Atomic RoadRunners | Andrew Flynn’s High-Energy Fantasy Baseball

Notes from three different articles today at Baseball Prospectus:

First, in Kevin Goldstein’s Future Shock:

Tom Gorzelanny striking out eight over four shutout innings for Indianapolis: Lefthanders who throw hard are hard to come by, and Gorzelanny is the best pitching prospect in the Pittsburgh system, and possibly better right now than most of the Pirates rotation.

Next, Christina Kahrl rounds up the NL in Transaction Analysis:

With Klesko on the DL, right now represents a moment of truth for Adrian Gonzalez. What’s at stake is whether or not he’ll wind up in the same historical dustbin of first base superprospects that fell well short of greatness. You know, the one that already has Travis Lee, Carlos Pena, and Daryle Ward peeping out of it when they aren’t laminating their press clippings (some of which I wrote, come to think of it). We all know that he is still only about to turn 24, but first base is no place to be seen as merely adequate, and as much as Gonzalez’s glovework is rightly considered to be among the best, it’s what he’s going to do with the bat that’s going to make or break him. He’s got a clean shot right now at making Klesko into trade bait, so stay tuned.

And lastly, Will Carroll has the latest on injuries in Under the Knife:

The Cubs get the best news of the bunch, as they begin to plan for the return of three pitchers. The order should go: Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, and finally Wade Miller, though Miller and Prior seem to be on about the same schedule. Wood is throwing well, rated by many who saw him this spring as “fully back.” One player who watched him throw batting practice said that his “BP curve was better than most guys’ ‘A’ curve.” Wood is on track for a late April return as the Cubs resist pushing him. . . The addition of these three into any lineup is a major plus; keeping them in the rotation is the challenge.

Sources tell me that Ryan Klesko will have shoulder surgery, though no official announcement has been made.

Regarding Eric Gagne, expect there to be a lot of talk about whether the Dodgers saw this coming when making the Danny Baez deal. Also expect rumblings of a a coverup with the infection/virus and suspension. 

Via Baseball Primer, the Dayton Daily News has a description of Adam Dunn’s monster home run from yesterday’s game:

Then, in the sixth inning of Cincinnati’s 6-5 victory over Pittsburgh, [Adam] Dunn hit another of his legendary home runs and the fans gave him a for-real cheer.

The ball split the smokestacks in center field, a perfect football field goal, landed on the concourse outside the park, one-hopped onto Mehring Way and hit a car. The driver stopped, picked up the ball, and motored on down the road. They called it 479 feet, fourth longest in park history, but if the driver was from Paducah, who knows how far the ball went. Dunn also hit the longest, a 535-footer two years ago that landed on some driftwood on the banks of the Ohio River.

Asked if he saw his homer split the smoke stacks, Dunn said, “Naw, I don’t watch ‘em too much. They all count the same whether they go in the front row like Junior’s (Ken Griffey Jr.) or 500 feet.”

Baseball Analysts reveal their 2006 All-OOPS (Overrated Offensive Players) team, with two RoadRunners making appearances:

C: Johnny Estrada, Honorable Mention behind Paul LoDuca

SS: Jose Reyes, New York Mets

Reyes was a second team all-OOPs member last year. His ability to beat out infield hits adds batting average points but the lack of walks and extra-base power hurts him in the other two rate stats. Jose is an excellent base runner so his weakness offensively is simply how he performs at the plate. He led the majors in outs in 2005 and, as a leadoff hitter, is a prime candidate to become the first player to repeat this trick since Chad Curtis in 1994 and 1995. If Reyes ever learns to take a walk, he could go from overrated to a true star as fast as it takes him to get down the line.

From Rotoworld and Rotowire:

Armando Benitez (knee) thinks he will be ready on April 17 when he is eligible to come off of the DL. Benitez said he just needs to throw a few batting practice sessions. “All I need is a couple of live BPs, or three in a row,” said Benitez, referring to high-intensity batting-practice sessions. “I don’t need to throw that hard. I know what I got.’

Kerry Wood (shoulder) threw two 40-pitch batting practice sessions on Wednesday and will throw 60-pitches in a few days. If Wood feels no discomfort from the 60-pitch session he will throw a simulated game and then could go on a rehab assignment.  Pitching coach Larry Rothschild said Wood will throw another session of closer to 60 pitches in several days and will be re-evaluated. Wood is expected back in late April.

