Yardwork: This Jay Bruce Kid Might Be Something…
Baseball May 28th. 2008, 10:00am
Reds 9, Pirates 6: Jay Bruce went 3-for-3 with two runs and two walks in his Major League Debut. It’s scary to think of what could be, if the Reds had Josh Hamilton and Jay Bruce in their lineup for the rest of the decade. Adam Dunn had a homer and four RBI, if you care.
Rangers 12, Rays 6: Josh Hamilton had a homer (grand slam) and five RBI. He’s 4-for-6 with 14 RBI with the bases loaded. I’m going to post his overall season statistics for all of you because they’re so damn fun to type: .329, 13HR, 58 RBI, 35 runs. The Rangers lead the Majors with ten 10-run games.
Mets 5, Marlins 3: Fernando Tatis had two hits and two RBI, which is odd because I thought he was in a coma. Johan Santana moved to 6-3 with a seven inning, seven strikeout performance, in spite of another Jose Reyes error.
Orioles 10, Yankees 9 (11): Johnny Damon had four hits and three RBI while his former Sox teammate Kevin Millar had two homers and three RBI. The teams combined for 28 hits, 19 runs, 14 strike outs, nine walks, nine homers and five errors.
Astros 8, Cardinals 2 (La Russa Alert: ELEVATED): Hunter Pence went 5-5 with 2 RBI and Miguel Tejada had a two-run homer. Their adversary A. Pujols went 4-4 with a homer. In other news, Tony La Russa started Chris Duncan and opted to keep Ryan Ludwick on the bench. In the event you hadn’t heard, Duncan has just four homers and a .252 average on the year, while Ludwick has a higher OPS than everyone in all of baseball except Chipper Jones and Lance Berkman. He also has more RBI than Pujols. This wasn’t a case of needing a day off, it was “going by the numbers” because Houston starter Shawn Chacon dominates right handed hitters compared to lefties, even though Ludwick is hitting .398 against righties (and Pujols went 4-4 as one of those right-handed hitters). It also happens that Chris Duncan is the son of his pitching coach. Ugh. If La Russa wasn’t so full of double-speak, he’d send Chris Duncan to AAA, bring up the red hot Joe Mather and let Duncan get more experience by playing every day – which was the same justification for sending down pitcher Anthony Reyes. Oh, but TLR doesn’t like Anthony Reyes and loves Duncan, so the justifications are different. Tony La Russa HAS to make a decision and HAS to have his imprint on every game. The man thinks too freaking much. Excuse me, while I go vomit.
I’m back. The Astros are good.
76 Responses to “Yardwork: This Jay Bruce Kid Might Be Something…”
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May 28th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Now that is what I like to see in an Astros writeup. Even if it was about the Cards
May 28th, 2008 at 10:01 am
OMG Let’s all slurp Jay Bruce like it’s the last day to do it.
Oh yeah – the Cards recap could have been longer.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Tatis is still in the game?
May 28th, 2008 at 10:03 am
the guy had an awesome debut. but i’d say the book might still be out before we send him to Cooperstown.
BTW, fucking gay Yahoo said he was Not Available to start yesterday in my league.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Ladies and Gentleman…the Mets new starting Left Fielder…Fernando Tatis…I just threw up in my mouth a little
May 28th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Who is Jay Bruce again?
May 28th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Isaac’s son and Lenny’s great nephew.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Come on now Roman he hit two grand slams in an inning 9 years ago
May 28th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Tony LaRussa sucks? Wait is Anthony Reyes that guy with an over 5.00 ERA? What does LaRussa know, he is only regarded as one of the best managers ever, and has a brutal Cardinal team 1.5 games out of first? Also, the 8 runs that the pitching gave up probably had a lot to do with Duncan’s playing time. Ludwick would have totally had 6 RBI and ran backwards through time. At least rant about something that makes sense.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:18 am
i saw Bruce play in the Florida State League which is High A level. Basically playing against high school seniors. Yelled at him and told him he would never be in the majors. Proved me wrong
May 28th, 2008 at 10:18 am
@benji: I agree. He needs at least a couple more nights like last night to get his plaque.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Just to give you some insight on the the Mets win last night…they had a first baseman start in left, a third baseman start in Right and a second baseman start at first…so I am not ready to declare them fixed but I will give the Future Former Met Manager a pop…he actually put a lineup together designed to face a pitcher…every starter was righty except Santana to face Andrew Miller…I have not seen Willie do that since 2005
May 28th, 2008 at 10:19 am
What? No mention of the riveting Royals/Twins game?
