 | Laffey All the Way to the Bank - 05/05/2008
BY Aaron Gleeman Pitchers injuring themselves by punching things with their throwing hand is a long-standing baseball tradition that John Bale stupidly continued Friday night. Perhaps frustrated by his slow recovery from a shoulder injury and the possibility that he'll be sent back to the bullpen once he does return, Bale used his left hand to punch a wall at the Royals' team hotel and then tried to keep the injury a secret for nearly 24 hours.
"I'm not pleased, obviously," manager Trey Hillman said. "Players have to think before they do things. Think about how it's going to affect the rest of the team, how it's going to affect their ability to perform. I'm hopeful that there's something salvageable for him." Rather than returning in two weeks, Bale is now out for two months and has probably punched away whatever chance he had of rejoining the rotation by giving Luke Hochevar an extended opportunity to stick.
While Bale contemplates the wisdom of at least using his non-pitching hand when feeling the need to fight with inanimate, immovable objects in the future, here are some other notes from around baseball .
* As a big fan of extreme ground-ball pitchers, Aaron Laffey has been one of my favorite sleepers for the past couple years. He went 13-4 with a 2.88 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A last season before holding his own in nine outings with the Indians, and then began this year 3-1 with a 2.77 ERA at Triple-A before being called back up to Cleveland when Jake Westbrook headed to the disabled list.
Laffey had an uneven first start ! last week against the Yankees, but was fantastic Sunday versus! the Roy als. He took the loss thanks to the Indians' lineup being shut out by Gil Meche, but gave up only an unearned run over seven innings, threw 70 of 103 pitches for strikes, and got 13 outs via either strikeout or ground ball. In 11 starts with the Indians dating back to last season, Laffey has induced nearly 3.5 ground balls for every fly ball, allowing just two homers over 62 innings.
He'll never miss enough bats to be a true fantasy stud, but Laffey is an excellent long-term bet in AL-only leagues because he throws strikes, gets a reasonable number of strikeouts, and forces hitters to pound the ball into the ground. To put his 3.43-to-1 ground-to-fly ratio in some context, consider that only Derek Lowe (3.46), Brandon Webb (3.34), and Fausto Carmona (3.28) had a ratio above 3-to-1 among pitchers who qualified for the ERA title last season.
* It wasn't what they had in mind when refusing to part with young pitching in exchange for Johan Santana this winter, but after placing Phil Hughes on the disabled list last week the Yankees sent Ian Kennedy to the minors Sunday. Like Hughes, Kennedy has been a mess this season, going 0-2 with an 8.37 ERA while walking 20 batters over 23.2 innings. Unlike Hughes, he doesn't have an injury as a built-in excuse.
There's speculation ! that manager Joe Girardi wanted to show more patience with Kennedy, but was overruled by the front office. If true that's not a great sign for Girardi or the Yankees, because the likely replacements for Kennedy are Kei Igawa or Jeff Marquez. Igawa was a massive bust last season and Marquez is a 23-year-old mid-level prospect with a career 169-to-78 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 252.2 innings who currently has a 7.47 ERA in his first taste of Triple-A.
* Scott Kazmir returned from the disabled list Sunday and lasted just four innings against the Red Sox, allowing four runs while using 90 pitches to record a dozen outs. It clearly wasn't a strong outing, especially c! onsidering his 2.66 career ERA against Boston, but Kazmir did strike out five batters and showed good stuff while struggling with command. He'll face the Angels next later this week and it's worth taking the risk of putting him back in your lineup.
* Bronson Arroyo tossed his first Quality Start of the season against the Cardinals on April 28, but wiped away whatever progress he made by turning in the shortest start of his career Sunday. He threw a scoreless first inning, but then got just one out in the second frame while allowing seven runs against the Braves. Arroyo's ERA went from 6.97 to 8.63 with the beating, but his 29-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 32.1 innings suggests that he still has a chance to turn things around.
AL Quick Hits: David Ortiz was ! scratched from Sunday's lineup due to continued soreness in hi! s right knee . Roy Halladay's streak of consecutive complete games was snapped at four Sunday, but he beat the White Sox and has gone at least seven innings in every start this season . After going 2-for-3 in a minor-league rehab game Sunday at Single-A, Howie Kendrick (hamstring) is expected to return from the disabled list Monday . With Scott Baker (groin) hurting, Kevin Slowey (biceps) will come off the shelf to start Thursday against the White Sox . John Lackey (triceps) allowed two runs over four innings during a reh! ab start Sunday at Single-A and remains on track to rejoin the Angels' rotation around mid-May . With B.J. Ryan unavailable to pitch on a second straight day, Jeremy Accardo started the ninth inning Sunday and Scott Downs got the save by coming in to get A.J. Pierzynski for the final out . Dontrelle Wills (knee) experienced a setback Friday and his return timetable has been pushed back 10 days . Carlos Silva's ERA rose from 2.79 to 4.20 after he coughed up eight runs on 11 hits Sunday against the Yankees.
NL Quick Hits: Eric Gagne blew his MLB-leading fifth save Sunday, walking three batters while allowing two runs . Peter Moylan (elbow) had to end his Saturday throwing session after just seven pitches, suggesting that Tommy John surgery could be on the horizon . Orlando Hudson (hamstring) walked as a pinch-hitter Sunday and was removed for a pinch-runner, signaling that he's not yet ready to rejoin the lineup . Chipper Jones went 3-for-6 with a homer and five RBIs Sunday, giving him an amazing .425-9-27 line through 28 games . Doug Davis (thyroid cancer) is scheduled to beg! in a minor-league rehab assignment Monday . Mike Hampton (pectoral) said Saturday that he considered retiring following his latest setback, but will instead attempt to return at some point next month . After picking up a victory Sunday night, long-time reliever Todd Wellemeyer is 7-2 with a 3.84 ERA and 76-to-39 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 18 career starts . Paul Bako came into the year as a career .233 hitter with 15 homers in 2,000 plate appearances, but is now batting .312 with three homers after going deep Sunday. | | This e-mail is being sent at your request. To stop receiving these e-mails, click here. | |
