Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - The David Dellucci Era Begins

The Jays have called up outfielder David Dellucci from AAA Las Vegas. To make room, Russ Adams has been designated for assignment.

Update July 3/09 @ 1:00 p.m. - Dellucci will be batting eighth for the Jays and playing in left field in this afternoon's game and will be wearing Lyle Overbay's old number 17. For those of you who have the #17 Overbay jerseys, just slap some duct tape over the name plate and write in Dellucci. Imagine how cool you're going to look at the next home game. You also save hundreds of dollars by not having to order another jersey. Another money-saving tip courtesy of Batter's Box. You're welcome!

The 35 year-old Dellucci hit .317/.380/.556 in 16 games with the 51's this season. He hit three homers, drove in nine runs, added six doubles and maintained a stolen base percentage of 100 by going 1-for-1 in that department. The left-handed hitting outfielder began his career with the Orioles in 1997 and has also spent time with the Diamondbacks, Yankees, Rangers, Phillies and Indians. His career batting average is .258/.340/.438.

Dellucci has some post-season experience as he was a member of the 2001 World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks with current Blue Jay Rod Barajas. That marked the start of three straight playoff appearances for him as he saw post-season action with the D-Backs and Yankees. He's a career .313 hitter in the playoffs.

On the flip side, this appears to be the end of the line for Russ Adams as a member of the Jays organization. The 2002 first round pick hit just .200/.238/.200 in 20 at-bats with Toronto this season. If he had just come up with a hit during that pinch-hit appearance with the bases loaded against the Phillies Sunday, he might've bought some more time for himself with the big club. A pair of 0-for-3 performances against the D-Rays this week turned out to be his undoing. The 28 year-old left-handed hitter's career batting line is .247/.313/.372.

Posted by #2JBrumfield on Friday, July 03 2009 @ 11:22 AM EDT.

The David Dellucci Era Begins | 32 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Magpie - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 11:34 AM EDT (#202039) #

So long, it's been good to know ya. We'll always have that grand slam against Papelbon, Russ.

Hey, five day games in a row? Didn't they used to do this all the time, back in the day? You know, the day of Ruth and Gehrig... before my day.

Gerry - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 11:40 AM EDT (#202041) #

As we almost half way through the season I checked the WAR (wins above replacement) stats at fangraphs. Their WAR includes fielding as well as the more normal hitting and pitching. This stat, as the name implies, compares the value produced by the player to the expected value from a replacement level player at that position. You would hope, and expect, that all of your regular players would be above replacement level value.

I put together the Blue Jay list, ignoring those players between 0.2 wins and -0.2 wins. Here they are:

Roy Halladay 4.1 wins

Marco Scutaro 3.0 wins

Aaron Hill 2.6
Scott Rolen 2.6
Adam Lind 2.4

Lyle Overbay 1.5
Ricky Romero 1.4
Brian Tallet 1.4
Scott Downs 1.1
Rod Barajas 1.0

Jose Bautista 0.9
Scott Richmond 0.9
Alex Rios 0.9
Jason Frasor 0.8
Jesse Carlson 0.5
Brandon League 0.4
Shawn Camp 0.3

Travis Snider -0.3
Brad Mills -0.3
BJ Ryan -0.4

Vernon Wells -1.4

The total is 23 wins, meaning a team of replacement level players would win about 40 games in a season.

I don't think the list is much of a surprise to anyone who follows the Jays closely.

Magpie - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 11:52 AM EDT (#202043) #

Ah-ha. Today is a federal holiday in the rebel republic (the 4th of July coming on a weekend.) Monday of course is a day game because it's Getaway Day...

Up here, we'd have the holiday on the Monday, but that's how they roll in the USA.

Did anyone else look over ESPN's piece yesterday on Lou Gehrig's letters? The man's been gone for 68 years and it's still heartbreaking.

