Mark Gubicza was beginning pitcher. Making all however two of his 384 big-league appearances with the Kansas City Royals, the massive right-hander logged 132 wins to go together with a 3.96 ERA, 42 full video games, and 16 shutouts. His finest season got here in 1988 when he went 20-8 with a 2.70 ERA and completed third in A.L. Cy Young balloting.

Gubicza additionally had two saves, each of them in 1993. That was the 12 months he gained a real appreciation for the way difficult it's to guard a late-inning lead for a teammate. How he got here work out of the bullpen — one thing he did sparingly exterior of that one season — was a matter of circumstance.

“We didn’t have a bridge to get from our starters to Jeff Montgomery,” defined Gubicza, who now serves as a TV analyst for the Angels. “The year before, my shoulder was a little sketchy, so [manager] Hal McRae asked me if I could be the bridge. At first I was hesitant, because I liked starting. But I was building back my arm strength, so I said, ‘You know what? I’ll do whatever it takes to win games. I’ll be that bridge to get to Jeff Montgomery.”

The transition was initially bumpy. Gubicza’s coronary heart would begin racing when the bullpen cellphone rang, and as soon as he started warming, he can be throwing as onerous as he may. Moreover, whereas adrenaline was telling him that he was prepared, his stuff wasn’t prepared. Much for these causes, he took his lumps earlier than determining what labored for him within the unfamiliar function.

The first of Gubicza’s two saves was of the three-inning selection. The rating was 2-1 when he entered the sport, and from there the Royals rolled to a straightforward 9-4 win. The lack of ninth-inning drama didn’t deter him from savoring the outcome. As Gubicza put it, “Having a save on my [baseball] card was really cool.”

The feeling that accompanied his second save was completely different.

“I remember it being the ninth inning and thinking about all those years as a starter where it was, ‘Man, they blew my save,’” mentioned Gubicza. “Now I’m questioning, ‘What is the starting pitcher thinking of me?’ I wanted to protect the win for [Tom Gordon], and that’s a bit extra nerve-racking. The complete mentality of the sport being in your shoulders… you don’t get observed until you blow it. If you get a save, it’s simply ’You have been supposed to try this.’

“It’s like a kicker in football,” continued Gubicza. “If you miss a field goal, everyone is running over to you and asking, ‘How did you miss that?’ It plays in your mind, because kicking field goals is your only job. Same thing for a closer: your only job is to get those last three outs. People act like it’s easy to do, but it’s not. All of the pressure in the world is on you. If you don’t get that save, it’s ‘How did you blow it?’ It was pretty wild being out there in the bullpen.”

Gubicza went 5-4 with a 3.61 ERA over 43 reduction appearances and 72-and-a-third innings in 1993. Montgomery had 45 of his franchise-best 304 saves.

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Edgar Martinez went 10 for 26 in opposition to Mariano Rivera.

Todd Helton went 13 for 25 in opposition to Trevor Hoffman.

Jack Clark went 11 for 27 in opposition to Lee Smith.

Hank Blalock went 9 for 21 in opposition to Francisco Rodriguez.

Mariano Duncan went 10 for 20 in opposition to John Franco.

Miguel Olivo went 8 for 12 in opposition to Billy Wagner.

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This previous Tuesday’s sport at Fenway Park featured a catcher’s interference that wasn’t catcher’s interference. More particularly, it was till it wasn’t. Here is what occurred:

With one out and Boston’s Enrique Hernández on first base within the eighth inning, Reese McGuire hit a weak floor ball to the left facet, with the house plate umpire instantly signaling catcher’s interference. The slow-roller was fielded and thrown to first, the place Minnesota’s Donovan Solano caught the ball, albeit with out his foot on the bag. Hernández, seeing that third base wasn’t being coated, proceeded to motor round second and advance one other base. The Red Sox had runners on the corners.

Which brings us to the catcher’s interference that wasn’t, and the confusion that accompanied it. Many readily available — from the press field, broadcast cubicles, and past —believed that the unusual prevalence gave the Red Sox a selection. They may both A: Take the catcher’s interference, giving them runners on first and second, or B: Take the play, placing runners at first and third.

That wasn’t the case. While an A-or-B possibility does exist on catcher’s interference calls — the Red Sox had chosen A just some days earlier in a sport in opposition to the Angels — it didn’t on this situation. Per a guidelines knowledgeable I checked with, catcher’s interference was negated as soon as the batter reached first base safely, and the runner who’d been on first reached second base safely. That the runner proceeded to take off for third was irrelevant. Safe or out, he was trying to advance on a play that, by rule, may now not be deemed catcher’s interference.

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A quiz:

Earlier this week, Clayton Kershaw grew to become the third pitcher whose final title begins with the letter Ok to log 200 or extra big-league wins. Who are the opposite two?

The reply might be discovered beneath.

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NEWS NOTES

Jeff Dooley is looking his first MLB video games this weekend. The play-by-play voice of the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats for the previous 25 years (the workforce was often called the New Britain Rock Cats when he began out), Dooley is filling in on the Colorado Rockies radio broadcast.

