Former Cardinals Watch

[Felix The Cat]

Joe Kelly was a bittersweet price to pay for getting rid of that contract. Woof!

Joe is striking out nearly 29% of the batters he has faced so far. For reference, his career K% before this year was ~16%. Wonder what changed.

[Jocephus]

Joe Kelly was hit hard in a losing effort against the Yankees on Sunday, surrendering five runs on nine hits over 4 2/3 frames.
Kelly struck out three and didn't issue a walk in the ballgame. The Yankees got to him early, with Mark Teixeira blasting a two-run homer in the first inning. They would tack on another three runs in the third to jump out to a commanding lead. Kelly has struggled during his time in the Red Sox rotation, compiling a 5.72 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 31/8 K/BB ratio over 28 1/3 innings. He'll look to right the ship when he does battle against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Saturday. May 4 - 12:02 AM

[Jocephus]

Joe Kelly was a bittersweet price to pay for getting rid of that contract. Woof!

Joe is striking out nearly 29% of the batters he has faced so far. For reference, his career K% before this year was ~16%. Wonder what changed.

this is from a fantasy perspective but still seems relative:

Joe Kelly has transformed into a completely new pitcher, which is an article in itself. It’s pretty clear what’s going on here. His fastball velocity, which was already high, has jumped another tick, averaging 96 mph. He still throws it a lot though, which is most likely holding his S/Str back from potentially being even higher. He is also throwing his slider more often, essentially instead of his curve ball. He has nearly scrapped his changeup and has thrown more four-seamers, decreasing the usage of his two-seamer. The two-seamer has been terrible at inducing swinging strikes, while the slider has already been much more effective than his curve. The change in pitch mix, plus bump in velocity, all perfectly explain his increased rate of swings and misses. They have robbed him of his high ground ball rate though, but this version is more appealing to fantasy owners. Now if only he could get his HR/FB rate down and start stranding runners!

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/starti ... e-surgers/

[Jocephus]

Allen Craig is in the starting lineup and playing left field in Tuesday's game against the Rays.
Craig homered on Friday, but he's been largely ineffective in his bench role for the Red Sox. This season, he's hitting just .146/.222/.220 in 41 at-bats. His years of hitting in the .300's for the Cardinals feel like they occurred in another lifetime.
May 5 - 3:31 PM

[HardcoreCardsFan]

Shelby Miller put together a phenomenal start against the Phillies on Tuesday night as the Braves cruised to a 9-0 win.

On his 99th pitch of the game, Miller struck out Ryan Howard on a rising fastball to get Atlanta back to within one game of .500. Per ESPN Stats & Info, this was the first complete game shutout with under 100 pitches thrown in 2015. A Maddux, in other words.

Miller was in full command of his fastball and cutter, and the Phillies hitters never really had a chance. Miller struck out eight, walked just one batter and surrendered three hits -- two singles and a double to Howard. His ERA for the season is now down to 1.66.

[Secret Weapon]

Remember when Miller pitched a perfect game after a leadoff single? That was cool

[Jmodene]

Shelby Miller put together a phenomenal start against the Phillies on Tuesday night as the Braves cruised to a 9-0 win.

On his 99th pitch of the game, Miller struck out Ryan Howard on a rising fastball to get Atlanta back to within one game of .500. Per ESPN Stats & Info, this was the first complete game shutout with under 100 pitches thrown in 2015. A Maddux, in other words.

Miller was in full command of his fastball and cutter, and the Phillies hitters never really had a chance. Miller struck out eight, walked just one batter and surrendered three hits -- two singles and a double to Howard. His ERA for the season is now down to 1.66.

Meh - we've seen him do better.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

It was a game score of 88. I think his game in Colorado was 96.

[Magneto2.0]

It was a game score of 88. I think his game in Colorado was 96.

98

[Joe Shlabotnik]

It was a game score of 88. I think his game in Colorado was 96.

98

And then he fell back into mediocrity. Remember Phil Humber.