Mormon Baseball

While it might not seem the case, playing well in a backup role is hard. Because the batter doesn’t see as many pitches, its harder to do as well at the plate. So, when a backup player is doing well, that is noteworthy.

In that sense, John Buck’s current performance is great. He was 4 for 10 last week (.400), and his season average is up to .271 (on 59 at bats). Buck has only hit better than that in one season of his 11 year career, so it seems unlikely that he will keep up that level for the rest of the year—especially as a backup catcher. But his performance so far is still great.

In contrast, the other Mormon players have played as backups at their positions in the majors, Elliot Johnson and Eric Sogard, didn’t do so well. Johnson was demoted after just 19 at bats with the Indians, leaving with a .105 average (well below what he has managed other seasons) and Sogard is hitting .200 in 140 at bats so far this season—also below what he has managed most of his career.

On the mount, the Washington National’s Doug Fister continues to perform well, earning a 2.77 era in 2 starts last week, but losing the second of these games. Fister isn’t far from bringing his season era below 3.00, although he still 18.1 innings below the number needed to qualify for inclusion in the stat leaders. And while Jeremy Guthrie isn’t as strong as Fister, he also did fairly well last week, winning his game and bringing his season era almost to 4.00.

Bryce Harper, Jason Johnson and Matt Lindstrom remain on the DL. Harper is expected to start throwing this week, and Lindstrom expects to be back around September 1st.

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Hitting Stats Leaders:

• Jacoby Ellsbury — 18 stolen bases (6th)

Pitching Stats Leaders:

• Kyle Farnsworth — 32 games (tied 24th)
• Jeremy Guthrie — 91.1 innings pitched (24th); 14 games started (tied 13th)

Fielding Stats Leaders:

• [none]

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• Darwin Barney — second base — Chicago Cubs
  3 for 19 (.158), 0 runs, 2 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 1 so
  YTD: .192, 12 runs, 13 rbi, 2 hr, 9 bb, 0 sb, 21 so in 125 at bats.
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• John Buck — backup catcher — Seattle Mariners
  4 for 10 (.400), 2 runs, 1 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 4 so
  YTD: .271, 9 runs, 5 rbi, 1 hr, 5 bb, 0 sb, 16 so in 59 at bats.
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• Jacoby Ellsbury — centerfield — New York Yankees
  5 for 22 (.227), 3 runs, 5 rbi, 1 hr, 4 bb, 0 sb, 5 so
  YTD: .282, 33 runs, 30 rbi, 4 hr, 28 bb, 18 sb, 50 so in 252 at bats.
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• Kyle Farnsworth — relief pitcher — Houston Astros
  0-0, 10.13 era, 6 hits, 3 er, 0 bb, and 3 k in 2.2 innings; 2.25 WHIP
  YTD: 0-3, era 4.44, 29 hits, 13 er, 13 bb and 17 k in 26.1 innings; 1.59 WHIP
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• Doug Fister — starting pitcher — Washington Nationals
  1-1, 2.77 era, 15 hits, 4 er, 3 bb, and 5 k in 13.0 innings; 1.38 WHIP
  YTD: 5-2, era 3.08, 49 hits, 17 er, 5 bb and 33 k in 49.2 innings; 1.09 WHIP
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• Jeremy Guthrie — starting pitcher — Kansas City Royals
  1-0, 3.18 era, 6 hits, 2 er, 4 bb, and 9 k in 5.2 innings; 1.77 WHIP
  YTD: 3-6, era 4.04, 91 hits, 41 er, 24 bb and 50 k in 91.1 innings; 1.26 WHIP
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• Bryce Harper — starting centerfield — Washington Nationals
  Injured, 15-day DL
  YTD: .289, 8 runs, 9 rbi, 1 hr, 8 bb, 1 sb, 21 so in 83 at bats.
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• Elliot Johnson — second base — Cleveland Indians
  Reassigned to minor leagues
  YTD: .105, 1 runs, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 7 so in 19 at bats.
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• Josh Johnson — starting pitcher — San Diego Padres
  Injured, did not pitch (60-day DL — Tommy John Surgery)
  YTD: 0-0, era n/a, 0 hits, 0 er, 0 bb and 0 k in 0.0 innings
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• Matt Lindstrom — Chicago White Sox, closer
  Injured, 15-day DL
  YTD: 2-1, era 3.32, 19 hits, 7 er, 9 bb and 11 k in 19.0 innings; 1.47 WHIP
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• Brandon Lyon — relief pitcher — Los Angeles Angels
  Not on roster — reassigned to minor leagues
  YTD: 0-0, era n/a, 0 hits, 0 er, 0 bb and 0 k in 0.0 innings
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• Clayton Mortensen — relief pitcher — Kansas City Royals
  Not on roster — reassigned to minor leagues
  YTD: 0-0, era n/a, 0 hits, 0 er, 0 bb and 0 k in 0.0 innings
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• Shane Peterson — Oakland As minor league affiliate, infield
  Did not play — reassigned to minor leagues
  YTD: .000, 0 runs, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 0 so in 0 at bats.
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• Adam Rosales — Texas Rangers, backup infielder
  Did not play — reassigned to minor leagues
  YTD: .000, 0 runs, 0 rbi, 0 hr, 0 bb, 0 sb, 0 so in 0 at bats.
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• Eric Sogard — Oakland As, backup short stop
  2 for 10 (.200), 2 runs, 2 rbi, 0 hr, 1 bb, 0 sb, 2 so
  YTD: .200, 15 runs, 9 rbi, 0 hr, 13 bb, 4 sb, 16 so in 140 at bats.
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