Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Troubled Waters

There was good news and there was bad news for the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.

The good news was that recent call-up Justin Hampson pitched very well over 3.2 innings, shutting down the Rockies. The bad news was, that the Padres needed Hampson for 3.2 innings.

After starter and MLB ERA leader Chris Young went down after 2 innings pitched with a strained abdominal muscle, Hampson came in and threw nearly four innings of shutout ball and was an integral part of the Padres 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. After the game manager Bud Black said that Young would likely miss his next start, previously scheduled for Sunday.

Victory and everything that goes with it aside, if Chris Young is down for any significant amount of time this ball club is in some serious trouble. For a team last in all of baseball in runs scored, they need their starting pitching to be lights out and with Young, Jake Peavy, Justin Germano, Greg Maddux and David Wells, it has been for most of the year. However now, with Young down for at least a week, if not more, this team will need a little boost from the bats in the lineup to keep pace with the Dodgers, Rockies and Diamondbacks.

On to the win, the Padres were able to put 3 runs up on the board against rookie Ubaldo Jimenez in his 7 innings pitched and then added two more against reliever Ramon Ramirez to get the win.

Jimenez was making only his second start of the season and the third start of his Big League career. He did all he could, keeping the Rockies in it for seven innings and giving them a chance to gain some ground on the 2nd place Padres who are 4.5 games up on Colorado. If Jimenez can keep this up, he may become an invaluable piece of the puzzle for the Rockies who are searching desperately for some quality starting pitching to help them keep up in the intense arms race that is the NL West.

The Rockies now need to focus on getting All-Star slugger Matt Holliday back to form as his offensive numbers have dropped off the radar. After being one of the hottest batters in all of baseball before the All-Star Break, Holliday has cooled off dramatically since going a pitiful 8 for 45 in his past 13 games for an average of .167. Holliday has added 2 homers and 8 RBI in that span but Colorado needs him at his 1st half form in order to even think about contending in the very treacherous NL West.

We should find out fairly early tomorrow whether or not Young will be hitting the disabled list, and if indeed he does, be sure to monitor the situation in San Diego. Long thought to be in the market for one more arm, it might become necessary rather than optional for Padres GM Kevin Towers.

Calling Carlos Beltran.....

It was obvious right from the start that one of these teams was going to play in the postseason and one of them would not be.

The New York Mets looked ready and primed for the postseason during their win over the dilapidated Pittsburgh Pirates. They received a strong start from John Maine, who has been dominant all year, they received quality defensive play from their outfielders and an especially nice snag by 1st baseman Carlos Delgado and last but not least, they received some significant offense from some unsuspected sources.

With both Carlos’s, Beltran and Delgado, struggling to produce the way they have, the offense has been reliant upon secondary contributions and on Tuesday night, it was young, brash outfielder Lastings Milledge and starter John Maine who brought the pop.

Milledge hit an RBI single to precede his 2 run home run that sealed the game for the Mets while John Maine hit his first career home run, a 2 run job of his own. Infielder Ruben Gotay also had an RBI as did declining outfielder Shawn Green, while the middle of the lineup, the superstars failed to hold their own, especially Beltran who struck out three times and is really falling apart at the seams.

The next week of games favors the Mets in their playoff run as well as they still have two games hosting the lowly Pirates and then play host to the unsightly Washington Nationals for 4 games. If the Mets can hit a nice hot streak here and put some distance between them and their nearest competitors without having to give up the farm for some last-minute help, that would certainly be the ideal.

Their opponent tonight was the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates don’t have much to look forward to come postseason time, other than an extended vacation.

With tonight’s loss Pittsburgh is now 41-57 and is a seller to be sure over the next week. Unlike previous years though, the Pirates have been trying to add some quality help now but were quickly turned down by the Blue Jays when they requested Troy Glaus for Jack Wilson and a packaged deal. Shocking.

The Pirates will likely move some relievers and perhaps some offensive power all to make room for players even younger than those currently starring for the disappointing club. Pittsburgh did have one bright spot on Tuesday though, and it wasn’t the poor pitching of highly acclaimed starter Ian Snell, it was the reappearance of struggling slugger Jason Bay who had a huge night with 2 home runs and 3 RBI.

Perhaps Bay enjoyed the 6th slot in the batting lineup where Manager Jim Tracy put him to hide him a little bit from the glare of the clean-up role. If these are going to be standard results, I say keep him 6th. If only Bay could get some help to come and help revitalize this team for this winner-starved town.

Houston, We Have a Problem

The potential National League Rookie of the Year hit a major obstacle yesterday.

Hunter Pence was placed on the disabled list on Monday after hurting his wrist in game action on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pence was sliding into second when he jammed his wrist, knocking him out of action for the next four to six weeks.

This is a huge blow to Pence’s rookie of the year chances as the National League race is heating up with Ryan Braun slugging his way through his rookie year and both Chad Billingsley and Tim Lincecum have been phenomenal in their starting rolls this season. Pence’s injury is a also a blow to the Astros.

It has been a very disappointing season in Houston this year and for the Astros management and their fans, Pence was one of the bright spots. Now Houston will likely become a seller in an aggressive market right away and try and get some fair market value for some of their veterans so that they have some young pieces to put around Pence in years to come.

Jason Lane was called up to take the star rookie’s spot from the teams Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock.

Monday, July 23, 2007

#100

Its hard to envision any player other than Alex Rodriguez taking home the AL MVP this season. A-Rod picked up his 100TH RBI of the season on Monday for the Yankees as they beat the Kansas City Royals 9-2.

He hit magical number 100 in under 100 games, becoming the first player to do so since Manny Ramirez with Boston in 1999. Yet another little notch to add to the Rodriguez belt. Hard to believe this guy was being vociferously and lustily booed by the Yankees faithful last year for underperforming.

Rodriguez has been having one of those seasons that will live on in history. He is approaching 40 home runs on the season and 500 for a career, perhaps on his way to break Bonds’s eventual home run mark. He is just 2 home runs away from 500 and will likely break that barrier in the very near future pushing him into very elite company.

A-Rod, by breaking 100 RBI’s has now done it for 10 straight years and 11 total in his storied and still young career. He will likely hit 1500 RBI this season, moving him from 53rd on the all-time RBI list up to about 47th. He has the potential to move into the top 10 in the next five years with his swing and his power and if he can find a quality team this offseason when he inevitably explores his free agency.

A few days shy of his 32nd birthday, Alex Rodriguez is entering the stage of his career that could be him acquire the largest contract in North American sports history and the numbers that he is putting up this season are doing nothing to dissuade potential suitors. Rodriguez, when he opts out, will be able to field offers from whichever club finds the money to do so as his production and star power are worth their weight in gold.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Tim Lincecum is Now

This just in, Tim Lincecum is really good.

One of Baseball America’s most heralded prospects coming into the season has just started to show his stuff in his past five starts and more importantly, show some consistency.

He dismantled the powerful Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday with an 8-0 shutout performance to push his record to 5-2. Lincecum has been fantastic for the Giants, giving them a chance to win every time he has pitched recently.

On June 19th, Lincecum’s ERA was an unpleasant and disappointing 5.88. The Giants are glad they didn’t send him back down to Triple-A. Since that time, Lincecum has steadily lowered his ERA with each start, posting a remarkable 1.05 ERA over the five starts and have come since.

His ERA is now at a respectable 3.96 level and he is developing into the Giants ace of the future and the bedrock of a brilliant pitching staff along with Matt Cain and Noah Lowry. Another impressive stat line has been his strikeout to walk ratio. Over his five start coming out party, Lincecum has k’d 41 opposing batters and only walked 13 in his 34.1 innings. That is very impressive for a rookie pitcher.

With Ryan Braun and Hunter Pence battling for the NL Rookie of the Year award thus far, Tim Lincecum is giving notice that he should be in the discussion as well. With another month or two like he has just had, it would be hard not to include him in the debate.

Quality Pitching

Joe Mauer hit an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the 8th inning, knocking in three runs and sealing the victory and the series for the Minnesota Twins. Angles centerfielder Gary Matthews slammed into the fence trying to make a play on the Mauer drive but missed and Mauer ended up back at home where he started and the three runs that came in gave Joe Nathan enough of a cushion as he finished the Angels off in the 9th.

The game was 0-0 until the bottom of the 6th when Jason Bartlett took Jered Weaver deep to make it 1-0. Torii Hunter did the same one inning later, making it 2-0. It was only one inning later when Mauer had his monumental achievement and that was all the run support that the Twins needed on Saturday.

The 5-2 final is not very indicative of what you saw if you only watched the first 6 innings of this ball game. Both pitchers, Weaver, and his counterpart Boof Bonser pitched extraordinarily well and dominated the game for the first 6 innings allowing only a handful of hits given up all tolled.

