Yoenis Cespedes

The prospect from Cuba has proven what he could do. Yesterday he had a double in the extra inning loss againt The Mariners and today he had a two run home run in the 4-1 win against The Mariners.

Click Here to see Cespedes' first major league home run.

Cespedes' will be fun to watch as the season goes on. Maybe The Oakland Athletics won't finsh last, becasue of their secret weapon. I knew Billy Beane was up to something.

Besides Cespedes The Athletics were propelled by 3 home runs. The two run homer by Cespedes, a solo shot by Josh Reddick and a solo shot by Johnny Gomes. Bartolo Colon also pitched 8 innings of baseball only giving up 1 run.

Opening Day is Here

As i'm writing this The Seattle Mariners and The Oakland Athletics are playing their opening day game in Japan. Felix Hernandez is on the mound for The Mariners and Brandon McCarthy is pitching for The Athletics. The homecoming for Ichiro must be exciting for the fans in Japan and the debut of Yoennis Cespedes is exciting for all baseball fans.

So far McCarthy and Hernandez have matched each other for 7 innings and 1 run each. The Mariners have 6 hits and The Athletics have 5 hits. Hernandez picked up 6 strikeouts and McCarthy picked up 3. Cespedes is 1-2 and Ichiro is 3-3.

                  BASEBALL IS HERE! 

Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter is one of baseball's most respected players. In recent years he hasn't been performing as well as he used to do. Some say he is finally reached an age where his body cannot do as well as he did when he was younger, but I say there is more than that.

In 2010 Derek Jeter's on base percentage was only .340. That is unacceptable compared to his career on base percentage of .383. In 2011 Jeter raised his batting average 27 points and his on base percentage 15 points. Like most hitters as they get older their batting average goes down but the on base percentage becomes more respectable.

Again we are talking about BABIP. In 2002 Jeter hit .297 just like in 2011. His BABIP was equal by coincidence at .336. The difference between 2002 and 2011 was .373 and .355 respective on base percentages. In 2008 Jeter's BABIP was lower ( .333) but his batting average was higher ( .300.) He was getting hits without getting lucky, he was hitting very well.

Jeter made adjustments halfway through the 2011. He went to Tampa on a rehab assignment, but while he was there he also worked on his swing. It was a noticeable difference. Jeter was on fire for the second half and back to the Jeter we all know and love.

For 2012 I predict that Jeter will have a batting average over .300 with a respectable on base percentage of around .365. The only difference being he will hit the ball to left more often. As the old saying goes a hit is a hit.

What makes Roy Halladay so great?

Roy Halladay is ranked the best pitcher in Major League Baseball by almost every single analyst. He is without a doubt great, and his presence on the mound automatically gives your time a greater chance to win. In 2011 he had a 2.35 ERA over 233 innings, with 220 strikeouts and 19 wins. A season that great does not win the Cy Young due to Clayton Kershaw's win of the triple crown.

Well we all know Roy Halladay is a fantastic pitcher, but what exactly makes him so great? Well first of all he doesn't give up runs. The other team can't win if they don't score. Just 65 runs for the entire year were charged to Roy Halladay and only 61 of them were eared runs. Roy Halladay only allows a hitter to hit a fly ball 30.6% of the time and his home runs to fly ball percentage is 5%.

Halladay also gets plenty of ground balls; 50.9% to be exact. The abundance of ground balls allows Halladay to get batters to hit into double plays and keep his pitch count low. Halladay also throws many different pitches. The reason why that is important is because he throws them all for strikes and mixes his pitches effectively. When he pitches he thinks, he throws what the batter is not expecting.

Ichiro

Ichiro is one of baseball's hitting machines he recorded over 200 hits in his first 10 major league seasons. In 2011 baseball fans were shocked by Ichiro's sudden decline. his batting average dropped from his career average of .326 to .272. It was the first time the all-star hit below .300.

It turns out Ichiro hasn't lost any of talent, he just isn't lucky. In 2004 Ichiro had a batting average of .372 with a walk rate of 6.4%, a strikeout rate of 8.3% and a ground ball rate if 63.7%. His BABIP was .399 for that season. In 2011 Ichiro had a .272 batting average, he had a 5.4% walk rate, a 9.6% strikeout rate, and a 59.9% ground ball rate. His BABIP for 2011 was .295.

The difference between his best and worst seasons is only a 1.0% walk rate, a 1.3% strikeout rate, and 3.8% ground ball rate. He is doing the same thing he was doing in 2004. The only major difference is BABIP a .104 difference from 2004 and 2011. BABIP stands for batting average on balls in play. Ichiro simply was not getting lucky with his hits. Perhaps the defensive abilities of infielders have increased since 2004 or maybe Ichiro has become slightly slower with time and can't beat out infield singles.

