Miller's Sports Buzz

NFC Season Preview and Predictions

2013-09-08T01:44:00.006-04:00

See, I told you so.

What exactly is the point of doing season predictions? Why do so many people do it and publish it? I think that's why, so that should the slight chance that we get slightly more right than wrong, we can say that: "See, I told you so." Ironically, we don't often here "wow, I screwed that up bad. I wasn't even close!"

I think a second reason people do predictions is because the offseason is long and we get so excited for the season to start we gotta do something to prepare! I love football! So here I go.

NFC

Last season the Eagles, Lions and Cardinals sat in the NFC cellar. This season those three should all be significantly stronger while no team in the conference really shows much decline. Result: the '13 NFC may be the strongest and most balanced conference we have ever seen. For many years the East has been Beast while the West was a laughingstock. Not so now, as many people view the NFC West as the best division in the league, while the South and North can also stake a claim as the strongest, a telling sign of how tough the conference has grown. Now more than ever, the NFC is really up for grabs and should be very entertaining.

At this point, the two best teams in the NFC are the 49ers and Seahawks; I don't think there's a lot of doubt about that. Thinking about the postseason, it is most likely that those two teams would meet in the second round. That makes winning the division so important, because even if the Wild Card wins, you want the NFC Championship game in Seattle or San Francisco, not 3,000+ miles away in Atlanta.

East

The East may not be as dominant as it has in the past, but it will be no less competitive. Indeed, each of the four teams has a good shot at winning the division. The biggest wild card is RGIII. The Redskins quarterback led the Redskins to the playoffs a year ago, and while his recovery has been remarkable, you wonder how much he will be compromised or how conservative the team will be with him. (Then again, he could be even better with his gained experience. I'm not so sure, as defenses will be ready for him.) It seems that any given week Cowboys QB Tony Romo can look like either the best passer in the league or the worst, and he's usually the worst at the most inopportune times. The Giants are my team and Eli Manning is one of my favorite players, but they have been hit hard by injuries at nearly every position, and after the defense's underperformance last year and losses of Osi and Chris Canty, you wonder if they can regain that vaunted pass rush that disguises other weaknesses. The Eagles were a mess last year and made the change to Chip Kelly's high speed offense and got a new D-coordinator. Is that enough to turn them around? We'll see.

Cowboys

+ Romo and Dez Bryant

- Tendency for Romo and defense to crumble; fragility of DeMarco Murray leading the ground game

Tough games: Broncos, @Eagles, @Lions, @Saints, @Giants, @Bears, @Packers @Redskins

Prediction: 9-7

Redskins

+ RGIII and Alfred Morris; a healthy Brian Orakpo should improve the defense

- Griffin's knee, challenging schedule

Tough games: @Packers, @Cowboys, Bears, @Broncos, @Vikings, @Eagles, 49ers, Giants, @Falcons, @Giants

Prediction: 9-7

Eagles

+ Coach Chip Kelly's regime, LeSean McCoy

- Offensive line, depth at receiver, Michael Vick injury risk

Tough games: @Redskins, @Broncos, @Giants, @Buccaneers, @Packers, @Vikings, Bears, @Cowboys

Prediction: 8-8

Giants

+ Eli Manning, Jason Pierre-Paul (if healthy). Champion experience.

- Plethora of injuries already on both sides; depth of ground game; secondary and pass rush

Tough games: @Cowboys, Broncos, @Chiefs, @Bears, @Eagles, Packers, @Redskins, @Chargers, Seahawks, @Lions

Prediction: 7-9

West

The breakout of the NFC West happened quick. Alex Smith turned things around in San Fran, then the keys were handed over to Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers exploded. Among all the great young quarterbacks in the league, Russell Wilson for the Seahawks may be the best. Sam Bradford finally has some receivers and o-line protection and a decent chance (remember, he was a #1 pick several years ago), and with the big step the Rams made last year, maybe they can build on that. And the Cardinals are coming off a season with one of the most pathetic quarterback performances in league history into one with a new quarterback who threw for over 4,000 yards a year ago. A lot to look forward to.

Seahawks

+ Perhaps the second most talented roster in the NFL. Balanced offense, strong o-line, great defense, great home field advantage

- No clear weaknesses

Tough games: 49ers, @Texans, @Colts, @Falcons, @49ers, @Giants

Prediction: 11-5

49ers

+ Perhaps the most talented roster in the NFL with a great coach (Harbaugh), dynamite quarterback, strong defense, and Super Bowl experience

- Weak group of wide receivers

Tough games: Packers, @Seahawks, Texans, @Saints, @Redskins, Seahawks, Falcons

Prediction: 11-5

Rams

+ Improved offensive line, speedy receivers, defense should be solid

- Bradford hasn't shown much in his career; no names in ground game

Winnable games: Cardinals, Jaguars, @Panthers, Titans, @Cardinals, Saints, Buccaneers

Prediction: 7-9

Cardinals

+ At least they have a real quarterback this year. Larry Fitzgerald will be happy. Defense was good last year

- Weak offensive line, weak rushing game, perhaps the league's toughest schedule

Winnable games: Lions, Panthers, @Jaguars, Colts, Rams, @Titans

Prediction: 5-11

North

Packers have owned the division lately but the Vikings made the playoffs last year while the Bears won 10 games. The Lions have a ton of talent and are no pushover, either. The NFC North has the best quarterback, running back, and wide receiver in the NFL. Most people are penciling in Green Bay to win the division without a second though, but I have some concerns about them, both on defense and offense. I love the addition of Reggie Bush to the Lions, but they don't have an easy game all year. If Jay Cutler can stay upright the Bears are my pick to win 10 games again and win the division, although a first round matchup with either the Packers or 49ers/Seahawks would be trouble.

Bears

+ New coach hopes to shake things up on offense. Matt Forte and Brandon Marshall are stars on offense. Strong and opportunistic defense

- Offensive line, Jay Cutler's leadership

Tough games: Bengals, @Lions, @Redskins, @Packers, Ravens, @Vikings, Cowboys, @Eagles, Packers

Prediction: 10-6

Packers

+ Aaron Rodgers, one of best quarterbacks (players) in the NFL leading the way, elite passing attacks; Clay Matthews is a monster on defense

- Defense is much too generous, especially in big games. They haven't had a legitimate ground game in a long time, questionable offensive line, tough schedule

Tough games: @49ers, @Bengals, @Ravens, @Vikings, @Giants, Falcons, @Cowboys, @Bears

Prediction: 9-7

Lions

+ Reggie Bush is perfect addition, Megatron is best receiver in football, talented defense

- Discipline, coaching, secondary

Winnable games: Vikings, @Cardinals, Bears, @Browns, Cowboys, @Steelers, Buccaneers, Ravens, Giants

Prediction: 8-8

Vikings

+ Adrian Peterson is the reigning MVP and carries the team. Strong o- and d- lines

- Nonexistent passing game, secondary

Winnable games: Browns, Steelers, Panthers, Redskins, Bears, Eagles, Lions

Prediction: 7-9

South

Falcons won the division going away last year as the other three teams all fell below .500 at 7-9. The Bucs and Saints are talented enough to make a jump, but the Saints will need a much better performance by their defense, and Josh Freeman will need to regain his swagger from early in his career when he looked like a future star. Cam Newton is a great talent but I question his leadership and ability to really take the Panthers up another step. I don't think Atlanta will be as dominant (or lucky?) as last season but even a small step back would keep them at the top of the division. One bright spot for the South, they go heads up with the AFC East, which means everybody gets a game with the Jets, Bills, and Dolphins.

Falcons

+ Impressive talent at skill positions on offense, significant success at home

- Defensive pass rush, inability to advance in the playoffs

Tough games: @Saints, Patriots, Seahawks, @Packers, @49ers

Prediction: 11-5

Buccaneers

+ Balanced offense; Revis and Goldson improve one of the league's worst pass defenses

- Is Josh Freeman going to rise or fall?

Winnable games: @Jets, Saints, @Panthers, Cardinals, Eagles, Panthers, Dolphins, Bills

Prediction: 9-7

Saints

- Drew Brees leads an elite aerial attack, Coach Sean Payton is back

- Defense has been historically bad

Winnable games: Falcons, Cardinals, Dolphins, Bills, @Jets, Cowboys, Panthers, Bucs, @Panthers

Prediction: 8-8

Panthers

+ Cam Newton among league's greatest talents and most exciting players; Luke Kuechly already a dominant force on defense in his second year

- Cam's leadership and inability to get everyone involved, troubles closing out games, defense isn't great

Winnable games: @Bills, Giants, Rams, @Dolphins, Buccaneers, Jets, Saints

Prediction: 6-10

Pencil It In

Seahawks

49ers

Likely In

Falcons

Packers

Bears

Best Shot in the East

Cowboys

Possible Party Crashers

Saints

Redskins

Eagles

Lions

Buccaneers

NFC Championship Game

Seahawks and Falcons

NFC and Super Bowl Champs

Seahawks

2013 NFL Preview: AFC

2013-09-03T02:06:00.001-04:00

I am amazed at how significantly the power has shifted from the AFC to the NFC. Not only that, the gap between the top of the AFC and the other teams has widened significantly. Think of the worst (expected) teams in the NFL: Raiders, Jaguars, Titans, Bills, Jets. (And that's not even including the Chargers, Chiefs, Browns, or Dolphins). What do they all have in common? All in the AFC! Meanwhile, the bottom teams in the NFC (Lions, Eagles, Cardinals) should all be much better off this year.

East

As much as the Patriots have lost, they still have Brady and Belichick and that is a lot more than anybody else. Who's the second best QB in the division, Tannehill? The Dolphins are a trendy surprise team but I'm just not seeing it; even if Tannehill improves they are lifeless on offense. Miami has a tough first five weeks with home games against the Falcons and Ravens and road trips to Cleveland, Indianapolis and New Orleans; 1-4 heading into the bye is a distinct possibility (with back-to-back against Patriots and Bengals in October) and that would suck the life out of the team. I would feel much better about the Bills if rookie EJ Manuel got some experience in the preseason and was healthy heading into opening kickoff rather than giving way to an undrafted rookie. Patriots are a mile ahead of everybody else in the division.

Patriots

+ Brady & Belichick, very strong running game, improved defense, no games out West!

- changes among receivers, health of Gronkowski

Tough games: @Falcons, Broncos, @Texans, @Ravens

Prediction: 11-5

Dolphins

+ Tannehill could make big step, defense is a strong unit

- offense is weak an unimpressive, tough early schedule

Winnable games: @Browns, Bills, Chargers, Panthers, @Jets, @Steelers, @Bills, Jets

Prediction: 7-9

Bills

+ CJ Spiller is most explosive and exciting player in the division

- inexperienced quarterbacks (to put it nicely) with poor receivers; weak secondary

Winnable games: Panthers, @Jets, @Browns, @Dolphins, Chiefs, Jets, @Jags, Dolphins

Prediction: 6-10

Jets

+ Rex Ryan defense typically strong, Chris Ivory could improve ground game

- questionable quarterbacks with poor receivers; pass rush, secondary; combustible

Winnable games: Bucs, Bills, @Titans, Steelers, @Bills, Dolphins, Raiders, Browns, @Dolphins

Prediction: 5-11

West

This is clearly the Broncos division. Peyton Manning always leads a good offense, and as long as they look out for 60-yard hail mary passes in playoff games the defense should be one of the AFC's best, too. They are not without flaws; they've already lost two centers for the year, they don't have a proven running back, Elvis Dumervil is gone and Von Miller will miss 6 games. Chiefs are probably the next most competitive team but they've got a long way to go after they only won 2 games in 2012. Still, significant changes at coach and quarterback could add half dozen wins to that. Chargers made some team management changes but not much player talent improvements. The Raiders are not only disfunctional but devoid of talent. Tough combo.