Weaver gave up the first 2 runs to make it a 2-0 shutout for Bonser, who had never pitched the 8th inning in the Major League’s before this game. Bonser had a career game but lost his shutout when Maicer Izturis singled and Chone Figgins hit a triple to send him home. Pat Neshek than came in and gave up a game-tying RBI single to Orlando Cabrera to give Boof Bonser yet another No Decision.

Jered Weaver was the main reason for me to check out this game and he didn’t disappoint. Aside from two solo homeruns to Bartlett and Hunter, he was fantastic and allowed only 5 hits through his seven innings. He has been lighting it up lately and yesterday was no different.

Since June 4th, a span of seven starts, Weaver has been pitching to his potential and showing signs of the dominant arm he was last year. He has thrown 41.1 innings and allowed only 10 runs for a blistering ERA of 2.18. With John Lackey struggling a little bit with inconsistency lately and Ervin Santana being sent down to fine tune his mechanics, Weaver has been a god-send for the Angels and Mike Scioscia.

The Angels, with their loss Saturday, have now lost 5 of 6 to teams like Tampa Bay and Texas and now 2 in a row to Minnesota. They could use a win and a solid outing from the freshly recalled Joe Saunders on Sunday. Saunders pitched well in his previous stints with the club and will be looking to assure himself a spot on the roster long-term with another quality start. The only problem? He’s facing Twins prospect Matt Garza who has been phenomenal since being called up this season. Garza has started two games and has not allowed an earned run in either.

The Angels will be looking to break that streak early if they can get some run production going.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Rolling

This is the Chuck James that the Atlanta Braves expected to see this season.

The Braves young star opened the year wildly inconsistent and rarely pitching into the 7th or beyond. Now, in his four most recent starts, James has been the Braves best pitcher and with Smoltz coming back from an injury and dominating this past week and Tim Hudson continuing to be a steadying hand, the Braves are now loaded with a very dangerous starting trio.

Back on June 24th, Chuck James had a mediocre 4.29 ERA. Since that time, he has pitched 24.2 innings over four starts and allowed only 3 runs in those four starts. James has given up only 16 hits as well, making him one of the most dominant pitchers in the past month. His ERA has dropped from 4.29 to a nice 3.58 and it shows no signs of slowing.

Coming into the season, there were some big expectations placed on James as he was thought to be the staff ace of the future. Early on, his consistency and control issues plagued him and limited his effectiveness. Now, he is giving the Braves everything they hoped for and more.

With the Braves in the middle of a division race, they need James to keep throwing the way he is and the young lineup to keep hitting the way they are. Add in Smoltz and Hudson and a solid bullpen staff, well, the Braves look to have all the pieces in place to make a real run at the Mets and their NL East lead.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Carpenter No More

After being expected to ride in on a white horse and save his team, the St. Louis Cardinals, Chris Carpenter found out that he would be doing anything but.

It was announced on Thursday that Carpenter, the Cardinals ace and former Cy Young winner would be missing the rest of the season and a hearty chunk of next year as well as he will be undergoing Tommy John surgery.

You can now officially blow the Cardinals extraordinarily thin playoff hopes out the window. Whatever shot they had will now rest squarely on the shoulders of Kip Wells’ and his 5.75 ERA (although it should be said that Wells went 8 and only allowed 2 hits in his last start).

Tony LaRussa is in some serious trouble and should start praying to whomever he prays to that Adam Wainwright and the rest of the thrown together starting staff can equal Caprenter’s production and the bullpen’s efficiency.

Good luck.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Four Team Race

The division race in the National League West is one of the most interesting and entertaining at this point in the season and promises to be through the remainder. At 48-46 and only 5 ½ games back of division leader Los Angeles, the Colorado Rockies are intent on playing a major role.

After dropping 8 games at the end of June, the Rockies have gone 10-4 since, thrusting themselves back into the NL West picture. They defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 on Wednesday on the back of Jeff Francis who threw down another strong outing.

Francis went 7, allowing only two runs on six hits with 6 k’s for good measure. Francis also helped out on offense, knocking in Troy Tulowitzki in the 3rd to tie the game up at one. He had hit a bit of a rough patch before the All-Star break and in his first start after so maybe this effort will help get him back on track.

The Rockies real strength though is their offense and their big-time hitters came through again for manager Clint Hurdle. Against the offensively poor Pirates, the Rockies needed only 5 runs today. After the RBI single from Francis, a 2 run homer by Brad Hawpe and a 2 run homer by Todd Helton was all Francis, Jorge Julio and Manual Corpas needed to shut the door and send the Pirates home with their sixth loss in a row, the longest current streak after the A’s snapped their dreadful 8 game slide.

Pittsburgh is just scuffling right now and they can’t seem to produce anything beyond 3 runs, but then the few times that they do? Well, their pitching staff lets them down.

Despite having a very good season, Wednesday was not starter Ian Snell’s day. He gave up two home runs, pushing his season’s total to 15, and got little help from his teammates. After the game, Snell was very adamant about the Rockies stealing signs and even threatened retaliation the next time the two teams meet, which will take place in Colorado in late August.

While not an advocate of sign stealing, I do believe it is a part of the game and pitchers just need to deal with it and compensate in other ways. Getting angry, rather than adjusting your stuff or talking to the catcher about it is stupid and foolhardy. This should make the showdown in the Rockies quite interesting though if Snell is indeed involved in the four game set.

Going Down

No one really knows what’s going on with Ervin Santana. Whatever it is, the Angels are hoping that he can figure it out in triple-A.

On Wednesday the Los Angeles Angels sent Santana down to triple-A Salt Lake to straighten himself out and calm his nerves, at least for hi starts away from home. The dichotomy of Santana’s season has been remarkable to say the least.

Many players will do better on the road or vice versa. However, for Santana, the discrepancy between the two was cavernous. Santana posted a respectable 3.42 ERA in Los Angeles over 52.2 innings, pitching in the friendly confines of Angel Stadium. He started 8 games and allowed 52 hits, 20 earned runs, only 14 walks and 38 strikeouts and in the process went 4-2. As a member of the visiting team, things were vastly different.

While on the road, Santana started 11 games. He pitched 57.1 innings, only 4.2 more than at home, allowed 84 hits, 32 more than at home and had an ERA of 8.79. I genuinely do not understand how one man can be so good at home and so unspeakably and unfathomably terrible on the road.

The likely replacement for Santana in Joe Saunders. Saunders has been struggling some in Triple-A but was stellar in his infrequent starts in the Majors. It should be interesting to keep an eye on this Santana situation though as he was so good last year and looked to form one of the best young pitching tandems in baseball alongside Jered Weaver. Now, the Angels are just hoping he can become a productive member of their team again as they prepare to enter the playoffs.

Precipice

One of the worst losing streaks in baseball this season ended on Wednesday when Lenny DiNardo pitched a gem of a game and shut down the Texas Rangers as the Oakland Athletics picked up their first win in 9 games, stopping an 8 game slide.

It took a combined effort from DiNardo, who pitched a strong 7 innings of 3 hit ball and Santiago Casilla who finished the Rangers off with 2 shutdown innings for the A’s to kick the losing skid. DiNardo has had an up and down season for Oakland but he has come up big for a spot starter/long relief guy. DiNardo is cruising along with a nice 2.51 ERA and is becoming very appealing in the eyes of opposing GM’s looking for a little pitching help for the stretch drive, as the A’s were virtually eliminated with their recent crash.

The Athletics got solid offensive support in the 6-0 game, helping them buck their losing skid. The A’s had scored only 20 runs over their 8 losses, and had not hit the 6 runs scored plateau since July 2nd against Toronto. The team has been offensively inept all season which has been crippling their solid pitching staff.
With another game against Texas than three vs. Baltimore before a trip to face division leader Los Angeles and Wild Card contender Seattle the A’s need to get their offense rolling and use today’s victory as a turning point. If not, expect Billy Beane to start the sale, auctioning players like DiNardo, fellow pitcher Joe Kennedy, Shannon Stewart and perhaps even Mike Piazza, if he’s back in time. Beane has never been overly hesitant to sell the old and bring in the new.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Great Expectations

The Oakland Athletics have Kurt Suzuki lined up to take over as the everyday catcher and they have been prepping him for this role for the past month or two. The Chicago Cubs, on the other hand, had their catcher of the future on Geovany Soto at the Major League level, but only allowed him 7 AB’s before dispatching him back to triple –A Iowa. Something seems a little off here.