Brandon Watson went 0-for-5 tonight to finish the series against the Mets 1-for-12 with a walk. He was caught stealing in one of the two occasions that he reached base safely. If Watson keeps having problems, Ryan Church’s return to the majors shouldn’t be too far away.

Adam Dunn hit a 479-foot solo homer and singled in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth to lead the Reds to a 6-5 win over the Pirates on Thursday night.  The single resulted in Jim Tracy’s first ejection as a Pirate. With runners on first and second, Dunn hit a sinking liner off Mike Gonzalez that center fielder Chris Duffy dived and caught on the short hop, bringing home the go-ahead run. The Pirates argued that the ball was caught in the air, but replays showed that the umpires got it right.

Danys Baez is expected to act as the Dodgers’ closer while Eric Gagne rehabs from another elbow surgery. Baez will probably be a top-10 closer for as long as he has the job. Pick him up if he’s available in your league.

Stephen Drew homered in his first Triple-A at bat on Thursday. Drew ended the game going 2-for-5 and to get off to a nice start with Triple-A Tucson.

Jeff DaVanon got the start in place of Green in right field. Green was given the night off on Thursday, in part because lefty Jeff Francis was on the mound, and in part because manager Bob Melvin wants to rest him more this season. Green was unhappy about sitting out Thursday’s game against Colorado.    “These guys want to play nine innings, 162 (games) and we appreciate that and I understand they want to do that,” Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. “But we just think everybody’s going to be a little bit better off if they get some rest.” Melvin also may have considered that over the last three seasons, Green has hit just .238 off of lefties versus .294 when righties are on the hill.

One day after starting at first base, Rich Aurilia was back in the lineup again on Thursday night, this time at third base, against right-hander Ian Snell. Aurilia went 0-for-5 while batting fifth in the order. Look for him to start three to four times a week while manager Jerry Narron finds a way to play all three of Aurilia, Ryan Freel and Tony Womack.

Tom Gorzelanny earned a no decision, throwing four innings of one hit, shutout ball in Triple-A Indianapolis’ season opener at Pawtucket on Thursday. Gorzelanny struck out eight while walking two. He threw 46 of his 77 pitches for strikes.

Standings:  2nd Place, 74 points, down 6 from yesterday 16.5 points behind X-Men (30 point gain this week)  HR:     7     (2nd) AVG:    .3037 (6th) RBI:    22    (t-2nd) RUNS:   19    (t-7th) SB:     2     (t-2nd) W:      1     (t-6th) ERA:    2.01  (1st) WHIP:   1.085 (1st) K'S:    19    (7th) SAVES:  1     (t-6th)  BOX SCORE FOR 04.06 Atomic Roadrunners            ab  r  h  bi | bb so    avg --------------------------------------------------------- Mike Lieberthal      Phi  C    3  0  1   1 |  1  0   .364 Ryan Zimmerman       Was 3B    5  0  0   0 |  0  4   .273 Adam Dunn            Cin OF    5  1  2   2 |  0  1   .500 Moises Alou           SF OF    4  1  1   1 |  0  0   .333 Brandon Watson       Was OF    5  0  0   0 |  0  2   .083 Jose Reyes           NYM SS    5  2  3   2 |  0  1   .286 --------------------------------------------------------- Totals                        27  4  7   6 |  1  8   .259 --------------------------------------------------------- RBI: MLieberthal 1(1), ADunn 2(4), MAlou 1(2), JReyes 2(2) 2B: MLieberthal 1(1) 3B: JReyes 1(1) HR: ADunn 1(2) GIDP: MLieberthal 1(1), MAlou 1(1)  PITCHING                          ip  h  r er bb ibb so bf    era whip ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Juan Cruz                        1.0  0  0  0  0   0  3  3    0.00 0.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals                           1.0  0  0  0  0   0  3  3   0.00 0.00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------  RESERVE HITTING               ab  r  h  bi | bb so    avg --------------------------------------------------------- Rich Aurilia         Cin 2B    5  0  0   0 |  0  0   .300 Jeff DaVanon         Ari OF    3  0  1   3 |  1  0   .250 Matt Diaz            Atl OF    4  0  0   0 |  0  0   .250 --------------------------------------------------------- Totals                        12  0  1   3 |  1  0   .083 --------------------------------------------------------- RBI: JDaVanon 3(3) 2B: JDaVanon 1(1)