staff dominating the opposition. The staff has posted a 2.89 ERA since the break, and starters specifically have a 2.37 mark.

It will be interesting to see how the Mets close out the season, and whether or not this is a hot streak or the beginning of something special in Queens.