vs. BLUE JAYS, 10/04 (Wild Card Playoff Game)

o

oooooooooooo BALTIMORE O RIOLES

oooooooooooo **************************

oooooooooooll oo TORONTO BLUE JAYS

o

Already scheduled vaycay for Tuesday! Friday and next Monday too!

o

oooooooooooo BALTIMORE O RIOLES

oooooooooooo **************************

oooooooooooll oo TORONTO BLUE JAYS

o

Per Roch

Per Roch

2015 Bad call percentage was 14.37. Call twice as many balls strikes as strike balls. More or less.

2015 Bad call percentage was 14.37. Call twice as many balls strikes as strike balls. More or less.

http://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/5/28/8672897/an-in-depth-look-at-the-2015-strike-zone

http://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/5/28/8672897/an-in-depth-look-at-the-2015-strike-zone

Interesting data, and further confirmation of how electronic umpiring of balls and strikes would change the game -- for the better, IMO. Thanks for posting.

I would like to see the percentages of bad calls with strike calls on 3-0 pitches removed. A lot of 3-0 pitches close to but out of the zone are called strikes -- "automatic strikes" they used to be called and maybe still are. I think that's dumb, but to me those wrong calls should be in a different category.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm in man! Let's do it! WOOOOO!!! <a href="https://t.co/hGMygQyxWG">https://t.co/hGMygQyxWG</a></p>— Ric Flair? (@RicFlairNatrBoy) <a href="

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<center><b><FONT SIZE="+3"><FONT COLOR="#ff9900">B</FONT><FONT COLOR="#c07400">a</FONT><FONT COLOR="#804d00">l</FONT><FONT COLOR="#402700">t</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">i</FONT><FONT COLOR="#402700">m</FONT><FONT COLOR="#804d00">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#c07400">r</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ff9900">e</FONT><FONT COLOR="#c07400"> </FONT><FONT COLOR="#804d00">O</FONT><FONT COLOR="#402700">r</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">i</FONT><FONT COLOR="#402700">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#804d00">l</FONT><FONT COLOR="#c07400">e</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ff9900">s</FONT></FONT>

@

<FONT SIZE="+3"><FONT COLOR="#4169e1">T</FONT><FONT COLOR="#3250ca">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#2135b1">r</FONT><FONT COLOR="#111b99">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000080">n</FONT><FONT COLOR="#111b99">t</FONT><FONT COLOR="#2135b1">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#3250ca"> </FONT><FONT COLOR="#4169e1">B</FONT><FONT COLOR="#3250ca">l</FONT><FONT COLOR="#2135b1">u</FONT><FONT COLOR="#111b99">e</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000080"> </FONT><FONT COLOR="#111b99">J</FONT><FONT COLOR="#2135b1">a</FONT><FONT COLOR="#3250ca">y</FONT><FONT COLOR="#4169e1">s</FONT></FONT>

Wild Card Game (8:00)

<IMG SRC="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kRA0kohlwpI/TIQSBQQ2KRI/AAAAAAAADmY/_KuXbW6jxfg/s1600/Orioles+-+baby+bird+2009.gif" HEIGHT="80" WIDTH="80" BORDER="0"> |=======| <IMG SRC="http://logos-download.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Toronto_Blue_Jays_logo_logotype_emblem.png" HEIGHT="80" WIDTH="80" BORDER="0">

Team Records

89-73 |=======| 89-73

T-2nd, -4.0 |=======| T-2nd, -4.0

Streaks / L10

Wild Card |=======| Wild Card

Team Offensive Rankings (AL)

BA: .256 (9th) |=======| BA: .248 (12th)

OPS: .760 (3rd) |=======| OPS: .755 (6th)

Runs: 744 (7th) |=======| Runs: 759 (5th)

HR: 253 (1st) |=======| HR: 221 (3rd)

Last 7 Days

BA: .249 (7th) |=======| BA: .225 (13th)

OPS: .711 (9th) |=======| OPS: .668 (12th)

Runs: 26 (9th) |=======| Runs: 25 (12th)

HR: 9 (3rd) |=======| HR: 5 (12th)

