Top 10 Baseball Movies of All-Time

The Dugout Doctors present the top 10 baseball movies ever.

Analyzing Carl Crawford’s Slow Start

The Boston Red Sox made two big free agent acquisitions this offseason when they signed former San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Carl Crawford. While Gonzalez isn’t hitting for power yet, he’s hitting well and his numbers (11-1-15-1-.306) are good enough. But what about Crawford?

Crawford is hitting an atrocious .160 through 94 at-bats. He’s only scored six runs, hit one homer and drove in six RBIs. Last season, he hit .337 in April and even if you go back throughout his entire career, he’s never started this poorly at the plate. Allow me to just rattle off some statistics while you nod along.

He’s striking out at the second-highest rate of his career (18.1%); his walk rate hasn’t been this low since 2005 (4%); he’s hitting fewer line drives and more fly balls. So what’s wrong? Plate discipline? Contact rate? A nagging injury?

Nope. Just bad luck.

As much as Red Sox haters may want to bury Crawford as a newly-minted washed-up has-been, the numbers don’t lie, he’s simply been unlucky. At worst, there may be something wrong in his swing that’s got him just a fraction off from where he wants to be.

The proof is in his batting average on balls in play (.184). That’s nearly 160 points lower than his BABIP in 2009 and 2010.

What happens to his batting average if you increase his BABIP to his career average? You guessed it, his BA would be right around his career average.

So while casual fans may feel the Red Sox are off to a slow start, forget that Boston is still two games below .500 and focus on the fact they’ve won seven of their last 10 games. Hang tight Red Sox fans, he’ll turn it around and hey, it’s only April.

Nine Innings: Weaver Fever

Every week, “Nine Innings” will cover nine topics ranging from fantasy, injuries, big performances, streaks, slumps, rumors and whatever else that pops into my head.

1. Just Jered
With a complete game, shutout win last night, Jered Weaver has firmly planted himself as the pacesetter for this young season. He’s got two more wins, more innings pitched, the most strikeouts and his ERA (0.99) and WHIP (0.79) are absurd. Between Weaver and Dan Haren, they have 10 of the Angels’ 13 wins. The rest of the pitching staff needs to step their game up; they’re in the presence of greatness. Weaver became the first pitcher in league history with six wins by April 25 and could become the first pitcher to have seven wins by the end of April. Silly good.

2. I’m Embarrassed
I drafted Rays pitcher James Shields this year in one of my leagues. Great, right? Well after his second start of the season (6 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 HR, 1 BB, 0 K) I cut him. I know, I know! Talk about being trigger-happy with the drop button. Considering Shields has back-to-back complete game wins in his last two starts, I look like a goat with that transaction. If it’s any small consolation, I added Rays closer Kyle Farnsworth (1-0, 5 SV, 1.23/0.82) off the wire in this add/drop transaction.

3. Rocky Start
If there is one serious concern for Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, it’s that he’s currently hitting .050 against lefties. He has said that he’s still recovering from a flu he had about two weeks ago. The numbers (12-1-14-3-.217) leave a lot to be desired. Since April 19th, he’s 0-for-21, no runs, no homers, two RBI and no stolen bases. Ugly. But c’mon, Gonzalez is a friggen beast, he’ll turn it around, right?

 

4. PlayStation NOTwork
So the PlayStation Network is still down. For those who may or may not be aware, it’s been down for six days now. There are all sorts of rumors floating around on the web but Sony has confirmed that hackers infiltrated their system and they’re being very thorough before coming back online. Six days is a long time. Hopefully no one’s credit card information was accessed. But I suppose there’s no room for complaints when it is a free service.

5. Phil Hughes and the Curious Case of Dead Arm
Not that this subject hasn’t been covered ad nauseum by the sports media, Yankees righty Phil Hughes suffered a setback on Monday. His condition, you ask? Dead arm. What that means? Well, his arm, it’s dead. During a pitching simulation, there was no improvement to his velocity which seems to disappear from his arm after a dozen pitches. Hughes was supposed to be locked-in as the Yankees No. 3 starter and yet in his place, New York has been relying on Bartolo Colon. Granted, Colon’s last start wasn’t that bad, but he looks like crap out there on the mound to put it mildly. There’s no way he’ll hold up for more than a month or two as a starter.

6. Soaring Into the Ethier
Forget the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership takeover melodrama. Andre Ethier has a 22-game hitting streak going. He’s currently batting .380/.533/.985. Are the Dodgers any good? No, not really. But between Ethier and Matt Kemp, the Dodgers obviously have a great duo in their outfield.

 

7. A Marquis Slow Ball
Read the comical story of how Nationals pitcher Jason Marquis threw a 55-mph pitch for a strike, on accident.

8. In Case You Didn’t Know
Seattle Mariners rookie right-hander Michael Pineda has been filthy. How filthy? How about 21 Ks in 25.1 innings? How about hitters limited to a .202 avg against him? And what do you know about his 3-1 start, 1.78 ERA and 1.07 WHIP? Looks like the Mariners have pocket aces between Pineda and King Felix.

9. Fantasy 411
If you like corny jokes, informalities, irreverent TV hosts and sprinkled bits of fantasy baseball analysis all wrapped up into one TV show, I highly recommend watching the MLB Network’s Fantasy 411. For me, it’s a perfect show to DVR and watch a few episodes back-to-back to get a good grasp of what’s going on around the league and how it relates to fantasy baseball.

