Monday, March 30, 2009

Most Games Started, Zero Plate Appearances

With interleague play firmly a part of the MLB schedule, it's nearly impossible for a starting pitcher to go more than a season or two without batting at least once. For the first twenty-five years after the DH rule was introduced, however, it was entirely possible for a starter to spend his entire career in the American League and never bat. Let's look at the pitchers who started the most games without ever stepping to the plate.

Most Career Games Started, Zero Plate Appearances
  1. Mike Flanagan, 401
  2. Mark Gubicza, 329
  3. Ron Guidry, 323*
  4. Scott McGregor, 309
  5. Mike Boddicker, 309*
  6. Dennis Leonard, 302
  7. Mike Witt, 299
  8. Richard Dotson, 295*
  9. Jack McDowell, 275
  10. Moose Haas, 252
  11. Chris Bosio, 246
  12. Kirk McCaskill, 242
  13. Bill Wegman, 216*
  14. Glenn Abbott, 206
  15. Teddy Higuera, 205
  16. Mike Smithson, 204
  17. Melido Perez, 201
  18. Jim Beattie, 182
  19. Ed Figueroa, 179
  20. Steve McCatty, 161
  21. Britt Burns, 161
  22. Luis Leal, 151
  23. Ken Schrom, 137
  24. Dave Rozema, 132
  25. Bob Milacki, 125
  26. Roger Pavlik, 125
* - appeared as pinch runner

A footnote: Teddy Higuera batted once in the 1986 All-Star Game, striking out.

Update: Commenter NaOH notes that Flanagan, Guidry, McGregor, and Boddicker batted during the playoffs, so they didn't really go their entire career without batting.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Rookie Ball Errors by Position

I realized the other day I never finished my series of errors by position at each minor league level. I've done a post for every level above rookie ball and you can find those here: AAA errors by position, AA errors by position posts, A+ errors by position, A errors by position, and A- errors by position. There are four leagues at the rookie level: the Appalachian League, Arizona League, Gulf Coast League, and Pioneer League. Arizona League and Gulf Coast League teams generally play at their parent organization's spring training complexes, while the other leagues are based in different regions. The Pioneer League plays around 76 games, the Appalachian League plays around 66 games, the Gulf Coast League plays 58 games, and the Arizona League plays 56 games. Some franchises, including the Brewers and Dodgers, have an affiliate in more than one of these four leagues.

R Pitchers

R Pitchers Sorted By Most Errors
NameTeamOrg.
TC
EFPct.
Benjamin Henry
AZL Rangers
TEX
11
8
.273
Eddie Gamboa
Bluefield
BAL
21
5
.762
Jack McGeary
GCL Nationals
WSN
16
5
.688
Baron Short
OremLAA
11
5
.545
Matt Baugh
Casper
COL
18
4
.778
Geison Aguasviva
OgdenLAD
16
4
.750
Adrian Rosario
AZL Brewers
MIL
15
4
.733
Joselito Adames
AZL Athletics
OAK
12
4
.667
Cesar Cabral
GCL Red Sox
BOS
12
4
.667
Julio Bello
GCL Mets
NYM
11
4
.636
Jose Pena
AZL Cubs
CHC
9
4
.556
Tyler Sample
AZL Royals
KCR
6
4
.333

R Pitchers Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 10 total chances)
NameTeamOrg.
TCEFPct.
Benjamin Henry
AZL Rangers
TEX
11
8
.273
Baron Short
Orem
LAA
11
5
.545
Julio Bello
GCL Mets
NYM
11
4
.636
Joselito Adames
AZL Athletics
OAK
12
4
.667
Cesar Cabral
GCL Red Sox
BOS
12
4
.667
Jack McGeary
GCL Nationals
WSN
16
5
.688
Danny Salazar
GCL Indians
CLE
10
3
.700
Luis Cota
Idaho Falls
KCR
11
3
.727
Danny Rondon
Elizabethton
MIN
11
3
.727
Adrian Rosario
AZL Brewers
MIL
15
4
.733
APP Pitchers

1202
118
.902
AZL Pitchers

1008
112
.889
GCL Pitchers

1657
158
.905
PIO Pitchers

1218
95
.922
R Pitchers

5085
483
.905

One hopes Benjamin Henry is getting plenty of pitchers' fielding practice this spring.