May 28th, 2008 at 10:20 am
@nick: yeah, a couple more multi-hit games and a handful of home runs should get him in.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Jay Bruce = Tuffy Rhodes
May 28th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Tony Larussa is an awful manager.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Come on Imig, it’s not LaRussa’s fault he ran into the buzzsaw that is the Astros (except that damned Phillies series). We’re driving many an opposing manager to drink these days.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Fixed for Tony Tony.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:24 am
@nick: is Patterson hurt or did Dusty finally pull his head out of his ass and call the kid up? You think he’s the everyday starter from here on out?
interesting fact, Ryan Braun got the call up exactly one year to the day before and it has worked for the Brewers.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:24 am
I heard Jay Bruce rapes Rwandan babies.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:26 am
@ August, at least Nieve and Borkowski are back in AAA
May 28th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Hey Benji,
FUCK THE BREWERS. FUCK ROAD GAMES. MOTHERFUCKER, why can’t we win on the road????? What the fucking hell is fucking going on? We blow away Brandon Webb, and then get absolutely shut down by Dave F. Bush (the “F” stands for “Fucking”)?? I hate this shit.
Of course, this follows what we’ve been doing all year. Killing the great pitchers (Webb, Santana twice) and getting absolutely owned by the shitty pitchers (pick any Nationals, Pirates, or Marlins pitcher).
May 28th, 2008 at 10:27 am
I could be wrong, but I dont think Dusty had much say in the call up
May 28th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Oh, and Benji, just kidding about that whole “fuck the Brewers” thing.
Kinda…
May 28th, 2008 at 10:28 am
@irish
An excerpt from Jay Bruce’s Hall of Fame induction speech
May 28th, 2008 at 10:29 am
@benji: It’s not as big a coincidence as you think. Both guys were called up to prolong arbitration. Of course the Brewers made that moot by giving Braun the big extension, something I hope the Reds do with JB.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:29 am
/Nick last night watching the Reds game
May 28th, 2008 at 10:31 am
@Hakeem
Agreed… Nieve was a sieve and needed to go back to AAA. I’m amped about Wandy coming back tonight; I love that little guy! Hopefully Sampson will finally get comfortable in the bullpen and we can get some better pitching to cover for when the line-up hits a slump at some point.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Close. It was actually qweqrtqrqeqtqreetwey. I’m a top row man.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:33 am
I can’t believe I’m saying this considering Wandy hasn’t won a game on the road since High School, but I’m happy he is back
May 28th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Obviously Josh Hamilton is out of this world and on fire. However Volquez is no slouch and appears like he could be very good for a long time. Hard to just get pitching like that, I think both clubs are probably happy with the Volquez/Hamilton trade.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Imig, I like you, you only put it in when the O’s beat the Yankees, keep up the good work. If the Orioles could play all 162 games at home they might have a chance at making the playoffs, doh.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Bruce is wicked good. But I would be a little suspicious of his K-BB ratio in AAA (41-15 – not good). According to minor league splits dot com (http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?pl=457803), Bruce’s BABIP is outrageous and unsustainable, even for AAA. But, what the hey, the kid can play and kudos to Walt Jocketty, er Wayne Krivsky, er Dan O’Brien for drafting and developing a good looking prospect.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:36 am
@nick: i get the call up to prolong service time.