Jevant - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 12:15 PM EDT (#202044) #

Bastian says Wells is hitting 6th today. I'll be interested to see what that does to Vernon's psyche.

jmoney - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 12:20 PM EDT (#202045) #

Poor Wells. We could get a AAAA outfielder and pay him the minimum and he'd be better. Wait a minute! Curse you Wells!

electric carrot - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 12:37 PM EDT (#202048) #

I know this is perhaps heretical to the current mood -- but I see this series with the Yanks as the turnaround moment for the jays. I see them take 3 or even sweep as they make their way back up the standings. This team is better than it's been playing lately.

Magpie - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 12:51 PM EDT (#202050) #

So what's going with the new Home of the Bombers, now that they've said goodbye to The House That Ruth Built - also known as "The Toilet" (favoured by Red Sox fans) and "The Dump" (Cito Gaston's description. He's mainly interested in the visitor's clubhouse, of course. Curiously the facilities of that other ancient AL yard - the one in Boston - are even worse. Unless you like damp and smelly.)

Here's what the hitters have done this year:

YANKEES   GP   AB   R  H  2B 3B HR  TB  RBI  BB  SO  SB  CS  BAVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
YS II     38 1290 216 346 68  2 71 631  205 155 201  24   8  .268 .352 .489 .841
Road      40 1415 215 389 91 10 46 638  203 172 260  35   3  .275 .355 .451 .806

OPPONENTS 
YS II     38 1365 202 368 60  5 57 609  195 154 301  49  15  .270 .348 .446 .794
Own Parks 40 1277 173 300 74  5 42 510  163 135 296  25  18  .235 .317 .399 .716

The Yankees batters have hit way more home runs in their new house and are getting about the same number of people on base. It hasn't actually translated into scoring more runs at home, but that's probably flukey - they should have more runs at home than on the road, it simply hasn't happened. They're certainly giving up more runs in the new place and it's easy to see why. Lots more people on base, lots more balls flying over the walls.

Magpie - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 12:53 PM EDT (#202051) #

Picking a nit - the Yankees actually have scored more runs at home, of course. But they should have scored lots more.

John Northey - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 01:15 PM EDT (#202055) #

Yeah, for the Jays to be contenders in 2009 this is an important weekend. 4 games out of the wild card (just 2 1/2 from the lead in the AL Central or West...grrr...would only be this far back in the NL West but would be in the thick of the wild card there) with 4 games against that wild card leader. Take 3 of 4 and they are 2 out, lose 3 of 4 and they are 6 out, sweep and tied, get swept and 8 games out. 3 in Tampa after this before a bit of a rest vs the one weak team in the AL East (Orioles have a 95 OPS+ and a 90 ERA+). 3 vs Boston right after the break and we'll know at that point if the Jays are buyers (within 3 games), sellers (8+ out) or still in limbo for the first deadline (July 31st). August 4th to 30th is another AL East stretch broken up by a series with the Angels - good timing as the 31st of August is the day you gotta figure out playoff rosters thus the last chance for any trades (with waivers mixing things up a bit).

Chuck - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 01:28 PM EDT (#202056) #

Picking a nit - the Yankees actually have scored more runs at home, of course. But they should have scored lots more.

Don't forget that home teams often do not bat in the 9th inning and all the more so for teams that play especially well at home. You probably want to prorate the Yankees home at-bats by 10% to match their road at-bats.

Alex Obal - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 01:31 PM EDT (#202057) #

Hey, why not. He probably stands to benefit from playing in this bandbox more than Adams does, Adams isn't squaring anything up, JP's just throwing players at the wall until Snider forces his way back, and the theme from the Godfather is awesome.

Ducey - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 01:34 PM EDT (#202058) #

Hey, lay off Wells, he is only making $1.5 million this year.

He is saving himself for 2011 when he will play like a $23 million player and start a string of winning 4 consecutive league MVP awards.

*sigh*

AWeb - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 01:39 PM EDT (#202059) #

Dellucci starts by getting hit - maybe he's the new Reed Johnson? How's his defense?

