Non-roster invitees announced

Interesting---a MLB pitcher with a head on his shoulders and willing to use it (an excerpt from an interview with Brian Bannister at Buster Olney's BLOG):

"Olney: Can you compare your game preparations for AL lineups, compared with when you face NL lineups?

Bannister: When I am preparing for a lineup before a game, I start by building a plan based on the on-base percentage and slugging percentage of each spot in the lineup and their individual history against me. I then take it deeper by looking at how many pitches each hitter sees in an average at-bat and where I might be able to get some quick outs.

My personal challenge each game is to throw seven innings in under 100 pitches before I am taken out. Good teams will not only beat you by getting more hits, but by running up your pitch count. I also note which hitters are prone to strikeouts if I have runner(s) in scoring position, and which runners have a high stolen base percentage if it is a tie or one-run game.

In the AL, the 7, 8, 9 spots are generally the lower OPS hitters, although some managers will put a high OBP hitter with speed in the 9-hole. The hitters here are generally either young, over-aggressive, or low OBP/high SLG types, and it is crucial that you keep your pitch-count down and prevent them from setting the table for the high OPS hitters at the top of the lineup.

In the NL, the most important thing is avoiding putting the 8 or the 7 and 8 hole hitter on base with no outs, because the pitcher will always sacrifice the runners over. If there are already two outs, you will usually pitch the 8 hole hitter with a lot of 2-strike type pitches in hopes he chases, because odds are that the pitcher will be an easier out."

So did any of you read that **** about Canseco trying to contact Mags? What a load of ****. Ya know, I was a fan of Canseco, even bought his first book and was planning on buying the second. But, now that he is trying to mess with 'one of the boys' I am definitely not buying anything else by him.

I mean, it was good (I suppose) to crack the lid in the beginning on roids and such in Juiced, but this is now becoming alittle ridiculous.

Go Mags, Go Tigers!

We all need to give our heads a good shake. It is time and it is important that we not reward these spoiled athletes by buying their books. There is some similarity here to violent criminals selling their life story. This should not be condoned. Canseco had the chance to make enough money in his career and should not benefit by ruining the career or image of other athletes who have not tarnished the sport. Do not buy this book...you owe it to your children. It's time to clean up baseball and the detritus that sullies its history. Leave the bravado, the "Shock & Awe", and the egomania to the WWF.

I agree, Dan. What a weird story, though. It really smacks of desperation, doesn't it?

Stronger testing! Let's move on!

matt

This is what got me the most in the article: "Don Yaeger, a former associate editor at Sports Illustrated who was to be a ghost writer on "Vindicated," told the Times that Ordonez was to be the "most prominent" name in Canseco's upcoming book."

Hummm, 'most prominent' this couldn't be because Mags just won a batting title, would it?! hummmm.....

Canseco is just trying to bring down the 'big boys' in MLB - whether or not they used or not. I can't even imagine Mags using and don't believe it for a milli-second.

If Polanco would have won the batting title last year, Canseco would probably be trying to swindle him into something as well.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Canseco is reading this comments, so see what kind of reaction he is getting out of Tigers' fans.

You know.....this has gone far past ridiculous. These stories belong on "Entertainment Tonight."

There are class people and non-class people and you don't need a degree in psychology to easily see which are which. I'm just glad this story, if it had to break, broke now before the season begins. I can just imagine some of our "esteemed" announcers spending three innings discussing the "Ordonez Case." Save it for Oprah.

Who did 'roids? Canseco, McGuire, Bonds and Boone. Does anyone care what I just said? You shouldn't. If the world of MLB has a conscientious bone in its collective body, it should drop the witch hunt, forget about what's gone before, and move ahead with an eye to putting a stop to it all, whatever that takes. If it's indeed a problem, then quit winking at it. And that goes for management, union, media, hot dog vendors, everybody. Including us fans. I don't even want to discuss this.

--Rich

RLP -
DITTO YOUR VERY LAST SENTENCE.

In the face of the past few posts here, what better time to say:

HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY, ERNIE HARWELL!!!!!

I still maintain that Ernie's call of Tom Matchick's game winning homer on July 19, 1968, in all it's simplicity, is the single best call I've ever heard.

--Rich

I agree. Happy Birthday Ernie!
I was fortunate enough to know someone who was a friend of Phil Garner and we got into the clubhouse and met with Ernie, got pictures and an autograph.

As I have listened to Ernie for 45 years, my favorite(there are so many) is 'He stood there like the house by the side of the road'

As a little league Coach, I had one kid that would never swing. I kept saying, just swing just swing. It was our 10th game and we were behind by 4 runs with 2 out and 2 on. The kid finally swung, hit the ball and knocked in 2 runs.

