This is sort of, um, what’s the right word — stunning? John Walsh at Hardball Times (full disclosure: I contribute to THT) has done some terrific work with the new Enhanced Gameday pitch-f/x data that is all the rage:
What I want to cover is how to identify the pitches of any pitcher’s repertoire, given the fabulous pitch-f/x data that several others and I have been working with this season. What does he throw? How hard does he throw each kind of pitch? What sort of movement is he getting?
In addition to describing basic pitch types and what they look like …read more

Something is rotten in the state of Maryland. The ballclub from Baltimore is in full free fall, and manager Sam Perlozzo has been let go. As everyone knows, when your superiors make poor decisions, you will be the one to suffer for it. Perlozzo ultimately couldn’t rise above his organization’s ineptitude, and now he is looking for work again.
The Orioles, meanwhile, are talking to former Florida Marlins manager Joe Girardi about the vacant position. Girardi, you may recall, led a team with a $15 million payroll to 78 wins last season. That’s a little less than Baltimore is paying Danys …read more

I have a hard time imagining that this is what Peter Angelos expected when he laid out serious cash to “fix” his team’s beleaguered bullpen. I wondered at the time what Angelos was thinking, and with news that the Orioles have placed right-hander Danys Baez on the disabled list due to a “forearm strain,” Baltimore’s woes have reached a new low. Here’s how their three big free-agent signings from this past winter (Baez, Chad Bradford, and Jamie Walker) have fared to date:

Baltimore “Big Three” Relievers

 
$M
IP
ERA
H/9
HR/9
BB/9
K/9

Stats are through games of June 17, 2007, and are courtesy of ESPN.

Walker
3.00
25.1
3.55
8.53
0.36
2.49
6.75

Bradford
3.00
26.1
3.76
11.28
0.00
2.05
5.47

Baez
4.00
29.0
6.52
8.38
1.86
4.97
5.28

Total
10.00
80.2
4.69
9.37
0.78
3.24
5.80

AL average
–
–
4.23
8.60
0.84
4.10
7.10

According to Cot’s …read more