Pat Malone (1902)
Phil Rizzuto (1917)
Johnny Sain (1917)
Sal Butera (1952)
Glenn Hubbard (1957)
Geno Petralli (1959)
Tony Womack (1969)
David Weathers (1969)
Oscar Munoz (1969)
Wil Nieves (1977)
Joel Pineiro (1978)
Rocco Baldelli (1981)
Vance Worley (1987)
Ben Rortvedt (1997)
Tag Archives: Vance Worley
Happy Birthday–September 25
Pat Malone (1902)
Phil Rizzuto (1917)
Johnny Sain (1917)
Sal Butera (1952)
Glenn Hubbard (1957)
Geno Petralli (1959)
Tony Womack (1969)
David Weathers (1969)
Oscar Munoz (1969)
Wil Nieves (1977)
Joel Pineiro (1978)
Rocco Baldelli (1981)
Vance Worley (1987)
Ben Rortvedt (1997)
Happy Birthday–September 25
Pat Malone (1902)
Phil Rizzuto (1917)
Johnny Sain (1917)
Sal Butera (1952)
Glenn Hubbard (1957)
Geno Petralli (1959)
Tony Womack (1969)
David Weathers (1969)
Oscar Munoz (1969)
Wil Nieves (1977)
Joel Pineiro (1978)
Rocco Baldelli (1981)
Vance Worley (1987)
Game 33: O’s @ Twins
I didn't expect that the Twins would break even on that road trip. That was actually pretty fun to watch. Now the work begins. In order to be a properly mediocre team (as opposed to a wretched one), the home team is going to have to follow up that perfectly acceptable road trip with a slightly better home stand. That started poorly yesterday, but what do you expect when the only give Josh Roenicke a three run lead and one inning to keep it?
None-the-less, today, the faithful must press on, confident in the knowledge that the opposition has a rookie on the mound, whereas we have a winless ace going on our side. Plus, the Twins have noted folk heroes Joe Mauer and Oswaldo Arcia in the lineup (I assume they do, anyway, I'm writing this up before the lineups have actually been posted).
It's like we can't lose.
Twins on Leaderboards
rWAR (position players) - Mauer, 10th (1.6)
OBP - Mauer, 10th (.396)
Doubles - Mauer, t-2nd (13)*
Triples - Dozier, t-3rd (2)
Bases on Balls - Willingham, 2nd (24)
Hit By Pitch - Willingham, 1st (5)
Hit By Pitch - Plouffe, t-2nd (4)
Sacrifices - Dozier, t-7th (2)
Sac Flies - Morneau, t-1st (4)
Wins - Correia, t-10th (4)
BB/9 - Correia, 5th (1.350)
Saves - Perkins, 7th (8)
Hits Allowed - Worley, 3rd (55)
Losses - Worley, t-5th (4)
Earned Runs - Worley, t-7th (26)
Earned Runs - Pelfrey, t-10th (23)
Games Fished - Perkins, t-6th (13)
* Yeah, that Fenway series was fun, wasn't it?
Game 28: Twins at Red Sox
Even casual fans, with proper coaching and education, are able to see that the Win is a flawed statistic for measuring pitcher performance. We can all take consolation in just how flawed the statistic is as the Twins begin a four-game series this evening at Fenway with Clay Buchholz taking the mound for Boston. Because Buchholz has notched six wins this year in his six starts and will be going for this seventh straight tonight. Earned Run Average is another pitching stat that's been maligned in recent years, though it certainly has more evaluative utility than the Win. So don't put too much stock in that 1.01 ERA that Buchholz will take to the mound with him, either. It's still early in the year, the sample size still small. And the fact that Buchholz is 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA against the Twins since 2010 shouldn't matter to you too much, either. Remember, numbers don't win games, players do. If you can repeat that mantra throughout the night about every ten minutes, in Joe Morgan's voice, you'll be just fine (or, ready for institutional commitment). There is still reason to hope for a Twins win tonight. Because just like warm weather in the spring, regression to the mean can come a lot later than you expect.
On the mound for the Twins tonight is Vance Worley, also tossing his seventh start of the year but with nary a Win to his credit and a 7.22 ERA to boot. But again, forget about the numbers. The beauty of this game is that anything can happen. Buchholz might get food poisoning or the gout. Somebody might shoot him in the arm with a tranquilizer dart during warmups. He could slip on a banana peel or some other less trite but equally slippery fruit rind and wrench his back. The point is that there's always hope. For Worley, who the Twins seem to be souring on a bit lately, the best hope is to keep the ball from flying out of the ballpark and to miss a heck of a lot more bats. Let's hope he can figure out how to do that tonight. And remember, hope is a good thing. It's just not a good basis for wagering.
Play ball!
Game 14: Twins @ White Sox
Baseball's back! Again!
Did you miss it? I'll bet you did.
