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Earlier this week, we took a look at the Tigers signing of Victor Martinez and how his performance compared to that of Tigers catchers. But recent comments from general manager Dave Dombrowski indicate that he'll be used primarily as a DH.

That makes sense. According to Baseball Info Solutions, Martinez has cost his teams 47 runs combined during his career. In 2010, he allowed 99 stolen bases, while throwing out just 21 percent of base runners.

In the last three seasons, the Tigers production from their DHs has been limited, just as it has been from their catchers. In 2008 and 2009, their Wins Above Replacement (based on a weighted version of on-base average) totaled 0.3 and though that number jumped to 1.9 in 2010, it ranked about average (sixth-best) in the American League.

Over the last three seasons, Tigers DHs rank next-to-last in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS. So Martinez will be a huge upgrade there and his defense is a non-factor.

If Martinez isn’t catching who is? Due to Gerald Laird’s inability to hit (.207 BA, .263 OBP in 2010), highly-praised second-year man Alex Avila should see more time.

The most noteworthy stat for him in 2010: He threw out 32 percent of runners attempting to steal, fifth-best among the 31 players who caught 250 or more innings in 2010.
--Derek Czenczelewski

Huff winded by season's end?
While Aubrey Huff's 2010 season was very good, he regressed in the latter part of the year, suggesting the San Francisco Giants may have committed $22 million for two years on the basis of a very good first four months, for a team that happened to win the World Series.

What caused it?

Huff's biggest issue at the end of last season was that he had a lot of trouble with breaking pitches thrown by left-handers. The drop-offs were stark across Huff's entire stat line. From April-July, he swung and missed at about one of every four breaking pitches from a lefty. The rest of the season, he missed at one of every three.

When Huff made contact, the results were weak. His slugging percentage against those pitches from August 1 on was .278, nearly a 400-point drop from earlier in the year.

But the good version of Huff showed up again at just the right time. Huff got the biggest hit of the season against a slider from Braves' left-hander Mike Dunn, singling with two outs in the ninth inning to tie Game 3 of the NLDS. Turns out it may have been worth more than just a postseason win.
--Justin Havens and Mark Simon

Garland's durability covers potential issue
Jon Garland's ability to eat innings continues to allow him to find work, his latest employment coming from a one-year contract from the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, Garland continues to walk a very fine line. Among pitchers with at least 700 innings over the last four seasons, Garland's strikeout-to-walk rate of 1.64 is third-worst in baseball.

The Dodgers did pick up a durable pitcher, one who had a 1.71 ERA in Dodgers Stadium in three starts there in 2009. Garland and Chicago White Sox starter Mark Buehrle are the only two pitchers to throw 190 innings or more in each of the last nine seasons.
--Justin Havens

Put Down Your Dukes
While Garland may have pitched better than his peripheral numbers, new Arizona Diamondbacks starter Zach Duke pitched worse. The traditional stats say that Duke ranked last in 2010 among NL pitchers in ERA, opponents batting average and OPS.

However, a closer look at his peripherals (strikeout/walk rate, groundball rate, contact percentage, chase percentage, first-pitch strike percentage) reveal that he was a similar pitcher to the one that had a 4.06 ERA in 2009.

What changed from 2009 to 2010 that caused an ERA spike?

A .347 BABIP that was the highest in the NL and 51 points higher than his 2009 BABIP did significant damage. Duke had the fourth-highest home run rate (1.42), his percentage of flyballs that were home runs was 13.7, highest in the NL and significantly higher than his career rate of 10 percent.

Perhaps the most telling stat that indicates Duke can only improve is his 2010 xFIP of 4.48 –- an ERA-like metric based on strikeouts, walks and a normalized home run per flyball rate –- that was not far from his career mark of 4.40 and the 4.31 he posted in 2009.
--Katie Sharp

A preview of Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers.

FROM THE ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU: The last 12 teams to win the first two games of a World Series at home went on to win the championship. The 1981 Yankees were the last team to lose a Series after winning Games 1 and 2, both at home. That year, Los Angeles went on to win the next three games at Dodger Stadium and closed out the Series at Yankee Stadium with a 9-2 victory in Game 6.

FROM THE ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU: San Francisco has outscored Texas 20-7 through Games 1 and 2 of the Series. The Rangers are the fifth team to be outscored by at least 13 runs through the first two games of a World Series. The others were the 1937 Giants, 1987 Cardinals, 1996 Yankees and 2007 Rockies. The 1996 Yankees were the only one of those teams that rebounded to win the Series.

