Tag: Jason Heyward

MLB Robbery of the Year: Jason Heyward Should Have Won the 2010 NL ROY Award

I waited a day before writing this.

The second I saw that Buster Posey won the NL Rookie of the Year Award, I wanted to write about why Jason Heyward should have won, but I waited a day to see if it was just an impulsive reaction to my favorite player just missing out.

It’s not. Jason Heyward should have won the 2010 Rookie of the Year Award.

I’m not trying to take anything away from Buster Posey.

He had a great season, was an integral part of the Giants winning the World Series and is the best young catcher in the game. But Heyward was better.

On the surface, Posey looks like a good choice over Heyward. He finished the year with a higher OPS and batting average than the Braves rookie. Although Posey played in fewer games, he matched Heyward’s homerun total.

What voters seemingly failed to realize, is that we live in an age where there is a deeper understanding of how well a player performs, and stats like WAR, OPS+ and Win Probability Added can measure a players performance better than what you find on the back of a baseball card.

I’ll start off with OPS+. 

When Heyward’s astonishing OBP from this past season is brought up, many have pointed to the fact that Posey finished the season with a higher OPS than Heyward. But with all the advanced statistical measures available today we can use OPS+, which includes ballpark factors to help decide who the better hitter was. Heyward beats Posey in OPS+ (131 to 129), so if they played on the same team, it’s likely that Heyward would have ended up with the better OPS, and actually had the better offensive season.

Secondly, I’ll get into Win Probability Added. As any fan watching a game knows; all homeruns aren’t created equal. A solo shot in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth is much more important to someone’s team than a solo shot in when leading by 10 runs.

Heyward absolutely dominated Posey in Win Probability Added this past season. In total, Heyward finished with a WPA of 4.82, more than three times as much as Posey’s 1.09. In other words: Heyward, who using OPS+ was the better hitter, got his hits when it mattered more to his team.

Finally, we’ll look at WAR, or Wins Above Replacement. This stat essentially tells how many more wins a team got with a certain player than it would have with a replacement level (AAA or unsigned free agent) player.

One reason that I like WAR in this situation, is that when Fangraphs calculates WAR, they have a positional component, that accounts for differences between two positions (let’s say right fielders and catchers). Because right field is easier to play and a replacement level right fielder would likely produce more than a replacement level catcher, Posey gets a boost in his WAR.

Yet, even with the positional differences, Heyward comes out on top again with 5.0 WAR to Posey’s 3.9.

All told, Heyward was a better player than Posey in 2010. He finished the year with a slightly better offensive season and even when positional differences are accounted for, added more wins to his team’s total than Posey did. Jason Heyward got robbed, and should’ve been the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year.

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2010 NL ROY Robbery: Why Jason Heyward Deserved the Award, Not Buster Posey

2010 contained one of the best crops of rookies, especially in the National League, of recent years. Many of them, including Stephen Strasburg, Jaime Garcia, Starlin Castro, Ike Davis, Gaby Sanchez, Mike Stanton, John Axford, Jonny Venters, and many more, will likely become household names in the years to come as a new generation of superstars.

However, the two who, in most opinions, will shine the brightest for years to come, Jason Heyward and Buster Posey, had fabulous seasons, not just for rookies, but also as compared to players of all ages. As was just announced, Posey was selected as Rookie of the Year (ROY) for his efforts in leading the San Francisco Giants to a World Championship, narrowly beating Heyward of the Atlanta Braves.

Heyward was a top prospect that had been lighting the minor leagues on fire and made the club from Spring Training, while Posey was among an elite class of minor league catchers who hit for average and power, which included Carlos Santana of the Cleveland Indians and Jesus Montero currently of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, the AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees.

Let’s look at a stat line of the two during the regular season (Heyward is first):

G PA AB R H HR RBI SB BB BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB WAR
142 623 520 83 144 18 72 11 91 .277 .393 .456 .849 131 237 4.4
108 443 406 58 124 18 67 0 30 .305 .357 .505 .862 129 205 3.0

A few things immediately stand out upon observing the stat lines. The first, and the most important observation, is the disparity in games, plate appearances, and at-bats. Those led to the gap in runs, hits, and total bases, which is due to Heyward making the team from the season’s start in April as opposed to Posey’s call-up in late May. Posey did offer more homeruns per at-bat than Heyward, but Heyward had enough speed to swipe 11 bags to Posey’s none.

