May 23, 2011

Tater Trot Tracker

Trot Times for May 22

by Larry Granillo

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The first weekend of interleague play is now concluded, and what have we learned? Players can hit balls just as hard off opposing league pitchers as they can off their own league's pitchers. It's pretty amazing, really. I can't way for when interleague arrives in June for real (for five series in a row instead of just one) so we can learn the same lesson again.

Meanwhile, let's get to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: Asdrubal Cabrera #2, Cleveland Indians - 22.04 seconds [video]
Cabrera finished this game against the Reds a perfect five-for-five with two home runs and five RBIs. You can't ask for a more perfect game at the plate than that. For that, he bests San Francisco's Nate Schierholtz for Home Run of the Day. Schierholtz hit a blast out of AT&T Park in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game up. I couldn't tell if it hit the sidewalk before splashing into McCovey Cove, or if it splashed on the fly. The Giants would go on to win in the eleventh.

Slowest Trot: Juan Rivera, Toronto Blue Jays - 28.09 seconds [video]
I'm really beginning to get excited for Rivera's home runs. Last year, there didn't seem to be any legitimate contender to David Ortiz for league's slowest trotter even with Rivera finishing second overall. The way Rivera is taking his time this year, though, Papi's crown isn't guaranteed.

Quickest Trot: Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees - 18.53 seconds [video]
And then there's Curtis Granderson, who I'm beginning to love as a player for all but reasons: he's still a Yankee and John Sterling's home runs calls ("The Grandy-man can!" and "Curtis, you're something sort of Grandish!") are just terrible. Last year, Scott Rolen was the fastest trotter with major power, averaging an 18.25 second trot across 20 home runs. The way Granderson is hitting, he's going to obliterate that speed/volume combination.

All of Today's Trots

Juan Rivera..........28.09    Torii Hunter.........21.3
Juan Miranda.........24.47    Wilson Betemit.......21.17
Asdrubal Cabrera #1..24.24    Jeff Francoeur.......21
Jhonny Peralta.......23.9     Jay Bruce............20.95
A.J. Pierzynski......23.47    Alexei Ramirez.......20.91
J.P. Arencibia.......23.4     Josh Willingham......20.86
Vladimir Guerrero....22.94    Allen Craig..........20.18
Delmon Young.........22.5*    Alex Gordon..........20.08
Nate Schierholtz.....22.05    Joey Votto...........19.96
Asdrubal Cabrera #2..22.04    Curtis Granderson....18.53
Hunter Pence.........22.02