July 31st, 2013

Today's slate.

The Big Hurst - Clayton Kershaw

skoormit - Adam Wainwright

La Osa Rosa - Hisashi Iwakuma


The Big Hurst: If I wasn't so beaten down by the fact that this game is maddening, I'd say that Kershaw at home against the Yankees is a grade-A recipe for a gem.  Of course, writing that out pretty much dooms me to receive the Blarfy Kitty Award.
La Osa Rosa: I’ll pick Hisashi Iwakuma. I am very down trodden and considered not picking today, but really, how much worse could it get? I’ve already received the Blarfy Kitty Award many, many times.
skoormit: The Blarfy Kitty Award has no memory. The only recipient is the most recent recipient. And that's The Big Hurst, for backing Chad Gaudin last week.
skoormit: On Gaudin--he went from the best score in MLB on July 19th (with a 79) to the worst score in his next start, on the 24th (with a 19). I wonder just how uncommon that feat is.
The Big Hurst: "The Blarfy Kitty Award has no memory."  That's beautiful. And I'd bet it's pretty uncommon, at least, for a pitcher to shift from the top of the chart to the bottom, or vice versa, in two starts.


RESULTS

The Big Hurst: Who's this Oberholtzer guy?

 

July 30th, 2013

Today's slate.

The Big Hurst - Wei-Yin Chen

skoormit - Zack Wheeler

La Osa Rosa - Anibal Sanchez



La Osa Rosa: I’m going to pick Anibal Sanchez today. I’m going with the stubborn monkey trick of choosing the person with the lowest ERA.

RESULTS

The Big Hurst: My hunch is that the stubborn monkey becomes less accurate in August and September, but I don't really know.  It's a testable proposition, if anyone wants to give it a shot.

 

July 29th, 2013

Today's slate.

The Big Hurst - Zach McAllister

skoormit - Mike Leake

La Osa Rosa - Jorge de la Rosa


The Big Hurst: This is a good article on the chemical use witch hunt in baseball.  Dear sports media, please fire Buster Olney and writers like him.  Please cover baseball for the magical, entertaining product it is, and don't treat it like a gossip column.  The chemical stories are mean, stupid, and lazy.  This kind of schlock turns me off to your product, makes me dislike and distrust your so-called "experts", and sends me to other sources.
La Osa Rosa: I’ll pick Jorge de la Rosa. I had luck with him before!


RESULTS

 

July 28th, 2013

Today's slate.

The Big Hurst - Jose Fernandez

skoormit - Todd Redmond

La Osa Rosa - Bruce Chen


The Big Hurst: Yep, you talked me into him.
La Osa Rosa: I just want to cry.  Especially after yesterday's fiasco.
The Big Hurst: Don't cry, sweet baby angel.

RESULTS

The Big Hurst: Yesterday, I noted that we've had recent days where we needed a 77, 76, and 74.  That brutal trend continued today.  Add a 75 to that list.  But overall another good day for us predictirs.  The Marliners are still frustrating.  I didn't hear Fernandez's good first inning, but I turned it on for the 2 ER second inning.  In disgust, I turned it off again, because they were saying he wasn't pitching well.  So I missed the rest of his good outing.  The moral: when I'm paying attention to my pitchers, they stink.  Don't watch the games.  According to YCPB, the last pitcher under 21 to strike out 13+ in a game was Kerry Wood, back in 1998.

 

July 27th, 2013

Today's slate.

The Big Hurst - Madison Bumgarner

skoormit - Max Scherzer

La Osa Rosa - Chris Sale



RESULTS

The Big Hurst: Between the three of us, we averaged a Game Score of 77 and 2 points.  I haven't checked, but that's got to be up there with our best day of predictions.  Sale should've been in the money with a 75, but it was another tough day to get on the leaderboard.  According to YCPB, the four 1-0 games today ties a record for the most 1-0 games in a day.  The last times were in 1915 and 2001.  Recently, we've had days where we needed a 77, 76, and 74.  That kind of competition is pretty brutal, where you pitch a 71 and, come to find out, you find yourself in eleventh place.  Is this Rosa today?