Broncos

+ Peyton with the best receiving corps in the NFL

- injuries to offensive line, Von Miller suspended for early challenging games

Tough games: Ravens, @Giants, @Cowboys, @Colts, Redskins, @Patriots, @Texans

Prediction: 11-5

Chiefs

+ Coach Reid and Alex Smith significantly improve one of the worst QB situations from 2012. Jamaal Charles is a star. Arrowhead is generally a big home advantage.

- poor pass protection on offense and poor pass rush on defense

Winnable games: @Jags, @Titans, Raiders, Browns, @Bills, Chargers, @Raiders, Colts, @Chargers

Prediction: 8-8

Chargers

+ Added talent on defense, front office changes

- Declining and turnover-prone quarterback with a depleted receiving group

Winnable games: @Titans, @Raiders, Colts, Raiders, Chiefs

Prediction: 5-11

Raiders

+ ... ...

- least talented team by far and no management stability

Winnable games: Jags, Redskins, Chargers, Eagles, Titans, Chiefs, @Chargers

Prediction: 3-13

North

The Black and Blue division is likely to be tougher than ever as the Bengals, Ravens and Browns all improved their defenses and the two young quarterbacks Weeden and Dalton look to make a step forward. Baltimore is the defending Super Bowl champions, but they have gone through the most personnel changes in the whole league. Their offense is depending a whole lot on Joe Flacco and Ray Rice without much help elsewhere, but while the defense shed some aging veteran leadership they found some real pass rushers. The Steelers are still led by Big Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu, but how many games will those stars be healthy enough to play? Two and a half years ago I thought the Bengals were nuts for retaining Coach Marvin Lewis; now I believe they are headed to their third straight postseason. Cincinnati has the most talent in the division on offense and defense but it all depends on Andy Dalton's progression. Fortunately, they added some toys for him in the draft. Cleveland has the furthest to go and the only unproven quarterback in the division, but they have improved around him and brought in Norv Turner as O-Coordinator which should give him a boost.

Bengals

+ AJ Green, Geno Atkins, defense should be great

- How good is Andy Dalton, and can he get the ball to anyone else?

Tough games: @Bears, Packers, Patriots, @Ravens, Colts, @Steelers

Prediction: 10-6

Ravens

+ Pass rush with Dumervil, Canty, Suggs and Ngata; Super Bowl experience; Ray Rice most valuable player in division

- massive roster turnover; lack of receivers; challenging schedule; SB hangover

Tough games: @Broncos, Texans, Packers, @Steelers, @Bears, Patriots, @Bengals

Prediction: 9-7

Browns

+ Trent Richardson focal point on offense

- Below average QB play, #1 receiver suspended first 2 games, tough schedule

Winnable games: Dolphins, Bills, Lions, Steelers, Jags, @Jets

Prediction: 7-9

Steelers

+ Franchise stability, Roethlisberger’s experience

- Poor offensive line coupled with Big Ben’s beleaguered injury history, lost top receiver and top 2 running backs, top two tight ends also hurt

Winnable games: Titans, @Jets, @Raiders, Bills, Lions, Dolphins, Browns

Prediction: 6-10

South

This division mirrors the West and East: the Texans have established themselves as a wide class above the rest; the Colts are gunning for a playoff berth, and the other two teams are terrible. Indianapolis and Luck appear to have gotten lucky in 2012 and are hoping to grow on that. I don't think they are strong as an 11-win team, but in an easy AFC and if Andrew Luck is all that he is made out to be, they should be a 9- or 10-win team and good enough to play an extra game in January. The Titans and Jaguars each have poor quarterbacks and poor defenses, a lethal combination for fans' hopes.

Texans

+ Foster + Andre Johnson + Watt = starpower

- average QB, team’s inability to make noise in the playoffs

Tough games: @Ravens, Seahawks, @49ers, Patriots, @Colts, Broncos

Prediction: 11-5

Colts

+ Potential of Andrew Luck with more weapons, lots of 2012 first-year players more experienced now

- Offensive line, rushing, defense all suspect

Tough games: @49ers, Seahawks, Broncos, @Texans, @Bengals, Texans

Prediction: 9-7

Jaguars

+ MJD is back, good group of young receivers, new coach

- Terrible quarterback play, one of league’s worst defenses

Winnable games: Chiefs, @Raiders, Colts, Chargers, Cardinals, Bills, Titans

Prediction: 6-10

Titans

+ Strong ground game, several quality receivers

- Terrible defense devoid of playmakers, Jake Locker doesn’t look like an NFL quarterback

Winnable games: Chargers, Jets, Chiefs, Jaguars, @Raiders, Cardinals

Prediction: 5-11

Lock It Up

Patriots

Texans

Broncos

Bengals

Likely Wild Cards

Ravens

Colts

Potential Party Crashers

Chiefs

My Pick for AFC Champ

(Surprise!) Bengals

AL East update: everyone's a winner!

2013-06-26T16:23:00.001-04:00

AL BEast Notebook - June 26

It's exciting times in the AL East this summer as all five teams are over .500 (no other division has four). The top and the bottom are separated by just six games, teams are getting healthy, and we are getting a lot of divisional matchups lately. Here is your AL East report, notes from all five teams conveniently in one place.

Boston Red Sox

** Red Sox hoped Clay Buchholz would be ready to start Tuesday's game but he is not progressing from his injury. He is 0-2 in bullpen sessions, and is now unlikely to return before the break.

** Jon Lester was 6-0 with a 2.72 ERA after his ninth start on May 15. In 7 starts since, Lester is 1-4 with a 7.30 ERA. He is giving up lots of hits, lots of walks, and lots of home runs (eight in his last four games).

** The Red Sox sent Will Middlebrooks down to Pawtucket on Tuesday. The third baseman who broke out last year never got going in 2013 and leaves with a .192 average (.228 on-base percentage). One of the reasons the move makes sense is the offensive breakout of slick-fielding Jose Iglesias, who's AVG/OBP is .434/.484 and earns him a spot in the everyday lineup. After hitting three home runs in a game on April 7, Middlebrooks fell into a 5-for-54 slump that he never really got out of.

** One of the biggest keys of the season for the Red Sox was their "improved" bullpen, and that has been a disaster this year. Replacing ineffective and now injured Joel Hanrahan, Andrew Bailey has been removed from the closer role after throwing a gopher ball in four out of five outings (and another run in his most recent game). While Koji Uehara can take his place, all the movement makes the entire bullpen weaker.

** All that negativity being said (what do you expect; I'm a Yankees fan), Boston still has the best record in the American League, and starting pitchers not named Jon Lester are 9-3 in June with a 2.86 ERA.

New York Yankees

** If all goes right, this team could look very different in three weeks: Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter, Francisco Cervelli, Eduardo Nunez, and Michael Pineda are all progressing and hope to join the Yankees after the All-Star break.

** As for Alex Rodriguez, he caused quite a stir Tuesday when he tweeted that his hip surgeon cleared him to play; GM Brian Cashman responded by saying "Alex should just shut the [expletive] up." A-Rod said he made the statement out of pure excitement from the positive prognosis, but it is obvious that the Yankees organization want to make the public statements and that it's the team doctors that have the authority about when he is physically ready.

On the other hand, it is also obvious that the Yankees want nothing to do with A-Rod and are hoping that the league is able to swiftly get through this Biogenesis mess and suspend him.

** One guy that won't be coming back is Mark Teixeira. His doctors say that his wrist sheath is not healing and season-ending surgery is recommended. Expect the Yankees to be in the trade market for a first baseman.

** The thing about this Yankees season is it is very misleading. Vernon Wells is dreadful for two months, then gets a game winning hit. What are we supposed to think, keep him in the lineup? Ichiro had only three extra-base hits since May 11 before hitting the walk-off homer on Tuesday night. Does that mean he deserves to stay in the lineup? Travis Hafner is hitting just .173 since April, but he does have six home runs; should they keep running him out there? Rookie Zoilo Almonte has had a fast start; is he one of the top three outfielders when Granderson returns? And what about Lyle Overbay?

** Hiroki Kuroda has been great, but the rest of the rotation leaves much to be desired. C.C. Sabathia has given up 4+ runs in five of his last seven games, and Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes are not pitching well. David Phelps and Ivan Nova look great from time to time but also get bombed from time to time. Of those six, Kuroda is the only one with an ERA under 4.00, and the way the Yankees have been hitting the last two months, that's not good enough.

Baltimore Orioles

** Despite getting swept up by the streaking Blue Jays last weekend, there's lots of good news in Baltimore. Wei-Yin Chen, Brian Roberts and Nolan Reimold are all very close to returning. Chen, out since mid-May, will be a welcome sight for a team that has seen enough of Freddy Garcia.

Roberts, a two-time All-Star, has been out since the first week of the season. His replacement, Alexi Casilla, hit his first home run of the season on Tuesday, a three-run shot off Indians Justin Masterson that won the game.

** Orioles fans have come out in droves to vote for All-Stars and the numbers show. Four O's are leading the vote at last count (Chris Davis, J.J. Hardy, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis), and a fifth as a non-starter, Manny Machado, is entirely possible. However, if Markakis does get in then it is unlikely the Orioles would get a fifth, especially with Cabrera, Longoria, Donaldson and Beltre playing well at third base. (Could he still get in on the fan Final Vote?)

** Pitcher Chris Tillman has quietly been the most effective starter in Baltimore. Tillman has not allowed more than three runs in 12 of his last 13 games, and with the way the Orioles hit that's good enough for a 9-1 record since April 22.

** It's not all good news though. Dylan Bundy, who came into 2013 as the best pitching prospect in all of baseball, is scheduled to have Tommy John surgery on Thursday and will miss a whole year.

Tampa Bay Rays

** The Wil Myers Era has begun in Tampa Bay. Myers picked up his eighth RBI in his ninth career game, and is actually the fourth player to do that this season (joining Puig, Gattis and Arenado). Batting behind Evan Longoria, he has already made pitchers pay twice for intentionally walking Longoria in front of him.

** Reigning Cy-Young winner David Price will pitch his second rehab start today (Wednesday). If all goes well, he could be ready to start for the Rays next week in Houston. Price has been out since May 16, and wasn't very good before that (1-4, 5.24).

** Fellow starter Alex Cobb took a line drive off his face June 15 and received a concussion. He is still having symptoms and is not close to returning.

** Speaking of pitchers, Matt Moore had a game reminiscent to Wild Thing on Tuesday. He struck out 11 batters but walked 6, throwing a career-high 120 pitches and only got through the sixth inning.

Toronto Blue Jays

** The win on Wednesday puts the Jays back over .500 but that's not all the good news in Toronto. Jose Reyes, who hadn't played since April 12 with an injury, was back in the lineup Wednesday against the Rays. And who wouldn't be excited about getting back a switch-hitting, high-energy, leadoff man shortstop that won a batting title a couple years ago?

R.A. Dickey threw a gem on Wednesday, allowing just two hits and one walk as the Blue Jays ace shutout the Rays in Tampa Bay. Blue Jays are hoping that great performance, along with Reyes' return, can get them back on another big run with an important series at Fenway Park up next.

** Blue Jays big 11-game winning streak that took them over .500 (and briefly out of the division basement) coincides with some great pitching, especially the return of Josh Johnson from injury and the addition of veteran Chien-Ming Wang to the rotation. Esmil Rogers got pounded on Sunday, but he had pitched very well in his previous four starts (2-0, 1.71).

** Two other injury notes: third baseman Brett Lawrie is still a month away from returning and pitcher Brandon Morrow suffered a setback and has yet to resume throwing.

filling out my second All-Star ballot

2013-06-25T22:45:00.001-04:00

With basketball and hockey seasons complete, the end of June means that the Major League Baseball All-Star Game is right around the corner and we are nearly exactly at the midpoint of the season.

I posted my first ballot a month ago and there are some changes as streaks and slumps have taken their turn and real All-Stars have have established their resumes. Earlier this week I posted my All-Scrubs team; you may notice some of those "scrubs" are turning into stars.

Along with your traditional home runs and batting average, my favorite baseball statistics are:

On-base percentage (hits plus walks plus hit-by-pitches)
Extra-bases (homers, doubles, triples, stolen bases)
Runs produced (runs scored plus runs batted in minus home runs)

After all, getting on base, moving around the diamond and producing runs are like the hokey-pokey: that’s what it’s all about. Those aren't the only stats I'm judging on, and defense is also considered.

American League

Designated hitter: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers. Miggy will start at third base and will likely set the record for most votes, but I prefer him as the DH. If Davis continues to kill the baseball Cabrera won't win another Triple Crown, but as we stand he's on pace for .370 average (.462 OBP), 40 home runs, 150 RBI and 115 runs.

First base: Chris Davis, Orioles. One of my favorite players to watch. Crush is hitting .333 and on pace for 54 homers and 140 RBI.

Second base: Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox. Pedroia may be the toughest guy in baseball to get out. He has an on-base percentage of .394 and is one of only two players to have more walks than strikeouts.

Third base: Manny Machado, Orioles. Still 20 years old, the New Manny may be the best of baseball's new stars. Machado is two hits short of Miguel Cabrera for the league lead, and with 34 has nine more doubles than anyone else. He's also on his way to a Gold Glove at the hot corner.

Shortstop: J.J. Hardy, Orioles. It's been a tale of two seasons for Hardy-
-- Before May 2 (29 games): .188, 3 HR, 15 RBI
-- After May 2 (48 games): .315, 12 HR, 29 RBI
Hardy has played shortstop every game (all but three innings) for the Orioles. He doesn't look very big, but he's his way to hitting the most homers among AL shortstops for the third year in a row.

Catcher: Joe Mauer, Twins. Superior slash line .330/.413/.594 (AVG/OBP/SLG), Mauer leads all AL catchers in hits, doubles, on-base percentage and runs produced.

Center field: Mike Trout, Angels. Leads AL in extra bases (58), is second in runs, and fourth in hits.

Left field: Adam Jones, Orioles. Yes, the fourth O's player on the ballot (and another center fielder). Jones leads AL outfielders in runs produced (93), hits, and tied with Trout with 22 doubles Most amazing, Jones has not taken a walk since May 18.

Right field: Nelson Cruz, Rangers. Jose Bautista is one of my favorite players, but Rangers fans would probably kill me if I don't include anybody from their first place team. Cruz is fifth in the AL in homers (19) and RBI (55).

Pitcher: Max Scherzer, Tigers. Could go with Yu Darvish here, but he hasn't won a game in over a month due to no run support, while Scherzer hasn't needed any (2.02 ERA, 6-0 since May 21). Scherzer is 11-0 and is second in WHIP and strikeouts.

National League

First base: Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks. Votto still has a sizeable lead in on-base percentage, but Goldy has a significant edge in runs produced and extra bases, including home runs. Goldy has been better defensively too, while Votto has more errors than any other first baseman. At this point, Goldschmidt is the MVP.

Second base: Matt Carpenter, Cardinals. Ah, the first of the scrubs to make an appearance. It isn't much of a debate though; Carpenter leads all NL second basemen in on-base percentage, runs, hits and doubles, and his team has baseball's best record.

Third base: David Wright, Mets. The Captain has taken off in the last three weeks (which conveniently corresponds with when my fantasy team acquired him). Wright leads all NL third basemen in all three of my favorite categories: on-base percentage, extra bases and runs produced. Easy pick, especially with the game at Citi Field.

Shortstop: Jean Segura, Brewers. Troy Tulowitzki was on his way to another All-Star game start easily until he unfortunately got hurt. But Segura is certainly deserving, and as mentioned previously, he's hitting .336 with speed and power.

Catcher: Yadier Molina, Cardinals. He may be the greatest defensive catcher and manager of a pitching staff of our generation, and then notice that he's leading the NL in batting average. Like Wright he leads his position in on-base percentage, extra bases and runs produced.

Center field: Carlos Gomez, Brewers. In his sixth season Gomez looks like a star. He's got a great balance of speed, power, average, and Gold Glove defense.

Left field: Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies. CarGo has been the best run-producing machine this side of Cabrera and Davis, and leads the league in extra bases. CarGo is batting around .300 and on pace for 44 home runs, 40 doubles, 27 stolen bases, 120 RBI and 128 runs. Smells like an All-Star to me.

Right field: Andrew McCutchen, Pirates. Power numbers are down but McCutchen is still getting on base, hitting doubles, stealing bases and scoring runs. McCutchen is one of the most exciting players in baseball.

Designated hitter: Joey Votto, Reds. Hitting .326 and leading the league in walks means that Votto is an on-base machine. The strange thing is that while playing with another on-base percentage machine in front of him, he has just 37 RBI. But again, that has a lot to do with having nobody scary behind him in the lineup and getting tons of walks.

Pitcher: Matt Harvey, Mets. There will be a riot in New York if Matt Harvey is not starting the All-Star Game at Citi Field. The new Mr. Met has been the most dominant pitcher in baseball and according to ESPN's Tim Kurkjian, Harvey's on-base percentage plus slugging (OPS) against, one of the best indicator stats for pitchers, is better than anything the league has seen since Pedro Martinez in his heyday. That means no one gets on base and no one drives the ball off him.

baseball's All-Scrub Stars

2013-06-25T13:50:00.000-04:00

Closing in on the All-Star Game, everyone knows about Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Chris Davis, Buster Posey, and Joey Votto. But there have been plenty of surprises by guys you've never heard of or never expected it from that have busted through and could snag their first Midsummer Classic selection.

Here are All-Star lineups from guys that either weren't on the map a year ago or have been quiet for much of their careers but are now making a splash: the All-Scrub Stars.

National League

Catcher: Evan Gattis, Braves. Gattis took an opportunity provided by Brian McCann's injury to break into the scene and earn NL Rookie of the Month for both April and May and leads NL catchers with 14 home runs, many in clutch situations. Not bad for a guy that left a college baseball scholarship for drug rehab and then worked as a parking valet and at a pizza parlor.

First base: Freddie Freeman, Braves. Freeman missed 13 games with an injury but is still on pace for 100 RBI (third among NL first basemen) and is hitting .304.

Second base: Matt Carpenter, Cardinals. A big and surprising reason the Cardinals have the league's best record, Carpenter leads NL second basemen with 56 runs scored, 21 doubles, and .403 on-base percentage.

Third base: Pedro Alvarez, Pirates. Pedro is really heating up, hitting .305 in June with 9 homers and 22 RBI, helping the Pirates stay among the best and most surprising teams in baseball. Overall, he has a significant lead among NL third basemen with 19 homers and 51 RBI.

Shortstop: Jean Segura, Brewers. The 23 year-old Brewers rookie is probably the best player nobody has heard of. Segura is one hit away from being the first in the NL to get 100 (batting .336), is second in steals, and has 11 home runs.

Center field: Carlos Gomez, Brewers. Like Segura, he's doing it all: .313 average, 12 homers, 15 steals, 85 hits, 18 doubles, and plays Gold Glove calibur center field. It may surprise you that Gomez is the league-leader in wins above replacement (WAR).

Right field: Gerardo Parra, Diamondbacks. The leadoff man in Arizona has been a major contributor for the first place D-Backs. He's now hitting .315 with 94 hits and 49 extra bases. He should be smarter on the basepaths though; he leads the league by getting caught stealing nine times.

Left field: Domonic Brown, Phillies. Finally getting regular time as a starter, Brown has displayed legitimate power. After a terrible beginning to the season where he got booed at home, from April 23 to June 8 (six weeks) Brown hit 17 home runs and raised his average from .206 to .293.

Pitcher: Jeff Locke, Pirates. Locke, who leads the NL in ERA (2.01), has not lost since his first start on April 7. He has given up 27 less hits than innings pitched.

American League

Catcher: Jason Castro, Astros. People in Houston haven't even heard of this guy. But the backstop fore the Astros leads all AL catchers in extra bases (10 homers, 22 doubles, 2 stolen bases).

First base: Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays. He's hardly a scrub, but EE is following up his breakout in 2012 with another monster season (21 homers, 63 RBI). It's also extraordinary to note that this slugger has struck out just 39 times in 75 games.

Second base: Howie Kendrick, Angels. On a team with Trout, Pujols, Hamilton and Trumbo, it's Kendrick that leads the team with a .323 batting average (fifth in the AL) and is tied with Trout for the team lead with 94 hits.

Third base: Josh Donaldson, Athletics. In a loaded group of AL third basemen (Cabrera, Longoria, and Beltre) everyone knows about the 20 year-old phenom New Manny in Baltimore, but not so much the man at the hot corner in Oakland. Donaldson is leading the way for the A's with .305/.373/.488 (AVG/OBP/SLG), 10 home runs and 46 RBI.

Shortstop: Jed Lowrie, Athletics. Lowrie spent his first four seasons on the bench in Boston, then was shuttled to Houston before being traded to Oakland last winter. Now at age 29 he is a big reason the A's are battling the Rangers for the division, batting .304 with 21 doubles.

Center field: Brett Gardner, Yankees. The most consistent Yankee in 2013, the speedy Gardner has taken over the leadoff spot in Jeter's absence, hitting for average (.287) and even showing some power (6 home runs). He also plays outstanding defense.

Right field: Daniel Nava, Red Sox. A career fourth or fifth outfielder, Nava earned his place as a regular starter for the Red Sox and has stayed a remarkably consistent producer in the middle of the first place Red Sox lineup. He has 10 homers, 45 RBI, 42 runs, and an on-base percentage of .372 as a switch hitter.

Left field: Nate McLouth, Orioles. After being an All-Star five years ago McLouth has been largely forgettable until now. He is producing once again as the leadoff man for the strong Baltimore club, getting on base (.366) and getting himself into scoring position (24 stolen bases). McLouth walks a lot and doesn't strike out.

Pitcher: Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners. Seattle has two stud pitchers, including the breakout Iwakuma. The Japanese pitcher leads the AL with a .238 opponents' on-base percentage and is second in ERA at 2.26.

quick baseball news and notes: Week 12

2013-06-24T21:04:00.001-04:00

I’ve spent the last couple weeks in the process of moving across country, and am still living in a hotel, so I haven’t had a chance to write much lately and missed last week’s baseball report. But here’s something.

** On May 26 the White Sox were at 24-24. After that they were an abysmal 5-17, but looking at how they got there is laughable. 12 of those 17 losses were against the Cubs, Mariners, Blue Jays, Astros, and Twins.

** After falling 10 games under .500 on June 4 the Blue Jays have been on fire, winning 11 straight and 14 of 16 games. And contrary to the White Sox, they have risen to the competition. Outside of those three games against the White Sox, 13 of those wins were against winning teams: San Francisco, Texas, Colorado and Baltimore.

