THT Daily: Strasburg signs

by Dave Studeman
August 18, 2009

Read all about last night’s signings at Baseball America.

Major League News for August 18

Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Top Minor League Performances

You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/

Player News

Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld
Brett Myers denied reports that he was involved in a physical or verbal altercation early Sunday morning at an Irish pub in Jacksonville, Florida.
Myers suffered a left eye injury over the weekend, but police have confirmed his story that it didn’t occur during an incident at the pub. “I was in no way involved with pushing or shoving or yelling at anybody,” Myers said. “People are saying it was me, and it really wasn’t. I’m tired of people saying things about me that aren’t true.” Part of the problem is that Myers initially lied about the injury, saying that it came while playing catch with his son before explaining that it was instead from slipping while getting out of a car. The other part of the problem is that he has a history of domestic violence.

After watching Kevin Gregg blow his sixth save Monday, manager Lou Piniella said: “I think we’re going to make some changes as far as what we’re going to do in late innings.”
Carlos Marmol, John Grabow and Angel Guzman are all candidates for the ninth-inning duties, and it’s possible that Piniella will go with a committee approach that keeps Gregg involved as well. He’s expected to make an official announcement sometime Tuesday.

Twins placed LHP Francisco Liriano on the 15-day disabled list with left arm fatigue.
Liriano has been a mess all season and was rocked for seven runs in two innings Monday after putting together a very promising start last week. It’s unclear if there’s anything truly wrong with his arm other than obviously not feeling “right.” He’s 5-12 with a 5.80 ERA in 23 starts.

The Twins have reportedly placed Francisco Liriano on the 15-day disabled list with arm fatigue.
Likely mental fatigue as well. Liriano gave up seven runs in just two innings tonight in a loss to the Rangers. Phil Humber is being recalled to take the open roster spot. Brian Duensing could be the choice to replace Liriano in the rotation.

Nationals signed RHP Stephen Strasburg to a $15.67 million contract.
At least, that’s what Baseball America says the deal is worth. The signing to a major league contract has been confirmed by the Nationals. We’re sure to hear more details tomorrow on whether he’ll do any pitching this fall and whether he’ll have a chance to win a rotation spot next spring.

Cubs activated Ted Lilly from the 15-day disabled list.
Lilly missed about a month with a knee and shoulder injury. He’ll rejoin the Cubs’ rotation on Monday against the Padres. The 33-year-old left-hander tossed five shutout innings in a rehab start for Single-A Peroia on Wednesday and should make a smooth transition back to the bigs.

David Wright showed up to the ballpark Monday with a small headache, but no other post-concussion symptoms.
That could change, of course. Concussions can be incredibly unpredictable. Wright was placed on the disabled list August 16 and is holding out hope that he’ll be ready on the day he’s eligible. He said he was “embarrassed” for having to spend the night in the hospital.

Tigers acquired DH Aubrey Huff from the Orioles for RHP Brett Jacobson.
Huff, 32, was hitting 253/.321/.405 this season with 13 home runs and 72 RBI in 430 at-bats while manning first base for the Orioles. He’ll serve mainly as the designated hitter in Detroit, sending Carlos Guillen back to the field and killing what was left of Marcus Thames’ playing time.

Yesterday’s Results

For the full scoop regarding yesterday’s games, read “And That Happened” at Shysterball.

American League
LAA     8  BAL     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHA     8  KC      7    (Recap and Boxscore)
OAK     3  NYA     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
TEX     8  MIN     5    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
ATL     9  ARI     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
SF     10  NYN     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
PIT     9  MIL     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
STL     3  LAN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
SD      4  CHN     1    (Recap and Boxscore)

Check out Fangraphs’ scoreboard to see all the games in action.

Today’s Games

Angels (71-45) @ Indians (51-66), 7:05pm
    Trevor Bell (22, RHP) vs. Fausto Carmona (25, RHP)
Mariners (61-57) @ Tigers (62-55), 7:05pm
    Felix Hernandez (23, RHP) vs. Rick Porcello (20, RHP)
RedSox (66-51) @ Blue Jays (55-61), 7:07pm
    Josh Beckett (29, RHP) vs. Ricky Romero (24, LHP)
Orioles (48-70) @ Rays (63-54), 7:08pm
    Jason Berken (25, RHP) vs. David Price (23, LHP)
Twins (56-62) @ Rangers (67-50), 8:05pm
    Carl Pavano (33, RHP) vs. Scott Feldman (26, RHP)
Royals (46-72) @ WhiteSox (61-58), 8:11pm
    Gil Meche (30, RHP) vs. Freddy Garcia (34, RHP, 0-0, undef)
Yankees (74-45) @ Athletics (53-65), 10:05pm
    C.C. Sabathia (28, LHP) vs. Vin Mazzaro (22, RHP)
Rockies (65-53) @ Nationals (43-75), 7:05pm
    Ubaldo Jimenez (25, RHP) vs. Craig Stammen (25, RHP)
D’backs (54-65) @ Phillies (66-49), 7:05pm
    Jon Garland (29, RHP) vs. Pedro Martinez (37, RHP)
Brewers (58-60) @ Pirates (47-70), 7:05pm
    Manny Parra (26, LHP) vs. Ross Ohlendorf (26, RHP)
Giants (64-54) @ Reds (50-67), 7:10pm
    Tim Lincecum (25, RHP) vs. Homer Bailey (23, RHP)
Braves (62-56) @ Mets (55-63), 7:10pm
    Derek Lowe (36, RHP) vs. Oliver Perez (27, LHP)
Marlins (63-55) @ Astros (57-61), 8:05pm
    Ricky Nolasco (26, RHP) vs. Bud Norris (24, RHP)
Cubs (60-56) @ Padres (50-70), 10:05pm
    Ryan Dempster (32, RHP) vs. Cesar Carrillo (25, RHP)
Cardinals (68-52) @ Dodgers (70-49), 10:10pm
    Mitchell Boggs (25, RHP) vs. Chad Billingsley (24, RHP)

