The obscure pitching awards of 2013

I have spent about a week now covering the darker side of baseball statistics encompassing the 2013 season. Call it a balancing of the books when it comes to the regular Awards Season that spends most of our time celebrating the greatness of players during this past season. For every Gold Glove, there are iron ones. For every Rolaids Relief Pitchers there were those that gave the heartburn. What follows are some of the more obscure pitching awards that will not be celebrated when they hand out the trophies.

The Lack of Deception Award
These starting pitchers did not make a living fooling anybody. Cole Hamels led starting pitchers by getting batters to swing at 37.7% of pitches outside the strike zone. These pitchers? Not so much. The four starting pitchers (minimum 100 innings) who least enticed batters to swing at pitches out of the strike zone were:

1. Sam Deduno - 24.1%
2. Jason Marquis - 24.5%
3. Felix Doubront - 24.9%
4. Nathan Eovaldi - 25%

The relief pitchers with the least amount of swings out of the strike zone were:

1. Sam LeCure - 25.4%
2. Kevin Gregg - 25.5%
3. David Robertson and Dale Thayer - 25.8%

The Starting Off With the Left Foot Award
Everyone makes a big deal out of first pitch strikes. "Get ahead on the count," the adage goes. Throwing a first pitch strike would be getting the at bat off on the right foot. These pitchers are not listening. The relief pitchers with the lowest percentage of first pitch strikes were:

1. Ryan Pressly - 45.7%
2. Jim Henderson - 48.6%
3. Josh Roenicke - 50.4%
4. Yoernis Medina and Tim Collins - 51.9%

The starting pitchers with the lowest percentage of first pitch strikes were:

1. Matt Moore - 50.9%
2. Samuel Deduno - 51.4%
3. Zack Wheeler - 52%
4. Ivan Nova - 52.7%  (pronounced, "Nover," if you are Jerry Remy)

Not that the opposite guaranteed success. Phil Hughes led the Majors in first pitch strike percentage (over 70%!) and that did not exactly lead him to a good season.

The Here It Is, Hit It and Hit It and Hit It Award
Everyone loves a pitcher that can miss bats. Francisco Liriano missed more bats than anyone in the Majors in 2013, followed closely by Yu Darvish. These starting pitchers did not miss many bats at all. The starting pitchers with the lowest percentage of swinging strikes were:

1. Jake Westbrook and Jeremy Guthrie - 5.1%
2. Lucas Harrell - 5.2%
3. Mike Pelfrey - 5.3%
4. Ryan Vogelsong - 5.4%

The relief pitchers with the lowest swinging strike percentages were:

1. Burke Badenhop - 5.9%
2. Seth Maness - 6.6%
3. Kevin Gregg - 7.0%

The Duck for Cover Award
The relief pitchers with the highest line drive percentages allowed were:

1. Robbie Ross - 28.4%
2. Jim Henderson - 28.3%
3. Greg Holland - 27.3%
4. Junichi Tazawa - 27.2%

The starting pitchers with the highest line drive percentages were:

1. Wade Davis - 28.6%
2. Ryan Vogelsong - 27.1%
3. Corey Kluber - 26.3%
4. Barry Zito - 25.5%

The Confound the Fielding Scouts Award
How do you set your defense when your pitcher's offerings always seem to find a hole in that defense? The starting pitchers with the highest opposing BABIPs were:

1. Wade Davis - .376 - which makes sense with his LD percentage.
2. Joe Blanton - .351
3. Barry Zito - .347

The relief pitchers with the highest BABIPs allowed were:

1. Jose Mijares - .410    Holy smokes!
2. Carter Capps - .365
3. Oliver Perez - .361

No one else was close!

The Outfielder Whiplash Award
Everyone loves the long ball...unless you are a pitcher. The relief pitchers with the highest percent of their fly balls going over the fence were:

1. Chris Perez - 20%
2. Brandon League - 19%
3. Carter Capps - 18.8%
4. Heath Bell - 18.5%
5. Kelvin Herrera - 18%

The starting pitchers with the highest percentage of fly balls going over the fence were:

1. Roberto Hernandez - 21.1%  (!)
2. Esmil Rogers - 18.5%
3. Jason Marquis - 18.2%
4. Joe Blanton - 18%

The Conga Line Award
These pitchers gave up the most base runners of any starting pitcher

1. Joe Saunders - 308
2. Jeff Samardzija and Jeremy Guthrie - 307
3. CC Sabathia - 304

These relief pitchers (90% or more appearances were in relief) with the most base runners were:

1. Anthony Swarzak and Josh Collmenter - 116
2. Adam Warren and TJ McFarland - 114

The Cannot Be Blocked Award

• These relief pitchers led all of baseball with nine wild pitches: Adam Ottavino, Cody Allen, Brandon League, Grant Balfour and Al Alburquerque. Alburquerque did his in the least amount of innings with 49 IP.

