Lineouts! 08/23/13: Ichiro milestone, Hultzen delivery, and Trout rental

MLB Hot Topics

Ryan Braun Finally Admits Drug Use in 2011 by Howie Rumberg -- ABC Sports

Ryan Braun finally came clean publicly on Thursday that he indeed used performance enhancing drugs. He's trying to clean up his mistakes that he's made in the past and move on, the thing now is are there any one willing to forgive Braun and let him move on?

Ichiro Suzuki reaches 4K-hit plateau by Andrew Marchand -- ESPN

Ichiro joined some elite company on Wednesday night becoming only the third player to have 4000 career professional hits, next to Pete Rose, and Ty Cobb. Ichiro combined his hits between the NPB and MLB, with 1,278 in Japan, while he had 2,722 here in America. He will most likely be a first ballot hall of famer once he's eligible for Cooperstown.

Yasiel Puig needs to get a grip before Dodgers lose theirs by Scott Miller -- CBS Sports

The Yasiel Puig circus looks like it is just beginning, as the Dodgers come near a postseason bid, you can guarantee the media will be wanting to follow nobody else but him. That could be a good thing or bad thing any way you want to look at it, but for the Dodgers and fans it might make you nervous.

Pitch plunks Jason Heyward in jaw by ESPN

Jason Heyward will miss some time after taking a Jonathan Niese fastball to the jaw Wednesday afternoon. At first it looked as if the pitch had clipped Heyward in the batting helmet, but the pitch got right under his flap, and got him flush on the chin.

Big Papi defends A-Rod, 'didn't like' drilling by Jorge Ortiz -- USA Today Sports.

This is one thing you don't see too often, a Red Sox player defending a Yankees player. David Ortiz has come out publicly, and disagreed with what Dempster did to A-Rod on Sunday night, when he threw four consecutive pitches at him. Ortiz mentions the Tampa Bay Rays right on the Red Sox heels and Dempster's doing woke up a sleeping giant in the Yankees victory on Sunday.

The Sabermetrics Community

Identifying Baseball’s Most Unhittable Pitches, So Far by Jeff Sullivan-- FanGraphs

Sullivan takes a look here at the leagues most unhittable pitches this season thus far. One thing I wish he did was break it down between relievers and starters, as Patrick Corbin's slider is the only starting pitchers pitch that comes up on the list. Where as Danny Farquhar's curveball has been thrown way less, which causes a smaller sample size.

Danny Hultzen’s shoulder: What gives? by Kyle Boddy -- The Hardball Times

Kyle here breaks down the delivery of prospect Danny Hultzen, who has changed things since starting professional ball. The math that goes into deliveries and mechanics is fascinating, and it seems to be on the rise throughout the league.

Reworking WARP by Colin Wyers -- Baseball Prospectus

It looks as if Baseball Prospectus will be featuring a series every week as they are looking to rework WARP -- Wins Above Replacement Player. Colin makes sure to note that even Sabermetrics isn't even a finished product, as things are constantly changing, which makes way for the WARP calculation change.

How Much Would You Pay for One Year of Mike Trout? by Dave Cameron -- FanGraphs

This is a great debate, how much would you be willing to give Mike Trout if you were in charge of a major league team? You can answer that at the bottom of this article by Dave Cameron, as he digs deep into how much Trout would be wanted and for how much for one season.

Simulating the Impact of Pitcher Inconsistency by Steve Staude -- FanGraphs

Matt Hunter came out with a great article last week about trying to find value in pitchers inconsistency. Now Steve Saude builds from that article, and takes it a step further in adding more charts, graphs, and outcomes. The actual distributions might not be all that normal, but I like the whole idea in general of pitcher's and consistency.

New at SBNation MLB

AL Cy Young race: Max Scherzer isn't the only choice by Cee Angi -- SB Nation.

Cee Angi breaks down the AL Cy Young race by looking at all different statistical category leaders, and as much of us now this race is most likely coming down to the last week of the season.

The most surprising players in baseball (both good and bad) by Grant Brisbee -- Baseball Nation

If someone would of told me Brandon Belt, Wellington Castillo, and Marlon Byrd would have higher WAR's than Prince Fielder, Carlos Santana, and Justin Upton respectively I would have called you crazy. This is one thing you have to love about baseball is the unpredictability from year to year, which makes trying to find these things out before it happens even more exciting.

Mariners will clarify general manager situation soon by Nathan Aderhold -- SB Nation

The Mariners are keeping under wraps what they are going to do about their front office situation, including their GM Jack Z. They have been known to have interest in Brian Cashman, as they asked for permission to interview him about five years ago. It will be interesting to see what route the M's decide to take.

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All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs.

Anthony Bauer is a writer at Beyond The Box Score. You can follow him on Twitter at @skipbauer22.

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