Links for Friday, before the Subway Series, Stephen Strasburg's third MLB start and Manny Ramirez's return to Fenway…
- Mike Scioscia tells Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times he's "very optimistic" that Erick Aybar's left knee injury won't lead to a DL stint. That reduces the chances that the Angels will go after a shortstop.
- It's been a great year for young players like Strasburg and Mike Leake, as ESPN.com's Tim Kurkjian shows.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports that the D'Backs often hear trade rumors from Dan Haren, who reads MLBTR. As Piecoro explains, players are generally aware of the latest rumblings in "the era of the trade rumor."
- Another top pitcher, Cliff Lee, chooses to ignore the rumors, according to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post asked 12 baseball insiders whether they would prefer to have Phil Hughes or Mike Pelfrey for the next five years and was surprised to see all 12 select Hughes.
- Edwin Jackson and Dontrelle Willis say they have good memories of Detroit and no hard feelings over the trades that sent them to Arizona, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“and was surprised to see all 12 select Hughes.”
K/BB gives a solid reason to agree. Problem with pitching to contract is that you cannot control what happens when they make contact.
pelfrey still throws 93-95, its not exactly pitching to contact
Hughes has a 2.30 K/BB in his career to Pelfrey’s 1.60 K/BB (3.36 to 1.90 this year). Despite his velocity, Pelfrey has never been an above average strikeout guy.
im not saying he is but hes not like joel piniero were he lives and dies by the ground out
Pinero has a higher K/BB too (2.68).
lol
His K9 is 6.1 this year, 5.3 or his career.
5.3 is in the Moyer, Marquis, Buehrle range.
6.1 is in the Penny, Padilla, Robertson and Arroyo range.
This is the first really spectacular season for Pelfrey. He’s been good, but this is the first season he’s been a 1/2 spot guy. I can’t say I’m suprised Hughes was selected. Pelfrey only pitched a little more than 30 games last season and had a 5.03 ERA, where as Hughes in the same year pitched over 50 games and had an ERA just a squeak above 3. Even as a Mets fan I’d pick Hughes too just because he’s been more reliable in the long run and Pelfrey is only now starting to show his potential.
Shocked, SHOCKED! that Joel Sherman finds yet another way to smack the Mets, even in the midst of a hot streak and going into the Subway Series. Yankees don’t need a paid PR staff when Joel Sherman will do the job for free. God forbid he does a story on Pelfrey’s turnaround, or the Mets’ turnaround. Nah, let’s find a way to actually dump on Pelfrey and minimize his success … because that’s what Yankee PR flacks posing as reporters are supposed to do.
I’m a Mets fan and I would take Hughes too. Pelfrey’s having a great season, but he’s due for regression. Hughes misses enough bats to actually sustain this.
Another tidbit, despite having a higher BABIP by .015 pts, Hughes has a .224/.279/.317 against to Pelfrey’s .243/.309/.337. Factor in the disparities of the ages, divisons and leagues (Hughes facing a professional hitter instead of pitcher), I see why all picked Hughes.
“It’s Hughes because of the quality of the division he is succeeding in and his superior strikeout-to-walk ratio,” the AL exec said, “and it isn’t all that close for me either.”
Phil Hughes 20 times out of 20 for me. He learned how to pitch last year with the time spent in the bullpen, developing a cutter that is currently his second most valuable pitch at 3.3 wins above, to compliment his 14.5 wins above fastball. To be honest, I think the Cutter is still his best pitch despite the disparity there, because it’s making all his other stuff better.Yes, he hit a ‘rough patch’ awhile ago(I hardly consider his last start vs. the Mets a rough patch, since Randy Winn caused the extra runs scored against him to come about), but all pitchers go through that.
How about a trade of Cliff Lee and a prospect for Dan Haren? It’d allow the D-Backs to get out of Haren’s salary, receive the Type-A draft picks this offseason, and get a prospect from the Mariners. It’d allow the Mariners to have Haren a few more years at a pretty reasonable salary, while not giving up Lee for unproven minor-leaguers.
Haren’s salary isn’t the problem.
“Joel Sherman of the New York Post asked 12 baseball insiders whether they would prefer to have Phil Hughes or Mike Pelfrey for the next five years and was surprised to see all 12 select Hughes”
Small market players get no respect. 😉
I think the Lee for Haren idea, though I selfishly want Lee back w/the Phillies.
Good, new Phillies blog: longdistancephilliesfan.blogspot.com/
since Dan Haren reads this, I’d like to take the time to let him know that I would really appreciate it if he demanded a trade to Baltimore, thanks
Pelfrey isn’t a strikeout pitcher. I don’t understand why its so hard for some people to comprehend that.
It matters because Phil looks decent at K’ing guys and they are being compared. The best outs are strikeouts, followed by GBs, then FBs.
We’ll see who wins tomorrow suckers! Go Big Pelf!
*sad trombone