Worley takes on Jake Peavey today. The Vanimal has been pretty dreadful so far, but that .455 BABIP will probably come down at some point. Even if it doesn't, he's only affecting one game out of five. The guy we traded him for isn't doing a lot better, and he's in every game.
I'm predicting a 13-0 away team victory.
Twins on Leaderboards
WAR (position players) - Mauer, 10th (0.9)Batting Average - Mauer, 4th (.386)
Hits - Mauer, 7th (22)
Triples - Plouffe & Dozier, t-7th (1)
Base on Balls - Willingham, t-3rd (10)
Strikeouts - Hicks, t-6th (20)
Singles - Mauer, t-10th (15)
OPS+ - Mauer, 10th (176)
Runs Created - Mauer, t-9th (14)
Hit By Pitch - Plouffe, 2nd (3)
Hit By Pitch - Willingham, t-3rd (2)
Sacrifice Hits - Dozier & Florimon, t-6th (1)
Sacrifice Flies - 5 tied for 10th (1)
Caught Stealing - 5 tied for 5th (1)
Pitchers bWAR - Correia, 8th (1.1)
Wins - Pelfrey, t-10th (2)
BB/9 - Correia, 4th (1.266)
Saves - Perkins, t-7th (3)
Hits Allowed - Worley, t-7th (25)
Losses - Worley, t-7th (2)
Earned Runs - Worley, t-4th (14)
Wild Pitches - Burton, t-3rd (2)
Games Finished - Perkins, t-7th (5)
Game 5: Twins @ O’s
It was a long wait for baseball to return. I missed it more than one might think, considering my team of choice's biggest accomplishment over the last two years was that they avoided losing 100 games. I don't know exactly what my expectations for this year are, but so far they've been exceeding them. As long as they keep playing games that stay interesting beyond the fourth inning, it'll be an improvement over last season, anyway.
Vance Worley makes his second start this evening. He was one of maybe fifteen people crazy enough to be at the Opening Day game in short sleeves, and that endears him to me. Let's see if he can shut down Barry Bonds Chris Davis, and whether or not he can give the bullpen a little bit of a breather. His opponent is...Chris Tillman. Tillman took a huge leap forward in ERA last year while only improving his xFIP a half run or so. He would seem like a prime target for a bit of regression, let's see to that.
Leaderboards That Twins Appear On:
On-Base% - Plouffe, t-10th (.500)
At Bats - Mauer, t-10th (18)
Doubles - Doumit & Willingham, t-7th (2)
Triples - Dozier, t-3rd (1)
Base on Balls - Morneau, t-1st (4)
Base on Balls - Plouffe & Willingham, t-7th (3)
Strikeouts - Hicks, t-3rd (8)
Strikeouts - Willingham, t-7th (7)
Stolen Bases - Plouffe & Parmelee (???), t-7th (1)
Runs Created - Plouffe, t-10th (5)
Extra Base Hits - Willingham, t-7th (3)
Hit By Pitch - Plouffe, t-1st (1)
Double Plays Grounded Into - Parmelee, t-5th (1)
Stolen Base Success% - Plouffe & Parmelee, t-1st (100%)
At Bats Per SO - Morneau, t-10th (13)
Outs Made - Hicks, t-6th (16)
WPA Added - Escobar, 3rd (0.5)
ERA - Pelfrey, t-1st (0.00)
Wins - Pelfrey & Perkins, t-1st (1)
W/L % - Pelfrey & Perkins, t-1st (1.000)
Games Played - Fien & Duensing, t-1st (3)
Innings - Correia, t-5th (7)
Games Strated - Worley, Correia, Pelfrey, & Hendriks, t-1st (1)
Hits Allowed - Hendriks & Worley, t-4th (8)
Home Runs Per 9 - Everyone But Robertson, t-1st (0.00)
Losses - Fien & Worley, t-2nd (1)
Wild Pitches - Roenicke, Pressly, & Worley, t-5th (1)
Batters Faced - Correia, t-5th (28)
Batters Faced - Worley, t-9th (27)
Games Finished - Roenicke, Robertson, Pressly, & Perkins, t-9th (1)
I expect that feature to be a little less exhaustive the next time my turn for a game log rolls around.
Go Twins.
2013 Game 1: Defending AL Champs at Offending AL Basement Dwellers
First Pitch—3:10 p.m. Central
Probable Starters—Justin "Cy" Verlander vs. Vance "Can't Dance" Worley
Probable Outcome—Try not to think about it too much
“Awright, ladies!” Ron Gardenhire bellowed as he stuck his head inside the clubhouse door. “Stick your cups in your pants and hit the field, batting practice starts in five minutes!”
Inside, the entire Twins’ 25-man roster stood in a somber circle at the center of the room. Gardenhire walked over and nudged his way inside the group, only to see a battered old steamer trunk sitting on the floor.
“So it finally got here,” the manager muttered as he rubbed his whiskered chin. “About damn time, too.”
Continue reading 2013 Game 1: Defending AL Champs at Offending AL Basement Dwellers