Team Pitching Rankings (AL)

ERA: 4.22 (10th) |=======| ERA: 3.78 (1st)

WHIP: 1.36 (12th) |=======| WHIP: 1.23 (1st)

BAA: .258 (9th) |=======| BAA: .242 (1st)

TB: 2302 (6th) |=======| TB: 2206 (2nd)

Last 7 Days

ERA: 2.36 (2nd) |=======| ERA: 3.30 (4th)

WHIP: 1.15 (3rd) |=======| WHIP: 1.23 (5th)

BAA: .218 (2nd) |=======| BAA: .243 (7th)

TB: 69 (1st) |=======| TB: 100 (10th)

Starters

ERA: 4.72 (13th) |=======| ERA: 3.64 (1st)

WHIP: 1.41 (13th) |=======| WHIP: 1.22 (1st)

BAA: .266 (11th) |=======| BAA: .236 (1st)

TB: 1520 (6th) |=======| TB: 1457 (1st)

Relievers

ERA: 3.40 (1st) |=======| ERA: 4.11 (12th)

WHIP: 1.29 (9th) |=======| WHIP: 1.27 (5th)

BAA: .243 (6th) |=======| BAA: .254 (10th)

TB: 782 (9th) |=======| TB: 749 (5th)

NEW: Quality Start minimum requirements

* - Game ERA must be 4.00 or less with at least six innings pitched

Chris Tillman

(16-6)

3.77 (1.28/.244)

140K / 66BB, 19HR

QS: 14

</b>

Tillman has only two sub-4/6+ starts over the last nine starts and has really not looked like the same pitcher since he hurt his shoulder in August. His stuff has been just good enough to get the job done, but it seems he is always teetering on the brink of disaster. He has pitched to a 3.63 (1.30/.250) against Toronto this season and a 2.38 (1.50/.282) in Toronto though the WHIP and BAA suggest he has gotten lucky.

Splits & Sits

328 vs. left: .240/.320/.363, 8HR

387 vs. right: .247/.319/.370, 11HR

Bases Empty: .255

RISP: .244

RISP w/2 outs: .273

Men on w/2 outs: .222

Man on 3rd, < 2 outs: .438

2016 Away (14 starts)

(8-3) 2.97 (1.13/.219), 9HR

Career vs. TOR (24 starts)

(5-10) 5.44 (1.37/.278), 29HR

Career @ Rogers Centre (13 starts)

(2-6) 7.01 (1.63/.313), 20HR

vs. Batter

Edwin Encarnacion (58 AB) .293, 3 2B, 3HR, 5RBI

Jose Bautista (45 AB) .267, 4 2B, 3HR, 7RBI, 11K

Josh Donaldson (35 AB) .257, 5 2B, HR, 7RBI

Ryan Goins (27 AB) .333, HR, 2RBI

Kevin Pillar (23 AB) .348, 2B, 3HR, 6RBI

Dioner Navarro (21 AB) .286, 2B, 2RBI

Michael Saunders (21 AB) .286, 2B, 2HR, 3RBI

Justin Smoak (15 AB) .200, 2B, RBI, 5BB

Melvin Upton Jr. (14 AB) .214, 2B, HR, 2RBI

Russell Martin (14 AB) .429, 3 2B, RBI, 7BB

Troy Tulowitzki (12 AB) .417, 2B, 3HR, 5RBI

Ezequiel Carrera (10 AB) .300, HR, 3RBI

Devon Travis 3/8, 2 2B, HR, 7RBI

VS

Marcus Stroman

(9-10)

3.65 (1.17/.250)

166K / 54BB, 21HR

QS: 16

Stroman allowed four runs on nine hits and two walks in seven innings against the Orioles in his last start of the season. He didn't pitch badly, but had no support at all as the Jays were shut out in the game. He has posted ERAs of 3.71, 3.13 and 3.41 in the last three months of the season.