Soto has been a dynamic force in the minor leagues with his bat and given the time in Chicago, he had the potential to be a nice piece of the puzzle for the Cubs this season and beyond. Instead, Chicago sent down the young stud and made the foolhardy deal to acquire Jason Kendall.

So while the Cubs paid next to nothing for him, they’re also getting next to nothing in return, at least on the offensive side of things. Kendall has been an utter failure as an offensive threat for the A’s this year and has never been the type of produce that the Cubs need. His offensive numbers are just brutal though and far below what he used to amass. Kendall is 33 years old and has brought in all of 2 home runs and 22 RBI in 292 AB’s. That is not a stat you as a GM want to see, and that doesn’t even include his .226 average.

Chicago, when they dealt away Michael Barrett for Rob Bowen, knew they were getting rid of a strong bat in Barrett but his clubhouse antics and fiery temper got him replaced. They paid for a calm demeanor and some veteran leadership and they did get some by acquiring Kendall.

Now, if only they can get Kendall to double his atrocious production thus far, they may be ok in Chicago.

What's Wrong With Jason?

What is wrong with Jason Bay? The Pittsburgh Pirates slugger is in a lengthy and abhorrent slump that has killed whatever slim chances the Pirates had at making the playoffs this season. With the starters pitching well and the relievers holding their own, the Pirates just needed an offensive star to keep them relevant but for whatever reason Bay has been unable to pull his weight lately.

Bay has decent numbers on the year thus far, but he as tailed off dramatically since June 4th. On June 4th, Bay’s batting average was a respectable .312. Since that day, up to and including last night, Bay is now hitting .249. The problem being that to drop his average to a meager .249, Bay has hit .142 since early June and he has seen his power numbers disappear as well.

Before June 4th Bay had 10 home runs and 42 RBI, and since? Well, the Pirates star has knocked out an insufficient 3 homers and a brutal 15 RBI. With such sluggers as Xavier Nady and Adam LaRoche (who for much of the season was locked in a slump far worse than Bay’s) as the secondary power sources behind Bay, is it any wonder the team is struggling?

Hopefully for Pirates fans and management Jason Bay can turn it around because he is talented and is the future of the Pittsburgh franchise. With Bay back on track and the young and talented infield of the future soon to arrive in Pittsburgh, the future is looking bright. Until then, Jason Bay is still in one of the worst slumps for a player of his quality that I’ve seen in a long time.

Filling Gaps

Two top notch prospects got called up to the Major’s on Tuesday. Colorado recalled Ubaldo Jimenez from triple-A and Florida did the same with prospect Rick Vanden Hurk. Vanden Hurk will be pressed into starting duty for the Marlins tonight as the Marlins take on the St. Louis Cardinals, while Colorado has decided to bring up Jimenez for bullpen relief work.

Vanden Hurk was up earlier this season but struggled and got sent down with an 8.38 ERA to his name. He had some serious success in the minors and did well in the Future’s Game so the Marlins brought him up. With Josh Johnson on the disabled list there is a spot open for Vanden Hurk if he can lower his ERA some. If you can, check out Vanden Hurk tonight when he and the Marlins face St. Louis.

Jimenez, meanwhile, has not dominated triple-A like expected but he was still very highly regarded in the Rockies organization. He really struggled to start the season but has had much more success in recent outings. He had his Major League debut last fall for the Rockies and had moderate success. The Rockies bullpen has sustained some injuries lately, including closer, Brian Fuentes so instead of starting, which is where Rockies management would prefer Jimenez to be, his primary workload will stem from the bullpen for the time being and the foreseeable future.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Here's Your Chance

The news wasn’t good for the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday, when they found out that their ace, Ben Sheets, had been placed on the 15 day disabled list with a sprained finger.

Sheets was injured Saturday against Colorado when in the 3rd inning, after releasing a pitch to Todd Helton, he felt it “pop”. The right hander left the game immediately to have the finger looked at by team physicians. Initially it was thought to be not terribly serious, but on Monday, the decision was made to rest him for the next two weeks.

Sheets has been having a fantastic season so far and has been the steady hand for the Brewers, leading the way for their pitching staff all year. He already has 10 wins for the club and has been a big part of the Brewers resurgence this season as they lead the NL Central. His absence will leave a huge hole in the Brewers rotation for these few weeks but the Brewers have a few promising young pitchers to fill it.

The first choice will be top prospect Yovani Gallardo who has started a few times this season already and pitched in relief as well. He has been successful in each role and will get another shot at starting now. He is the ace of the future for this club and has the stuff to dominate whomever he faces.

Another option will be Manny Parra, another rookie, who will compete for playing time and be used in a Carlos Villanueva-type role for spot duty and long relief. Parra has been destroying the minor leagues this season and has been lights out in triple-A Nashville with a few good outings, including a perfect game, only the 8th in PCL history. Needless to say a call up was inevitable and with Sheets hitting the disabled list, the future is now for these fine young pitchers.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Top 5 AL Pitchers 25 and Under

Here’s the first in a series of top 5’s we’re going to be doing here at The High Heat. In this first countdown, we’ll take a brief look at the top five pitchers 25 and under in the American League. This is only a look at the current season, not the player’s career or the player’s potential, but his stats and value in this season.

5. Joakim Soria, Kansas City – 23
The rookie has been nothing short of spectacular for the lowly Royals. Soria has had an especially good stretch since the end of May, the last time he allowed a run. An opposing batter hasn’t crossed the plate against Soria in 15 appearances and 16.2 innings. Soria’s also had a 21/3 strikeout to walk ratio as well during that time. His WHIP is quite impressive as well going into Sunday’s game with a 1.04 number. He has been a huge part of the success in the Royals bullpen this season, and looks to have closers stuff if needed in the future, despite his struggles in the role early in the year. If and when Octavio Dotel gets dealt this summer, Soria may be the man that Bell calls on to close again and 45 strikeouts in 38.1 innings will almost always garner you some attention in that type of a race.

4. Chad Gaudin, Oakland – 24
After struggling in Tampa Bay to start his career, followed by a brief stint with Toronto, Chad Gaudin has found a home with the Oakland Athletics. A 3.18 ERA in 113.1 innings will do that for a guy. Gaudin has made himself a fixture in the Athletics rotation behind Dan Haren and Joe Blanton, helping to fill the void created by Rich Harden’s incessant injury woes. Gaudin is not an overpowering pitcher who’s going to dominate but he is very effective by pitching to contact, and yet despite this method, he has given up only 5 home runs so far this year, far less than pitchers cut from the same cloth. Gaudin’s also not the type to pitch deep into games as he has pitched 7 only four times in 19 starts, but again, he is terribly efficient and is carrying a solid 8-4 record into the second half of the season. With his ERA consistently in the top 15 for starters in the AL, the Athletics have themselves a winner who will give them consistency outing after outing.

3. Francisco Rodriguez, Los Angeles AL – 25
Hard to believe that K-Rod is only 25 as it feels like he’s been around forever, pitching and performing in big-time situations for the Angels. In his fifth year in the league and his fourth full year of closing, Rodriguez is truly having a solid year, even by his elevated standards. He has saved 24 games already and blown only two chances, all the while posting a nice ERA of 2.27. Rodriguez has had some inconsistencies so far this year but he has been the rock at the back end of the Angels bullpen closing games out for them nicely. His strikeout totals are impressive with 55 in only 39.2 innings while only allowing 17 walks. Rodriguez has also allowed just 2 home runs this season, just one of his many stats that are well on their way to being new career marks for the 25 year old Los Angeles closer.

2. Jeremy Bonderman, Detroit – 24
The first of two Detroit starters on our list, Bonderman has been the staff ace for the Tigers this year and has been a huge reason for their turnaround as a team over the past two seasons. He is also one of the main factors in the Tigers World Series chase with his cool demeanor and awesome control. Bonderman is having an absolute career year as he will likely set new career highs in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched and new lows in walks allowed. After suffering through the down years for the Tigers, Bonderman is now reaping the benefits of having a great starting staff around him and at 24 he is one of the main pieces of the puzzle. As hard as it is to believe, Bonderman has been somewhat undervalued by the baseball media due to the fact he is overshadowed by Kenny Rogers and the #1 pitcher on this list.

1. Justin Verlander, Detroit - 24
The 2006 American League Rookie of the Year is our #1 AL Pitcher under 25, thus far. Justin Verlander’s career is on an absolute meteoric rise. He has won awards and this season he has already pitched a no-hitter and simply dominated all kinds of teams throughout the American League. In over half of his starts, 9 of 17, Verlander has gone seven innings or longer, including his amazing no-hitter against the offensively potent Milwaukee Brewers. Verlander still probably walks to many batters with 39 getting free passes already this season but they just don’t come around to score, which is yet another reason to back this superstar in the making. Luckily for the Tigers, his strikeout totals are quite impressive so they balance each other out. Verlander has 10 wins already and is more than likely to hit 20 wins for the first time in his short career. With guys like Bonderman, Rogers and the young Andrew Miller in the same rotation, Verlander will continue to dominate and is going to be in the discussion when it comes to Al Cy Young voting time at the end of the season. He has had the best season thus far by a pitcher 25 or under.