R Catchers

R Catchers Sorted By Most Errors
NameTeamOrg.TCEFPct.
Leonel de los Santos
AZL Rangers
TEX
416
11.974
Alvaro Sosa
AZL Cubs
CHC
236
10
.958
Brandon Harrigan
GCL Tigers
DET
175
10
.943
Beau Brooks
Orem
LAA
356
9
.975
Michael Roberts
Helena
MIL
303
8
.974
Sean McCauley
Idaho Falls
KCR
404
7
.983
Luis Bernardo
Bluefield
BAL
322
7
.978
Jack Cawley
Johnson City
STL
252
7
.972
Josmil Pinto
GCL Twins
MIN
219
7
.968
Chris Davis
Missoula
ARI
197
7
.964
Chase Weems
GCL Yankees
NYY
177
7
.960

R Catchers Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 200 total chances)
NameTeamOrg.
TCEFPct.
Alvaro Sosa
AZL Cubs
CHC
236
10
.958
Josmil Pinto
GCL Twins
MIN
219
7
.968
Jack Cawley
Johnson City
STL
252
7
.972
Leonel de los Santos
AZL Rangers
TEX
416
11
.974
Michael Roberts
Helena
MIL
303
8
.974
Beau Brooks
Orem
LAA
356
9
.975
Sandy Leon
GCL Nationals
WSN
209
5
.976
Dashenko Ricardo
GCL Orioles
BAL
213
5
.977
Orlando Santos
Bristol
CHW
228
5
.978
Luis Bernardo
BluefieldBAL
322
7
.978
APP Catchers

6164
85
.986
AZL Catchers

4599
82
.982
GCL Catchers

7381
142
.981
PIO Catchers

5754
87
.985
R Catchers

23898
396
.983

There's nothing particularly remarkable about rookie league catchers, though the two organizational leagues (AZL & GCL) seem to have more errors assessed.

R First Basemen

R 1B Sorted By Most Errors
NameTeamOrg.TCEFPct.
Elvin Polanco
Bluefield
BAL
571
14
.975
Eligio Sonoqui
Princeton
TBR
569
13
.977
Gerardo Rodriguez
Danville
ATL
495
11.978
Brock Kjeldgaard
HelenaMIL
808
9
.989
Alberto Espinosa
Idaho Falls
KCR
465
9
.981
Chris Hardin
AZL Padres
SDP
425
9
.979
David Medina
GCL Cardinals
STL
372
9
.976
Randy Molina
AZL Mariners
SEA
371
9
.976
Kyle Orr
Ogden
LAD
367
9
.975
Cameron Robulack
AZL Brewers
MIL
176
9
.949

R 1B Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 200 total chances)
NameTeamOrg.
TCEFPct.
Devery van de Keere
Idaho Falls
KCR
234
8
.966
Michael Ortiz
AZL Rangers
TEX
294
8
.973
Kyle Orr
Ogden
LAD
367
9
.975
Elvin Polanco
Bluefield
BAL
571
14
.975
Randy Molina
AZL Mariners
SEA
371
9
.976
David Medina
GCL Cardinals
STL
372
9
.976
Edinho Meyer
GCL Orioles
BAL
248
6
.976
Eligio Sonoqui
Princeton
TBR
569
13
.977
Gerardo Rodriguez
Danville
ATL
495
11
.978
Pedro Ramos
AZL Brewers
MIL
317
7
.978
APP 1B

6233
102
.984
AZL 1B

4900
96
.980
GCL 1B


7954
114
.986
PIO 1B


5800
88
.985
R 1B

24887
400
.984

Cameron Robulack had a rough go of things at first base last year. You'll probably notice this as time goes on, but the AZL Brewers really struggled on defense. Speaking of Milwaukee, the Brewers are the first organization in this post to have players from two affiliates show up in the same table.


R Second Basemen

R 2B Sorted By Most Errors
NameTeamOrg.TCEFPct.
Ted Obregon
GCL Cardinals
STL
186
20
.892
Jerome Hoes
GCL Orioles
BAL
213
15
.930
Ivan Contreras
Orem
LAA
285
12
.958
Dominic de la Osa
Elizabethton
MIN
253
12
.953
Robert Brooks
GCL Braves
ATL
171
12
.930
Adenson Chourio
GCL Pirates
PIT
251
11
.956
Jose Altuve
Greeneville
HOU
210
11
.948
Elias Otero
Princeton
TBR
147
11
.925
7 tied with



