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According to the MLB rules, which pitcher should get the win in the following situation?

• Starting pitcher is removed in the 5th inning with a 1-run lead, 1 out and a runner on 1st base.
• Reliever A strikes out the next 2 batters to end the inning and preserve the 1-run lead.
• The leading team adds 6 runs in their next turn at bat, forging a 7-run lead.
• Reliever A pitches the 6th inning and allows 2 walks and a 3-run HR. He's removed at the end of the inning with his team leading by 4 runs. His final line: 1.2 IP, 1 hit, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO.
• The leading team pads the lead to 8 runs in their next time up.
• Relievers B and C allow no runs in stints of 1 and 2 innings, respectively.

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Since 1981, there have been 199 players with an OPS+ under 80 with at least 1200 plate appearances (not counting pitchers.)

Of those, here are the guys with at least 3 seasons of 10 or more Fielding Runs:

This list reads as a Who's Who of great-field, poor-hit players from recent times.

Incidentally, it was Pokey Reese who motivated this particular post. He was a great defender, accumulating 6.8 in dWAR over his 8 seasons. He was also a good base stealer with 144 steals at an excellent 85% success rate. He took the extra base 57% of the time, which was way above the league average. He also scored once on base more often (35%) than league average (about 32%).

However, Reese just couldn't get on base. His career .307 OBP is bad. He didn't walk often and struck out a lot for a guy with so little power. If only he could have hit (or walked) a little bit more, he could have had a great career.

[Happy Independence Day! Be careful when you light those bottle rockets, and remember that even sparklers get hotter than Ty Cobb with a burr in his britches.]

-- On a tip from loyal reader Spartan Bill, I checked out the batting exploits of the Baltimore moundsmen this year. Sunday, Zach Britton hit the first HR in 5 years by an Orioles pitcher, and just the 2nd since the inauguration of the DH in 1973. It was the cap to an outstanding performance by a cadre from whom the fans expected nothing, hoping only that they wouldn't hurt themselves.

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[A Whitman's sampler of Saturday action, with neither leaves nor grass....]

-- White Sox 1, Cubs 0 ... for the first time in MLB history. The ChiSox are back at .500 for the first time since May 16, and their 4th win over the Cubs secured the season series.

• The Cubs have two 1-0 wins over their intracity rivals, one in 2010 -- a combined 1-hitter with a wild finish -- and one in the 1906 World Series.)
• Philip Humber (7 shutout IP, now 8-4, 2.69) has had a quality start in 11 of his last 12 games, and 12 out of 15 starts this year. Where is this coming from? Humber was the #3 overall pick in 2004, but he's 28 now and had showed little promise in his limited MLB trials (5.26 ERA in 51 IP). In his last 4 years in the minors, his best ERA was 4.27. He was extremely HR-prone in 4 years at AAA, but he's allowed just 7 long balls this year in 103.2 IP, despite a HR-friendly home park.
• Matt Garza became the first pitcher this year to lose a 9-IP CG while allowing just 1 run. He held that distinction for just a few hours....

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This came up on a recent thread so I looked it up. Since 1991 here are the batters who qualified for the batting title and struck out less than 4.75% of the time (i.e. K < .0475 * PA):

asdas

Friday night, Jason Vargas tossed his 3rd shutout of the year. Overall, his ERA+ is 103.

No knock on Vargas, who has been a nice find for Seattle since they plucked him in the 3-team deal that sent J.J. Putz to Mets. But in the divisional era, it's unusual to see several shutouts in a season with a modest ERA+.

Since 1969, here are the 10 seasons (by 9 pitchers) of at least
5 shutouts and an ERA+ no more than 103; it hasn't been done since 1980:

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[A bit late, but here are notes on a few of the Friday games that closed up before my eyelids did. With a big "thanks" to Andy for some technical assistance, and apologies for any grumpiness caused by the sloppy play of both my teams....]

-- In the bottom of the 6th in Wrigley, A. Ramirez homered to LF (383 feet) for Chicago. In the top of the 7th, A. Ramirez homered to LF (385 feet) for Chicago. But the game was decided on (yes) a 2-run triple, by (yes) Juan Pierre.

-- Jair Jurrjens twirled a 1-hit shutout, the 7th CG of 1 hit or less this season. Jurrjens retired the first 15 Orioles, but walked Mark Reynolds on a 3-1 pitch leading off the 6th and lost the no-hitter on a single by Adam Jones with 1 down in the 7th. He had not gone more than 7 IP since May.

• The 92 Game Score by Jurrjens was the Braves' best since 2001, when Greg Maddux fanned a career-high 14 in a 2-hit, 1-0 win.
• Only 2 Atlanta Braves have ever thrown a no-hitter, the last in 1994 by Kent Mercker. Phil Niekro threw the other in 1973.

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Reader Brian D. sent in the following email:

I've been thinking about my old buddy Adam Dunn, wondering if he's ever going to turn around this awful season he's having. I wondered, what if he suddenly started hitting like the Adam Dunn of old? What would his end-of-year numbers look like?

Through the ChiSox' first 82 games this year Dunn has these numbers:

.171, 7 HR, 29 RBI

Let's add to those his numbers from his best year, 2004, in the Reds' final 80 games:

.266, 22 HR, 51 RBI

Add the two half-seasons together and you get:

.224, 29 HR, 80 RBI

If Dunn started hitting as well as he's ever hit from July-September,he would finish with those numbers. Now, what if Dunn didn't turn back into his old self. Instead, what if he was possessed by the spirit of the greatest hitting machine of all time? Here's what Barry Bonds did in the Giants' final 80 games of 2001:

.353, 34 HR, 66 RBI

Add that to Dunn's 2011 first half and you get:

.263, 41 HR, 95 RBI

That's right: Adam Dunn would have to instantly turn into BARRY BONDS at his roided-up best to end up with anything resembling a typical Adam Dunn season.

A couple of days ago, the Nationals lost to the Angels by a 1-0 score. In the game, Jordan Zimmermann threw a complete game (only 8 innings in the away loss), allowing just an unearned run i n the 4th inning when Vernon Wells reached on an error that should have eliminated a base runner.

Here are games in 2011 that ended in a 1-0 score (not necessarily complete games like Zimmerman's) where the only run scored was unearned:

The "IR" column here refers to inherited runners and is helpful. When it's blank, as in the case of the Nats game above, it means that there were no relief pitchers, and hence a complete game tossed by the losing starter.

Anyway, notice that the Twins have already lost 2 such games this year, and the Athletics have won 2.

Since 1919, the record for most such losses in a season is 3:

Also, the 6 such games in 2011 matches the total from all of 2010 and is the most in a season since there were 8 in 1992.

Hmmm....1992....

With most teams at or past the midpoint of the season, and the annual Popularity & Pity Game almost upon us, let's stage a fantasy WAR-Star Game with the league leaders in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) by position, through games of Wednesday, June 29.

For the hitters, we'll take the top 2 at each infield position, plus 6 outfielders (no specific position required), and 2 DHs; the NL DHs will be the top WAR that didn't make the team at a position.

On the pitching side, we're taking 6 starting pitchers and 5 relievers. That's overrepresentation for the relievers, none of whom would make the team on WAR ranking alone; but in their defense, they are at least more suited to warming up on short notice. (And if someone has to get hurt, better a reliever than a starter!)

Any player with at least 3.0 WAR who didn't make the team will be mentioned in a footnote.

The position-player tables are in the order C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, OF, DH.

Enough procedurals; let's get to it!

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