Up and Coming

Gil Meche started but struggled, giving up four runs in five innings but the team got solid outings from former starter Zack Greinke and rookie reliever Joakim Soria, who has been outstanding in his debut season for the club. Cleveland starter C.C. Sabathia struggled as well as the youthful Royals had no problem getting hits off of him, amassing 11 in his seven innings pitched. The Tribe made a charge against Meche after being down 5-0, but they couldn’t pull it off against the strong Royals bullpen.

One of the big stars for the Royals was outfielder Billy Butler, who has been on fire as of late. At only 21 years old, Billy Butler is still a very young ball player and only in his rookie season. He’s sure not playing like a rookie though with the recent hot streak he’s been on.

When the Royals beat the playoff-contending Cleveland Indians on Saturday, Butler found himself right in the middle of the action as per usual, and highly instrumental in the win (despite getting nailed for wandering off third). With a 3 for 5 outing and 2 RBI, the kid from Orange Park, Florida is fighting his way into the AL Rookie of the Year debate.

Over his past 11 games, Butler has gone 16 for 39 for an average of .410, raising his previous average from .268 to .315, and his OBP from .288 to .347. The power numbers are coming too, with Butler hitting 2 homers and 11 RBI during this stretch.

Butler’s strike out to walk ratio isn’t all that impressive yet, mainly because he doesn’t walk much, not because he strikes out too often. He does provide some badly needed pop in the middle of the Royals lineup though, and should team with Alex Gordon, to give the Royals a strong 1-2 punch the in the heart of their lineup for years to come.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Jimmy Rollins is Burning

Jimmy Rollins is having one heck of a July. Of course it helps that his team has played most of their games against teams in the NL Central such as Houston and St. Louis, not to mention a few against pitching-poor Colorado.

Rollins has put up decent number so far this season but in July, he has been growing them exponentially. The Phillies shortstop, during this nice nine game run has knocked out 5 homers and batted in 10, doing his part for the Phillies potent offense. Rollins has also batted .378 this month in his nine games going 17 for 45.

Rollins has benefited from having guys like Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Aaron Rowand directly behind him in the order. Those four guys are a nightmare for any pitching staff and with Rollins leading off every night, the top five in the Phillies lineup is as tough as any in baseball.

The Phillies have put up 23 runs already against the Cardinals in only 2 games. Of course, the Cardinals starting pitching is hardly triple-A legit without Mark Mulder and Chris Carpenter. The team goes to Los Angeles and San Diego for a seven game road trip next week which will pose a tougher challenge for the Phillies than the soft pitching staffs that they’ve recently been abusing.

After feasting on the sisters of the poor in Houston, Colorado and St. Louis, ranked 23rd, 24th and 27th in team ERA respectively, the Phillies now will face the Dodgers and the Padres, ranked 4th and 1st in team ERA.

Can Rollins’ hot bat and the four sluggers behind him keep it up out west? Can they use this momentum to pick up ground on the inconsistent Braves and the division leading Mets? Lots of questions, time for some answers.

Mowing Them Down

It seems that the Cubs have been getting a lot of press from this site as of late, so if you’re a Cubs hater, than I apologize. However, this needs to be known.

Carlos Zambrano is back on track. Maybe getting rid of Michael Barrett was the magic elixir to make him go.

Zambrano has been absolutely untouchable over his last 7 starts. Including Friday’s effort, he has pitched 51.1 innings over that time and allowed only 8 earned runs against. Add all that up and you end up with a killer 1.40 ERA. Zambrano had a 5.38 ERA before this nice run, and has lowered it to a far more respectable 3.83. Maybe his preseason prediction that a Cy Young Award would be adorning his mantle this fall wasn’t so off the mark.

The Cubs have made up some serious ground on Milwaukee over the past month trimming their lead significantly and Zambrano has been one of the main reasons. His temper can flare at any time but since the now infamous blow up with Barrett, Big ‘Z’ has lit it up and appropriately focused all of his energy towards pitching.

He is a smoldering volcano that could go off anywhere at anytime but there’s pretty much no other pitcher that you’d rather have throwing in game 7 for you. Come to think of it, there’s really no other pitcher I’d rather have throwing beside me in a bar fight either.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Trade that should happen

Kansas City sends Emil Brown and David Riske to Oakland for 1B Daric Barton.

The A’s may balk at giving up Barton as he is MLB ready and will contend for a starting job in the infield next season, but this summer to get quality you have to give quality as it is a seller’s market.

Brought over in the Mark Mulder trade from St. Louis, Barton has been tearing things up in triple-A Sacramento with a .323 average and 6 homers and 49 RBI to go with a great walk to strikeout ratio of 44/38. Barton would get immediate playing time in Kansas City as Ryan Shealy hasn’t been the answer and is now on the DL. Barton would also form a great duo with Alex Gordon on the corners for years to come in K.C.

If Oakland refuses on Barton, K.C. could also ask for Travis Buck or Michael Madsen but again, that is a steep price for the A’s to pay.

Oakland would get some immediate bullpen help as Riske has been a quality arm for the Royals from the pen’ all season. Emil Brown would bring some pop to a lineup that lacks it.

Overall, this trade works well for both teams and if Oakland doesn’t want to give up one of their upper-echelon prospects, I’m sure another team wouldn’t mind, as good strong bullpen help is near impossible to find at this time of year.

This is Your Time

Back to the minor leagues goes Felix Pie today after another lackluster stint with the Cubs. Pie has appeared in 48 games this season with 139 AB’s, and has posted a sour average of .216. Pie definitely needs some more seasoning and some more playing time, which he will get only in the minors at this stage and with the Cubs in a divisional race.

Think the Cubs are happy they hadn’t dealt Jacque Jones yet like everyone thought they would a few weeks back?

The player called up to replace Pie was Geovany Soto. The catcher was the Cubs representative in the Future’s Game on Sunday and is raking in triple-A these days. Soto has 12 homers and 55 RBI in only 226 AB’s. He is well on his way to setting career highs as in the previous two season he has only put up 10 homers and 77 RBI in 634 AB’s.

Soto got slotted in right away as the Cubs starting catcher on Friday and will likely see significant playing time if he can post any offensive numbers whatsoever. Current catching tandem Rob Bowen and Koyie Hill have been disappointing to say the least since taking over for Michael Barrett after he was dealt away.

Soto has a lot of potential and this could finally be the solid chance he needs. Can’t be any worse than the incumbents.

Second Half, Here We Come

Mark Buehrle vs. Erik Bedard. Ian Snell vs. Tim Hudson. Chad Billingsley vs. Matt Cain. These are just a few of the quality pitching matchups available to us as baseball fans over the weekend, and that’s just a few from tonight. Saturday will feature Brad Penny vs. Matt Morris, Dustin McGowan vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Gil Meche vs. C.C. Sabathia and Kameron Loe vs. John Lackey. Have no fear as Sunday brings the arms as well with Jose Contreras vs. Garrett Olson (this kid is good stuff), Kyle Lohse vs. Oliver Perez and Chris Young vs. Brandon Webb.

No real hard hitting stuff here, just an exciting start to the second half of the season. If you’re a fan of quality pitching duels, this could be a great weekend for you and I.

Here We Go Again

Sadly, Oakland Athletics pitcher Rich Harden is approaching Mark Prior and Kerry Wood status when it comes to talent wasted on nagging injuries. With all three, it seems that they are never off of the disabled list, and for Harden, as of July 12, he’s back on, with yet another shoulder issue.

The A’s placed Harden on the disabled list for what seems like the thirtieth time this year, a move retroactive to July 8th. Harden has made all of four starts this season, the first three, and the best three, coming way back in April.

Three starts in April gave him a sterling 1.42 ERA, but a trip to the DL. Than, Harden got some work in June in three relief appearances, amassing four innings and lowering his ERA to 1.17. This relief work set him up to start on the 7th of this month against the Mariners, where he only worked 2.2 innings and apparently aggravated his injury.

The bad news for Harden is somewhat tempered by the fact that an MRI revealed no structural damage to his ailing shoulder, meaning that his odds of returning this year are high.

The only question is, how effective can he really be with such limited action since April? For the sake of the A’s and Manager Bob Geren, hopefully by mid-August there will be a regular slot for Harden in the rotation.