Splits & Sits

437 vs. left: .268/.324/.380, 11HR

418 vs. right: .260/.301/.373, 10HR

Bases Empty: .253

RISP: .278

RISP w/2 outs: .275

Men on w/2 outs: .267

Man on 3rd, < 2 outs: .250

2016 Home (16 starts)

(4-3) 4.59 (1.26/.259), 8HR

Career vs. Baltimore (6 starts, 1 relief)

(2-3) 5.27 (1.37/.298), 6HR

vs. Batter

Adam Jones (15 AB) .400, 2RBI

Jonathan Schoop (14 AB) .214, 2B, RBI

Matt Wieters (14 AB) .357, 2B, 2HR, 6RBI

Chris Davis (13 AB) .308, 2RBI

Manny Machado (12 AB) .250, 2B, HR, 3RBI

Mark Trumbo (11 AB) .455, 2 2B

J.J. Hardy (11 AB) .091, 2B

Ryan Flaherty (11 AB) .273, 2B, HR, 4RBI

Pedro Alvarez 3/8, S-HR

Michael Bourn 2/7, RBI

Hyun-soo Kim 3/7, RBI, BB

So, here we are at the wild card game right at the door of the real deal. Now, I know some would argue that this is the playoffs, but I've never considered it "playoffs" until the ALDS starts and no, this is not just because it's the Orioles. I consider the wild card game to be a playoff between the two "runner-ups" in the league to decide who gets to play in the ALDS. Be that as it may, there were months of time this season where the Orioles didn't look like they would be able to hold it together enough to make it here and yet, here we are. It's further than I thought they'd get for sure, but still one more hurdle to get over in Toronto.

The Orioles nearly collapsed completely, but here we are playing in the wild card game and it should be an exciting game. Toronto's offense has not been going all that well and the issues with the back end of the bullpen especially since they lost Benoit which was a big deal for the Blue Jays and Osuna has struggled recently blowing three of the last four save chances of the season. His team rallied around him on the mound in the game against Boston where he started to slip and Osuna was instantly better for it and was able to close it out in a big game.

So, Toronto's decision to start Stroman over Liriano is a bit surprising to me. Liriano has been lights out since coming to Toronto and especially over the last four starts to finish the season including 12.1 consecutive scoreless innings of which the Orioles donated 6.1 innings to. So, I am surprised that Stroman is getting the nod here, but I can't imagine anyone is going to have a long leash in this one. Starting Tillman here is exactly what I'd expect Buck to do. I am not sure that it is the right call considering Tillman hasn't been the same pitcher since his injury and has barely scraped by pitching himself into (and out of most of the time) a lot more jams than he did before. I am a little surprised Jimenez didn't get the nod here, but only a little.

So, we will see if Stroman and Tillman step it up here. Stroman has been doing really well for the last three months and didn't look bad against us in the last start, but run support is going to be the problem. The Orioles need Tillman to step up yet again and while not pitching like he is 100%, but just a solid performance may be enough. I wouldn't feel all that confident having Stroman starting for my team in this situation, but maybe I underestimate him. I can't imagine Jimenez or Liriano will be too far away to be ready to step in if things start to get out of hand early in the game. I can't wait to tune in for this one!

Unfortunate that this game is being played in the dumpy Rogers Centre instead of the best stadium in sports.

Can't wait for the O's to shut those Canadians up.

http://www.azsnakepit.com/2015/5/28/8672897/an-in-depth-look-at-the-2015-strike-zone

So who would a huge strike zone favor? BTW - I KNEW Welke was a bad home plate umpire!!! Thank you for confirming my theory that has gone unproven for the past 10 years or so.

Part of me is biased toward pitching, so I sometimes like a SLIGHTLY wider zone - where they'll call strikes on the edges. But you almost never want to see a called strike that's six inches off the plate. That just ruins the fun. That's not fair - or within the rules of the game.

Sessh that's a very thought provoking post. Your point about the wildcard was especially interesting. I kind of agree that it is a contest between the two runner ups. So in a way, not the playoffs - if the playoffs are defined as the best team in their division, record-wise, going up against their counterparts from other divisions.

But if you define the playoffs as any game played beyond the regular season, which is my take, then they do qualify. Funny how subjective the playoffs are in terms of the wildcard.