For the first time in his career, Giants’ pitcher Madison Bumgarner is headed to the disabled list.
Weirdly enough, Bumgarner’s injury didn’t even come via baseball-related activities. In fact, he was injured on the team’s off-day Thursday going dirt bike riding. According to reports, Bumgarner bruised his ribs and had a Grade 1 or 2 AC sprain in his left shoulder in the accident. Early indications suggest that Bumgarner is expected to miss six to eight weeks, suggesting a mid- to late-June return. The injury came as such a shock to the team that manager Bruce Bochy decided to address them in a pregame meeting on Friday, leaving players in disbelief. It’s no secret that Bumgarner is an important part of the Giants, but how much will the four-time All Star’s absence hurt the team? Let’s take a look. Click here to read more on Beyond The Box Score.
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Archie Bradley appeared in his fourth game for the Diamondbacks on Sunday, throwing 2 ⅔ shutout innings against the Dodgers, adding a strikeout and walking just one. This solid appearance for Bradley only adds to his strong start as a relief pitcher this season: 9 ⅔ innings pitched, five hits allowed, 11 strikeouts and just three walks.
Bradley’s 0.00 ERA is obviously tied for first among relievers but even more telling are his peripherals. His FIP of 1.54 and xFIP of 2.40 suggest that his performance has not been too diluted by luck. Even better, he’s already been worth 0.3 fWAR, ranking near the top of qualified relievers, in a tie for 11th. A former first-round pick by the Diamondbacks in 2011, Bradley’s future was always thought to be in the starting rotation. He has a big fastball and can mix in a changeup, curveball and cutter, all of which projected to be at least average Major League pitches. His path to becoming an ace starter, though, wasn’t clear after his rookie season yielded mixed results. In 141 ⅔ innings last year, Bradley posted a 5.02 ERA and a 4.10 FIP in 26 starts. He especially struggled in the control department, posting the 5th highest BB% among starters with at least 140 innings. And after the Diamondbacks added Taijuan Walker in a trade over the winter, Bradley was on the outside looking in at the starting rotation, and he was officially named as the Diamondbacks’ long reliever on March 24. Despite that, though, Bradley has shown he may have what it takes to become an ace in Arizona, just an ace reliever rather than starter. The team might be starting to catch on, giving him the ball with the lead in two close games already. Here’s why Bradley has all the tools to potentially be the Diamondbacks’ relief ace: Click here to read more on Beyond The Box Score. Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola came into the 2017 season as a question mark. After finishing 2016 on a poor note, and having to be shut down with an elbow injury, many wondered if Nola would be the same pitcher that he was before he faded down the stretch.
Nola’s first 12 starts in 2016 were fantastic. He pitched 78 innings to the tune of a 2.65 ERA and an 85:15 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He found himself among the league leaders in multiple categories, and Phillies fans were extremely pleased with what they saw from their team’s 2014 first-round pick. Something changed, though, and quickly. Nola only lasted a total of 33 innings pitched over his last eight starts of 2016, allowing 36 earned runs (39 total) for an ugly 9.82 ERA. His strikeout-to-walk ratio was not nearly as strong as in the early part of the year, sitting at 36:14, and Nola’s season ERA rose from the 2.65 mark to a not-so-nice 4.78. What changed? Following a July 28 start against the Braves, Nola went on the disabled list with a low-grade sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament, the same tendon that leads to Tommy John surgery when torn, and a flexor sprain in his forearm. Nola opted not to undergo surgery, as his UCL was still intact. He instead received platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment last September. That is what made Nola’s performance an area of concern as the 2017 season neared. The Phillies, in the rebuilding process, wanted to see some improvement from him to know exactly what type of pitcher he may ultimately become. And, really, all he needed to do was show flashes of his “original self.” Click here to read more on Beyond The Box Score. It’s no secret that Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton was baseball’s consensus number 1 prospect prior to 2014, and was ranked number 1 again before the 2015 season. Buxton, the number 2 pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, had the combination of tools to make him one of the most exciting young players in the league. He could hit for contact and some power, add blazing speed and play excellent defense. Buxton was thought to be “the future” for the Twins.
But, as pitchers became more advanced, they began to exploit Buxton’s biggest weakness inducing massive amounts of strikeout. Buxton struck out in 18 percent of plate appearances at Class-A and Class-A Advanced in 2013, in 19 percent of plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A in 2015, and in over 30 percent of plate appearances since joining the big league club in Minnesota. The strikeout problem, unfortunately, has suppressed many of Buxton’s other skills. He’s just a career .212/.265/.382 hitter with a 70 wRC+ over 496 plate appearances at the Major League level. Last season, Buxton’s poor start led to a midseason demotion in a year in which many expected him to break-out and showcase his potential. He returned to the Major League club on September 1 and promptly hit .287/.357/.653 over his final 113 plate appearances, swatting nine home runs and driving 22 RBI. This was the type of performance that the Twins had been waiting for and something that they thought Buxton could build on into 2017. Behind those sparkling numbers, though, were 38 strikeouts and a 34 percent strikeout rate. Doubters questioned whether Buxton was for real. And, despite the sample size this year, those doubters have been proven correct so far. It’s only been six games, but the strikeouts are still piling up for Buxton. Of his 27 plate appearances, Buxton has struck out in 14 of them – a 52 percent strikeout rate. He’s collected just two hits and is currently the third-worst hitter in the Majors by wRC+ (-52). Click here to read more on Beyond The Box Score. The Twins are 4-0! They’re going to win the World Series! The Rangers are 1-3! Here comes a 100-loss season! All these over-exaggerations are just part of the opening week of the Major League Baseball season.
Some hot or cold April starts can turn into something more. The Phillies started the 2016 season 24-17, leading some people to believe that a breakout was in the works. Despite this, the team regressed pretty heavily, going 47-74 in their final 121 games and finishing with a 71-91 record, about indicative of the talent they had on the team. Before we start to consider the Twins contenders—although, nobody should be doing this because it’s just been four games—it’s important to have an understanding of the best way to evaluate a team beyond their win-loss record. Yes, record is still the No. 1 indicator of a team’s performance. After all, it’s what gets them into the postseason and determines their seeding. But, there are other ways to understand the strength of a team, which in turn helps us figure out who has the best chance to win the pennant and the World Series. Click here to read more on Beyond The Box Score. |