Daily Baseball Update: 4/20

Historical Individual Seasons: Ty Cobb (1911)

Stat Line: 8 HR, 127 RBI, .420 AVG, 83 SB.

Ty Cobb is, in my opinion, one of the top five players of all time, and he showed why in 146 games in 1911.  That year, his .420 average was the fourth highest of the modern era (since 1900), while his 248 hits finish eighth, his 24 triples 7th (modern era), and his 83 stolen bases 15th (modern era).  He also scored 147 runs and drove in 127 despite hitting just eight home runs, and his 47 doubles helped him post 79 extra base hits.  He led the majors in runs, hits, doubles, RBI, stolen bases, average, slugging percentage (.621), OPS (1.088), extra base hits, and total bases (367).  In triples and on-base percentage (.467), he finished second.  Despite his efforts, the 24 year old outfielder could not lead Detroit to its fourth World Series appearance in five years.  The following year, Ty would bat .410, making him the only player in history with two seasons with an average of .410 or better.  Jesse Burkett was one hit away, batting .409 in 1895 before hitting .410 in 1896.

News

Yankees captain Derek Jeter will be out until the All Star break with complications in his broken ankle.

Dodgers traded Aaron Harang (2012 Stats: 10-10, 3.61 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 2013 age: 35) to the Rockies for Ramon Hernandez (2012 Stats: 5 HR, 28 RBI, .217 AVG, 0 SB, 2013 age: 37), who then sent Harang to the Mariners for minor leaguer Steven Hensley (2012 Stats: 4-6, 4.84 ERA, .223 BAA at AA and AAA, 2013 age: 26).

Seven year veteran Conor Jackson (Career: 52 HR, 295 RBI, .271 AVG, 27 SB) retired at the age of 30.  In 2008, he hit .300 with 12 homers and 10 stolen bases for the Diamondbacks.

Game Scores

Mets (8-7) beat the Nationals (9-7) 7-1.

Yankees (9-6) beat the Blue Jays (7-10) 9-4.

Phillies (7-10) beat the Cardinals (9-7) 8-2.

Rays (6-10) beat the A's (12-5) 8-3.

Brewers (7-8) beat the Cubs (5-10) 5-4.

Rockies (12-4) beat the Diamondbacks (9-7) 3-1.

Angels (5-10) beat the Tigers (9-7) 8-1.

Red Sox and Dodgers had games postponed.

Top Scorer: Yankees beat the Blue Jays 9-4.

Standings

AL East: Red Sox (11-4, .733 WPCT).  AL Central: Royals (8-6, .571).  AL West: A's (12-5, .706).

NL East: Braves (13-3, .813).  NL Central: Cardinals (9-7, .563).  NL West: Rockies (12-4, .750).

AL Wild Cards: Rangers (10-6, .625) and Yankees (9-6, .600).  NL Wild Cards: Giants (10-7, .588) and Nationals/D-Backs (9-7, .563).

Bottom Team: Marlins (4-13, .235).  Longest W Streak: Rockies, 7 games.  Longest L Streak: Indians, 5 games.

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Torii Hunter (Tigers), .418 (28-67).  Home runs: Justin Upton (Braves), 9.  RBI: John Buck (Mets) and Chris Davis (Orioles), 20.  Stolen bases: Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), 7.

Pitching: Wins: Matt Harvey (Mets), 4.  K's: Yu Darvish (Rangers), 38.  ERA: Paul Maholm (Braves), 0.00 (20.1 shutout innings).  Saves: Craig Kimbrel (Braves) and Sergio Romo (Giants). 7.

Top Performers

Offensive: Lucas Duda (Mets): 2-3, 2 home runs (5), 2 RBI, 2 runs, walk, AVG up .030 from .278 to .308, hitting streak to 3 games (4-8, .500 AVG).

Pitching: Wandy Rodriguez (Pirates): Win (2-0), 7 shutout innings, 1 hit, no walks, 5 K's (11), ERA drop: 0.44 runs from 1.00 to 0.56.

Worst Pitching Performance: Octavio Dotel (Tigers): No decision, 0.2 innings, 5 earned runs, 4 hits, 1 walk, 0 K's, ERA jump: 9.00 runs from 4.50 to 13.50.

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.

HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman