Wahoo's on First » david robertson

Opposition Research: Ricky Keeler Talks New York Yankees

Lewie Pollis — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 19:13:08 +0000

With interleague play now behind us, the Indians head to baseball’s biggest stage this week as they swing through New York for a three-game set at Yankee Stadium. This is the first time we’ll see the Bombers this year, so I asked Ricky Keeler from the great Yanks Go Yard blog to talk about New York’s playoff hopes, Derek Jeter‘s defense, and what the Yankees will do at the trade deadline. (more…)

Series Preview: Cleveland Indians at New York Yankees

Merritt Rohlfing — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:45:57 +0000

The journey through the National League has drawn to a close, and now the Cleveland Indians get back to playing their league-mates. From Houston they come to the Big Apple to face the New York Yankees, and boy do they have their work cut out for them. (more…)

FanSided Relievers of the Year Announced: Explaining My Ballot

Lewie Pollis — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:30:59 +0000

FanSided’s end-of-year MLB awards series continued today with the results of the network-wide Reliever of the Year voting. Detroit’s Jose Valverde edged out the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera for the honors in the American League, while Atlanta’s Craig Kimbrel won in a landslide over Milwaukee’s John Axford. For full breakdowns of the voting, I highly recommend checking out Blaine’s posts (AL, NL).

In the past, I’ve been a strong proponent of people who vote for these kinds of awards making their choices public. This might not have been as serious as the real BBWAA awards, but the principle stands. So it’s only fair that I be upfront about how I cast my ballot. Here’s who I voted for and why.

1. Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox. Crazy as it sounds, Papelbon has become one of the most underrated players in baseball. Lost in the madness of the Red Sox’ disappointing season was the fact that Papelbon had one of the best years of his career. Most will dismiss him for his superficial stats—his 31 saves and 2.94 ERA were the worst and second-worst of his career, respectively—but don’t forget he struck out over 12 strikeouts per nine innings while allowing only 1.4 BB/9. His 8.7 K/BB ratio was second in the league, and he finished first in all the major defense-neutral pitching stats, posting an insane 1.53 FIP and 1.58 SIERA. He also paced all AL relievers with 3.0 fWAR. (more…)