10


R 2B Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 100 total chances)
NameTeamOrg.TCEFPct.
Ted Obregon
GCL Cardinals
STL186
20
.892
Alonzo Harris
GCL Mets
NYM
119
10
.916
Elias Otero
Princeton
TBR147
11
.925
Anthony Delmonico
OgdenLAD
134
10
.925
Jerome Hoes
GCL Orioles
BAL
213
15
.930
Robert Brooks
GCL Braves
ATL
171
12
.930
Jose Duran
Helena
MIL
148
10
.932
Albert Cartwright
Greeneville
HOU
157
10
.936
Kenneth Roque
GCL Red Sox
BOS
146
9
.938
Allixon Cequea
AZL Brewers
MIL
116
7
.940
APP 2B

3226
124
.962
AZL 2B

2489
117
.953
GCL 2B


4113
192
.953
PIO 2B


2925
113
.961
R 2B

12753546
.957

Once again the AZL & GCL feature more errors than the other leagues. Ted Obregon is the first player in this post to field below .900 as well as the first with 20+ errors. Once again two Brewers from two affiliates show up in the same table. It must be an organizational thing.


R Third Basemen

R 3B Sorted By Most Errors
NameTeamOrg.TCEFPct.
Burt Reynolds
Princeton
TBR
161
33
.795
Jake Hanson
GCL Braves
ATL
139
22
.842
Pedro Baez
Ogden
LAD
196
20
.898
Jefry Marte
GCL Mets
NYM
106
19
.821
Levi Carolus
BluefieldBAL
145
18
.876
Abner Abreu
GCL Indians
CLE
125
18
.856
Ronnie Labrie
GCL Nationals
WSN
109
18
.835
Brett Anderson
GCL Tigers
DET
100
18
.820
Mario Martinez
Pulaski
SEA
170
16
.906
Johan Yan
AZL Rangers
TEX
108
16.852

R 3B Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 60 total chances)
NameTeamOrg.TCEFPct.
Alcibiades Made
AZL Athletics
OAK63
13
.794
Burt Reynolds
PrincetonTBR161
33
.795
Brett Anderson
GCL Tigers
DET100
18
.820
Jefry Marte
GCL Mets
NYM106
19
.821
Ronnie Labrie
GCL Nationals
WSN109
18
.835
Matthew Gaski
AZL Padres
SDP
62
10
.839
Jake Hanson
GCL Braves
ATL139
22
.842
Johan Yan
AZL Rangers
TEX
108
16
.852
Abner Abreu
GCL Indians
CLE125
18
.856
Kyle Shelton
Great Falls
CHW
77
10
.870
APP 3B

1879
209
.889
AZL 3B

1561
176
.887
GCL 3B


2522
269
.893
PIO 3B


1628
159
.902
R 3B

7590
813
.893

Third base and shortstop usually feature the worst fielding percentages and this level is no different. The first 30+ errors player appears here (spoiler: he won't be the last). So do the first two sub-.800 fielding percentage guys. Despite those two, the rookie league third basemen collectively outfielded their low A counterparts by 5 points.


R Shortstops

R SS Sorted By Most Errors
NameTeamOrg.TCEFPct.
Reynaldo Navarro
MissoulaARI406
38
.906
Carlos George
AZL Brewers
MIL
149
29
.805
Carlos Martinez
Casper
COL
302
25
.917
Juan Silverio
BristolCHW
270
24
.911
Devaris Strange-Gordon
OgdenLAD
307
24
.922
Travis Adair
GCL Braves
ATL
187
24
.872
James Beresford
Elizabethton
MIN
277
23
.917
Yunier Castillo
GCL Cardinals
STL
207
22
.894
Wilmer Flores
Kingsport
NYM
290
19
.934
Darwin Perez
Orem
LAA
281
19
.932

R SS Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 100 total chances)
NameTeamOrg.TCEFPct.
Carlos George
AZL Brewers
MIL149
29
.805
Travis Adair
GCL Braves
ATL187
24
.872
Yowill Espinal
AZL Royals
KCR155
18
.884
Jose Camargo
GCL Indians
CLE104
12
.885
Yunier Castillo
GCL Cardinals
STL207
22
.894
Jorge de Leon
Greeneville
HOU
126
12
.905
Reynaldo Navarro
Missoula
ARI406
38
.906
Luis Sanchez
AZL Brewers
MIL
108
10
.907
Miguel Tejada
GCL Mets
NYM
131
12
.908
Mariekson Gregorius
GCL Reds
CIN
134
12
.910
APP SS


3119
224
.928
AZL SS


2194
177
.919
GCL SS


4172
301
.928
PIO SS


2973
198
.933
R SS


12458
900
.928

Reynaldo Navarro's error total is eye-catching, but he had 100 more total chances than anyone else at the rookie level. Carlos George and his teammate Luis Sanchez had an awful time at shortstop for the AZL Brewers. Overall, the Arizona League was more error-prone than the other leagues.

