The Phillies have already clinched the NL East, while the Braves cling to a two-game lead in the NL Wild Card race entering play today. Here's some news that focuses primarily on a couple of other teams in the Senior Circuit's Eastern Division…
- Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo expects a relatively quick resolution to the open managerial situation, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Rizzo said he will interview candidates both inside and outside the organization.
- In addition to targeting an impact starting pitcher (mentioned below), the Nationals would like to add a high-OBP outfielder to hit atop their lineup, writes Ben Goessling of MASNsports. Previous targets have included Denard Span, Michael Bourn, and B.J. Upton. Goessling says Washington is once again a logical landing place for Upton.
- The Mets will not renew the contracts of Wayne Krivsky and Bryan Lambe when they expire on October 31, writes Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. Both front office executives date back to Omar Minaya's time as GM. Krivsky, a former Reds GM, was responsible for bringing Justin Turner to the organization.
- It's likely that the Mets tender Mike Pelfrey a contract, but the right-hander is still searching for a new pitch after a disappointing 2011 season, writes Andy McCullough of the New Jersy Star-Ledger.
- Nationals GM Mike Rizzo says the club is targeting an impact starting pitcher and another bat this offseason, tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Earlier this week we heard they were scouting C.J. Wilson.
- According to an AP report (via the Boston Herald), the Nationals will have Stephen Strasburg on an innings limit in 2012.
Innings limit is to Stephen Strasburg, as peanut butter is to jelly…
The game used to be about winning… now it’s all about coddling
It’s about a long run. Baseball has become much more of business so players are business assets.
Exactly…. I think about what I’ve heard about players from before my time and even remembering players in my youth (90’s if I’m going to date myself), but the more I look at it, it’s not the players wanting to stay off the field, it’s the teams wanting to take care of their multi-million dollar investments. It’s hard to say who is really to blame in the long run….
I’d blame the agents and Selig though if I was forced to…
I thought Werth was supposed to be an impact outfielder lol
Why don’t you just turn Strasburg as your Closer? Either let him pitch or throw him in the pen
Because his ceiling makes him so much more valuable as a starter. . .
and the Nats have one of the best young closers in baseball. . .
Why exactly do you think turning him into a closer is a good idea?
six inning saves might be kinda neat
“Because his ceiling makes him so much more valuable as a starter…”
Could you please tell that to Texas (Neftali Feliz) and the ChiSox (Chris Sale).
And the Reds too (Aroldis Chapman)
Feliz has never shown the amount of control needed to be a starter; ditto Chapman. If you can’t keep your walks to under 4 per 9, your chances of being successful as a starter plummet. As a reliever, you can get away with it.
what are you talking about? this is the first year feliz’s BB/9 has been above 2.35
Right, because there’s better book on him now. Hes not getting the swings and misses on balls outside the zone as much (check FanGraphs), and he doesn’t have control in the zone so…more walks. Not a recipe for multiple-inning success.
you: “Feliz has never shown the amount of control needed to be a starter”
“never since april 2011”, you meant? because he showed it for 2 years prior to that. and he’d started effectively in the minors before that
do you have any evidence that this year’s variance is due to “a better book” on him, instead of just standard volatility for the small-sample performances of relievers?
for example, would you say “the book” changed on jonathan papelbon last year, or this one? none of his pitches or pitch selection have changed, and yet his results — including his walk-rate — have improved dramatically. are there any other better theories for small-sample variance in reliever performance? i think there might be
i don’t think you can draw any strong conclusions about feliz based on this year alone. and i’m sure you can’t conclude he lacks the command to be a starter
I am a Rangers fan first off. I was warning people last year about Feliz as all he could do was blow the baseball by people and that this year they would catch on. It was what he did in the minors and has always done. His secondary stuff is not great so the other teams sit on his fastball now. Unless he gets better command of his curve and change, he won’t make it as a starter. His velocity will dip a bit as a starter so it will be easier to sit on the fastball and make contact with it. He will take another step back next year if he starts before he starts moving forward again. I really like the kid but I strongly doubt he is another CJ or Ogando and will just become a dynamite starter right off the bat. His future should be in starting though.
that’s exactly what everyone said about papelbon and countless other plus-fastball pitchers whenever they struggle. in reality though, it doesn’t matter that hitters know it’s coming; those guys could throw the fastball exclusively and still succeed as long as they located their pitches well
it’s very likely feliz will face adversity switching to starting; that’s usually part of the process. but the payoff would be worth it. and besides, this year demonstrates that even success as a closer isn’t guaranteed year-to-year as most people mistakenly assume. i said that last offseason and will repeat it many times this offseason i’m sure. i don’t expect the rangers to do the right thing though; they’re pretty obsessed with the bullpen
I’m with you that Feliz could try being a starter again and could very likely be successful, but I am way against the posters who have compared Papelbon, Chapman, Feliz, Sale to Strasburg. A top prospect as a pitcher does not make then an apt comparison to Strasburg.
Its convenient to compare all of those players simply because they were top prospects. Very convenient.
And what does Pelfrey do today? Throw a 3 inning gem.
He’s reached his ceiling. Run away Sandy.
Instead of limiting his innings, why don’t they fix how he throws the baseball. His mechanics are the reason he got hurt anyway. Most pitchers who throw with that “inverted w” get hurt.
If I hear this inverted W thing one more time I may have to pistolwhip someone. Yes Strasburg throws with it and yes, Mark Prior threw with it. But so does about 3/4 of the rest of the league. And above all, why don’t they just call it the M
Patently untrue, and statistically refuted on multiple websites. Google.
“the right hander is still searching for a new pitch”
how about a fastball?
He’s got that… it’s just straight as an arrow.
How about a breaking ball of some sort?
Yeah that really is his problem. If he had one his fastball wouldn’t be so useless.
hate to be picky but how does BJ Upton qualify as an OBP guy?
I still remember the people saying that teams wouldn’t pay what the Mets wanted for Beltran so they’d go to Upton because ‘he is just as good’.
Yeah.
My first thought exactly so I checked- last 2 years he’s below league average and this year he plus 0.003. He did walk 97 times in 2008 so he can do it but I wouldn’t count on it if I were the Nats.
yea i think by OBP guy he means “guy who takes walks”. if he hits for a decent average, he’s a good OBP guy. but he hasn’t hit for a decent average in years
Do people on this site really believe that it is a good idea for a kid that hasnt thrown 120 innings in a season to be let loose to throw a full 230 inning season?
Personally I agree with limiting his innings next year. He is coming off of TJ surgery and did not throw a ton of innings this year. Really would not be smart for the Nats to let him all of sudden throw 200+ innings.
Pelfrey should probably be looking for a new career while he’s at it.
Lollipop tester.
How many licks DOES it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop Mike Pelfrey?
Less than the amount of pitches it takes for him to get through an inning.
How many licks DOES it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop Mike Pelfrey?
He’ll be on the same innings limit as Zimmermann was this past year, or close to it I’m guessing
Strasburg is gunna be on an innings limit? REALLY? And it took a Boston Herald reporter to write it? Im pretty sure ive been reading this for weeks. Yes, im mad that a Boston paper was credited for obvious info that should have been credited to a Washington area source. But i guess Boston would get more press then the Nats. :/
fastball with movement > fastball without movement.
no, fastballs are supposed to carry some movement on them as well, just not as much as other “nontraditional” fastballs like cutters, splitters and sinkers, which carry even less movement than breaking balls or offspeed. even four seam fastballs have a little movement.
and fastballs with no movement are essentially useless in this league. especially for guys who can’t pump them up to the mid 90s, which Pelfrey can’t do. his fastball is useless.