Mormon Baseball

Posts Tagged ‘Matt Lindstrom’

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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We have confirmed that Tiger’s starting pitcher Doug Fister is Mormon and have added him to the list of players we track each week. Fister is in his 3rd year with Detroit, and his 5th in the majors. He was drafted in 2006 in the 7th round by the Mariners, and spent 4 years in that organization, including 2 1/2 in the majors.

However, this past week Fister struggled, giving up 7 earned runs in 5 innings for a loss. But overall this season he has been good. He is 11-7 with a 3.81 era and 1.30 WHIP.

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Despite his team’s poor performance, Matt Lindstrom is still managing to perform well. This past week he gave up just 3 hits and one walk while striking out 5 over 4 2/3rds innings. And despite struggling a bit earlier this month, Lindstrom’s season era is just 3.26.

But all this doesn’t mean that Lindstrom will be able to stay with the White Sox, as he would like. The team is second from the bottom in the American League, and third from last overall, which has led it to make many of its players available for trade, including Lindstrom, who cleared waivers this week. But his relatively low salary should have let him be claimed off waivers if there was any interest, so perhaps he will stay with the White Sox.

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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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Lets be honest. The expectations of backup players are lower. You don’t expect a better batting average. You don’t expect a lot of home runs. You expect a solid player who can do the job when needed and perhaps hit in a clutch situation. And you are very pleased when the backup comes through. So the Royals are likely very pleased with Elliot Johnson this week. He was 7 for 18 (.389) with 5 runs, 4 rbis and 2 stolen bases. And, yes, he hit a 3-run home run against the Red Sox, his 2nd of the year.

It may not be quite right to call Johnson a backup player—he has played 2nd base about 40% of the time behind Chris Getz, whose numbers aren’t much better than Johnson’s — and, in fact, his performance at the plate isn’t quite as good—Johnson is hitting .252/.286/.346 compared to Getz’ .212/.273/.288. And Johnson has 10 stolen bases vs. Getz’ 4 and his proportion of stolen bases to plate appearances would put him among the best in the majors on the base paths. If Johnson could keep hitting as well as he has, Getz may end up taking the backup role.

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Royals’ starter Jeremy Guthrie finally notched his 6th win of the season last week, after struggling through much of May and losing 3 games in a row. This game brought his season era down to a respectable 3.66, but still quite a bit above the phenomenal 2.28 era he held on May 9th after his 5th win.

Guthrie’s pitching was perhaps bested among the Mormons pitching in the majors by both Matt Lindstrom and Brandon Lyon, relievers who each pitched 3 or more innings during the week without giving up a run. Lindstrom (White Sox) is perhaps slightly more impressive, with a season era of 2.96 over 27.1 innings, but Lyon (Mets) has a 19-6 strike out-to-walk ratio, much better than Lindstrom.

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The Red Sox’s Jacoby Ellsbury wowed fans last week at the plate, and more importantly on the base paths. In four games against the Phils Ellsbury was 9 for 18 with four runs scored and 2 rbis. His heroics for the week culminated in last Thursday’s game, in which he set a new team record: 5 stolen bases in a single game. But Ellsbury’s fantastic performance came to a screeching halt that same game: his groin tightened up. He was benched for the next three games last week, against the Yankees, but not put on the DL.

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The utility infielder has to be one of the more difficult positions on a team. You don’t now where you will play in the field on a given day, whether you will start or come in late in the game, whether or not you will even play on any given day. In a game where consistent performance is prized, such a position makes success difficult. So when Elliot Johnson manages to get his batting average up to .281, it is perhaps a bit more impressive.

This past week Elliot was particularly strong at the plate, going 5 for 15 (.333) with 2 stolen bases. His season batting average (.281) comes in just 64 at bats, about 1/3rd of what an every day player would have at this point. What remains to be seen is whether or not Johnson can keep up a .281 average, or whether or not he will slip back to last year’s .242 or the .194 of the previous year.

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With the first month of the season drawing to a close, many ballplayers seem to be settling into their habtis, performing at a normal level instead of unexpectedly high or low. Darwin Barney, two weeks back from the DL, might be an example. His first week back, Barney hit an anemic .059, but this past week he’s back closer to his career norm—.240 with a home run and just one strike out in 25 at bats.

Barney isn’t the only one. After causing a stir with his great start, Mets catcher John Buck had another off week last week, which brought his stats down to normal for his career (.250, 17 ks in 80 at bats). Still, the rbis he rang up in the first two weeks of the season have left him in 5th place in MLB (and far ahead of pace for his best season ever, 2010, when he had 66 rbis) and his 8 home runs put him tied for 4th.

Buck isn’t the only Mormon ballplayer among the leaders in the stats race. Jacoby Ellsbury’s 11 stolen bases leads the majors. And, of course, Bryce Harper is near the top in multiple categories. His 9 homers put him tied for 2nd; he is 5th in batting average, leading the majors in ops, 4th in obp, and tied for 2nd in slugging. And in Harper’s case its not hard to imagine him keeping up this level of performance.

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While everyone else seems to be cooling down (if they were ever hot this year), Eric Sogard managed to heat up this past week. The Oakland As backup infielder, lodged at second base since regular Scott Sizemore is out with a sprained left knee, went 5 for 15 last week, scoring 4 times and walking once, bringing his batting average up to a respectable .250 in the process.

Sogard was the only Mormon position player on the upswing this past week, but that doesn’t mean that others weren’t also doing well. Bryce Harper hit just as well (.333), but his average was coming down last week from the .400 he it the first week of the season. Harper also hit 2 home runs, earned 5 rbis, scored 4 times and walked 4 times—most of this before the Nationals ran into a stone wall and dropped three in a row to the Braves this past weekend. John Buck also managed to do well this week, hitting 4 home runs earning 10 rbis (!) and scoring 5 times. However, his batting average dropped to .238 for the week.

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