These starting pitcher led all of baseball with wild pitches:

1. Matt Moore and Trevor Cahill - 17
2. Edinson Volquez - 16

The Pitching From the Stretch Award

• Three Colorado Rockies' players tied for the lead with the most balks at three: Rex Brothers, Edgmer Escalona and Wilton Lopez. I think the Rockies need to hold a seminar on this thing as they easily led the Majors with 15 balks. No other team had more than eight. Stephen Strasburg also had three.

The Free Pass Award

• I don't know if this award should go to the manager or the pitcher...probably the manager. But Ronald Belisario walked the most batters on purpose with ten. Three others tied with eight.

The Aren't Walks and Strikeouts the Same Award
These starting pitchers (100 IP minimum) had the lowest strikeout to walk ratios in the Majors:

1. Jake Westbrook - 0.88  The only pitcher with more walks than strikeouts.
2. Lucas Harrell - 1.01
3. Jason Marquis - 1.06

The relief pitchers (40 IP minimum) with the lowest strikeout to walk ratios were:

1. Sandy Rosario - 1.20
2. Josh Roenicke - 1.25
3. Bryan Morris - 1.32
4. Tom Wilhelmsen - 1.36

The Let's Not Turn Two Award

• Aaron Harang gets special mention here. Despite allowing 199 base runners via hit, walk or HBP, Harang only induced four double-plays all season. Amazing.

The Run at Will Award

• Yovani Gallardo, Matt Moore, Brandon McCarthy, Joe Blanton, Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez pitched a combined 807.2 innings and not a single base steal attempt was stopped while they were pitching. At least Gallardo and Eovaldi picked one guy off.
• John Lackey led all of baseball with 36 successful base steals against. Scott Feldman was second with 30.

The Not Left On Base Award
Five starting pitchers ended up having 35% or more of all the base runners they put on base score. That could be bad luck, bad pitching, bad fielding, whatever. But it is what it is. The lowest left on base percentages for starters were:

1. Jordan Lyles - 62.8%
2. Edwin Jackson - 63.3%
3. Lucas Harrell - 64.3%
4. Edinson Volquez - 64.4%
5. Ryan Vogelsong - 64.7%

I probably could go on all day here, but after a couple of hours, my stomach is grumbling. Happy Veterans Day!

The first annual Kyle Davies Award - the anti-Cy Young

The first annual Dan Meyer Awards were a big success. While most of the world is focusing on players that succeeded in 2013, the DMAs focused on the dark side of batting statistics. Today, we are focusing on pitchers who were terrible in 2013. And despite this being more of a pitching era than a hitting era, there are no shortage of terrible pitching performances in this past season. This is the first annual Kyle Davies Award.

Kyle Davies pitched for seven seasons beginning in 2005 with the Atlanta Braves. After toiling there for two and a half years, the Braves traded him to the Royals for Octavio Dotel. If you really want to know how unsuccessful Kyle Davies was as a pitcher, all you have to do is ask any fan of the Kansas City Royals.

Davies compiled a lifetime ERA of 5.59 to go with a WHIP of 1.618 in 151 appearances, 144 of which were starts. Davies gave up over a hundred runs in two of his seven seasons. And it appears that he may not be done with his career. He pitched in the Twins' minor league system in 2013, which makes perfect sense when you think about the way the Twins pitch.

I could have named this award after a number of guys. There were guys like Adam Eaton, Jason Bere, Jimmy Haynes and Sidney Ponson I could have named the award after. But Davies is more recent in the mind of most, so he is our guy. The danger is that Davies is only 30 years old and who knows, he could come back and be decent and make a name change necessary.

Anyway, on with the awards. These are our candidates for starting pitchers. In order to qualify, a starter had to pitch 130 innings.

Barry Zito. Barry Zito was a hero in the 2012 post season. Unfortunately, that success did not carry forward to 2013. In essence, he was a disaster. He allowed 231 base runners in 133.1 innings. Woof. That's bad. That translates to a 1.70 WHIP which tied for the Major League lead with another of our candidates. Batters had this triple slash line against him: .318/.383/.491. Compare that to Matt Carpenter's triple slash line: .318/.392/.481. Zito's OPS against was .874. Carpenter's was .873. That means that every single batter Zito faced was Matt Carpenter! And that includes facing pitchers! His RA9-WAR was -2.4 and his rWAR was -2.6.

Edinson Volquez. Volquez is the cautionary tale for those who think Phil Hughes will settle down in a bigger park. The Padres thought the same thing when they acquired him as part of the Mat Latos trade. And that is what the Dodgers must have thought when they acquired him from the Padres. What were they thinking!? Volquez led the majors in earned runs allowed with 108 in 170.1 innings of work. Wee! His ERA was the third worst in baseball and although FIP puts him better, he still finished with a RA9-WAR of -2.4 and an rWAR of -2.4.

Lucas Harrell. God bless those Astros pitchers. They took the ball every fifth day and got hammered and still took the ball out there to do it again. That takes character, man. So don't forget that no matter how much we now make fun of his numbers. Harrell tied with Zito for the highest WHIP at 1.70. He struck out 5.21 batters per nine while walking 5.15 batters per nine. His 88 walks allowed was the highest in baseball. His FIP of 5.42 was the highest on our list. His winning percentage of .261 was the third lowest among starters and worse than his team's. RA9-WAR of -2.2 and rWAR of -1.6.

Joe Blanton. The Angels hoped that Joe Blanton would resurrect his career in California. Instead, that career sank to new lows. He went 2-14 with an ERA of 6.04. Ouch. His OPS against was .904! That means that every single batter that faced him was Edwin Encarnacion. Blanton allowed homers at a clip just under two per nine innings. In other words, he got blasted on a regular basis. Blanton finished the season in the bullpen but still compiled the necessary innings with 132.2. RA9-WAR of -1.9 and an rWAR of -2.0.

Dishonorable mention: Wade Davis, Ian Kennedy, Edwin Jackson, Jordan Lyles and Scott Diamond.

Those are our four candidates. So which would qualify for the worst? Gosh, it is hard to pick. If we combined the RA9-WAR with rWAR, the tallies would be: Zito at -5, Volquez at -4.8, Harrell at -3.8 and Blanton at -3.9. If you went by that, Zito would be the winner.

All of Zito's problems were on the road. He was actually 5-2 with an ERA under four at home and was 0-9 on the road with an ERA over nine! It was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-like. Volquez was equally bad at home and on the road and in the first half and second half. He was consistently bad.

Harrell was bad at home and worse on the road and bad in the first half of the season and worse in the second half. The same thing holds true with Blanton, who did not start a single game in the second half of the season.

All are great candidates for this award and I would not have a problem with any of the four choices. I think I would go with Edinson Volquez because he had the most innings of sucktitude and was consistently bad at home, on the road, in the first half, in the second half, as a Padre and as a Dodger. He never deviated from his deviant pitching. He is my pick for the 2013 Kyle Davies Award.

MLB Game Picks - Wednesday: September 25, 2013

Tuesday was a struggle, but it turned out okay in the end. The trouble with picking teams that have already clinched surfaced with the A's and Red Sox losing to help illustrate the point. I was worried about Jonathon Niese and I was right to be as he knocked the Reds off. The Orioles were eliminated with ease. I did not see that coming but I should have. But all in all, I finished up at 9-6 and have a decent week going on this last full week of the regular season.

It has not been lost on me how many ex-Yankees delivered this week for their contending teams. Jason Giambi last night. Russell Martin and A.J. Burnett. Justin Maxwell. Many of these guys are going to the playoffs and the Yankees are going home.

Wednesday's picks:

