Liveblogging 4/11/10 - A's vs. Angels (_Again!_)

Here's Dallas Braden pitching again, after striking out a career-high 10 batters in his first start of the season. He's given up 2 runs, both in the first inning, one on a Bobby Abreu homer. The A's scored one on an Adam Rosales homer (in his first at-bat of the year, no less. And he just totally sprinted around the bases. Home run trots are kind of unbecoming utility infielders.)

So Rosales starting at second base for the A's. This moves Mark Ellis (who's had a very hot first week) to DH, giving Chavez a day off. Also resting is catcher Kurt Suzuki, and in his place is former Cub Jake Fox. A catcher in the minors, Fox has a major league ready bat, but he never really had a natural position. He's not athletic enough to handle third base regularly, and he didn't play that well at first. When the A's demoted Jack Cust to the minors, I had hopes that Fox might garner the lion's share of at-bats at DH. But then I saw that they're putting him back behind the plate. Which makes sense - catcher is one of the hardest positions from which to get good offense, and Fox is one of the most potent offensive players on the A's this year. You've got to optimize the value you're getting for your roster spots.

The economy of baseball is something else I'm learning a lot about. In nine innings, you only get 27 outs in which to score all your runs, so you have to really economize your outs. That's why on-base percentage is so important - because it measures how many times you don't make an out.

You only have 25 players on your roster, so you have to make the most of them in terms of which players can play which positions. For example: carrying a LOOGY who will only pitch 1/3 of an inning (1/27th of a game) at most per appearance isn't very economical. Carrying a bench player (Mike Sweeney) who can only play DH and a little bit of first base (on a good day) when you've already got two players (Ken Griffey & Milton Bradley) whose primary position is DH, isn't particularly economical.

Pitchers nowadays are only allowed to throw 100 - 120 pitches tops per outing, so if you want to pitch into the 7th or 8th innings, you're going to have to economize your pitches. Throwing a lot of pitches out of the strike zone to try and get opposing batters to chase - not particularly economical.

Speaking of pitch-economics, Angels starter Joe Saunders has thrown 90 pitches over 6 innings, and has allowed just one hit - the Rosales homer. The score is now 3-1 Halos, as a couple of singles (Erick Aybar and Abreu) and a sac fly (Torii Hunter) got another one on the board. Speaking of which, is there an echo in here? As soon as I typed that, Ryan Sweeney and Kevin Kouzmanoff strung together a couple of singles, then Mark Ellis's double got a run in. And they're still threatening as Joe Saunders comes out of the game with no outs.

Now it's time for the unsung heroes of a baseball team: the relief pitchers. If you doubt the importance of middle relievers, just see what happened to the Dodgers earlier today, or the A's last night. But if there's an RP to rise to the occasion, it's Kevin Jepsen, with his 97 mph fastball and good hard breaking stuff. And if there's a batter who I really want to come through, it's Jake Fox, who hasn't had a hit yet in two games this season. Let's see what happens.

Oops: after working the count to 2-2, Fox strikes out swinging. But, never fear, Adam Rosales come up, takes the first pitch he sees (a fastball right down the middle) and lines it the opposite way for a 2-run single. Bam! A's take the lead. Good effort wasted by Saunders. Jepsen giving up his second high-importance run in as many games. Things are starting to fall apart for the Red Menace.

Speaking of the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim," one of the cutaways coming back from commercial was a shot from a camera in a car driving on the 110 freeway. But here's the funny thing: the car was driving north on the 110 out of downtown LA... in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION of Anaheim, where the Angels play! I've got a not-newsflash for you: Anaheim is not Los Angeles. They're not even in the same county. I mean, the OC used to be part of LA County, until it split off in 1889, but that was over 120 years ago. Get real, Angels, and stop trying to take advantage of a culture (and a TV market) that's not yours by right.

