Poor Dustin McGowan. Two straight home starts, and they just happen to come against two AL Cy Young frontrunners - first the amazing Kelvim Escobar, and now the amazing Dan Haren. I threw together 444 words about Haren here in anticipation of his last start at the RC, in which he surrendered 9 runs in 5.2 innings and still managed to pick up the win. For some reason I can't really remember anything else about that game, even though I was there, except some vague image of Ryan Roberts darting into the clubhouse in the third inning for no apparent reason. What a goofball. Anyway, Haren's 2.54 ERA in 2007 is bottoms in the American League, and although he certainly benefits from the Oakland Coliseum factor, his home ERA - 2.56 - is actually slightly higher.
I don't think Haren is the best pitcher in baseball, but it's not hard to see how he could win multiple Cy Youngs in the near future. He's just a complete, polished ace with enough stuff to dominate. He's got the fastball around 93, the devastating splitter in the mid-80s, and the ability to change speeds on his underrated slider at will. Plus a curve and change which he'll break out a couple of times in most starts. He'll sometimes use the splitter to get ahead of hitters early as well as to finish them off (though if he falls behind 2-0 or 3-1, he'll probably save it for later). Vernon Wells will see at least one first-pitch splitter tonight. Promise. Probably in his first at-bat. He's 5-14 with a homer, 2 walks and a triple against Haren. Gregg Zaun has also taken Haren deep twice; Stairs, Rios and Glaus have done so once. Haren has a 5.73 ERA against the Jays - among AL teams, only the Indians have fared better against him.
The Wednesday starter is a 35-year-old righty from Tijuana in the second year of a three-year contract. He is making his first start of 2007 after battling neck and knee injuries throughout the first half. Fastball, great cutter, slider, change, wasn't anything special until he learned the cutter in 2003 and almost stole Doc's Cy Young. The Wednesday starter really came on strong in the second half last year when he suddenly started reaching 95 mph with his fastball. Word is he was hitting a respectable 91 in his last rehab start and had perfect command of everything. Clearly, he can smell Blue Jay blood in his future. Please don't read that article. It contains his name. In the last two years, the Wednesday starter is 2-1 with a 1.74 ERA against the Jays, including a complete-game shutout at the RC last year.
Closer Huston Street has been phenomenal when healthy this season. He's always been one of the toughest pitchers in baseball to homer off - he's given up 8 in his three-year career - but this year his strikeout rate has skyrocketed. He missed two months due to ulnar nerve irritation in his right elbow. He actually spent a couple of weeks in Toronto resting the elbow under the watchful eye of Dr. Anthony Galea. He was out of action for 63 games, but he's successfully returned to the closer's role and hasn't reported any pain in the elbow. He pitched the last inning of yesterday's 6-1 win over the Royals.
Rookie outfielder and walk machine Travis Buck "felt something in his leg" in Saturday's loss while running the bases and exited in the sixth inning. He's day-to-day; Jeff DaVanon will replace him in centerfield. The A's are also open to the possibility of sending Nick Swisher out there and playing Dan Johnson at first, creating an outfield of Shannon Stewart, Swisher and... Jack Cust. Yikes. That's a cruel joke, and it's too bad none of Oakland's three scheduled starters are true flyballers.
Mark Ellis has hit 16 homers, one shy of the Oakland record for most longballs in a season by a second baseman. This should do wonders for his Gold Glove candidacy. He's sure-handed: one year removed from leading AL second basemen in fielding percentage, he also has an 83-game errorless streak, which almost came to an end Saturday on a strange interference ruling. With Joey Gathright (who can jump over a car) on first, Mark Teahen hit a slow grounder to second, and Gathright collided with Ellis. Umpires called interference on Ellis, claiming that the ball was past him when he ran into Gathright, and Ellis was charged with an error on the play. However, he quickly got that overturned, so the streak marches on.
Marco Scutaro and Dan Johnson both homered yesterday. They have also seen their playing time slip recently, and they're not happy. According to the SF Chronicle's Rusty Simmons, "As he rounded the bases, Scutaro was cheering out loud, he emphatically slapped hands with third-base coach Rene Lachemann and stared into the dugout. But he took the political route in the clubhouse." Scutaro has been blocked by hustling infielder Donnie Murphy for some reason. That reason is almost certainly that his full name is Donald Rex Murphy (thanks, Rob).
27-year-old third baseman Jack Hannahan was in the midst of a minor-league career year, hitting .296/.424/.479 with the Tigers' AAA affiliate in Toledo. When Eric Chavez went on the DL with back spasms, the A's sent outfielder Jason Perry to Detroit for the lefty Hannahan and his IL-leading on-base percentage. Hannahan went 0-14 in his first 14 career major-league at-bats before breaking the oh-fer with a double off Mark Buehrle. He shares the two given names "John Joseph" with Jack Cust.
And watch out for 6'6 rookie righty Andrew Brown's high-90s fastball. Brown was acquired in the Milton Bradley trade. Thus far, he's made Billy Beane look pretty good. He's pitched 23.1 outstanding innings with the A's, striking out 29, walking 4, posting a 0.73 WHIP and throwing 5 wild pitches.
The Credit Section: All offensive stats, pitches per PA for pitchers and league average stats are from the Hardball Times. Pitchers' stats and leverage indices are from Fangraphs. Minor-league stats are from Minor League Splits and First Inning. K% and BB% are strikeouts and walks as a percentage of plate appearances; GB% + LD% + FB% = 100.
Note - Lord Voldemort's stat line is from 2006.