Standings

The graphics next to each team are called “sparklines.” They depict each team’s performance over the last month. Each “up” bar is a victory and a “down” bar is a loss. There are horizontal lines for home games and red bars represent games decided by two runs or less. “PWins” is short for Projected Wins, based on each team’s Run Differential, and is often a better measure of a team’s true strength. Other team graphs and stats can be found on our Team Page.


American League East        Pwins  Diff
NYA     74  45 .622    0.0   69     5    
BOS     66  51 .564    7.0   66     0    
TB      63  54 .538   10.0   66    -3    
TOR     55  61 .474   17.5   62    -7    
BAL     48  70 .407   25.5   50    -2    
American League Central     
DET     62  55 .530    0.0   60     2    
CHA     61  58 .513    2.0   61     0    
MIN     56  62 .475    6.5   60    -4    
CLE     51  66 .436   11.0   56    -5    
KC      46  72 .390   16.5   46     0    
American League West        
LAA     71  45 .612    0.0   66     5    
TEX     67  50 .573    4.5   64     3    
SEA     61  57 .517   11.0   54     7    
OAK     53  65 .449   19.0   56    -3    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     66  49 .574    0.0   65     1    
FLA     63  55 .534    4.5   59     4    
ATL     62  56 .525    5.5   64    -2    
NYN     55  63 .466   12.5   55     0    
WAS     43  75 .364   24.5   49    -6    
National League Central     
STL     68  52 .567    0.0   66     2    
CHN     60  56 .517    6.0   60     0    
MIL     58  60 .492    9.0   56     2    
HOU     57  61 .483   10.0   51     6    
CIN     50  67 .427   16.5   49     1    
PIT     47  70 .402   19.5   51    -4    
National League West        
LAN     70  49 .588    0.0   72    -2    
COL     65  53 .551    4.5   67    -2    
SF      64  54 .542    5.5   63     1    
ARI     54  65 .454   16.0   56    -2    
SD      50  70 .417   20.5   45     5    


Wildcard Standings
American League             
TEX     67  50 .573    0.0
BOS     66  51 .564    1.0
TB      63  54 .538    4.0
SEA     61  57 .517    6.5
CHA     61  58 .513    7.0
National League             
COL     65  53 .551    0.0
SF      64  54 .542    1.0
FLA     63  55 .534    2.0
ATL     62  56 .525    3.0
CHN     60  56 .517    4.0

Top Minor League Games

The following list, provided by First Inning, includes the top minor league batting (based on Runs Created) and pitching (based on Game Score) performances from yesterday.

ORG LVL PLAYER            AB  H 2B 3B HR BB SO  Notes
LA  A   Kyle Russell...... 4  3  2  0  0  1  1  
ARI AAA Cole Gillespie.... 4  3  2  0  0  0  0  
FLA AA  Logan Morrison.... 4  3  2  0  0  0  0  
CIN A+  Neftali Soto...... 5  3  2  0  0  0  0  
TB  A   Timothy Beckham... 5  3  2  0  0  0  0  
ARI AAA Chris Young....... 3  1  0  0  1  2  1  3 R
CIN AAA Chris Valaika..... 4  2  2  0  0  0  0  
SF  AAA John Bowker....... 4  2  0  0  1  1  0  
MIL A+  Caleb Gindl....... 4  1  0  0  1  1  2  
CHC A   Ryan Flaherty..... 5  3  0  0  1  0  1  
COL A-  Tim Wheeler....... 3  2  1  0  0  2  0  3 R
SEA AAA Mike Carp......... 4  2  0  0  1  0  0  

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
SF  A   Eric Surkamp...... 6  8  2  1  9  2  0  
CLE A   Nick Hagadone..... 3  1  0  0  5  0  0  
TB  A   Nick Barnese...... 5  3  3  2  5  2  0  
TEX A-  Robert Ross....... 5  5  2  0  4  0  0  12 GB
COL AAA Esmil Rogers...... 6  7  3  3  9  3  1  
MIL A   Wily Peralta...... 3  3  1  1  4  0  0  
CHC AA  C. Carpenter...... 5  2  1  1  4  3  0  9 GB
MIN AAA Kevin Mulvey...... 7  7  4  0  3  2  0  13 GB
SF  A-  Jorge Bucardo..... 7  3  0  0  2  3  0  13 GB
NYY A+  Jairo Heredia..... 7  6  0  0  2  2  0  
ARI AA  Bryan Augenstein.. 3  1  0  0  1  0  0  7 GB
HOU AA  Chia-Jen Lo....... 1  0  0  0  2  0  0

First Inning’s Major and Minor League Daily Reports: