Houston Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates - 7:05 p.m.
Erik Bedard (0-2, 6.67) vs. A.J. Burnett (3-4, 2.73)
Season Series (Pittsburgh leads 1-0)
May 17, 2013 - Pittsburgh 5, Houston 4
Lineups
Pirates (25-17)
1. Marte 7
2. Tabata 9
3. McCutchen 8
4. Sanchez 3
5. Martin 2
6. Inge 5
7. Walker 4
8. Mercer 6
9. Burnett 1
Astros (11-31)
1. Grossman 8
2. Crowe 7
3. Altuve 4
4. Castro 2
5. Carter 9
6. Pena 3
7. Dominguez 5
8. Gonzalez 6
9. Bedard 1
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Russell Martin and Pitch Framing
It is no secret that I have been a fan of the Russell Martin signing. At the time some people were a little bullish on the sign because Martin wasn't necessarily a great offensive catcher as he hit only .211 last year with the Yankees but in terms of his defensive reputation you can argue there aren't really too many better defensive catchers in the game.
Enter Ben Lindbergh, the editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus. He did a sit down interview with Martin about his pitch framing and if you haven't had a chance to read it then you really need to. A problem that people have with defensive metrics, which includes pitch framing, is that there really hasn't been a lot in terms of statistics to back up any argument either way. Most people use the eye test with defense and while that can be helpful it really doesn't always show you the full picture either.
In terms of catching there really isn't too much out there in terms of pitch framing and the stuff that is out there is pretty new and it usually takes at least a full year of data before you can get any kind of substantial data to make an educated opinion about a catcher and pitch framing. Besides the actual data that goes along with baseball I don't think you can really argue that pitch framing is a real thing and there are substantial differences between someone being good at it and someone being bad at it.
Right now the Pirates have had a really wide margin with the really bad end in Ryan Doumit who is one of the worst in the league to now Martin who is one of the best in the league. Even backup Michael McKenry isn't regarded as a good pitch framing catcher which you can absolutely notice when he catches games. It is really remarkable when you watch Martin catch for 30ish games this season and then going to someone like McKenry to really see how bad the Pirates have been behind the plate in this regard the past number (times ten) of seasons.
Anyways, back to why this post is here. Lindbergh had the interview with Martin which you can read here and it focuses on how Marin goes about his job in game. Here are a few of quotes I pulled from the story that are interesting:
What you get from the interview is Martin takes pitch framing extremely seriously and you get the feeling just from reading it that it is something he takes a lot of pride in and that it comes first to him, even before hitting. Martin has become one of the best in the game in these terms and he's worked hard to do it. You can have your own opinion on pitch framing but you can't deny that Martin has done an amazing job with this staff and his pitch framing is absolutely helping the Pirates pitching staff get out of innings.
The other thing you might want to check out is ESPN [Pittsburgh] Radio's David Todd talk with Lindbergh about the interview with Martin and give you an idea about what defensive metrics and pitch framing means now and going forward. Very good listen.
For the record I still love the Martin signing. He has been absolutely amazing through 40 some odd games and if this continues it will go down as one of the best signings of Neal Huntington's tenure.
Enter Ben Lindbergh, the editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus. He did a sit down interview with Martin about his pitch framing and if you haven't had a chance to read it then you really need to. A problem that people have with defensive metrics, which includes pitch framing, is that there really hasn't been a lot in terms of statistics to back up any argument either way. Most people use the eye test with defense and while that can be helpful it really doesn't always show you the full picture either.
In terms of catching there really isn't too much out there in terms of pitch framing and the stuff that is out there is pretty new and it usually takes at least a full year of data before you can get any kind of substantial data to make an educated opinion about a catcher and pitch framing. Besides the actual data that goes along with baseball I don't think you can really argue that pitch framing is a real thing and there are substantial differences between someone being good at it and someone being bad at it.
Right now the Pirates have had a really wide margin with the really bad end in Ryan Doumit who is one of the worst in the league to now Martin who is one of the best in the league. Even backup Michael McKenry isn't regarded as a good pitch framing catcher which you can absolutely notice when he catches games. It is really remarkable when you watch Martin catch for 30ish games this season and then going to someone like McKenry to really see how bad the Pirates have been behind the plate in this regard the past number (times ten) of seasons.
Anyways, back to why this post is here. Lindbergh had the interview with Martin which you can read here and it focuses on how Marin goes about his job in game. Here are a few of quotes I pulled from the story that are interesting:
Martin: But my goal is not to steal strikes, it’s to keep strikes strikes. I don’t want to lose strikes. The key is trying to fight against what the ball is naturally wanting you to do.
Yeah, it’s [pitch framing] definitely, it’s a skill, it’s an art. I mean, that’s what catching is all about. If you can’t make that comebacker look good for Greg Maddux while he’s with the Braves, he’s not the same pitcher. There would be a lot of a lot of curveballs that are down in the zone, don’t get called, that cross over the plate. If it was automated and that pitch would get called, it would be devastating for hitters. Because there are curveballs that cross like, right here [goes into crouch, holds glove where the bottom of the zone would be], and I’m catching down here [holds glove lower and behind where the plate would be]. It never gets called, ever.
What you get from the interview is Martin takes pitch framing extremely seriously and you get the feeling just from reading it that it is something he takes a lot of pride in and that it comes first to him, even before hitting. Martin has become one of the best in the game in these terms and he's worked hard to do it. You can have your own opinion on pitch framing but you can't deny that Martin has done an amazing job with this staff and his pitch framing is absolutely helping the Pirates pitching staff get out of innings.
The other thing you might want to check out is ESPN [Pittsburgh] Radio's David Todd talk with Lindbergh about the interview with Martin and give you an idea about what defensive metrics and pitch framing means now and going forward. Very good listen.
For the record I still love the Martin signing. He has been absolutely amazing through 40 some odd games and if this continues it will go down as one of the best signings of Neal Huntington's tenure.
Mike Lange ECSF Game Two Goal Calls
Benstonium comes through again putting together the goal calls from Mike Lange to the video for the Penguins 4-3 win over Ottawa in the second game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Pirates Game 42 Recap - Pirates 5, Astros 4
-As Pirates fans we all know too well what it feels like to lose the way the Astros lost tonight. I honestly feel bad for true Astros fans that had to watch the end of that game but that was just brutally bad. Not just the final play but the entire final inning. I don't even care, wins all count the same and the Pirates got a win. I will take it. The Pirates will lose in a brutal fashion at some point this season to equal out this win.
-In case you didn't see the game let me set up the final inning for you. The game was tied at four. Starling Marte led the inning off with a half swing single to right field. Travis Snider then had a half swing fielders choice that got Marte out at second. Andrew McCutchen then singled to right field on a really beautiful inside-out swing to put runners on first and third. Brandon Inge comes to the plate and hits a textbook comebacker that is a double play 99 out of 100 times. This was that one time. Bobble by Astros pitcher Edgar Gonzalez that loaded the bases with one out. Neil Walker came to bat who is just money when the bases are loaded but he has a brutal at bat. On the 2-1 pitch Gonzalez throws a ball about ten feet out of the strike zone and Walker swings then he looks at strike three which is nearly a middle-middle pitch. Two outs and Russell Martin comes up. The count gets worked to 3-2 and then this:
Oh man. Just hilariously beautiful. That is what 11-31 teams do.
-The Pirates got a really weird start from Jeanmar Gomez. He cruised through the first four innings but then completely fell apart in the fourth inning. He ended the game giving up four runs and five hits while walking two and things didn't look good.
-Great work by the pen tonight. Vin Mazzaro, Tony Watson, and Justin Wilson combined for 4.1 scoreless innings where they gave up only two hits and struck out six. It wasn't clean as they collectively walked three but they didn't let a run score. Big ups to those three.
-McCutchen was a monster tonight. 3-for-5 with a double and home runs and just was all over the place. He wasn't having much luck as he has been hitting the ball really well just right at players but today he broke out a little bit. Really good to see.
-Pedro Alvarez has been pretty bad for most of the season but he made up for some of it tonight. The Pirates were down by two in the eighth inning and had a runner on first with two outs (I think) and got a fastball and just CRUSHED it to right field for a 462 foot home run. It hit the walkway about four or five feet short of finding the river on the fly. He pimped it out and knew it was gone as soon as he hit it. That is a big time hit and that is why he plays. Just huge.
I mean watch this:
My gawd.
-Clint Hurdle has done a decent job recently with his bullpen management and for that I have to applaud him but he still insists on bunting in horrible situations. Case in point tonight it was the bottom of the sixth inning and the Pirates had just cut the Astros lead to 4-2 with a Garrett Jones double with no outs. Up comes Neil Walker, TO BUNT. He bunts it right back to the pitcher who throws Jones out at third. Under no circumstance should Neil Walker be bunting in the sixth inning of a game where you have a runner on second base and NO OUTS. I really hope that Walker bunted on his own just so I can have some (very little) faith that Hurdle isn't that, um, crazy. This is inexcusable. It cost the Pirates runs that inning and could very well have cost them the game. It will get lost in the shuffle because of the way the game ended and the Pirates winning but that is absolutely inexcusable and it needs to stop. Just complete and utter incompetence to order a bunt from your number five hitter in that position.
-Well, now that's out of the way (he frustrates me so bad sometimes) the Pirates got a win and that is huge. They are now sitting 25-17 and they have two more against the Astros before three with the Cubs. If the Pirates can stack some wins here they can be sitting in a good spot. Those wins aren't going to come east though. Despite what happened tonight the Astros were in a good place to win and they didn't. The Pirates need to come out and take these victories.
-In case you didn't see the game let me set up the final inning for you. The game was tied at four. Starling Marte led the inning off with a half swing single to right field. Travis Snider then had a half swing fielders choice that got Marte out at second. Andrew McCutchen then singled to right field on a really beautiful inside-out swing to put runners on first and third. Brandon Inge comes to the plate and hits a textbook comebacker that is a double play 99 out of 100 times. This was that one time. Bobble by Astros pitcher Edgar Gonzalez that loaded the bases with one out. Neil Walker came to bat who is just money when the bases are loaded but he has a brutal at bat. On the 2-1 pitch Gonzalez throws a ball about ten feet out of the strike zone and Walker swings then he looks at strike three which is nearly a middle-middle pitch. Two outs and Russell Martin comes up. The count gets worked to 3-2 and then this:
Oh man. Just hilariously beautiful. That is what 11-31 teams do.
-The Pirates got a really weird start from Jeanmar Gomez. He cruised through the first four innings but then completely fell apart in the fourth inning. He ended the game giving up four runs and five hits while walking two and things didn't look good.
-Great work by the pen tonight. Vin Mazzaro, Tony Watson, and Justin Wilson combined for 4.1 scoreless innings where they gave up only two hits and struck out six. It wasn't clean as they collectively walked three but they didn't let a run score. Big ups to those three.
-McCutchen was a monster tonight. 3-for-5 with a double and home runs and just was all over the place. He wasn't having much luck as he has been hitting the ball really well just right at players but today he broke out a little bit. Really good to see.
-Pedro Alvarez has been pretty bad for most of the season but he made up for some of it tonight. The Pirates were down by two in the eighth inning and had a runner on first with two outs (I think) and got a fastball and just CRUSHED it to right field for a 462 foot home run. It hit the walkway about four or five feet short of finding the river on the fly. He pimped it out and knew it was gone as soon as he hit it. That is a big time hit and that is why he plays. Just huge.
I mean watch this:
My gawd.
-Clint Hurdle has done a decent job recently with his bullpen management and for that I have to applaud him but he still insists on bunting in horrible situations. Case in point tonight it was the bottom of the sixth inning and the Pirates had just cut the Astros lead to 4-2 with a Garrett Jones double with no outs. Up comes Neil Walker, TO BUNT. He bunts it right back to the pitcher who throws Jones out at third. Under no circumstance should Neil Walker be bunting in the sixth inning of a game where you have a runner on second base and NO OUTS. I really hope that Walker bunted on his own just so I can have some (very little) faith that Hurdle isn't that, um, crazy. This is inexcusable. It cost the Pirates runs that inning and could very well have cost them the game. It will get lost in the shuffle because of the way the game ended and the Pirates winning but that is absolutely inexcusable and it needs to stop. Just complete and utter incompetence to order a bunt from your number five hitter in that position.
-Well, now that's out of the way (he frustrates me so bad sometimes) the Pirates got a win and that is huge. They are now sitting 25-17 and they have two more against the Astros before three with the Cubs. If the Pirates can stack some wins here they can be sitting in a good spot. Those wins aren't going to come east though. Despite what happened tonight the Astros were in a good place to win and they didn't. The Pirates need to come out and take these victories.
Penguins ECSF Game 1 Recap - Penguins 4, Senators 3
-This game was all about Sidney Crosby. There is no two ways about it, he was the best player on the ice just like he is for almost every game he plays in. He scored the Penguins first three goals and would have had a natural hat trick if it weren't for a lone Ottawa goal but hey I guess it could be worse, right? All told the Penguins got the win that put them up 2-0 in a series for the first time since the Eastern Conference Finals against Carolina in 2009.
-While Crosby was the story a few other guys had some really outstanding nights. Evgeni Malkin and James Neal probably had their best playoff games of the season so far and while they have been good in bursts this playoffs they were really good start to finish. The scoresheet isn't going to show how good they were as both only had an assist but their line was utterly dominating all night. They were creating turnovers and creating chances all night and while they didn't find the twine they eventually will.
-Jarome Iginla went without a point for the first time in the playoffs but it wasn't from a lack of effort. He had a team-high eight shots on goal and if he didn't shoot one of them directly into the goaltender in the second period he would have had an easy goal. He was a part of that Malkin/Neal like that dominated play so it wasn't too bad.
-The Penguins were just the better team. In the Islanders series there were games where the Islanders were the better team in the game but they didn't come out with a win. It wasn't that way today for the Penguins. In game one the Penguins were outplayed during 5-on-5 but tonight they weren't. They came out on fire and it seemed like Ottawa forgot the game started. It was a good game and something to build on.
-Tomas Vokoun was not really all that good. He gave up a couple of soft goals and gave up three in 19 shots and just didn't look good all night. While there were a few shoddy defensive plays in front of him he just looked off. Now, every player has an off day and when your goalie has one and he can still only let in three goals and give you a win you take it. This should not be a goaltender controversy as Vokoun should start next game without question but he needs to have a better game. Whatever though.
-Deryk Engelland will probably not be in the lineup for game three. He was brutal in the defensive zone tonight and when you are a defenseman that is not a great thing to have said about you.
-While the power play was outstanding in game one it was pretty bad for most of the game tonight. They had six power play opportunities and only cashed in on one of them and for at least half of them they had trouble enough just getting into the zone. As I talked about in the pregame that the Senators penalty kill was probably going to be better and boy were they. While they were passive in the first game they were ultra aggressive tonight and really tried to stand up the Penguins at the blue line and it was effective. This will definitely give the Penguins something to work on and it will need to improve if Ottawa wants to keep taking penalties.
-The Penguins did a nice job of limiting the Ottawa offense. They allowed only 22 shots and blocked 20 more led by Brandon Sutter with five blocks. They also got 42 shots on the Ottawa net as they chased starter Craig Anderson in the second period. His backup Robin Lehner came in and really did a nice job to hold the fort but the Ottawa offense just came up short.
-Ottawa outhit Pittsburgh 41-21. I talked about how that is something that Ottawa wanted and had to do in this game if they wanted to have a chance and they did that and while they got outplayed they were in the game at the end.
-Erik Karlsson was just brutally bad tonight. He still isn't near to 100% and only played 15 minutes. That has to be a concern for Ottawa going forward.
-It is really great win for the Penguins to hold serve on home ice. Really all they need to do here is split the two games in Ottawa and they will be in great shape. This isn't a place they have been in so it is nice to get back to it as a fan watching from afar.
Penguins Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 2 Preview - vs. Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators
7:30 p.m., CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Penguins started the series off against the Senators the same way they did against the Islanders. They came out and really took the play to the Senators and came away with a convincing game one victory that has a lot of people feeling really good about the way the series is going to go. Last series the Penguins did the same thing against the Islanders only to have them come and steal game two in Pittsburgh and then play the Penguins to an even series through four games even though they were probably outplayed in three of the games. Will this series be the same way? Who knows but tonight will go a pretty long way in seeing how the series might unfold.
I am not sure that Ottawa is going to be able to come after the Penguins like the Islanders did just for the fact that they don't have the speed and quickness that New York had but one thing I expect to change is the physicalness of Ottawa. While they were somewhat physical in game one I think they really sat back more almost afraid to take penalties against a Penguins team that has been lethal on the power play. While it might cost the Senators a few penalties I think they need to try and get more physical with the Penguins if they want a chance to win. The Penguins are just too talented offensively for Ottawa to play a mainly shell defensive system and hope the Penguins make enough mistakes to win. Ottawa had the best penalty kill during the regular season and if they don't have any confidence in that then they are in a lot of trouble.
A guy that I expect to step up better for Ottawa is Craig Anderson. This guy was one of the best in the league between the pipes in the regular season and while he was really sharp early on the Penguins were able to get to him as the game went on. It didn't help that his defense broke down in front of him but he needs to play better if Ottawa wants to have a chance. He is going to have to steal multiple games in this series if the Sens want to win the series because lets face it the Sens aren't going to score goals at a high clip. I don't think Anderson is quite as good as he showed during the season but I do think he is better than he was is game one.
On the Penguins side they just really need to do what they did last game. They need to create some turnovers and take advantage of them which is exactly what they did in game one of the series and that is why they are up 1-0. They effectively eliminated the Senators forecheck and while they got a lot of shots on net a good portion of them were low percentage and they did a nice job of giving Tomas Vokoun some space to see the shots.
The one portion where the Penguins need to clean up is taking penalties. They sent the Senators to the power play five times and while the penalty kill continued to be really good you can't continue to rely on your PK like the Penguins did for long stretches of the game on Tuesday. If they continue to do that then the Senators will win a few hockey games in this series and sometimes when it rains it pours and that is not what you want.
Probables
Pittsburgh (5-2 in playoffs) (via Penguins website)
Forwards
Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
James Neal - Evgeni Malkin - Jarome Iginla
Brenden Morrow - Brandon Sutter - Matt Cooke
Craig Adams - Joe Vitale - Tyler Kennedy
Defense
Brooks Orpik - Paul Martin
Kris Letang - Matt Niskanen
Deryk Engelland - Douglas Murray
Goaltender
Tomas Vokoun
Ottawa (4-2 in playoffs) (via Ottawa website)
Forwards
Cory Conacher - Kyle Turris - Daniel Alfredsson
Milan Michalek - Mika Zibanejad - Jakob Silfverberg
Guillaume Latendresse - Zack Smith - Chris Neil
Colin Greening - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Erik Condra
Defense
Marc Methot - Erik Karlsson
Jared Cowen - Sergei Gonchar
Chris Phillips - Andre Benoit
Goaltender
Craig Anderson
The Series (Pittsburgh leads 1-0)
May 13, 2013 - Pittsburgh 4, Ottawa 1
The Stats:
Pirates Game 42 Preview - vs. Houston Astros
Houston Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates - 7:05 p.m.
Jordan Lyles (1-1, 8.36) vs. Jeanmar Gomez (2-0, 2.28)
Lineups
Pirates (24-17)
1. Marte 7
2. Snider 9
3. McCutchen 8
4. Jones 3
5. Walker 4
6. Martin 2
7. Alvarez 5
8. Barmes 6
9. Gomez 1
Astros (11-30)
1. Grossman 8
2. Elmore 4
3. Castro 2
4. Carter 9
5. Martinez 7
6. Pena 3
7. Dominguez 5
8. Gonzalez 6
9. Lyles 1
Jordan Lyles (1-1, 8.36) vs. Jeanmar Gomez (2-0, 2.28)
Lineups
Pirates (24-17)
1. Marte 7
2. Snider 9
3. McCutchen 8
4. Jones 3
5. Walker 4
6. Martin 2
7. Alvarez 5
8. Barmes 6
9. Gomez 1
Astros (11-30)
1. Grossman 8
2. Elmore 4
3. Castro 2
4. Carter 9
5. Martinez 7
6. Pena 3
7. Dominguez 5
8. Gonzalez 6
9. Lyles 1
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