Knuckle Curve » c_c_sabathia

Ten Sports Figures of 2007

Geoff Young — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 17:05:17 +0000

Andrew at Defensive Indifference lists the 10 sports figures he blogged about most in 2007, as requested by the incomparable Jamie Mottram. As I did last year, I’m again participating in this project (thanks, Jamie!). Following Andrew’s lead, here is my list, in alphabetical order:

Barry Bonds. His stories pretty much write themselves.
Miguel Cabrera. Anyone who gets scolded by Ozzie Guillen for being too fat is okay in my book.
Fausto Carmona. One of the biggest surprises of 2007.
Daisuke Matsuzaka. Not as good as the hype, but still pretty good.
Gil Meche. Irresponsible spending almost got the Royals out of last place.
Jake Peavy. Bounced back from poor (by his standards) ‘06 season.
Carlos Pena. Where did that come from?
Alex Rodriguez. Takes abuse from everyone, but still great.
C.C. Sabathia. Out-Santana’d Santana.
Barry Zito. Hey, at least the Giants only have 6 years left on his deal.

Stay tuned for Jamie’s full list…

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Sabathia Wins AL Cy Young

Geoff Young — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:06:22 +0000

Josh Beckett? C.C. Sabathia? You liked Beckett (60%) over Sabathia (27%) in our poll. The voters have spoken in favor of the large left-hander representing Cleveland. This surprises me somewhat because it’s actually the right call.

If I had a vote that counted for anything, mine would have been for Sabathia. He and Beckett put up very similar numbers this year, but Sabathia pitched about 40 more innings. Here are the top 10 pitching win shares totals in the AL for 2007:

Sabathia 23.7
Carmona 22.6
John Lackey 22.0
Javier Vazquez 19.6
Dan Haren 19.0
Erik Bedard 18.7
Beckett 18.6
Kelvim Escobar 18.3
J.J. Putz 18.2
Johan Santana 18.1

Not that win shares are the end-all and be-all, but still. And how sick is it that in a down season, Santana still ranks among the top 10?

Anyway, congratulations to C.C. Sabathia. Nicely done…

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What You’re Saying, Part Deux

Geoff Young — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 14:20:02 +0000

I haven’t done one of these in a while. Time to turn the electrons over to you; here’s what y’all have been saying at Knuckle Curve over the past couple months or so:

Larry on baseball writers:

I commend you for your restraint, Geoff. Baseball writers have been so wretched they shouldn’t have a say in ANY post-season awards OR the HOF.

Go to the HOF site and see what the writers have done since 1936. The first ballot was tough, with Cobb, Ruth, Honus Wagner, Hornsby and Walter Johnson on the ballot.

400-game winner Johnson got in, but 500-game winner Cy Young didn’t. He got in the next year, in 1937 – with 76%. Imagine, 24% of writers didn’t think Cy Young belonged in the Hall.

Honus Wagner and his 8 batting titles and .327 lifetime average got in, but Hornsby’s 7 NL titles and .358 average got less than half the vote. I guess they forgot about his three .400 seasons or his two triple crowns.

Hornsby not only didn’t get in, he was dropped from the ballot in ‘37. He got back on in ‘38 and got 19% of the vote. He was finally voted into the Hall in 1942, with 78% of the vote.

The writers have been stiffs since day one. You were much too kind, Geoff.

Rain Delay on Seattle’s managerial situation:

The Mariners are under .500 with John Mclaren at the helm. You’d think all of the time as he spent as Lou’s bench coach he would’ve learned, something… heck anything…

I pray that he’s not hired on for 2008.

Sorry, bud; next time pray harder.

Vegas Watch on the Arizona Diamondbacks:

In looking back at various preseason predictions, I think it’s interesting that everybody was so wrong about the Diamondbacks, but ended up being right (if that makes sense).

As you said, the young hitters didn’t come through, as they’re third to last in the NL in R/G. The pitching ended up carrying them – third in the NL in ERA.

That adds up to about an average team, but of course they completely outperformed their Pythag record. I doubt there has ever been a team that has ended up being this different from people’s expectations, yet finishes (potentially) right where everybody expected.

Joe Ruiz on classic rock:

If I hear Foghat during the next commercial, I’m switching to Gameday Audio.

Derrick on Jimmy Rollins for MVP:

J-Roll has put up historical numbers from the lead off spot. He also should win the Gold Glove. Holliday is not a leader the way that Jimmy Rollins is. Nor is he the defensive player that Rollins is. The MVP is the single player that helps their own team to win and to hold that team together. J-Roll backs up what he says. Have you guys heard of Super Bowl III? Great players back it up on the field. No player in baseball has held a team together like Jimmy has this year.