Are the Cleveland Indians For Real?

The AL Central has been a very competitive division in recent memory. Between the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox, any one of those teams would have made for compelling arguments as a preseason favorite to win the division.

But why then are the Cleveland Indians playing so well?

Look no further than starting pitchers Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin. This pair of 26-year olds have combined for 53.1 innings pitched, seven wins, zero losses, 2.03 ERA (12 earned runs allowed) and 1.01 WHIP (16 BB and 38 hits allowed).

Masterson is certainly overachieving but his command has always been one of his best attributes. If he can iron out his play against left-handed batters (15 hits allowed, .283 avg), he may be able to sustain a good level of success. For Tomlin, he’s always been a power pitcher but he’s been very lucky. His BABIP is an amazingly low at .182. He definitely won’t be able to keep up this torrid pace but it is a good sign that he’s limiting walks and big hits.

Closer Chris Perez blew his last save opportunity last week, but he had yet to allow an earned run in his previous eight appearances. The bullpen as a whole as been rock solid as well: Rafael Perez, Vinnie Pestano, Tony Sipp and Joe Smith are all playing at a high-level.

The bats haven’t been too bad either. Surprise hot-starts by shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, outfielder Michael Brantley and second baseman Orlando Cabrera are generating small-ball runs. Designated hitter Travis Hafner has been mashing the ball as well. His .348 batting average is great, if not unsustainable.

It’s also reassuring that Grady Sizemore looks to be back to his old self, if not a touch slower. Shin-Soo Choo will continue to hit well and Carlos Santana will get going soon enough.

This solid play across the board for Cleveland along with slow starts by the White Sox and Twins and suddenly the AL Central appears up for grabs with the Indians at the forefront.

But let’s be realistic, Cleveland can’t rely on Masterson and Tomlin to pitch as well as they have all season. The bullpen, while very good, needs to continue to set the table for Perez. Unfortunately, the Indians just lost three straight to the Minnesota Twins who had formerly been in last in the Central. Masterson pitches tonight against the Kansas City Royals and if he slips up, Cleveland could definitely begin to tumble down the standings if that marks the beginning of a trend.

All things considered, the AL Central is wide open and all five teams have a legit shot this early in the season.

If Cleveland wants to sustain its early season success, another starter needs to step up. Fausto Carmona’s ERA is currently at 5.76 and Carlos Carrasco has been fortunate to only have one loss thus far.

Adding a free-agent starter with good command or a high percentage on-base hitter could really put this team in a great position to make a playoff run. The jury is still out whether the Indians are for real but the statistics point to an overachieving level of play.

Brewers Extend Braun Through 2020

In 2020, there might be flying cars, a cure for the common cold and Ryan Braun will still be playing for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Braun agreed to a five-year contract extension through 2020 (he signed a seven-year extension in 2008) that locks in an average annual value of over $20 million from 2016-2020. The five-year extension is worth $105 million and if you include this season, the Brewers are committed to paying Braun roughly $145 million over the next decade.

The bottom line here, as crazy as it may seem, is that Milwaukee probably saved themselves a ton of money. Braun is one of, if not the best outfielders in the game. He’s a perennial lock for 100-30-100-15-.300 every season and he’s now entering the prime of his career at 27 years old. If he played out another few years of the seven-year contract extension he agreed to back in 2008, he could’ve commanded even more money and gotten it from a team like Boston or New York. Sure, it’s easy for him to say now that he wants to spend his full career in Milwaukee but add another few seasons of mediocre play and nearly double the contract then ask him how he feels.

Plus, let’s not forget to adjust for inflation. Who knows, a ballpark hot dog might be $20 in a 2015 economy. But I digress…

The Colorado Rockies did the same thing with shortstop Troy Tulowitzki as he and Braun are now the only players currently signed through 2020. By locking up Braun, the Brewers have a great position player at their nucleus for years to come.

Surprisingly, there are plenty of critics. ESPN’s Dan Szymborski argues against the trade (ESPN Insider article), but guess what, he cites a bunch of sabermetric, non-sensical, mumbo-jumbo to justify his thought process. And while I’m no Joe Morgan when it comes to sabermetrics, Braun’s a beast, plain and simple. Signing him at what amounts to $14.5 million per year over the next 10 years is a steal and then some. Albert Pujols wants near $30 million a year and Adrian Gonzalez just got $22 million a year from the Red Sox, Szymborski cites this fact as well, so Braun could feasibly demand somewhere in between that after his current extension ended. The Brewers could never dream to pay $25+ million for Braun when he’s in his mid-30s.

Danny Knobler at CBSSports.com makes the wiser of two arguments: Mid-market teams have to make these deals in order to lock up their players. Signing their best players to long-term deals prevents situations that the Cardinals now face with Pujols. They not only retain the player, they get him at half the cost.

The Brewers got their man and while this almost guarantees that Prince Fielder is unlikely to get a big contract extension from Milwaukee by the end of the season, Milwaukee is retaining the better of their two best players until 2020. For now, the Brew Crew could opt to trade Fielder for a young arm around the All-Star Break and call-up young prospect Hunter Morris a year early to see what he can do.

We’ll see what happens, hindsight is 20/20 after all.