Knuckle Curve » scott_olsen http://www.everyjoe.com/knucklecurve Major League Baseball News from Spring Training to the World Series Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:36:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Worst of the Worst http://www.everyjoe.com/knucklecurve/worst-of-the-worst/ http://www.everyjoe.com/knucklecurve/worst-of-the-worst/#comments Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:49:48 +0000 Geoff Young http://www.knucklecurve.com/worst-of-the-worst/ Post from: Knuckle Curve

]]> With the season winding down, I got to wondering who’s stinking up the joint? Here are the players with the lowest OPS+ by position (minimum 430 PA, roughly what it would take to qualify for the batting title if the season ended now) and the pitchers with the highest ERA+ (minimum 140 IP for starters, 40 G for relievers):

Worst Position Players of 2007
Pos Name Team(s) BA OBP SLG OPS+
Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and are through games of September 9, 2007.
C Jason Kendall Oak/ChN .245 .300 .313 63
1B Lyle Overbay Tor .239 .317 .397 85
2B Josh Barfield Cle .245 .273 .326 59
3B Nick Punto Min .199 .286 .255 46
SS Tony Pena KC .256 .276 .334 56
Omar Vizquel SF .239 .299 .295 56
LF Jason Bay Pit .253 .331 .424 95
CF Juan Pierre LA .290 .323 .347 73
RF Delmon Young TB .293 .322 .416 92

Quick comments:

  • Kendall and Pierre have humongous contracts. Kendall’s is up at the end of the ‘07 season, but the Dodgers get to pay Pierre a total of $36.5 over the next four years. Good times.
  • Punto’s futility at the plate borders on the historic. Since 1961, only seven players have had a worse OPS+ while qualifying for a league’s batting title; the most recent was Neifi Perez, playing for the Kansas City Royals in 2002.
  • There aren’t really any bad-hitting corner outfielders. It’s surprising to see Bay at the bottom of the left fielders. We’ll cut Young some slack due to the fact that he’s starting in the big leagues at age 21. That makes up for a lot.
Worst Pitchers of 2007
Pos Name Team(s) W-L ERA ERA+
Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and are through games of September 9, 2007.
RHSP Adam Eaton Phi 9-8 6.28 72
LHSP Scott Olsen Fla 9-12 5.76 73
RHRP Jose Mesa Det/Phi 1-3 7.36 61
LHRP Jay Marshall Oak 1-2 6.75 65

Kip Wells (6-16, 5.65, 76) could overtake Eaton, while Olsen’s lead over Dontrelle Willis (8-15, 5.27, 80) appears to be safe. Eaton is on pace to become the first pitcher to finish with a winning percentage while being at the absolute bottom of the ERA+ pile since Colby Lewis (10-9, 7.30, 68) did it in 2003 while “pitching” for the Texas Rangers.

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]]> http://www.everyjoe.com/knucklecurve/worst-of-the-worst/feed/ 2 Webb Faces Peavy, and the Rest of Wednesday’s Key Matchups http://www.everyjoe.com/knucklecurve/webb-faces-peavy-and-the-rest-of-wednesdays-key-matchups/ http://www.everyjoe.com/knucklecurve/webb-faces-peavy-and-the-rest-of-wednesdays-key-matchups/#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:57:33 +0000 Geoff Young http://www.knucklecurve.com/webb-faces-peavy-and-the-rest-of-wednesdays-key-matchups/ Post from: Knuckle Curve

]]> Ack, I’ve been slacking. Bad blogger, no cookie! Anyway, here are a few games I’ll be keeping an eye on today.

American League

  • Red Sox at Orioles, 4:05 p.m. PT – Curt Schilling faces Daniel Cabrera at Camden Yards. Since a poor showing on Opening Day, Schilling has pitched pretty well. Sure, he gave up five runs to the Yankees over the weekend, but have you looked at that lineup? On the other side, Cabrera has his walks down to a reasonable 2.39 per 9 innings so far. That’s down from the very ugly 6.32 he issued per 9 last year. The O’s also feature one of the more dynamic young hitters in the American League, Nick Markakis. I was just talking to a buddy of mine the other day about how quickly Markakis developed. He went from a projectable young guy to a bona fide stud faster than you can say Shawn Green.
  • Royals at Twins, 5:10 p.m. PT – Like offense? So do Odalis Perez and Sidney Ponson. It’s not that long ago that Perez was a promising young pitcher. He had a great year for the Dodgers in ‘04 and appeared to be poised for a breakout, but nothing much has gone right since then. Opponents are batting .378/.425/.486 against the left-hander this year. That’s a 911 OPS, and 911 is what Perez will be dialing after this one. Ponson, meanwhile, remains in the big leagues despite a profound lack of evidence that he can pitch. Opponents are hitting him to the tune of .389/.450/.667. Man, my neck hurts just thinking about it.

National League

  • Brewers at Cubs, 11:20 a.m. PT – Ben Sheets goes up against Ted Lilly at Wrigley. Sheets has struggled in the early going; acknowledging the small sample, his K/9 is particularly troublesome. It’s at 4.00 this year, down from 9.85 in ‘06. Anything can happen in 27 innings, and this could be a fluke; then again… Also, it’s nice to see shortstop J.J. Hardy finally catch up to the other talented young players in that Milwaukee lineup. On the other side, Lilly has looked fantastic and worthy of the huge contract the Cubs gave him this winter. Too bad the rest of his teammates aren’t doing much. Again, it’s early, but if you’re a Cubs fan, how can you not be a little disappointed by a 7-13 start after breaking the bank on free agents? I’m not worried about Lou Piniella’s health just yet, but I’m getting there.
  • Braves at Marlins, 4:05 p.m. PT – Is it me, or does it seem like these two teams have been playing each other pretty much since the season started? Tim Hudson and Scott Olsen hook up in this one. Hudson has been brilliant in his first four starts and looks to be over whatever brought him down last year, while Olsen has gotten off to a terrible start in his sophomore season. He’s getting pounded and walking guys — that’s a bad combination.
  • Padres at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m. PT – My own personal bias notwithstanding, I think this is the pitching matchup of the night. Defending Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb faces perennial CYA candidate Jake Peavy in Arizona. Webb started the season slowly but dominated the Padres last week in San Diego, fanning 13 batters in the process. Peavy, meanwhile, has pitched extremely well in three of his first four starts. He still isn’t as efficient as he could be, but he seems to be working more aggressively to hitters this year than last, so maybe that will work itself out over time. Either way, this has the potential to be a great pitchers duel.

There you go. Watch some baseball already…

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