Anyway,thanks again for the blog and I love reading all the stuff from all of you Tiger fans where ever you may live.

Oh by the way, I found Tiger tickets for opening on a site called stubhub.com. So what if they were $150.00 each. Like the ad states, "priceless"

Go Tigers!

--Dave

The bullpen will be (obviously) a big factor in the club's success this year. I was looking at Cruceta's stats in limited time at Oklahoma last year and they were impressive. He walks a lot of guys per 9 but his hit count is low and K ratio high. What is even more interesting is that his work as a reliever was outstanding. Equally effective against righties and lefties with an ERA of just over 1.00
Relievers come out of nowhere sometimes---just maybe, just maybe this guys fills a big hole for us this year.

From MLBTrade Rumors.com:

"Royals starter Brian Bannister was kind enough to answer questions for MLBTR readers. The first part of the Q&A can be found here.

MLBTR: What's the most misunderstood aspect of succeeding in baseball by typical fans, sportswriters, and announcers?

Bannister: There are two things that make baseball unique from other sports. One, baseball is a game of skill that is accentuated by the physical tools of the person performing those skills. Most people superficially judge a position player solely on size, strength, and speed, when his eyesight, balance, rhythm, hand-eye coordination, and mental makeup are much more influential factors in his future success. It is when a player embodies all of these qualities that we get our superstars and hall-of-famers. I would much rather face a hitter with "80" power and "80" speed but bad strike zone discipline than one with no power and a .400+ OBP. Over the course of time, the hitter with the .400+ OBP is going to hurt me much, much more, especially if he is surrounded by other good hitters.

Secondly, whether you like it or not, baseball is a game of randomness. We play outdoors (mostly) in changing elements and field dimensions, and each pitch results in a series of events that can go in either teams favor. One thing that I have have come to accept is that just because I train hard physically, I practice perfectly, I prepare diligently, and execute a pitch exactly as I wanted, it can still result in a home run. In golf, if you analyze all the variables correctly (lie, distance, slope, wind, etc.) and execute your swing perfectly, it will result in a great shot. Not so for a pitcher or a hitter. A hitter can swing the bat perfectly and it will result in an out more than six times out of ten. Therefore, as a pitcher, I study and play to put the percentages in my favor more than anything because I know that I can't control the outcome in a single game or series of games, but over the course of a season or a career I will be better than average.

MLBTR: How will you prepare to face the Tigers' everyday lineup?

Bannister: I have a good knowledge of and also a healthy respect for the Tigers' lineup, and I have faced new additions Miguel Cabrera and Jacque Jones before. Edgar Renteria is the one new player that I don't have any experience against.

I think the most important thing when preparing to face a lineup of this caliber is to be realistic and to recognize how they have been playing recently, because confidence level is everything with a good offense. If you look at good lineups, they tend to be extremely streaky, but their cold streaks will be much shorter than their hot streaks over the course of a season. During the hot streaks, teams and opposing pitchers tend to be intimidated by their offensive prowess, and games can be blowouts. In contrast, during the cold streaks they can seem to be a totally different team because they have very high expectations placed on them by the fans and media, and when they're struggling, it tends to snowball.

When a good lineup is hot, the only thing you can do is throw strikes and not allow yourself to put hitters on base unnecessarily. They are going to get their hits, and when they get them, you don't want a lot of runners on base. By keeping yourself ahead in the count, you can reduce your pitch count and hopefully their slugging percentage as well.

When a team is struggling at the plate, a pitcher can take advantage by expanding the strike zone, especially with runners in scoring position. Hitters that have had a drought of home runs/RBIs tend to press in those situations, and they will underperform their historical OBP because they are anxious to drive in runs and break out of their slump.

I will also apply this strategy to individual hitters within the lineup. I choose my spots to try and get outs while avoiding the hitters that are hot. A lineup is a constantly changing dynamic that requires a mix of planning, psychology, and quick adjustments in order to be successful."

Dan,
This Brian Bannister sounds like a very articulate and intelligent student of the game, not to mention being gifted with the rare skills to play the game at the highest level. To be honest, I can't imagine anyone can realistically keep all those stats, trends, and variables on the tip of their brain, while working in REAL TIME. He obviously does his homework and his brain is a tad quicker than mine. I like that he admitted that no matter how well you prepare, "stuff" happens, like a bat centering a ball nowhere near the strike zone. But it still boils down to stats and averages over a long season and he is right on in his approach, ie. studying team trends, players' habits and approaches, in an effort to PREDICT what they will (try to)do in a given situation. It's an edge. I think this mental aspect of the game is the part that a player can actually control and improve the most in. But if baseball was boiled down to 3 attributes, (skills, mental aspect, and athleticism), that might be the order of importance I'd put them in.

