Hardball To The Core

hardballcore.wordpress.com - Hardball To The Core is your one-stop shop for bullpen relief. Sparked by honesty and passion for the game of baseball! Follow the owner on Twitter @BobbyUtahBarnes (Creator of the BPR statistic.)

[hardballtothecore-blog]

2014 Kirk Gibson Award Results

2014 Kirk Gibson Award Results

Hardball To The Core Awards The Kirk Gibson Award recognizes the player with highest WAR in a Major League season that didn’t make the All-Star team.

  Year Player WAR All Star Team? 2014 Mike Trout 7.87 Yes 2014 Clayton Kershaw 7.54 Yes 2014 Josh Donaldson 7.42 Yes 2014 Corey Kluber 7.39 No (Winner) 2014 Adrian Beltre 7.01 Yes 2014 Michael Brantley 6.97 Yes 2014 Felix Hernandez 6.75…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

2014 Tramaker Award Results

2014 Tramaker Award Results

Hardball To The Core Awards The Tramaker Award recognizes the highest WAR combo of any SS/2B duo in a Major League season.

 Year 2B, SS 2B WAR SS WAR Total WAR 2014 Howie Kendrick, Erick Aybar 5.4 3.9 9.3 2014 Kolten Wong, Jhonny Peralta 2.2 5.8 8 2014 Robinson Cano, Brad Miller 6.4 1.5 7.9 2014 Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins 3.6 3.9 7.5 2014 DJ LeMahieu, Troy Tulowitzki 1.5 5.5 7 2014 Jose Altuve,…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

2014 Bullpen Relief Award Results Hardball To The Core Awards The Bullpen Relief Award is rewarded to the pitcher with the highest cumulative total of BPR multiplied by BPR+.

[hardballtothecore-blog]

New Stats: BPR and BPR+

New Stats: BPR and BPR+

First, read Creation of a Stat: The Bullpen Relief (BPR) Statistic Explained.

Then, enter the information below to figure out the BPR and BPR+ of any starting pitcher of your choosing.  You will need to know their Innings Pitched that year, the number of Games Started, the number of Innings the Team Bullpen (Tm Bullpen IP) threw, and the number of team games (normally 162, but there are…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

Creation of a Stat: The Bullpen Relief (BPR) Statistic Explained

Creation of a Stat: The Bullpen Relief Statistic Explained

I came up with the Bullpen Relief (BPR) statistic as a way to figure out what the innings that the starting pitcher throws means to the team they pitch for relative to their overall bullpen workload, and be able to compare it with other pitchers; past and present. As I would click on a player’s statistics and view the team that they played for during a specific season, I started noticing that…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

David Price Ends Justin Verlander's Opening Day Streak At Seven Straight

David Price Ends Justin Verlander’s Opening Day Streak At Seven Straight

Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images

David Price will start Opening Day for the Detroit Tigers in 2015. This will break Justin Verlander’s streak of seven straight Opening Day starts from 2008 to 2014. This is significant, not just because Verlander won’t be the starter, but because the Detroit Tigers are showing that they want David Price to sign a long term contract with their…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

3/26/2015: Miguel Cabrera And Victor Martinez Go Yard In Lakeland

3/26/2015: Miguel Cabrera And Victor Martinez Go Yard In Lakeland

In a Spring Training game today at Lakeland, Florida, the Detroit Tigers hosted the Baltimore Orioles. The big news of the day is: Miguel Cabrera homered. Victor Martinez homered. Yoenis Cespedes homered. David Price pitched 6 2/3 innings. The Tigers won, and no one was injured.

After Miguel Cabrera hit a 6th inning homerun, Victor Martinez followed with a ground ball to short right field that…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

3/24/2015: Tigers And Yankees In A Fun Spring Training Game

3/24/2015: Tigers And Yankees In A Fun Spring Training Game

Last night, the New York Yankees hosted the Detroit Tigers in what was probably the best game of the 2015 Spring Training season. It aired live on the MLB Network via the New York Yankees’ YES channel. Rarely, does a Spring Training game have the type of excitement you would see during a regular season game, but this one had me watching until the end.

