On this date last year, Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano no-hit the White Sox. Here are some links for Thursday afternoon, starting with a note on Jered Weaver, who no-hit Liriano's Twins last night…
- Weaver pitched a no-hitter for his hometown team in front of his fans and family last night and as Scott Miller of CBSSports.com writes, it's for days like yesterday that the right-hander signed a long-term deal with the Angels. Weaver signed a five-year, $85MM contract last summer instead of testing the open market, where he likely would have obtained a larger guarantee. So far this deal seems to be working well for both sides.
- Outfielder Erik Komatsu expects to learn if he has a new team by tomorrow, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The Cardinals designated the Rule 5 pick for assignment earlier in the week and other MLB teams now have the chance to claim him off of waivers.
- Pablo Sandoval is expected to miss four to six weeks with a fractured hamate bone, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported (on Twitter). The Giants are calling up Conor Gillaspie for now, and it appears they'll rely on their internal options while Sandoval's out.
Shame that Sandoval is out with an injury like this. Along with Longo, Sandoval is one of the best third basemen in the game, and they are both out with bad injuries.
On a slightly different note, this is the same bone that Sandoval broke last year, isn’t it? Does anyone know how exactly he broke it this time around because it sure seems like a injury that has a chance of lingering throughout the years and hampering what could be a fantastic career.
Different hand. Last year it was his right hand. It’s his left hand (wrist) now.
Also luckily its not his throwing hand nor the dominate hand he uses while batting left handed which could mean he could be back a little sooner than 6 weeks.
I could see him back in 4 weeks and getting days off versus lefties for a while till he’s 100%. I’d stick Pill at 3rd for the time being. Gillaspie sucks.
He’s still only 24. Let him establish himself more in the majors before calling him a bust. He’s had pretty good numbers in the upper minors the last few years and I could see him being a Bill Mueller type of player of he reaches his potential. He’s not going to replace Sandoval’s bat by all means, but if he can get on base well enough like he did last year and play good defense at 3rd, then I see no reason as to not playing him everyday at third.
I heard it’s coincidentally the other hand.
“Along with Longo, Sandoval is one of the best third basemen in the game…”
With all things considered, very debatable. He can hit like nobody’s business, but I definitely don’t trust his fielding.
I’m with you on this. Give me Longoria’s D’ over Sandoval’s any day. Panda is very good and there are some other 3B out there who do a fine job. However, in my opinion, when it comes to all-around performance at 3B, Longo is the man!
He’s a terrific defender at third base, especially when you consider that he’s a natural catcher, you just don’t like his weight. You probably thought Tony Gwynn was slow, too.
Yeah, Sandoval’s range is astonishing. He puts the Wrights and Zimmermans out there to shame! And, I never said Sandoval was slow; in fact, for his size he can move.
I’d take Zimmerman defensively over Sandavol….but Wright is not that good of a 3B. He has no range anymore, maybe before the injuries he had some. Sandoval has more range than Wright at 3B.
I’d take Zimmerman defensively over Sandavol
I would also.
Regarding Wright, I don’t know about his range but I was never very impressed with his throws to 1B. However, from the few times I have observed him this season he would appear to have improved in that aspect. So maybe that’s something.
Nice to see the crop of NL 3B’men getting a little stronger than it used to be.
It’s early to tell, but Wright I think has really improved in both aspects this season. He is always going to have some troublesome throws to first because he likes to sidearm his throws which is the crux of his errant throws. Zimmerman on the other hand, looks to have regressed in both hitting and fielding over the past season and a half. His hitting especially has really regressed. Not to mention, he has difficulty staying healthy.
From what I understand, he bats with his lower hand over the Knob of the bat, and that puts more stress on the hamate. Since he’s a switch hitter, he’s done it to both hands.
No-hitters are as much luck as they are skill. Wish writers like Scott Miller would notice this.
they usually take that bone out when you break it.
cant believe sandoval is out again, its almost the same exact scenario as last year. he was swinging a deadly bat right now…as far as his fielding, i wouldnt say hes the best but hes no where close to hurting us at third.