** Defensive Play of the Week: Normally the DH, Tigers Victor Martinez is not known for his glove but he made this ridiculous play at first base on Sunday. He fumbled the ball but then flipped it no-look behind him to get the out. Check this out.

Players of the Week

AL: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers. You’ve probably heard of this guy. In a big week against the Red Sox and Orioles pitchers couldn’t find a way to get Miggy out. He got on base twenty times including a pair of doubles and homers and knocked in 6 runs. Cabrera has been the Player of the Month twice (in two months) but this is surprisingly his first PotW.

NL: Pedro Alvarez, Pirates. Alvarez had a huge week, including four straight multi-hit games including a home run in each! Guess who has the second-best record in baseball? That would be Pittsburgh.

stats n' facts Week 10: long games

2013-06-10T12:00:00.001-04:00

There were two crazy days of free baseball this week.

** Saturday, the terrible Marlins and awful Mets went into the 20th inning tied 1-1 until the Marlins broke through with a run. The Amazings were shut out of the last 18 innings (that's two full games), went 0-19 with runners in scoring position (is that a record?) and stranded 22 runners on base. Against the Miami Marlins. And there were actually spectators still in the stadium at the end of this epic matchup.

Miami and New York are no strangers to long meetings. April 29 they went 15 innings, and Sunday (the day after going 20), they went into extras again, although just one extra.

Perhaps it was appropriate to play an extra game (or two). The Mets/Marlins were rained out on Friday, and the Mets were also rained out on Thursday while Miami had a day off, so there was certainly not a logjam in the bullpens. The scheduled starter for Saturday before the rainout was Shaun Marcum, and he pitched 8 innings of relief, and he was terrific, retiring 16 straight batters before running out of gas and allowing three singles in the 20^th inning. According to Jayson Stark, this was the third time this season that a reliever has thrown 100 pitches in a game.

A few minutes earlier, the Blue Jays finally scored to beat the Rangers in 18 innings. They won it when (with two outs) Ross Wolf made a bad pickoff attempt at first, allowing Emilio Bonifacio to race all the way to third, and he scored on a single by Rajai Davis.

This was the first time in major league history that we had an 18 inning and 20 inning game on the same day.

** But those were not the only marathons of the week. The White Sox and Mariners went scoreless into the 14^th inning on Wednesday and that was where the scoring began. Chicago scored five runs in the 14^th, only to completely blow that lead in the bottom of the inning, but scored a pair of runs in the 16^th to win it. So after playing 13 innings with zero runs, the two teams scored 12 runs in innings #14-16.

So those were three games this week that went 5.5+ hours long.

** There are surprise teams (good = Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Pirates; bad = Angels, Dodgers, Blue Jays) and then there are streaky teams.

- On May 16 the Oakland Athletics were seven and a half games back of the Texas Rangers in the West. Just a little bit over three weeks later the A’s were leading in the division. Prior to losing a pair this weekend in Chicago, Oakland was 18-3 since May 17.

- Atlanta has been a streaky team all year. After sprinting out of the gate 12-1, the Braves stumbled greatly 10-17 over the next month. Since then they are 17-6, and hold a comfortable seven and a half game lead in the NL East.

- Cleveland has been very hot and cold all year. In April they went on a 3-10 slump. The next week began a hot 18-4 stretch to get into first place. That was immediately followed with their current cold run, where the Indians are just 4-15 since May 21. It doesn’t get any easier this week with a trip to Arlington.

- It is widely agreed that the Marlins are the worst team in baseball. Well, the Mets have lost 7 of their last 8 meetings against the Marlins this year (despite Matt Harvey pitching in three of those). So what does that say about the team in Queens?

The good news for Mets fans = you don't face the Marlins again until July 29!

The bad news = there are no minor league teams on the schedule

** Weird stat of the Week (actually two weeks): Since May 27, Padres shortstop and leadoff man Everth Cabrera has been red hot, getting on base 30 times (in 14 games). But he has made it to home just 3 times. (He's only knocked in 4 runs, too). More like 'Useless Teammates of the Week'...

** Terrific Teammates of the Week: On Wednesday, Rockies Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki combined to hit 5 home runs and 9 RBI against the Reds.

Players of the Week

Change things up and go with leadoff hitters this week.

* AL: Brett Gardner, Yankees. Surprisingly, it was the speedy center fielder who carried the Yankees to a 6-1 week. Gardner got on base 15 times, took 7 extra bases (five doubles, a homer and stolen base), and produced 10 runs for an offensively challenged Pinstripes team.

* NL: Yasiel Puig, Dodgers. The way things have been with Kemp and Ethier, you wonder why the Dodgers didn't go to their young phenom outfielder earlier. After tearing it up in Spring Training, Puig picked up right where he left off since getting called up Monday. How about this MLB debut: 13 hits (including five multi-hit games), four home runs, two doubles, and 10 RBI.

Baseball Power Report: Month 2 (Week 9)

2013-06-03T22:43:00.001-04:00

A third of the way through the season, it’s time for the early June Power Report. For each team I have a ranking and a few interesting stats/observations for not just last week, but also the last month and the season to date. I tried to keep everything consistent, but some stats are based on Saturday, some on Sunday. Enjoy!

30. Marlins. If April wasn’t bad enough, the Marlins scored just 79 runs in 28 games in the month of May, running their season total to 152 runs in 55 games. They rank last in runs, doubles, homers, average, on-base percentage, slugging, and hit into the third most double plays. When your team leader in batting average is at .228, that explains a lot. Their pitching yields the highest opponents’ on-base percentage in the NL. Miami is actually 6-3 against the Mets, but 10-39 versus everyone else. On the bright side, slugger Giancarlo Stanton should come back sometime this month, and Miami plays the Mets again this week!

29. Astros. Just like the Marlins can’t hit, the Lastros can’t pitch. They rank last in earned runs, unearned runs, walks, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, batting average against, on-base percentage, and run differential. Astros batters have struck out an amazing 523 times, a record pace of 9.5 whiffs a game, while their opponents have struck out just 353 times. Houston does have a 13-6 record against the Angels, Mariners and Rockies, but are 7-31 against the rest of the league.

(Just like last month, the Marlins and Astros are so bad that for the rest of the league, if I say worst/lowest/fewest/ most/highest, it means among everyone else.)

28. Mets. So much for the excitement of sweeping the cross-town rivals. Matt Harvey is still 5-0 and a reason to watch the Mets, but the rest of the Amazin’s are 17-32. And as noted, New York is 3-6 against the miserable Marlins. Poor starting pitching, poor bullpen, poor hitting, poor fielding…

27. Brewers. Milwaukee had a month to forget. Even with their win over the Phillies on Friday, the Brewers were only 6-22 in May and went from half game back of the Cardinals to 15 back. Milwaukee’s pitching has significantly underperformed, especially starters Yovani Gallardo, Wily Peralta, Marco Estrada and Kyle Lohse. They do have one of the league’s most productive outfields with Ryan Braun, Carlos Gomez and Norichika Aoki, and shortstop Jean Segura leads the league with a .354 batting average.

26. Padres. Figuring out the Padres All-Star rep will be a real challenge. Isn’t much to say about this team.

25. Cubs. Chicago has a nice foundation of starting pitchers. Jeff Samardzija, Travis Wood and Scott Feldman all have an ERA under 3 and the staff’s batting average against is league-best .231. Anthony Rizzo leads the team with 10 homers and 36 RBI but he should have a lot more; he’s hitting .175 with runners in scoring position. Cubs have NL-best .805 OPS at home, and NL-worst .619 OPS on the road.

24. Twins. To show how bad the Twins pitching has been, they have registered a quality start (6 innings, 3 earned runs or less) just one-third of the time. None of the Twins starting pitchers have recorded even 30 strikeouts yet this season.

23. Royals. A month ago they were at #14 but I expected they would have a rough month. Yes they sure did, going on a 4-19 skid. James Shields went 0-4 in five starts, despite giving up two or fewer runs four times. Mike Moustakas is batting .081 (3 for 37) with runners in scoring position. The Royals have 29 home runs; their pitchers have allowed 66.

22. Mariners. M’s have two pitchers with ERA’s under 2.40 and three pitchers with ERA’s over 5.50. Michael Morse has just 12 RBI since April 11.

21. Dodgers. It is really strange to see that the Dodgers can’t get any higher than this with all the talent (or at least money) on their roster. One of the biggest problems is that they can’t get hits when it counts. Dodgers hit .265 with bases empty (5th in baseball), but .233 with runners in scoring position (5th worst) and just .146 with the bases loaded. Before landing on the disabled list, Matt Kemp had just 2 home runs in 51 games. That’s not the end of the trouble, as fellow outfielder Carl Crawford also joined Kemp on the DL Monday.

20. Blue Jays. Toronto’s rotation stability was supposed to be their biggest strength; instead it has been their biggest weakness. Due to injury and ineffectiveness, the Blue Jays have already used eleven different starting pitchers, and just as Josh Johnson is ready to return, Brandon Morrow and Ramon Ortiz get hurt. Things are getting better overall, especially on offense where in May the team OBP was .337, up from .294 in April. The biggest problem is nobody else in the division is losing.

19. White Sox. It’s hard to describe just how bad the Sox offense is, especially in the AL with a designated hitter. They have scored 186 runs in 54 games, .289 OBP, and have 428:128 K:BB ratio. Yet a week ago they reached .500 at 24-24, a testament of some really good pitching (Chris Sale, Jake Peavy).

18. Angels. Just when things were starting to turn around the Angels lost three in a row at home to the Astros. Josh Hamilton should have stayed in Texas; he’s hitting a woeful .216 as an Angel. At least Mike Trout is exciting, and Jered Weaver is finally healthy again.

17. Rockies. Still have the best offense in the National League, and even on the road they have the best slugging percentage and OPS. Carlos Gonzalez is a big reason why, leading the NL with 42 extra bases. Jorge De La Rosa is 5-0 with an ERA of 2.45 at Coors Field.

16. Phillies. Read about Domonic Brown below. As someone who owns Cole Hamels on multiple fantasy teams, I am painfully aware that the Phillies are 1-11 in Hamels’ games. At least Cliff Lee is making sure that one of the four Phillies making $20 million this year is playing like it.

15. Nationals. Bryce Harper is on the DL, Stephen Strasburg has a back strain, Nats have lowest OBP in baseball, batting just .212 on the road, 8-14 since May 10… I am much less optimistic about the Nats than I was one or two months ago.

14. Giants. Pitching has been surprisingly poor in San Francisco, where the staff has only 23 quality starts in 57 games. On April 28, Marco Scutaro was hitting just .215; since then he’s hitting a sizzling.418.

13. Indians. Mark Reynolds and Carlos Santana followed up their .389 and .301 April with .200 and .208 May, yet the team played well anyway, going 18-12 during the month and is right up there with Detroit in the Central.

12. Rays. Those Rays that we all figured wouldn’t be able to score actually led all of baseball in runs in May. Since starting 14-18, Tampa Bay is 17-7, even without David Price.

11. Yankees. The Bronx “Bombers” have scored fewer runs than the Astros and Twins. Teixeira and Youkilis are back (and Tex finally started producing Monday night) but more often than not it seems the Yankees just can’t score runs with their lineup. Fortunately, the pitching overall has really been outstanding; especially in May when they had the lowest ERA in the AL (3.25).

10. Diamondbacks. Paul Goldschmidt is your NL MVP through the first 56 games, batting .337 with 13 homers and 73 runs produced. Not only is Patrick Corbin 9-0, but the D-Backs have won all 11 games he pitched.

