link - As we've said before there are three factors that lead to knuckleball success in the major leagues:
1. The Range of Movement on the Pitch (Greater Range of Movement, the better)
2. The Velocity of the Pitch (Greater Velocity is better)
3. Control over the Pitch.
It seems to be difficult for a knuckleball pitcher to find a good balance between the three factors; after all, a large amount of movement may simply lead to a lack of control, negating any value that increased movement might bring. Similarly, if increasing the velocity of the pitch reduces control, it might not be worth trying. R.A. Dickey and Tim Wakefield have currently found a decent balance of these three factors. Moreover, Dickey's increased velocity gives him an upside that Wakefield may never have possessed. If Dickey can keep his delivery and grip consistent, he should be a very successful pitcher for the next few years.
link - Perhaps the best chance is to line up with Seattle. The Mariners were willing to take on one volcanic personality in Milton Bradley to erase Carlos Silva. So maybe they would do the same with Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez if they could make the disappointing Chone Figgins disappear. He has three years at $26 million left after this season with a $9 million vesting option for 2014 if he totals 600 plate appearances in 2013. So if K-Rod vests, he would be owed slightly more ($29 million) over two years than what Figgins still is owed for three. Figgins could be the Mets second baseman next year and K-Rod would get to close in the AL West again.
link - You’ll notice, if you look down below at the full schedule of today’s games, that I gave Met starter Pat Misch an estimated NERD of only 6. At the time, I thought I was being liberal even with that assignation: Misch isn’t exactly what you’d call a “stuff” guy (currently sporting, for example, an average fastball velocity of 85.4 mph) and appears, at first glance, to be a serious candidate for the Quad-A (or just straight-up Triple-A) label. Thing is, Misch does one thing really well, and that’s throw strikes. His strike rate of 66.5% through his first three starts would tie him for 11th place in that category — with Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton — of the 205 NERD-qualified starters. Nor does it mark a serious departure from his minor league numbers, which generally have him throwing strikes at about a 65% rate.
link - And, it’s not just the Nationals that will feel the effect of the injury. With collective bargaining sessions set to begin shortly after the World Series, Strasburg will be “Exhibit A” for the league pushing for a hard-slotting system for amateur draft bonuses. While any player can become injured, an argument can be made that the amount of money doled out in salary for veteran players at the level that Strasburg is receiving at least has some ML service time to back up it up. It will be a long cold winter for Strasburg and the Nationals. A club and team in dire need of such a talent, and draw now has to go another season without star with which to build around. As one writer said, “The Nationals just can’t seem to catch a break.”
link - If you compare their production with AA Binghamton, however, there is no comparison. Ratliff has vastly outperformed Nieuwenhuis:
Ratliff: 272 PA .332/.379/.614/.993 OPS. .426 wOBA .275 ISOP 7% BB% 23.5% K%
Nieuwenhuis: 430 PA .289/.337/.510/.371 wOBA .220 ISOP 6.7% BB% 21.6% K%
Yes, Nieuwehuis has a larger sample size, and for what it’s worth he is six months younger than Ratliff, but I do not think either of those facts compensate for an over 50 point disparity in wOBA, or an almost 150 point difference in OPS. Nieuwenhuis has also struggled mightily since being promoted to Buffalo (.195/.264/.329 in 91 PA).
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