Bmwolf21 Posted May 3, 2008 Report Posted May 3, 2008 Like I said, wait and see if he does it against quality offensive clubs... that's the true test! Here's an interesting article by the guys over at Baseball Prospectus about Lee's "historic" start to the season (written before his last start against Seattle): Just focus on his last three starts. On three consecutive occasions Lee has pitched 8 innings or more, allowed no more than 3 hits, walked no more than one batter, and struck out at least 8 batters. We have game logs going back to 1956, courtesy of Retrosheet and Baseball-Reference.com. Since 1956, do you know how many pitchers had made three straight starts with 8+ innings, <=3 hits, <=1 walk, and 8+ strikeouts? Here's the list, which I have put in alphabetical order for your convenience: Cliff Lee. Here's that list again, sorted by last name: Lee, Cliff. That's it. Lee's stretch of pitching is unmatched in at least 50 years, and quite possibly ever, when you consider that strikeouts tend to decrease in frequency as you go back in time. Even if you eliminate the strikeout requirement entirely and just look for pitchers with 3 consecutive starts with 8 innings, 3 or fewer hits, and one walk or none, only two pitchers in our database have such a stretch. One is Woodie Fryman, in 1966. The other is Sandy Koufax, in 1963.
Bmwolf21 Posted May 7, 2008 Report Posted May 7, 2008 Not letting this thread fall off the front page... One headache gone (or soon to be) - Indians designate OF Jason Michaels for assignment. They have 10 days to trade or release him. Opens a spot for Ben Francisco to show what he can do. Bye bye Jason.
GoatheadInCT Posted May 7, 2008 Author Report Posted May 7, 2008 Not letting this thread fall off the front page... One headache gone (or soon to be) - Indians designate OF Jason Michaels for assignment. They have 10 days to trade or release him. Opens a spot for Ben Francisco to show what he can do. Bye bye Jason. I suppose you all are keeping David Delucci after what happened last night!!! :thumbsup: Joba Rules! NOT! :D
Bmwolf21 Posted May 7, 2008 Report Posted May 7, 2008 I suppose you all are keeping David Delucci after what happened last night!!! :thumbsup: Joba Rules! NOT! :D I don't hate Delucci. I hate the idea of Delucci being the 3rd-best hitter on the roster right now, and I hate the idea of him being anything more than a 4th OF/PH. I'd rather see Gutierrez, Grady and Francisco in the OF for now, with Delucci filling in against RHP or giving the boost off the bench.
Bmwolf21 Posted May 7, 2008 Report Posted May 7, 2008 Like I said, wait and see if he does it against quality offensive clubs... that's the true test! Lee is up tonight against the Yanks - but the Yanks have Wang throwing against our putrid offense.
Bmwolf21 Posted May 8, 2008 Report Posted May 8, 2008 This time the Tribe gets the better of the pitching duel as Lee goes 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K for the win. Lee - 6-0, 0.84 ERA.
JujuFish Posted May 8, 2008 Report Posted May 8, 2008 Battle of two undefeated pitchers, and Cliff Lee continues to come out on top. Very nice.
Guest Sloth Posted May 9, 2008 Report Posted May 9, 2008 I'm not a fan of major league baseball anymore. W/ the steroid scandal amongst players we all thought to be a part of the greatest of all time I have a hard time enjoying it. When players like Bonds, Palmero, and now Clemens get "busted", how can you trust the game anymore? I'm sure all of you know this, but Clemens MAY have had an "improper relationship" w/ a 15 year old when he was 28. That further brings down his name and the game. Every major sport has players who illegally use some type of performance enhancement, but baseball doesn't do enough to punish the players who get caught. In football, if a player is busted, doesn't he receive a 4 game suspension? That is a large number of games. Baseball should enforce a more harsh punishment to help clean its image.
