High & Inside: 6/16/11

Baseball links from around the sabersphere...

• Is Bad Plate Discipline the Reason for the Marlins Struggles? | Marlins Daily
  

  Earlier in the year, when the Marlins were getting on base more, they were not reaching out of the zone for pitches, and when they stayed within their reach, they were hitting more homers thus a integral reason for their April success.

• Zack Greinke's Bizarre Season | Baseball Nation
  Zack Greinke has been fantastic, though his 5.32 ERA doesn't reflect that.
• The Kazmir Trade for Tampa, Today | MLB Daily Dish
  

  In dealing Sean Rodriguez, Alexander Torres, Matt Sweeney and nearly $25 million for the 188 innings of replacement-quality pitching, trading for Kazmir proved to be an utter disaster for the Angels. And as you'd expect seeing things from the other side, this deal has been an astounding win for the Rays.

• The Consistently Inconsistent Mr. Hochevar | Royals Authority
  

  Hochevar will string together two, three and sometime four solid to good starts only to then fall back to simply not very good.

• Jon Niese: Jekyll and Hyde | Amazin' Avenue
  

  So far this year, Niese has ten starts in which he's held the opposition to fewer than two runs. He also has three starts where he's allowed more than five runs. Can we learn anything from looking at his blow-ups?

More links after the jump...

• The Next Market Inefficiencies: East Asian Talent | Fangraphs
  

  If there is just a single 2 WAR player (a starting-quality player) stuck in Cuba, it is worth signing 10 minor league Cubans (at $1M each) to find him. It is no wonder, then, that MLB teams have begun constructing Latin American academies and prolifically signing Cuban refugees like Aroldis Chapman, Leslie Anderson, and the like.

• Effusive Praise of JJ Hardy | Camden Crazies
  

  Slightly dampened flyball tendencies would probably have left Hardy with, say, 6 homers instead of 7. Then his line would be .271/.342/.458 - and if that's what he provides the team going forward, I have to think they'd take it in a heart-beat (even missing some playing time that's around a 4 win player).

• Catcher’s Quest | Bay City Ball
  

  From the Giants’ view, Torrealba fits pretty well. He’s an upgrade on offense and his defense looks average(ish).

• Who Will Be The A’s All-Star? | Baseballin' On a Budget
  

  I think it’s Gonzalez if Ron Washington (who, as an AL West manager, might like Gonzalez more than his number suggest) can find a spot on the pitching staff for him; otherwise, Kurt Suzuki will be the A’s representative in the 2011 All-Star Game.

• What to do about David Ortiz? | Fire Brand of the American League
  

  Trying to re-sign Ortiz during the free agency period would allow the Red Sox to not only evaluate the market, but also determine his projected performance value and weigh it against his perceived market value. If Ortiz’s demands lie too far outside of either indicator’s acceptable range, the Red Sox should let him walk and start looking for more efficient alternatives.