BV on the AL Cy Young race:

Other than the fact that Josh Beckett has one more win than CC How can anyone build a legit case that Beckett deserves the CY… CC should win in a landslide…

And there you have it…

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Indians Seek to Destroy Red Sox, Television Networks

Geoff Young — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 19:19:16 +0000

Welcome to the moment network execs have been dreading. The Cleveland Indians need to win one of the next three games to face the Colorado Rockies in the World Series.

A nation yawns. Or it would, if it could summon the enthusiasm.

Thursday’s contest at Jacobs Field (first pitch, 5 p.m. PT) features a rematch of Game 1 starters and leading Cy Young candidates C.C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett. For Boston, the equation is simple: win or go home for the winter.

For the Indians, it’s more like win or go to Boston’s home for two more games. I’m thinking they’d prefer Door #1.

The Red Sox pounded Sabathia in the series opener. Could that happen again? Sure, but they’d best not count on it. Time for Beckett to pitch the game of his life…

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Twenty Names to Know

Geoff Young — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:51:32 +0000

Nate Silver ran a piece the other day at Baseball Prospectus re-examining his earlier look at the 50 most valuable long-term commodities in baseball. He offers thoughts on biggest risers (including Justin Upton, about whom he correctly notes that “age is everything, and for a 19-year-old to come this far this fast is very special”), biggest fallers (comparing Jason Bay’s career path to that of Bobby Higginson), and his “very preliminary, off-the-cuff, subject-to-change, pre-PECOTA Top 20″ for next year.

Read the full article for all the details, but here are Silver’s projected top pitchers for 2008-2013. See if you can figure out which one doesn’t belong:

Johan Santana, Min
Jake Peavy, SD
C.C. Sabathia, Cle
Erik Bedard, Bal
Joba Chamberlain, NYA

Hint: His last last name is the same as that of a former British prime minister.

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Water Bottles and Cy Young Contenders

Geoff Young — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:08:03 +0000

And folks said that Diamondbacks fans don’t care. Certainly they do, but as Rodney Dangerfield would say, “about what I have no idea.” Apparently not about dehydration. Oh, the water bottles were empty? My bad.

Either way, Arizona lost the game Brandon Webb started, which creates serious problems for the rest of the series. Friday night’s game (first pitch 7 p.m. PT) features slop-balling left-hander Doug Davis and young flamethrower Ubaldo Jimenez. If Jimenez is on his game (anyone’s guess given his lack of experience), he should have little trouble with Arizona’s hitters. Davis, as is his custom, will be perfectly average in all respects.

Over in the American League, we have a great pitching matchup. The Indians are in Boston for Game 1 of the ALCS. First pitch is at 4 p.m. PT. The two leading candidates for AL Cy Young hook up in this one — C. C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett. Holy smokes, I was just looking at Sabathia’s numbers against left-handers this year: .203/.229/.317, with 75 strikeouts against 4 walks.

Looking for a weakness in either guy’s game? Check out — scratch that, there are none. If you love great pitching (as do I), you’re in for a treat.

Happy Friday, folks, and happy watching!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Rookie Arms, Obscene Offenses, and Lefties in the Desert

Geoff Young — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:18:27 +0000

I said the openers would feature great pitching matchups, but I’m not sure I expected a grand total of 14 runs between the three games. Wow.

Let’s see what in store for Thursday, shall we?

Rockies at Phillies, 12 noon PT — Dropping Game 1 at home with Cole Hamels puts Philadelphia in a very uncomfortable position. Rookie Kyle Kendrick put up a nice ERA and win totals, but his complete inability to throw the ball past hitters could present a serious problem against the Rockies, who tend to hit the ball hard when they make contact. Another rookie, the even younger and less battle tested Franklin Morales, goes for Colorado. (When is the last time two guys age 22 or younger faced off in a playoff game?) Morales held left-handed batters to a .129/.206/.226 line this year. It’s a tiny sample, so who knows how telling this will be, but — well, I was going to note that the Phillies’ lineup is stacked with lefties, but despite that fact, they actually hit southpaws a little better. Eh, rookie pitchers. Who knows.
Yankees at Indians, 3:30 p.m. PT — Two pitchers with identical 19-7 records square off in Cleveland. One of them is a leading candidate for Cy Young, while the other benefits from 7.04 runs per game behind him. The Yankees scored 968 runs this year, which is obscene. They’ve gotten well above average production from every position except center field, where they’ve been merely okay. To say that C.C. Sabathia will have his hands full would be to grossly understate the situation. Cleveland’s offense is pretty solid as well, but it has holes — notably at second base and in the corner outfield spots. Guess we’ll find out whether good pitching really does beat good hitting…
Cubs at Diamondbacks, 7 p.m. PT — Arizona won a battle of the bullpens in the opener. Two left-handers hook up in Game 2: Ted Lilly and the eminently average (75-75 career record, 104 ERA+) Doug Davis. The latter tends to put guys on base via the walk (90+ each of the past three seasons), but the Cubs tend not to draw walks. Only Derrek Lee (71) and Mark DeRosa (58) had as many as 50 in 2007. Among National League teams, only the Pirates drew fewer bases on balls. Irresistible force, immovable object…