Dave Frost, a right-hander who appeared in 99 video games from 1977-1982, died earlier this month at age 70. Drafted out of Stanford University by the Chicago White Sox in 1974, the Long Beach native went 16-10 with a 3.57 ERA for the California Angels in 1979.

Don Leppert, a catcher who performed for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1961-1962, and for the Washington Senators in 1963-1964, died earlier this month at age 91. The first of Leppert’s 15 round-trippers got here in his first big-league plate look.

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The reply to the quiz is Jim Kaat with 283 wins, and Jerry Koosman with 222 wins. If you guessed Jimmy Key or Sandy Koufax, they'd 186 and 165 wins respectively.

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When groups purchase a participant by way of commerce— notably a youthful participant — it isn’t unusual for them to have had curiosity in him on the time he was drafted. For quite a lot of causes, they both went in one other route or one other membership took the participant earlier than they'd a chance achieve this in no matter spherical. To Kyle Bradish’s information, that wasn’t the case when Baltimore didn’t name his title in 2018.

“I didn’t really hear anything from them,” mentioned the 26-year-old right-hander, whom the Angels took within the fourth spherical that 12 months and subsequently swapped to the Orioles the next December as a part of the Dylan Bundy deal. “I hadn’t really even talked to the Angels. It was more the Cubs, and the Yankees a little bit. There were a few phone calls here and there on draft day.”

A flurry of calls final April are much more memorable. On the street with Triple-A Norfolk, Bradish was in a Gwinnett, Georgia resort room on a Thursday morning when he heard from Orioles pitching coach Chris Holt. The phrases he heard have been music to his ears: ”Are you able to pitch on Friday in opposition to the Red Sox?

Bradish proceeded to name his spouse, his dad and mom, his spouse’s dad and mom, and his sisters to share the information. The following day, he took the mound at Camden Yards and allowed three runs in six innings because the Orioles fell to their A.L. East rivals 3-1. Result apart, it was “a really good day.”

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Sonny Gray started his big-league profession with the Oakland Athletics in 2013. Two years earlier, he’d been drafted 18th-overall out of Vanderbilt University.

“I was expecting to go before that, to be honest with you,” admitted Gray, who spent four-plus seasons in Oakland and now takes the mound for the Minnesota Twins. “The Diamondbacks picked at three and seven, and there was big talk of them wanting college arms. And then the Brewers picked at [12 and 15]. I was thinking it was probably going to be one of those two. After that, I really didn’t have a clue. I never really talked to the A’s.”

The D-Backs took Trevor Bauer and Archie Bradley with their first two picks that 12 months. The Brewers tabbed Taylor Jungmann and Jed Bradley.

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Roki Sasaki continues to be NPB’s most dominant pitcher. The 21-year-old Chiba Lotte Marines wunderkind has thrown 20 scoreless innings over three begins, with 30 strikeouts, three walks, and 5 hits allowed.

Shoki Murakami has thrown 17 scoreless innings whereas permitting simply three hits, with no walks and 16 strikeouts for NPB’s Hanshin Tigers. The 24-year-old rookie right-hander was lifted for a pinch-hitter after throwing 84 pitches over seven good innings in opposition to the Yomiuri Giants on April 12.

Sheldon Neuse is slashing .304/.355/.420 with two residence runs in 76 plate appearances for Hanshin. The 28-year-old infielder performed in 89 video games with the Oakland Athletics final 12 months.

Cy Sneed is 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. The 30-year-old former Houston Astros hurler is in his third NPB season.

Shaun Anderson is 1-2 with a 3.46 ERA for the KBO’s Kia Tigers. The 28-year-old right-hander pitched for 5 MLB groups from 2019-2022, most just lately the Toronto Blue Jays.

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I used to be in Cubs camp this spring when a Chicago scribe requested Tucker Barnhart concerning the promising younger arms arising by the workforce’s farm system. The veteran backstop mentioned that he’s been impressed by a variety of them, together with “a couple of lefties that are throwing bowling-ball sinkers at 95-plus.” He’s additionally bullish on a 23-year-old right-hander whom the Cubs acquired from the Phillies ultimately 12 months’s commerce deadline in change for David Robertson.

“Ben Brown come to mind,” mentioned Barnhart. “Big, tall lanky guy that has super good extension. The ball gets on you. He’s 97 [mph] and has a curveball that he can really spin.”

Brown has made three begins for the Double-A Tennessee Smokies this month and has allowed seven hits and one run in 15 innings. He’s walked six and fanned 22.

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FARM NOTES

Wade Meckler is 22-for-45 with six doubles, six walks, and 6 strikeouts with the High-A Eugene Emeralds. The 23-year-old (as of Friday) outfielder slashed .367/.500/.544 in 100 plate appearances between the ACL and Low-A San Jose after being drafted within the eighth spherical final 12 months by the San Francisco Giants out of Oregon State University.

Junior Caminero is slashing .404/.462/.702 with 4 residence runs in 52 plate appearances with the High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods. The 19-year-old infielder is No. 5 on our Tampa Bay Rays Top Prospects listing.

