Thursday, June 30, 2011

Notes

Tonight's game will match RHP Jeff Karstens (5-4, 2.66) vs. LHP Brett Cecil (1-2, 6.86), who was just called up from AAA. He was a 15-game winner last season who was sent to Las Vegas early in 2011 after his heater lost some serious velocity, dropping from the low-nineties to the mid-eighties. He thinks a vigorous off season program overworked his arm, and he's back on track now. We'll find out tonight. The game starts at 7:07 PM and will be aired on Root Sports.

The Lineup: Alex Presley LF, Chase d'Arnaud 3b, Andrew McCutchen CF, Matt Diaz RF, Lyle Overbay 1b, Ronny Cedeno SS, Brandon Wood DH, Josh Harrison 2b, Mike McKenry C, Jeff Karstens P.

Neil Walker gets a night off as Josh Harrison steps in at second. Wood gets the DH call; Hurdle again gets his whole team involved. And hey, how many teams feature a clean-up hitter on June 30th that's still looking for his first home run?

  • We speculated that Garrett Jones' pick-off last night might have been the result of a botched hit-and-run. We were half right; it was the result of a missed sign. He had the steal sign on the pitch before, but it was been taken off, and he missed it. Awful jump, too.
  • Pedro Ciriaco, recently demoted SS, has a nine-game hitting streak at Indy (it started before he was called up in May). PC has five hits in the last two nights, and he's still only hitting .211.
  • SS Jordy Mercer, called up to Indy when Chase d'Arnaud joined the big team, was hit in the hand with a pitch last night and had to leave the game. We'll check out his status tonight; there's no word yet on whether or not the injury is serious or just a bruise.
  • 1B Matt Hague was elected to the International League All-Star team. He has a line of .324/8/43 for Indy. Tim Wood, Alex Presley, and Chase d'Arnaud were also voted in, but are ineligible because they're in the show now.
  • The beat gang reports that both C Dusty Brown and RHP Aaron Thompson, recently DFA'ed, have cleared waivers. They'll be going back to their original squads - Brown to Indy and Thompson to Altoona.
  • After a two week layoff with a tight pectoral muscle and the Sally League All-Star break, RHP Jamison Taillon threw three innings for West Virginia last night, giving up a broken-bat single and K'ing four. He's 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA for the Power, with 42 K's in 45-2/3 innings against just four walks, and has been hitting the radar between 93-95 MPH.
  • RHP Denny Bautista has signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization, reports Mark Axisa of MLB Trade Rumors. The lanky righty pitched for the Pirates in 2008-09, and was tossing AAA ball for the Mariner's this season.

No comments: