How Long Is A Regulation Baseball Bat?
Author: Horatio
You see a great deal of bats for the sport of baseball on the market, but what actually is the regulation size of a bat. The fact is different leagues have different regulations. If you are in high school baseball, it can be different still. however, for official bats, like used in the major and minor leagues, they should not be any more in circumference than 23/4 inches. It should also never be more than 42 inches in length. There are even regulations on the bats handle, stating that it cannot be more than 18 inches from the end of the bat. For all your betting lines check out allpro where there is more great team information across all sports. Read the rest of this entry »
Padres pitching key to success this season
Author: Horatio
The National League West is loaded with tons of talent when it comes to pitching. The reigning world series champion San Francisco Giants proved that last year when they won the baseball crown by using superb pitching.
To compete with the Giants, the teams in the NL West beefed up their pitching, particularly the San Diego Padres. The Padres expect their young pitchers to carry them this season. Last year, the Padres, winners of 90 games but fell short of making it to the postseason, has an ERA of 3.39, second only to the San Francisco Giants. Mat Latos and Clayton Richard, both 14 game winners last season, are expected to be the top two starters for the Padres. Latos is the projected opening day starter when the Padres begin the season in St. Louis on March 31. Veteran righty Aaron Haraing, who was acquired from Cincinnati, is expected to be the third starter for San Diego. He is hoping to pitch after two injury-plagued seasons.
Tim Stauffer, a long time reliever last season before becoming a starter last September, will be the fourth starter for San Diego. He is 6-5 with a superb 1.85 ERA last season. The fifth starter is a three-way race between lefty Wade LeBlanc, Cory Luebke, and Dustin Moseley. Last season, Wade LeBlanc was 8-12 with a 4.25ERA. He filled in
Jorge Posada has two jobs?
Author: Horatio
Jorge Posada seems to be trying to catch everything he can (pun absolutely intended) before he retires. And retire he will, whether he wants it or not.
This 39 year old catcher at Tampa is now entering his 16th year playing baseball professionally. It’s a major achievement for a player, to stay in the game so long after so many injuries. But he stayed and even hopes that he will play in 2012 too. I wish him that.
Read the rest of this entry »
Reds sign a new project outfielder
Author: Horatio
The Cincinnati Reds went out on Tuesday and acquired you outfielder to a minor league contract today in Jeremy Hermida.
The 26 are old will definitely have a chance to win a spot on the roster and has officially been invited to spring training.
Hermida has been around for a few years. During 2005 through 2009 he was Read the rest of this entry »
Where Will Cliff Lee Go?
Author: Horatio
The 2010 offseason is shaping up to be a busy time in Major League Baseball with some big names on the market. Teams looking to add a big bat have Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth, Adrian Beltre, and Adam Dunn to consider, but we’ve seen that pitching and defense is what wins games, especially in the postseason. The biggest name on the market for pitching is Cliff Lee, and he will have no shortage of teams to choose from this offseason.
Don’t be mislead by his 12-9 record and 3.18 ERA, especially when you look deeper into the statistics and remember he went from a pitching environment in Seattle to a hitter-friendly environment in Texas. Once you factor in his dominating postseason performances of the last two years, that moves him to the top spot on many teams’ Read the rest of this entry »
Top MLB Pitchers in 2011
Author: Horatio
2010 saw great numbers for pitchers. With the caliber of arms on the mound, 2011 figures to continue that trend. Good pitching stole the show this postseason. Potent line-ups in Philadelphia and New York were shut down by strong pitching. The same great pitchers in 2010 should make a strong push for the Cy Young in 2011. Here is a look at the best pitchers in baseball next season.
Cliff Lee struggled in the World Series, but prior to that had cemented his name as postseason legend. Lee is so dominant he can carry a team to success in the playoffs. Lee is a free agent after being bounced around to four teams the past two seasons. He figures to command well over $100 million and should deliver stellar numbers for his new team.
Roy Halladay led the National League in ERA and wins. He threw a perfect game in the regular season and a no-hitter in the playoffs. There is no reason to think Halladay won’t be as dominant in 2011. The Phillies will need to find a way to save his energy as the season wears on, but another 20 win Read the rest of this entry »
MLB Player Review-Curtis Granderson
Author: Horatio
Constantly known as a man who can hit for decent average and good power Granderson also brings the ability to steal a base whenever he wants and turn doubles into triples when running the base paths. Granderson, a leftie outfielder does struggle a bit against the lefties but for the most part he does not struggle to the point where he is an actual liability to the lineup.
This season, Granderson started out of the gate extremely slowly, hitting just .222 in April. Appearing in 22 games Granderson bashed two home runs and drove in just seven runs in the seasons’ first month. Granderson also did manage to steal two bases in what would be an extremely down season for his stolen base totals.
Granderson played in just one game in May before he was sidelined for the rest of the month with an injury. Curtis played in just played in just five games, but was relatively productive in those five games hitting three doubles in those five games spanning 15 at-bats. In June Granderson struggled again, hitting just .239 despite being healthy though he did see his power numbers start to climb. Five home runs and 15 runs batted in weren’t all that impressive but showed that Granderson was starting to swing the bat a little better.
