Prospectus Hit List for May 22
Hit List for May 21
Hit List for May 23
Teams are ordered based on Adjusted Hit List Factor, a computer generated number, and the author isn't responsible for the order of the teams.
| Rk | Tm | W | L | W1 | W2 | W3 | HLF | AHLF |  Win Div% | Win WC% | Playoff% | 1-Day | 7-Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 19 | 23 | 21.8 | 19.7 | 20.1 | .480 | .460 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | -0.4% | -0.4% |
| The Astros are one of only three teams without a win in extra innings. No overtime pay, no overtime wins, capiche? | |||||||||||||
| 2 |  | 17 | 24 | 18.8 | 18.4 | 18.7 | .444 | .464 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | -0.4% | -0.8% |
| Jeff Francoeur batted five times. He saw 14 pitches and swung at seven. For a guy who swings at 54 percent of all the pitches he sees, that counts as restraint. | |||||||||||||
| 3 |  | 14 | 27 | 13.5 | 15.1 | 14.9 | .350 | .369 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| It is untrue that things don't not look unbleak for the Twins. | |||||||||||||
| 4 |  | 15 | 27 | 16.5 | 17.8 | 19.0 | .407 | .387 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | -0.8% | -1.6% |
| The Cubs as Telenovela! Dale Sveum: [bursting through door] “No puedo ganar con este equipo! Usted nos ha hundido, el Senor Epstein!” Theo Epstein [wearing eye patch and stroking cat]: Paciencia, Señor, paciencia. Whoohooo ha ha ha ha ha!” | |||||||||||||
| 5 |  | 22 | 21 | 19.9 | 17.9 | 18.4 | .455 | .475 | 0.0% | 1.6% | 1.6% | 0.0% | 0.8% |
| A's pitchers have struck out the second-fewest hitters, but if they try to catch the Twins in this category, they'll strike out there. | |||||||||||||
| 6 |  | 20 | 24 | 21.2 | 19.9 | 20.0 | .461 | .481 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Felix Hernandez out-dueled Yu Darvish. Back in 2008, he did the same to Daisuke Matsuzaka. Felx Hernandez obviously has something against... hype. | |||||||||||||
| 7 |  | 20 | 22 | 17.0 | 15.6 | 16.4 | .411 | .391 | 0.8% | 0.4% | 1.2% | 0.0% | -0.8% |
| If the Pirates were a choose-your-own-adventure book, all the possible options would still lead to losing 2-1. | |||||||||||||
| 8 |  | 16 | 27 | 17.1 | 16.7 | 17.5 | .391 | .373 | 0.8% | 0.4% | 1.2% | -0.8% | 1.2% |
| The Padres playing in Petco Park is like two monkeys using paintings from the National Gallery to play tennis with their poo. | |||||||||||||
| 9 |  | 15 | 26 | 17.7 | 15.2 | 14.7 | .382 | .363 | 0.8% | 0.4% | 1.2% | 0.0% | -2.0% |
| The Rockies have eight saves and 10 blown saves. Rockies horror picture show, AMIRITE?!? | |||||||||||||
| 10 |  | 22 | 20 | 17.7 | 17.9 | 18.2 | .451 | .432 | 1.6% | 7.9% | 9.4% | -1.6% | -7.1% |
| Kirk Nieuwenhuis got a pinch-hit single in the top of the eighth and dropped a fly ball for a three base error in the bottom of the eighth. This refutes the notion that life is fair. | |||||||||||||
| 11 |  | 18 | 25 | 20.1 | 20.0 | 19.8 | .452 | .472 | 1.6% | 24.8% | 26.4% | -5.1% | -12.2% |
| Now that Vernon Wells is hurt, he is no longer a walking billboard for addition by subtraction. He's a sitting one. | |||||||||||||
| 12 |  | 25 | 17 | 23.4 | 26.9 | 25.7 | .601 | .581 | 3.1% | 15.4% | 18.5% | -2.0% | -9.1% |
| How good is Gio Gonzalez at fooling hitters? Yesterday he replaced Hunter Pence's turkey sandwich with a whoopee cushion. Pence chewed that sandwich for three hours. | |||||||||||||
| 13 |  | 24 | 19 | 25.6 | 23.9 | 23.6 | .565 | .584 | 3.9% | 10.6% | 14.6% | 1.2% | 5.1% |
| In six innings, Kyle Drabek walked six, threw three wild pitches, and made an error on a dropped popup. That's called a quantity start. | |||||||||||||
| 14 |  | 17 | 25 | 17.9 | 17.7 | 17.3 | .417 | .398 | 6.7% | 11.8% | 18.5% | -3.9% | -16.5% |
| You have to applaud Ron Roenicke for putting Corey Hart in the lead-off spot. Hart isn't much of an on-base threat and his power will be wasted... oh wait, I'm making the other side of that argument. | |||||||||||||