9. Orioles. As AL Beast Notebook writer, I watch a lot of Orioles games. They are really one of the more entertaining teams in baseball. Chris Davis (yeah, I write about him every week) is hitting .357 with MLB-most 20 home runs. But everybody contributes: Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Matt Wieters, J.J. Hardy and Nate McLouth are all doing great things. The Orioles have hit 81 home runs (most in MLB), but their pitchers have given up 78.

8. Athletics. No team is hotter right now than the Oakland A’s, who have won 14 of their last 16 games, and their next 13 games are against pitching-deficient Brewers, and hitting-deficient White Sox, Yankees and Mariners. Bartolo Colon has issued just 4 walks in 70 innings. A’s have the best bullpen ERA and OBP in the American League. A’s batters have the league’s most walks (and hit-by-pitches).

7. Pirates. They don’t do much hitting (shutout for first nine innings in four of last five games), and their starting rotation isn’t very scary but the bullpen is practically unhittable. While the Pirates bullpen has thrown more innings than just about everyone the batting average against them is just .210. In his first year as a full-time closer Jason Grilli is 22/22 in saves, has given up just 12 hits and struck out 41 batters in 25 innings. Pirates, Reds and Cardinals each won at least 19 games in May; no other team did.

6. Braves. Despite the expectations otherwise, Atlanta’s pitching is back near the top while the offense has been just average. Justin Upton hit 12 home runs in April and just two in May. Dan Uggla, B.J. Upton and Jason Heyward are hitting .161 after 448 at-bats. Kris Medlen has just one win in his last nine starts despite a respectable 3.48 ERA. Mike Minor is having an All-Star year, currently 7-2 with 2.48 ERA and holding opposing hitters to a .203 batting average. Freddie Freeman batting 20/40 with runners in scoring position.

5. Red Sox. Boston had a tough stretch earlier in the month losing 9 of 11, but other than that the season has been smooth sailing for the Red Sox. A favorable May schedule makes way for a much, much tougher June, starting off with the Rangers again. As demonstrated last night, David Ortiz is killing righties, hitting .386 with nearly as many home runs (7) as strikeouts (9). Clay Buchholz continues to impress, leading the AL in wins, ERA, and opponents’ OPS. It’s nothing new, but there’s probably no big league player I’d rather have my son emulate than Dustin Pedroia.

4. Reds. Second best offense and second best pitching in the NL is a great combination. I’ve written a lot about Votto and Choo but there’s a reason: the duo are both getting on base in over 49% of their plate appearances against righties. There is no weak link in the rotation; everyone has an ERA under 3.9. And Aroldis Chapman has racked up 43 Ks in 25 innings.

3. Rangers. Weird to see, but even with a bunch of rookies and second year guys the Rangers have a better rated pitching staff than offense. In fact, Texas has the lowest team ERA in the American League, including a 2.83 ERA at the hitter-friendly Ballpark in Arlington. Adrian Beltre is having another monster year, but he may get lost in an overloaded third base All-Star group.

2. Tigers. Two months into the season and here’s what we have: four top of the rotation arms (Verlander, Scherzer, Fister and Anibal Sanchez), the reigning MVP Miguel Cabrera (the favorite for another one), a shortstop and right fielder both hitting over .310, Prince Fielder, and World Series experience. They are a pedestrian 29-24 right now, but that’s still about five games better than one year ago. The Tigers have one of the best offenses in baseball and a pitching staff good enough to again go deep in the postseason.

1. Cardinals. The one thing they lacked was a closer and they have certainly found a good one. Edward Mujica has been lights out, allowing just 14 baserunners in 24 innings for a 0.58 WHIP and 1.88 ERA. He has not walked a batter since April 3, and is 17/17 in save chances since taking over the job.

The starting pitching has been perhaps the best group in baseball, led by Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn, but also rookie Shelby Miller (6-3, 1.82 ERA), who retired 27 straight batters in a game earlier this month. And top prospect Michael Wacha has also burst into the majors, providing even more quality depth.

And of course, it’s not only about pitching in St. Louis. The hitting has also been perhaps the best (and certainly the deepest) group in the National League. They are certainly on fire right now; four players had a May OBP over .410, and four hitters (Yadier Molina, Matt Carpenter, Allen Craig, and Carlos Beltran) are legitimate All-Stars. The most impressive feature of the 2013 Cards is clutch = .324 average and .427 on-base percentage with runners in scoring position and two outs. Tack on a 20-9 road record as the cherry on top.

Pitching, hitting, relief, and fielding (league’s lowest 19 errors) are why the St. Louis Cardinals are an easy pick for the best team in baseball.

Biggest Leap: White Sox (+6), Cardinals (+5)
Biggest Tumble: Nationals (-11), Royals (-9)

Players of the Week

AL: Chris Davis, Orioles. Four more home runs this week as he collected 13 hits in 27 at-bats, but what may be more amazing is that pitchers didn’t walk him six games in a row.

NL: Domonic Brown, Phillies. Brown has taken over by storm. Last week he hit .444 with 7 home runs and 13 RBI. 13 teams failed to hit 7 home runs. Brown now leads the NL with 16 bombs.

welcome back Tex, Youk and Andy! (four days too late?)

2013-05-31T13:37:00.004-04:00

AL BEast Notebook - May 31

New York Yankees

** No better time to make changes than after getting swept by the cross-town Mets. Fortunately, some moves will be natural as some former All-Stars are returning from the disabled list. Kevin Youkilis and Mark Teixeira are set to play today (Friday) against the Red Sox.

The Yankees bats have really been quiet lately. Against the Mets, who owned the second-highest ERA in the National League, the Yankees could not muster more than one run in three of the four games. And while they did collect four runs in the other one, David Phelps allowed five Mets to score in the first inning. Not only that, but in each of the last three games the Yankees struck out at least nine times and didn’t earn a walk.

As well as the fill-ins have played, it is time for the backups to get back to being backups. The Yankees have gotten more out of Lyle Overbay than they could have hoped, and David Adams has shown he can be a valuable batter against lefties. For the time being (with Tex, Youk, Overbay, and Nix/Brignac all available for corner infield), Adams is likely to head back to the minors, along with pitcher Vidal Nuno.

** Andy Pettitte is scheduled to return and start Monday at the stadium against the Indians, and that will likely mean a pink slip for either Adam Warren, Preston Claiborne, or Ivan Nova.

Boston Red Sox

** Speaking of returns, the Red Sox got a good performance in the season debut of Franklin Morales off the DL in a spot-start win over the Phillies Thursday night. Clay Buchholz has been out with a collarbone problem, but he is expected to be ready to pitch Sunday in a great matchup with Hiroki Kuroda.

** In each of the four games against the Phillies, Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a hit and came around to score off the bat of Dustin Pedroia. And in Thursday’s game Ellsbury didn’t stop there. The speedy outfielder got on base four more times and stole five bases, a Red Sox single game record. Strangely, despite Ellsbury constantly putting himself into scoring position, he never touched home after those five steals. (It didn’t bother the team too much; Boston still scored nine runs.)

Tampa Bay Rays

** Pitching is still what it’s all about in Tampa Bay and there seems to be no shortage of arms to go around. This week THREE Rays make/made their season debut: Jake Odorizzi and Alex Colome started games the Rays won and Chris Archer starts Saturday. With David Price injured, Alex Cobb needing extra rest for his finger, and Jeremy Hellickson struggling, it definitely helps to play the Marlins. Even Roberto Hernandez pitched a gem. Archer will have a much tougher test in Cleveland this weekend, and next week starts with a trip to Detroit.

fixing baseball's over-aggressive scheduling

2013-05-30T22:11:00.000-04:00

This is baseball’s “Interleague Rivalry Week”, where all thirty teams play a regional foe from the other league in a home-and-away four game series. For some cities like LA, Chicago and New York it makes a lot of sense. For others, it seems the league is trying a bit too hard to create something that isn’t there. Anyway, here's your latest "what's wrong with baseball."

Here are my issues:

1. Interleague play has run its course and isn’t interesting anymore. The American and National Leagues have different rules and styles and no team cares to change everything for four days. But Bud Selig decided to even out the leagues, moving the Astros from NL to AL, putting 15 teams in each and requiring interleague games to occur every day of the season, not just four weeks of the season. Fine. So why do we STILL have a week where EVERYBODY is in interleague? Isn’t every day enough?

If Bud and his buds still want to have an Interleague Play Week, then enough of the “interleague every day” deal! It’s dumb.

2. I like the idea of having a Rivalry Week where the Mets and Yankees play, along with the Cubs and White Sox. But do we really need to have the Mariners/Padres and Braves/Blue Jays go in the same manner of two home/two away? Is there any special meaning with the Twins and Brewers? This totally cheapens the experience and takes away from the unique spirit that should be there. If you want to make a special week of rivalries, then have those teams that don’t have a natural NL/AL regional rival play a divisional opponent. Then it is special for everyone.

Solution: Make it a true Rivalry Week. Here is how I would shape it. First, keep the interleague ones that make sense…

** Yankees vs. Mets ** Dodgers vs. Angels
** Cubs vs. White Sox ** Nationals vs. Orioles
** Giants vs. Athletics ** Indians vs. Reds
** Rays vs. Marlins (sure, why not?)
** Cardinals vs. Royals

Match up the others in important divisional and regional meetings…

** Braves vs. Phillies ** Red Sox vs. Blue Jays
** Rangers vs. Astros ** Tigers vs. Twins
** Pirates vs. Brewers ** Diamondbacks vs. Rockies

(We are left with the Mariners and Padres, so maybe baseball got that part right after all…)

Great, that works for everyone! We have a plan that makes every team (well, 28/30) have a relevant series at the same time, whether it be a classic local clash or a marquee divisional matchup. And maybe over time, the fans in Seattle and the fans in San Diego will decide that North Pacific and South Pacific is worth fighting over, too.

filling out my first All-Star ballot

2013-05-29T11:45:00.000-04:00

All-Star voting is underway and fifty games into the season is a good enough sample size to identify some selections. These will likely change a little before July 16, so don't kill me for omitting the first place Red Sox, Rangers and Cardinals. But hey, this is my ballot.

Along with your traditional home runs and batting average, my favorite baseball statistics are:

On-base percentage (hits plus walks plus hit-by-pitches)
Extra-bases (homers, doubles, triples, stolen bases)
Runs produced (runs scored plus runs batted in minus home runs)

First base: Chris Davis, Orioles. 17 home runs, 18 doubles, .344 batting average and 29 walks. He also plays solid defensively at first. Davis has become one of my favorite sluggers.

Second base: Robinson Cano, Yankees. The way Cano leads the Yankees with nothing resembling an All-Star around him on the active roster to the top of the division for nearly two months is amazing. One of the best players in baseball.

Third base: Manny Machado, Orioles. Okay, this spot should and will go to Miguel Cabrera, but this is my chance to put in a plug for one of the brightest rising stars in the game. The 20-year old phenom is hitting .335, leads the league with 23 doubles, and is tield with Cabrera for most hits in baseball. And it's safe to see we all would rather watch this Web Gem collector flash the leather at third than Cabrera.

Shortstop: Johnny Peralta, Tigers. Cabrera's teammate on the left side gets my vote at short. Batting .400 in May, Peralta, who has always been a solid hitter and fielder, is taking advantage of injuries to regular All-Stars Jeter and Reyes.

Catcher: Joe Mauer, Twins. What's there to say about a catcher batting .330 who also collects lots of walks and smacks doubles?

