Posts tagged Brian Bannister at FanHouse

From the Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

It's the end of the year for baseball. That means we get to talk about MVP and Cy Young Awards. Yay. Because, really, nothing says "important post-season awards" like a group of journalists who don't actually watch every team in baseball putting together a vote for which player(s) deserve to be recognized based primarily on their proximity -- in a team sport -- to the playoffs.

That's somewhat sarcastic of course, but in essence, it is what the MVP and Cy Young awards (both registered trademarks of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA)!) have become. They are meaningful, because our country has allowed them to become that way.

But the primary problem with these awards is that they are not fairly established -- in terms of voters -- and are most certainly misguided -- in terms of qualifications. Enough so that we are all, for the most part, very confused about what the MVP award should mean.

With the playoff chase coming down to the wire, our MLB editor rounds up the five biggest pennant race stories in Eye Toward October.

- Trouble Brewing: Could it be happening again to Milwaukee? The Brewers collapsed down the stretch last season, and after a ninth-inning implosion by Salomon Torres last night against Cincinnati, fears of deja vu have to be creeping back in for Milwaukee fans.

The Brewers' edge over the Phillies in the wild-card race is down to three games, and a month that seemed like it would be a relative breeze at the start now has the potential to be a real nail-biter.

Milwaukee has two games left with the Reds at home then embarks on an 11-day, 10-game road trip that will take them to Philadelphia, Chicago and then Cincinnati. The Brewers have been very good on the road this season, but their bullpen problems are not going away over the final weeks of the regular season and in the playoffs.

Buckle up, Brewers fans. The next road trip could make or break Milwaukee's season.

With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.

- The elephant in the room four days from the trade deadline is Manny Ramirez, who once again is on shaky ground in Boston. In a perfect world, the Red Sox would love to rid themselves of the near-constant headache that Ramirez provides. In practice, they are still very much in the hunt for their third World Series in five years and would need to replace his production in step with any deal. That makes the completion of any trade unlikely in the next few days.

Joel Sherman and Mike Puma of the New York Post run down the potential list of suitors for Ramirez, and because of Boston's desire to ship him out of the American League, it is a very short one. The Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Mets and Phillies are the teams with both the need and the financial wherewithal to pick up the tab for Ramirez's $20 million deal. Because the left fielder has 10-5 rights (10 years in the league, five with the same team) he can veto any deal the Red Sox put together. That leads Sherman and Puma to conclude that Ramirez would only accept a deal to Philadelphia, where he would be reunited with manager Charlie Manuel, who was his hitting coach in Cleveland.

- And what of the Rays? The Yankees have gotten stronger already, and could add Jarrod Washburn or another pitcher at any moment. The Red Sox are embroiled in the latest Manny drama, but are more likely to improve from within. Tampa Bay has been pretty quiet, but they are out there looking for upgrades in the form of a right-handed outfield bat and bullpen depth. With Xavier Nady and Casey Blake off the market, the team may look internally for a right-handed bat, with the rehabbing Rocco Baldelli a possibility. That leaves the club looking to trade for a left-handed reliever with Brian Fuentes at the top of the Rays' list, with Arthur Rhodes, Jack Taschner, Will Ohman and Ron Mahay as backup options.

Much has been made of Brian Bannister's baseball smarts. Unlike most players, Bannister has showed off an impressive understanding of underlying sabermetric stats, and has admitted to putting them to use on the mound. Bannister isn't a physically gifted pitcher, so it was something of a blogger geekfest to see him pitch so well in 2007 with nothing more than Pitch f/x, a middling fastball, and BABIP.

Unfortunately, 2008 is not fitting the script. At all. Banny's early 2008 numbers are lagging way behind his 2007 stats, and his most recent start (against the red-hot Yankees) was a five-runs-in-three-and-a-half innings disaster.

Sample size, as Bannister would surely note, is one thing. Having a freakishly unsustainable 2007 BABIP is another. As Rob Neyer notes today, Bannister is an interesting guy, but he's far more so when he's not actually on the mound.

Because, you know, he kinda sucks. Get it?

For those of you that don't know, Joe Posnanski of the KC Star does these "Banny Logs" on his personal blog, where he chronicles each of Royals pitcher Brian Bannister's starts. Joe -- and everyone else -- is infatuated with Bannister for a few reasons.

First, he's a good pitcher. Second, he's smart as hell. He combines both of those to be a rare breed of baseball player -- one who truly cares about the pajama/basement Sabermetric numbers, and a guy whose mental approach to the chess-like game of pitching is similar to that of Greg Maddux. That's not a direct comparison, but it's certainly valid. Anyway, Joe mentions a hilariously awesome text message exchange after the game.

It was like that. Banny was mostly working fastball as he does when he's successful, but his secondary pitches were generally not coming in the red-zone 84-85 mph range. Plus, it looked like Banny had a really good fastball. He got 11 swinging strikes, which is a lot for him, and most of those came on fastballs. He had his command too. I sent him a text after the game, and he wrote back to say: "Just had to let my Babip regress before I started dealing again."

Seriously, how can you not love this guy?

No. Seriously. How can you not? A major league pitcher -- arguably the ace on a major league team, depending on how you feel about Gil Meche -- totally monitors his BABIP. Most regular baseball fans don't monitor BABIP, but Bannister, he is all over that mess. The guy knows his stats; instead of some tangent about the changing world of baseball, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy it.