It's a great game.

Almost forgot. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERNIE HARWELL!! You, Al Kaline, and Willie Horton are my Tigers!!

Amen!
and Mickey too!

and Mickey too!

Marty--I know it's off topic as far as Tiger talk is concerned, but here is more from that Brian Bannister interview. You're right-he is very articulate and I suspect kenny Rogers is as much a student of the art as Brian is. I believe Justin Verlander will become more and more astute and benefit from taking the approach that pitching is a science that can be mazimized with intelligence, research and hard work.

"Brian Bannister Q&A, Part 3

Today, January 28, 2008, 18 minutes ago | Tim Dierkes

Royals starter Brian Bannister recently answered some questions for MLBTR readers. This post concludes the series; also check out Part 1 and Part 2 of the Q&A. Brian clearly took extra time out to answer thoughtfully, and we thank him for it.

MLBTR: Since you originally went to college as a position player, how do you use your experience in the batter's box and in the field to your advantage when you're pitching? Playing in the AL, do you miss hitting?

Bannister: I think it is as important to know how a hitter thinks and operates as it is to be able to throw major league quality pitches. One area I have done a lot of work on is how a hitter sees a pitch, determines its speed and location, and decides whether or not to swing depending on the situation.

To me, there are three types of pitchers that can be successful in the major leagues, each for different reasons. The one thing they share in common is that they all have a deception that makes it difficult for hitters to visually predict where the ball will be when it enters the hitting zone. If you think about it, a hitter does not actually see the ball hit his bat, he loses the ball a certain distance out in front of him and has to "guess" where it will end up. This is why repetition and good eyesight are important for a hitter, and why as pitchers we don't want to pitch in patterns. Hitters spend hours hitting off of pitching machines and BP pitchers, where there is no deception, and they are very good at it. Here are the three types of pitchers I have seen that can "deceive" Major League hitters and be successful:

1. "Late Movers" - These pitchers have the ability to make the ball move in the zone after the hitter visually loses the ball either more than the average pitcher, in a different manner than the average pitcher, or in a completely random manner altogether. These are pitchers that throw cut fastballs ("cutters", such as Mariano Rivera), sinking fastballs ("sinkers", such as Chien-Ming Wang & Fausto Carmona), split-fingered fastballs ("splitters", such as Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, J.J. Putz & Dan Haren), knuckleballs (such as Tim Wakefield), or from an arm angle that puts more sidespin on the ball than backspin (such as Jake Peavy). If I could throw any pitch, it would be the split-fingered fastball, because the movement on it is unpredictable and is impossible to hit squarely every time. Unfortunately, it is also the most dangerous on the arm and requires large hands to take the strain off of the elbow. All these pitchers share the ability of having good "stuff", but their ball moves late in the zone more than anyone else in the game and is never straight.

2. "Risers" - These pitchers are the most exciting to watch in baseball, because they have the appearance of "blowing away" hitters. To be a "riser", you have to have exceptional lower body flexibility and be able to pitch under control with a long stride. What "risers" do that other pitchers can't is they throw the ball on a plane with more upward tilt than average. In other words, their fastball appears to "rise" as passes through the hitting zone. What is actually happening is the hitter sees

the ball, and he predicts that it is going to be lower based on past experience than it actually is. Pitchers that have this unique ability include: Josh Beckett, Jonathan Papelbon, John Maine, Scott Kazmir, Chris Young, Pedro Martinez, and my all-time favorite in this category, Nolan Ryan.

3. "Deceivers" - These pitchers have a unique pitching motion that hides the ball longer than the average pitcher or makes it difficult for the hitter to determine the actual speed of the pitch. Most often, these pitchers are left-handed and stride across their body more than the average pitcher. Young pitchers can work on their deception by trying to keep their front shoulder closed longer, bringing their lead arm/glove in front of their release point, and making sure their throwing arm stays hidden behind the body. Pitchers that have mastered the art of deception are: Johan Santana, Tom Glavine, Erik Bedard, C.C. Sabathia, Oliver Perez, and my favorite deceiver/late mover hybrid, Greg Maddux.

After studying and watching the best pitchers in the game for years, I have come up with these three categories that I believe all good pitchers fit into. If a pitcher is not having success, despite having

great "stuff" I believe it is because he is not deceiving hitters the way that the pitchers above do. Major League hitters are in the big leagues for a reason, and it is our job as pitchers to find ways to get them out. Finding out which category you naturally fit into and working hard on developing that deception is the best way for a young pitcher to be successful in the long run.