| 15 |  | 19 | 24 | 19.3 | 19.8 | 20.2 | .456 | .436 | 8.3% | 10.2% | 18.5% | -4.7% | 2.4% |
| Aaron Hill (.235/.320.392) must play some stellar defense, because otherwise, yuck. At least they didn't sign him to a two-year... oh. Oops. | |||||||||||||
| 16 |  | 27 | 16 | 22.8 | 21.3 | 21.8 | .540 | .560 | 8.7% | 22.8% | 31.5% | -3.9% | 14.6% |
| Lament the loss all you want, but if two months ago someone on the street offered Orioles fans the best record in the American League they'd have punched the longhaired weirdo. | |||||||||||||
| 17 |  | 21 | 22 | 21.8 | 23.2 | 22.3 | .514 | .494 | 11.4% | 23.2% | 34.6% | -2.0% | 1.2% |
| Perhaps one of the biggest surprises in the game is that Juan Pierre is in the game. | |||||||||||||
| 18 |  | 21 | 21 | 22.0 | 22.7 | 23.3 | .530 | .550 | 13.8% | 12.2% | 26.0% | -5.5% | 4.7% |
| Alexei Ramirez leads the league in a category. It's outs made. | |||||||||||||
| 19 |  | 23 | 19 | 21.5 | 21.3 | 20.8 | .516 | .496 | 15.7% | 33.9% | 49.6% | 3.9% | 13.4% |
| Mark Buehrle is bacon ice cream. He shouldn't be very good, but he is. | |||||||||||||
| 20 |  | 22 | 20 | 20.6 | 22.8 | 22.1 | .521 | .501 | 17.7% | 14.2% | 31.9% | -0.4% | -3.9% |
| With the .294/.358/.456 Buster Posey is hitting, isn't he due to get traded or hurt? | |||||||||||||
| 21 |  | 21 | 21 | 22.8 | 23.0 | 23.2 | .536 | .556 | 23.6% | 31.9% | 55.5% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| The Red Sox have both bequeathed the most inherited runners in baseball and allowed the most inherited runners to score. It's a symbiotic relationship. I'll kick you in the groin and you kick me in the face. | |||||||||||||
| 22 |  | 22 | 19 | 20.9 | 19.0 | 19.6 | .497 | .477 | 24.4% | 34.6% | 59.1% | 11.0% | 15.0% |
| The Reds are a game back in the Central primarily because the Cardinals are playing lousy baseball while the Reds are treading water. Further proof that there's just no substitute for the people above you being lousy. | |||||||||||||
| 23 |  | 25 | 18 | 22.6 | 23.2 | 23.9 | .551 | .570 | 28.3% | 34.6% | 63.0% | -2.8% | -4.3% |
| Jose Molina's idea: apply his pitch-framing skills to hitting by subtly kicking the glove of the catcher just as the ball is coming! | |||||||||||||
| 24 |  | 21 | 21 | 21.1 | 21.3 | 21.1 | .503 | .523 | 35.4% | 28.3% | 63.8% | -5.9% | -24.0% |
| If Hiroki Kuroda keeps giving up homers at this rate he may reach 40. Last year only Bronson Arroyo gave up that many. If anyone sees Kuroda practicing Bush, break his guitar. | |||||||||||||
| 25 |  | 20 | 21 | 20.0 | 19.1 | 19.2 | .477 | .497 | 39.0% | 15.7% | 54.7% | 3.1% | -4.7% |
| Max Scherzer leads the majors with more than 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings. For context, that's almost as many as Adam Dunn. | |||||||||||||
| 26 |  | 23 | 18 | 20.1 | 22.2 | 22.4 | .535 | .555 | 47.2% | 15.7% | 63.0% | 8.7% | 9.8% |
| The Indians are 18th in batting average, but fourth in OBP. Why? 184 walks, 21 more than second-place Tampa and 94 more than last-place Pittsburgh. | |||||||||||||
| 27 |  | 26 | 17 | 25.3 | 24.2 | 23.4 | .574 | .555 | 68.1% | 18.1% | 86.2% | -1.6% | 2.8% |
| In some odd way, that Mike Minor gave up back-to-back-to-back home runs and yet still managed to survive for six innings is impressive. | |||||||||||||
| 28 |  | 23 | 19 | 26.9 | 27.6 | 26.4 | .618 | .599 | 68.1% | 19.3% | 87.4% | -0.8% | -1.2% |
| The Cardinals' biggest losing streak in April was two games, which they did twice. In May it was four in a row twice and three once. So much for symmetry. | |||||||||||||
| 29 |  | 29 | 13 | 26.7 | 27.1 | 26.7 | .652 | .633 | 72.4% | 10.2% | 82.7% | 3.9% | 6.7% |
| The Dodgers lead the league with 29 sacrifice bunts. | |||||||||||||
| 30 |  | 26 | 17 | 29.4 | 30.9 | 30.6 | .680 | .697 | 98.4% | 1.6% | 100.0% | 0.0% | 0.8% |
| Yu Darvish threw 96 pitches and walked six in just four innings, for his first bad start in the majors. I hope someone remembered to give him the game ball. | |||||||||||||
The Cards are running cold.