Frayed Knot

Or we could just look at three consecutive third strikes.

Sooner or later we've got to get to someone in this Bravo bullpen.

Pagan did something there I'm noticing a lot lately ... he slid late. IOW, he's already skidding to a stop as he crosses the plate rather than exploding across the base so that he's still evading the tag but just not yet slowing up as he's doing it. Close play - and a different slide might not have changed the result - but it just seems to me I'm seeing that more and more lately when it's not necessary.

This is the big leagues, you gotta tag the runners up here kid (Lillibridge)

]I don't have any overarching objection of bringing Heilman into a game with runners on base. However, I do think Heilman is a pitcher who struggles a lot when he's low on confidence. Putting AH into a group which includes ... oh just about every pitcher who's ever pitched in MLB. And if one wants to make the argument that maybe Smith should have been used the other day (the Nats game w/the GS) rather than a struggling Heilman then I'm OK with that. My overall point is that, while I can always find individual cases where I disagree with the use of a particular reliever in a specific spot, what I don't find with Willie is a pattern that points to "consistently bad" mismanagement, a viewpoint which, IMO, is one many fans are too eager to jump on whenever (and usually after) the results aren't what we want.

]If 37% (29/78) of inherited runners over 3 years have scored from him, wouldn't this suggest he's incapable of getting the job done? Not necessarily - and especially not if you're asking me to base a decision on an admittedly "unstable" stat like that which doesn't take situations into account and probably tends to vary over time. Plus, even if Heilman's pct is high, it looks like we may be talking about a half-dozen or so runs above 'normal' over a several year span. That's not something I'd avoid mid-inning usage over - and I'm still just assuming that mid-inning usage is your objection here. (btw, the one set of league-wide numbers I was able to find showed Heilman's 2007 'inherited runners allowed to score vs expected' to be virtually neutral) ]I repeat again, I have no issue with Heilman, and I believe he can be used as an effective pitcher. And how is that different from how he is being used?

A good week from Fernando Martinez lands him on Baseball America's 'Hot List' .355/.364/.452, 11-for-31, 3 2B, 5 R, 2 RBIs, 1-for-1 SB, 1 BB, 5 SO ... He hit in all seven games last week, four of them two-hit affairs. ... Experienced lefties have given Martinez fits this season (.194/.244/.278), but he's more than held his own versus righties (.321/.356/.446) in the early going.

]... from this it's pretty obvious that Heilman has not been used properly by Willie. Meaning what, that he should never be brought in mid-inning? First of all he usually isn't - and his bad games have been a mix of full inning outings in addition to some partials. And even if he is brought in w/runners-on it's still up to him to get the job done. And the larger point is that I'm generally leery of throwing down the "mismanaging the bullpen" card as it frequently just seems to be code for either - 'the guy he brought in gave up runs', or - 'I don't like the guy he brought in and I don't want him used ever' (aka, he used Mota). I'm not trying to start a pro-Willie campaign here, but I really don't get most of the 'bullpen mismgmt' arguments - and particularly so with Heilman. If, over the first 3 weeks here, Aaron had been a fraction of what he's been over the last two seasons (ERA ~ 3.30; WHiP ~ 1.10; 1 HR/~13 IP - instead of the current 6.23; 1.69; 1/3.5) would that mean he wasn't being mis-used?

Casanova - 0.5 Anderson - 0.5 Sanchez - 0.75 Feliciano - 0.75 Beltran - 0.25 Schoeneweis - 0.25

I had visions of Wright's throw beaning the runner coming home

Reyes - SS Castillo - 2B Wrioght - 3B Beltran - CF Church - RF Pagan - LF Anderson - 1B Casanova - C Pelfrey - P facing Jair Jurrjens - the Curaco native (there's a rule that the Braves always have at least one on their roster) acquired from the Tigers in the Edgar Renteria deal who's making his 5th start of the year and 12th ML start overall 2 - 2; 3.20; 1.263 WHiP

]terrible on-base percentage .... no power .... In the interest of accuracy, his last two seasons (the ones he turned 23 & 24) have shown better than league average OBPs (.354 to .334) and Slg Avgs (.454 vs .423) ... not "terrible" and "none".

Nothing more fun than listening to a 21 y/o Yanqui fan bragging about "his" 26 championships. The main distortion about Cubs history comes from the media-fueled connecting of them to the BoSox in terms of heartbreak. Except that unlike the Sawx - who can count a number of division championships plus some close and often spectacular near-misses ('46, '67, '78, '86, 2003) during their lengthy history of non-championships - the Cubs have just plain been real bad for most of the last half-century or so. Sucked does not equal star-crossed underdogs

Certainly the planet's most frustrating pitcher to watch. I checked into his game logs expecting to find some huge difference in BAA between the opening innings and the later ones -- but it's not really there: Innings 1-3: 60 Plate Appearences, 11 hits Innings 4-6: 63 PAs, 15 hits and he's given up all of [u:549808b108]2 XBHs[/u:549808b108] all season (1 HR, 1 2B), one early, one later. But the run differential is just 2 in the first 3 innings vs 9 (7 while he was pitching plus 2 of his scoring later) in innings 4-6 and the real culprit turns out to be his Ks & BBs Innings 1-3: 16 K - 5 BBs Innings 4-6: 8 K - 11 BBs ... which is why he not only hasn't pitched past the 6th inning yet but has reached 6 full just once. Innings pitched in 5 starts: 6 5.2 4.1 5.2 5.2 In 3 of those games he's been pulled despite giving up no runs - twice in mid-inning. We're 2 - 3 in his five games. Fatigue? ... Brain-farts? ... Hot date on his mind? I dunno but it's something he/Rick have gotta figure out if he's ever going to be considered a front-end of the rotation starter.

Perez - 1.3 Castillo - 2.0 Beltran - 0.6 Anderson - 0.5 Church - 1.0 Casanova - 0.7

Unfrickinbelievable

So are touching 1st base lessons. That's twice in the last week; Church the other day and now Casanova.

FJM.com points out the folly of the a small sample size, particularly as Wally uses Reyes's start: .280, 4 BBs, 3 SB, 12 runs scored, .313 OBA, to proclaim him to be "no Derek Jeter". And the main problem in his argument is the (conviently ignored) start of the great Jeter: .277 BA, 2 BBs, 0 SB, 7 runs scored, and a .309 OBA,

I dreamed we hit Shawn Hill tonight as clear as it could be ...

Where's that thumb been I wonder? It was his right wrist/arm that got smacked the other day so that's not it. Castro's been playing down in PSL but I doubt he's ready yet.

They're in the bottom of the 9th, still 3-1 Lidge in to face Bill Hall, JJ Hardy and the pitcher's slot. Minny at Oakland under way. Frank Thomas in the lineup for the A's

" [Ordonez] too, came up with the kind of hype that has attached itself to you from the day you signed a Mets' minor-league contract." That's not even close to accurate.

- Phils get a 2R 2B from Burrell in the 8th to take a 3-1 lead in Milwaukee (geez ... 3 straight 2-out hits) Brewers somehow managed only 1 run despite 8 hits & 3 BBs - BoSox get 6 IPs of 2-hit ball out of MLB debut starter Justin Masterson and lead the Angels in the 7th 3-2 - Two HRs from Magglio Ordonez and the Tigers roll continues 7-2 over Texas in the 8th - Rockies & Cubs 1-1 in the 2nd

ChiSox GM Kenny Williams didn't have many good things to say about Thomas on his way out their door either. Maybe Oakland was the only one he parted on good terms with. Now he and Cust can form a non-hitting L/R DH duo cuz both are under .200 this year.

Keith won't be available if it's filmed during cocktail hour.