Ross Ohlendorf’s Head Trauma Understatement

Ross Ohlendorf was nailed in the head with a line drive in the first inning of Wednesday’s 6-2 Pirates win over the Rockies, on a 93 MPH fastball that Troy Tulowitzki lined up the middle and off the right side of Ohlendorf’s head, resulting in the ball popping up in the air and landing all the way in shallow right field. Ohlendorf fell to his knee, braced himself, and eventually got up and talked to the Pirate trainer at the mound, but was taken out of the game and rushed to the hospital for a CT scan, which thankfully proved negative.

Ohlendorf’s reaction to the incident? This was his postgame quote:

“My head doesn’t feel as good as it did before it got hit, but it doesn’t feel bad at all.”

That sentence rules. Get this dude another government internship – is there an “Awesome Statements After Near-Death Experiences” Department?

FSN Really Pulled Out All The Stops For Their No-Hitter Graphic

FSN Producer: Oh crap, Ubaldo Jimenez is one out away from a no-hitter — QUICK, someone type the words “NO HITTER” into a graphic! What do you mean ‘it looks pathetic and underwhelming for the achievement?’ Then add an exclamation point! No – TWO exclamation points!

Whew – graphic made. Just in time:

Why The Snell Would The Rockies Want Ian Snell?

MLB Insider John Perrotto reports that the Colorado Rockies are shaping up as the Pirates’ “most likely trade partner for Ian Snell“, citing Snell’s deteriorating clubhouse demeanor as a likely expediting factor for such a deal. I fail to see why either team would want to make this trade, though; Snell has been a well below-average starter since the ’08 All-Star Break, and trading him now would surely represent the Pirates dealing him at minimum value (as Perrotto even notes), plus the Rockies (embarrassingly) already have five starting pitchers outperforming Snell this season.

Ian Snell’s ERA+ — a league and park-adjusted statistic — was 76 in 2008 and is at 78 in 2009, far worse than the league base average of 100, while the Rockies’ starting rotation boasts 2009 ERA+s of 120, 116, 111, and 106, with only rookie Jorge de la Rosa’s mark of 89 below league average. De la Rosa also has 72 Ks to 32 BBs in 67.1 IP, while Snell, a strikeout pitcher by reputation, boasts an ugly 49 K / 38 BB in 72 IP. One might envision Snell as a replacement for 30-year-old stopgap Jason Marquis, whose 3.77 ERA is likely to rise and whose 41 K/ 31 BB is hardly impressive, but he’s been a career innings-eater with mostly passable ERAs throughout his career despite low strikeout numbers, and is still less of a risk to completely implode than Ian “First Inning Excitement” Snell.