'Inside Edge' Matsuzaka Scouting Report. Very interesting, although the fact that they scouted just 199 pitches (about 1.5 games for Daisuke) could be slightly misleading, considering it was mostly against one team - meaning that depending on the lineup (say good FB hitters), it would be approached differently than another lineup (good slider hitters).
Decent ESPN Matsuzaka article. Nothing new though.
Who? I'm watching a replay of Saturday's Florida State-Maryland game that the Terps won 27-24. The QB for Maryland, Sam Hollenbach, has one of, if not the best arms I've seen in all of college football this season. The ball seems to jump out of his hand. And he's accurate too, making several great throws where only his receiver could catch it. I haven't seen any other Maryland games this year, so I don't know if it's the norm, or a fluke. Going by his rating (128.6!), I'd say it's the norm. And he's had his best games against the best competition this year - Georgia Tech, Virginia, NC State & FSU. I hope this kid doesn't drop out of the first round. Yes, that's how good he looks. Not to mention his proto-typical size, 6'4", 214. The only downside is that he's 23, and will be 24 at the start of the 2007 NFL season.
A Seattle Times article that says the Mariners may be out of the serious bidding for Daisuke Matsuzaka. Two humorous quotes, from Bobby Valentine, and Scott Boras: Valentine 'raved' about Matsuzaka, but frankly, Bobby V's player evaluation is not great (to say the least). He said that since Hideki Matsui hit 50 HR in Japan, he would hit 50 HR in MLB. (Matsui's high is 31, and he will never break 40.) Scott Boras, Matsuzaka's agent, said that this free agent crop is 'rare' because two aces are available - he's obviously referring to his two clients, Matsuzaka and Zito. Ok, so Matsuzaka is an ace? A guy who's never thrown a pitch stateside? And Zito is an ace? Yes, he WAS, but not less than 3 years ago. Anyway, there's also a couple discrepancies with the article: A. 'the posting process takes four days' - everything else I've read says three. B. 'Matsuzaka would become an international free agent (if he doesn't join MLB) after the 2008 season' - everything else I've read says 2007.
Phil Hughes has his own website. I bet it was his agent's idea. Anyway, the forum will not help. It gives the average fan/viewer a chance to rip Hughes, whether it be a Yankee fan upset over a poor outing, or an opponent's fan who just wants to rip Hughes for whatever reason. However, he does offer his address for autographs - as long as you include $5 (that he gives to a NYC charity).
That was the ugliest win of the season. But in the NFL, style points don't count. If a few close plays go Tampa's way, the Giants are lamenting a loss.
As an intelligent commentator said, "Most games in the NFL are lost rather than won." That was the case today, as the Bucs dropped pass after pass, comitted one huge unforced turnover, and even when the receivers were open, their rookie QB couldn't put the ball in their hands. Bruce Gradkowski completed just 20 of 48 passes (42%).
But the biggest discrepancies were in the running game and the turnover differential. With the latest version of 'Thunder & Lightning,' Tiki and Big J combined for 108 rushing yards, while Tampa ran for just 40. This also allowed the Gints to hold the ball 10 minutes more than Tampa. Jacobs had his usual assortment of punishing runs - including carrying Ronde Barber for 5 yards, and even Tiki had a particularly hard fought run, carrying a DB on his back as he gained a first down. It's really tough to see how any team can stop both of these guys. Maybe you stop Tiki, or maybe you stop Jacobs, but not both. The toughest test of the season is 2 weeks away as the Bears, having the #2 D in the NFL, come to town.
The Giants didn't commit any turnovers, and although Tampa had just one, it was HUGE. Gradkowski's pitch to Cadillac Williams was fumbled, and Fred Robbins recovered at Tampa's 28. The Gints scored 3 plays later to solidify the game with a 14-0 lead.
Tampa WR Joey Galloway dropped two big passes that hit him in the hands. The first drop I can understand, as Gibril Wilson was bearing down on him - and ended up drilling him anyway (what's the old saying? 'You're going to get drilled anyway, so you might as well catch the ball.') The second drop occurred without any threat of a big hit, so the blame lies squarely on Galloway (and the Giants D for letting him get open). If he makes one of those catches, the score might be very different.