• The Reds over the Mets: Matt Latos has lost a bit since August when he was unstoppable. Diasuke Matsuzaka has been a surprise for the Mets. But let's be real here. The Reds should win this game. If they don't, they are really sliding into the play-in game.
• The Cardinals over the Nationals: I would really love to pick Jordan Zimmermann. I really want him to win his 20th game...badly. But he has pitched against the Cardinals five times in his career and his ERA is 9.12. How can I pick that? Shelby Miller is the pick then.
• The Pirates over the Cubs: If the Cardinals keep winning, there is now way for the Pirates to catch them. But it's not like the Pirates are not trying. Francisco Liriano should pitch a good five or six innings and the Pirates should score on Jake Arrieta.
• The Angels over the Athletics: Jered Weaver is the pick in this game. Didn't Mike Trout finish poorly in the last three weeks of last season too? He sure has gone cold. But maybe he can wake up against Dan Straily.
• The Indians over the White Sox: I wish I could have heard Ken Harrelson's call last night of Jason Giambi's homer. That would have been fun. I love Danny Salazar because he has not given up a homer in nine starts and has a ton of strikeouts. But he does not go deep enough into games and has five no decisions and only one win. But the Indians should take out Dylan Axelrod.
• The Rays over the Yankees: What sad sacks the Yankees have been with only the Orioles losing more. David Price officially boots the Yanks from the race tonight over (hopefully) the last Phil Hughes outing ever at Yankee Stadium.
• The Orioles over the Blue Jays: Now out of the race, the Orioles will win a game. Bud Norris will get a win and Chris Davis or someone will hit a homer off of Esmil Rogers.
• The Braves over the Brewers: I cannot believe that Paul Maholm wins as many games as he does. But somehow, it happens. Kyle Lohse knows how to pitch with what he has, making him pretty even with Maholm. But I will go with the home team here.
• The Phillies over the Marlins: Ugh. Two teams finishing out awful seasons. Cole Hamels was my Cy Young Award choice before the season. Pretty funny, eh? He should still be good enough to win and Brad Hand is much better as a reliever than as a starter.
• The Rangers over the Astros: You have to give the Astros something. Their pitching rotation has gone out there game after game without missing turns. It has to be demoralizing to keep losing though. Tonight's version, Dallas Keuchel will do that tonight too as Martin Perez gets the win and keeps the Rangers alive.
• The Rockies over the Red Sox: It is hard to believe that Tyler Chatwood shut down the Red Sox. But he did. And Jhoulys Chacin is a better pitcher than him and is having a good season and pitches well at home. Jake Peavy will not like Coors Field.
• The Padres over the Diamondbacks: Ian Kennedy will enjoy pitching against his old team and at home in Petco. Randall Delgado hasn't had a bad season, but I expect Kennedy to be better tonight.
• The Mariners over the Royals: It was a fun season for the Royals, but their troubles in the early part of the season put them too far behind to make it to the end. Still, it was a season that gives hope. Tonight, they run into Hisashi Iwakuma who has been outstanding at times this season. Ervin Santana could match him and make it a bullpen game. If that happens, this pick is toast.
• The Giants over the Dodgers: Barry Zito gets a farewell start tonight and I hope he wins it. That's just me and this pick is swayed by it. The Dodgers start Ricky Nolasco so that could knock some of the wind out of the pick. But go, Barry Zito, finish it with a flair.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Tigers over the Twins: It is only fitting for Max Scherzer to be on the mound when the Tigers clinch the division tonight. He has been their horse all season. Kevin Correia goes for the Twins who just need to get this season over.

Yesterday: 9-6

Week: 26-17

Month: 191-145

Season: 1333-1040

Games of the Day: 101-70

MLB Game Pick - Monday: September 2, 2013

September started off on a really bad foot yesterday as only six out of fifteen picks were correct. Miami blanked the Braves. The Yankees' bullpen, long their strength this season, punted against the Orioles. The Diamondbacks got another bad performance from Patrick Corbin and lost. The Indians hit a grand slam in the ninth to break a nothing, nothing game. I should have gone with Brett Oberholtzer. It was just a bad day all around.

After laboring so badly yesterday, perhaps the Labor Day picks will be better. And here they are:

• The Yankees over the White Sox: I am probably out of my mind for picking a game where Phil Hughes is starting. I am probably not sane to think he can win. But the White Sox are a bad club and the kind of club the Yankees have to beat to keep their slimmest of hopes alive. Jose Quintana goes for the White Sox.
• The Reds over the Cardinals: This is a good one. The battle of two aces as Mat Latos goes against Adam Wainwright. I like Latos' chances of holding the Cards down better at home. But this game could go either way depending on which pitcher is the hottest.
• The Red Sox over the Tigers: In what could be a playoff preview, John Lackey takes on the Tigers with an injured Miguel Cabrera. Doug Fister could throw a good game against the Red Sox, but it is not likely. My guess is that the Red Sox jump on him early.
• The Astros over the Twins: I have to admit to not having any idea what to do with this game. Andrew Albers has shown some good games, but some really bad ones too. The same can be said for Paul Clemens. Neither blows people away and thus, anything can happen. Ugh.
• The Brewers over the Pirates: Tyler Thornburg has pitched well in each of this three starts. I think he can shut down the Pirates. They also have the kind of punch and Judy hitters than can be patient with Charlie Morton. Hey, it is possible.
• The Royals over the Mariners: Felix Hernandez is not a pitcher to pick against very often. And yet, his games are not often a lock for his team to win. He could be matched today by Danny Duffy, who has been pitching extremely well. And then after the two starters cancel each other out, the Royals win late in the game.
• The Cubs over the Marlins: For the last month and a half, all of Travis Wood's starts have come against the aces of his opponent team. Today, he gets a break and squares up against Henderson Alvarez. I think he wins this one.
• The Giants over the Padres: This is another game I do not know what to do with. On the Giants' side is Barry Zito, who has been sort of awful all season and he faces Ian Kennedy who has been similarly awful. When two starters are that awful, then go with the better team. Giants.
• The Indians over the Orioles: The seven-run outburst against the Yankees' bullpen in that come from behind victory could propel the Orioles. Or it could just mask what has been a mediocre team since the All Star Break. The Indians need a big day from Justin Masterson and they need to get to Bud Norris early to get to the Orioles' bullpen.
• The Rangers over the Athletics: Derek Holland has had pretty good success in the Oakland Mausoleum Coliseum. He has a 2.87 ERA in nine appearances there. He will need a good one today for the Rangers to put away the A's. Dan Straily could throw a wrench into the pick with a great outing.
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: Clayton Kershaw has an ERA of 4.98 for his career in Coors Field and has given up eleven homers there, by far the most of any road ballpark. So the Dodgers need to score six runs to win. Against Chad Bettis, that is very possible.
• The Diamondbacks over the Blue Jays: There are far too many letters in this team match-up. I cannot pick the Blue Jays in a game where Esmil Rogers is the starter. He has served up homer after homer this season. At the same time, Brandon McCarthy has not been very good either. A toss up.
• The Nationals over the Phillies: Another confession. This pick has nothing to do with who should or will win but for my overwhelming desire to see Stephen Strasburg pitch well. Cole Hamels is a worthy opponent though.
• The Bay Rays over the Angels: Chris Archer is a better pitcher to me than Garrett Richards. But this pick can go either way. The Rays have really been struggling while the Angels have had a lost season. Another toss up.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Braves over the Mets: The Mets continue their Daisuke Matsuzaka experiment as the slowest of all slow pitchers tries to lull the Braves to sleep with the length of time it takes him to deliver a pitch. Paul Maholm will try to get the Braves the win.

Yesterday: 6-9

Week: 6-9

Month: 6-9

Season: 1148-904

Games of the Day: 87-61

MLB Game Picks - Monday: August 26, 2013

Sunday was nip and tuck all day until the end when a run of correct picks put the day in a positive place. Things were dicey after a while when the Yankees actually won a game in St. Pete and the Tigers totally wiped out Dillon Gee. Patrick Corbin then had an awful outing and John Danks out-pitched Matt Garza. I correctly picked the end of the Royals and Blue Jays losing streaks and correctly picked the Brewers over the Cardinals. So that was good. But, like I said, a nice run at the end put the day firmly in the positive.

There are ten games on the schedule today. The Reds and Cardinals start a big series and Derek Jeter again tries to come back from injury against the Blue Jays. Let's hope he can stay on the field awhile this time. Monday's picks:

• The Royals over the Rays: This might be a goofy pick. It all depends on how good Jeremy Guthrie pitches. The Royals then need to score against Jeremy Hellickson. Jeremy versus Jeremy. I wonder how many times that has happened?
• The Reds over the Cardinals: I like Mike Leake here better than Tyler Lyons. They both have to face terrific lineups and it all depends which holds up better. A very big series for both teams.
• The Yankees over the Blue Jays: There are two divergent things going on in this game. First, the Yankees are 11-1 against the Blue Jays this season. It is kind of difficult to pick against that. But secondly, Phil Hughes is pitching for the Yankees. So mojo versus anti-mojo. And of course, who knows how good R.A. Dickey will be.
• The Tigers over the Athletics: The Tigers certainly have the better offense and Anibal Sanchez is a much better pitcher than A.J. Griffin. Plus, the Tigers are at home. This one seems too obvious, which is always dangerous.
• The Mets over the Phillies: These two teams are in a virtual dead heat for third place in the NL East. The Phillies are playing better and have won six of their last ten. And, they have Cliff Lee going. But I am banking on Zack Wheeler having a great day and shutting down the Phillies at home. If Wheeler does not have a good day, then it will be a Ruf game for the Mets. Ha! I kill me.
• The White Sox over the Astros: The White Sox have won eight of their last ten games. That is a hot team. Andre Rienzo is pitching well. But then again, so is Brett Oberholtzer for the Astros. I have to go with the White Sox here.
• The Giants over the Rockies: Barry Zito is among the worst starters in baseball this season. But he, surprisingly, has been quite decent over his career in Coors Field. You would think that would be a really ugly combination. It has not been. I am going with the Giants over Juan Nicasio.
• The Diamondbacks over the Padres: The D-backs have been among my least favorite teams when picking games this season. They just never seem to do what I expect them to do. Today, I do not expect Brandon McCarthy to pitch well and he will. Tyson Ross goes for the Padres, which helps the pick.
• The Rangers over the Mariners: Ugh. I hate this pick. I do not have much faith in Travis Blackley and then again, Joe Saunders comes out with a good game once in a while just when you think he is dead. I am going with the better team.

