5/2/05

-It's definately not a good thing how many guys Matt Clement is putting on base (.368 OBP so far), I was looking at the numbers and that ranks his OBP 100th best in the league, along with 8th most walks, awful. He is still somewhat effective (3-0), but we overpaid for him when Curt's Wine and dine didn't seal the deal with Pavano. I hated the Clement signing this winter, then I talked myself into loving it because I thought if he could turn the corner and develop more (some) command under Tek's tutelage we would have a gem... Yea, I'm back to hating it

-Quick bit from Baseball Prospectus the other day on Wade. "Miller will have one more start for Pawtucket before coming up to fill in the rotation. There are still some questions about Miller's endurance and mechanics". Also from Gammons new article on 5/1 he says "sox execs who attended his AAA start said he was good, not great. Miller threw between 87 and 92 mph, and sat mostly at 89, with a very good breaking ball. He doesn't have the run especially back over the plate to lefties that he had in Houston, when he threw across his body, but he has diligently worked on pounding both sides of the plate with his fastball."

-Orioles, Redsox, Blue Jays, and Yankees are the top four in runs scored so far this season. AL East kidding? Orioles got that expensive meat of the order along with steamin hot Brian Roberts. Theo's Boston moneyball that has crazy OBP 1-9. Canadian moneyball Jays run by Billy Beane disciple JP Riccardi. Then you got the 200 million dollar yankees lineup, they dont run efficient or have a farm system but with that payroll they have enough all stars to drive each other in. Feel bad for the pitchers in this division. Quick prediction: NY hits more HR's but Boston scores more runs this season.

-There are some great articles on the Baseball Prospectus: Basics section you should check out if it interests you at all. Love the 'Introduction', 'how to run a bullpen', and 'stolen bases' ones especially.

-We need Millar to start hitting for more power. He is sporting a nice obp due to his walks right now but for a strictly pull hitter in the 5 hole for the world champions his SLG% of .318 (slugging pct is total bases per at bat, essentially a power number) leaves much to be desired. With those on base machines hitting in front of him we need extra base hits and homers (Millar has zero hr's through 25 games) to drive in runs. My solution is if Millar doesnt snap out of it then you bat Tek in the five spot for now (same obp but 300 points higher slugging), hes hot and wont wear down till the season starts dragging. Millar did this last year too until the all star break. Some hitters are streaky but it seems like he is either anemic or hitting the cover off the ball for six month stretches at a time. Not a huge worry just something to think about, probably only an issue because of Millars elongated hitting streaks.