Lineouts! 08/04/13: Jose Fernandez, Big Contracts, and SABR Recap

Good morning everyone. Welcome back to Sunday's edition of Lineouts! We have a great selection of articles over the past couple of days that everyone should be fascinated over. Dan Straily shows numerous grips that he uses, how good was the Dodgers second stretch of 54 games, and Will Chris Davis come close to Roger Maris's homerun total?

MLB Hot Topics

Davis hits 40th HR as Orioles beat Mariners 11-8 by David Ginsburg -- The Associated Press

Chris Davis became the 5th Orioles player ever to hit 40 home runs in a season, joining the likes of Brady Anderson, Frank Robinson, Rafael Palmeiro, and Jim Gentile. Davis earlier in the year said he was going for Maris's 61 HR's because he feels that's the real HR record, he could come close, only needing 21 more in the final two months of the season.

Athletics option left hander Tommy Milone to Triple A by D.J. Short -- Hardball Talk

Tommy Milone was sent down Saturday after getting roughed up by the Rangers in only 3 2/3 innings. Milone in 2013 is 9-9 with a 4.39 ERA, but has similar peripheral numbers as he did last year. In 2013 Milone is walking about half a batter more than last year, but is striking out the same amount. His BABIP is close to normal at .284, batters are making less contact this season than last, the only significant place of change is that hitters are hitting less line drives and ground balls than last year, but way more fly balls, where he is only letting up 11.2 HR/FB, which is around normal. I'm shocked about this move, but Brett Anderson is making his way back and should replace Milone soon.

The value of a big contract by Tim Keown -- ESPN

Keown looks at how teams should be skeptical when dishing out huge contracts over long periods of time to players in their early 30's. The Angels are in position where they are tied up between two players Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols not only for the short term but the very long term.

The Sabermetrics Community

A young Jose Fernandez continues to make history in fanning 14 Cleveland Indians by Joe Lemire -- Sports Illustrated

Lemire takes a look at Jose Fernandez's dominating performance from Friday night, where he became the 6th pitcher to strike out more than 12 in back to back games. He includes Fernandez's game score which was 89, the 14th best this season. Jose had an ERA+ of 144 entering the start and only 5 pitchers ever had an ERA+ of 150 or more in their age 20 season including Dwight Gooden, Don Drysdale, and Bob Feller.

SABR Recap: On Motion Trackers, and Exciting Games by Colin Wyers -- Baseball Prospectus

Colin sums up what was going on at the first day of SABR, there were to stat presentations on was WPA-based look at which games are the most exciting in history. Also the new technology that the Mets are using currently that analyzes players mechanics, which is really fascinating.

Examining Grips with Dan Straily by Eno Sarris -- Fan Graphs

Eno nails in one of the most intriguing articles I've read in a long time personally, since I work at examining all players pitch types and grips. Straily shows his evolution of all his different type's of grips he's used over the years and who has helped him with it along the way.

New at SBNation MLB

In search of baseball's dumbest rule by Grant Brisbee -- SB Nation

Making up unofficial rain-outs, home plate collisions, or reaching base on a dropped third strike is Brisbee's choices for Baseball's dumbest rule.

Dodgers season in thirds: The second 54 games by Eric Stephen -- True Blue LA

The first 54 games of the 2013 season for the Dodgers they were on pace for 93 losses, but now with their scorching hot streak, the Dodgers are on pace for around 90 wins. Stephen looks at all the players splits between the 1st and 2nd thirds of the season, and who has helped with the turn around.

The Rays Tank: GTMI Struggles by Stephanie Katz --D Rays Bay

Stephanie looks at how Chris Archer is still getting little run support and how he prepares for his game, which is some sort of crazy out of the body experience where he sees himself pitching to hitters, whatever gets the job done.

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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.

More from Beyond the Box Score:

• Lineouts! 08/03/13: A-Rod, hot teams, and the Bucs
• What Can Granderson Offer the Wounded Yankees?
• Why the 2013 Trade Deadline Was Such a Dud
• Bud Norris: More of a risk than we realize for the Orioles?
• Homer Bailey: Carving out a solid career post-hype