And the Game of the Day:

• The Dodgers over the Cubs: Zack Greinke at home is a pick I would hardly ever go against. Jake Arrieta cannot seem to pull it together to match the talent everyone thought he had. The Dodgers are not as good as their big streak. But they should have no trouble winning with these pitchers in the rotation.

Yesterday: 9-6

Week: 9-6

Month: 196-146

Season: 1099-859

Games of the Day: 83-58  +1

MLB Game Picks - Sunday: July 14, 2013

Today is the last day of the supposed first half. The first half actually ended just a little while ago. But just about everyone separates the season into before the All Star Break and after. The "before" part ends today and the only night game is at Wrigley Field, which is ironic if you think about it.

As for me, I will get a few days of a break from game picking (I will pick the All Star Game) and perhaps I can sleep an extra hour in the mornings for a few days. That will be nice. Today and yesterday I had to get up extra early because of a golf tournament I am playing this weekend. The first day did not go well and today is just one of those going through the motion days. Oh well.

And the picks sort of just went through the motions yesterday. In sixteen games, I only finished two games over the .500 mark. Here are Sunday's picks:

• The Indians over the Royals: The Royals will be glad that the first half is over as it did not go as well as hoped. One of the reasons it did not has been James Shields who pitches today. I think Swisher and Santana will get to him. The pick could go to pieces if Ubaldo Jimenez does not do well.
• The Yankees over the Twins: This pick did not go well yesterday as Phil Hughes did what Phil Hughes does at Yankee Stadium (give up homers). Today should feature a good game from CC Sabathia and even though the Yankees will make Kyle Gibson look better than he is, they should win.
• The Tigers over the Rangers: This pick is another that did not go well yesterday. Scherzer finally lost. But Justin Verlander should have a good day at home and Martin Perez cannot be as good as he has been pitching.
• The Nationals over the Marlins: I do not believe in either pitcher this game. Henderson Alvarez goes for the Fish and Taylor Jordan for the Nats. It will be a BABIP game and whichever pitcher finds more gloves with his batted balls wins.
• The Phillies over the White Sox: The left-handed Cole Hamels should be tougher on the White Sox than yesterday's two starters. Jose Quintana is not that bad a pitcher, but will have no run support.
• The Reds over the Braves: Sometimes you have to go with a pattern even if it is not logical. Julio Teheran has not won back to back games all season. He won his last start, so the pattern says he should not win today. That is good enough for me. Tony Cingrani for the win.
• The Pirates over the Mets: Dillon Gee will keep the Mets in the game and give them a chance to win. Gerrit Cole has lost two straight, but that is because of poor run support and not a lack of good pitching. Cole will come out on top today.
• The Blue Jays over the Orioles: Scott Feldman has had a decent season. But if you look at his game log, all of his bad outings have come against good offenses like the Cardinals, Reds and Rangers. So that doesn't give me confidence to pick him today against the Blue Jays. I think Josh Johnson will fare better against the Orioles.
• The Rays over the Astros: I think Chris Archer and Erik Bedard are about equal as pitchers. Archer is much younger and now has the better arm. I am going with the home team, which is also the better team.
• The Red Sox over the Athletics: And yet another Brandon makes the Majors as Brandon Workman has already gotten his MLB debut in a relief appearances. He has a good arm, but his first outing did not go well. He will do better preparing for a start. The biggest reason for this pick is that, even though Bartolo Colon has been fantastic, leave it to the Red Sox to give him his first clunker of a start.
• The Mariners over the Angels: The M's might as well finish off the sweep and end the Angels' first half on a fitting note. Hisashi Iwakuma has not had an effective start in a while. That will happen today. Joe Blanton will find some bats to hit.
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: The Dodgers will finish the first half with notice that they will be the team to beat in the second half. Ricky Nolasco basks again in the California sun and Jhoulys Chacin, who has had a good season, gets the hard luck loss.
• The Diamondbacks over the Brewers: My crystal ball says that Ian Kennedy will hit Ryan Braun, Braun will charge the mound and get suspended before he gets suspended. That would be silly, no? Anyway, Wily Peralta has not pitched well except, perhaps, for his last start.
• The Giants over the Padres: Barry Zito will not no-hit the Padres like yesterday's Lincecum start, but he should win the game. Eric Stults is finally getting in my radar with his win-loss timing.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Cardinals over the Cubs: Adam Wainwright pitching today means that he will probably not pitch in the All Star Game, which is kind of a shame as he has been the NL's best pitcher. But he should win his thirteenth game tonight against the Cubs despite a very good Travis Wood pitching for the Cubbies.

Yesterday: 9-7

Last week: 61-39

Month: 111-71

Season: 788-617

Games of the Day: 62-40

MLB Game Picks - Monday: June 17, 2013

And the winner is Benjamin Shoptaw! The eight and a half year old son of Cardinals writer, Daniel Shoptaw (@C70), participated along with his six year old sister, Sarah, and Dad against yours truly in a game picking contest yesterday. Benjamin went 9-6 with the picks while Daniel and I both went 8-7. Sarah had six games correct. I will be offering young Benjamin a contract within the next couple of days or so. Heh.

But it was great fun and proved, once again, how difficult it is to pick baseball games. On any given day, any team can win no matter how bad a team they are. And conversely, any team can lose no matter how good a team they are. Thank you so much, Shoptaw Family, for the great fun and who wants to be next? Maybe we can have a challenge like this every Sunday!

Monday's picks return to me flying solo:

• The Cardinals over the Cubs: The Cards has a surprisingly difficult weekend with the Marlins while the Cubs had a good weekend with the Mets...until Carlos Marmol entered the game in the ninth inning yesterday. That has to be demoralizing to lose in that fashion so many times. Shelby Miller should just be a bit better than Travis Wood in this one.
• The Royals over the Indians: Carlos Carrasco has pitched twice for the Indians this year and has been absolutely pounded. So, of course, that means he will throw a gem tonight, right? Even if he does, James Shields will hold the Indians back and allow the Royals to win a game.
• The Nationals over the Phillies: Both teams are struggling offensively. The pitching line of Dan Haren and John Lannon does not scare anyone. All I can keep thinking about is Cole Hamels, who lost due to poor umpiring, dunk hits and his team not scoring yesterday. The Phillies are not a good team.
• The Blue Jays over the Rockies: The pitching line here concerns me. Josh Johnson simply cannot put it together either physically or on the mound. Jorge De La Rosa, who has far too many names, can be quite good. But the Blue Jays are at home, the Rockies are going to miss Troy Tulowitzki and that's the pick.
• The Tigers over the Orioles: The only fear in this pick is the eighth and ninth inning and the Tigers' bullpen. But otherwise, Max Scherzer is exceptional and Jake Arrieta is up and down.
• The Braves over the Mets: Dillon Gee has been out of his mind lately and it all started in his start against the Yankees, which figures. I have not picked him since and he has won every time. Since I do not quite believe he is that good, the pick is Tim Hudson and the Braves. Slow learner, ain't I?
• The Pirates over the Reds: Two good teams. The Reds have the better offense. So the pick comes down to which pitcher could be really good today. Francisco Liriano seems to have a better chance of that than Mike Leake. So that is the pick.
• The Athletics over the Rangers: I hate winning and losing streaks. The Rangers have lost six straight. The A's have built a decent lead in the AL West. Are the Rangers dead? Will they roar back? I cannot pick then with Nick Tepesch on the mound. The streak goes to seven as Dan Straily tries to prove that he can kill more teams than just the Yankees.
• The Astros over the White Sox: Yeah, that is what I said too. What the heck!? But the White Sox are terrible. The Astros are on a roll. Who the heck knows. This is a coin toss of a pick. Carlos Jose Quintana goes for the Pale Hose and Bud Norris goes for the 'Stros.
• The Angels over the Mariners: It is hard for me to judge Aaron Harang and Jason Vargas. They both look like superstars against the Yankees and that is the only time I watch them pitch. In reality, both are mediocre at best. The Angels have to be the pick at home.
• The Giants over the Padres: Yes, the Padres have won a bunch of games in a row. And yes, against some good teams too. And yes, Barry Zito is pitching for the Giants. But this pick is against Edinson Volquez more than anything else.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Diamondbacks over the Marlins: The Marlins just finished gave the Cards all they can handle. Huh!?  Jacob Turner has been decent since his call up. But I have to go with Patrick Corbin here. That is the only pick that makes sense.