Center field: Mike Trout, Angels. The wonder kid is among the league leaders in extra base hits, stolen bases and runs produced, and is a human highlight reel in center field.

Left field: Adam Jones, Orioles. It's amazing how last year's Baltimore superstar is now third on the team, even though he's still hitting .318 with power, speed, and a recent Gold Glove on his shelf.

Right field: Jose Bautista, Blue Jays. After missing much of last year and starting slow, it's nice to see Joey Bats back to doing his thing. Especially at the Rogers Center. After sitting out four games with an injury last month, Bautista's on-base percentage at home since April 19 (20 games) is .538. Wow.

Designated hitter: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers. Miggy will be at third but he should probably be the DH instead. Let's see... he leads the league by a mile in on-base percentage and runs produced, he's second in home runs, he's the reigning MVP and has a good chance to win the Triple Crown again.

Pitcher: Chris Sale, White Sox. While Clay Buchholz has pitched lights out against the Twins, White Sox and Astros, Sale has pitched very well against some of the best lineups in the AL (Angels twice, Indians and Rangers). He's allowed 20 less hits than innings pitched. And other than one bad game in Cleveland, Sale has a 1.51 ERA and a quality start in each game. And he did it last year, too.

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National League

First base: Joey Votto, Reds. One of the best measures for a hitter is how often he is walked. Joey Votto has 44 bases-on-balls, ten more than everyone else except his teammate Shin-Soo Choo. If a .354 batting average isn't impressive enough, a Bonds-esque .477 on-base percentage is.

Second base: Brandon Phillips, Reds. The slick-fielding vet doesn't do much when the bases are empty (awful .260 OBP), but takes advantage of the plentiful times Votto and Choo get on base to the tune of an impressive .478 OBP with runners in scoring position and league-high 43 RBI and 68 runs produced.

Third base: David Wright, Mets. The Amazin's captain is having another stellar season. Some interesting stats: 4 triples, 11 stolen bases, 27 walks.

Shortstop: Jean Segura, Brewers. Probably the toughest decision of the whole process is Segura or Troy Tulowitzki. Tulo's home splits at Coors are staggering, but not much different than Segura's impressive road splits. Segura has higher average, on-base percentage, 14-0 steals edge, and comparable power numbers.

Catcher: Buster Posey, Giants. The reigning MVP and World Series champ is hitting .304 and a ton of walks brings his OBP to .394, fifth highest in the NL.

Center field: Shin-Soo Choo, Reds. What do you want in a leadoff hitter? How about a .450 on-base percentage with power?

Left field: Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies. CarGo has been one of the most productive hitters in baseball doing it all: .311/.388 and among the leaders in homers, doubles, walks, stolen bases, and runs produced.

Right field: Justin Upton, Braves. It comes down to a couple Brewers and a struggling Bryce Harper, and Upton beats them out right now as the Braves are in first and Upton's hot start is holding up.

Designated Hitter: Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks. Goldy is the primary reason Arizona is in first place out west. He's pretty much Top 2 or 3 in just about every offensive category.

Pitcher: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers. Tip my hat to Matt Harvey, but I still think Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball right now.

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stats and facts: Week 8

2013-05-28T12:22:00.001-04:00

Happy Memorial Day! It was too good of a day to sit at the computer and type so your weekly report for May 20-26 comes out on Tuesday instead of Monday, but there is still a lot of good stuff to read about.

** Last Monday, the Mariners homered in the 8th, 9th, and 10th innings and still lost the game.

** For the third time in his career, Joe Mauer broke up a no-hitter with one out in the ninth inning.

** In his last seven games, Mets Dillon Gee has given up two home runs to opposing pitchers and two home runs to all the positions players he has faced (courtesy of ESPN's Jayson Stark).

** In 2012, Jim Johnson and Fernando Rodney converted 99 save opportunities, blowing just five chances. In 2013 they have already blown 9 saves.

** As the Yankees ace, CC Sabathia is expected to beat the Yankees biggest rivals, the Red Sox and Rays. It hasn't worked so well. According to Kate Sharp, the Yankees are 1-9 in Sabathia's starts at Tropicana Field since he joined the team in 2009. Since the start of 2010, New York is 4-8 in his starts against the Red Sox (home and away).

** Speaking of struggling aces, Cole Hamels has started 11 games and the Phillies have won just one of those. Add Roy Halladay's starts and the Phillies are just 3-15 in those games. That's not exactly what the team expected when the put the rotation together.

** Speaking of not struggling aces, Dodgers Clayton Kershaw went 22 starts without giving up four earned runs, a streak that finally ended Sunday.

** One more pitcher: Young Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin became the first pitcher ever to pitch nine innings at Coors Field (in Denver) while striking out ten batters and throw under 100 pitches.

** Week of the Big Sluggers:

- Jose Bautista had a pretty big day Wednesday. The Blue Jays slugger went 4-4 with a walk, stolen base, two home runs, including a game-tyer in the bottom of the ninth, and a game-winning RBI single in the 10th. He had 4 RBI as the Jays won 4-3. For the week, Joey Bats collected 14 hits and 5 walks and scored 8 runs.

- Like his early April, Chris Davis is on fire again. The O's first baseman hit 4 home runs last week. Adding this Monday to last week's totals, Davis had 14 hits, 7 walks (.583 OBP), 7 extra-base hits, and scored 9 runs. Normally that's a shoo-in for PotW.

- There was also Mike Trout (see below).

- Miguel Cabrera continued where he left off the previous week as he continues to give managers headaches and gray hair. In a span of five games, Cabrera piled up these crazy numbers: 10 hits, 5 walks, 6 HR, 9 runs, 15 RBI. In five games. Before his ho-hum weekend, Miggy was on pace for .388 average, 257 hits, 49 home runs, 45 doubles, 200 RBI, 137 runs, and his second straight Triple Crown MVP. And when things are going good for you, sometimes you get a little more help along the way.

** Most Exciting Play: Down 5-4 in bottom of 10th inning with a runner at second, Giants Angel Pagan hit an inside-the-park home run to win the game. What could possibly be more exciting than a walkoff inside the park homer? Check it out.

** Best Moment: following his game-winning RBI double Sunday, you have to see the post-game with Munenori Kawasaki of the Blue Jays.

Players of the Week

Could have been any of a dozen guys. Flip a coin.

AL: Mike Trout, Angels. All the young centerfielder did was get 12 hits including two homers, two triples, a double and four stolen bases, scored ten runs, collected seven RBI, hit for the cycle, and help the Angels win eight games in a row. It was a good week.

NL: Joey Votto, Reds. Votto takes home his second straight PotW as he had eight hits and six walks for a .518 on-base percentage (raising his season OBP to a ridiculous .475), also hitting a pair of homers and scoring eight runs while the Reds won five games in a row.

Yankees' Granderson injured again

2013-05-25T09:38:00.004-04:00

AL BEast Notebook - May 25

** Second verse, same as the first. A week after Curtis Granderson made his season debut after getting struck in the arm by an inside pitch from a left-hander, it happened again.

Granderson was hit on the hand by a pitch thrown by Rays lefty reliever Cesar Ramos in the fifth inning of Friday night's 9-4 win over Tampa Bay. The Yankees outfielder grimaced in pain and shook his head and hand on base but he stayed in the game as he later came around to score in a big inning for the Yankees before getting replaced by Ichiro the next half inning. He was immediately taken in for x-rays that showed he suffered a broken knuckle on his left pinkie. After missing the first 38 games of the season, the injury is expected to sideline him at least another four weeks.

At least the Yankees will not have to make drastic changes to the lineup. Brett Gardner, Ichiro and Vernon Wells are all still here and have been accustomed to manning the Yankees outfield for most of the year. Girardi had said the last few days that he was going to have to decide on a regular trio instead of circulating all four outfielders, so at least this event makes that decision easier. (Ichiro would have been the odd man out, so he has another shot staying in the lineup everyday.)

** Unfortunately, Granderson wasn't the only Yankee to leave with an injury Friday night. Starting pitcher David Phelps was struck on the right forearm by a line drive off the bat of Ben Zobrist in the eighth inning. He has been diagnosed with a contusion (bruise). He's the second starter this rotation to leave with a contusion, Hiroki Kuroda getting hurt Wednesday. While both pitchers will be sore for a few days, they are likely to make their next scheduled starts.

** Robinson Cano was also awarded a "hit-by-pitch" in Friday's game, although actually the ball struck the end of the bat, not his hand.

** The Boston Red Sox were also hit with the injury bug Friday. Third baseman Will Middlebrooks was placed on the 15 day disabled list with a bad back, and right fielder Shane Victorino went on the DL with a tight hamstring.

notes from Monday's Yankees vs. Orioles (lots to say!)

2013-05-21T20:20:00.002-04:00

AL BEast Notebook – May 20

In case you missed it, on the day after the fifteenth anniversary of the ’98 Yankees/Orioles brawl, the Yankees defeated the Orioles 6-4 in ten innings in one of the more interesting games of the season. And even if you did catch it, you don’t want to miss my notes from the night.

** Pitching matchup looked like an easy pick: C.C. Sabathia versus terrible Freddy Garcia. As it turns out, Sabathia was awful and Garcia was surprisingly acceptable.

** Sabathia gave up 11 hits, second game in a row of 10+ allowed. He blew a fifth inning lead and a seventh inning lead.

** Garcia gave up just three hits in six innings, but two were home runs.

** Yankees reliever Shawn Kelley has struck out 15 of the last 21 batters he has faced. He had more strikeouts in one inning (3) than Sabathia had in six-plus innings (2).

** The first base umpire made a terrible call in the sixth inning that may have changed the game. Tied 2-2, after a leadoff single, Matt Wieters grounded to third base; David Adams threw to first but Wieters beat him by a step. It should have been two on and nobody out. But the ump called Wieters out, making it man on second with one out. Buck Showalter turned purple as he screamed at the ump and first baseman Chris Davis continued to make comments to the ump the next inning. The Orioles did not score a run in the inning.

** Yankees hit four solo home runs: Robinson Cano, David Adams, Lyle Overbay, and Travis Hafner. Cano now leads the AL in homers (Baltimore’s Chris Davis tied him an inning later).

** After converting 35 straight save chances, an Orioles record, Jim Johnson blew his third game in a row.

** Despite Hafner tying the game with a homer in the ninth, Buck Showalter opts to intentionally walk Cano in the tenth inning with a man on third to face Hafner. Pronk smacks a single to make it 6-4.

** Cano walked twice in a game for the first time since September 13.

** Rookie Adams (homer), Overbay (go-ahead homer), Hafner (tying homer in ninth), Ichiro (leadoff double in tenth and scored winning run) and Vernon Wells (winning RBI in tenth) all played huge roles in this game. You can call that winning off the scrap heap.

** Overbay, batting cleanup, entered the game hitting just .119 with no homers against lefties in 42 at-bats. Buck Showalter brought in the lefty Troy Patton to face Overbay in the seventh and the first baseman hit it out to make it 3-2 Yankees.

** Orioles had 13 hits and five doubles in the game, but their team leader in hits, doubles and batting average, Manny Machado, didn’t even get on base (0-5).

** Mariano Rivera picked up his 95th career save against the Orioles, the most ever for one pitcher against one team. Mo is 17/17 in saves on the year.

** Orioles have lost six straight games and seven in a row at home.

** Strangely, this was the ninth time this year that the Orioles lost while still getting at least ten hits.

** Orioles bullpen has been just awful during this six-game slide. Dating back to Wednesday, Baltimore relievers have pitched 22.2 innings and allowed 21 runs.