Wrong Way

James Shields, what has happened to you?

After starting the season 6-0 with a strong 3.04 ERA, Shields has derailed with a 1-5 record since June 15, along with a perfectly doubled 6.08 ERA over that span, including his 5 runs allowed losing effort vs. the Yankees on Thursday. However, the Devil Rays bats have not helped the young star.

Shields, in his five most recent losses has received an average of 2.6 runs per game, and with a 6.08 ERA that corresponds with that, well you can do the math. His strikeout to walk ratio is still impressive, but the batters are getting hits off him now, whereas before he was inducing more ground outs. The number of home runs that Shields has allowed in his past 6 starts is a little high though, with 10 leaving the yard in that short time. That has to be an area of major concern for Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon.

Shields has been the only starter Tampa Bay can count on over the 1st half of the year, so if the Devil Rays hope to stave off 100 losses this season, they will need to him to regain his spring-time form.

Its sure has to be discouraging pitching for a club that has been so historically pathetic and inept at bringing up new talent. Shields needs his confidence back, some help from his team, and some help from the front office to prepare them more adequately for next season.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Diametrically Opposed

Lastings Milledge is getting another chance at Major League Baseball. With the sad release of the aged Julio Franco, the Mets added some desperately needed youth and outfield energy as they called up the capricious Milledge to take his place.

Franco has been around the Big League’s for longer than Milledge has been alive but at the ripe old age of 48 (soon to be 49), this may be the end. Designated for assignment after hitting just .200 and receiving only 50 at-bats through the first half of the season, unless Franco can call in a few favors and get some type of minor-league deal with an old GM buddy, his days in the Show appear to be over.

This is a sad way to go out for the soon-to-be pension eligible Franco. He began his career in 1982 with the Phillies and has since played with 8 other teams. After essentially disappearing from the baseball radar from 1997-2000, he reappeared as a member of the Braves in 2001 and was a valuable role player for the team until 2006 when he signed with New York. His role has diminished since coming to the Big Apple and on Thursday, his role was cut altogether.

In contrast, Lastings Milledge is at the start of his baseball career. Feels like he has been for about the past 5 years though. Immaturity and inconsistency plagued Milledge throughout his brief career, in the minors and last season in the Major League’s. He failed to make the team out of spring training and has seen his playing time go to Carlos Gomez and Endy Chavez while he has toiled away in triple-A.

Now, with both Gomez and Chavez out of commission, Milledge is getting his chance to vie for playing time with the esteemed trio of Carlos Beltran, Shawn Green and David Newhan. There’s an outfield that strikes fear into people.

If Milledge can put it all together, he will either develop into a steady, everyday outfielder for the Mets, or they will use him as a bargaining chip to attempt to weasel an experienced arm from a below .500 club.

Two players whose careers are respectively at sunrise and sunset, only time will tell if Milledge can have any more of an impact than Franco did.

Watch Your Back

Apparently, David Ortiz’s torn meniscus isn’t causing him too much trouble these days as he’s sporting a .319 average and beat up on the Blue Jays on Thursday night, as Roy Halladay continues to struggle.

However, its sort of tough to believe that he’s anywhere close to 100%. He has seemingly been suffering from a torn meniscus since mid-2006, so the pain appears to be bearable, but its hard not to worry, especially for Red Sox faithful.

With Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett both injured or on their way back from injuries and Kevin Youkilis, Manny Ramirez and now Ortiz all fighting nagging injuries, the Red Sox lead may start to shrink if either the Yankees or the Blue Jays can put any type of run together.

As an ardent baseball fan for many years now, a late-season Yankee surge is not hard to imagine with pockets as deep as Steinbrenner’s and players as talented as Jeter and A-Rod. Don’t write the boys from the Bronx off quite yet.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

A Look Ahead

What to expect from the second half of the season, a look into the future

Most Likely to Explode (Team) – Los Angeles Dodgers: When they add a bat, and they will add a bat, their schedule shapes up nicely in the second half with plenty of games against teams like San Francisco, Houston and Cincinnati. Young stars like James Loney, Russell Martin and Jonathan Broxton, not to mention, Chad Billingsley (More on him later) one of the breakout stars of the second half offer the Dodgers an abundance of youth and energy to get through the dog days of summer.

Most Likely to Implode (Team) – New York Mets: I’m a little hesitant on this one as their schedule shouldn’t be terribly difficult, but their pitching staff is just too thin. With Jorge Sosa and Oliver Perez both currently out with injuries and Pedro Martinez nothing more than a optimistic prayer, the Mets will be relying too heavily on the aging Tom Glavine and the inconsistent Orlando Hernandez. If John Maine can keep rolling and they can acquire some bullpen help or perhaps some rotation relief, than Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran should be able to keep the team afloat. A heartbeat from Carlos Delgado would help as well.

Most Likely to Coast to a Division Title – Boston Red Sox: Unless the Yankees can pull off the impossible and make a charge, and unless the Blue Jays can get and stay healthy, the Red Sox AL East title hopes look fairly secure at the halfway point. A healthy Curt Schilling would help and as long as Manny Ramirez isn’t truly hurt, the road should be fairly smooth for the boys from Boston. Adding a viable offensive option at shortstop wouldn’t hurt.

Most Likely to Win the Division on the Final Day – Detroit Tigers: While they are the best team in the Central, they do lack the bullpen to cement the title earlier than September 30th. Both Detroit and Cleveland have quality offenses however Detroit’s strength is in their mighty rotation while Cleveland bears the strength in the bullpen, so this should be a very interesting race. This could come down to C.C Sabathia and Fausto Carmona plus the full return of Jake Westbrook vs. whomever Detroit can acquire to fill the Zumaya and Rodney-less void.

Most Likely to be Above .500, Despite Being Three or More Below Now
– Pittsburgh Pirates: This is a bit of a stretch, but so is the category itself and somebody had to get the nod. The Pirates have a strong duo at the top of the rotation in Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny and Shane Youman, given the chance, could be a quality option for the Bucs as well. The bullpen of the Pirates is starting to come together nicely with Matt Capps solidifying things at the back end and Damaso Marte and Masumi Kuwata doing their part to get the team to the 9th. There are a few exciting young stars in the Pirates system, ready to play vital roles in the infield like Steven Pearce and Neil Walker to name a couple, that could help this team break .500 for the first time since 1992.

Most Likely to be Below .500 Despite Being Three or More Above Now – Arizona Diamondbacks: The D-Backs have to be the pick here, although Atlanta is another solid choice. The thing about Arizona is that I could see them winning the division or coming in last. The talent on their roster is young or historically inconsistent so it’s hard to count on anyone other than Brandon Webb and Eric Byrnes. The talent is their however, so if Bob Melvin can put it all together, the potential is definitely there, and if you saw the Futures Game on Sunday, you saw Justin Upton and Carlos Gonzalez, both of whom will likely get called up at one point or another this fall. With Randy Johnson’s back, and a tough divisional slate make the odds of the Diamondbacks falling below .500 quite high.

Most Likely to Win the AL Pennant – Cleveland Indians: The Tribe will most likely lose the division but they are so strong that they will present an incredible challenge to Boston, Detroit or whomever the AL West sends. Cleveland is loaded with young stars just entering their prime, like Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez and Casey Blake, to name a few. Their pitching will be good enough to get them to the playoffs but they will need to add another arm somewhere along the line to make it as far as I think they will; to the World Series.

Most Likely to Win the NL Pennant - Milwaukee Brewers: This was a toss-up between the Brewers and the Dodgers. Yes, the Brewers are very young, but they are also very talented. I would be tempted to go with the Dodgers based solely on pitching but they are so lacking in the offensive department that I have to take Milwaukee. Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy, Rickie Weeks and Ryan Braun make up one of the best, if no the best infield in the game, and if Doug Melvin spends some cash and brings in a starting pitcher, this team could roll through the National League. Don’t look past the Cubs though Mr. Yost.

Most Likely to Explode (Hitter) – Brad Hawpe: The Colorado Rockies have the best offense in the NL West and Brad Hawpe is one of the main reasons. Often forgotten when people talk of Todd Helton, Matt Holliday and Garrett Atkins, Hawpe is ready to make a name for himself. Hitting .409 is June 25 and 18 for 44, Hawpe is providing steady production for the Rockies, wherever he is slotted in the lineup. Along with Holliday and Will Taveras, Hawpe helps to make up one of the more potent outfields in the game today. If the Rockies are to make a run at the NL West crown, Brad Hawpe will be one of the main catalysts for it.

