Home Run Derby

Everyone has an opinion. 

Is he on Steroids?  Is he using a corked bat?  Did he suddenly start wearing an Elbow Pad?  No to all three, especially the last one.  He’s been wearing elbow protection since his days in Texas. 

It’s some changes to his swing – thanks in part to new Yankee hitting coach Kevin Long, who had a plan for A-Rod all offseason (article from 11/24/06)…

Spring training is still months away, but Kevin Long already has begun work in his new job as the Yankees’ hitting coach. He has had lunch with Alex Rodriguez to plan an offseason routine and will visit A-Rod at his winter home in Miami to help prepare him for camp.

“I’m pretty technical, as far as breaking down a swing, and Alex understands how the swing works,” Long said. “He really enjoys the technical part of it.

Well, The Baseball Analysts did their usual fabulous video comparison – and found that, indeed, A-Rod’s swing is just better this season.  The work done by the guys over at  Baseball Analysts is absolutely incredible …

From a recent NY Times article (go read the whole thing) …

(Don) Mattingly said he left all instruction to Long, who studied tapes of every Yankees hitter last winter. Long believed Rodriguez could be more consistent with a lower leg kick and a faster rotation of his hips.

The result would be a more compact swing. Rodriguez made this easier on himself by losing 12 pounds. A leaner hitter is more flexible. “That’s a huge factor,” Long said. 

He met with Long in Arizona, where Long lives, and set up another meeting for five days in December at Rodriguez’s home in Miami.

It was there that Rodriguez started to deconstruct his swing. The lessons imparted, together with a better frame of mind and a sleeker physique, have helped Rodriguez to his potentially historic start.

My personal opinion as to why Rodriguez is performing so well so far this season is because he’s wearing his pants shorter.  You can see his socks.  Which is how baseball players are supposed to look.

Wow.  Mr. April, Alex Rodriguez, did it again, going 4 for 5 and smacking two more home runs in tonight’s game vs the Devil Rays. The Home Runs set a new American League record for Homers in April (14) – surpassing Ken Griffey Jr’s 13 hit back in 1997. A-Rod also tied the all-time MLB April mark of 14 set last season by Al bert Pujols. With six games remaining in the month.

It’s also the fastest anyone has hit 13 Home Runs. Let alone 14.

But the Yankees lost their fourth straight game and dropped to 8-10 – Fourth Place in the American League East behind Boston.

A-Rod can’t pitch, can he?

I think it’s safe to say the Derby is probably divided into those who have Alex Rodriguez, and those who are out of the running.  Five HR in 11 days and he’ll set the all-time MLB record for Home Runs in the month of April.

How about some other tens …

Time for the annual Derby breakdown of player picks.  Interesting trends this season …

Group A is really top heavy this season with at least one of the three big guns (Pujols, Ortiz, Howard) on all but one roster.  Seventeen rosters have all three.  Curious that last season’s HR leader only tied for the 6th most picked player in the Derby.

Group B has a similar trend with three big names before the dropoff.  Adam Dunn finally gets some respect in this Derby.  This Group also holds the Derby’s only orphan – Jason Giambi. 

Group C is much more competitively distributed and could easily be the tipping point for the winners this season.  This was a really tough group to just choose three guys.

Group D is ruled by Derrek Lee who probably was Group C material in his comeback bid.  Miguel Cabrera was also a value pick here too.  But I should not have elevated Matsui and Griffey Jr. to this group.

Group E is always my favorite.  A few picks that I expected due to their hype in the SportsMedia and Fantasy Baseball communities (Fielder, Atkins, Sizemore, and Wright) offset by the ones that come in out of left field like Teahen, Markais and Hawpe.

Toronto Blue Jays DH Frank Thomas was the star of a Blue Jays promo ad which will not be seen on TV in Canada – because the Television Bureau of Canada says it’s offensive to viewers …

 A playful ad featuring designated hitter Frank Thomas batting a kid off his bed with a pillow and onto the floor will now only be seen in its original, uncut version on CBC since the Television Bureau thought launching the kid across the room was inappropriate.

Judge for yourself … 

… apparently the kid hitting the floor is a bit too much in Canadia

Here’s an infuriating tidbit from a Peter Gammons post over on ESPN.com regarding Alex Rodriguez during the World Baseball Classic (link requires registration)  

Team USA players like to tell the story of (Jeff) Francoeur confronting Alex Rodriguez during the WBC for trashing a clubhouse kid who brought him the wrong sandwich.

This scumbag gets paid millions of dollars a year and feels he has to berate some kid (who is probably earning next to nothing if not just the chance to be in the Clubhouse with the USA players) because he brought him the wrong free sandwich? 

What a spoiled $20 million jerk.

And if this story is true, Jeff Francoeur is immediately added to my list of favorite MLB players.  Even if he plays for the Braves. 

A-Rod has apparently been hanging around Steinbrenner too much.  The Boss once fired a secretary who brought him the wrong sandwich.