** Yankees are 19-0 on the season when they score first (Cano homered in the first inning). They had to come back in this one, and they did.

** With the win and the Red Sox loss, New York is 1.5 games ahead of Boston. Tampa also lost to fall five back, as is Baltimore.

baseball Week 7: a whole lot of Crazy

2013-05-20T16:38:00.004-04:00

** Living in the Northeast and primarily following the AL, I know all about the Yankees' improbable season. But what if I told you that there was a team that...

entire starting outfield has been on the DL
All-Star/Silver Slugger second baseman played just ten games
All-Star catcher is hitting .180 (while playing more than all but one other MLB backstop)
Closer pitched poorly then went on the DL
Bullpen has most blown saves in MLB
Ace went seven starts between earning wins
Number two pitcher earned just one win in a stretch of seven starts
Number three pitcher has sub-.500 record
Number four pitcher recently earned his first win (ninth start of the season)
In the offseason they traded away the player that now leads the majors in home runs

And what if I told you that this team (Arizona Diamondbacks) is in first place, in a division that includes the reigning World Series champs and another team with a $217M payroll?

Paul Goldschmidt (.333, 12 HR, 35 RBI, 29 runs, 1.049 OPS) and Patrick Corbin (6-0, 1.52 ERA) are big reasons why.

Speaking of the D-Backs, on Saturday Gerardo Parra hit the first pitch of the game for a home run. Arizona won the game 1-0.

** Indians Justin Masterson pitched his fourth shutout of the season, tied with Clayton Kershaw for most in the big leagues.

So far this season, the Indians have defeated Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, Bartolo Colon, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, David Price and R.A. Dickey. They lost to Jake Peavy a month ago, but they are 7-1 against Cy Young winners. Those pitchers combined ERA is 8.20 against Cleveland.

First place Indians aren't there by luck.

** Guess who has the most quality starts in the league? Not Kershaw, Felix or Verlander; that would be Cubs Travis Wood. He's had a quality start in all nine games.

** Miguel Cabrera went 4-4 with three home runs on Sunday night against the Rangers. Cabrera's stats right now are scary. His three homers give him 11, one less than most in the AL. He leads the league in batting average (.387), RBI (47), runs scored (34), hits (67), total bases (114), on-base percentage (.457), and he's one point off the lead for slugging percentage (.659).

It is looking like back-to-back Triple Crown MVP is a distinct possibility.

** The streaks continue for the Brewers. This week they had another four-game losing streak, their fourth streak of four losses already this year (plus another streak of three games), to go along with a nine-game winning streak last month.

** Matt Harvey has been amazing, everyone knows. The young starter for the Mets is 5-0 and New York is 7-2 when he pitches. But in all the next games following his start, the Mets are 0-9. Ain't much for momentum.

Speaking of those Amazin's, Rick Ankiel got cut by the terrible Astros last week. The next day he was signed by the Mets and started five games this week in center field.

** Weird stat of the week: According ESPN stats, Reds teammates Shin-Soo Choo and Joey Votto have had the same number of plate appearances (207) and seen the exact same number of pitches (862). Both numbers lead the league.

** Craziest inning of the week: Reds flame-throwing lefty closer Aroldis Chapman was called upon to save a 2-1 Reds lead over the Phillies Sunday. He walked the leadoff batter on four pitches, and with Erik Kratz up to bat, Philly manager Charlie Manuel used pitcher Cliff Lee as a pinch runner. If that isn't strange enough, Lee was promptly picked off at first base! Kratz then proceeded to hit a home run! The game would have been over and the Phillies won, but instead it was tied 2-2. But not for long; the very next batter Freddy Galvis hit another home run for a walk-off and the Phillies won anyway. For Lee, all was forgiven (although he probably won't be used next time).

Players of the Week

Lots of good candidates this week.

AL: David Ortiz, Red Sox. Could have gone with Miggy here, but I prefer Ortiz' consistency and game influence. Big Papi shrugged off a terrible week previously to get right back on track, picking up 11 hits, 3 walks, hitting 3 homers, and knocking in 12 runs as the Red Sox won five games in a row on the road.

NL: Joey Votto, Reds. Votto got on base 19 times in six games, hit pairs of homers and doubles, collected 5 RBI and 7 run scored, helping Cincinnati win six games in a row.

AL BEast Update

2013-05-20T11:46:00.002-04:00

AL BEast Notebook - May 20

** Another week, another significant injury for the New York Yankees as Andy Pettitte joins the rest of his All-Star teammates on the disabled list. Pettitte has a strained trapezius; it may be the first time I've even heard of the muscle. On the bright side, with Sunday's rainout and a day off Thursday, there is no need of a fill-in starter right away and New York can go with a 4-man rotation a couple times before his spot comes up.

In the first game of the Yankees/Indians doubleheader Monday, salaries for the Yankees lineup totaled $30.35 M. Salaries for the Indians lineup = $41.35 M. Bet you didn’t expect that.

It has really been a weird season for the Yankees and nothing short of a miracle that they are still in first place. In that doubleheader Chris Nelson, Corban Joseph, Alberto Gonzalez, Preston Claiborne, Austin Romine, Vidal Nuno and Adam Warren, along with Lyle Overbay, Jayson Nix, Brennan Boesch, and Ben Francisco all got on the field in pinstripes. Sounds more like an early Spring Training tryout, not a pair of mid-May games for the New York Yankees. Not surprising, those Bombers only scored in two of the 18 innings that day.

Yankees have had 13 shutouts over the last two seasons, and Hiroki Kuroda has started and won 7 of them.

** Boston Red Sox bounced back from their 2-9 stretch to win five in a row all on the road. Sox are now AL-best 14-7 on the road.

It has really been a roller-coaster season for David Ortiz. After missing the first 15 games (the team going 11-4), he returned in a flurry; batting .512 into the May 3 game and hitting in 15 straight games. But then a Boston columnist wrote an accusatory article accusing Big Papi of cheating and his on-field play plummeted as he hit just .175 over two weeks with RBI in just one game, and the Red Sox went on their big skid. But since then Ortiz turned it on again, hitting in 8 straight games, collecting 12 RBI in a five game stretch last week and the Sox are back to winning.

Big Papi's teammate, former-MVP Dustin Pedroia is also on fire, hitting in 11 straight games, batting .343 on the season and producing 51 runs (RBI + R - HR).

But the top of the rotation continues to be the story in Boston. The Red Sox are 15-3 in games started by Lester and Buchholz, and neither pitcher has suffered a loss (12-0).

** Meanwhile, since losing Wei-Yin Chen to the DL the Baltimore Orioles have lost five in a row, all at home. It was not a good week for closer Jim Johnson. After converting 35 straight opportunities, Johnson blew two consecutive saves, Tuesday against the Padres and Saturday in epic fashion versus the Rays. In the two games he allowed ten baserunners and seven runs while recording just four outs (one via an outfield assist to third base). The game on Saturday snapped Baltimore's streak of 108 wins when leading after seven innings.

The Birds continue to be led by the incredible trio of Chris Davis, Manny Machado and Adam Jones, who are each hitting above .310 with a combined 72 extra-base hits. Of other players only Mike Napoli has more XBH than that average of 24.

** Since starting 14-18, Tampa Bay Rays are on a roll winning 9 of 11. The Rays and Orioles had an interesting weekend together. On Friday, Baltimore scored six runs in the eighth inning; the next day Tampa scored six runs in the ninth inning.

Matt Moore is the first pitcher to eight wins, but due to high pitch counts he doesn't go deep into games. In fact, he has recorded an out past the sixth inning just three times despite throwing over 100 pitches in all nine starts.

David Price went on the DL this week on May 15. He earned just one win in his nine games. On May 15, 2012 Price earned his sixth win.

** Not much to say about the Toronto Blue Jays who got embarrassed at Yankees Stadium over the weekend after it looked like they may be turning a corner.

One bright spot is Ramon Ortiz, who turns 40 this week. Since replacing injured J.A. Happ, Ortiz has had two good starts in a row, giving up just one run in each.

The postponed game comes at a good time, stopping some negative momentum and giving them a little more rest as several key injured players are getting close to returning (Josh Johnson, Dustin McGowan, Happ, and Rajai Davis), and an extra day to prepare for a divisional homestand.

baseball Week 6: "Week of the Pitcher"

2013-05-13T16:34:00.001-04:00

It was a week for pitching gems. There may not have been a no-hitter or perfect game but a whole slew of guys came pretty darn close.

Cardinals rookie Shelby Miller allowed a leadoff single on Friday, then retired the next 27 batters.
The next day, his teammate Adam Wainwright pitched another complete game shutout, allowing just two hits
Also on Friday, Red Sox Jon Lester pitched a one-hit shutout over the Blue Jays.
Mets Matt Harvey pitched a one-hit shutout on Monday with 12 strikeouts and no walks and didn't even get a win for it (Mets won 1-0 in ten innings, Harvey pitched nine).
White Sox Chris Sale finished off the week on a strong note, giving up just one single in a complete game.

If that wasn't enough, those five pitchers combined to walk one batter in those 45 innings. And six hits.

And that wasn't all the great pitching we saw. James Shields gave up just two hits in eight scoreless innings on Monday (with nine strikeouts), Jorge De La Rosa pitched a couple great games (more on that below), and Scott Feldman pitched two-hit ball in shutting out the Rangers over seven.

What was most amazing about those gems by Miller and Wainwright was that they were against the Rockies, who last week I mentioned had the best offense all of baseball. Rockies batters went 50 at-bats between hits (0 for 50!). And that series with the Cardinals followed a three game series at Coors Field against the Yankees where the Rockies only scored 3 runs. Safe to say, Rockies no longer have the #1 offense in baseball.

Speaking of the Rockies and Yankees, Wednesday's game was pretty remarkable for Vernon Wells. The Yankee "outfielder" went 3 for 4 including a two-run homer in the first inning, and a single to lead off the ninth inning. He then stole second, scored the go-ahead run, and because of a pinch-hitting situation was asked to play third base in the bottom of the ninth for the first time in his major league career. And of course, he fielded a hot-shot in that inning and cleanly recorded the out at first.

With all the concern about the Yankees injuries people expected pitchers to work around Robinson Cano in the Yankees lineup. For whatever reason that has not been the case. Cano has just one walk in the last 12 games and three free passes in the last 20.

Joe Mauer doesn't just have an 11-game hitting streak; he has ten doubles in his last eight games, along with eight walks. Mauer had a real hot week hitting .533 with six multi-hit games (OBP of .600) as the surprising Twins stay at .500.

It has really been a rough year for Philip Humber, and his year at the major league level is likely over. Humber relieved Erik Bedard (of course) in the sixth inning with a 3-1 lead after Bedard gave up a leadoff single. Humber proceeded to give up a home run, two triples, a single and a walk, recording just two outs. Humber was released with a record of 0-8 and ERA of 9.59 and a WHIP over 2.

What I can't understand is why manager Bo Porter takes out Bedard with a 3-1 lead after 90 pitches. In fact, this was even the longest outing of the season for the veteran southpaw. On April 9, Porter took out Bedard with a 13-0 lead before he could even qualify for a win. On April 21 Bedard was relieved after four innings with a 4-2 lead (which the Astros eventually lost). The baseball gods frown on managerial moves like that.

Speaking of the Astros, before getting sent down Rick Ankiel had four singles and 35 strikeouts.

Rays pitcher Alex Cobb had a day for the ages on Friday. Cobb tallied 13 strikeouts while recording 14 outs. And the third inning went like this:

Strikeout/wild pitch, steal second base, strikeout, steal of third, strikeout, balk (run scored), strikeout.