Via Vegas Watch

The Kansas City Royals have gotten off to a decent start this season, going 9-10 in their first 19 games, but any success they've had on the young season should be solely credited to their pitching staff. It's guys like Brian Bannister and Zack Greinke who have been solid as starters, and Joakim Soria, Jimmy Gobble, and Leo Nunez who've yet to give up a run working out of the pen (a combined 18.1 innings between them) that's responsible for any wins the team has gotten.

It damn sure hasn't been the offense, which has managed to score a Major League worst 63 runs (they're actually tied with the Giants) this season, and hasn't managed to score more than 6 runs in a single game. So obviously, the Royals could use some help on offense, and there are a few options out there. So why not go after Frank Thomas?

Sure, Frank has some pretty enticing offers from other teams at the moment, but the Royals could be a nice fit for him as well. Since he's still going to be getting paid by the Blue Jays this season, he'd probably be willing to accept a deal in line with the $500,000 the Athletics paid him in 2006. Which would work well within the Royals limited budget. I'm not sure the same could be said if the Royals tried to go after Barry Bonds, not to mention the headache that accompanies Barry where ever he goes.

The only drawback I could see to the Royals signing Thomas would be the fact that Billy Butler would have to move to first base, but even though Billy Boy isn't exactly a defensive standout, he couldn't do that much damage at first. This would also allow Ross Gload to return to more of the utility role he's better suited for.

If I were Dayton Moore, I'd probably be giving the Big Hurt a call in the next few days.

We're five full days deep in baseball and there's been a lot of action. In order to make the proper roster moves and know what to look for when you begin trade negotiations, it helps to understand the perceived value shifts that happen each week. So that's when we bust out the complex algorithms and determine who's up and who's down.

Ben Sheets -- Sheets looked great against the Cubs, engaging in a pitcher's duel against Carlos Zambrano, and even pitching post-rain delay; actually looking sharper. Sheets has a legitimate shot at the Cy Young and is a number one fantasy ace if he can avoid the injuries that have plagued him in the past.

Or, alternately: blahblahblahblah If he can stay healthy blahblahblahblah. I actually love Sheets but objectively he has to be considered a sell high, especially if he pieces together a few more of these starts. And considering Ned Yost seems unconcerned about his injury history.
Rich Harden -- See above.
Brian Bannister -- He absolutely shut down the Tigers. He won't overpower anyone but he's smart as hell and will get wins with nice ratios this season.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Detroit Tigers (0-2) vs. Kansas City Royals (2-0) - 1:05PM Est.

This isn't exactly how it's supposed to be going down, is it? The Tigers are supposed to win the AL Central this year, and the Royals are supposed to be improved, but at the bottom of the division. Nobody told this to the Royals, as with a win today they'll have completed a season opening sweep of the Tigers. What is supposed to be one of MLB's most fearsome lineups has managed only 4 runs in 20 innings so far this season. On Wednesday it was Brian Bannister who shut the Tigers big bats down, allowing only two singles and no runs in seven innings of work. This afternoon, Kansas City will give the ball to Zack Greinke. The Tigers will be looking to Jeremy Bonderman to get the team's first win of the season. Bonderman struggled to finish the 2007 season, as he came up with the loss in eight of his final nine decisions of the season. The good news for Detroit is that his lone win in that span came against the Royals. In fact, in three starts against Kansas City last season, Bondo went 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA.

Yesterday, P to the Lack discussed the Royals' Trey Hillman, the Japanese import (sort of) that recognizes the importance of on-base percentage in the top spots in the lineup. What's funny about that is not that Hillman recognizes common, well-established baseball intelligence, but rather that so few of his peers do. It's sort of incredible, when you really think about it.

Add Brian Bannister to Hillman's lofty company. In an instant Blue Steel classic, Bannister discusses his own BABIP, his K rate, and various other statistical measures:

"I realize very well that I could regress to the mean."

"I find Pitch f/x to be more useful than video," Bannister said, "because you're actually seeing what the pitches are doing late in the zone, and that's what it's all about. Everybody can throw a fastball, but if one guy's explodes in the last 10 feet and the other's goes dead straight, there's a huge difference, even if they're both throwing 95 mph. That's where the magic lies: in tweaking your pitches in order to get the most out of your ability."

Those are just a couple examples. There's plenty more throughout the story, which, as I said, is an instant classic. See, orthodox intangibles-heavy baseball peeps? Don't be afraid of statistics! They can be your friends!

Maybe if this whole pitching thing doesn't work out for Royals starter Brian Bannister, he can move upstairs within the organization and help Dayton Moore put together a winning team in Kansas City again.

Bannister recently did an interview with MLBTradeRumors.com, and showed a level of intelligence about the game of baseball we don't generally hear from the players. In fact, he sounded more like a general manager than anything else.

MLBTR: What's the most misunderstood aspect of succeeding in baseball by typical fans, sportswriters, and announcers?

Bannister: There are two things that make baseball unique from other sports. One, baseball is a game of skill that is accentuated by the physical tools of the person performing those skills. Most people superficially judge a position player solely on size, strength, and speed, when his eyesight, balance, rhythm, hand-eye coordination, and mental makeup are much more influential factors in his future success. It is when a player embodies all of these qualities that we get our superstars and hall-of-famers. I would much rather face a hitter with "80" power and "80" speed but bad strike zone discipline than one with no power and a .400+ OBP. Over the course of time, the hitter with the .400+ OBP is going to hurt me much, much more, especially if he is surrounded by other good hitters.

The interview goes on from there, and Bannister answers every question with the same well-informed type of response. It's an interesting read, and one I suggest you take time out to make.

Also, if you're reading this, Brian, ever consider starting a blog? I'd certainly rather read what you have to say about baseball than Curt Schilling.