A third of the way through the season, it’s time for the early June Power Report. For each team I have a ranking and a few interesting stats/observations for not just last week, but also the last month and the season to date. I tried to keep everything consistent, but some stats are based on Saturday, some on Sunday. Enjoy!
30. Marlins. If April wasn’t bad enough, the Marlins scored just 79 runs in 28 games in the month of May, running their season total to 152 runs in 55 games. They rank last in runs, doubles, homers, average, on-base percentage, slugging, and hit into the third most double plays. When your team leader in batting average is at .228, that explains a lot. Their pitching yields the highest opponents’ on-base percentage in the NL. Miami is actually 6-3 against the Mets, but 10-39 versus everyone else. On the bright side, slugger Giancarlo Stanton...
On this date in baseball history, former NL slugger and NY Yankees World Series Champion Johnny Mize passed away ten years ago. One of the feared hitters in the NL, he was traded after the 1941 season to the Giants to make room for a 20 year old named Stan Musial. Mize was no slouch as he drove in 100 or more runs in just about his first seven seasons. (He had 93 RBIs in 126 games as a rookie in 1936, clearly would have surpassed 100 in a full season.) In 1938 and 1939, he led the NL in home runs. He hit .349 in 1939 and led the NL in OPS and slugging percentage from 1938-1940. In 1942 with the Giants, he led the NL in RBIs and slugging.
After 1942, Mize joined the US Navy...
Big time NHL Hockey fans spend a lot of time talking about the league's original six teams. Though the fact that the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadians have this distinction, only the Canadians were around in 1909. The origins of the earliest MLB teams are traced back to the late 1800s, where there are eight National League teams that are still around now. I dropped it to seven because the Brooklyn franchise (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) franchise came into fruition the latest, in 1884. With competitive leagues like the American Association losing their "major league" title, it meant the end to franchises that had runs prior to the turn of the 20th century. The American League started in 1901, with several of the teams still existing today. In the NL, cities like Louisville, Baltimore, Cleveland and Washington had teams that were...
METS (14-21, fourth place/NL East) vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (24-13, first place/NL Central)
Tuesday 5/14: RHP Dillon Gee (2-4, 5.55) vs. LHP John Gast (0-0, -.--), 8:15 p.m. ET
Wednesday 5/15: RHP Shaun Marcum (0-3, 8.59) vs. RHP Shelby Miller (5-2, 1.58), 8:15 p.m. ET
Thursday 5/16: LHP Jonathon Niese (2-4, 5.93) vs. RHP Adam Wainwright (5-2, 2.30), 1:45 p.m. ET
Mets Series Matchup Report:
New York Mets Career statistics vs. Lance Lynn (0-1 - 3.86 ERA - 3K's)
It was a week for pitching gems. There may not have been a no-hitter or perfect game but a whole slew of guys came pretty darn close.
Cardinals rookie Shelby Miller allowed a leadoff single on Friday, then retired the next 27 batters.
The next day, his teammate Adam Wainwright pitched another complete game shutout, allowing just two hits
Also on Friday, Red Sox Jon Lester pitched a one-hit shutout over the Blue Jays.
Mets Matt Harvey pitched a one-hit shutout on Monday with 12 strikeouts and no walks and didn't even get a win for it (Mets won 1-0 in ten innings, Harvey pitched nine).
A month is in the books so here is my early May Power Report. For each team I have a ranking and a few interesting stats/observations. Enjoy it, because it took a lot of work!
(I do these once a month and prefer little movement. When some "expert" moves a team up 6 spots and then down 5 spots a week later, that says more about the "expert" than the team. That's why some teams with worse records have better rank than "surprise" teams I expect to dip soon.)
30. Astros. Lost 10 out of 11 and outscored by 24 runs the last two. The 198 runs they’ve allowed is 34 more than the next team. On pace for 41-121 record. They’ve also racked up an impressive 323 strikeouts, which will shatter the all time record. Philip Humber not only has the highest ERA but also the lowest run support; that’s how you go 0-7. There’s no question...
One of the things baseball fans are great at is overanalyzing the start of a given season. "Power rankings" are used within the first couple weeks of the year and teams that were given no chance are looked at as sudden postseason contenders. Which is absolutely hypocritical as these are the same people who refused to go against the grain of baseball prospectus and MLB.com after they released the projected 2013 finishes. However, one of the things that separate baseball from any other sport is the fact that even the worst teams can have great days, stretches and sometimes weeks and months. The best teams will go into slumps, simply because of the length of the season. Rather than rank the best to the worst teams right now strictly based on record, I will preview a ficticious postseason that would exist if the season ended last night, May 3rd.
In...
Last night may be one of the nuttiest baseball days I can ever remember! Here are the highlights:
Rough day for relief pitchers...
- Mets' Jeremy Hefner pitches 8.1 shutout innings, leaves leading 1-0 with a man on third. His reliever Brandon Lyon gives up a single for a run, then the Marlins walk-off with a wild pitch.
- Trevor Cahill of the Diamondbacks also pitched a shutout into the ninth inning. After he was removed (after throwing just 88 pitches), J.J. Putz gave up a two-run homer to lose the game 2-1.
So two starting pitchers were removed in the ninth inning leading 1-0 and both teams lost.
- Poor Robin Ventura, all he needs is a reliever he can count on. He brought in a new White Sox pitcher for the sixth inning in a tie game. The pitcher walked a batter and was taken out. The new pitcher gave up a double to his only batter and was removed. The...
If you saw my previous article written earlier today, you know that the Red Sox have the best record in baseball. After one month, the Red Sox, Royals and Pirates are all alone in first place, and after Colorado lost two to Arizona this weekend, the Rockies and Diamondbacks are now tied for the division lead. Take that for what it's worth, we've seen it before.
With that in mind, here are some notes from the last week of this great baseball season.
- As mentioned in my Red Sox article, Boston is 14-0 in games that Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, and Felix Doubront pitch.
- Boston's schedule through May 30 includes 27 games against the Twins, Blue Jays, White Sox, Indians, Rays and Phillies.
- Red Sox hit 29 doubles in seven games last week (ten more than anyone else).
- After a slow start, the Pittsburgh Pirates are 11-4 against the Cardinals, Reds, Braves and D-Backs.
- The Pirates' pitching staff, statistically...
Phils scored four runs in the eighth inning as they beat the redbirds, 7-4, splitting the four games set with the Cardinals.
The Cardinals took a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first as, with one man out, Matt Carpenter hits a solo home run, his second home run of the season. The Phils tied the game up at one-all in their half of the first as, with runners on the corners, and with nobody out, Chase Utley hits an RBI single, knocking in Jimmy Rollins, who had started the inning off with a triple, while sending John Mayberry, Jr., who had just walked, on to third base. The Phils then took the lead one batter later as Ryan Howard hits a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Mayberry, giving the Phils a 2-1 lead. The Cardinals tied the game up at two-all in...