A lot of blogs are all over Frank Thomas because the AP found out that he didn’t do any running in the offseason after signing his big $18 million deal with Toronto.  But the Big Hurt didn’t just sit on his ass all offseason in an attempt to make the Blue Jays look stupid – his new team told him to take it easy …

“The doctors and [team trainer George Poulis] and everybody didn’t want me running over the offseason,” explained Thomas …

“It’s one of those things where I haven’t run since October.  I just started last week. But everything’s fine; everything’s great.” 

The Jays didn’t want Thomas injuring his foot in the offseason – and besides, a short Spring workout in 2006 didn’t give him any issues when he belted 39 HR last season. 

Even though Thomas will miss at least the first week of games, he’ll still be significantly ahead of the schedule he was on last spring.  In 2006, Thomas was still recovering from surgery on his foot and he didn’t begin running until late March. He only had 12 at-bats in six spring games with the A’s. 

“Last year was a little different. It was wait and see,” Thomas said. “I really didn’t start running until the last two weeks of Spring Training. This year, I’m looking forward to getting everything going and getting a lot of at-bats, so when the season starts, I’ll be ready to go.” 

Thomas is expected to start playing games next Friday (March 9).  Until we can see if his swing is in shape, here’s another picture of his wife, Megan.

 ADAM DUNN – 40 HR, 14.03 AB/HR, 160 G

What does Big Donkey have to do to get respect in HRD?  He’s the only player to hit 40 HR in each of the last three seasons, he’s only missed 5 games over that span, and almost 30% of his hits leave the yard.  And he couldn’t crack Group A.  Mr. All-or-Nothing’s 33% Strikeout to At-Bat ratio tells you that he will do everything he can to make sure you win Home Run Derby.  His career AB/HR ratio of 14.30 ranks 11th all-time in MLB. 

 FRANK THOMAS – 39 HR, 11.95 AB/HR, 137 G

The Big Hurt was definitely back in 2006.  He looked like the player he was in 2000 and 2003 when he crushed 43 and 42 HR.  And that’s what should worry you and my beliked Blue Jays in 2007.  Because in 2001 and 2004, Thomas could only muster 22 HR and 94 games combined.  Big Injury risk.  Other than that, he’s in a nice spot sandwiched between Vernon Wells and Troy Glaus in the heart of the Jays’ order. 

 CARLOS DELGADO – 38 HR, 13.79 AB/HR, 144 G

Unlike Beltran, this Carlos had no trouble adjusting to the pressure of playing baseball in the Big Apple and was a formidable presence in the Mets’ order.  New York’s 2006 postseason failure will add additional pressure for Delgado to keep producing.  Had offseason arm suregry (tendon) but should be ready for spring training.

  TROY GLAUS – 38 HR, 14.21 AB/HR, 153 G

Simply put– when Glaus is healthy, he produces.  The last two years Glaus has hit 37 and 38 HR playing for two different ballclubs.  His chronically bad knees seem to no longer be a concern and he should see plenty of good pitches batting behind Vernon Wells and Frank Thomas.   

 ARAMIS RAMIREZ – 38 HR, 15.63 AB/HR, 157 G

Set career highs in HR and RBI last season, but the absence of Derrek Lee really hurt A-Ram in late spring/early summer and he really didn’t come on until after the Cubs were buried and the pressure was off.  Signed a big $75 million deal – will he play hungry?  Developed good plate discipline last season, which could translate into 40 HR if given good pitches to hit. 

 CARLOS LEE – 37 HR, 16.87 AB/HR, 161 G

2006 was a tale of two teams for El Caballo, as he hit 28 HR in 102 games with Milwaukee but only 9 HR in 59 games with Texas.  Lee apparently doesn’t think the state of Texas was the problem, as he signed with Houston.  Considering that he will once again face NL Central pitching in a park with a short LF porch, I’d say they better reinforce the  Crawford Boxes.  

 JASON GIAMBI – 37 HR, 12.05 AB/HR, 139 G

The Giambino put up strong numbers in 2006, but disappeared in September after hurting his wrist.  For some reason, he just doesn’t bounce back as quickly from injuries anymore.  He’ll switch from 1B to DH this season to reduce his injury risk, where he’s less productive as a slugger.  Probably a candidate for the low 30’s.  

  MANNY RAMIREZ – 35 HR, 12.83 AB/HR, 130 G

Missed a month of playing time with an injury, but will be back batting cleanup for the Sawx this season, no matter how many trade rumors you heard about in the offseason.  Considered by many (quite possibly the Red Sox front office) to have a poor work ethic.  Manny will be Manny, and he’ll likely be hitting 40+ HR (and disappearing into the scoreboard) again in 2007.

 ALEX RODRIGUEZ – 35 HR, 16.34 AB/HR, 154 G

Poor A-Rod.  Wait … what?  Somehow the fact that Yankee fans hate a player that only had 35 HR and 121 RBI last season almost made me feel sympathy for this money-chasing stroke who can’t hit in October to save his life.  Either way, he’s probably due for a 40+ HR season.  

  PAUL KONERKO – 35 HR, 16.17 AB/HR, 152 G

He’s rarely hurt, he hits in a great lineup, in a HR-friendly park, and has averaged 38+ HR the past three seasons – but he’s maddeningly inconsistent – dropping off the Slugging Map for a month before ramping up and then disappearing again.  For Paulie to make the jump from good to great – he has to develop some serious consistency.