Link Report for Tue. 8/12 -- Brewer With A 13th Inning Walk-Off; DiFelice Hurt

[Mass Haas]

Helena Pre-Game Audio Interview with Manager Rene Gonzales

Click on the KCAP archive of August 12th, then browse to the 11:45 minute mark; interesting note about Nick Tyson battling against left-handed hitters Monday night; very detailed Cutter Dykstra discussion as well; shortstop Michael Marseco's absence (head injury) has coincided with recent Brewer troubles; Erik Miller, Brock Kjeldgaard, certainly a worthwhile listen...

 

Final: Helena 9, Ogden (Dodgers) 4

Helena Independent Record:

 

The Helena Brewers broke out of the gate with four runs in the first inning, and then went on to post a 9-4 win over the Ogden Raptors in Utah Monday.

Brewer leadoff hitter John Delaney opened the contest with a single, followed by a Miguel Vasquez single, back-to-back doubles by Erik Komatsu and Brock Kjeldgaard, and a single by Jose Duran.

Delaney belted a two-run home run in the fourth inning, and Kjeldgaard laced a two-run dinger in the seventh, his 11th of the season. Kjeldgaard finished at 3-for-5 with four runs batted in. The big first baseman now has now produced 44 RBIs in 52 games. Delaney went 3-for-5, while Vasquez was 2-for-4.

Cody Scarpetta, Daniel Meadows and Mark Willinsky split the pitching duties for the Capital City group. Meadows earned the win, working the fourth through seventh innings. He did not permit a hit or a run. Scarpetta started on the bump, going four frames and giving up two runs on four hits, while striking out seven batters.

The Brewers improved to 5-10 in the second half. They close out their four-game series with the Raptors Wednesday night.

 

Helena Box Score

Brewer pitchers strike out 13, walk three, hit three...

 

Helena Game Log

[JohnBriggs12]

Mark DiFelice nine K's (and of course for Mark, no walks) through four scoreless innings tonight.

 

There's your # 5 starter in '09, folks.

No offense to Mark, because I like the guy, but I hope with the stage our franchise is at right now, that we have a better option for a 5th starter then Mark DiFelice.

 

I agree. DiFelice should be no better than 8th on the starter depth chart next spring behind in no particular order Gallardo, Parra, Suppan, Bush, Villanueva, McClung, (a FA or trade acquisition), then DiFelice. He showed weakness against lefthanded hitters in his earlier Brewer stint. That says situational reliever to me.

[Brawndo the Thirst Mutilat]

Jeff Sackmann has previous year minor league split data back up, so if you look here, you will see that there is nothing drastic or alarming about DiFelice's career platoon differential. Some key numbers:

 

FIP vs LH: 4.41

FIP vs RH: 3.29

 

AVG vs LH: .256

AVG vs RH: .212

 

HR/9 vs LH: 1.30

HR/9 vs RH: 0.85 (this one's a bit wider than the others, but it's nothing like the impression you'd get based on his tiny MLB sample)

 

By way of comparison, McClung's career MLB platoon differential is a little wider:

 

OPS vs LH: .879

OPS vs RH: .720

 

AVG vs LH: .287

AVG vs RH: .239

 

Side note -- it's a bit sad that Sackmann's minor league splits now offer better info than anywhere I'm aware of where you can get major league splits.

 

At any rate, can we please put the notion that DiFelice is some abnormal liability against LH to rest? It was a small sample, people. Never trust extreme results over small samples -- they always lie.

 

As for where he ought to stand on next year's rotation pecking order, DiFelice's overall MLE FIPs for the last 2 seasons are 3.14 and 3.07. He might well be the second best pitcher in the organization next year. I'd certainly take Gallardo over DiFelice, and Parra is probably better too, but I'd sooner see DiFelice in the opening day rotation than Bush, Suppan, Villy, and (for the love of all that is holy and unholy alike) McClung. He's no worse than a league average SP.

[dadofandrew]

His only pitch of note goes right into a LH hitter's power zone. Until he gets them out, it's a weakness. Much of his career, he was a different pitcher as well, as now he only throws the one pitch.

 

AAA guys aren't Dave Ortiz and the like. If they have power, they're in the bigs.

[Brawndo the Thirst Mutilat]

DiFelice's MLE FIPs against LH for the past two seasons, since he has been throwing mostly cutters (he does have an 88 mph straight FB, a curve, and a change as well, all of which he used at least a few times at the MLB level this year) are 4.92 and 4.88. Not significantly worse than the 4.41 career MLE FIP. Of course, he's bunches better against RH hitters over that span (since his overall FIPs are barely above 3.00), but that doesn't mean that he's too terrible against LH hitters to use as a SP.

 

If you wish, you can continue to regard major league LH hitters as entirely different animals relative to AAA LH hitters, such that no translation of minor league stats is believable or worthwhile. I find that a very strange article of faith.