Happy watching!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

2007 AL Cy Young Poll

Geoff Young — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 12:59:09 +0000

{democracy:21}

We’ve talked about the AL Cy Young here and here, but I’m thinking maybe it’s time for a poll? After all, we are having so much fun with the NL (write-in candidate Jimmy Rollins has overtaken Matt Holliday and David Wright) and AL MVP award polls.

My preseason pick? I went with the pack and chose Johan Santana. Right now, I’d say that if one of the guys from Cleveland (C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona) doesn’t win it, there’s a problem. But I could be wrong.

What do you think? Feel free to leave comments supporting your choice if you’re so inclined…

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More Thoughts on 2007 Cy Young Award

Geoff Young — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:48:13 +0000

We touched on the Cy Young award last week — specifically Rich at Baseball Analysts’ take on the leading candidates. Now another heavy hitter — ESPN’s Jayson Stark — weighs in with his thoughts.

Like everyone else, Stark has San Diego’s Jake Peavy and Arizona’s Brandon Webb in the top two slots in the National League. Nice to see Stark also recognize what Aaron Harang is accomplishing on a very bad Cincinnati team.

I still think Dodgers closer Takashi Saito belongs in the discussion. Lefties are hitting just .194/.239/.311 against him this year. They are the lucky ones: right-handers are batting — I can hardly write this — .117/.170/.160. Saito has fanned 71 batters and allowed 47 total bases. That’s not quite vintage Eric Gagne, but it’s mighty impressive.

Over in the American League, the situation remains muddy. I’m with Stark on Chien-Ming Wang; I don’t see how that guy is even in the discussion. Then again, he finished second in the voting last season despite mostly pedestrian numbers. Put Harang on the Yankees and he’d win 20, no problem.

I’m also not sure that Cleveland’s C.C. Sabathia has as decided an advantage over Boston’s Josh Beckett as Stark seems to think. Beyond the media hype that will accompany Beckett because of the team he plays for, the guy has had a fantastic season. (So has Kelvim Escobar, with much less fanfare.)

Who do I think should win? Peavy and probably Sabathia (unless something weird happens over the next couple weeks). Who do I think will win? I don’t have a lot of faith in the writers: I’ll say Webb and Beckett.

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Games for Labor Day

Geoff Young — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 15:24:49 +0000

Happy Labor Day. Watch your favorite team on television today, assuming the powers-that-be allow you to do so…

American League

Mariners at Yankees, 10:05 a.m. PT — Good thing folks in Seattle like coffee; this one’s kicking off good and early. The Mariners start the day two games back of New York in the AL wild card race. Felix Hernandez gets the start against a man twice his age, Roger Clemens. Hernandez was born three days before Clemens’ 37th big-league start. Interestingly, their age 21 seasons are kind of similar. Both got hit harder than you might expect for guys with such good stuff and both exhibited surprisingly good control.
Indians at Twins, 11:10 a.m. PT — C.C. Sabathia vs Johan Santana. The Twins really need to move to the NL Central. Anyway, the last time these two pitchers hooked up, way back on August 29, Sabathia and the Indians came out on top, 4-3.

National League

Mets at Reds, 10:15 a.m. PT — Pedro Martinez makes his 2007 debut for New York. Aaron Harang, meanwhile, continues to defy the odds by going 14-3 for a team that is 62-75. How does Brandon Phillips have 26 home runs this year? No, it’s not the park; he’s got 13 each at home and away. Weird.
Padres at Diamondbacks, 1:40 p.m. PT — Two teams in a virtual tie for first place in the NL West with less than a month to go… A pitcher with 343 big-league victories under his belt… A decision made by some genius that this game shouldn’t be televised in San Diego…

One game? San Diego/Arizona if you can swing it; otherwise Cleveland/Minnesota. Happy watching!

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