The most accepted interpretation of the definition of the Rookie of the Year is a rookie who added the most value to a team. One sabermetric stat that attempts to quantify this is WAR, which is Wins Added over Replacement. Basically, if an arbitrary low-end player was in Jason Heyward’s place for the course of the season, the Braves would have won 4.4 less games. For Posey, that would have cost the Giants three games.

Keep in mind that both teams literally secured their playoff spots on the last day of the regular season, meaning both teams would have missed the playoffs, hypothetically.

In this debate, to argue for Buster Posey, some might argue with average-based statistics. Though Heyward’s batting average was significantly lower than Posey’s, his on base percentage (OBP) was a good bit higher, and it was enough for eighth in the MLB. Likewise, had Posey had enough plate appearances to qualify, his .305 BA would rank 18th.

Heyward’s high OBP was mostly due to his impeccable plate discipline, which accounted for 91 walks to Posey’s 30. Also, don’t be fooled by on-base plus slugging percentage. OPS+ is a more accurate stat which adjusts for ballpark differences.

With the average based-stats being incredibly comparable, the deciding factor becomes the gap in longevity, and therefore impact, on their respective ballclubs. Though his postseason presence was unquestionable, the postseason should not and is not be taken into account in the ROY. However, for the regular season only, Heyward unquestionably proved his worth.

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NL Rookie of the Year: Why Buster Posey Should Be the Clear Winner

As we get closer to Nov. 15—the day the NL Rookie of the Year award is given out—there are two leading candidates: San Francisco‘s Buster Posey and Atlanta‘s Jason Heyward.

Despite a great year by Heyward, Buster Posey should win the award.

First off, the San Francisco Giants would have never made it to the playoffs without Posey, whose promotion as a starter on June 30 gave the then-struggling Giants a serious shot in the arm.

After getting swept by their bitter rival the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 30, the Giants proceeded to go 20-8 in July, highlighted by Posey’s first month as a starting catcher, in which he batted .417 with seven homers, 24 RBI and 20 runs in just 103 at-bats. Not to mention a 21-game hitting streak, which tied a San Francisco Giants rookie record set by Willie McCovey.

When Posey entered the starting lineup, the Giants were in fourth place in the NL West, 5.5 games out of first. After just one month of Posey at the helm, the Giants were in second place, 1.5 games out of first, and had the third-best winning percentage in the National League. The Giants went on to go 52-33 since Posey’s promotion.

Secondly, Posey—in just his first full year mind you—managed to take over as catcher seamlessly after Bengie Molina’s departure and helped guide what was probably the best pitching staff in San Francisco’s 52-year history. He quickly gained the talented pitching staff’s trust and his cannon of an arm became known around the league.

What he did as a rookie calling the game could be the No. 1 reason he deserves the ROY in 2010. Rarely in baseball’s history has there been a rookie catcher who commanded a game the way Posey did. Let’s not forget he’s still only 23 years old.

Third, the stats don’t lie. Although Heyward had more RBI and runs (72 and 83 respectively) in 2010, he had 114 more at-bats than Posey and was a starter from day one for the Braves.

Posey hit the same amount of home runs (18) and batted .305 to Heyward’s .277. He also managed to collect only five less RBI than Heyward despite his fewer at-bats. Posey hit his 18th home run in San Francisco’s division-clinching 3-0 win over San Diego in the final game of the season.

Both players were stellar with runners in scoring position, with Posey barely edging out Heyward, hitting .312 to Heyward’s .306. Posey had a higher OPS (on-base plus slugging), .862 to .849. Posey also only struck out 55 times the entire year, to Heyward’s 128—a testament to how disciplined he was. Rarely did he look over-matched.

There’s no doubt Heyward had a great year and will be a prominent player for years to come, but if Posey doesn’t win the award this year, it would surely be a mistake.

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NL Rookie of the Year 2010 Predictions: 10 Reasons Buster Posey Deserves To Win

With the announcement of the National League Rookie of the Year due on Monday, baseball fans find themselves in a place they did not expect to be.

