Former Astros, Cardinal and Athletics right-hander Joaquin Andujar passed away on Tuesday at the age of 62 due to complications stemming from a lengthy battle with diabetes. The four-time All-Star was known as a passionate player that never shied away from showing his emotion on the field. Andjuar twice won 20 or more games in a season and was an integral piece of the Cardinals’ 1982 World Series championship, posting a 2.47 ERA in 265 2/3 innings before going on to allow just four earned runs in 20 postseason innings. Pedro Martinez spoke about how Andujar influenced not only him but an entire generation of Dominican baseball players Tuesday on the MLB Network (video link). Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Joey Nowak paid tribute to Andjuar in a lengthy piece that offers quotes from former teammates, managers and executives who knew Andujar well. We at MLBTR extend our condolences to the friends and family of Andujar as well as all who were impacted by his career.
A few more notes from around the game…
- ESPN’s Keith Law shares some scouting thoughts from the past week, most notably offering his opinion on Rockies top prospect Jeff Hoffman — the key piece in July’s Troy Tulowitzki blockbuster (ESPN Insider required). Law notes that Hoffman showed a minimal-effort delivery while sitting in the mid-90s and touching 97 mph five times during a five-inning start. However, the fastball has little movement, making it too easy to square up, and Hoffman showed a poor feel for his changeup on the day in question. From a big-picture point of view, Law feels that Hoffman has a lot in common with Jon Gray in that he’s a power arm with great stuff that has yet to show up in his results. Law also discusses Cubs shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres and White Sox righty Spencer Adams, among others.
- Andy Martino of the New York Daily News writes that while Matt Harvey has come under considerable fire due to the recent drama surrounding his innings limit, he’s in no way a quitter or phony. Rather, Harvey is a 26-year-old that it trying to balance his long-term health with his desire to win a championship with the Mets while hearing varying opinions and advice from doctors, his agent, Mets executives, his teammates and fans. He’s in an unenviable position, Martino points out before opining that no one in the situation need be portrayed as a “hero” or as a “villain.”
- There are few open jobs on the Rays roster heading into the 2015-16 offseason, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, with Asdrubal Cabrera and John Jaso being the club’s primary free agents. That will leave some uncertainty at shortstop, and there’s already uncertainty at catcher, Topkin notes. One way the Rays could plug either hole will be to trade from their rotation depth, and Topkin feels that it’s “likely” the front office will do just that this winter. The Rays have Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Drew Smyly, Nate Karns, Matt Moore, Erasmo Ramirez, top prospect Blake Snell and, eventually, Alex Cobb as rotation options, giving them an enviable surplus of serviceable arms.
Martino seems to have forgotten the first rule of discussing baseball: it’s always necessary to cast Scott Boras as a villain.
I think Harvey is the target of some unfair commentary. You are talking about a rising star who finished fourth in the 2013 Cy Young voting, then went in for TJ, worked hard on recovery–remember, they don’t all get back on the field, and they don’t all regain their previous levels, and has performed very well this year. Boras is unpleasant, but he had a real point to make–albeit one that should have been handled privately. If the Mets really thought is was sensible for this pitcher, already at 166 innings, to throw another 30 in the regular season, and perhaps 20-30 more should the Mets go deep into the post season, they were way out there on what had generally be considered to be prudent. Great pitching talent–and he has it–is a rare commodity. You don’t burn it out. As has been noted in the Nathan Eovaldi articles, two TJ’s on young pitchers is largely un-chartered waters. Harvey has every right to be concerned about his future–and we aren’t talking about Carl Pavano here.
Thing is I didn’t expect more than 18-20 innings the rest of the way without any public spectacle.
It would be nice if there was an agreement or rule of thumb about the difference between “innings pitched’ and “pitches thrown”. I heard a comment that Harvey has actualy thrown 800 less pitches than normal in the number of innings he has thrown.
That’s 8 games of 100 pitches less than normal. So how does that factor into this stressed arm issue?
That’s an extraordinary number, given that he’s pitched a little more that 171 innings–which would imply 4.5 pitches less an inning than other pitchers–all while maintaining a strikeout an inning pace. I see he’s averaging 14.8 pitches per inning, and among the leaders in efficiency,. But Carlos Rondon is 125th on that list, and he’s an awful 17.9. The numbers don’t work out.
I have not researched the numbers, but even if it is 200 pitches,that’s 2 games. My point is the “number of innings” seems arbitrary to the real issue of actual arm movement, that creates wear and tear on the arm. Thought there might be someone who has read something on this issue and could share it with us.
Valid point. Much more emphasis on actual pitches thrown, amount of pitches thrown per start, and an better understanding of what could be classed as “high leverage” pitches, would emphasize a point much better.
Innings are good on the surface, but this particular situation probably requires more than just a surface look.
It’s interesting that right now, as the media and fans in New York are buzzing about all the turmoil regarding Harvey, Cespedes’ agent rides in and pumps up the love fest for their man. You can say they are real experts in the PR game, and it shows.
can’t think of Andujar without thinking about the 1985 World Series, and of course his classic quote- “Baseball can be summed up in one word- youneverknow”
22 walks in 170 minor league innings for Spencer Adams so far- nice.
Harvey is a hypocrite imo. He barks about not liking getting skipped or doing a 6 man rotation and then weeks later says he can only pitch so much more bc of his surgery. And he does it during a pennant race. I understand his concern and can agree, but as a mets fan I’m sour with his timing and method to express this concern. He could’ve said something 2 months ago. Now all cameras will be on him on the bench while the mets try and win in the postseason without him ( assuming mets make the playoffs). And the dude calls himself the dark knight. Batman wouldn’t be thinking about no innings limit
Yeah this guy is really tarnishing my good name. To paraphrase myself if I may: “You either shut your mouth and go out and give it your all and be a hero, or you wait long enough to complain and cry injury limits now and then see yourself become the villain.”
He has said that he will pitch in the playoffs. The issue right now is sorting out a plan that will allow him to do so in order to reduce the health risk.
Pitch in the bullpen for the playoffs maybe. He’s saying that to blow smoke at us. But let’s be real. He’s not pitching in the playoffs. Don’t expect him to either. And I don’t understand why cap the innings to 180 when clearly he pitches more then that with warm up pitches and in between start pitches. This innings number is ridiculous but then again I’m no surgeon
The Guy is an Hypocrite, either you want to go for the glory ,or be an Another Mets Wimp like Flores.
What Flores are you talking about? It certainly isn’t Wilmer Flores.
Wilmer Flores ain’t no wimp. He’s a hero to the republic like lando calrissian
You mean the .300+ BAA and 6HR since the non-trade Wilmer Flores? While he isn’t an all-star, he sure is playing better than his counterpart (Gomez) at the moment.
Wonder if the Rays would take a chance on giving Desmond a multi-year deal this offseason. He’s been horrendous and his value is way down, yet there’s some promise with what he’s done in the past.