We will have two new articles here at BtB today, so make sure to check in with us later. One of them is the first piece from one of our new bloggers, the other from Cyril Morong. Later this week I'll have a book review up, as well as an interview with the author of said book.
So the Daily Link Roundup seems to be coming in every other day..."DLR" is just too easy an abbreviation for me to change to compensate for that. On to the links...Well, first off, SB Nation's baseball blogs are now complete, with the addition of True Blue LA. I've already stopped by to acknowledge my existence, and the fact that I will probably bother him in the future for some network project.
Geoff Young, author of Ducksnorts, attended the Padres opener yesterday afternoon, and he took a great deal of photos of the game. Here's Peavy pitching to Bonds, with Bonds smacking the ball to center. It's so good to have baseball that counts to cover...
Erik Siegrist notes that Jason Bay is flanked by Sean Casey and Joe Randa...ugh. In other Pirates news, Oliver Perez looked good yesterday, with 9 K's and 3 BB's. Plus, he's driven in half of his team's runs this season...what's not to love?
Lee Sinins has moved his Around the Majors reports to a blog of the same name. Be sure to check it out. I received my 2006 copy of Lee's Complete Baseball Encyclopedia, and I plan on playing with it extensively after classes and some editing work.
Minor League Ball is currently running a poll on The Dumbest Roster Move of the Offseason. I'll take a stab at a few of them analysis wise soon, because I'm not a fan of most of those decisions. Poor Jason Bartlett.
I've neglected to mention that Nick Markakis will be playing for the big league club in Baltimore this year. Let's take a look at his numbers:
| PA | 2B | 3B | HR | AVG/OBP/SLG | SecA | ISO | XBH% | BB/PA | SO/PA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 240 | 14 | 3 | 1 | .283/.373/.395 | .298 | .112 | 31% | .125 | .138 |
| 2004 | 406 | 22 | 3 | 11 | .299/.371/.470 | .290 | .171 | 34% | .103 | .163 |
| 2005 | 401 | 25 | 1 | 12 | .300/.379/.480 | .303 | .180 | 36% | .107 | .162 |
| 2005 | 161 | 16 | 2 | 3 | .339/.420/.573 | .331 | .204 | 50% | .112 | .186 |
| 2006 | 539 | 30 | 2 | 11 | .262/.325/.401 | .232 | .136 | 33% | .082 | .176 |
PECOTA thinks he can hold his own as a 22-year old outfielder in the majors. His projected pNRAA is -1.01, which is light years ahead of what I think Corey Patterson will do, sadly. As I said before, I see Patterson rebounding somewhat, but he's got a long way to rebound from a .214 EqA as an everyday player. John Sickels thinks he'll be ready in a year, according to his new prospect book, and even gave him a grade of A-. The O's seem to have a potentially serious contributor on their hands, although I'm not sure 2006 will be the start of that. Kudos to them for going with the potentially better option, although I am nervous about him missing out on development time in the minors.
My game to watch tonight is the Johan Santana/Roy Halladay matchup in Toronto. Stop by either Twinkie Town or Bluebird Banter for their open game threads tonight. Hopefully it turns into the pitcher duel I'm expecting. Enjoy the games tonight!