R Outfielders

R OF Sorted By Most Errors
NameTeamOrg.TCEFPct.
Tony Brown
Billings
CIN
85
10
.882
Jay Austin
Greeneville
HOU
120
9
.925
Alberto Diaz
MissoulaARI
133
8
.940
Orlando Sandoval
Casper
COL
118
7
.941
Byron Wiley
Billings
CIN
68
7
.897
7 tied with



6


R OF Sorted By Lowest FPct. (minimum 75 total chances)
NameTeamOrg.TCEFPct.
Tony Brown
BillingsCIN
85
10
.882
Jay Austin
Greeneville
HOU
120
9
.925
Allen Caldwell
Burlington
KCR
85
6
.929
Jordan Kendall
Bristol
CHW
86
6
.930
Jose Rangel
AZL Brewers
MIL
97
6
.938
Travis Mitchell
Johnson City
STL
81
5
.938
Alberto Diaz
Missoula
ARI
133
8
.940
Wendell Fairley
AZL Giants
SFG
84
5
.940
Orlando Sandoval
Casper
COL
118
7
.941
Joel Mendez
AZL Mariners
SEA
86
5
.942
APP OF

3383
143
.958
AZL OF

2609
111
.957
GCL OF


4803
139
.971
PIO OF


3012
110
.963
A- OF

13807
503
.964

Billings must have had a pretty crazy outfield last season. Obviously Tony Brown is the only qualifying player with a sub-.900 fielding percentage, but his teammate Byron Wiley is right up there on the leaderboard with him. Surprisingly, the AZL & GCL are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to league fielding by outfielders.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Title (Oops, forgot to put a real one...)

What do former Giants and Royals pitcher Ryan Jensen and knuckleballer Joe Niekro have in common? They're the only pitchers in the last 30 years to bat six times in one game.

It's not common, but every year there are a few pitchers to bat five times in one game. In fact, since 2000 that's happened seventy-seven times. Only one of those pitchers (Adam Wainwright last August) did so in the 8th spot in the lineup. No matter where the pitcher bats, coming up to the plate that often in one game takes both the pitcher's offense going through the order quickly and effective pitching by the pitcher so he can stay in the game. Obviously, batting six times in one game requires even better offense.

Ryan Jensen's 6 PA game occurred on July 2, 2002. The Giants were playing the Rockies at Coors Field and their offense teed off on Colorado starter Denny Neagle. San Francisco scored eight runs in the first inning on seven hits, including a Tsuyoshi Shinjo grand slam and Jensen double. Neagle left after the Giants followed up with two runs in the second inning. San Francisco wound up scoring 18 runs on 23 hits; Jensen batted in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 9th innings, going 1 for 5 with a sacrifice. He pitched a complete game, giving up five runs on eleven hits and throwing 114 pitches. Here's some Coors Field nostalgia: there were ten home runs in the game.

Joe Niekro's 6 PA game took place in Shea Stadium on July 28, 1985. The Astros didn't score more than three runs in any inning, but they rallied enough to defeat the Mets 12-4. Niekro batted in the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 9th, going 0 for 5 with a walk. He allowed eight hits and four runs on the mound, striking out three and walking two.

Pitchers used to get six PA in one game a little more often. Though it's happened only forty-four times since 1956, twenty-seven of those happened between 1956 and 1965. It really tailed off after 1970: from 1971-1979, there was only one game each season except in 1974 and 1979 when there were none. Obviously only Niekro and Jensen have done it since then.

Rarer still are games where pitchers have batted seven times. Since 1956, that's happened only three times, and not since 1962. Tom Cheney was the last pitcher to do so, in a game between Washington and Baltimore on September 12, 1962. He won the game 2-1 after striking out 21 batters in sixteen innings for the complete game victory. He was 0 for 6 with a bunt.

