Mormon Baseball

Posts Tagged ‘Roy Halladay’

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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In a bit of a bind when forced to use Sunday’s starter on Saturday, the Phillies activated Roy Halladay from the DL rather than have him pitch another rehab game in the minors. And Halladay pitched fairly well, giving up just 2 earned runs in 6 innings while striking out 2 and earning a win. Since the Phils have still 32 games to play, Halladay could still start 5 or 6 games, bring his win-loss record into positive territory and perhaps even bring his era down below 5.00. Of course, all that assumes that he is back in his best form—a big assumption.

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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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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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If you thought the Home Run Derby and All-Star break might leave Bryce Harper off his game for a little while, you weren’t correct. If anything, the experience has sparked Harper, making him play better. In the first full week after the break Harper was 9 for 25 (.360) with 4 runs scored and 6 rbis. AND, Harper hit his 14th and 15th home runs during the week.

The week wasn’t without a downside for the 20-year-old. He once again aggravated his left knee, took a day off and then by the end of the week aggravated the knee again. But while the knee has bothered Harper all year, he has still managed to play well, and often play brilliantly.

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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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Its an old story in baseball. The pitcher performs extremely well, but the team behind him doesn’t, and the pitcher ends up with a loss. That was the story for the Toronto Blue Jay’s Josh Johnson last week.
Over 5 innings Johnson pitched fairly well. He gave up 1 earned run and 7 hits while striking out 5 and walking just 2. While that perhaps isn’t a great performance, it should be sufficient to win the game. What’s missing is that the the team gave up a total of 6 runs, 5 of which were unearned, due to errors made by Johnson’s teammates.

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