This is just a quick post to give you some things to read. I'm working on a few projects at the moment, so there should be plenty in the near future.
Yesterday I had an appearance in Prospectus Notebook, this time for the Diamondbacks and their acquisition of Livan Hernandez.
Overall I thought the trade was worth it, since the pitchers they gave up have a question mark or two in front of them, and it's not like the D'backs are starving for young, talented pitching. Dustin Nippert should be a fine addition to the staff in the future, even if he doesn't necessarily look the part at present. All I know is that the new front office over in Arizona is quickly turning into one of my favorites, due to their ability to spot talent as well as utilize it properly. I've never seen so many people cut loose and pushed aside in favor of prospects midseason on a successful team; it's thrilling, to be honest, but maybe I'm just odd.
There should be another installment of Prospectus Notebook with my fingerprints all over it tomorrow, this one focusing on young Jonathan Lester. I wasn't exactly in favor of calling him up as early as the Red Sox did, but as you can see by taking a look at their rotation -- and the slew of replacement starters they've thrown out so far -- they didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. On Edit: And here is the link to today's Notebook.
This is fantastic. ARod's swing has changed somewhat from previous years, and it's shifting his weight around in such a way that it inhibits his hitting. If you look at the side-by-side video, it looks as if the position he's put in this season reduces his ability to adjust his hands and wrists midswing, but it could just be the one pitch that's been selected as an example as well. I'd love to see more of this available online. On Edit: Ask and you shall receive.
The Twins have no idea when F-Bomb (hat tip to Gleeman for that nickname) is going to return from his injury. So with the Red Sox and White Sox struggling and the Twins injuring themselves, it looks as if no one wants the Wild Card in the AL.
Did you check out HEATER magazine yet? I'm writing a short piece every week called "Under the Microscope"; the first one focused on Bobby Crosby's struggles, while this week's took on Bobby Abreu. Realizing now I have a Bobby streak to uphold, I need to find a third interesting character with that name. If you haven't checked out HEATER, it's worth it; besides my own work, there's plenty of other analysis and stats to gobble up weekly. There's a full sample issue for download on the front page; take a look sometime. Dave Studeman, John Burnson, Deric McKamey, Craig Brown and David Gassko all contribute, with Jeff Sackmann and myself helping out as well. There's a Saturday supplement with even more statistics to peruse as well.
Vote in the new poll on the sidebar of the website; I find it hilarious that I actually ran out of space to enter options in at ten teams, so if someone is missing, I apologize in advance.
If you didn't get a chance to read Andy Dolphin's article at Baseball Prospectus on pinch hitting, I urge you to do so now. Great stuff...if you're not reading the work Tango is doing over at The Book Blog then you're missing out.