@ATL: that was sweet last night. Bush has 2 starts against the Braves and pitched 7 innings and gave up 2 runs in both. That’s kind of embarrassing as a Braves fan, isn’t it. But why did Cox leave Hudson in that long? Did i hear right that they only had 2 available relievers? I know Smoltz and Soriano are hurt, but to go into a series with 2 relievers seems crazy to me.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:36 am
my mistake, Nick.
no shame in that either…i was stranglebaiting during the Indians’ little run explosion. i figured it was a special occasion as anytime the Tribe scores mroe than 3 runs, it calls for celebration.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:39 am
@Jesus: Don’t piss on our fire. We don’t want him clogging the bases anyway.
/Dusty
May 28th, 2008 at 10:42 am
@Nick Papageorgio:
I do believe that Jay Bruce is not dark enough to stand the hot Cincy summer sun. Cory Patterson can handle the sun beams, but Jay is too pigment-deficient.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Jesus…was Jay Bruce made in your image? Or is he like God’s next new better son?
/Nick P
May 28th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Die Eagle Die… I never said La Russa was a bad manager or that not playing Ludwick cost the Cardinals the game. You’re putting those words into my mouth. If you really think playing Duncan over Ludwick is a sound managing decision, then I’d like to have some of what you’re smoking.
And if you don’t think La Russa overthinks things, then I’ll double up on the smoke.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:44 am
fixed for accuracy
May 28th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Imig…It is better to have a manager overthink things than underthink thing *cough*Willie Randolph*cough*
May 28th, 2008 at 10:45 am
@Benji – that’s not true about the relievers. There are a few guys who haven’t pitched in days (Ohman, Resop, Carlyle, etc.). Supposedly, the Braves announcers were saying that it looked like Cox asked Hudson how he felt, and Hudson said he could come back out for the 8th inning. Pretty stupid, if you ask me.
That’s the one complaint I’ve always had with Bobby Cox…he has a tendency to leave his pitchers in too long. He trusts them too much. Anyone with an ounce of competitiveness is going to say they can give you another inning. You have to take that with a grain of salt and make the best decision. More often than not, Cox doesn’t do that. Fuck.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:46 am
@Jesus: This is a serious question I have for you. Just why is it that you custom-built the blacks and Latinos specifically to play baseball and other warm weather sports so well? It just doesn’t seem fair to your other Christian followers like us whities.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:47 am
ATL…on the opposite foot of that…you want your best out there and Hudson has proved he can go deep in games…sometimes a manager will pull his starter before he has a chance to prove himself and it kills team moral *cough Wilie Randolph cough*
May 28th, 2008 at 10:48 am
ASF is going all Tupac on the Brewers. Fuck Prince. Fuck Shields. Fuck the pitching staff, the front office, and the whole fucking Brew Crew. And if you wanna be down with Ryan Braun, then fuck you too. Jason Kendall? Fuck you too. All you motherfuckers, fuck you too. All you motherfuckers, fuck you die slow motherfuckers……etc.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:49 am
1. Never said TLR sucks.
2. Never said Reyes should be on the active roster.
3. Did say that a struggling player should be down in AAA playing everyday, just like Reyes.
4. Never said the pisspoor pitching could have been averted had Ludwick started.
5. If you’re going to disagree with something I wrote, at least disagree with something I actually said. I’ve said on many occasions that the Cards are fotunate to have La Russa as their manager – it could be much worse – but the man drives me up the wall and overthinks things.
[Cue response… “Sorry, he’ll need to start making decisions that please you.”
Thank you.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:51 am
RWH, I don’t know about that, but I do know it’s better to have Tony La Russa than Willie Randolph.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:51 am
This means nothing. Jeter is well regarded as a good defensive SS. He’s beyond terrible.
1.5 games out of first. Small sample. They’ll finish far out of the money.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:52 am
A six pack of Meister Brau is better than Willie Randoplh
May 28th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Tony LaRussa > Willie Randolph > Dusty Baker
Then again, gonorrhea > Dusty Baker
May 28th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Cubs win, now have a home record of 21-8.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Giving or receiving?