Jonathan Sanchez will be looking for his first career postseason victory against Colby Lewis as the series shifts to Arlington. Lewis has been stellar thus far in the postseason, coming off an eight-inning gem against the New York Yankees that clinched the ALCS for the Rangers. Lewis will take the mound to attempt to win the franchise’s first World Series game ever, and hopefully reverse the fortunes of this series in their favor.

JONATHAN SANCHEZ
The curveball has been the out pitch for Sanchez late in the season. Since Sept. 16 – a span of seven starts – Sanchez has allowed two hits in 39 at-bats (.051) with his curve.

Despite throwing fewer curveballs per start during this stretch – 17.7 per start versus 21.7 per start before Sept. 16 – he is actually striking out more people with the pitch. He is averaging 3.7 strikeouts per start with the curveball during this span (only 2.7 strikeouts per start before).


COLBY LEWIS
Lewis is throwing his curveball more often and with more effectiveness late in the season.

Before Sept. 15, Lewis was throwing 11.2 curveballs per start and opponents were hitting .304 against it. Since Sept. 15, Lewis is throwing 14.6 curveballs per start and opponents have only one hit in 18 at-bats (.056).

Lewis has thrown even more curveballs in the postseason – 18.7 curveballs per start in his three playoff outings.


Sanchez has only faced two Rangers hitters in his career – Jeff Francoeur and Jorge Cantu – but only Francoeur is in the Game 3 lineup. Francoeur is just 2-for-14 with 5 K against Sanchez, but Cantu has two hits, including a double, in six at-bats.

Francoeur hit almost 70 points higher this season against lefties than he did against righties, and nearly 30 points higher against lefties than David Murphy – who would play if Francoeur didn’t -- did during the regular season.

Lewis has only faced three Giants hitters a total of 10 times in his career. But he’ll need to beware of Aubrey Huff, who is 2-for-4 lifetime against him with a home run.

The Atlanta Braves' Brooks Conrad committed three errors in Game 3 of the NLDS, tying a postseason record, done by 11 other players.

• He’s the first Braves player to commit three errors in a postseason game.

• The last player to commit three errors in a postseason game was the Los Angeles Dodgers' Rafael Furcal in Game 5 of the 2008 NLCS.

• Conrad is the fourth second baseman with three errors in a postseason game. The others are: Davey Lopes (Game 5, 1981 World Series), Buddy Myer (Game 1, 1933 World Series) and Danny Murphy (Game 3, 1905 World Series).

• In a losing effort, Eric Hinske became only the third player in postseason history with a pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning or later that turned a deficit into a lead. The two others are: Kirk Gibson (1988 World Series) and Ed Sprague (1992 World Series).

• Hinkse is also the second Braves player to hit a go-head HR in the seventh inning or later of a postseason game when they trailed. The other instance was Michael Tucker in the top of the eighth inning of Game 5 in the 1998 NLCS against the San Diego Padres.

Today’s Trivia: Tim Lincecum needs five strikeouts today to tie the record for most in a pitcher’s first four seasons combined. Who holds the record?

Quick Hits:
The San Francisco Giants began the month four games out in the NL West, but now hold a half-game lead. However, it’s no thanks to the offense, which has scored only 71 runs in 20 games (third fewest in the NL this month). So let’s dive into what the Giants' pitching staff is accomplishing:

• Through 20 games, the Giants have a 1.47 ERA this month. Over the last 50 years, the lowest September ERA belongs to the 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers, who had a 1.59 ERA thanks in part to 10 shutouts.

• The Giants have gone 17 straight games allowing three runs or fewer. That’s the fifth-longest streak of all time, and the longest since the White Sox went 20 in a row back in 1917.

• On top of that, the Giants have gone 22 straight games allowing four or fewer runs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s the longest streak since the 1972 Chicago Cubs went 23 in a row.

• Overall, the Giants’ staff has held opponents to a .174 average this month. Over the last 50 years, the only team to hold their opposition below .200 in September was the 1967 Chicago White Sox (.196).

• In their seven losses this month, the Giants have scored a total of four runs, while hitting .143. That includes just one run in their last four losses.

• The Giants' bullpen has allowed two earned runs in 50 innings this month, which equates to a 0.36 ERA. They’ve allowed only three extra-base hits and opponents are batting .127 for the month.