Most Likely to Implode (Hitter) – Ivan Rodriguez: His numbers have never been great, but this year they’re really going to drop. As Pudge continues to age, the wear and tear of catching will get to him and the Tigers as a team, will suffer. Rodriguez is vital to the success of the Tigers and his gradual descent into mediocrity will wreak havoc on the Tigers down the stretch drive. Detroit should be able to sustain the loss of Rodriguez to make the playoffs, but to count on him as much as they are is a dangerous risk.

Most Likely to Explode (Pitcher) – Chad Billingsley: The Dodgers pitcher has been stationed in the bullpen for much of the season, but with Jason Schmidt out for the year and Randy Wolf struggling to stay healthy, a Dodger pennant drive with require a solid finish by Billingsley. Billingsley has the stuff to deliver for Los Angeles, with an arsenal of quality stuff and the confidence to throw it. The Dodgers will need him to step up in his new role in the rotation and do what he can to get them back to the playoffs.

Most Likely to Implode (Pitcher) – Orlando Hernandez: While Andy Pettitte sure is an appealing choice with his 10.18 ERA over his last four starts, Hernandez is much less consistent and brings his own 5.60 ERA over 27.1 innings in his last five starts. Hernandez has seen his ERA rise from 1.94 to 3.22 over that span, so while that may not be terribly alarming; the second half just doesn’t look all that promising for the Mets third starter.

Most Likely to be the Best Rookie in Baseball – Ryan Braun: Daisuke Matsuzaka is also a likely choice, as Andrew Miller may be by the end of the year, but for now, Braun gets the call. In-Division rival, Hunter Pence has the award as of today, but due to the fact that Pence plays for a punch-less lineup, and Braun is protected by two of the best hitters in baseball, I’d have to side with Mr. Braun. Matsuzaka is having a great season as many pundits expected, but he will end up deferring to Braun, though he will likely win his League’s award.

There’s your look ahead at the second half. Come back and laugh at me through the second half as my predictions go down the tubes.

Monday, July 9, 2007

All-Star Shutout

Thankfully, Tony LaRussa and Jim Leyland got it right. On Monday, they announced that their starting pitchers for the 2007 All-Star Game would be Dan Haren of the Oakland Athletics for the AL and Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres for the NL.

Both men have seen their numbers rise some in recent weeks but overall, there has not been two more complete and dominant pitchers over the course of the year. This honor was well deserved for both Haren and Peavy.

The other options in the AL were not in the running in my opinion but in the NL, it was a tighter race as Chris Young, Peavy’s teammate in San Diego, and Brad Penny, last years All-Star starter, have had phenomenal seasons as well, keeping pace with Peavy at the top of the NL pitchers stats.

Should be a fine showdown between these two quality pitchers as they try and put down the most dominant hitters in the game. Reason # 459,911 why the MLB All-Star Game is better than any other All-Star game.

Trade that should happen

The Colorado Rockies send 3B Ian Stewart and C Chris Iannetta to Cincinnati for P Bronson Arroyo.

The Reds fire sale continues as Arroyo is an appealing piece for pitching-starved teams, especially with Buehrle off the market. The Reds could use a younger catcher as David Ross and Javier Valentin are both older than 30, while Ian Stewart is incredibly talented and very ready for the Major’s but is stuck behind Garrett Atkins in Colorado. The key for the rockies to send Iannetta as well though would be the previous acquisition of a strong catcher to either back-up Yorvit Torrealba or take over as a new starter.

For the Rockies, Bronson Arroyo becomes an immediate impact player in their shaky rotation and helps to stabilize the Rockies main weakness, which is their rotation. Every other team in the division has deep pitching staffs but is lacking in offense. Colorado is the polar opposite with their fantastic offense and impotent pitching rotation. A move like this would not mortgage the future for them, yet would help them to be more of a real threat to the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Padres.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Buehrle Signs

Ken Williams finally smartened up. The Chicago White Sox made the best deal they could for Mark Buehrle when they inked him to a four year deal on Sunday. The details are not available yet but this is certainly a great deal for the Sox as keeping Buehrle in the Windy City was the best possible option.

The White Sox tried everything they could to get equal value for a player the caliber of Mark Buehrle, but when they couldn’t they relented and signed the talented pitcher to a long-term extension, likely through 2011. One of the sides, either Buehrle's team or the Sox must have buckled on the no-trade clause, as that was the main sticking point, holding this signing up.

I just can’t speak highly enough about this deal and the great value that the White Sox are getting by keeping him. Not to mention, that by signing this deal, the Sox will have a great duo at the top of their rotation for the foreseeable future.

Another repercussion of this signing is the fact that Jose Contreras and Javier Vazquez could be on the move now if Williams can broker a quality deal. This will also cause teams in contention to look elsewhere for a dynamic, impact arm like Buehrle’s. Teams such as Cincinnati, Kansas City and Texas may have just profited big time from this signing as well as their movable commodities just became a lot more valuable as the pitching market shrank.

Seriously though, just a great day for White Sox fans as Buehrle is only going to get better and is just entering the prime of his career.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Fearsome

Ryan Braun is on fire. National League pitchers, be afraid. The Milwaukee Brewer rookie is well on his way to NL Rookie of the Year with only Hunter Pence of the Astros standing in his way and a 16 game stretch from June 19, has made his stats even more impressive.

Braun played his first game in the Majors on May 25th and started off well, but nothing he did then compares with the hot streak he’s currently on. Braun has been dominant and has been enjoying the spoils of batting between J.J. Hardy and Prince Fielder in the Brewers potent lineup everyday.

In only 72 at-bats Braun has piled up 7 home runs and 21 RBI on 28 hits. The rookie has been instrumental in the Brewers success this season and he has been a huge factor in keeping them relevant and leading the NL Central. He has 11 homers and 32 RBI total this year so the 16 game tear he’s been on has been well over half of his stat production.

With Braun manning the hot corner for the foreseeable future, the Brewers look like they’re here to stay.

Adrian Gonalez

Searching for reasons why San Diego hasn’t pulled away from the pack in the NL West yet this season? Well, consider Adrian Gonzalez the answer.

The big time power threat for the power-starved Padres has been in one enormous and encompassing slump since May 29, and we have the stats to back it up.

The first 199 at-bats of his season, from April until May 29, Adrian Gonzalez put up All-Star caliber numbers. He had 12 homers and 37 RBI to go along with his 60 hits and a solid .302 average. His 41 K’s were fairly decent as well. The first 2 months of the season was setting the stage for a great year, and a Padre NL West Championship, or so the Padres organization thought.

Since May 29, Adrian Gonzalez has gone in the tank. Since that fateful day in late-May, Gonzalez has put up miniscule numbers, hampering greatly the Padres chances at the NL West crown. Hard as it is to believe, Gonzalez has only stroked 2 homers and a meager 15 RBI in the stretch since late-May. He has 137 AB’s since May 29, while putting up 29 hits for a .212 average.

That's not what the Padres need from their clean-up hitter. He has also matched his strike out total from the first 2 months despite the fact that he has 62 less at-bats. 2 home runs just isn’t going to cut it for your run producer, and the recent acquisitions of Michael Barrett and Milton Bradley aren't going to fill the gaping void that Gonzalez's disappearance has caused.

The stat discrepancy is just so noticeable for Gonzalez and his success is in direct correlation with the Padres success. Its not just coincidence. Without Gonzalez hitting like he can for the Padres, they are in some serious trouble as their All-Star rotation can only do so much when they don't get the run production to back them up.

If any team needs some help in the middle of the lineup going into the second half of the season, its got to be the Padres of San Diego.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Welcome Back

Matt Garza and Gavin Floyd both made their 2007 debut on Friday night as they faced each other in Chicago. Garza’s going to sleep a lot better than Floyd tonight.

It was a tough start to the season for Gavin Floyd as he had his first start of the season and promptly gave up 6 runs on 8 hits through 5.2 innings as he took the loss in the 12-0 beating the Twins handed out. Floyd’s a quality pitcher though so he will bounce back, but this is a rough way to get the season started.

After laying down a savage 20-14 beating in the 1st game of the double header, the Twins finished it off with a 12-0 shellacking. Not too many teams can say that they put up 34 runs in one day, but the Twins did it and Matt Garza was the direct beneficiary.

The young star pitched a great game going 6 innings allowing 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6 and allowing no runs. I’d say he just earned himself another turn in the rotation after the All-Star break. Garza pitched for the Twins in the second half last year but didn’t make the team out of spring training, but with he and Nick Blackburn looking Major League ready, it was time to call up at least one of them and Garza got the chance to contribute. He didn’t make Ron Gardenhire regret it.

Not to be outdone by his teammate Garza, Canadian Justin Morneau went deep three times, making it the first time a Twin has hit three homers in one game. He had 6 RBI in the night-cap after a 3 RBI performance in the afternoon, pushing his gaudy totals to 23 home runs and 72 RBI.