In spring training, prior to the 2010 season, two rookies commanded the attention of the baseball world. One was a 20-year-old man-child in Atlanta, the next Ken Griffey Jr. or perhaps even Frank Robinson, whose five tools were already self-evident and whose place in the starting lineup on opening day was all but guaranteed.

The other rookie phenom was slated to be, perhaps, the greatest pitching prospect we’ve ever seen, and while he was not due to make his team out of spring training, there were those who thought that once he did join his team, he would be the best pitcher in the National League.

Remarkably, surprisingly, unbelievably, neither Jason Heyward nor Stephen Strasburg will be announced as the National League Rookie of the Year tomorrow. While they both enjoyed very good seasons, and both matched the hype surrounding their emergence, the best rookie in the National League was nevertheless a World Series winning catcher from San Francisco named Buster.

Buster Posey, that is.

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MLB Spring Training: Projection of the 2011 Atlanta Braves 40-Man Roster

The Braves had a very good season in 2010 as they went 91-71 and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2005. The emergence of some rookies as well as the presence of off-season acquisitions gave Bobby Cox one last postseason run as the Braves’ manager.

The Braves were a patient team, ranking fourth in the MLB in OBP at .339 while hitting at an average clip of .258, 14th in the league. They were also third in the league in ERA at 3.56, trailing only the world champion San Francisco Giants and the playoff-less San Diego Padres.

Some low-lights included an uncharacteristic 126 errors in the field, one error off the lead in the MLB behind the lowly Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates. Those two teams had a combined record of 122-198.

Who are the players that could make an impact in spring training for the 2011 Braves under Freddi Gonzalez?

 

So far, relief pitchers Billy Wagner, who followed his promise to retire after the season, and Takashi Saito, who has been let go, have set the stage for Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters to stabilize the bullpen.

Derrek Lee 1B, Rick Ankiel CF, Eric Hinske LF/1B, Troy Glaus 1B/3B, and Kyle Farnsworth RP have all declared for free agency and most likely will not return to the Braves. Contractual options on SS Alex Gonzalez and INF/OF Omar Infante were picked up. Assuming no trades or free-agency pickups, next year’s lineup could appear as follows:

 

(Player – position – 2010 BA/HR/RBI/OBP/SLUG.)

1. Omar Infante LF .321 / 8 / 47 / .359 / .416 in 471 at bats

2. Jason Heyward RF .277 / 18 / 72 / .393 / .456 in 520 at bats

3. Chipper Jones 3B .265 / 10 / 46 / .381 / .426 in 317 at bats

4. Brian McCann C .269 / 21 / 77 / .375 / .453 in 479 at bats

5. Martin Prado 2B .307 / 15 / 66 / .350 / .459 in 599 at bats

6. Alex Gonzalez SS .250 / 23 / 88 / .294 / .447 in 595 at bats (267 with the Braves)

7. Nate McLouth CF .190 / 6 / 24 / .298 / .322 in 242 at bats

8. Freddie Freeman 1B .167 / 1 / 1 / .167 / .333 in 24 at bats (.319 / 18 / 87 / .378 / .521 in 519 AAA at bats)

 

Omar Infante had an all-star season in 2010 and his bat is too valuable to come off the bench. He is used to play many infield positions and left field. Chipper has stated he will make a return in 2011 after having a surgery on a torn ACL suffered in mid-season. Prado has been moved down to a run producing spot as he has more power than Infante.

Alex Gonzalez came over from Toronto as a source of power, but only offered 6 home runs as a Brave in 267 at-bats, as opposed to 17 in 328 at-bats as a Blue Jay. The probable departure of Derrek Lee means a starting job for Freddie Freeman, who had great numbers at AAA Gwinnett.

 

Where does the bench stand for Spring Training 2011?


Matt Diaz LF (he will probably remain as a platoon player due to his good numbers versus left-handed pitching)

David Ross C

Diory Hernandez SS

Brooks Conrad 2B/3B

Brandon Hicks INF

 


Top Minor Leaguers:


Tyler Pastornicky SS (acquired in the Alex Gonzalez trade that sent Yunel Escobar to Toronto)

Jordan Schafer CF

Barbaro Canizares 1B

 

What stands out in the projected lineup is the low slugging percentages and the lack of power that has plagued this club for the past few years. It may finally be the year to reach for a power-hitting left or center fielder.