Ronan Kopp has 17 strikeouts and has allowed simply six hits and one earned run in 10 innings for the High-A Great Lakes Loons. The 20-year-old left-hander is No. 32 on our Los Angeles Dodgers Top Prospects listing.

Caden Dana has fanned 18 batters whereas permitting simply six hits and two runs in 15 innings fo the Low-A Inland Empire 66ers. The 19-year-old right-hander was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels within the eleventh spherical final 12 months out of Ramsey, New Jersey’s Don Bosco Preparatory High School.

Frank Mozzicato has thrown 11 scoreless innings with 4 hits allowed and 20 strikeouts for the Low-A Columbia Fireflies. The 19-year-old southpaw was drafted seventh general in 2021 by the Kansas City Royals out of Manchester, Connecticut’s East Catholic High School.

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When the Red Sox beat the Angels 2-1 final Sunday, the sport was performed in a crisp 1:57 — the shortest period of time to finish a nine-inning sport at Fenway Park since a 5-1 Boston win over the Milwaukee Brewers on October 1, 1989 took simply 1:50. Being a baseball historical past buff, I perused the boxscore from that three-plus-decades-ago contest.

The sport was the ultimate one of many season for each groups, and from all appearances, the respective hitting approaches have been, “Go up there swinging and let’s get this over with.” A pair of Brewers pitchers mixed to throw 80 pitches, whereas two Red Sox pitchers mixed to throw 90 pitches. All advised, there have been eight strikeouts and only one stroll.

Robin Yount accounted for Milwaukee’s lone run together with his twenty first long-ball of the season. Luis Rivera hit a two-run shot for the house workforce and later added a run-scoring single. Terry Francona DH’d for the Brewers and grounded out 4-3 in all three of his plate appearances. Gary Sheffield dedicated an error taking part in third base. Paul Molitor swiped a bag. John Dopson obtained the win, Jaime Navarro the loss, and Dennis Lamp the save.

All in all, it was an unremarkable sport — one which was quick in length.

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

Kim Yu-seong, a highly-regarded 21-year-old right-hander whose path to the KBO had been stalled by bullying prices, is now poised to debut with the Doosan Bears. Jee-ho Yoo has the story at Yonhap News Agency.

Munetaka Murakami is off to a sluggish begin with NPB’s Tokyo Yakult Swallows, and Yuri Karasawa explored his struggles at JapanBall.

At The Pioneer Press, Betsy Helfand wrote about how Carlos Correa’s endless quest for self-improvement has him turning to books.

Purple Row’s Renee Dechert tried to measure the apathy of Colorado Rockies followers.

A 30-year-old castoff named Luis Tiant misplaced a frigid residence opener for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings on April 22, 1971. Kurt Blumenau wrote about the competition for SABR’s Games Project.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

The Boston Red Sox have gained precisely 1,000 video games in opposition to the Minnesota Twins franchise. They have gained 999 video games in opposition to the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians franchises.

Dan Osborn went 3-0 with the White Sox in 1975, his solely big-league season. Despite the righty’s unblemished document, the Southsiders misplaced 19 of the 24 video games he appeared in.

Nick Lodolo was drafted forty first general out of highschool by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2016, however opted attended Texas Christian University fairly than signal knowledgeable contract. The Cincinnati Reds subsequently drafted and signed the southpaw three years later.

Ichiro Suzuki logged 262 hits when he captured the American League batting crown with a .372 common in 2004. Ernie Lombardi logged 102 hits when he captured the National League batting crown with a .330 common in 1942.

Babe Ruth holds the modern-era single-season document for runs scored with 177 in 1921. Ruth had a profession excessive 168 RBIs that 12 months.

Henry Aaron hit the primary of his 755 residence runs on at this time’s date in 1954. The eighth-inning blast off of Vic Raschi helped carry the Milwaukee Braves to a 7-5, 14-inning win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

On at this time’s date in 1959, Frank Robinson hit a ninth-inning sacrifice fly to provide the Cincinnati Reds a 10-9 walk-off win in opposition to the Milwaukee Braves. Cincinnati reliever Willard Schmidt reached base twice in a six-run third inning, every time by way of a HBP.

Lou Brock hit a Tenth-inning walk-off residence run to provide the St. Louis Cardinals a 4-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on at this time’s date in 1968. The pennant-winning residence workforce had plated a pair of runs within the ninth to knot the rating at 2-2.

Players born on at this time’s date embody Rheal Cormier, a local of Moncton, New Brunswick who pitched for 5 groups over a profession that spanned the 1991-2007 seasons. A member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, the southpaw made 683 appearances and was credited with 71 wins and two saves.

Also born on at this time’s date was Elam Vangilder, a right-hander from Cape Girardea, Iowa who pitched for the St. Louis Browns from 1919-1927, and for the Detroit Tigers in 1928-1929. Vangilder’s finest season got here with the Browns in 1922 when he went 19-13 with 5 saves and a 3.42 ERA, and slashed .344/.396/.559 in 110 plate appearances.

Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com