In contrast to Galloway, Plaxico Burress made several great catches, including a spectacular grab to give the Gmen a 7-0 lead. It was a well designed play, and I expect to see it more often in future games: 2 WR shotgun, Tiki went in motion wide of Plax, Eli faked a screen to Tiki, the safety bought the fake, leaving Plax (6'5") one-on-one with Ronde Barber (5'10"), and Eli put it where only Plax could catch it, which he did with just his left hand.
Anyway, the D was mostly excellent (with help from the 40 mph wind). Despite missing 4 starters - DE Osi, CB Madison, LB Arrington and LB Short (who left in the 1st quarter), the D still held Tampa to just 174 total yards. Torbor, Wilkinson, and Emmons played well in the absences of Arrington and Short, while Kiwanuka filled in admirably (recording his first career sack) for Osi. Despite not getting a sack, Mike Strahan put continuous pressure on the QB, while Pierce, Robbins and Cofield held Cadillac Williams in check.
Next week is the lowly Texans, and the Gmen cannot look past them or they will lose. Houston has some dangerous offensive weapons, especially WR Andre Johnson, so they need to stay focused.
17-3 Giants (1 game lead over Dallas)
3*: Plaxico, 7 catches, 86 yds, 1 TD
2: Kiwanuka, 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 QB hit, 1 forced fumble
2: Pierce, 8 tackles, 1 forced fumble
2: Strahan, 4 tackles, 4 QB hits, 1 pass deflection
1: Webster, 6 tackles, 2 pass deflections
1: Tiki, 29 touches, 88 yds
1: Big J, 7 carries, 41 yds, 1 TD
1: Cofield, 1 tackle, 1 QB hit, 1 pass deflection
NPB stands for Nippon (Japanese) Professional Baseball. This study is designed to get a feel for Daisuke (Dice-Kay) Matsuzaka's home ballpark, whether it's pitcher or hitter friendly, and how it compares to MLB parks, and specifically Yankee Stadium.
A list of MLB parks by size, using a very basic equation for the size of the field. Obviously, the size of the park does not directly make it hitter or pitcher friendly, e.g. Coors Field is the 2nd largest park according to my calculations, but is one of the best hitter's parks in baseball. And this list does not account for foul ground, where Oakland's massive foul territory helps pitchers, while Fenway has very little. But I do feel this list can give us a general feeling of park sizes.
Florida* (high LF wall 33 ft.) + 25 ft. (25 more than 8 ft. avg. ht.)
LF 330 +
LC 385 +
CF 434 +
RC 385 +
RF 345 +
Misc. 25 +
= Basic Playing Area: 1904
Colorado*(high RF wall 17 ft.)+9
347, 390, 415, 375, 350+9
BPA: 1886
Cubs* (high wall 15 ft.) + 7
355, 368, 400, 368, 353+(7 x 4) 28
BPA: 1872
Texas* (high LF wall 14 ft.) + 6
332, 390, 400, 407, 325+6
BPA: 1860
San Diego
334, 402, 396, 402, 322
BPA: 1856
Washington
335, 385, 410, 385, 335
BPA: 1850
San Francisco* (high RF wall 25 ft.)+ 17
339, 364, 399, 421, 309+17
BPA: 1849
Minnesota* (very high RF wall 23 ft.) + 15
343, 385, 408, 367, 327+15
BPA: 1845
Mets
338, 378, 410, 378, 338
BPA: 1842
Seattle
331, 390, 405, 387, 327
BPA: 1840
Kansas City
330, 385, 410, 385, 330
BPA: 1840
Atlanta
335, 380, 401, 390, 330
BPA: 1836
Milwaukee
344, 370, 400, 374, 345
BPA: 1833
Detroit
345, 370, 420, 365, 330
BPA: 1830
Angels* (high RF wall 18 ft.)+ 10
330, 387, 400, 370, 330+10
BPA: 1827
Dodgers
330, 385, 395, 385, 330
BPA: 1825
Yanks
318, 399, 408, 385, 314
BPA: 1824
Houston* (high LF wall 21 ft.)+ 13
315, 362, 435, 373, 326+13
BPA: 1824
Arizona
328, 376, 407, 376, 335
BPA: 1822
Oakland* (high power-alley walls 16 ft.)+16
325, 370, 410, 375, 325+16
BPA: 1821
St. Louis
336, 375, 400, 375, 335
BPA: 1821
Pittsburgh* (high RF wall 21 ft.)+ 13
325, 389, 399, 375, 320+13
BPA: 1821
Boston* (LF 37 ft.) + 29
310, 379, 420, 380, 302+29
BPA: 1820
Cleveland*(very high LF wall 19 ft.)+ 11
325, 370, 410, 375, 325+11
BPA: 1816
Baltimore* (high RF wall 25 ft.)+ 17
333, 364, 410, 373, 318+17
BPA: 1815
White Sox
330, 377, 400, 372, 335
BPA: 1814
Toronto* (10 ft. wall)+8
328, 375, 400, 375, 328+8
BPA: 1814
Cincinnati* (high LF wall 12 ft.)+ 4
328, 379, 404, 370, 325+4
BPA: 1810
Philadelphia* (high RF wall 13 ft.)+5
329, 374, 401, 369, 330+5
BPA: 1808
Tampa Bay* (wall 9.5 ft.) + 6
315, 370, 404, 370, 322+6
BPA: 1787
Outfield wall: avg. 8 ft. high
NPB Parks
Fukuoka
328, 387, 400, 387, 328+44
BPA: 1874
Chiba Lotte
328, 381, 400, 381, 328+20
BPA: 1838
Kintetsu
330, 375, 400, 375, 330+16
BPA: 1826
Orix
311, 383, 400, 383, 311+20
BPA: 1808
Hanshin
315, 390, 394, 394, 315-4
BPA: 1804
Tokyo (x 2) 2 teams share Tokyo Dome
318, 360, 400, 360, 318+20
BPA: 1796
Chunichi
318, 360, 400, 360, 318+20
BPA: 1796
Seibu Dome (Matsuzaka's home park) has high walls, 10 ft.
311, 373, 394, 373, 313+8
BPA: 1772
Yokohama
309, 365, 386, 365, 309+8
BPA: 1742
Yakult
297, 368, 393, 368, 297-8
BPA: 1715
Hiroshima
300, 360, 380, 360, 300
BPA: 1700
ML avg. 1834
AL East avg. 1812
NPB avg. 1789
So the Seibu Dome is one of the smaller NPB parks, and smaller than any ML park, and much smaller than both the average ML and AL East park, which all bodes well for his MLB career (considering he put up stellar stats in seemingly a hitter's park and league). However, NPB parks generally have large areas of foul ground, a pitcher-friendly aspect. But overall, NPB is a hitter-friendly league - there are some awfully small parks, and frankly, how else did Hideki Matsui hit 50 HR his last year there, yet his MLB high is 31 (even with the extended shedule (140 gms vs. 162) and The Stadium's short RF porch)?
Below are 'Park Factor' ratings for The Stadium. A number above 1.0 means hitter friendly; adversely, below 1.0 means pitcher friendly. So looking at the following numbers indicates that Yankee Stadium is a pitcher friendly park (at least over the last 5 years).
Park Factor
Yankee Stadium
Year - PF Rating - Rank
'06 .900 27
'05 1.051 8
'04 .922 21
'03 .933 18
'02 .957 16
'01 .805 31
Average .928 20
So The Stadium has been the 20th best hitter's park (or 10th best pitcher's park, or 10th worst hitter's park - take your pick) over the last 5 years, another indication that Daisuke Matsuzaka can succeed as a Yankee.
The M's fans are pretty psyched about what they see as their 2007 savior. In short, the report says all of Matsuzaka's pitches are a plus, and his curveball ('gyroball') is a plus-plus. The author predicts Seattle will win the posting bid with $28 million, and sign DK to a 3 year, $33 million deal. With Boras as his agent, I doubt he'll receive 'just' $11 million a year. Boras will probably start by asking for $16 million a year. He might settle for $11 mil, but that's the minimum.
Can I pick 'em or what? Timeline of postseason allegiance: First it was the Yanks (obviously), then Oakland, then St. Louis, then Detroit. If I was a betting man, I'd be in the hole a few grand.
