Thursday Liftoff Links

While Jose Altuve was preparing to take a Major League field i was putting together these links to help you get through the off-day.

Movin' on Up

Astros County: The Only Astros Blog That Matters: Interview with Jio Mier
AC has an update on Mier's knee injury and climb through the Astro farm system straight from the horses mouth.

Appy Astros: Altuve Cast A Big Shadow
Appy Astro with some recollections of Jose Altuve's time in Greeneville and beyond.

Let's Make a Deal

MLB Trade Deadline Buyers: AL Edition
Last time The Biz of Baseball looked at NL buyers now they take a look at the AL buyers.

Giants Upgrade Infield With Keppinger | FanGraphs Baseball
Tommy Rancel's take on the Jeff Keppinger trade. It appears the Giants will be utilizing him at the shortstop position.

Astros County: The Only Astros Blog That Matters: The First Domino Falls: Keppinger traded
AC's take on the trade that not only freed Jeff Keppinger but also Jose Altuve.

You Throw the Ball, I Catch the Ball

The Irrationality of Modern Bullpen Usage - Lone Star Ball
as illustrated by the Texas/Seattle game

New SIERA, Part Two (of Five): Unlocking Underrated Pitching Skills | FanGraphs Baseball
A look at SIERA and some of the interesting conclusions made.

Getting Friendly with Pitcher K% | FanGraphs Baseball
FanGraphs has recently made some changes to K% primarily using plate appearances instead of at bats to calculate K%. In this article Carson Cistulli shows us how to use K% in analysis.

Beyond the Box Score 2011 Catcher Defense Ratings: July Edition - Beyond the Box Score
They're back... Beyond the Box Score July 2011 catcher defense rankings. If you're a fan of Humberto Quintero don't look he's average at best. Surprisingly J.R. Towles is rated higher than Carlos Corporan although for Corporan a small sample size caveat can be attached.