Daily Notes | Verlander Throws 100 MPH on 131st Pitch
Bottom of the 9th and you are trying to protect a one run game. Who else do you want on the mound? Well if it's April and your ace and the reigning MVP has already well over 100 pitches perhaps you should think about somoeone other than your ace and the reigning MVP. Or then again maybe not.
Justin Verlander hit 100 MPH on three of the final four pitches of the game against Alex Gordon to preserve the victory last night. That sort of thing obviously isn't normal, and I also can't imagine that it is healthy. That said, it's not the first time that Verlander's pitch count has climbed into the 130s. Last season against the Red Sox in late May he threw 132 pitches and he also threw 133 pitches in one of the playoff games. What made him an MVP was that he was a guy that would pretty much guarantee his team innings and a high pitch count.
Verlander only threw 104 and 105 pitches in the first two games of the season, so it would seem that a small jump would have made sense. Jim Leyland stopped using good sense in this one. As Verlander put it after the game Leyland told him, "You're going to get me fired."
Justin Verlander hit 100 MPH on three of the final four pitches of the game against Alex Gordon to preserve the victory last night. That sort of thing obviously isn't normal, and I also can't imagine that it is healthy. That said, it's not the first time that Verlander's pitch count has climbed into the 130s. Last season against the Red Sox in late May he threw 132 pitches and he also threw 133 pitches in one of the playoff games. What made him an MVP was that he was a guy that would pretty much guarantee his team innings and a high pitch count.
Verlander only threw 104 and 105 pitches in the first two games of the season, so it would seem that a small jump would have made sense. Jim Leyland stopped using good sense in this one. As Verlander put it after the game Leyland told him, "You're going to get me fired."
- Justin Upton does not have an RBI through the season's first ten games. His teammate Chris Young has 13. Upton does have somewhat of a favorable K:BB rate.
- Kendrys Morales hit his first home run since 2010. There was no celebration at home plate this time.
- Yoenis Cespedes got the day off for Oakland for the first time all season. It was partly because he hasn't had a day off yet and also because he is in a 1 for 11 funk.
- Tommy Hanson threw five straight curve balls to Ike Davis. Eventually one of those pitches wasn't good enough.
- Daniel Bard hadn't thrown over 100 pitches in a very long time, and never at the MLB level until his A.M. start at Fenway yesterday. Unfortunately by the end of the outing it showed. Bard threw 8 straight balls to end his outing, and had 7 walks total on the day. I came away from the start more confident he will dominate as a starter in mixed leagues.
- While the Marlins and Red Sox have already had their share of sparks this season in the clubhouse, the Cubs are enjoying the peace and quiet without Carlos Zambrano so far.
- The Giants announced that Madison Bumgarner will be extended which will put more pressure on the team to lock up Tim Lincecum beyond 2013 or face a lot of questions about it for the next 18 months.
- Speaking of locking guys up, the Orioles should make a decision one way or another on Adam Jones soon.
- Tyler Clippard was unavailable last night because of shoulder soreness, but Davey Johnson maintains there's nothing to see here. Stay tuned as always.
- It sounds like Mike Morse will come back to play a little more than half a season for the Nationals. That is an opportunity to some fantasy manager out there in the trading waters.
- Carlos Gonzalez missed his third straight game with strep throat. Really? Is he 9?
- Ryan Howard is still unable to hit and won't be able to hit until the wound on his heel completely heels. Chase Utley is moving along although he's still a long way off too.
- The Red Sox don't intend to trade for an outfielder despite Jacoby Ellsbury's injury.
