Mormon Baseball

With the end of the regular major league season yesterday, the post-season lineup has become clear, leaving 7 of the 14 Mormon players we follow on teams that have made the post-season in some form. The 7 players are:

• John Buck (Pirates)
• Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox)
• Kyle Farnsworth (Pirates)
• Doug Fister (Tigers)
• Elliot Johnson (Braves)
• Adam Rosales (Rangers)
• Eric Sogard (A’s)

Of these, Rosales has perhaps the most tenuous position. He hasn’t seen much playing time as the Rangers have fought hard to make the post season, ending up with a tie for the second wild card spot in the American League. As a result the Rangers face a one-game playoff tonight against the Tampa Bay Rays to see who will get the wild card spot. If they win, the Rangers will then face another one-game playoff on Wednesday against the other wild card team, the Cleveland Indians, to see who will face the Red Sox in a 5-game series starting Friday.

Two other Mormons, John Buck and Kyle Farnsworth, will also face the difficult single-game wild card playoff in order to face the National League-leading team, the St. Louis Cardinals, starting Thursday. This week Mormon Baseball will start its daily updates of how well these 7 players do.

One of those to watch is the Braves’ Elliot Johnson, who ended the season very strong. Sunday Johnson earned 5 rbis in one game, more than 25% of his season total, and went 2 for 3 with a walk against the Philadelphia Phillies. Whether Johnson sees much time in the playoffs is questionable–the backup second baseman likely saw more playing time in the past few weeks because the Braves had clinched a playoff birth, and wanted to rest their first string second baseman, Dan Uggla. On the other hand, Uggla isn’t that much of an improvement on Johnson, with a lower batting average this season (.179), although his career average is higher than Johnson’s.

Three Mormon pitchers finished their seasons with strong performances, and two of them are headed to the post-season. Jeremy Guthrie gave up 2 earned runs in 7 innings (2.57 era), to complete his season with an era just over 4.00. His team, Kansas City, is not in the post-season. But Doug Fister gave the Tigers a strong performance last week, (2 runs in 7.1 innings – 2.45 era) and goes to the post-season with a 3.67 era. He may start the Tigers’ first playoff game. And Kyle Farnsworth earned his 2nd save of the season for the Pirates, and goes to the post-season with a 4.70 era. But that era reflects mostly his performance with Tampa Bay. Since he joined the Pirates in August, Farnsworth has given up just 1 earned run over 8.2 innings, a strong 1.04 era. We’ll see if he can keep up that level in the playoffs.

As expected Josh Johnson remained on the DL, and will try to finish his recovery in the off-season, as the Blue Jays didn’t make the playoffs. Less expected was Roy Halladay falling apart in his last appearance, throwing just 16 pitches while walking two and getting just 1 out before he was pulled. Halladay complained of arm weakness, and the Phillies are calling it a “dead arm.” The injury was somehow appropriate for Halladay’s frustrating season, but the last thing he needs as he faces likely free agency in the off-season.

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Hitting Stats Leaders:

• Jacoby Ellsbury — 52 stolen bases (1st)

Pitching Stats Leaders:

• Jeremy Guthrie — 3 complete games (tied 4th)

Fielding Stats Leaders:

• [none]

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Current Roster Players:

• Darwin Barney—second base—Chicago Cubs
  2 for 14 (.143), 1 run, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 2 so
  YTD: .208, 49 runs, 41 rbi, 7 hr, 36 bb, 4 sb, 64 so in 501 at bats.
• John Buck — backup catcher — Pittsburgh Pirates
  1 for 4 (.250), 0 runs, 1 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 1 so
  YTD: .219, 39 runs, 62 rbi, 15 hr, 29 bb, 2 sb, 104 so in 392 at bats.
• Jacoby Ellsbury — starting outfielder — Boston Red Sox
  3 for 11 (.273), 3 runs, 1 rbi, 1 hr, 1 bb, 0 sb, 1 so
  YTD: .298, 92 runs, 53 rbi, 9 hr, 47 bb, 52 sb, 92 so in 577 at bats.
• Kyle Farnsworth — reliever (right handed) — Pittsburg Pirates
  0-0, 0.00 era, 2 hits, 0 er, 1 bb, and 2 k in 2.0 innings
  YTD: 3-1, era 4.70, 43 hits, 20 er, 10 bb and 28 k in 38.1 innings
• Doug Fister — starting pitcher (right handed) — Detroit Tigers
  1-0, 2.45 era, 9 hits, 2 er, 1 bb, and 8 k in 7.1 innings
  YTD: 14-9, era 3.67, 229 hits, 85 er, 44 bb and 159 k in 208.2 innings
• Jeremy Guthrie — starting pitcher (right handed) — Kansas City Royals
  1-0, 2.57 era, 4 hits, 2 er, 1 bb, and 4 k in 7.0 innings
  YTD: 15-12, 4.04 era, 236 hits, 95 er, 59 bb and 111 k in 211.2 innings
• Roy Halladay— starting pitcher (right handed) — Philadelphia Phillies
  0-1, 27.00 era, 0 hits, 1 er, 2 bb, and 0 k in 0.1 innings
  YTD: 4-5, era 6.82, 55 hits, 47 er, 36 bb, 51 k in 62.0 innings.
• Bryce Harper — left field — Washington Nationals
  3 for 19 (.158), 1 runs, 2 rbi, 0 hr, 1 bb, 0 sb, 4 so
  YTD: .274, 71 runs, 58 rbi, 20 hr, 61 bb, 11 sb, 94 so in 424 at bats.
• Elliot Johnson — infielder — Atlanta Braves
  5 for 17 (.294), 3 runs, 5 rbi, 0 hr, 4 bb, 1 sb, 4 so
  YTD: .209, 27 runs, 19 rbi, 2 hr, 16 bb, 22 sb, 67 so in 254 at bats.
• Josh Johnson — starting pitcher (right handed) – Toronto Blue Jays
  Did not pitch – 60-day DL
  YTD: 2-8, 6.20 era, 105 hits, 64 er, 83 k, 30 bb in 81.1 innings.
• Matt Lindstrom — right handed bullpen pitcher – Chicago White Sox
  0-0, 13.50 era, 3 hits, 2 er, 1 k, 0 bb in 1.1 innings
  YTD: 2-4, 3.12 era, 64 hits, 21 er, 46 k, 23 bb in 60.2 innings.
• Brandon Lyon — right handed bullpen pitcher — New York Mets
  Did not pitch — Released
  YTD: 2-2, 4.98 era, 43 hits, 19 er, 23 k, 13 bb in 34.1 innings.
• Adam Rosales — 2B — Texas Rangers
  0 for 1 (.000) 1 run, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 0 so
  YTD: .190, 15 runs, 12 rbi, 5 hr, 10 bb, 0 sb, 34 so in 147 at bats.
• Eric Sogard — infielder — Oakland A’s
  4 for 16 (.250) 0 run, 1 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 1 sb, 2 so
  YTD: .266, 45 run, 35 rbi, 2 hr, 27 bb, 10 sb, 51 so in 368 at bats