The Braves have already acquired Joe Mather, but he is still a raw player and will most likely remain in the minors. Center field looks to be an obvious hole with the disappointment of Nate McClouth. However, beyond a 41-year-old Jim Edmonds, no 2011 free agents have a track record for power.

The only other option is to acquire a left or right fielder and make a position change. The class is headlined by Carl Crawford, who is more of a base-stealer but still offers some power, Jayson Werth, who would probably have to be a left fielder, and Colby Rasmus.

Adam Dunn is also out there, but would definitely have to be a left fielder, and a terrible one at that—but where else can you pick up 40 home runs a year?

 

If the Braves can make a big splash in free agency or concoct a smart trade, they would easily make the jump to being championship contenders.

 

The Braves are and have always been propped up by elite pitching and the makeup of last year’s third-ranked pitching staff will remain mostly unchanged. The San Francisco Giants have proved pitching does indeed win championships. A quick look at the rotation:

 

(2010 ERA / Record / Strikeouts)

1. Tim Hudson 2.83 / 17-9 / 139 in 34 starts

2. Derek Lowe 4.00 / 16-12 / 136 in 33 starts

3. Tommy Hanson 3.33 / 10-11 / 173 in 34 starts

4. Jair Jurrjens 4.64 / 7-6 / 86 in 20 starts

5. Mike Minor/Brandon Beachy 5.98 / 3-2 / 43 in 8 MLB starts – 3.00 / 0-0 / 15 in 2 MLB starts

 

Tim Hudson vaulted to the ace position with his Cy Young candidacy-worthy year. Jurrjens was hampered by injuries for most of the year and consequently had a down year. The battle for the fifth starting spot will probably be between Mike Minor and Brandon Beachy, who both had good showings in starts down the stretch.

 


The bullpen looks like:

 

Middle Relief:

Erik O’Flaherty

Mike Dunn

Cristhian Martinez

 

Kris Medlen is possible to return from Tommy John Surgery after All-Star break.

 


Set-up men (seventh-eighth inning):


Jonny Venters

Peter Moylan

 

Jonny Venters received a lot of work in 2010. He posted a 1.95 ERA in 83 innings of work, with only one home run given up for the year.

 

 

Closer:


Craig Kimbrel is projected to be the closer with the departure of Billy Wagner. His upper 90s fastball and baffling slider have acted as validation.

 

 

Top minor leaguers:


Julio Teheran

Randall Delgado

Arodys Vizcaino

Zeke Spruill

 

As usual, the Braves farm system contains a bunch of highly regarded pitchers that could break into the majors in 2011. Leading the hype is right-handed pitcher Julio Teheran, who might just make the team from spring training. The only off-season moves in terms of pitching would be to acquire a few low level middle relief pitchers to fill out a bullpen that was one of the best in the majors in 2010.

 

There was also something of a coaching carousel in the dugout and next to the base paths. The Braves fired first-base coach Glenn Hubbard and bench coach Chino Cadahia named Carlos Tosca bench coach in his place. They also reassigned hitting coach Terry Pendleton to first-base coach and named Larry Parrish hitting coach.

Tosca was the Marlins bench coach under Gonzalez and Parrish came from coaching the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens in the farm system of the Detroit Tigers. Roger McDowell, Brian Snitker, and Eddie Perez remain the pitching, third-base, and bullpen coaches, respectively.

 

Some how, every year the Braves come out of Spring Training ready to compete for the pennant and there’s no reason to expect 2011 to be any different. 2010 will be marked down as a fluky weak defensive performance, so expect a rebound in that department. With a solid pitching staff, a new face or two inserted into the lineup, and a vaulting of Jason Heyward into stardom, the Braves will have sight of a World Series spot.

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Atlanta Braves 2011 Ideal Starting Lineup

To the best of my ability, I will lay out what I believe will idealize the Braves 2011 lineup.

I think there are a few things to be changed from the roster of the previous year, so here is what I believe will give the Braves a good postseason run.

And hopefully they’ll trample those Giants along the way.

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Atlanta Braves Offseason Needs: Offense and an Old Guy

When the Atlanta Braves 2010 came to a close a couple weeks back at the hands of the eventual National League Champion San Francisco Giants, there was a lot of mourning at the Britt (that’s me) household.