Chuck - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 02:22 PM EDT (#202061) #

Dellucci starts by getting hit

Brad Wilkerson suddenly vaults from his couch, not sure exactly why. "Honey, stay off the phone for a bit. I don't know why I'm thinking this, but I have a feeling we might be getting a call."

Magpie - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 02:57 PM EDT (#202062) #

"Honey, stay off the phone for a bit. I don't know why I'm thinking this, but I have a feeling we might be getting a call."

"Oh, Brad. You're such a dreamer. Maybe that's why I love you so."

Chuck - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 03:05 PM EDT (#202063) #

Wells homers. Those with limited grasp of cause-and-effect emerge and explanations are proffered.

ayjackson - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 03:12 PM EDT (#202064) #

'cause he's on the road

Magpie - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 03:25 PM EDT (#202065) #

zeppelinkm asked for a Top 10 Outs per Save list (after my Top 10 list in Most Outs recorded in Career Saves.)

The pitchers in this sample (so far) include everybody with at least 185 career saves (that's the Top 47 of all time) - plus a few others I've already done because I was interested in them. As it turns out, it's one of those other guys who've recorded the most Outs Per Save. That's probably what you would expect. There's simply no way that a relief ace from the early 60s, who regularly went 2 or 3 innings to get his saves, could rack up 40 saves in a season. Or last long enough to get 200 career saves before his arm fell off.

Anyway, the Top 10 so far:

Dick Radatz (5.62 outs per save)
Mike Marshall (5.50)
Gene Garber (5.50)
Dan Quisenberry (5.18)
Stu Miller (5.09)
Hoyt Wilhelm (5.08) incomplete
Lindy McDaniel (4.99)
Ron Perranoski (4.98)
Rollie Fingers (4.84)
Bruce Sutter (4.76)

I've so far found two guys who actually averaged less than 1 IP per save (Frankie Rodriguez and Jose Mesa) and one more who has averaged exactly 1 IP per save (Joe Nathan.)

The highest figure for anyone active this century is Keith Foulke (3.50)

lexomatic - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 06:19 PM EDT (#202067) #

fangraphs had the wpa for this game

http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?gameid=290703110

Geoff - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 06:49 PM EDT (#202068) #

Exactly ayjackson, 'cause he's on the road

And it would behoove all of us to make sure he doesn't feel so at home in Toronto. He's having a great season thus far and all it takes to recognize that is to ignore every game he has played in Toronto.

On the bright side, the next nine games are all on the road. Against division opponents. During that time, we should erect a green monster in the ol' Dome's left field. Pretty the place up like Camden. Practice our Bronx taunts. Take down those banners and the level of excellence. Sign a deal to play games somewhere else. (Milwaukee, anyone?) Anything to get the centerfielder for the next many years like he's been playing all year....on the road.

Geoff - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 06:53 PM EDT (#202070) #

Those with limited grasp of cause-and-effect emerge and explanations are proffered.

Don't say that you don't believe giving the city, the ballpark and its people a makeover will be the appropriate fix. What's wrong with change for change's sake?

westcoast dude - Friday, July 03 2009 @ 06:55 PM EDT (#202071) #

Brian Tallet and A.J. Burnett lead the league in walks with 49, and they have both pitched 101 innings--well, Brian has 100.2 to be exact.

Seeing the Jays play so well wearing red and considering the astute comments of our own china fan got me to thinking (uh-oh). Rogers could sell the club to China, they could be rebranded the Dragons, and China gets to recycle a lot of their unwanted Yankee dollars. An extra hundred million or two in payroll would be chump change for the Middle Kingdom, plus they get to go head to head against the real Yankees. Jim Sinclair is in China at the moment, getting the Royal Treatment, got me thinking, also a recent poll in the Globe & Mail showed Canadians preferred China as our leading trade partner over either Europe or USA, two to one. The Jays are Canada's team, let's make them China's team, too.

