At FanGraphs we’re big fans of the heat map. And now customizable heat maps are now available in the pitchf/x sections for all pitchers. Much thanks to Dave Allen for helping me out!
Here are the heat maps for Mark Buehrle, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Edwin Jackson, Chris Sale, and Jake Peavy. Also, Jesse Crain, Gregory Infante, Will Ohman, Tony Pena, Sergio Santos, and Matt Thornton.
For pitchers that threw 500 or more qualified pitches (pitches that meet the requirements for tracking pitch times) in 2010, here are the 20 major league leaders and major league trailers for time between pitches. Measurements are in seconds:
1. Mark Buehrle, 16.0
11. John Danks, 17.5
Also, Dan Hudson is at #4 and Clayton Richard is at #19. As a team the White Sox are second with a 19.1 average.
Using 1500 qualified pitches as a cutoff point, to filter out relief pitchers, we get:
1. Mark Buerhle, 16.0
2. John Danks, 17.5
Clayton Richard is at #5. For complete charts and in graphic form, hit the link!
As the coals in the hot stove are just beginning to get stoked up, it’s time to rank the current Chicago White Sox, in order of importance for 2011 and beyond. It’s not intended to be a strict list of merely the best players, or best values, on the White Sox. Rather, it takes into account team depth, the free agent market, or answering the question of which player would hurt the most not being on the team? …
… 1. Chris Sale, P
Sale is not the best White Sox player — yet. But in just 21 games last season, he established himself as a potential superstar. He’s the most important White Sox player in 2011 because of his flexibility — he’s a potential starter, setup man, or closer. Talk about a “Sale” — the 21-year-old lefty will fill a crucial slot on the team for peanuts, and for a guy who provided $2.6 million in value (estimated salary values all via FanGraphs) in just his short stint with the club last season, the value of this Sale is immeasurable.
video: http://www.csnchicago.com/pages/video?PID=oLyVPFPlcp0UluuALyIjO3rtSGu__5Lh (9:04)
At the 7:00 mark Buehrle says his gut feeling is Konerko won’t be back while A.J. has a better chance and he will be back. Also, at the 3:00 mark Buehre says if the White Sox offer him a contract after 2011, he will stay with the White Sox (99% odds) even if he has an offer from St. Louis.
Sox For Strays #6 (click to play):
http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12142359&c_id=cws (0:27)
UPDATE: More ‘Sox for Strays’ videos inside (more…)
Dyck:
Konerko, who homered against Pavano his next time up, said he did not believe the pitch was intentional, but he did appreciate teammate Mark Buehrle hitting Twins’ first baseman Michael Cuddyer later.
“I don’t need to see Mark do that to know he protects his guys,” said Konerko, whose swollen upper lid still made it difficult to talk Friday. “He’s the one guy over the years that not only will go out and do it, but gets it done.”
What does Mark Buehrle think of Dan Hudson pitching-wise?
“I think [Dan Hudson] was going to be like Gavin [Floyd] and [John] Danks. You know, they struggled with control [their first year], and then each year it gets better and better. Obviously, I think [Hudson] would have stuck around if we weren’t in contention and been allowed to develop into that. Being in contention, that kind of changed things.”
Speaking of Hudson, his 2nd start since the trade:
| Arizona | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson, D(W, 3-1) | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3.73 |
The White Sox rotation to start the second half in Minnesota has been set, with left-hander John Danks opening the final 75 games of this exciting 2010 campaign at Target Field on July 15.Danks will be followed by Gavin Floyd, Mark Buehrle and Freddy Garcia, with Daniel Hudson most likely getting the call for the series opener in Seattle on July 19. Although pitching coach Don Cooper said there was no special process used in coming up with the alignment, the lefty tandem of Danks and Buehrle have been split after working back-to-back in five consecutive turns through the rotation.Buehrle and Garcia, veteran hurlers whose workloads the White Sox will monitor to increase the chances for second-half success, also receive an extra day’s rest.
Mark Buehrle told general manager Ken Williams on Monday that he had 9 1/2 hours to get rid of him or he’d be stuck with him.
Williams laughed and told Buehrle he didn’t even think about Monday night’s deadline before Buehrle’s full no-trade rights kicked in as a player with 10 years of major league service, all with the White Sox. …
“I think when the whole contract thing was going down, I wanted a no-trade clause because I wanted to know I’d be here the whole time,” Buehrle said of the four-year extension he signed with the White Sox on July 8, 2007. “I give props to [Sox owner] Jerry [Reinsdorf] and [general manager] Kenny [Williams] , they kept their word. Jerry called me into the office after I signed and told me, ‘We’re not signing you to trade you. You’ve got my word that we’re not going to trade you.’ And he held up to it.”
Buster Olney via MLBTR:
Heard this from multiple executives: The White Sox have made it clear they are open for business, and ready to trade off parts … from what has been a very disappointing team. The perception of other teams is that Paul Konerko is available right now, and … as we know, Chicago GM Ken Williams is a deal-maker,someone who will move quickly — as he did with the Contreras and Thome deals last fall.
Other players mentioned by MLBTR: A.J. Pierzynski, Mark Buehrle, Bobby Jenks, J.J. Putz, Scott Linebrink, Tony Pena, Matt Thornton, Andruw Jones, Freddy Garcia, Mark Kotsay, Omar Vizquel, Ramon Castro.
As the White Sox drift out of the AL Central race, it’s hard not to wonder if GM Kenny Williams will listen to offers on any of his starting pitchers. But longtime Williams watchers would be shocked if he deals anyone other than replaceable bullpen parts and possibly Paul Konerko.”The thing you have to remember about Kenny is, he always expects to have a good team,” said one rival GM. “If he doesn’t think he can win this year, he still expects to win next year. So why would he move his [top four] starters? I don’t see him doing that. He’ll move a free agent, or bullpen guys he thinks are overpriced, because those guys are replaceable. But he can’t replace a Gavin Floyd or a [Mark] Buehrle or a [John] Danks. So I don’t see that one.”
Meanwhile, one scout reports that he thinks rumors of Bobby Jenks‘ demise as a useful closer have been seriously overblown.
“I still think Bobby Jenks, with the right team, could bring them a decent return,” the scout said. “His velocity is down a little, and he’s throwing more two-seam fastballs. But I don’t think his stuff has declined that much to where I’d think he can’t close.”
Bruce Levine expects Kenny to shop Jenks, Konerko, Pierzynski and Buehrle:
The Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies have had the most scouts looking at the White Sox the past three weeks. The Rangers have a strong interest in Pierzynski. They feel he can bring intangibles to bring them to the next level. The Phillies’ bullpen is in need of a power arm with experience, and no one fits that role on the Sox better than Jenks, especially with the injuries to Phillies closer Brad Lidge. …
Theme: Rubric. Blog at WordPress.com.