Yesterday: 8-7

Week: 8-7

Month: 108-109

Season: 571-459

Games of the Day: 45-30

MLB Game Picks - Saturday: May 25, 2013

The game last night between the Yankees and Rays typified the night. The Yankees won the game but lost Curtis Granderson again with another broken bone from getting hit by a pitch. Yesterday's picks could not escape bad news that followed good news. Plus it was incomplete with the Braves - Mets game suspended due to weather. Thus the day will remain incomplete until that game is finished. If the Braves win, the day will be, 10-5. If not, then 9-6.

I can relate to the weather thing. It started to rain here on Monday and has rained every day this week and is supposed to rain all bloody weekend. When did I move to Seattle and how can I get back?

Here are Saturday's picks:

• The Braves over the Mets: How many people are aware of the season Mike Minor is having? His WHIP is under one and his only sub-par start this season was against the Tigers. He should be better than Dillon Gee. The other factor in this game is whether the bullpens will be all sapped out if the teams complete the suspended game first.
• The Blue Jays over the Orioles: This outcome all depends on how well R.A. Dickey pitches. The Blue Jays will score, as they have been killing the ball and get to tee it up against Freddy Garcia. If Dickey can hold back the hard-hitting Orioles just a little bit, the Blue Jays win. I like their chances.
• The Red Sox over the Indians: Jon Lester's last couple of starts have me a bit concerned that he is falling back to last year's patterns. But I think they are just blips and he will pitch a good game today. Scott Kazmir could shut the Red Sox down. But he probably will not.
• The Royals over the Angels: There is so much to consider in this game. First, the Angels have caught fire. And they are winning left and right. But, they have Billy Buckner slated to start today and he has not pitched in the Majors since 2010. His minor league numbers are not promising. He has always lacked command and is homer prone. Then, there is the Royals, who have really hit the skids lately. They are flat and lifeless. But Jeremy Guthrie always give them a chance to win. Oy.
• The Giants over the Rockies: I am going against the odds here because the game is actually determined on the field. The Rockies have had the best of the Giants so far. And Juan Nicasio is a pretty decent pitcher. But Barry Zito got his bad start out of the way and can now bamboozle the Rockies for six or seven. The Giants are too tight a team to get rolled over the entire series.
• The Tigers over the Twins: It is really kind of sad that every pitcher the Twins can call upon is exactly the same--high contact, no strikeout guys. Someday, they will actually get some real arms. P.J. Walters is not it. Doug Fister with the win.
• The Reds over the Cubs: Yes, Travis Wood is having a good season. Yes, the Cubs are playing pretty well...for them. But picking against the Reds at home is pretty dicey. Homer Bailey really has not gotten untracked yet this season. It is time.
• The Pirates over the Brewers: The odds are saying the Brewers win this game. I am not liking Mike Fiers as the Brewers' starter. He is the true definition of a BABIP pitcher with few strikeouts. Everything has to go right in order for him to win. On the other hand, the Pirates just do not hit very much and have to hope Jeff Locke can shut down the Brewers. Maybe the odds were right. We will see.
• The White Sox over the Marlins: The White Sox tried very hard to give the Marlins a win yesterday and the Marlins just could not do it. There seems to be no shot for the Fish to win today. Jake Peavy goes against the needs-to-be-traded Ricky Nolasco.
• The Athletics over the Astros: That game last night was a heart-breaker for the Astros. But that is what happens to bad teams. Lucas Harrell could keep the Astros in this one, but give A.J. Griffin the edge for the win.
• The Nationals over the Phillies: Yeah, Jonathan Pettibone is 3-0. But I just do not see it. His numbers do not fly off the charts for me. Dan Haren is a bit of a flier for the Nationals too. But he is the pick here.
• The Cardinals over the Dodgers: I cannot see how Don Mattingly survives here. His team is dead in the water and now he has alienated Andre Ethier who really was not having that bad a season. The Dodgers put up a real dud last night and Ted Lilly will never inspire confidence. John Gast is the wild card in all this.
• The Diamondbacks over the Padres: Andrew Cashner has the ability and the arm to shut down the D-backs. But then the Padres have to score. Wade Miley will do his best to make sure that does not happen.
• The Mariners over the Rangers: Picking against Felix Hernandez at home just does not make sense. Granted, the M's have to score for him to win, but if they get a couple, he will make them hold up. Derek Holland goes for the Rangers. Hey! Brendan Ryan's average is over .200!

And the Game of the Day!

• The Rays over the Yankees: The Rays have won every game that Matt Moore has started this season. How can you pick against that? Besides, he is left-handed and the Yankees' lineup against lefties is pathetic. Add in that Vidal Nuno is starting for the Yankees and that seals the pick.

Yesterday: 9-5  (still pending the suspended game)

Week: 42-34

Month: 181-135

Season: 410-299

Games of the Day: 35-18