China fan - Saturday, July 04 2009 @ 03:27 AM EDT (#202078) #

Maybe China already has purchased the Jays, and the guy we think is Vernon Wells is actually a pirated copy of the real Vernon Wells?

Parker - Saturday, July 04 2009 @ 02:36 PM EDT (#202082) #

Yeah, and they installed some kind of newfangled region coding that prevents Wells from hitting above replacement level in Canada.

TamRa - Saturday, July 04 2009 @ 05:24 PM EDT (#202084) #

Maybe Magpie has a datasheet for this but I sure get the impression we've lost several games because Cito seems unaware that it's legal to replace Shawn Camp until AFTER he's given up the lead.

I don't mean to rag on Camp, it's solid that you can get 2 or more quality innings of relief out of the guy. But over and over it seems to me that Camp is carrying the torch for the Cito of the good old days.

I remember back in the 90's that my main complaint about cito's pitching managment is that he would always leave the starter in just an out or two too long - just long enough for them to soil an otherwise good outing.

It seems like that is a thing of the past for the most part EXCEPT with Camp.

sduguid - Saturday, July 04 2009 @ 06:05 PM EDT (#202085) #

I don't think Cito has a lot of good options, though, due to injuries and others simply not being very good lately. Speaking of injuries, Bastian reports that Richmond will go to the 15 day DL and Mills will come up to start in his place. Things just aren't looking good at this point.

ComebyDeanChance - Sunday, July 05 2009 @ 10:36 AM EDT (#202092) #

I agree.

The options in the pen, with Frasor being held for a save opportunity, were Hayhurst and BJ Ryan. Yikes.

Second, in an extra inning game, in the 12th, you don't know how long it'll go. It's easier to say pull Camp before the 9th with one team in the lead, than in the 12th with a short, and unreliable, pen.

Chuck - Sunday, July 05 2009 @ 10:59 AM EDT (#202093) #

I don't understand holding Frasor back for a save. Why not use him before using Camp, ensuring he gets a high leverage inning in? Then if Camp has to go long, so be it.

ComebyDeanChance - Sunday, July 05 2009 @ 11:23 PM EDT (#202118) #

Because you're on the road.

If the Blue Jays don't score, it doesn't matter. You can't win a draw. At home you bring your closer in for the 9th in a tie because there will never be a save opportunity. On the road it's not a matter of 'high leverage innings'. To win the game they had to score and hold the Yankees in the bottom. Frasor's job, rightly, was the second half of that. Standard baseball, like bunting Hill with none out and runners on first and second to let Rolen have a shot at a sac fly.

Neither worked, but they were both the normal and correct call.

TamRa - Monday, July 06 2009 @ 01:27 AM EDT (#202121) #

The options in the pen, with Frasor being held for a save opportunity, were Hayhurst and BJ Ryan. Yikes.

Hayhrst has done nothing to make us scared to see him enter the game.

I'll take Dirk over a third inning from Camp in any case unless DH has been worked two days in a row or some such.

Not that Camp hasn't given us 3 good innings before but still...the longer a reliever goes the worse his odds get unless he's fresh out of the rotation.

Chuck - Monday, July 06 2009 @ 09:03 AM EDT (#202131) #

If the Blue Jays don't score, it doesn't matter. You can't win a draw. At home you bring your closer in for the 9th in a tie because there will never be a save opportunity. On the road it's not a matter of 'high leverage innings'.

Yes, you can't win a draw. But you also can't get a save in a loss.

Losing an extra-inning game with your best reliever sitting in the pen watching is not optimal strategy. You know Frasor can only give you one inning. You know Camp can give you multiple. Take your one inning from Frasor right away to keep the Yankees from scoring and to force an extra inning. Then take your chances with the lesser relievers.

In extra innings, road or not, the earliest innings are the highest leverage innings since these are the innings when the game is likeliest to end. The strategy should be to use your relievers in a best-to-worst sequence. I can't see the point in having Frasor wait for Godot.

The David Dellucci Era Begins | 32 comments | Create New Account

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