And yes, I do miss hitting.

MLBTR: Are you familiar with the Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) stat? It's been suggested that the percentage of batted balls that drop in for hits may be largely out of a pitcher's control. What are your thoughts on that?

Bannister: I think a lot of fans underestimate how much time I spend working with statistics to improve my performance on the field. For those that don't know, the typical BABIP for starting pitchers in Major League Baseball is around .300 give or take a few points. The common (and valid) argument is that over the course of a pitcher's career, he can not control his BABIP from year-to-year (because it is random), but over a period of time it will settle into the median range of roughly .300 (the peak of the bell curve). Therefore, pitchers that have a BABIP of under .300 are due to regress in subsequent years and pitchers with a BABIP above .300 should see some improvement (assuming they are a Major League

Average pitcher).

Because I don't have enough of a sample size yet (service time), I don't claim to be able to beat the .300 average year in and year out at the Major League level. However, I also don't feel that every pitcher is hopelessly bound to that .300 number for his career if he takes some steps to improve his odds - which is what pitching is all about.

One thing that I work a lot with, and that is not factored into common statistical analysis, is what counts a pitcher pitches in most often - regardless of what type of "stuff" he has. Most stats only measure results, not the situations in which those results occurred. In the common box score, an RBI is an RBI, but it doesn't show the count, number of outs, and number of runners on base when it occurred. For me, the area where pitchers have the most opportunity to improve or be better than average is in their count leverage.

Let me give the fans and young pitchers out there one example of a way that I try to improve my performance, this time with regards to BABIP.

Question to myself: Does a hitter have the same BABIP in a 2-1 count that he does in an 0-2, 1-2, or 2-2 count? How does his batting average and OBP/SLG/OPS differ when he has two strikes on him vs zero or one strike?

These are the type of questions that I will come up with and employ in my starts to see if I can improve my outings. For example, here are my career numbers in the counts mentioned above:

2-1: .380 (19/50)

1-2: .196 (20/102)

2-2: .171 (18/105)

0-2: .057 (3/53)

It is obvious that hitters, even at the Major League level, do not perform as well when the count is in the pitcher's favor, and vice-versa. This is because with two strikes, a hitter HAS to swing at a pitch in the strike zone or he is out, and he must also make a split-second decision on whether a borderline pitch is a strike or not, reducing his ability to put a good swing on the ball. What this does is take away a hitter's choice. If I throw a curveball with two strikes, the hitter has to swing if the pitch is in the strike zone, whether he is good at hitting a curveball or not. He also does not have a choice on

location. We are all familiar with Ted Williams' famous strike zone averages at the Baseball Hall of Fame. It is well-known that a pitch knee-high on the outside corner will not have the same batting average or OBP/SLG/OPS as one waist-high right down the middle. Here is a comparison of the batting averages and slugging percentage on my fastball vs. my curveball:

Fastball: .246/.404

Curveball: .184/.265

The important thing to note is that, with two strikes, if I throw a curveball for a strike, the hitter has to swing at it (and I like those numbers). How does a pitcher use this to his advantage? By throwing

strikes and keeping the advantage on his side as often as possible. It seems like such a simple solution, yet so much more emphasis is placed on "stuff" nowadays and this is often not reinforced. When a pitcher who has great "stuff" employs this line of thinking, his numbers will improve to an even greater degree.

So, to finally answer the question about BABIP, if we look at the numbers above, how can a Major League pitcher try and beat the .300 BABIP average? By pitching in 0-2, 1-2, & 2-2 counts more often than the historical averages of pitchers in the Major Leagues. Until a pitcher reaches two strikes, he has no historical statistical advantage over the hitter. In fact, my batting averages against in 0-1, 1-0, & 1-1 counts are .297/.295/.311 respectively, very close to the roughly .300 average.

My explanation for why I have beat the average so far is that in my career I have been able to get a Major League hitter to put the ball in play in a 1-2 or 0-2 count 155 times, and in a 2-0 or 2-1 count 78 times. That's twice as often in my favor, & I'll take those odds.

"

A lot of the things that Bannister mentions are, IMO, what made Jair Jurrjens effective. Not that JJ delved so deeply into the science of it all, most likely.

Also makes me think of Bill "Spaceman" Lee from the 1970s. Lee was laughed at. And Lee laughed right back on the mound.

Good stuff.

--Rich

Yes, thanks Dan, that was very interesting. Not sure I get the BABIP stat, in regard to pitchers being below .300 early in their career getting worse and vice versa. SI would think some pitchers improve, some get worse and others remain the same over time regardless of initial BABIP.

"I" not "SI"...sorry