Sunday, June 08, 2008

Notebook Dump (6.8.08)

Game: White Sox 11, Twinks 2

Box Score

Record: 31-31, 2nd place, 4.5 behind Sox

Streak: 3 losses

*.643/.706/1.786 - Joe Crede's batting line the past four games. In addition to going 9-for-14, Crede has had 6 extra base hits including 5 home runs and a double with 10 runs driven in. "Whatever we're doing is not working," catcher Mike Redmond said. "It's the same way we've pitched him in the past. This year he seems really locked on and locked in. ... It seems like everything he hits right now is a home run, a big hit or hit hard. We're definitely going to have to make some adjustments for him." One of those adjustments could have been pitching around him with one out and runners on second and third. Sending Crede to first base would have set up the double play ball and would have brought up the nine hitter in Alexi Ramirez. To be sure, Hernandez's pitch was diving below the knees when Crede reached down and pulled it towards the Twins left field bullpen.

* 51 - Hernandez is now third in the American League with 11 home runs surrendered as well as first in earned runs (51) and hits allowed (124). In fact, Hernandez is on pace to over take Phil Niekro's record of 311 hits set in 1979 while pitching for the Atlanta Braves. "Always in my whole career, I have a lot of hits," Hernandez said. "That's the way I pitch. I'm not a strikeout pitcher. I give up a lot of hits every year. It's not something new for me." This is true. Hernandez has led the league in hits allowed in 2007, 2005, 2001, 2000 and 1998. In his past five starts dating back to his May 17th start in Colorado, Hernandez is averaging a game score of 28 - well below that of a quality start. In those 28.2 innings of work, opponents are batting .416/.425/.592.

* Just Enough/Lucky - Hittrackeronline.com, the cerebral home run tracking database that generates accurate "true distance" of home runs then categorizes them into three types (No-Doubts, Plenty and Just Enough/Lucky). Essentially, a No-Doubt would have been a home run at any park and Plenty would have been at most. Just Enough/Lucky considers other factors such as wind assisted, power alleys, etc that may have aided a home run. The website says that the home runs that came on at-bat #258 for Delmon Young traveled a distance of 375 feet from home plate and almost scrapped the backside of the US Cellular wall on the way back down - categorized as Just Enough/Lucky. Even so, it was nice to see that this pitched was pulled to the left-center power alley. We could be on the cusp of seeing more pitches pulled by Delmon Young.