In 2012 Ichiro has the same chance he always does to be amazing,  he just wasn't lucky in 2011. In 2004 he was extremely lucky. Baseball is one of those games where anything can happen so don't count him out yet.

David Wright

David Wright is the current face of The Mets' franchise. He has played third base for The Mets since 2004. His career peeked in 2007 and 2008 when he hit 30 and 33 home runs respectively. In 2007 he had a .416 on base percentage and in 2008 he had a .390 on base percentage. David Wright was a huge offensive threat, but he can't make the whole team.

In 2009 The Mets moved into their new ballpark Citi Field. It is a lot bigger than Shea Stadium, but personally I have to say it is a lot nicer too. I have visited Shea Stadium and Citi Field and Citi Field is a lot nicer for the fans and for the players.

In 2009 Wright played his first full season at Citi Field and only hit 5 home runs in 70 games at Citi Field. His strike out percentage rocketed up and his walk percentage dropped. This shows that he was trying to hit the ball further. The average distance of the wall in Shea Stadium was 367 feet in Citi Field it was 374 feet. 7 feet may not make much of a difference, but the odd dimensions of Citi Field can have a physical and physiological effect on a batter.

The walls in Citi Field have been moved closer for the 2012 season. The average distance of the wall will now be 369 feet. The most significant change is the left center gap which is going from 371 feet to 358 feet. This is important because a large portion of Wright's home runs are hit to left field and left-center field.

The whole thing may just be a physiological trick, but the walls are technically closer. The dimensions of Citi Field are similar to those of Shea Stadium and that means when David Wright is healthy he will be playing gold glove caliber third base and hitting 20-30 home runs again.

A Change In Pitching

The New York Yankees had a completely different pitching rotation every year since 2008. Every year its different and 2012 is the same story. On Friday the news broke that Andy Pettitte is coming out of retirement for a $2.5 million 1 year minor league deal. He will definitely make it to the major leagues and probably the rotation if he pitches effectively, but now the Yankees have seven starters again.

In 2008 The Yankees' rotation consisted of Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes/ Joba Chamberlain, Mike Mussina, and Ian Kennedy. Pettitte would win 14 game with an ERA around 4.5, thanks to the Yankees' offense. Wang would suffer an injury in 2008 and wouldn't complete a full season, he would never be the dominant 19 game winner he was the previous two season and wouldn't be the same pitcher again. Chamberlain and Hughes would split time, Hughes didn't do very well, but Joba held a 2.60 ERA over 100 innings. Mike Mussina would win 20 games for the first time in his career and Ian Kennedy would just do terrible and pitch only 39 innings.

2009 was a significant change for The Yankees. CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett joined Andy Pettite, Chamberlain/Hughes, and Wang after Mussina retired. Sabathia won 19 games with a 3.37 ERA, Burnett won 13 games with a 4.04 ERA, Pettitte would win 14 with a 4.16 ERA, Chamberlain and Hughes would be ineffective. Wang would prove to be done with being a decent starter and be replaced by Aceves, Mitre, and Gaudin.  The Yankees would still win the World Series that year.

In 2010 CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes would take control of the first 4 spots. Sabthia would win 21 games and finish 3rd in Cy Young voting. Burnett would pitch to terrible 5.26 ERA. Pettitte would bounce back and have a 3.28 ERA although being injured for a portion of the year. Hughes would finally emerge and win 18 games for The Yankees.

2011 was when the abundance of pitching struck. Joba Chamberlain had officially become a reliever, but The Yankees still had their usual pitchers. CC Sabtahia, AJ Burnett, and Phil Hughes. Andy Pettite "retired" and didn't pitch in 2011. Hughes would be out most of the season due to an injury. The veterans Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon would come to the rescue along with rookie Ivan Nova. Sabathia would win 19 games again and pitch to a 3.00 ERA. AJ Burnett would prove he isn't as great as said to be and have a 5.15 ERA. Colon would have a 4.00 ERA, Garica would have a 3.62 ERA and Nova would have a 3.70 ERA.

Finally looking at the 2012 season The Yankees had 7 starting pitchers, then they traded AJ Burnett, so then they had 6. Now with the addition of Andy Pettitte they have 7 again. CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Hiroki Kuroda, Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia, Phil Hughes, and Andy Pettite have to compete for 5 spots. It is pretty much a given that Sabathia, Kuroda and Pineda will have a spot in the rotation, but the remaining pitchers have to work hard to start ball games.

You can see how much the pitching rotation has changed since 2008. Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes/ Joba Chamberlain, Mike Mussina, and Ian Kennedy has become CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Micheal Pineda, Andy Pettitte, and Hughes/Garcia/Nova. Pettitte can't pitch from the bullpen, because the Yankee Fans wouldn't be happy about that; so you can expect him to start the baseball games when he returns in mid-May.