I was resigned to filling out college applications and (gasp) putting school over baseball for a couple of weeks as I bitterly refused to watch the LCS’s for the thought of what might of been had Chipper Jones, Martin Prado, Billy Wagner and Kris Medlen been good-to-go for the first round of the playoffs.

What’s that?

I sound like a bitter fan of a team that dons blue caps with red “C”s.

Well…I guess I shouldn’t digress.

But, now that the World Series has begun and the “Least Annoying Team Left in the Playoffs” Award-winning Texas Rangers have a chance to knock off the team that broke my heart in the opening week-or-so of October, I’m feeling up to digging back into the sport that consumes my nights from about 7-10 during the summer.

As one looks at the Atlanta Braves’ roster, one notices that there are only a couple major (as there have been for the past couple of offseasons) holes to be filled.

One of which is the lack of some “grizzled old veteran” in the bullpen.

With the swagger of Billy Wagner headed for retirement greener Virginia pastures and Takashi “can’t-pitch-back-to-back-nights” Saito getting his (contract-mandated, mind you) release papers in the past couple of days, the average age of the bullpen lost a few months.

I’m not saying that the Braves have to go out and sign some Arthur Rhodes-looking 40-some-year-old just for the heck of it—don’t get that impression, at all.

I’m just saying that with the lack of experience down in the ‘pen (the most experienced guy that’s going to be relied upon next season is Peter Moylan, who has all of three FULL seasonsin the bigs), someone like Joe Beimel or Grant Balfour (both free-agents-to-be) could be helpful to the under-30 quartet of O’Flaherty, Venters, Dunn and Kimbrel that will be shutting the door in late-inning situations in 2010.

Oh, and that leads to this prediction: Kyle Farnsworth won’t be back.

The other major thing that needs help is the rotation.

Wait…this isn’t the 2008-09 offseason (isn’t it nice not to have to think about, though, isn’t it…hey, you have to find positives when you’re watching Jeff Francoeur riding the pine in the World Series before any of the other Baby Braves).

Short of dumping Kenshin Kawakami, that was a total and complete (poorly executed, I might add) joke.

But really, that only other major red flag being thrown up on the Braves’ current roster is in the outfield.

We can all celebrate now that Melky Cabrera had been given his pink slip…but (once Rick Ankiel’s option is declined) with Jason Heyward, Nate McLouth and Matt Diaz looking like the options right now, there needs to be some work.

Options range from Jayson Werth to Colby Rasmus (if he is made available, he’s a perfect fit) to Wilkin Ramirez (you know, that last-second deadline acquisition who didn’t do too badly with Gwinnett after coming over).

I’m only touching on that here to tease a slideshow coming up (I know, a real d-bag move).

The one thing that is for sure is this: the Braves weren’t that bad of a team running on three legs down the stretch.

One piece thrown in the mix here and there makes this team a pretty big threat in the National League in 2011.

After all, Hanson, Hudson, and a rejuvenated Lowe (no Jurrjens, think: trade-bait) are all penciled into manager Fredi Gonzalez’s rotation next season and there’s going to be an even slightly more matured Jason Heyward somewhere in the lineup.

All I can say right now that’s a for sure: Spring Training can’t get here fast enough.

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MLB Playoffs 2010: Which Players Let Their Teams Down?

Poor Brooks Conrad.

The Atlanta Braves second baseman, whom the team was forced to place considerable faith in when they lost infielders Chipper Jones and Martin Prado to season-ending injuries, could not have had a harder time of it during Atlanta’s four-game loss to the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS. He collected just one hit and committed four extraordinarily costly errors, including three in the team’s Game 3 loss alone.

By the fourth and final contest, Cox could not even justify starting Conrad, and the man who had very nearly become a folk hero during a strong regular season now looks like the biggest playoff goat in Atlanta since Lonnie Smith.

Believe it or not, though, Conrad might not be the biggest goat of this year’s postseason. Several key contributors of whom much more was expected faltered nearly as badly as their teams made first-round exits, and thus Conrad has plenty of company. Where among the top five losers of the 2010 playoffs does he rank? Read on.