And who's in to protect that slim lead for the A's? Rookie Tyson Ross out of Berkeley, CA, 2nd round draft pick in 2008. He's got a grand total of 33 innings in the minors, none of them above class AA. He made his debut last Wednesday, and pitched well. He throws 93-95 using only his upper body. I mean, it's like he doesn't even push off the rubber at all. But if it ain't broke... he got threw the 7th 1-2-3, including strikeouts of Mike Napoli and Brandon Wood.

And, wow, deja vu all over again, as Scot Shields comes on in relief of Jepsen for the second night in a row. He promptly gives up a single and a stolen base to Rajai Davis on a botched pitch-out. Then Daric Barton lays down a perfect sac bunt to move Davis over to third. The A's never used to sacrifice that often, but this is a good thing: with one out, that runner on third can score on any flyball to the outfield or even a soft ground out, even with the infield in.

The only thing he can't score on is a walk, which Ryan Sweeney just drew. And I know it's important to get on base however you can and not make outs and all that, but while a walk begets a baserunner, it also begets a double play possibility. And then the inning is over and the run doesn't score. This is one reason why walks, as useful as they are, are also more frustrating than hits.

But of course, all of this is moot when Sweeney gets thrown out trying to steal second. Now Kouzmanoff has to get a base hit to score the run, whereas before the Caught Stealing, he would have just had to elevate a ball to the outfield. See, this is why baseball is so fun to watch if you pay attention: the situational dynamics are so rich, and they change every single pitch.

Meanwhile, Kouz had a great at-bat, working an 11-pitch walk after falling behind in the count 0-2. Kouzmanoff is a consummate hitter, but one who you'd like to see batting 5th or 6th rather than clean-up.

Ooh, yeah! and Mark Ellis beats out an infield single to get the A's a (hopefully not needed) insurance run. Well, the instant replay shows different, but the ruling on the field stands and now it's a 2-run ballgame. That chases Scot Shields, and brings in Brian Stokes (newly acquired from the Mets) who walks Jake Fox to load the bases. Now bench player Rosales has a chance to make this a truly heroic game. Well, it's not necessarily heroic to walk in a run, but it gets the job done: 6-3 A's.

The two walks in a row prompts a visit from the pitching coach. Did you hear about that umpire complaining about how slowly the Red Sox and Yankees play when they play each other? I think a lot of what makes the game slower these days are unrestricted trips to the mound by pitching coaches. Also so many pitching changes and timeouts. Commissioner Selig put together a 14-man committee to look at on-the-field operations, but who's to say they'll come up with anything.

Well, another base hit, another run. Now another inning for youngster Tyson Ross, who promptly walks to the leadoff hitter. Now it's Abreu, and trouble. Or not: double play, and Angels are down to four more outs in the game.

Wow, this is kind of rambly. I'll have to trim my liveblogging style if I want to produce anything remotely readable.

Ooh, another guy who made his MLB debut this year: Bobby Cassevah. His name sounds like a type of melon. But he hasn't pitched like a melon: decent numbers as a reliever in the minors. He actually threw two innings for the A's in Spring Training, but then was offered back to the Angels because of the crazy rules of the Rule-5 draft. Maybe this blog will be a good excuse for me to research them and write an explanation. And good riddance to Cassevah, as he allows two more runs against his former (if only briefly) club.

And Tyson Ross going for his third inning - talk about economics. The A's are currently carrying a 7-man bullpen: Ross and Chad Gaudin are the longmen, Craig Breslow and Jerry Blevins are lefties, Brad Ziegler and Edwar Ramirez are righties, and Andrew Bailey is the closer. When Michael Wuertz (one of the best setup men in the game last year) and Joey Devine (a former competitor for the closer job) come back from the DL, the A's will have one nasty bullpen.

Well, that's that: Ross finishes out the game and earns the three-inning save, despite giving up a home run to Juan Rivera. Nine innings, and about a ba-thousand words later, I'm signing off.