Mormon Baseball

The playoffs have started, and somehow I haven’t managed to report on the final three days of play of the regular season. But in general, now that I’ve compiled the statistics, there isn’t much to report. Among fielders, the standout was again Bryce Harper, who went 2 for 6 and scored a run. Most of the others were pretty abysmal — Darwin Barney was 0 for 7, John Buck 0 for 4, and Ellsbury 2 for 10.It seems likely that the lack of motivation, since these players had no chance to make the post-season, was likely a factor.

Among pitchers it was almost as bad. Brandon Lyon led the relievers with 2 shutout innings while Jeremy Guthrie turned in a 3.00 era over 6, which was poor for Guthrie since the all star break, but still good enough to be considered a “quality start” to most people. On the bad side, Kyle Farnsworth got yanked before he could get an out but after giving up 2 runs, giving him one of those somewhat rare uncalculable eras, and raising his era for the (injury-shortened) season from 3.33 to 4.00 in a single outing.

I had the pleasure of seeing Clayton Mortensen pitch against the Yankees in the final game of the season, and he did quite well for two innings. But when the Red Sox brought him in for a third, he couldn’t get an out and gave up two earned runs on a Robinson Cano home run. And just like that Mortensen’s season era went from below 3 to 3.21. Still, since this is his first year in the majors, I think he has the makings of a good reliever.

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Current Roster Players:

• Darwin Barney—second base—Chicago Cubs
  0 for 7 (.000), 1 runs, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 2 so.
  YTD: .254, 73 runs, 44 rbi, 7 hr, 33 bb, 6 sb, 58 so in 548 at bats.
• John Buck — starting catcher — Miami Marlins
  0 for 4 (.000), 0 runs, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 2 so
  YTD: .192, 29 runs, 41 rbi, 12 hr, 49 bb, 0 sb, 103 so in 343 at bats.
• Jacoby Ellsbury — starting outfielder — Boston Red Sox
  2 for 10 (.200), 2 runs, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 4 so
  YTD: .271, 43 runs, 26 rbi, 4 hr, 19 bb, 14 sb, 43 so in 303 at bats.
• Kyle Farnsworth — closer — Tampa Bay Rays
  0-0, era (inf), 2 hit, 2 er, 0 k, 0 bb, in 0.0 innings
  YTD: 1-6, era 4.00, 22 hits, 12 er, 25 k, 14 bb in 27.0 innings
• Jeremy Guthrie — starting pitcher (right handed) — Kansas City Royals
  1-0, 3.00 era, 5 hits, 2 er, 3 bb, and 3 k in 6.0 innings
  YTD: 8-12, era 4.76 206 hits, 96 er, 50 bb and 101 k in 181.2 innings
• Roy Halladay— starting pitcher (right handed) — Philadelphia Phillies
  Did not pitch October 1 to 3.
  YTD: 11-8, era 4.49, 155 hits, 78 er, 36 bb, 132 k in 156.1 innings.
• Bryce Harper — left field — Washington Nationals
  2 for 6 (.333), 1 runs, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 1 bb, 1 sb, 0 so
  YTD: .270, 98 runs, 59 rbi, 22 hr, 56 bb, 18 sb, 120 so in 533 at bats.
• Elliot Johnson — infielder — Tampa Bay Rays
  Did not play
  YTD: .242, 32 runs, 33 rbi, 6 hr, 24 bb, 18 sb, 84 so in 297 at bats.
• Josh Johnson — starting pitcher (right handed) – Miami Marlins
  Did not pitch
  YTD: 8-14, 3.81 era, 180 hits, 81 er, 165 k, 65 bb in 191.1 innings.
• Matt Lindstrom — right handed bullpen pitcher – Arizona Diamondbacks
  Did not pitch the final week.
  YTD: 1-0, 2.68 era, 45 hits, 14 er, 40 k, 14 bb in 47.0 innings.
• Brandon Lyon — right handed bullpen pitcher — Toronto Blue Jays
  1-0, 0.00 era, 2 hits, 0 er, 1 k, 1 bb in 2.0 innings
  YTD: 4-2, 3.10 era, 56 hits, 21 er, 63 k, 20 bb in 61.0 innings.
• Clayton Mortensen — right handed bullpen pitcher —Boston Red Sox
  0-0, 9.00 era, 3 hits, 2 er, 2 k, 2 bb, in 2.0 innings
  YTD: 1-1, 3.21 era, 32 hits, 15 er, 41 k, 19 bb, 7 hr in 42.0 innings
• Adam Rosales — 2B — Oakland A’s
  1 for 4 (.250) 1 run, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 1 so
  YTD: .222, 12 run, 8 rbi, 11 bb, 0 sb, 24 k in 99 at bats.

Foreign Leagues:

• Mitch Talbot — starting pitcher (right handed) — Samsung Lions (Korea)
  Did not pitch
  YTD: 13-3, 3.88 era, 124 h, 55 er, 7 hr, 65 k, 47 bb in 127.2 innings

Players who may be Mormon:

• Rick Anton – pitcher – LA Dodgers organization
• Tyler Hanks — pitcher — Washington Nationals organization
• Kam Mickolio — pitcher — Arizona Diamondbacks organization (apparently not Mormon, but I don’t have evidence either way)
• Brad Thompson — pitcher — Houston Astros organization
• Other remote possibilities: Jay Brossman, Brian Budrow, Tyler Chism, Dallas Christison, Stephen Fife, Steve Hirschfeld, Zachary Jones, Ryan Khoury, Cole Miles, A. J. Murray, Jordan Taylor Pratt, Tanner Robles, Braeden Schlehuber, Justin Smith, Matt Spring

Non-Mormons who may be confused for Mormons

• Matt Carson — non-Mormon who went to BYU
• Derek Christensen
• Egan Smith —
• Jordan Smith —