Overall, it has to be considered a pretty darn good 24 hours for the Twins. Run production like this doesn’t come along everyday that’s for sure, so enjoy it while you’ve got it Minnesota.

The new man

The talk in Cub-land is that Carlos Marmol is the closer-to-be, with Ryan Dempster on the disabled list and Bob Howry, consistently inconsistent. Marmol has apparently shown manager Lou Piniella enough to be given the job despite the fact he has only thrown 26.1 innings since he’s been in the Majors this season. However, Marmol’s stats are very impressive. He has provided all of the stability for the shaky Cubs bullpen with 38 K’s to 9 BB’s. He has also put up a WHIP of just a shade over 1, as well as a similar ERA of 1.03.

While he may not have totally proven himself yet, he is about the only option for Piniella. Should be interesting to see how the young pitcher holds up.

All-Star Game Starter

Everybody’s talking about yesterday’s showdown between C.C. Sabathia and Justin Verlander as the competition for All-Star Game starter. Verlander came away with the victory and has his manager, Jim Leyland, making the all-important decision.

I suppose Josh Beckett gets a vote too. He has been fairly inconsistent though this season, and similar to Sabathia's case, I'm not a big believer in Wins as a vital statistic. Only time will tell who Leyland goes for, but me, I’m a Dan Haren backer. The guy has been amazing all season and led MLB in ERA for 90% of the season. Haren has an ERA that is .96 better than Verlander’s and 1.38 better than Sabathia’s. He also has more K’s and less walks than Verlander but is behind Sabathia in that category, so if the competition is between anyone, it should be Sabathia and Haren, with my choice being Mr. Haren.

Call up the Kid

The Milwaukee Brewers lost a big-time player on Thursday when Bill Hall went down with a bad ankle sprain. Hall was attempting to bring back a Ryan Doumit home run but came down poorly on his ankle, surely sending him to the disabled list shortly. And for the record, there was no chance that Hall could get that ball as it was well past the fence, making this injury a little tougher to take as it was easily preventable.

Speculation seems to say that Hall will likely be out for at least a month as the sprain is a bad one. Luckily for the Brewers though, the outfield is a deep group in Milwaukee as Geoff Jenkins and Kevin Mench can easily step up and help fill the void, not to mention that Tony Gwynn Jr. is still in Triple-A and could be called up to take the roster spot.

Gwynn was called up early in the season but was sent back down, not due to a lack of production, but rather due to a lack of playing time. This could be the break he needs to prove himself to Ned Yost and Doug Melvin.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Much Deserved

Two very deserving individuals got voted into the All-Star game by the fans when Hideki Okajima and Chris Young were awarded the final slots on Thursday. The fans narrowed it down from 5 to one and Okajima and Young were the picks.

Chris Young, unquestionably deserves to be there. He was been lights out all year long and he and Jake Peavy have carried the Padres rotation. This was definitely the biggest snub of the All-Star Game so its good to see that it was corrected. If he was pitching for an team based on the eastern seaboard, he would certainly be an All-Star. Sadly, he was a victim of the all-to-real East Coast bias.

Hideki Okajima, on the other hand, is a reliever and a very impressive one at that. If someone were to tell you back in April that Okajima would be going to San Francisco in July and Daisuke would be staying home, that person would be regarded as crazy. Okajima received absolutely no hype coming in but has been the best reliever in the Red Sox bullpen, posting better numbers than even Jonathan Papelbon. He has been at or near the top of the AL in ERA all season long, which is no easy task for AL relievers to do. The only aspect of Okajima’s inclusion that I would have an issue with would be the fact that no other middle relievers got into the game or honestly, were even considered for a spot. Well, I suppose Pat Neshek of the Twins received some votes, but guys like Rafael Betancourt of the Indians, Heath Bell of San Diego and Ryan Franklin of St. Louis (who received a nice extension on Thursday so congrats) all deserved a good hard look and I doubt they got it.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Another Exciting Rookie

With Steve Trachsel on the disabled list, the Baltimore Orioles called up Garrett Olson from Triple-A Norfolk, and he made his Major League debut on Wednesday.

Olson had been one of the most dominating pitcher in the minors this season despite a lackluster 7-6 record. His 3.46 ERA and killer K/BB ratio of 94/31 more than make up for it. On Wednesday though, he had a tough time against a determined White Sox team that had gone 7-2 in their last nine.

The rookie only made it 4.1 innings and allowed only 2 runs but he struggled with his control allowing 5 hits and 5 walks. With the O’s offense hitting though, it was enough as Baltimore won 9-6 thanks to solid performances by Nick Markakis, Kevin Millar, Aubrey Huff and Jay Payton, the O’s 3 through 6 hitters. They went a combined 7 for 17 with 7 RBI on 7 hits and got the victory for Dave Tremblay and the terribly inconsistent Orioles.

The White Sox bullpen didn’t help the Sox cause any as David Aardsma allowed 3 runs in 1.2 IP to compound the 6 runs starter Jose Contreras allowed.

All in all, the O’s have to be happy with Olson’s debut and looking at their young and incredibly talented rotation, the team should be interesting to watch for the rest of the year as Olson and co. continue to grow and mature.

Nice Call

For some reason, Lou Piniella decided it was a good idea to intentionally walk the .249 Ryan Zimmerman, and load the bases to get to the All-Star, .337 hitting Dmitri Young.

Now, I’m no manager of any sort but to me, something about that seems a little wonky and Mr. Young must have been licking his chops at the situation in front of him. He proceeded to hit the game-winning Grand Slam off Rich Hill, as the Nationals pitching staff shut down the Cubs for the rest of the day in a 6-0 victory for Washington.

Afterwards, Piniella defended the move, but come on, seriously, Young has easily been the best player on the Nationals all year and today was no different for Manny Acta’s club. Nice victory for the cellar-dwelling club.

And on a bit of a side note, after starting the season as the Cubs most proficient and reliabel starter, Rich Hill has really hit a wall over the past four starts. Hill has allowed 17 runs on 26 hits in a grand total of 17.2 innings over his last four starts. Um, that's not very good. Hill had a 2.81 ERA before this stretch and has since seen it rise to 3.81 after Wednesday's debacle against the Nationals. Hill has posted an 8.66 ERA over his last four starts, making him a very unattractive option for you fantasy geeks.

You know, just a little heads up for you.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Hot as a Firecracker

Every now and again we’ll take a few seconds to give a shout out to someone who’s been red hot as of late, and today, the spotlight falls squarely on Shannon Stewart of the Oakland A’s.

Stewart has been on a tear for the past 9 games destroying pitchers confidence in every game. While the A’s have only posted a paltry 4-5 record during that span, its obviously not Stewart’s fault as he has gone 21 for 42 from the plate with 3 homers and 5 RBI, raising his average from .273 to .307 in the process. Not bad for a guy many baseball people had written off as washed-up coming into the year.

Drinking the Kool-Aid

After 3 months across the pond, Daisuke Matsuzaka is finally starting to develop into the pitcher the Red Sox thought they were getting when they signed him to the exorbitant contract that brought him to Beantown. And I, am finally starting to come around and believe that he is the pitcher that the Red Sox said he was.

On Tuesday night Dice-K pushed his win total to 10 on the year, and has quietly lowered his ERA into the mid 3.00’s. He dismantled the Tampa Bay Devil Rays allowing no runs over 8 innings while striking out 9. The loss was the 9th in a row for the young and troubled Devil Rays squad.

After being marked a disappointment early on, he has really turned it around since June 1. After seeing his ERA peak in early May at 5.45, Matsuzaka has been nothing short of a godsend for the injury-riddled Red Sox pitching staff. Matsuzaka has only allowed 6 runs in his past 6 starts, posting an ERA of 1.29 and being virtually un-hittable, allowing only an average of about 4 hits per game. That’s the pitcher Theo Epstein thought he was getting, and those numbers are worth all of the pre-season hype.

Dropping Like It's Hot

One of the biggest series of the season so far kicked off on Tuesday with the Cleveland Indians heading to Detroit to take on The Tigers in the first of a three game series. With Paul Byrd taking the mound, the Indians won yet again, for the 6th game in a row and pushed their AL Central lead to 3 games, as they took down the Tigers 5-4 in 11 innings.

The game winning run came off of the Tigers newest acquisition, Jose Capellan in the 11th as Casey Blake hit a solo home run to give the Indians the lead for good. Indians closer Joe Borowski got his 25th save for the team as he continues to be a strong, solidifying presence at the back-end of the bullpen.