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A Youth Movement in Major League Baseball

Months before Stephen Strasburg‘s name (and elbow) was mentioned in the same sentence as Tommy John, the hype surrounding him and the anticipation of his arrival into Major League Baseball rivaled fans consumption of Fernandomania in the 1980s.

Strasburg set the bar so high for the 2010 rookie class that most casual fans missed out on a handful of first-year talent making their mark prior to K-Burg’s grand entrance in June.

In the National League, you had the amazing start for Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Leake, Atlanta’s Jason Heyward made the All-Star team and Buster Posey helped lead the Giants to the playoffs. In the American League, Detroit’s Austin Jackson made possibly the catch of the year and the Rangers’ Neftali Feliz was lights out in the closer’s role.

Thanks to Whatifsports.com’s MLB Dream Teams feature we were able to create a 2010 All-Rookies team, based on the statistical output and notoriety of the players, to face a collection of Rookies of the Year. We drafted ROY award winners over the past 15 years to construct a full roster.

 

2010 Rookies Roster
Player Position Stats
1 Austin Jackson CF .293 avg, 103 R, 10 3B, 27 SB
2 Jason Heyward RF .272 avg, .393 OBP, 18 HR, 72 RBI
3 Buster Posey C .305 avg, .505 SLG 18 HR, 67 RBI
4 Gaby Sanchez 1B .273 avg, 19 HR, 85 RBI, 37 2B
5 Pedro Alvarez 3B .256 avg, 16 HR, 64 RBI, 119 K
6 Brennan Boesch LF .256 avg, 14 HR, 67 RBI
7 Neil Walker 2B .296 avg, 12 HR, 66 RBI
8 Ian Desmond SS .269 avg, 10 HR, 65 RBI, 17 SB
Starting Pitcher Position Stats
9 Stephen Strasburg SP 5-3, 2.91 ERA, 92 K
Bench
1B Ike Davis, 3B Danny Valencia, OF Mike Stanton, SS Alcides Escobar, OF Tyler Colvin
Pitchers
Wade Davis, Jaime Garcia, Daniel Hudson, Jonny Venters, Hisinori Takahashi, Neftali Feliz, Madison Bumgarner, Mike Leake, John Axford, Drew Storen, Alfredo Simon

Past Rookies of the Year Roster
Player Position Stats
1 Ichiro Suzuki LF .350 avg, 56 SB, 127 R
2 Carlos Beltran CF .293 avg, 22 HR, 108 RBI
3 Ryan Howard 1B .288 avg, 26 HR, 63 RBI
4 Albert Pujols RF .329 avg, 37 HR, 130 RBI
5 Ryan Braun 3B .324 avg, 34 HR, 97 RBI
6 Geovanny Soto C .285 avg, 23 HR, 86 RBI
7 Hanley Ramirez SS .292 avg, 51 SB, 119 R
8 Dustin Pedroia 2B .317 avg, 39 2B, 86 R
Starting Pitcher Position Stats
9 Hideo Nomo SP 13-6, 2.54 ERA, 236 K
Bench
LF Jason Bay, SS Angel Berroa, LF Chris Coghlan, SS Rafael Furcal, LF Ben Grieve, 3B Evan Longoria
Pitchers
Kerry Wood, Dontrelle Willis, Justin Verlander, Jason Jennings, Andrew Bailey, Scott Williamson, Gregg Olson, Huston Street, Todd Worrell, Kazuhiro Sasaki

 

Using our MLB simulation engine, we welcome the spirit of the playoffs and created a best-of-seven series to determine which team would win, the 2010 All-Rookies or past Rookies of the Year.

 

Game 1: Rookie Game
Teams R H E WIS Interactive
2010 All-Rookies 1 7 1 Box Score
Rookies of the Year 6 10 0 Simulate Game
WP: Hideo Nomo; LP: Stephen Strasburg
Player of the Game: Hideo Nomo: 8 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 15 K

 

Stephen Strasburg had no issues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in his major league debut. He quickly learned in Game 1, this series wasn’t going to be a walk in the park.

The kid with a rocket for an arm only lasted 2.2 innings giving up three runs before they pulled the plug on him. Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run bomb in the second inning to push the Rookies of the Year up early. Baltimore’s Alfredo Simon would inherit one of Strasburg’s runners and allowed him to score to put the Rookies in a 3-0 hole.

Strasburg had a 1.35 K/IP in 2010, the highest in majors for rookie pitchers. Hideo Nomo was not impressed. The former Dodger ROY handcuffed the All-Rookies, going eight innings, allowing one run on six hits and struck out 15.

Ichiro and Dustin Pedroia each had an RBI in the fourth inning and an Albert Pujols RBI single in the seventh added insurance the ROY would not need.

The All-Rookies’ lone run came in the seventh inning off the bat of Neil Walker, who hit 12 dingers for the Pirates in 2010, a solo shot on this night.

 

Game 2: Rookie Game
Teams R H E WIS Interactive
2010 All-Rookies 3 7 0 Box Score
Rookies of the Year 5 11 0 Simulate Game
WP: Andrew Bailey; LP: Wade Davis; SV: Kazuhro Sasaki
Player of the Game: Hanley Ramirez: 3-4, HR, 2 RBI

It didn’t take long for the scoreboard to light up in Game 2 as current teammates squared off in the first.

Detroit’s Brennan Boesch cracked a two-out, two-run single to give the All-Rookies an early lead against current Tiger Justin Verlander.

Verlander lasted only five innings.

The ROY would cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the first when Albert Pujols followed up Ryan Howard’s triple with a double, driving in the Phillies’ franchise player.

With the ROY trailing 3-1 in the third, Howard would lead the offensive charge again. A solo dinger in the inning would cut the All-Rookies’ lead to one and then a fielder’s choice in the fifth would tie the game up at 3-3.

Hanley Ramirez continued to swing a hot bat and gave the ROY the lead for good with his second home run in as many games.

AL Rookie of the Year from 2009, Andrew Bailey, pitched a hitless 2.1 innings and got the win. Former Mariners closer, Kaz Sasaki got the save.

 

Game 3: Rookie Game
Teams R H E WIS Interactive
Rookies of the Year 5 11 0 Box Score
2010 All-Rookies 9 14 2 Simulate Game
WP: Jaime Garcia; LP: Jason Jennings
Player of the Game: Buster Posey: 3-4, HR, 3B, 3 RBI

 

Down 2-0 in the series, the Rookies made some lineup changes to help wake up their offense. Alcides Escobar replaced Ian Desmond at SS and batted eighth. Brennan Boesch was bumped up to fifth in the lineup, and Danny Valencia started at 3B replacing Pedro Alvarez.

These changes paid off as the 2010 All-Rookies got their first win of the series, breaking out for nine runs on 14 hits. The Rookies also received a much-needed solid seven innings on the mound from Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia.

The Rookies found their power in this game hitting three homeruns—Buster Posey, Brennan Boesch and Neil Walker (his second of the series) all went deep.

Posey’s HR came in the first inning and was part of a 3-4, three RBI performance for the Giants catcher. Austin Jackson added three hits for the Rookies.

Former ROY, Jason Jennings, got rocked allowing six ERs on seven hits in 2.1 IP.

This was a much-needed win for the 2010 All-Rooks who now trail 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

 

Game 4: Rookie Game
Teams R H E WIS Interactive
Rookies of the Year 3 9 3 Box Score
2010 All-Rookies 4 6 1 Simulate Game
WP: John Axford; LP: Kazuhiro Sasaki
Player of the Game: Austin Jackson: Game-winning walk-off two-RBI single

 

Mike Leake faced Kerry Wood in this pivotal Game 4. The connection between these two is they both debuted with Dusty Baker as their manager. Baker has had to answer a lot of questions about pitch counts throughout his career and perhaps hurt Wood’s arm due to overuse in Chicago. He was very cautious with Mike Leake in 2010 keeping his innings and pitches under strict watch.

Leake would not get any help in the second thanks to an Alcides Escobar throwing error allowing the ROY to take the early lead.

The Rookies would come back in the third when Jason Heyward crushed a Kerry Wood fastball to center field allowing Austin Jackson and Alcides Escobar to score giving the 2010 All-Rookies a 2-1 lead.

That lead quickly vanished with a solo homerun by the ROY’s Ryan Braun who made up for his two errors in this game.

Later, in the sixth inning, with Ryan Braun on second base, Kerry Wood helped out his own cause with a single to left allowing Braun to score to give them a 3-2 lead.

