Nick Adenhart killed in car accident

The big news today is very sad. 22 year old Angels rookie Nick Adenhart was killed in a hit and run car accident last night, hours after pitching the best game of his career. Adenhart is a guy everyone was pulling for. Big prospect, turned failure the last couple of years, resurrecting his career this spring and finally putting it all together. Last night he pitched 6 shutout innings picking up 5 strikeouts in what was undeniably the best start of his short major league career. Not too much to be said here, it’s horrible news when any 22 year old dies suddenly, especially one with this much promise. RIP. 

We do need to address other news today though. A few observations from yesterday:

Gavin Floyd may actually be able to somewhat backup last years sub-4.00 ERA. Though his surface stats were good, Floyd’s borderline K/BB rate (2.1) and horrible HR rate (1.3) made him a good candidate to collapse this year. That assumption may have been a little premature. He has had historically good minor league skills, including good control and solid K rates that have seen the better side of 8. His career HR rate of 1.6 is also misleading, as Floyd has a solid 40%+ GB rate. He isn’t Fausto Carmona, but he shouldn’t be approaching Scott Baker territory either. A slight correction there (even in a hitters park) would go a long way for Floyd. Then there is last nights performance. 7 innings, 9 ks, 2 bbs. Very promising. Obviously just one start, but if he can show that long expected k/bb rate he’s got a chance to IMPROVE last years surface stats.  Zack Greinkie pitched just as well, but we all know he’s got elite skills. 

Brandon Inge continued his hot start with his 3rd homer in as many games. We have to remember that he has showed this ability before with 27 homeruns in 2006. Don’t expect a great BA from Inge, but he’s catcher eligible, has decent pop, and is hitting in one of the best lineups in baseball, so he’s worth a pickup in most 2-catcher formats. 

Chien-Ming Wang struggled last night. Not unexpected from a guy who can’t get his K/BB rate over 2. If he keeps his ball down he’s golden. If he doesn’t, you might as well throw Jose Lima out there. Not the consistent guy everyone thinks he is, one of the riskier plays out there.

Trevor Cahill made his major league debut and was horrible. In 5 innings he had 1 strikeout and 5 walks. He couldn’t find the strike zone, with 56 strikes to 46 balls. He’s a GB pitcher with great minor league numbers so I did think he would make a decent major league transition, however this isn’t a good sign. Fangraphs has a more detailed analysis of his performance here. 

Rick Porcello is making his MLB debut today so that should be exciting. Personally I’m keeping him out of my lineup for now. He just didn’t miss bats last season, and it seems that the Tigers don’t want him using his slider (the presumed reason for said loss of k rate). This could really hurt his major league K numbers, so even as a GB pitcher with good control I don’t know how well he can make the adjustment. That said, if he starts missing bats, you need to jump on it because he has amazing stuff and his minor league trackrecord is solid. He’s a great guy to stash away, not a great guy to throw out there just yet.