Mormon Baseball

Posts Tagged ‘Eric Sogard’

Oakland As 2nd baseman and LDS Church member Eric Sogard finished behind the Mets’ David Wright in the final in MLB’s “Face of MLB” popularity contest. The twitter-based vote finished at 8am EST today and the results were announced on MLB Network’s Hot Stove at 9am.

The Face of MLB contest is basically an MLB promotional campaign to engage fans for the upcoming season. Each team nominates a player who then faces a player from another team in a day-long twitter vote. The winner advances to the next round in an elimination contest that ended with the final round that finished today.

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Oakland As 2nd baseman and LDS Church member Eric Sogard has reached the final in MLB’s “Face of MLB” popularity contest. Sogard faces the Mets’ David Wrigth in the twitter-based vote today, starting at 9am EST.

Fans can vote on twitter up to 25 times until 8am tomorrow.

The Face of MLB contest is basically an MLB promotional campaign to engage fans for the upcoming season. Each team nominates a player who then faces a player from another team in a day-long twitter vote. The winner advances to the next round in an elimination contest that ends with the final today.

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The nerd-look is benefiting LDS ballplayer Eric Sogard, who has reached the final four in MLB’s “Face of MLB” popularity contest. Sogard faces the Blue Jays’ José Bautista in the twitter-based vote today, starting at 9am EST.

The Face of MLB contest is basically an MLB promotional campaign to engage fans for the upcoming season. Each team nominates a player who then faces a player from another team in a day-long twitter vote. The winner advances to the next round in an elimination contest that will end this week.

Today Sogard faces the Blue Jay’s José Bautista, who has been actively seeking voters by agreeing to follow their twitter accounts (he already is following over 170,000 fans). Fans can vote up to 25 times by twitter for the player they like. To vote for Sogard simply send a tweet with the hash tags #EricSogard and #FaceOfMLB.

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We are a week away from the first Spring Training baseball games, and most players have already reported. And as always happens during the off-season, many players have moved from one team to another as managers search for just the right combination of players, and players look for more money or better opportunities.

Of course, the Mormons in professional are no exception. Here is a rundown of the Mormons who played at least one game in the majors last year and where they are at the moment. Tomorrow I’ll give a rundown of those who only played in the minors last year.

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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.

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Four Mormon players are on teams that have clinched a berth in this year’s playoffs, and another 5 could still make it — and two almost certainly will. Jacoby Ellsbury (Boston Red Sox), Doug Fister (Detroit Tigers), Elliot Johnson (Atlanta Braves) and Eric Sogard (Oakland Athletics) will all experience the post-season. In addition, John Buck and Kyle Farnsworth (both with the Pittsburg Pirates) are very likely to also make the post season. And Jeremy Guthrie (Kansas City Royals), Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals) and Adam Rosales (Texas Rangers), all still have a chance of seeing the post season, if their teams win and others lose.

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Phillies ace Roy Halladay was srong in his start last week against the Nationals, lasting 6 innings and giving up just 1 earned run while striking out 5. But Halladay didn’t have the control he has had in the past, as he walked 5 and hit two batters. But the outcome was good enough that we wonder if perhaps Halladay is back, or on his way back to his form of previous years. Commentors claim that his velocity is down, so Halladay may need to make the adjustment that aging (Halladay is 36) pitchers often have to make, trading velocity for placement and surprise. He has perhaps 4 starts left in the season; in those starts we may see what kind of pitcher Halladay will be for the remaining years of his career.

Also strong on the mound last week were relievers Kyle Farnsworth and Matt Lindstrom, both of whom held opponents scoreless in their relief appearances. Farnsworth struck out three over a total of 2 innings while giving up just one hit. Lindstrom struck out four over 1 2/3rds innings while giving up 3 hits and bringing down his era to 2.89. Neither pitcher walked a man.

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Adam Rosales hasn’t had much fun during the past month. As the Oakland As have tried to improve their team and maintain a lead as the season winds down, Rosales has become more of a liability. But instead of simply going back to AAA, Rosales has ridden a roller coaster between the majors and AAA and halfway across the country as well.

To understand the roller coaster, it helps to understand MLB’s rules for demoting players. As I understand it, teams must first “designate a player for assignment,” which allows other major league teams an opportunity to claim the player first. If no one claims the player, on the 5th day the player can then be assigned to the minors.

Rosales’ trouble started on July 8th, when the As designated him for assignment and then sent him to AAA Sacramento on the 12th to make way for Grant Green. But he was brought back to the majors just 11 days later when Green didn’t work out. Then on the 31st, he was designated for assignment again when the As acquired Alberto Callaspo. But this time the Texas Rangers thought he might be useful, and claimed him on waivers August 2nd, though the As would have preferred to keep him in their AAA stable. But the Rangers didn’t even give Rosales a chance to play, and designated him for assignment on August 5th. But in the mean time Alberto Callaspo was injured, and the As claimed Rosales back. He saw one at bat last week on August 9th, and the As designated him for assignment again on August 10th.

For Adam and for the As the question remains: Will he clear waviers and stay in the As system? Or will someone else claim him?

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Over his past 5 starts, the Kansas City Royals’ Jeremy Guthrie has a 4-1 record, improving his season totals to 11-7 and putting him tied for 11th in the majors in wins. Does this mean that Guthrie has turned around his performance? Can we expect solid pitching for the rest of the year?

The answer isn’t quite clear. Guthrie’s struggles have kept everyone guessing, with the best guess being that he will pitch well one game and then struggle the next. And looking behind the wins at his era and performance each game, Guthrie’s performance is still not something you can count on. In the last 5 games, he first pitched well, and then twice gave up 5 earned runs, but somehow managed to win one of those games. The most recent two games were solid—he gave up first 1 earned run, and then 2 last week. His era for these 5 games was still 3.98, just a little below his season era of 4.22. So its hard to make much of the last 5 games. But give me another strong outing or two in a row? Well, the Royals will be much happier and much more confident in him.

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The week of the All-Star Game can be a boon to some players—those who don’t play. First you get three days of rest. Then the shortened week can make you look good for the week. And among the Mormons in the Majors, the All-Star week worked best for Eric Sogard. After his three days of rest, Sogard, who is best known among the Oakland fans for his glasses, went 4 for 8 and hit his 2nd home run of the year. His batting average is back up to .264, and unlike fellow Mormon on the team Adam Rosales, Sogard has not been sent down to triple A ahead of the trade deadline.

Sogard isn’t the only Mormon blasting away at the plate. Jacoby Ellsbury was still red hot after the All-Star Game, hitting .364, scoring twice and walking twice. His batting average is up to .307 and he has maintained a lead in stolen bases in the majors with 37.

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