Tuesday, 5/16/06

 

Statistics accurate through the games of Monday, May 15…

 

Pt I - Team Hitting

 

Baseball’s worst hitting club arguably is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, are hitting just .230.  Their team OBP was just .302 and they are slugging a combined .384.  And with RISP, their batting average is just .209, last in the majors.

 

A case can be made for the Chicago Cubs, as well, who are hitting just .243 and their on-base (.301) and slugging percentages (.366) are the worst in the majors.  With RISP and 2 outs, they are hitting a mere .130, also baseball’s worst.

 

The San Diego Padres have the worst team batting average at home with a .217 mark, yet they were hitting .279 on the road. 

 

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Pittsburgh Pirates are the majors’ worst hitting team on the road, batting just .219, but were hitting .272 at home.

 

Clearly the top two hitting teams in baseball are the Toronto Blue Jays and the Cleveland Indians, who both entered play on Tuesday hitting .298 as a team and are 1-2 in runs scored and RBI.  The Jays are also tops in baseball w/RISP at .309, while the Tribe is third at .299. 

 

From the 7^th inning on, the worst hitting team in the majors has been the Oakland A’s at .219.  The best?  The Blue Jays at .317 (the Indians were third, batting .292 from the 7^th on).    

 

With the bases loaded, Kansas City has been baseball’s worst hitting team at .118 (2 for 17). The Royals also began play on Tuesday with a major league-low 24 home runs.

 

Pt II – Team Pitching

 

The worst ERA in the majors belongs to the Kansas City Royals at 5.76.

 

The Minnesota Twins have issued the fewest walks in the Majors (79) yet their team ERA of 5.51 is the third worst in baseball thanks in part to leading the league in hits allowed with an astronomical 421 (11.07/gm).  Furthermore, their starting pitchers’ combined ERA rests at 6.51. 

 

The Baltimore Orioles meanwhile, led by pitching guru Leo Mazzone, have issued the most walks (181), allowed the second most hits (390), have the highest team WHIP (1.66) and the second-highest ERA in baseball at 5.72. 

 

The Washington Nationals have the fewest saves in baseball with just 3.

 

The Cubs’ team ERA in innings 1 through 6 is 5.64 (4^th worst in baseball) while from the 7^th inning on it drops to a major league best 3.09.

 

The St. Louis Cardinals far and away have the best home ERA at 2.88.  Detroit, which has the second lowest home ERA (3.50), also has the best road mark at 3.10.

 

The Tigers, in fact, have been baseball’s best-pitching team with their 3.25 team ERA, the lowest mark in the majors.  In addition, they have allowed the fewest hits (284), issued the third fewest walks (102), and have the lowest cumulative WHIP at 1.18.  They’ve also led the majors with 15 saves, and their team ERA from the 7^th inning on is just 3.11 (2^nd behind the Cubs).

 

Therefore It Figures…Pt I

–        that the Devil Rays would put a 10 spot on the White Sox (who came into their game on Tuesday night with the third lowest ERA in the AL)

–        that the Padres would be held to just 6 hits in a road loss to Arizona

–        that the Cubs would go 9 for 32 (.281) and draw four walks (.406 OBP) while Aramis Ramirez would collect a two out RBI with a RISP and SP Carlos Zambrano would hold the Nats scoreless for all of his eight innings pitched

–        that the Cards would give up 8 runs (6 earned) at home in a loss to the Mets

–        that the Blue Jays would get just 9 hits in 36 at bats (.250)

 

Therefore It Figures…Pt II

–        that the Orioles would give up 6 runs on 11 hits while issuing 7 walks in a 6-5 loss to the Red Sox Tuesday night

–        that the Pirates would score 9 runs on 13 hits in a home win against Cincinnati ~

–        that the Indians would score 6 runs on 11 hits including 3 in the bottom of the ninth to win in KC

–        that the Royals would give up 6 runs

–        that Twins starter Kyle Lohse would give up 5 runs in 2.2 innings as the Twins lose to the Tigers 7-4 in Detroit

–        that Todd Jones would follow Joel Zumaya’s two scoreless innings with a scoreless inning of his own to record the Tigers ML leading 16^th save

–        that the A’s would score no runs following the sixth inning after scoring 12 runs in the first 6

 

The Longest Streaks – Detroit’s win over Minnesota and the Phillies’ loss to the Brewers on Tuesday gave the Tigers sole possession of the longest winning streak in the Majors at 5 games.  Meanwhile, the Indians’ walk-off job against the Royals snapped their league-worst 6-game slide and left Kansas City tied with the Reds for the longest current losing stretch at 4 games each.

 

Famed Moneyball catcher Jeremy Brown was optioned back to Sacramento on Tuesday without having played in a game.  It came down to him or utility guy Antonio Perez, who is 1-for-25 on the season and the last position player on a major league Opening Day roster to get a hit (which he got in Sunday’s loss to the Yankees).

 

After hitting .349 (22 for 63) with 3 HR and 22 RBI in April, Brandon Phillips has cooled off considerably and the Reds 2B is batting just .222 (10 for 45) with only 3 RBI in the month of May. 

 

Giants’ starter Jamey Wright, as noted here by DN&N, went into Tuesday’s game sporting a career record of 0-12 and a 7.35 ERA against the Astros.  The Giants’ hitters gave Wright plenty of support, scoring 14 times while Wright did his part and gave up just 3 runs and 6 hits over 7 innings to earn his first career win against Houston.

 

Therefore It Figures Pt III… that on the very day that DN&N tells you that Astros SS Adam Everett has not made an error all season, he commits his first by booting a routine grounder hit by Giants 2B Ray Durham.

 

Wild Night at the Zoo – The wildest game of the season so far was played in the Bronx Tuesday night as the Yankees came back from deficits of 9-0 and 10-1 to jump in front, only to see the Rangers come back to take leads of 12-11 and 13-12, before the Yanks finally won the game 14-13 on a Jorge Posada two out, two run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth.

 

Tom Glavine held Albert Pujols hitless and the Mets scored 5 runs in the 7^th and 8^th innings to give the veteran lefty his 6^th win of the season and the 281^st of his career. 

 

Barry Bonds’ pursuit of the Babe continues after his going 2 for 4 with an RBI (and one very intentional HBP) but no home runs in the Giants 14-3 drubbing of the Astros on Tuesday night.  He is not scheduled to play in Wednesday’s finale.  His next opportunity, baring a successful pinch hit appearance, will come on Friday back in the Bay Area against the A’s in Oakland in an interleague contest.  Bonds is 0 for 4 with a walk against scheduled A’s starter Dan Haren.