In a coincidence reminiscent of Rajai Davis and Jolbert Cabrera's weird batting lines on back-to-back nights last September, the other two 7 PA games happened during the same week. First, the Pirates' Vern Law went 1 for 7 on July 23, 1957 while pitching 14 1/3 innings in a 6-3 victory over Cincinnati. Five days later, Detroit's Billy Hoeft was 1 for 6 with a bunt while taking the loss in a 14 1/3 inning outing against the Yankees.

With pitch counts firmly entrenched in modern baseball, it's very unlikely there will be another pitcher who bats seven times in a single game. As Ryan Jensen showed in 2002, it's not out of the question for a pitcher to bat six times. The next time you see a team score early and often, keep an eye on how often their pitcher bats. You never know when you might see history.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Spring IBB and Other Curious Things

A couple weeks ago I posted about intentional walks in spring. A commenter suggested managers call for IBB in spring in order to get pitchers used to dealing with the pressure of situations that call for putting a baserunner on. I'm kind of dubious about that, but I guess it's possible. Since I wrote about the first two IBB's of spring, there have been five more. The latest victims/beneficiaries: Reds' 1B Kevin Barker, Mariners 3B/1B Russell Branyan, Cardinals SS Tyler Greene, Dodgers IF Mark Loretta, and Royals OF Derrick Robinson. The pitchers tabbed to add a baserunner: Texas RHP's Thomas Diamond and Andrew Laughter, Tigers LHP Fu-Te Ni, Dodgers RHP Ramon Troncoso, and Pirates RHP Ronald Uviedo. Hopefully the experience was useful to them.

Despite only appearing in one game and not giving up a hit, Phillies LHP J.C. Romero is one of only five pitchers with 2 or more pickoffs in spring. In two innings, he walked three batters, picked off two of them, had a throwing error on another pickoff attempt, and allowed a run on a subsequent sacrifice fly. Rockies lefty Franklin Morales leads all pitchers with three pickoffs. Cardinals pitcher Brad Thompson is the only righty with two or more pickoffs. The 1988 season this isn't, but not every pickoff has succeeded. Eighteen pitchers have been called for balks and Morales is the only one with a successful pickoff.

What do Wade LeBlanc, Mike MacDougal, and Luis Perdomo have in common? Each has three wild pitches this spring, and all are one behind Ian Kennedy for the MLB lead. Wildness can be intimidating, too: Wes Littleton, Carlos Marmol, and Jarrod Washburn are tied with three hit by pitches. Inconsistency hits fielders, too: Padres SS Everth Cabrera and Dan Uggla are tied atop the leaderboard with five errors.

Who's played the most innings in the field this spring? If you guessed Colby Rasmus with 99, you'd be correct. Andrew McCutchen and Xavier Paul are second at 96 1/3 and Elvis Andrus leads all infielders with 89 1/3. Jason LaRue leads all catchers with 69 innings. Kyle Lohse and Glen Perkins have pitched fifteen innings, one-third more than Micah Owings.

Micah Hoffpauir has batted the most so far, striding up to home plate 56 times. Despite all the pitchers working on bunting, Brian Barden leads all players with three sacrifices. Jayson Werth has grounded into four double plays despite batting only twenty-six times. Playing a game that's wildly popular for the first week of the regular season, that would put him on pace for about 75 or so this year.

Finally, since I like futility, Chris Nowak is 0 for 12 this spring. He's batted the most without reaching base. With that, it's time to conclude today's roundup of pointless spring trivia.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

A Few Innings Short

MLB Official Rule 10.22(b) covers the minimum innings pitched required to determine each league's ERA champion:
The individual pitching champion in a Major League shall be the pitcher with the lowest earned-run average, provided that the pitcher has pitched at least as many innings in league championship games as the number of games scheduled for each club in his club's league that season.
That means a pitcher needs to throw 162 or more innings to count himself among the league leaders. Thus the ERA title can today only go to starting pitchers who stay healthy. Plenty of guys stay on the mound enough to qualify for the ERA title each year: since 2004, the number of pitchers with 162+ IP has ranged between 77 and 92. But what about guys who just missed the cutoff, whether through injury, delayed callups, or any other reason? Surely there have been some guys who missed the cut by just a few innings. Of course there's no guarantee those guys wouldn't have been lit up in the innings they required, but let's take a look at them anyway:
  • Mark Eichhorn (1986) - 1.72 ERA in 157 innings for Toronto

    Eichhorn made his major league debut in late 1982, but a shoulder injury doomed his career as a starter and forced him into a submarine-style delivery. In 1986, he appeared in 69 games for the Blue Jays, pitching a stunning 157 innings in relief. He wound up 14-6 with 10 saves and 166 strikeouts. Had he picked up five more innings during the season, his ERA would have easily beaten AL leader Roger Clemens' 2.48.

