“He was the one to go to and he always had the right answer.”-- Jered Weaver on longtime Angel's surgeon Lewis Yocum, who passed away from liver cancer this past week. Yocum was esteemed and respected throughout all of Major League Baseball and saved the careers of many. RIP.
Roy Halladay, Greg Maddox, Stephen Strasburg, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jayson Werth, Jordan Zimmermann, Kendrys Morales, Ted Lilly, Robb Nen,Daisuke Matsuzaka, Max Scherzer, Ian Kennedy, John Lackey, Randy Wolf, C.J. Wilson,Francisco Liriano, Billy Wagner, Joakim Soria, Jake Westbrook, Cal Eldred, Scott Erickson and Daniel Hudson should all send a card to the family of Dr. Lewis Yocum. The renowned physician saved or extended the careers of many, including the above players and will be missed.
Jered Weaver made a touching tribute in his start against the Dodgers last night, with the initials "LY" scratched in the dirt on the mound. Weaver pitched a gem too in his first start coming off of the DL.
In today's wrap we've got some must-read articles, including Rick Porcello's adjustments, Wrigley renovations, a new hitting coach for the Royals, excitement in Steel City and the best game of the year? Let's get it going!
Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated has a super awesome article out that you need to click in the hyperlinked title above about closers. A fan only needs to check out guys like Fernando Rodney and Jim Johnson's stats from this year, compared to last to realize that closers are more unpredictable than Lady Gaga's next outfit. Verducci throws a lot of stats and figures out there and suggests teams find a new way to evaluate who should get the ball to start the 9th inning. It's definitely worth the read. Check it out.
Tuesday night, Tiger's pitcher Rick Porcello struck out eleven batters in eight innings of shutout baseball (though failed to get the win since the Tiger's offense apparently hates him). Porcello is striking out batters at a career high and has posted the 4th lowest K rate in May, behind only Strasburg, Matt Harvey and Shelby Miller -- a very talented and good-looking group of dudes...I mean, nevermind.
Fangraphs decided to explore what happened? Is Porcello a mega-troll to the Tigers fan base? Or is he really getting better at adjustments and discovering his talent that made him a 1st round pick? Here is the article in all it's glory. If you're a baseball fan that loves stats, graphs, and analysis, this is a must-read. If you're a casual baseball fan that doesn't like that stuff, you should be so it is still a must-read. Check that one out too.
What happens when your walk rate stays the same, your strikeout stays the same, and your velocity stays the same? You will probably be the same pitcher that you were last season. That's exactly what SB Baseball Nation is finding out about Tim Lincecum.
While last season was a mystery as to what happened to the former back-to-back Cy Young winner, this season shouldn't be that surprising given how similar his numbers are to last year. And I mean, it's like crazy how similar they are to 2012. It is worth checking out. And maybe it's not Tim Lincecum, it's Joseph Gordon-Levitt that's out there in a Giants jersey. It's the only thing that I've got that can explain it. Moving on.
Just freaking read it. Thank you.
Um, don't look now but guess who's tied for the second best record in baseballl? It's not a team from the shiny lights of New York or Los Angeles. It's not the big-budgeted teams on the east or west coast but the Pittsburgh Pirates. Who called that? HINT
The Pirates have won eight games this year when trailing after six innings and 15 come from behind victories on the season and are 24-1 when leading after seven innings. There's exciting stuff in Steel City that's doesn't involve the Penguins. Get pumped up Pittsburgh!
When your organization has basically traded an entire top ten farm system to acquire a 31-year-old pitcher (and the offense hates him apparently), and you're mired in the midst of a 4-19 slump you may be alarmed. The Royals decided it was time to make changes and fired their hitting coaches and promptly replaced them with Hall of Famer, George Brett. Brett collected over 3,000 hits during his 21 year career all spent with the Royals.
He had been serving as the Vice President of Baseball Operations for the team since 1993 or eight years after the Royals last postseason appearance. Yikes. He also once did this....
Angel Hernandez look out...George Brett is coming for you.
Cubs to Rooftop Owners: "F@#$% You!"
I'm tired of writing...click the link above or just watch this:
I'm tired of writing...click the link above or just watch this:
The Mets are really bad, but that didn't prevent them from topping the Yankees in the Subway Series both Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night.
As part of the Met's elaborate, evil scheme to screw with Mo Rivera's head, they invited him to throw out the first pitch. Then next pitches he threw were in the 9th inning and he blew his first save of the year. Score one Mets.
Calling all Major League Baseball lip readers
And finally, if you can figure what Jared Weaver is saying, call the HR department of your favorite ball club and ask if they have any open positions for a "Sign Stealer" job.
I'll give you a hint:
WHAT THE ______ IS GOING ON
Solve.
No links wrap up today as everything I posted was a link, and it's going to be lot of reading
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