• In the Giants’ 13 wins this month, the bullpen has a 0.30 ERA in 30 innings and opponents are hitting .102.

• Relievers have inherited 21 runners this month. One scored.


Today’s Leaderboard: The Giants have held opponents to a .495 OPS this month. That would be the lowest over the last 50 years in September.

Key Matchups:
• Back on September 1, Tim Lincecum bounced back from an 0-5 August by allowing one run in eight innings in a win over the Colorado Rockies. It was the start of a September in which he’s gone 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA. Prior to this season, Todd Helton had Lincecum’s number. Entering 2010, he was 9-for-19 with a .600 on-base percentage. He only fanned once in those at-bats. It’s been a different story in 2010. Helton is 1-for-6 with three strikeouts.

• Lincecum will be opposed by Jhoulys Chacin, who is 2-0 with a 1.16 ERA in September. That’s happened despite opponents hitting .275 against him during the month. Chacin has a 2.98 ERA in 19 starts this season, compared to 6.75 as a reliever. Chacin could be the first Rockies pitcher to have an ERA as starter under 3.00 (min. 20 starts). Going into this season, Ubaldo Jimenez’ 3.47 ERA last season was the lowest, and he is currently at 3.00 in 2010. The Giants are only hitting .140 against Chacin this season, but two of six hits were Aubrey Huff home runs.

Trivia Answer: Dwight Gooden’s 892 strikeouts are the most in a pitcher’s first four seasons. He did that in 924 1/3 innings. Lincecum has five fewer K’s in 796 innings.

Today’s Trivia: Among active managers, who has managed the most games without making the postseason?

Quick Hits: As the playoff races heat up, several players have some added incentive to extend the season. Here’s a look at notable players with an eye on October, who have never played in the postseason.

• Randy Winn just can’t find himself a playoff team. He’s played 1,698 career games without appearing in the postseason. That’s the most for any active player, and 37th most all-time according to Baseball-Reference.com. Winn joined the Seattle Mariners just after their early-decade dominance. Then he found himself with the San Francisco Giants as they transitioned away from Barry Bonds. After 12 seasons in the bigs, Winn still hadn’t tasted the postseason. Signing with the New York Yankees in the offseason would change that, right? New York released him in May after he hit just .213. Again, Winn had his chance to sign with a contender. On June 5, he signed with the first-place St. Louis Cardinals – a team that is now six games out.

• Michael Young may finally see his long wait come to an end. Making his debut the season after the Texas Rangers' last playoff appearance, Young has the second-most career games among active players who haven’t made the postseason.

• The Giants’ Aubrey Huff, who is third behind Winn and Young, could also find himself playing late into October for the first time. Prior to this season, Huff’s teams were 546-776 in games in which he appeared.

• Among all active pitchers, Francisco Cordero has appeared in the most games without appearing in the postseason. Like Young, he made his Rangers debut the year after their last postseason appearance.

• Roy Halladay has a Cy Young Award and perfect game, but Boof Bonser, Jorge Sosa and Brian Duensing all have something he does not: A playoff start. No active pitcher has made more starts without appearing in the postseason.

Today’s Leaderboard: Adam Dunn, who will be a free agent at the end the season, actually has the fourth-most career homers for a player with no playoff experience. With another typical season for him, he’ll be second behind the all-time leader. Ernie Banks has both the most career games and home runs without making the postseason.

Key Matchups: With a pivotal series about to begin in San Diego, the Giants need their bats to come alive. San Francisco has posted a 2-9 record against the San Diego Padres this season, largely courtesy of a .219 batting average in those games. Thursday’s starter, Matt Cain, has certainly suffered. The Giants offense has managed a total of five runs in his three starts against San Diego. So who might step up Thursday? Jose Guillen, who has four hits in his last eight at-bats, might be the man to give San Francisco a spark. He is 9-for-19 in his career against Jon Garland, though it’s been two years since they met.

• After snapping their three-game losing streak on Wednesday, the Atlanta Braves host the Cardinals in a matchup of faltering contenders. Adam Wainwright has had a great deal of success against the team that drafted him 10 years ago. He is a perfect 5-0 in five starts against Atlanta, having never allowed more than three earned runs. Derrek Lee, hitting .400 in his last five games, has only four hits in his last 26 at-bats against Wainwright.

Trivia Answer: Ned Yost, who took over as Kansas City Royals manager in May, has managed 1,063 games in the majors, but never brought his team to the postseason. Of course, part of the reason for that was his 2008 season in Milwaukee. Yost was fired with 12 games to go and his team tied for the Wild Card lead. Dale Sveum took over and the Milwaukee Brewers went just 7-5 but made the postseason.

In the Colorado Rockies' come-from-way-behind 12-10 victory Wednesday afternoon against the Atlanta Braves, their win probability (based on teams throughout history in similar situations) dipped as low as 1.2 percent in the fourth inning:

• The Rockies trailed 3-0 after the top of the first, meaning their win probability was 28.9 percent even before they came to bat.

• After the top of the second, the Rockies trailed 7-0 - a win probability of 7.0 percent.

• When Omar Infante homered in the third inning to give the Braves a 10-1 lead, the Rockies' win probability fell to 2.2 percent.

• With the score still 10-1, Brian McCann doubled leading off the top of the fourth, and the Rockies' win probability dipped to its lowest point at 1.2 percent.

• Trailing 10-6 in the sixth inning, the Rockies' win probability sat at just 15.5 percent until a Ryan Spilborghs two-run double increased it to 30.8 percent, cutting the score to 10-8.

• The Rockies' win probability did not get above 30.8 percent until the eighth inning, when Carlos Gonzalez’s two-run single tied the game at 10. The Rockies win probability jumped all the way from 24.9 percent to 61.2 percent with the hit.

• When Troy Tulowitzki followed with the go-ahead single to make it 11-10, the Rockies' win probability went up to 84.9 percent, and increased to 93.1 percent with Todd Helton’s RBI single providing the final run.

• The Rockies' win probability did not dip below 90 percent from that time forward as they closed out the Braves in the 9th.

The Cincinnati Reds' 12-11 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday featured several win probability swings:

• The Reds scored four runs in top of the first inning and had a win probability of 82.4 percent before the Giants even came to bat.

• After the Reds scored four more runs in the third inning to take an 8-1 lead, their win probability stood at 96.4 percent.

• When Homer Bailey singled to give Cincinnati a 10-1 lead in the fifth inning, the Reds' win probability was all the way up to 99.5 percent, its highest point until the game was over.

• The Giants cut the lead to 10-5 after six innings, but the Reds' win probability was still high at 97.4 percent.

• Even when Juan Uribe homered in the eighth to make it 10-8, the Reds still had a win probability of 85.2 percent.

• The biggest win probability jump of the game occurred on Andres Torres’ eighth-inning double, which tied the game at 10 and knocked the Reds’ win probability from 65.3 percent down to 26.2 percent.

• When Aubrey Huff’s sacrifice fly in the eighth gave the Giants an 11-10 lead, the Reds' win probability fell to 14.6 percent.

• The Reds entered the 9th inning trailing 11-10. After Ryan Hanigan flied out leading off the top of the inning, the Reds' win probability was at its lowest point at just 8.3 percent.

• After Drew Stubbs reached second base on an error, Paul Janish’s game-tying single in the 9th took the Reds' win probability from 21.9 percent up to 56.1 percent, the third-biggest jump of the game.

• The Reds took a 12-11 lead in the 12th inning on a Joey Votto single, which brought the Reds win probability from 48.1 to 84.9 percent, the second-largest win probability movement of the game.

• Torres came to bat in the ninth inning with runners on first and third and two out, with the Giants trailing 12-11. The Reds’ win probability was at 80.9 percent at this juncture. Torres grounded out to end the game, bringing the Reds’ win probability to 100 percent.

You often hear talk about "five-tool players" in baseball. We had plenty of hitting for average on Sunday (Jose Guillen and Josh Hamilton both extended their hit streaks to 21 games). We had some power-- more than 70 extra-base hits and two dozen home runs (including the longest one by distance this season). Fielding and throwing didn't give us too many issues.

Baserunning, on the other hand...

No matter which game you watched, there was bound to be at least one of those "head-scratcher" plays. The ones where you look at your TV and say, "what was he thinking?" At the risk of Monday-morning, er, Sunday-night quarterbacking, we present a sampling of the unnecessary, and sometimes obscure, outs that were run into on the basepaths Sunday.

Tampa: Justin Upton on third. Chris Young grounds back to the pitcher. Upton gets run back and tagged out. Young thinks the defense isn't paying attention and tries to take second, where he's also tagged out.

Tampa: Pinch runner Carl Crawford doubled off first when Sean Rodriguez lines one to third base.

Chicago: Gordon Beckham strikes out, but his backswing gets in the way of Geovany Soto as he tries to nail a stealing Alexei Ramirez. Ramirez gets called out for the interference of his teammate.

Cincinnati: Corky Miller thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.

Anaheim: Jason Giambi thrown out at third trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt.

New York: Jeff Francoeur thrown out trying to tag and take third on a ball to shallow right.

Oakland: Jose Tabata's ground ball hits runner Pedro Alvarez between first and second. Oh, by the way, it's the final out of a one-run game.

(Bonus question: If you're keeping score, how do you write THAT down?)

Florida: Jorge Cantu is called for interference while trying to break up a double play at second base. The batter, Dan Uggla, is called out as a result.

Milwaukee: Rickie Weeks thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.

Baltimore: Miguel Tejada thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.

Baltimore: In the bottom of the eighth in a tie game, Julio Lugo legs out a double and then immediately gets himself picked off second.

(Bonus answer: Infield single for the batter. The putout is awarded to the closest fielder, in this case the first baseman.)

** The trunk with the Mets' bats in it finally arrived back at Citi Field. Six consecutive Mets batters went double, homer, homer, triple, single, single, during the fifth inning on Sunday. That's 15 total bases in a single inning. The Mets hadn't had 15 total bases in a GAME since last Tuesday.

** The aforementioned triple was off the bat of Jason Bay, marking his 1,000th career hit. The last time a player had a triple for his 1,000th career hit was almost exactly three years ago, when then-Oriole Aubrey Huff did it on June 29, 2007.

** The Pirates committed four errors and managed to lose Sunday's game to Oakland without allowing an earned run. Even for them, that's impressive. They haven't done that since June 29, 2002, when the Tigers scored on a missed catch at home plate and a passed ball to beat them 2-1.

** One afterthought on the Oakland/Pittsburgh series: On Saturday, the two teams donned "throwback" uniforms from the 1970s. (They say styles have a 30-year cycle, so watch for neon green to make a comeback soon.) But you have to forgive those two teams for wanting to "turn back the clock". During the '70s they combined for five world championships, including four straight from 1971-74. Since then, they have ONE (Oakland's in '89).

** Jamie Moyer didn't quite pitch IN the '70s, but at the rate he's going, he might well pitch INTO his 70s. Moyer became the all-time leader in home runs allowed on Sunday when Vernon Wells took him deep in the third inning.



Bonus question #2: Those 42 parks include ALL of the current 30 stadiums except two. We'll spot you Target Field because it just opened. What's the other current park where Moyer has yet to surrender a dinger? ** After being no-hit by Edwin Jackson on Friday, the Rays put together a two-hit attack against Arizona on Sunday. They did at least score a run this time. Ironically, the last team that was held to two or fewer hits twice in a series was these same Diamondbacks. That was in late May against the Giants.

** Combined with their amazing five-hit performance on Saturday, the Rays ended up with seven base hits over the entire three-game series. The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that the last team to finish with seven or fewer hits in a three-game series was the 1965 New York Mets. They were one-hit by the Milwaukee Braves on both September 10 and 11 before "exploding" for five hits (and a 1-0 victory!) in the series finale on the 12th.

Bonus answer #2: Busch Stadium in St Louis. Moyer surrendered three long balls in the PRIOR Busch Stadium (which closed in 2005), but has made only two visits to the current building.

If you like close baseball games, Wednesday would have been a great night to catch a movie - especially if you're a fan of the American League.

Of the night's seven AL games, six were decided by more than two runs and a whopping four were decided by at least nine runs.

Here's a look at some of the pitching performances that helped lead to some wide margins:

Why Diamondbacks starter Ian Kennedy deserved to win:

- Kept the ball away. Braves hitters were 1-9 (.111) on pitches on the outside third of the plate, including 0-7 on fastballs away.

- Had a solid fastball overall. Braves hitters were 2-13 (.154) against the Kennedy heat, chasing 27.0 pct of fastballs out of the zone (22.8 MLB avg fastball chase pct).

- Threw a nasty changeup. Atlanta batters were 0-8 on Kennedy's changeup, and missed five of their 13 swings (38.5 pct; MLB average miss pct on changeups is 30.1).

Why Angels starter Joe Saunders won:

- Changeup was deadly. Saunders held the Athletics to 1-11 (.091) with a single on his changeup, including 0-8 on changeups down in the zone.

- Threw hard inside. Oakland batters were 1-7 (.143) on inside fastballs against Saunders, including 1-6 (.167) inside to right-handed hitters.

- Finished off Oakland hitters effectively. The Athletics were 0-7 in two-strike counts, chasing 42.9 pct of pitches outside the zone with two strikes (MLB average 35.8 chase pct with two strikes).

Why Yankees starter CC Sabathia won:

- Threw his slider well. On a night when Baltimore hit .462 (6-13) on his fastball, Sabathia was effective with his slider, holding the Orioles to 1-7 (.143) with four strikeouts.

- Induced swings. Sabathia got Baltimore hitters to chase 33.9 pct of pitches out of the zone (Sabathia's 2010 chase pct - 27.4). Baltimore hitters chased 43.5 pct of non-fastballs (MLB avg 28.6 pct). Orioles hitters also missed on 30.2 pct of their swings, well above Sabathia's 21.1 average miss pct.

- Controlled the count. Sabathia threw one of his first two pitches for strikes 91 pct of the time Wednesday, better than the 85 pct MLB average.

Why Indians starter Justin Masterson got his first shutout:

- Kept the ball on the ground. Masterson induced 17 groundball outs, a career best. Overall, Boston hitters were 1-11 (.091) on pitches down in the zone.

- Got hitters to chase. The Red Sox chased 27.1 pct of pitches out of the zone against Masterson Wednesday, their sixth-highest percentage in a game this season. However, the 27.1 chase pct was actually below Masterson's season average (28.9).

- Mixed in a dominant slider. Masterson held Boston batters to 0-9 on his 18 sliders Wednesday, including 0-5 away vs. righties and 0-3 inside vs. lefties. This season, batters are 9-48 (.188) on Masterson's slider.

Why Rays starter David Price won:

- Pounded inside. Price held Blue Jays hitters to 0-5 on inside pitches, the fifth start this season he hasn't allowed a hit on an inside pitch.

- Threw high and hard. Price held Toronto batters to 0-5 on pitches up in the zone, with an average velocity of 94.4 MPH on high pitches (92.6 average velocity Wednesday).

- Controlled the count. Price only went to one 3-ball count Wednesday, and his 67 first-pitch strike pct was well above the 58 pct MLB average.

And here's one note from the hitters:

Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena hit his 128th home run as a member of the Rays on Wednesday, tying him with Aubrey Huff for the Tampa Bay franchise record. However, Pena’s home run, which traveled 333 feet down the line in left field at Tropicana Field, would not have been a home run in any other major league ballpark.

It's a relatively slow Friday afternoon, and the conversation in our newsroom ended up turning to first-pitch strikes. (Yes, we're an odd group.) You may have noticed that all of our ESPN.com boxscores had this stat added at last season's All-Star Break. It's something we continue to track throughout the year as an indicator of how well a pitcher is able to get ahead in the count.

S&I's Marty Callinan, who normally works on our NFL data team, jokingly suggested that in addition to tracking first-pitch strikes this season, we should track "seventh-pitch balls". That prompted us to stumble onto this interesting data, courtesy of our friends at Inside Edge.

If you sort all of last year's pitches by which pitch of the plate appearance they were, you notice a couple really neat trends. The strike percentage (which includes foul balls and balls put in play) rises on every pitch. The percentage of balls that are swung at rises with each successive pitch (three-fourths of all first pitches were taken by batters last year).

We often talk about hitters being patient at the plate, but one of the more surprising trends was the dramatic rise in the chase percentage. This stat reflects the number of bad balls (i.e., out of the strike zone) that a hitter swings at. Sure, a pitcher isn't going to throw one right over the heart of the plate when he's already battled for nine or ten pitches. And long counts favor the hurler anyway. But maybe that's not because of anything the pitcher's doing. Maybe the hitters are more eager to swing at junk pitches, if only just to foul one off and stay alive. Even the most patient hitters eventually lose it.

By the way, the best hitter last season on the first pitch was Oakland's Jack Cust (30-for-52 including seven dingers). The best hitter from the 10th pitch onward? Todd Helton (6-for-10).

And the longest plate appearance last season? It's a tie. Freddy Sanchez (April 16) and Aubrey Huff (July 29) both battled for 17 pitches. They both swung at pitch number 17. And they both made outs.