  • John Denny (1984) - 2.45 ERA in 154 1/3 innings for Philadelphia

    One year after taking home the NL Cy Young Award and Comeback Player of the Year Award, Denny came within one start of taking home the NL ERA title. A midseason injury cost him the chance as he missed two months from late May to July. Denny wound up 7-7 over the 22 starts he was able to make in 1984. Alejandro Pena's 2.48 ERA in 199 1/3 innings took the title instead.

  • Tom Hall (1970) - 2.55 ERA in 155 1/3 innings for Minnesota

    The 1970 AL ERA belongs to Diego Segui for putting up a 2.56 ERA in exactly 162 innings. Segui was able to just barely sneak onto the ERA leaderboard, but Twins swingman Tom Hall wasn't quite as lucky. Appearing in 52 games (11 starts) and putting up an 11-6 record with four saves, Hall wound up 6 2/3 innings short. If he had been allowed to start a couple more games before September, he might well have taken Segui's title.

  • Roger Craig (1959) - 2.06 ERA in 152 2/3 innings for Los Angeles

    Called up in June, Craig wound up four outs away from the ERA title (the 154-game schedule was still being used). Utilized as a swingman, Craig started 17 games and appeared 12 times in relief. He wound up 11-5 and even picked up some MVP votes. Much like Mark Eichhorn thirty years later, he easily outpaced the competition in the ERA race: Sam Jones wound up edging Stu Miller and Bob Buhl for the title with a 2.83 ERA.

  • Jim Konstanty (1950) - 2.66 ERA in 152 innings for Philadelphia

    Sal Maglie took the crown with a 2.71 ERA in 206 innings, but Jim Konstanty was right there with him. The relief ace for the Whiz Kids appeared in 74 games, finishing 62 of them, going 16-7 with 22 saves (by modern definition). He was a surprise pick to start Game 1 of that year's World Series and lost 1-0. Konstanty picked up the MVP award for his season, but was two innings away from claiming the ERA title as well.
Konstanty was the first pitcher since 1920 to get close to the title without qualifying. I didn't look beyond 1920 because of the varying schedule length from year to year and drastically different style of pitcher use. I'm also not sure if the ERA title was determined in the same way back then. Did I miss someone in the last 90 years? Let me know.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The WBC Alphabet

Joe Favorito, author of Sports Marketing and PR Roundup, sent me an interesting tidbit about the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Despite consisting of only sixteen teams and no more than 448 players, this year's WBC can claim something Major League Baseball can't. It turns out that each letter of the alphabet begins at least one player's last name in the event. A brief look at the Encyclopedia of Players at Baseball-Reference.com shows there has never been a major leaguer whose last name began with X. The WBC player whose surname begins with X is below, along with one player for every other letter of the alphabet.

A - Giancarlo Alvarado - Puerto Rico
B - Daniel Berg - Australia
C - Francisco Cervelli - Italy
D - Mark DiFelice - Italy
E - Damaso Espino - Panama
F - Nelson Figueroa - Puerto Rico
G - Jason Grilli - Italy
H - Gregory Halman - Netherlands
I - Akinori Iwamura - Japan
J - Gavin Jeffries - South Africa
K - Corey Koskie - Canada
L - Rodrigo Lopez - Mexico
M - Paul Mildren - Australia
N - Dennis Neuman - Netherlands
O - Roy Oswalt - United States
P - Tony Pena - Dominican Republic
Q - Cesar Quintero - Panama
R - Orlando Roman - Puerto Rico
S - Randall Simon - Netherlands
T - Mark Teahen - Canada
U - Tetsuya Utsumi - Japan
V - Javier Vazquez - Puerto Rico
W - Nick Weglarz - Canada
X - Kanghan Xia - China
Y - Kevin Youkilis - United States
Z - Leonardo Zileri - Italy

The World Baseball Classic starts at 4:30 AM ET on Thursday when China and Japan square off in Tokyo (televised on ESPN2). For complete rosters, schedules, scores, stats, and more, visit WorldBaseballClassic.com.