The Indians got some clutch work from their top reliever and one of the best in baseball this season, Rafael Betancourt, who gave the Indians 2 scoreless IP dropping his impressively low ERA even further to 1.19 on the year. Compared to last season, the Indians bullpen has been an answer to prayer for the Indians front office, performing on a far more consistent basis, as shown by the fact that the Indians are so hot right now and leading their extremely tough division.

On the other side of the diamond, the Tigers are still having issues and are falling dangerously behind the streaking Tribe. The Tigers have now dropped 7 of their past 9 at home in Comerica, and could really use another hot streak. Despite the arrival of Capellan, another reliever or two is likely on the way to Motown to try and help salvage the fledgling Tigers bullpen.
If they can’t bring in the help, they’d better hope that Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney can make their way back to the bullpen here soon, as Cleveland isn’t showing any signs of weakness as they pump up the gap. With two games left in this series, the Indians could be up by 5 by the end of this series, not the way Jim Leyland wanted to hit the All-Star break.

Monday, July 2, 2007

A Job Well Undone

The White Sox bullpen is terrible. There are only 2 pitchers, Boone Logan and Bobby Jenks (we’ll get to him later), who are currently posting an ERA under 4.00. That’s just not very good.

People can point fingers at whatever they want, whether it be Ozzie, Jermaine Dye’s poor performance (he struck out 3 times and went 0 for 4 in his return from the DL), or any other litany of excuses, but the fact of the matter is that the bullpen is absolutely terrible.

Their most dependable piece, All-Star Bobby Jenks blew a 1 run lead, allowing the Orioles to tie the game at 6 and then eventually win 7-6 in the top half of the 9th inning. Jenks was preceded by the immortal Ryan Bukvich who came into relieve Mark Buehrle in the 8th with runners on 1st and 2nd and promptly threw a wild pitch that moved the runner to 3rd, followed up by an RBI double, than eventually a 2 RBI triple. So while, those runs count against Buehrle, it was Bukvich who blew the comfortable margin that his team once held.

Its just one of those things, that when Buehrle left in the 8th after pitching a stellar game, you just knew the White Sox back end would find some miraculous way to blow it. Not that they get all the credit, Josh Fields helped out with a tough error in the 8th, making the devolvement of the White Sox possible.

Some credit must be given to the lineup though as they were able to bring home six runs against one of the hottest pitchers in baseball in Erik Bedard. It was a nice change for the O’s, seeing someone else’s bullpen blow the win, instead of their overpaid conglomeration. Bedard gave up 6 in 5.2 IP, which was surprising considering his recent hot streak. The O’s bullpen combined for 3.1 IP and 5 K’s to get the job done for interim manager Dave Tremblay.

After the game, Buehrle seemed fairly confident that this wouldn’t be his last start for the club, which has to be at least somewhat comforting for the Sox fans, already planning for an existence without the talented and personable lefty.

Hot Stuff

Quick, someone pick up Damian Miller. The 37 year old veteran backup catcher has now hit for 3 homers (his 1st 2 of the year) and 11 RBI in his past 2 games. Before June 27th, Miller had exactly 0 home runs to go with his 6 RBI in 77 AB’s. Now, after two games, Miller’s totals have jumped to 3 homers and 17 RBI after his impressive performance Monday when he feasted on the Pirates pitching staff.

This has to net Miller a few more at-bats you’d think? Right? Heck, and if not, some power-starved GM like Ned Colletti out west or Josh Byrnes with the Diamondbacks Wwould snatch up a guy like Miller. You never know with some GMs'.

Oh yeah, and the Brewers won, 10-3. Turns out they're pretty good.

Buehrle's Last Start?

Tonight, despite the fact Smoltz faces Lowe in the night-cap, I’ll be taking in Erik Bedard and the Orioles going up against Mark Buehrle and the White Sox in what is rumored to be his final start in the Windy City.

I still cannot fathom why Ken Williams hasn’t locked him up for the four year deal that was discussed. Even at 56 million, Buehrle has been one of the most consistent pitchers over the past few years and is just entering his prime. The White Sox will get quality prospects in return almost guaranteably but I think it’d be wiser long-term to ink him.

Enough of the diatribe. The truly hot starter going into this game is Erik Bedard. He doesn’t get the press of a lot of other big-time starters but his numbers do the talking. Bedard, since May 1, has gone 3-2 with a 2.09 ERA, dropping it from 6.09 to start May, and has had less than 7 K’s in a game only twice. This guy is for real. Paired up with Brian Burres and the burgeoning Jeremy Guthrie, these three starters have been money for the Orioles.

So, while neither team appears to be ready for playoff contention, and they look more like sellers than buyers as the deadline approaches, this match-up is one worth taking in.

And if you’re up late, don’t miss Atlanta with John Smoltz taking on Los Angeles with Derek Lowe. Another quality showdown.

All-Star Snubs

Everybody knows who’s on the All-Star teams by now, and if not, here you go. So I’ll leave all of the writing about the great All-Star debate to other bloggers and writers and simply focus on the All-Snub All-Star team, one for the AL and one for the NL.

Slight disclaimer: This isn’t meant to say that the players who are starting in the All-Star game shouldn’t be, in favor of these snubbed players, this is just the best of what’s left and in each case where I feel a player should have made it in place of another player, I’ll happily let you know.

So, without further ado, My 2007 All-Snub Team

American League

Catcher – Kenji Johjima, Seattle
1st Base – Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay
2nd Base – Aaron Hill, Toronto
Shortstop – Orlando Cabrera, Los Angeles
3rd Base – Casey Blake, Cleveland
Outfield – Sammy Sosa, Texas
Outfield – Gary Matthews, Los Angeles
Outfield – Michael Cuddyer, Minnesota

Pitcher – Jeremy Guthrie, Baltimore
Pitcher – Chad Gaudin, Oakland
Pitcher – Eric Gagne, Texas






National League

Catcher – Bengie Molina, San Francisco
1st Base – Ryan Howard, Philadelphia
2nd Base – Dan Uggla, Florida
Shortstop – Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia
3rd Base – Aramis Ramirez, Chicago
Outfield – Jeff Francouer, Atlanta
Outfield – Jason Bay, Pittsburgh
Outfield – Brad Hawpe, Colorado

Pitcher – John Maine, New York
Pitcher – Chris Young, San Diego
Pitcher – Jason Isringhausen, St.Louis

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Quality vs.?

The wheels fell off early for Andy Pettitte on Sunday as he allowed 8 runs in just 1.2 innings. The score was 8-0 after 2 innings and that was essentially it for the reeling Yankees.

They were able to squeeze 5 runs out of MLB ERA leader Dan Haren, which was 2 more than his previous high of 3 runs allowed in one game. However, it was too little too late as Pettitte had long since ruined the Yankees chances, fulfilling many baseball writers prophecy that Pettitte would start to struggle. Yes, its only 1 start but it is not a good omen for the Yankees that their most dependable starter of the season got rocked for 8 runs by a fairly mediocre offense.

The Yankees are quite lucky that the Blue Jays and the Red Sox had tough series themselves over the weekend, limiting the damage the Yankees losing run has done.

It wasn’t the game that that Athletics wanted either as their pitcher, Dan Haren was nowhere near his normal standards, allowing the 5 Yankee runs to cross. The bright spot for both teams came from their respective bullpens. Santiago Casilla continued his solid play for the A’s going 2 innings of scoreless baseball, lowering his ERA to 0.51 in 17.2 innings. Meanwhile, Ron Villone was solid as he relieved for Pettitte and proceeded to do everything he could to keep his team in it. Struggling Scott Proctor also put up a good effort so nice work by both men.

Opposite Directions

Two teams going in two different directions lost their managers on Sunday. One was asked to leave, while another simply and rather abruptly resigned. The Reds fired Jerry Narron, while the Mariners Mike Hargrove essentially walked off the job.

While Narron’s is sadly to be expected, Hargrove’s was a bit of a shock to Seattle fans, media and certainly the players. The Reds have the lowest record in baseball this year under Narron and have never made a playoff appearance during his tenure with the club. The Reds loss Sunday left them at a dismal 31-51 with right around half the season to go yet, and well on their way to a 100 loss season. The expectations were much higher for the Reds this year than they had been in previous years due to a notable increase in payroll, yet the team had long since disappeared from the playoff radar.

The Mariners meanwhile are a completely different story. While the Reds were on their way to the 1st overall draft pick in next years draft, the Mariners are gunning hard for the Angels, who are leading their division. After sweeping Toronto over the weekend and winning 8 straight, Seattle is now only 4 games back in the AL West.

Both teams have promise but only one of them has put it together so far this year. While both clubs search for new managers, they will each have interims, John McLaren in Seattle and Pete Mackanin for the Reds. Good luck to both men.