May 28th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Hunter Pence’s girlfriend…….. definitely paying dividends for his *on* field production now, too.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:58 am
I was referring to Edgar Gonorrhea, the talented Venezuelan shortstop
May 28th, 2008 at 10:59 am
i couldn’t believe that was true. they had Ohman and Bennett up and the Brewers announcers said something about them being the only 2 available relievers. But the Brewers announcers are fucking morons so i’m not suprised they fucked it up.
as far as leaving in Hudson, i was suprised when he came out to lead off the 8th. i figured they’d leave him in pretty much to finish the 7 regardless so he didn’t have to double switch or bring a reliever in and have him hit. but then Hudson hit. then he came back out for the 8th, and gave up the first 2 hits. and Cox still wasn’t pulling him. i couldn’t believe that. then he got him in the foot with a liner and still stayed in after giving up the tying run.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:00 am
The Tigers were fine until they got Gonorrhea, he made things real uncomfortable and he left a pungent odor where ever he went.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:01 am
@happy st: +1
May 28th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I can’t believe Fernando Tatis is still alive.
A guy in my keeper league picked Jay Bruce in the 2nd to last round and has held onto him all year. I hate him.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Larussa is a proud advocate of Steroids
/ The Bash Brothers
May 28th, 2008 at 11:05 am
@ATL: Some people think Bobby tends to pull his SP too early, leading to an overworked bullpen (see: Soriano toward the end of last year). To use a technical term: it’s just one of those things. Maybe pulls Hudson when he’s crusing and the bullpen shuts ‘em down, then a day or two later the same bullpen blows a lead because they’re tired. Or maybe he leaves Hudson in and he gives it up and everyone’s just as pissed. No one’s happy with the decisions when you end up with an L.
That being said, WHAT THE FUCK WHY CAN’T WE WIN A MOTHERFUCKING GAME ON THE ROAD?!?!?! GODDAMMMMMMMMIT! HOW DO YOU LET THAT MOTHERFUCKER STEAL 3RD WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT HIM?!? FUCK!!!
Wow, that does feel good.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I just traded Chipper, so I kind of hope he heads for that 30 game DL stint he’s famous for immediately.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Bruce, Schmuce. I want to see Cameron Maybin out there.
/Drafted Maybin like a retard and missed the boat on Bruce
May 28th, 2008 at 11:14 am
@ATL and Deion: hmm, Bobby Cox doesn’t know when to pull/leave in starters. and his team can’t win a game on the road. that must be where Ned Yost learned it from.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:20 am
@ Imig…
“(La Russa Alert: ELEVATED)”
Sorry, I guess I took that has you don’t like him, and that you even think that status of his job safety should be “elevated.” If I mistook that, sorry.
“This wasn’t a case of needing a day off, it was ‘going by the numbers’”
Did LaRussa actually say this, is there a link? Ludwick has been in pretty much every one of the last 24 games. Seeing as how he is relatively young, and appears to be playing over his head (I don’t think he is at the Chipper/Berkman level yet), a little rest can be a good thing.
“4. Never said the pisspoor pitching could have been averted had Ludwick started.”
Then what was the point of the rant? Just to say that LaRussa thinks? You spent most of the rant saying how Ludwick should be playing, or rather Duncan shouldn’t, and how LaRussa’s “imprint” needs to be in every game. You are allowed to second guess him, that is fine, just like I can disagree with the reasoning of your rant.
“5. If you’re going to disagree with something I wrote, at least disagree with something I actually said. I’ve said on many occasions that the Cards are fotunate to have La Russa as their manager – it could be much worse – but the man drives me up the wall and overthinks things.”
I do disagree with what you wrote, and I think that was clearly stated. You think it was wrong of LaRussa to play Duncan over Ludwick last night. You think Duncan should be in AAA. I disagree.
The second part of your statement, you didn’t even write in the post. Judging by what you wrote in the post, it sounds like you don’t like LaRussa, and want him to be alert about his job status. You may have meant differently, but that isn’t what you wrote.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:25 am
@Nick Papageorgio
First of all, (and this goes to spencer, too) I did not create Jay Bruce in anyone’s image. When Jay feeds a multitude from stale bread scraps and anchovies, then I’ll sit up and take notice. Until then, he’s just a talented baseball player who has a lot of potential. Like Enos – that guy had crazy potential. Or Paul – mad skillz.