Leake ended up throwing 90 pitches through 5.1 in this game only allowing two earned runs.

The game would remain 3-2 until the ninth inning. Kaz Sasaki came in for the save. Boesch and Valencia went down swinging for two quick outs as the Rookies of the Year seemed poised to take a 3-1 series lead. However, Sasaki would walk Neil Walker and Escobar followed up with a bloop single that advanced the tying run to third base. Pedro Alvarez came in to pinch hit for the pitcher and drew a walk.

Huston Street would come in to replace Sasaki with two outs and the bases loaded.

It was Austin Jackson’s turn to play hero as he hit a line-drive single into center. Walker scored easily from third. Escobar was waved around from second, Ichiro’s throw was not in time and the 2010 All-Rookies walk off to victory and even the series at 2-2.

 

Game 5: Rookie Game
Teams R H E WIS Interactive
Rookies of the Year 10 12 1 Box Score
2010 All-Rookies 7 14 1 Simulate Game
WP: Todd Worrell; LP:Alfredo Simon; SV: Kazuhiro Sasaki (2)
Player of the Game: Albert Pujols: 2-3, HR, 4 RBI

 

After losing two straight, the Rookies of the Year bounced back in a big way scoring 10 runs on 12 hits. Madison Bumgarner started for the 2010 Rookies and was rocked as was Hisinori Takahashi, who took over in the fifth. The two combined for five IP, nine hits and seven runs (six ERs). Not a great performance in a crucial Game 5.

On the other side, the Rookies of the Year’s pitching staff performed just as poorly. Dontrelle Willis started, but could not get out of the fifth inning either. Their bullpen struggled as well. Tim Worrell gave up a three-run bomb to the Marlins’ Gaby Sanchez in the eighth inning. All three runs were charged to reliever Andrew Bailey. Gaby’s homer tied the game at seven.

Orioles closer Alfredo Simon came on in the ninth for the All-Rooks and served up a three-run dinger to the Brewers’ Ryan Braun to hand the ROY a 10-7 lead.

Kaz Sasaki then entered redeeming himself with a lock-down ninth to pick up his second save of the series.

Buster Posey had his second three-hit game of the series going 3-6 with three RBI. In fact, the top four hitters for the 2010 All-Rookies (Jackson, Heyward, Posey and Sanchez) combined to go 10-19 with seven RBI, all of which comes in a losing effort.

The Rookies of the Year lead the series 3-2 heading into Game 6.

Game 6: Rookie Game
Teams R H E WIS Interactive
2010 All-Rookies 2 8 0 Box Score
Rookies of the Year 6 12 1 Simulate Game
WP: Hideo Nomo (2-0); LP: Daniel Hudson (0-2)
Player of the Game: Hideo Nomo: 7 IP, 4 H, ER, 12 K

 

When it mattered the most, Hideo Nomo delivered for the Rookies of the Year.

The ROY received another phenomenal pitching performance from for the Dodgers ace. Nomo struck out 15 in Game 1 and followed that up with 12 Ks in Game 6.

Stephen Strasburg was a late scratch due to a shoulder injury. Arizona’s Daniel Hudson struggled in the spot-start situation. He allowed three runs in three innings of work.

Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols each hit a home run to help out the ROY’s offensive cause.

Nomo’s stuff was too much for the 2010 Rookies to handle. He was Player of the Game for Game 1 and Game 6 and also earns MVP of the series.

The Rookies of the Year win the best-of-seven series 4-2.

Hard to believe all this was accomplished with a talent like Evan Longoria spittin’ seeds on the bench.

Make sure you give this matchup a whirl—just click any of the Simulate Game links located inside the box scores.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


2010 MLB Playoffs: 10 Bold Predictions for the Divisional Series

The 2010 MLB Playoffs are finally here.  Time for heroes to be made and remembered forever.  

These four series in Round 1 will be very telling and will help shape the remainder of the playoffs.  Many have been anticipating this playoff season for some time.

For some, it is seen as revenge, while others just try to come in and make a name for themselves.

The playoffs only come once a year but have a lasting impact from season-to-season.  

This playoff season will be no different. 

Here are 10 Bold Predictions for Round 1 of the MLB Playoffs.  

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