BetweenThePipes00 Posted May 9, 2008 Report Posted May 9, 2008 Every major sport has players who illegally use some type of performance enhancement, but baseball doesn't do enough to punish the players who get caught. In football, if a player is busted, doesn't he receive a 4 game suspension? That is a large number of games. Baseball should enforce a more harsh punishment to help clean its image. To be fair, baseball was WAY behind on this issue ... but as of now the penalty is 50 games, a larger percentage of the baseball season than the 4 games the NFL charges. And the NFL gave Shawn Merriman a free trip to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl the same year he got suspended 4 games, so they are not perfect either, that's not exactly harsh punishment. Getting busted and missing 4 games may be worth it if it helps a guy play better and make the Pro Bowl, making his team better and him more money. A lot of guys would still do the roids and take the risk to be better. Performace enhancers are always going to be a problem, no matter the sport.
GoatheadInCT Posted May 10, 2008 Author Report Posted May 10, 2008 This time the Tribe gets the better of the pitching duel as Lee goes 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K for the win. Lee - 6-0, 0.84 ERA. Cliff Lee was lights out... but have you seen Edinson Volquez of the Reds?! That guy is absolutely on fire- he may win the Cy Young in the NL if Webb falters...
Bmwolf21 Posted May 10, 2008 Report Posted May 10, 2008 Cliff Lee was lights out... but have you seen Edinson Volquez of the Reds?! That guy is absolutely on fire- he may win the Cy Young in the NL if Webb falters... Volquez has been very good, but Lee has been just a little bit better: 5-1, 1.06, 1.23 WHiP for Volquez 6-0, 0.86, 0.60 WHiP for Lee It is impressive that he's pitched pretty well against three of the top hitting teams in the NL - Chicago, Atlanta and LA - but he did get to pad his stats with a couple starts against the Bucs...:nana: One other interesting thing to note - Lee is getting 5.24 run support/game (135th in MLB) while Volquez is getting nearly 2 runs more (7.23, 48th in MLB.)
Team Strike Force Posted May 10, 2008 Report Posted May 10, 2008 Cliff Lee was lights out... but have you seen Edinson Volquez of the Reds?! That guy is absolutely on fire- he may win the Cy Young in the NL if Webb falters... Webb is nasty. I watched him pitch yesterday and the Phillies couldn't touch him. He's showing no signs of slowing down, although he has pitched more than 200 innings over the last five seasons. At his age, that shouldn't be a problem. Anyone else loving that the Yankees are below .500? I hope it lasts.
JujuFish Posted May 13, 2008 Report Posted May 13, 2008 Cliff Lee remains hot, with 9 scoreless innings, but gets a no decision as Marcum returns the favor. Lee's ERA is now 0.67. Amazing. It's the lowest ever ERA through the first 7 games by an Indians pitcher. Edit: And to add to that, Toronto scores 3 in the 10th. Well done, offense. Well done.
Bmwolf21 Posted May 13, 2008 Report Posted May 13, 2008 Cliff Lee remains hot, with 9 scoreless innings, but gets a no decision as Marcum returns the favor.Lee's ERA is now 0.67. Amazing. It's the lowest ever ERA through the first 7 games by an Indians pitcher. Edit: And to add to that, Toronto scores 3 in the 10th. Well done, offense and bullpen. Well done. Fixed. Agree, though - still waaaaaaaaay too many holes in that lineup. Looks a lot like the Sabres' offense this year - it's feast or famine. They can run the score up like nobody's business, but way too many 1-, 2- and 3-run games. And the kicker is that one damn run would have won the game tonight. ONE.
JujuFish Posted May 13, 2008 Report Posted May 13, 2008 Fixed. Agree, though - still waaaaaaaaay too many holes in that lineup. Looks a lot like the Sabres' offense this year - it's feast or famine. They can run the score up like nobody's business, but way too many 1-, 2- and 3-run games. And the kicker is that one damn run would have won the game tonight. ONE. Yeah, Betancourt has to take some blame, but I can't help but think of Martinez's lead-off double in the 4th. Not only did they not capitalize on that, the Tribe wouldn't even get a baserunner until the 10th. Kudos to Asdrubal Cabrera, though, for recording the 3rd unassisted triple play in Tribe history!
Bmwolf21 Posted May 13, 2008 Report Posted May 13, 2008 Kudos to Asdrubal Cabrera, though, for recording the 3rd unassisted triple play in Tribe history! The only miscue by the 22-year-old Cabrera was that he didn't keep the ball. "He flipped it into the stands and right as he did cried out, 'Oh, no!'" first-base coach Luis Rivera said, serving as the Venezuelan's interpreter. "I knew it was pretty special," Cabrera said. LINK Figures... the HoF won't be getting that one, I guess...:thumbsup:
GoatheadInCT Posted May 14, 2008 Author Report Posted May 14, 2008 OK... this is what I love about the game of baseball. Before the season started, Baltimore was looking for a closer to replace the departed B.J. Ryan. Last year, they tried using Walker, but they weren't happy with him as a closer evidently. During spring training, there were several reports that former Mariner reliever George Sherrill looked like he was going to win the job. His numbers were very good in Seattle, and so I scooped him up in every league I had, whether by draft or via waiver soon after the draft, in March. Now, Sherrill has the most number of saves in MLB with 15 and is on pace to get an astounding 59 saves. He has been just an amazing closer and it has been a wild side so far. Frankie Rod, eat your HEART OUT!!! :)
Bmwolf21 Posted May 15, 2008 Report Posted May 15, 2008 CC had a gem tonight - 9.0 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 11 SO, 2 BB in the 2-0 win over the A's. Great game. Another stellar showing by that potent Cleveland offense. First run came on Sizemore's 1st-inning leadoff HR, then they managed 1 run on four hits - another solo HR by Garko in the 4th - over the next seven innings.
Ohiofan Posted May 15, 2008 Report Posted May 15, 2008 Very pleased with the Tribe tonight. Not so much with James and Co.
Bmwolf21 Posted May 15, 2008 Report Posted May 15, 2008 Very pleased with the Tribe tonight. Not so much with James and Co. LeBron was awesome in the first half. Not so much in the second. The Cavs were also haunted by the same problems that helped end the Magic's season - turnovers and poor free throw shooting. They need to figure out how to control Rondo if they want to win in Boston. He was the key to Boston's offense tonight.
Ohiofan Posted May 15, 2008 Report Posted May 15, 2008 I think maybe a professional basketball player should be fined by his coach each time he misses a free throw. You would think that they would hit every time! It's basic stuff. I don't see a goalie in front of the basket :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Bmwolf21 Posted May 15, 2008 Report Posted May 15, 2008 I think maybe a professional basketball player should be fined by his coach each time he misses a free throw. You would think that they would hit every time! It's basic stuff. I don't see a goalie in front of the basket :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Shaq would be broke...
Bmwolf21 Posted May 17, 2008 Report Posted May 17, 2008 Cliff Lee was lights out... but have you seen Edinson Volquez of the Reds?! Lee and Volquez are scheduled to go head-to-head on Sunday...
Bmwolf21 Posted May 18, 2008 Report Posted May 18, 2008 I think Lee and Volquez both suffered from Wendlestedt's tight, odd strike zone today - but Volquez got the better end of the deal because he got to face the Indians' lineup. The Reds came in hitting well and Lee didn't pitch bad, but gave up some bloop-type two-out hits - aside from the two bombs from Dunn and Votto - and just couldn't close them out. His ERA ballooned to 1.37 after today's outing. I wasn't overly impressed with Volquez, mainly because he threw a lot of balls today - walked four - and went deep in a lot of counts. "Effectively wild" was what the Indians announcers called him, and it seemed accurate. But it's hard to be impressed with anyone shutting down our awful offense - hard to distinguish between someone who is dominating and the garden-variety suckitude our offense rolls out there most nights.
Bmwolf21 Posted June 3, 2008 Report Posted June 3, 2008 I am the only one posting in this now, but I can use it to keep bumping the post count. Tribe's pitiful offense is still struggling, last night's 13-run outburst against the Rangers notwithstanding. Anyone follow the College World Series? Being an FSU alum I followed the Tallahassee regional this weekend (had to follow the GameTracker since the audio wouldn't work for me and I don't get ESPNU. Good to see FSU respond positively after being embarrassed in the opener by Bucknell. Up next: Wichita State.
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