Tagged: Baseball games

AFL 11.11.15 Surprise-Mesa

Notable Performance:

— Marlins No. 6 prospect Austin Dean flashed some power and speed with an RBI triple to center field in the third inning. Dean has a hit in four of his last five games and the triple was his second of the AFL. Dean reached base after all four of his plate appearances and had a solid all-around game.

Read more about Dean on MLBpipeline.com.

Best Play:

— Athletics prospect Chad Pinder roped a ball down the left field line and tried to stretch a single into a double, challenging the arm of Yankees prospect Tyler Austin. Turns out it was a bad idea. Austin fired a one hopper from left field to the bag at second base and easily retired Pinder.

— However, Pinder showed off his own defensive skills in the fourth. The second baseman fielded a ball the middle and, with momentum carrying him into shallow left, made a leaping throw to first for the out.

Best At-Bat:

— Yankees No. 5 prospect Gary Sanchez continues to impress at the plate. The catcher hit his seventh homer of the AFL in his first at-bat Wednesday afternoon as he blasted a two run homer out to left.

Sanchez hit 18 homers in 93 games this season.

Worth Mentioning:

— Cardinals middle infield prospect Aledmys Diaz hit his third homer of the Fall, a solo shot to left.

— Brewers prospect Adrian Houser threw five shutout innings in his last AFL start and early Wednesday it looked like he was poised for another strong outing.

Houser faced the minimum through two innings, but lost control in the third. Five of the first six batters reached base in the third inning and Houser eventually left the game after allowing three runs on seven hits in three innings of work. The right-hander threw 32 of 54 pitches for strikes.

— Cubs No. 25 LHP, Rob Zastryzny had a strong outing Wednesday. The left-hander made an early mistake – which Sanchez crushed for a homer – but otherwise he was solid. Zastryzny threw four innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He threw 42 of 68 pitches for strikes, walking one and striking out four.

— Angels catching prospect Stephen McGee put together a nice game at the plate on Wednesday. McGee had a four-RBI day as he went 3-for-4 at the plate.

Pitch clocks? So far…..I’m a fan

Maybe I’m in the minority, maybe I don’t have enough respect or appreciation for “the way baseball has always been played,” but so far I’m a fan of the new Pace of Play Initiatives.

For those unaware, Major League Baseball’s Pace of Game Committee is testing several time-saving measures in the Arizona Fall League this season.

Most notably, is the 20-second pitch clock and the two minute and five second clock between innings.

Three games have been played with the pitch clock in effect and the average time of those games has been two hours and 38 minutes. In fact, that time is even a bit high since one of the three games went 11 innings.

Now, the system is not perfect, the Fall League is not directly comparable to a Major League game and tweaks need to be made, but there is certainly potential and I’m a fan.

Through three games there have only been three pitch clock violations which shows me the players are capable of speeding up the game when prompted.

There have also been multiple occasions when a batter has stood in the box with 40 seconds left on the “innings-break clock” another sign that players can move faster.

I’ve also talked to multiple position players about the pitch-clocks and while they admit it is a bit strange to get used to, they also have said that they like it and can feel the game moving faster.

However, there are also some changes that may need to be made. There are some times where the pitcher, especially if he shakes off a sign or doesn’t get a sign from the catcher right away, looks rushed.

There will also be some changes in the running game as the pitcher can basically no longer simply step off the rubber. Within the allotted 20 seconds the pitcher either has to throw to the plate or throw over to the base. He can’t just step off and look at the runner – unless he hops back on the rubber real quick and throws a pitch.

I expect tweaks perhaps toward the end of the Fall League or maybe in next year’s AFL, but I would not be surprised to see pitch clocks in the MLB in the future.

And assuming they resemble what they’ve looked like thus far in the AFL, I’ll be a fan.

*The Fall League has 14 more pitch clock games scheduled so if things change or if there are any unusual occurrences as a result of the pitch-clock I will certainly write another post and let you all know.

