Bryce Harper Triple Crown updates 9/15/15

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

This is our update on a post we did in early September.  Here is a fun exercise on the great offensive season Bryce Harper is having and talk about the history of the Triple Crown. The last NL Triple Crown winner was Joe “Ducky” Medwick 78 years ago for the St Louis Cardinals in 1937 had 31 HRs, 154 RBIs and a .374 BA. Could Bryce Harper join American Pharoah as a dual 2015 Triple Crown?

Here is Bryce Harper’s numbers:

  1. 39 HRs
  2. 90 RBIs
  3. .338 BA
  4. 18 games remaining

This is from last week:

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In-Game, Strasburg in Philly

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Stephen Strasburg will get his 2nd start coming back from his back/neck pain issue.  Stephen’s last start was very good on Wednesday vs. the Mets until Drew Storen relieved him in the 7th with a man on base.  The Phillies counter with David Buchanan who is making his 12th start of the season and this is not a typo, he has a 9.11 ERA.  Yes, 9-1-1

Buchanan is a sinkerballer who throws 90-91mph and relies on sink and unfortunately for him it’s been mostly stink.  He also throws a few 4-seamers and cutters along with a curveball and change-up.

Desi and RZim have both hit Buchanan at a .500 BA and Desi has a HR against him. Espi hits him at .400 and both Rendon and Werth at a .333 BA.  Bryce is a career 0-3 and Esco, TyMo, CRob, and MAT have never faced him.

Lineups are:

 

 

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Drooooo!!!!!!

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Ray Wyvill

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The conventional wisdom is that too much hubris will bring retribution.  The Greek gods are long gone from the equation.  But, the meltdown and pending exit of one Drew Storen from the Nationals is the fodder of Greek Tragedies.  Rather than start at the beginning, let’s cut to the chase.  Continue reading →

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In-Game, JZim against Phillies rookie Nola

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Like clockwork, the Nats take on the Phillies best pitcher Aaron Nola in the 1st game of the Phillies series. With Cole Hamels traded, it’s Nola who is considered the Phillies best pitcher and the Nats are a magnet for facing the other teams #1.  The Phillies will face Jordan Zimmermann who is coming off another good start.

Nola was the 7th overall pick in the 1st round of the 2014 Draft.  This will be Nola’s 11th career start and he has a 3.56 ERA but his starts are either very good or not so good. Nola has 2 shutous and 2 starts giving up 1 run and 1 start giving up 2 runs.  Of course his worst start was against the Mets giving up 6 runs.

Nola throws almost an equal number of 4-seamers and sinkers with 90-91 velo but it’s movement and hitting his spots that will make him effective.  He works in a slow curve and the occasional change-up at 82.  He likes to come inside on batters and as a sinkerballer likes to live low in the zone often tempting hitters to swing at balls below the knees.

Keep in mind the Nats have never faced Nola before and we have no Nats at-bat stats against him.  The good news is that Jonathan Papelbon can give the Nats some intel on Nola.

Lineups are similar to yesterday with no RZim but with CRob at 1st base.


 

 

 

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Conventional Wisdom vs. Reality – Is it really just/mostly the BP?

Posted on September 13, 2015 by DonH

In a recent post Help me if you can, I’m feeling down….. , ManassasNatsFan asked this very interesting question:

One thing I wish I could find the stats for is our batting average against relievers and runs per inning. Compared to batting average against our relievers and how many runs per inning.

I could be wrong, but I am guess the difference is fairly big, and more likely our biggest reason we are way out.

We seem to score early fairly well but once the starters out our productivity dropped fast.

So I decided to see if I could use the gameday data that I’ve been loading to answer this question. Continue reading →

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In-Game, Max Scherzer likes pitching in Miami

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Max Scherzer has to be the stopper to this 5 game losing streak that he was on the front end of with that Labor Day beatdown where Max gave up 5 earned runs in 6 innings and his ERA is above 3.00 for the 1st time this season. Time to turn it around and Max likes pitching in spacious Miami.

Today is the day to start winning and move forward.  The Nats have added Wilmer Difo to the roster for additional bench depth and as part of the future who knows if we get to see Trea Turner and Wilmer Difo as the middle infield doubleplay combo of the future.

The Marlins start Brad Hand and the Nats know him quite well.

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21 games to play. Nats need to finish strong for self-respect.

Posted on September 12, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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In-Game, the luck of the draw — Nats face José Fernandez. BREAKING UPDATE

Posted on September 12, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Nats seem to almost never miss the other team’s Ace pitchers whether it’s Kershaw or Greinke or Harvey and deGrom, the Nats face the Fish and get José Fernandez.  The Nats send Tanner Roark to the mound in place of Joe Ross.

You probably know the stat that José Fernandez has never lost a home game for the Marlins.  He has had no decisions at home, but no losses on his ledger.  This will be Fernandez 8th start of the season.

Fernandez throws 3 main pitches and it all starts with his heater that sits 95-96 mph and can touch 99.  Off of that he will throw an 84mph sweeping curveball and a 88 tumbling changeup.  Every once in a while Fernandez will throw the “Livo” Curveball in the 70’s. Fernandez likes to bump you inside, but stays outside and in the bottom of the zone.  He doesn’t go up in the zone often.

The Nats have limited success against Fernandez and Desi is a career .000 0-12 and 10 of the 12 at-bats were strikeouts.  Werth 1-11 and the 1 hit was a HR.  Harper, Ramos and Rendon, and Taylor,  each have 1 hit off of him.  Ryan Zimmerman has the most success of of Fernandez at a career .375 3-8 however Ryan Zimmerman is sidelined with an oblique injury.

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Help me if you can, I’m feeling down…..

Posted on September 12, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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In-Game in Miami. Mr. Hialeah (GioG) for the Nats vs. Cosart

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Nats are 71-68 entering this game today vs. the Marlins in Miami.  Gio Gonzalez will get to pitch in front of his hometown family and fans and Trea Turner from up the road will also have a contingent of family and friends in attendance.

With the day-off yesterday, many of the Nats relaxed on the golf course and doing some fishing and taking their minds off of the disastrous series that ended on Wednesday.

Bryce Harper wasn’t even 9 years old when the world changed on 9-11-01.  Glad he reminded us all the significance of what happened 14 years ago today.

https://instagram.com/p/7fthXTAIS6/

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