Ah, Game 3 of the NLCS. The Rockies return home to Coors Field with a 2-0 lead and the world will be watching. Josh Fogg? Livan Hernandez? Wait, is this baseball or the Chinese water torture?
Sorry, I’ve seen these guys pitch a lot this year and they are excruciating. Both pitchers have the same approach: Let the batter hit the ball and hope that good things happen. It’s earned Fogg and his 60-60 career record the nickname of “Dragon Slayer.” It’s earned Hernandez a World Series ring.
There is winning ugly and then there’s this:

 
ERA
WHIP
K/BB
K/9
OPS

Fogg
4.94
1.53
1.59
5.11
854

Hernandez
4.93
1.60
1.14
3.96
870

Three pitchers in MLB failed to break …read more

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 …read more

I thought I’d try a little something different here. It occurs to me that not everyone reads the comments, and if that’s you, then you’re missing out on some good stuff. Here are a few of my favorite recent comments:
Marshall Clow on boring pitchers:
Any time Steve Trachsel, “the human rain delay”, is pitching – that’s a game to miss.
Unless of course Nomar is playing and the idea of Trachsel pitching to Nomar makes you laugh – that would be the AB that never ended.
Tom Durso on the state of baseball in Pittsburgh:
The real shame is that Pirates management has filled …read more

Or, more to the point, what should it be? That’s the question David Pinto asks at Baseball Prospectus [tip o' the Knuckle Curve cap to reader Didi]. After running through a brief history of the save’s evolution as a baseball statistic, Pinto drops this little bomb:
It’s time to decouple the save from the person who finishes the game, and start awarding it to the reliever who does the most to increase the chance of his team winning. This should encourage managers to use their best pitchers in game situations, and still allow these pitchers to gather saves to use to …read more

The Baseball Crank examines Tom Glavine’s march toward 300 victories in the context of those who have gone before him. I didn’t realize that only four left-handed pitchers in the history of MLB have reached that hallowed mark.
The Crank digs deep, back into the 19th century, and finds that early southpaws weren’t particularly effective. He cites the creation of the American Association in 1882 as the first breakthrough for lefties, noting that “startup leagues are often quicker to process innovation.” The second key point came two years later, when pitchers began throwing overhand.
Fascinatingly, in 1919, there were eight right-handers with …read more