Trade Deadline Revisited

As soon as the July 31 Trade Deadline was completed, the A’s and Tigers appeared to be the big winners.

The Athletics had acquired Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel a bit before the Trade Deadline and then acquired Jon Lester in a blockbuster move while the Tigers landed David Price.

As it turned out, those teams went a combined 0-4 in the postseason and the real prize of the Deadline may have been a 31-year old pitcher from Mobile, Alabama.

The San Francisco Giants acquired Jake Peavy, for a couple of pitching prospects, a few days before the Trade Deadline. Peavy went 8-4 with a 2.17 ERA in 12 starts for the National League champions to finish the regular season and is 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA in two postseason starts.

Now it remains to be seen whether or not the Giants will resign Peavy next season, but after winning the National League pennant and reaching a third World Series in the past five years, it’s hard to argue the move wasn’t a success for the Giants.

In addition to the Peavy trade, plenty of other teams were active at the Trade Deadline. Here’s a quick rundown on how everyone performed with their new teams:

A’s acquired Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel: In 16 starts with the Athletics, Samardzija went 8-8 with a 3.14 ERA. Hammel went 2-6 with a 4.26 ERA in 12 starts.

Cubs acquire Addison Russell, Billy McKinney and Dan Straily: Russell, the No. 5 prospect according to MLBpipeline.com, was the prize of this trade for the Cubs and he hit .294 in 50 games with the Cubs AA affiliate.

The Athletics acquired Jon Lester, Jonny Gomes and cash from the Red Sox for Yoenis Cespedes: Lester went 6-4 with a 2.35 ERA in 11 starts, but was also on the mound when the A’s collapse began in the AL Wild Card game. Gomes played in 34 games for the A’s and hit .234 Cespedes hit .269 with five homers and 33 RBI for Boston.

Then, the A’s traded Tommy Milone to the Twins in exchange for Sam Fuld:

Milone appeared in six games, five starts, for the Twins while Fuld played in 53 games and hit .210 for Oakland.

The Cardinals acquired John Lackey from the Red Sox for Joe Kelly and Allen Craig: Lackey went 3-3 with a 4.30 ERA in 10 starts for the Cardinals while Kelly went 4-2 with a 4.11 ERA in 10 starts for Boston and Craig hit .128 in 29 games.

The Brewers traded a pair of minor leaguers (outfielder Mitch Haniger and pitcher Anthony Banda) to the Diamondbacks for Gerardo Parra: Parra hit .268 in 46 games for Milwaukee.

The Padres continued selling and traded Chris Denorfia to the Mariners for Abraham Almonte and minor league pitcher Stephen Kohlscheen: Denorfia hit .195 in 32 games with the Mariners.

A day after trading Justin Masterson to the Cardinals, the Indians traded Asdrubal Cabrera to the Nationals for Zach Walters: Masterson was a disappointment with the Cardinals as he went 3-3 in nine games, six starts, with a 7.04 ERA. Cabrera hit .229 in 49 games with the Nationals and Walters hit .130 in 70 games for the Indians.

The Red Sox traded Andrew Miller to the Orioles for minor league pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez: Miller appeared in 23 games for the Orioles and posted a 1.35 ERA.

Boston was very active at the deadline and concluded its day after trading Stephen Drew to the Yankees for Kelly Johnson: Drew hit .150 in 46 games with the Yankees.

In addition to Drew, the Yankees acquired Martin Prado. In order to get Prado, the Yankees sent Peter O’Brien and either cash or a player to be named later to the Diamondbacks: Prado hit .316 in 37 games as a Yankee.

The Braves acquired Emilio Bonifacio, James Russell and cash from the Cubs in exchange for minor league catcher Victor Caratini: Bonifacio appeared in 41 games for the Braves and hit .212, while Russell posted a 2.22 ERA in 22 appearances with Atlanta.

The Marlins sent outfielder Jake Marisnick to the Astros in return for Jarred Cosart and Kike Hernandez: Marisnick hit .272 in 51 games with his new team and Cosart went 4-4 with a 2.39 ERA in 10 starts with his new club.

The Tigers acquired David Price, the Mariners picked up Austin Jackson and the Rays received Drew Smyly and Nick Franklin: Price went 4-4 with a 3.59 ERA in 11 starts for the Tigers while Austin Jackson hit .229 in 54 games with the Mariners. He also stole 11 bases. In Tampa Bay, Smyly went 3-1 in seven starts and posted a 1.70 ERA and Franklin hit .206 in 11 games.

Obviously these stats do not tell the whole story of who won or lost a trade or whether it was even for both teams as contract situations, cash, prospects and plenty of other factors are up for consideration, but in the break between the championship series and the World Series, it is interesting to look back and see how all those Deadline deals stacked up.

MLB Looking To Speed Up The Game In AFL

Pace of game has been a major topic across baseball for quite some time, but throughout the 2014 season, the issue really seemed to gain some steam.

Baseball is certainly aware that games are getting longer and to combat that a Pace of Game Committee was officially announced on September 22nd.

Baseball games – especially when watching on television – sometimes can drag on, but if someone doesn’t like a three hour and 15 minute game for it’s length, I’m not sure how appealing a two hour and fifty minute game will be. Unless baseball find a way to drastically reduce the time of game, it just seems like one of those things where you either like it or you don’t.

Nevertheless, it’s hard to fault baseball for trying.

In the upcoming Arizona Fall League several new pace of game initiatives will be game tested in an effort to speed up the game and potentially make changes to the Major Leagues in the future.

“The Pace of Game Committee is eager to test various ideas – ranging from the incremental to the dramatic – in order to learn more, and we are fortunate to have a setting in which we can do exactly that,” Commissioner Bud Selig said in a press release. “We will work with the appropriate parties – including players, umpires, our partners, our fans and many other contributors to our game – to form effective pace of game recommendations that will fit the Major League level.”

So what are these new initiatives and what can fans expect to see in the Arizona Fall League?

  • Batter’s Box Rule: With the exception of foul balls, wild pitches or a time out the batter must keep at least one foot in the batter’s box throughout his at-bat.
  • No-Pitch Intentional Walks: If the manager wants to walk a player, he simply signals to the umpire and the batter is awarded first base. Personally, I love this rule and think it should have been in effect sooner. It won’t save a ton of time (how many intentional walks in an average game? 1?) but it does help.
  • 2:05 Inning Break Clock: The break between innings will be just over two minutes. If the batter takes too long the umpire can call a strike, if the pitcher takes too long the umpire can call a ball.
  • 2:30 Pitching Change Break: Teams get two and a half minutes to make a pitching change. If the first pitch isn’t thrown within 2:30, the umpire will call a ball.
  • Three “Time Outs”: Each team is only allowed three in-game conferences. Pitching change and injury-related items do not count toward this total. Where this rule will really come into effect is pitching coach visits to the mound and a third base coach talking to the batter. With just three of those allowed per game, it looks like there will be a new type of strategy that managers will have to consider.
  • The 20-Second Rule: This is seemingly the most drastic change that fans will observe in the Arizona Fall League.
    • Directly from MLB’s press release: “In the In the AFL games at Salt River, a clock will be displayed in both dugouts, behind home plate, and in the outfield. The clock will be operated by an independent operator, who is not a member of the umpire crew. A pitcher shall be allowed 20 seconds to throw each pitch. The batter must be in the box prepared for the pitch during the entire 20-second period. If the batter steps out of the box during the 20-second period, the pitcher may deliver the pitch and the umpire may call a strike, unless the batter was first granted time by the umpire.”
    • The 20-second clock will start when the pitcher is in possession of the ball and will stop when the pitcher begins his motion – not when he releases the ball.

Needless to say, not all of these rules will be flawlessly implemented into the Fall League. There will certainly be bumps in the road as everyone gets used to the changes and adjusts aspects of their routines, but it will still be fun to see the impact these changes have on the game.