Second, who says I have anything to do with pigmentation? Not Me! Seriously, though, the way it works is that since it is sunny (always sunny, if you will) in the tropics and dark-skinned people (not you people, and they are not all related) are out in the sun a lot (just chillaxing, but they are not lazy) it made all kinds of sense to make them tolerate the heat better. Because the sun is hot.
How horribly racist was that explanation? I mean, at one time, it seemed like a good idea. And a lot of My followers are of different ethnicities (We love you all the same, by the way). But nowadays, trying to explain all that – geesh, it’s not worth the trouble.
Next thing you know, I’ll be dropping hard Js on everybody.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:29 am
RWH – so what are your thoughts on Willie Randolph?
May 28th, 2008 at 11:35 am
What did LaRussa have for lunch yesterday? That was about the only piece of info missing from Imig’s write-up.
And Jesus just described the Tigers’ problem: too much “chillaxing” by the various team members from warmer climes.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:37 am
@Jesus: But you did create the Sun and chose to let it shine on those blackies in just such a way, no?
May 28th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Dirty..Willie is doing a FANTASTIC job and I will only begin to judge him at the All-Star break..if I do before hand I am an idiotic racist Mets fan
May 28th, 2008 at 11:50 am
@roman: Have you seen this?
May 28th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Eagle, the La Russa “alert” just means a long rant about La Russa is coming (for those readers who could care less). You ask what the point of the rant was when you already know it: it was to say starting Ducnan and sitting Ludwick is unspeakably stupid.
–
On Monday night, MLB.com reported that OF Ryan Ludwick was nominated for the National League Player of the Week Award for the previous week.
A mere 24 hours later – Ludwick found himself scratched from Tuesday night’s lineup against Houston. Ludwick had never faced Houston’s starter, Shawn Chacon, but his splits in 2008 against fellow right-handers have been quite good.
Vs. Lefties: 63 PA, 6 HR, 13 RBI, .226 AVG, .338 OBP
Vs. Righties: 98 PA, 7 HR, 25 RBI, .398 AVG, .459 OBP
Chris Duncan, who replaced Ludwick in the lineup, has a career .500 OBP against Chacon in a limited 11 plate appearances.
—
If you honestly believe that starting Duncan over Ludwick is a good decision, then… I really don’t know. When he sits Ludwick, he then moves Ankiel to the cleanup spot where he isn’t comfortable. Ludwick has been the only player to provide protection behind Pujols at any time this season. I don’t care if Ludwick is “playing over his head” right now, that’s all speculation. He’s earned the right to continue playing until he’s “under his head”. Not to mention that Ludwick was a highly touted prospect coming up as a youngster, but got derailed by injuries (and for the record, he isn’t “young”, he’s 29), so who knows if this really is an aberration.
Furthermore, Ludwick hasn’t started 4 of the last 12 games AND the Cards had a day off on Monday – so he didn’t need the day off. In those 4 nonstarts, the Cards are 2-2. When he does start, the Cards are 6-2.
As for sending Duncan to AAA, if he wasn’t Dave’s son, he’d be in AAA where he can play everyday to improve… which was the exact same logic for sending down Anthony Reyes. It’s hypocrisy.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Nick…yeah…they guy took heat for it and had to explain it was joke..which should not have needed to be explained..I thought it was funny
May 28th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
@Nick Papageorgio:
Next question.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Imig…There is nothing wrong with giving players a break. He has been playing a lot, 2 days off is good for him. Chris Duncan has been solid for the Cards in the past, and even has a higher career OBP than Ludwick. I don’t think that Duncan should be the everyday starter over Ludwick, all I am saying is that him getting a spell is not dumbfounded.
Also, check out a larger sample of days when Ludwick hasn’t started. The Cards have won 9 of the last 13 he hasn’t started.
You originally said I missed the point. I clearly didn’t.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Kinda late, but, to 1 Happy St:
My fo fo make sho all yo kids don’t grow!
Don’t one o’ y’all have anal fissure or lanced hemmorhoids or somethin?
May 28th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Eagle, I didn’t say you missed the point, you questioned what the point was.