Daily Notes: Of Time Past and Time Future, Mostly
Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.
1. Featured Game: New York AL at Boston, 12:35 ET
2. Other Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule
Featured Game: New York AL at Boston, 12:35 ET
Regarding a Thing About This Game
A thing about this game is that — owing both to its early start time and also the semi-belated appearance of the present Notes — is that it’s probably beginning now, or just about to begin, even as you’re reading these words.
Regarding Another Possibility
Another possibility is that the game is maybe even over already — ended, in fact, some time ago — and the reader is fully aware of the result, but curious as to what his expectations might have been had he read these Notes earlier, and to what degree those expectations would have been borne out, or perhaps contradicted (if that’s a thing that can be done to expectations), by the actual game itself.
In the Event That That’s the Case
If that is the case — the thing about the game being over already — allow me to salute the Gentlereader of the Future. Allow me to commend, moreoever, his taste in baseballing internet sites.
Also, If That’s the Case
If that’s also the case, about the game being over, allow me to submit what was most notable about it for me, as a I prepared to watch it in a glorious and overstuffed leather armchair — namely, the prospect of left-hander Franklin Morales starting the game for Boston.
Regarding Franklin Morales, Starting Pitcher
Franklin Morales, who has failed to post even a league-average park-adjusted xFIP since 2007, has been excellent as a starter for Boston. To wit, his line through three starts: 18.0 IP, 71 TBF, 33.8% K, 4.2% BB, 50.0% GB, 2.28 xFIP.
Regarding Franklin Morales, Starting Pitcher, Part II
Of note, regarding Franklin Morales, Starting Pitcher: according to Texas Leaguers, his fastball has sat at about 94 mph in his three starts — or, roughly the same as what it was as a reliever. This, of course, is not generally the case for pitchers who move from the bullpen to the rotation.
Finally, A Point Regarding the Fenway Camera
Boston’s center-field camera is among the league’s best for observing a pitcher’s repertoire — and the movement and location of same. Morales hasn’t pitched in front of it yet, though, as a starter. (He did make a start at Fenway, but it was for a FOX Saturday broadcast, which utilizes the less excellent off-center angle.)
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast
Per the results of our offseason crowdsourcing project, FanGraphs readers prefer Boston Radio (link).
Other Notable Games
Colorado at Washington | 16:05 ET ***MLB.TV Free Game***
Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, over the last two weeks: 62 PA, 6.5% BB, 12.9% K, 5 HR, .310/.355/.655 (.289 BABIP), 167 wRC+, 0.8 WAR.
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Washington Radio.
Chicago NL at New York NL | 20:10 ET
Anthony Rizzo Status Update: 41 PA, 2.4% BB, 12.2% K, 4 HR, .375/.390/.750 (.355 BABIP), 195 wRC+, 0.6 WAR. His 4.9 weighted runs above average is the third-best such mark on the Cubs.
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: New York Television.
Today’s Complete Schedule
Here’s the complete schedule for all of today’s games, with our very proprietary watchability (NERD) scores for each one. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and RotoWire. The average NERD Game Score for today is 5.0 exactly.
Note: the following Game Scores include the poorly conceived playoff-odds adjustment discussed in a recent edition of Daily Notes. Also note: the following table is entirely sortable.

| Away | Â | SP | Tm. | Gm. | Tm. | SP | Â | Home | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Hughes | NYA | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 9 | BOS | Frank. Morales* | 12:35 |
| Jeff Francis | COL | 2 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 9 | WAS | Gio Gonzalez | 16:05 |
| Bruce Chen | KC | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 | DET | Doug Fister | 16:05 |
| Zack Greinke | MIL | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | HOU | Wan. Rodriguez | 16:05 |
| Ryan Vogelsong | SF | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | PIT | Jam. McDonald | 16:05 |
| Jeff Samardzija | CHN | 10 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 8 | NYN | Dillon Gee | 16:10 |
| Carlos Zambrano | MIA | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 4 | STL | Kyle Lohse | 16:10 |
| Ricky Romero | TOR | 3 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | CHA | Gavin Floyd | 16:10 |
| Matt Moore | TB | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 | CLE | Ubaldo Jimenez | 18:05 |
| Tommy Hanson | ATL | 4 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | PHI | Joe Blanton | 19:15 |
| Sam Deduno* | MIN | 7 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 6 | TEX | Derek Holland | 19:15 |
| Freddy Garcia* | NYA | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | BOS | Felix Doubront | 19:15 |
| Jason Hammel | BAL | 8 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | LAA | Jered Weaver | 22:05 |
| Homer Bailey | CIN | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | SD | Clayton Richard | 22:05 |
| Chad Billingsley | LAN | 6 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 5 | AZ | Trevor Cahill | 22:10 |
| Jason Vargas | SEA | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | OAK | Jarrod Parker | 22:10 |
To learn more about Pitcher and Team NERD scores click here.
To learn how Game NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.
Really looking forward to the Vogelsong/McDonald matchup. Shame it’s such a low ranked game.Vogey going for his 13th consecutive QS and MickeyD going his fourth straight win.
I’d like to share some quotes from Eric Wedge, Worst Manager In Baseball (TM), referring to his young hitters:
“What’s most frustrating about it is that these guys had it there for a while,” Wedge said. ” … So unless they’re just not paying attention, or just dumb, they should be able to find a way to get back to it and be more consistent.”
I’m pretty sure Jim Tracy is still managing, making Wedge 2nd worst at best.
Ol’ Mister Morales isn’t looking so good after the first inning…. :(
Are the Rockies a 10 because you want people to see what horrible baseball looks like?
Someone asks this every day, and the answer is that they have the speediest team in baseball.
Last year the Royals wre perpetually a 10 because of extreme youth, even late in the year. That’s what led to the playoff adjustment.
Can you suggest to the Daves that when you’re looking at a player’s stats, and it’s displaying his stat lines for, e.g. the 2012 Yankees, the 2011 Yankees, the 2010 Red Sox, etc, that each of the team names be clickable links to the stats page for that season’s team?
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.
Shouldn’t this be “Fewer than 20 IP as a starter, …”
Joe Blanton is an 8 and Tommy Hanson is a 4? Exactly how?
The calculation was specifically designed to get Braves’ fans’ panties in a bunch. /solved
I’d just like to add that every weekend, I am reminded why I am so lucky to have the Cubs broadcasting crew for most games that I watch. Even if they aren’t perfect, they are so much better than Fox’s crews.
Everybody’s better than Fox.
Is the title to this post a Burnt Norton reference? If so, I commend you