The Yankees won the game on a walk-off…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

3/11/2015: Alex Rodriguez Hit His First Spring Training Homerun Of The Season

3/11/2015: Alex Rodriguez Hit His First Spring Training Homerun Of The Season

Alex Rodriguez went yard today for the first time since September 20th, 2013. In a day game at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, the New York Yankees hosted the Boston Red Sox. While the Red Sox beat the Yankees 10-6, the most significant news to come out of the game was A-Rod’s home-run and Chris Capuano straining his right quad while covering first base.

Capuano signed a one-year,…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

Listing The Team Payrolls As 2015 Spring Training Begins

Listing The Team Payrolls As 2015 Spring Training Begins

Now that February is coming to an end, Spring Training games are right around the corner. The Philadelphia Phillies play the first game on Sunday vs. the University of Tampa. While much of the off-season has been spent tracking free agents, there are not any big names left that can impact the payrolls that much. Rafael Sorianois still out there, but for the most part we are now ready to roll.…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

Money Talks: Joba, Moncada, Giancarlo Stanton & Scherzer

Money Talks: Joba, Moncada, Giancarlo Stanton & Scherzer

In a recent Sports Illustrated article, Giancarlo Stanton said he was ‘angered’ by the record $325 million dollar contract offer from the Miami Marlins. Miami’s history of cutting payrolls after signing high priced talent is one reason for the anger stating, “five months [of winning] doesn’t change five years.” I get what he is trying to convey to the public and he very well might mean what he is…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

The New York Yankees And The Six-Man Rotation Rumor

The New York Yankees And The Six-Man Rotation Rumor

Photo: Nick Turchiaro, USA TODAY Sports

There was a rumor floating around that the New York Yankeeswere thinking about starting the season with a six-man starting rotation. This seems to be more speculation than fact at this point. It does seem plausible that with the question marks surrounding their big-money pitchers that they will want to limit their workload to lessen the risk of recurring…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

Spring Training Thoughts: Vince Coleman & The Chicago White Sox

Spring Training Thoughts: Vince Coleman & The Chicago White Sox

The guy who some readers might remember for throwing a lit firecracker into a crowd of baseball fans that were waiting for autographs in the Dodger Stadium parking lot in July of 1993… is back in baseball. Vince Coleman is now a baserunning instructor for the Chicago White Sox. Oh yeah, Vince also stole 752 bases during his 13 year playing career. Hopefully, Vince won’t be giving lessons on…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

Miguel Cabrera Could Be Cleared And Don Kelly Could Be Missed

Miguel Cabrera Could Be Cleared And Don Kelly Could Be Missed

Miguel Cabrera. Photo via Getty Images

Miguel Cabrera underwent a CT scan on Tuesday, and we will have to wait until Wednesday to see if he will be cleared for running and baseball activity. Cabrera had a bone spur and a stress fracture that slowed him down the second half of 2014. He was in a walking boot until January when Dr. Anderson cleared him to remove the boot. Dr. Robert Andersonis a…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

Macho Man Randy Savage Was A Professional Baseball Player

Macho Man Randy Savage Was A Professional Baseball Player

Last night, the World Wrestling Entertainment Corporation announced that “Macho Man” Randy Savage will be their headline inductee for the Hall of Fame class of 2015. I still have a hard time not saying “World Wrestling Federation”. Macho Man was one of my favorite wrestlers growing up along with The Ultimate Warrior.

Unlike the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is no writer vote, and no ballots to…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

James Shields Was Reported To Be In Contact With The Detroit Tigers

James Shields Was Reported To Be In Contact With The Detroit Tigers

Now that Max Scherzer has signed on with the Washington Nationals, fans of the Detroit Tigers will look to see what will happen with another free agent pitcher, James Shields. There were reports last week that the agent of Shields was in contact with the Detroit Tigers. Whether or not that is true, it seems to make sense given the fact that the Tigers knew that Scherzer was on the move. While…

View On WordPress

[hardballtothecore-blog]

Carlos Delgado And The History Of First Ballot Snubs

Carlos Delgado And The History Of First Ballot Snubs

Carlos Delgado, Kenny Lofton and Lou Whitaker

On Tuesday, January 6th, 2015, it was revealed that Carlos Delgado received less than the 5% needed to stay on the ballot for the Hall of Fame. Fans of the Toronto Blue Jays were not happy with the results, and it is justified.

Delgado is the only player to have 30 or more home runs in 10 straight seasons and fall off the ballot after one try. There…

View On WordPress