Granderson continued the season on an uneven arc culminating in a September that saw a season high nine home runs and 23 RBI with a .278 average. On the season, Granderson finished with an average of .242 which is a career low though he did manage to hit the second most home runs of his career in any one season. In the ALDS against the Minnesota Twins, Granderson caught fire, going 5 for 12 with three RBI as his team swept the series.
Granderson, who is just 29 years old still has some maturing to do as a player for the New York Yankees but he is a player that promises to excite his fans far more than disappoint them over the rest of his career.
MLB review tim lincecum pitching style
Author: Horatio
Lincecum’s delivery was taught to him by his father, Chris. What separates Tim’s delivery from most pitchers is the length of his stride. Most pitchers take a stride that approximates to about four-fifths their height, but Tim takes a stride measuring out to roughly seven and a half feet. A long stride presents two problems. First, it can compromise a pitcher’s ability to rotate his hips. Secondly, a pitcher becomes susceptible to landing on his heels while his front leg is stiff. Experts feared that this would make him prone to career ending injuries, but Chris stipulated that his son’s delivery motion not be changed because the torque generated from his stride is what gives him the velocity to throw in the majors.
Tim has been able to circumvent the latter risk somewhat thanks to the implementation of an ankle kick of the rubber that allows him to take off close to a foot of distance on his stride. He rotates his torso after his arm has already reached the loaded position, creating a whiplash effect that generates incredible power. This whiplash would normally create back and shoulder problems from an abrupt stop; so Chris invented a drill where he placed a dollar in front of where Tim’s left leg would land and force Tim to pick that dollar up while pitching. This follow through effect allows for enough deceleration to limit the strain on his shoulder and back.
Despite all these measures, Tim saw his fastball drop from 95-96 mph down to 90-91. He struggled to generate more speed on his fastball and saw his “Earned Run Average” in August of 2010 at an unsightly 7.82. Losing confidence in his fastball, Tim only threw it 39% of the time this season, easily the lowest % of his career. His solution came while playing catch with fellow pitcher Matt Cain.
Tim had predominantly been a 2 pitch pitcher. While he could throw a curveball and slider, he relied on his fastball and split-finger change up in order to dominate hitters. Experimenting with the grip on his slider, Tim
found a new weapon that would once again make him one of the league’s most feared pitchers. Previously, he had gripped his slider by placing his index and middle fingers between the narrowest section of the seams. Now he holds it across those very seams, giving him a better grip and the ability to place more spin on the ball.
MLB Playoff 1st Round Pitching Matchups
Author: Horatio
You will see the Reds put Bronson Arroyo on the mound for a game against Philadelphia as well. Bronson Arroyo has some significant playoff experience from his time with the Boston Red Sox. The ability for Arroyo to change speeds should be key as he tries to face a guy like Ryan Howard. You don’t see a lot of experienced arms on that Reds pitching staff except for Arthur Rhodes coming out of the bullpen of course.
Roy Halladay on the other end of the spectrum is not use to the concept of being able to experience the playoffs as a top notch ace due to some fairly lean winning years for the Toronto Blue Jays from a team perspective. Some people may wonder how exactly Roy Halladay will do in the playoffs, but Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel is said to have complete confidence in Halladay.
Felix Hernandes (Seattle) vs CC Sebathia (NY)
Author: Horatio
Each year millions of baseball fans watch teams from throughout the country hoping their team will advance into the postseason. Unfortunately, more than half the teams are eliminated from contention with weeks left to go in the season. For those fans, the next most exciting thing is watching the race for the sports awards.
One of the most prestigious of all awards is the Cy Young award, which goes to the best pitcher in both the American and National League. Historically, the Cy Young award race is very tightly contested and it comes down to just a few candidates. For the 2010 AL Cy Young award, this year’s race is no different. The 2010 Cy Young award looks as if it is coming down to two finalists, each of which have strong statistical achievements to back their case for the award. The two most likely candidates for the award this year are Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners and CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees. Choosing between the two will prove to be quite difficult as each candidate has impressive statistics.
Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners has had a very dominant season. Hernandez, who is nicknamed King Felix, is just 24 years old and has already taken the league by storm. This year, Hernandez has posted an incredibly low earned run average of just 2.27 and an overpowering 232 strikeouts, each of which lead the league. Hernandez also has a WHIP average of 1.06, which is second in the league to only Cliff Lee of the Texas Rangers. While those statistics would lead you to believe that he is a guarantee for the award, Hernandez has played for the struggling Seattle Mariners all season who provide very little run support. Because of this, he has a record of just 13 wins against 12 losses. CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees has had equal success to Hernandez. In the 2010 season, Sabathia has posted an ERA of 3.18, a WHIP average of 1.19 and nearly 200 strikeouts. These marks place Sabathia in the top 10 in each category. What really separate Sabathia from the rest of the league is his win loss record, which is 21 wins against 7 losses. However, some of Sabathia’s success is attributable to the overall success of the Yankees who should be playing well into October. While King Felix has had an impressive year, voters tend to vote for those with better winning success. Because of this, Sabathia should win the Cy Young award.