Alex Cobb struck out every runner he faced and still gave up a run.

And to wrap it up, this was the first time all season that a Rays pitcher didn't pitch at least five full innings.

Another week, another streak for Milwaukee. The Brewers are currently on a four game slide, their third losing streak of 4+ games, going along with a nine game winning streak in April.

Justin Upton hit 12 home runs in the Braves first 23 games, and has hit zero in the last 14 games.

I believe Craig Kimbrel is the most overpowering, dominant pitcher in baseball. But Tuesday night didn't quite go all the way as he scripted. The Braves closer struck out the first two batters he faced. Then with two strikes, Devin Mesoraco (.224) hit a home run to center field to tie the game. The next batter, Shin-Soo Choo homered to center to win the game (and lose it for Kimbrel).

The Dodgers have the highest on base percentage in the NL, a healthy Clayton Kershaw pitching good as ever, and they are still in last place.

Here's something I will probably write more about later: on Thursday night Jon Lackey gave up four runs that were all considered "unearned" because of an error. He made the error! The sixth inning went single, walk, bad throw by Lackey, and a home run. How is he not responsible for those runs?

Mets closer Bobby Parnell has four wins. No pitcher on the Marlins has more than two.

Players of the Week

AL: Evan Longoria, Rays. Longoria went on a tear this week, batting .464 with three homers, five doubles, 11 RBI and eight runs scored helping Tampa win five in a row and climb over .500 for the first time since the first week of the season. In May, Longoria has 19 hits (10 XBH), 12 RBI, and 13 runs scored in 11 games.

NL: Jorge De La Rosa, Rockies. They were not the complete game variety, but De La Rosa pitched two shutouts this week against two teams with the best records in the league. Against the Yankees and Cardinals, the Rockies pitcher gave up just five hits in 13 scoreless innings. He held St Louis hitless into the seventh inning.

AL BEast team capsules - quick news and numbers

2013-05-13T15:07:00.001-04:00

AL BEast Notebook – May 13

New York Yankees
Despite having 11 players on the disabled list (including four third basemen and shortstops), the Yankees stand alone in first place. Since April 7, New York is 22-9.

Mariano Rivera has turned back the clock, picking up an AL-best 15 saves in 15 opportunities, supported by a 1.65 ERA and sub-1 WHIP.
After a shaky start, Hiroki Kuroda has thrown six straight quality starts. He’s now 5-2 with a 2.31 ERA.
Robinson Cano has been the one consistent in the lineup all year. Cano is hitting .311 with 10 home runs, 10 doubles, 23 RBI, and 22 runs scored, and committed just one error in 320 innings at second base.
Vernon Wells has been a big contributor to the team, hitting .293 with 9 home runs, 20 RBI and 19 runs scored. And the Angels are paying most of his salary.

Boston Red Sox
Two weeks ago I wrote that it was all smiles in Red Sox Nation, as Boston held the best record in baseball with a favorable upcoming schedule. Things haven’t stayed so sunny.

The Red Sox are falling apart. They are 2-8 in their last ten games, including losing 5 of 6 at home to the Twins and Blue Jays. The games haven’t been close, either. Boston was outscored 33-62 over those last ten.
The bullpen was supposed to be a big strength for the team, but it is actually the main cause of the problems. Hanrahan got hurt then got hurt again in his first game back and will miss the rest of the season. Andrew Bailey filled in well as closer until he got hurt. Tazawa has not been effective. Actually, the Sox haven’t had many save opportunities at all lately enough to worry about who’s the closer. The Red Sox bullpen WHIP and ERA are highest in the AL.
After his late start, David Ortiz hit .500 in nine April games. In May he is batting just .179.
Red Sox games have a lot of whiffs. Boston hitters have struck out 317 times, more than any AL team. Their pitchers have also struck out the most batters (363).
It isn’t all bad for the Sox. Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester continue to pitch well. They are combined 11-0.
Here are a few things to add comfort to Red Sox fans. The three batters they sent to the Dodgers are all hitting well (Adrian Gonzalez .345, Carl Crawford .315, Nick Punto .338). Jed Lowrie is hitting .310 for Oakland with 13 doubles. James Loney is hitting .376 for the Rays. Marco Scutaro is hitting .479 since April 29 for the Giants. And that’s excusing Josh Reddick, who hit 32 home runs in Oakland last year.

Baltimore Orioles
Orioles have been very consistent all year, having scored the most runs in the league and have the best run differential in the division.

Chris Davis was red-hot for the first three weeks, and Manny Machado has been on an absolute tear the last three. Since the middle of the doubleheader on April 20 (22 games), Machado is hitting .396, with three straight three-hit games over the weekend.
Jim Johnson has converted 35 consecutive regular season save opportunities, most in franchise history. Johnson has not allowed a run in any save situation this year (14 innings).
There are suddenly some concerns with the starting rotation. Wei-Yin Chen was cruising along with five shutout innings Sunday when he left with an oblique strain. An oblique strain usually means a trip to the DL. If so, he would be joining teammate Miguel Gonzalez, who went on the DL Thursday with blister problems. They have sent down pitchers Steve Johnson, Jake Arrieta and Zach Britton (and Josh Stinson) to the minors in the last few weeks. Freddy Garcia has been starting and is scheduled for Wednesday, but I trust Garcia about as far as I can throw him.

Toronto Blue Jays
Despite a 5-3 stretch recently (a big improvement), there is still plenty of concern in Toronto.

Josh Johnson is on the disabled list, Brandon Morrow was scratched from his start on Sunday, and J.A. Happ was struck in the head with a line drive last week. Ricky Romero was removed after recording just one out in his second start and promptly returned to the minors. Blue Jays pitchers have already issued the most walks and allowed the most earned runs and unearned runs, and these recent events put even more pressure on R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle, who haven’t been very good anyway.
Rajai Davis strained his oblique over the weekend and will also be shelved for a couple weeks, the Jays second leadoff hitter to go down.
Toronto is in last place by five games and has the worst run differential in the league.
There is one thing the Blue Jays do well and that is hit home runs. They lead the league in bombs (51 in 39 games).
Jose Bautista is starting to heat up. He is hitting .333 in May (with .453 OBP), although his two homers in Sunday’s blowout win were his first since April 27.

Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay has won five straight games to crawl above .500 (19-18).

Here’s a strange situation: the Rays hitters are Top Ten in runs, home runs, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage while Rays pitchers are in the bottom half of the league in ERA, quality starts, batting average against, on-base percentage and home runs.
Matt Moore is 6-0 and had a quality start in every game outside of Coors Field. His 2.14 ERA is among the league leaders.
James Loney has now accumulated enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. His .376 average trails only Miguel Cabrera.
Evan Longoria continues to do it all: .333 average, 47 hits, 9 home runs, 10 doubles, 28 runs scored, and 26 RBI.

(Disclaimer: Again, the Astros are so bad that when giving team rankings in the league, the Astros are ignored. So technically worst probably means second-worst.)

Baseball Power Report: Week 5 (month 1)

2013-05-06T22:47:00.001-04:00

A month is in the books so here is my early May Power Report. For each team I have a ranking and a few interesting stats/observations. Enjoy it, because it took a lot of work!

(I do these once a month and prefer little movement. When some "expert" moves a team up 6 spots and then down 5 spots a week later, that says more about the "expert" than the team. That's why here some teams with worse records have better rank than "surprise" teams I expect to dip soon.)

30. Astros. Lost 10 out of 11 and outscored by 24 runs the last two. The 198 runs they’ve allowed is 34 more than the next team. On pace for 41-121 record. They’ve also racked up an impressive 323 strikeouts, which will shatter the all time record. Philip Humber not only has the highest ERA but also the lowest run support; that’s how you go 0-7. There’s no question that second baseman Jose Altuve (NL-most 43 hits, .331 average) will be the team’s All-Star rep.

29. Marlins. Even with their 14 run outburst against Roy Halladay on Sunday, Marlins are the only team yet to score 100 runs (in 32 games), and with the only real legitimate player (Giancarlo Stanton) out another month, runs will continue to be hard to come by.

(The Astros and Marlins are so bad that for the rest of the league, if I say worst/lowest/fewest/most/highest, it means among everyone else.)

28. Cubs. Believe it or not, the Cubs starting pitchers have given up the lowest batting average of any rotation (.218) and they have the most strikeouts in the NL. Unfortunately, the bullpen has dragged down the staff with a .356 on-base percentage allowed and 8 blown saves.

27. Padres. They have no hitters you've ever heard of but it is the pitching that has been bad. League's worst ERA for starting pitchers. But since San Diego's 5-15 start they are a respectable 8-3.

26. Mets already have 14 losses to the Marlins, Phillies, Rockies, Dodgers and Padres. All starters not named Matt Harvey have combined for a 5.63 ERA.

25. White Sox. The Sox have gotten some great starting pitching and bullpen work but the offense is anemic. They have scored the fewest runs and at .281 have the lowest on-base percentage in all of MLB. They have three regulars (Adam Dunn, Jeff Keppinger, and Tyler Flowers) batting under .200. Right now they have less than half as many walks as the A's and yet more strikeouts.

24. Mariners. Michael Morse has an impressive 9 home runs, but he's hitting .091 with runners in scoring position, giving him 14 RBI. King Felix and Hisashi Iwakuma have been an outstanding duo at the top of the rotation, yielding just 17 earned runs in 95.1 innings (1.60 ERA), but starters for the rest of the games have been atrocious (100 IP, 76 ER = 6.84 ERA).

23. Blue Jays. Yes, I picked them to win the East and I still think they can get back into the race. But at this point Toronto has had one of the worst offenses (.232 average), worst fielding (16 unearned runs), and worst pitching (.776 on-base plus slugging percentage allowed) and worst run differential. Jays hit a lot of home runs but that's it. I'm not writing them off yet but there is definitely room for improvement. J.P. Arencibia doesn't watch many pitches: 42 strikeouts, 2 walks.

22. Twins. Off to a good start but it's not sustainable. They have very little power, the pitching staff doesn't strike anyone out, and they have given up 43 more hits than they've produced.

21. Phillies. You know there's trouble when Kyle Kendrick is leading the staff. Phillies are a shocking 5-15 in starts by Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Roy Halladay.

20. Angels. A team that was supposed to be much improved is the biggest disappointment. Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo are starting to pick up but Josh Hamilton (.208) and Albert Pujols (.237) are not. Chris Iannetta has had a base stolen off him 21 times in 24 games and caught only two runners. But the biggest problem has been the pitching, which has been the league's worst. Angels are 9 games behind the Rangers.

19. Brewers. Already this season Milwaukee has a losing streak of 5 games, winning streak of 9 games, and another losing streak of 5 games. Ryan Braun, Carlos Gomez, Jean Segura and Yuniesky Betancourt have been great but the pitching has been very inconsistent.

18. Rockies. After an amazing start the Rockies haven't won back-to-back games since April 19-20. Hitting has reigned both home at Coors Field and on the road and the Rockies have the best offense in baseball led by Michael Cuddyer, Carlos Gonzalez, Dexter Fowler, Troy Tulowitzki and Wilin Rosario. The pitching is better than last year, but we don't know how much better.

17. Dodgers. There is a lot of great with Clayton Kershaw, Adrian Gonzalez (.337 average, .398 OBP), Carl Crawford (.383 OBP), Nick Punto (.441 OBP), A.J. Ellis (.390 OBP), and Mark Ellis (.342 average), but the Dodgers still sit four games under .500. Josh Beckett is still winless in six starts and Matt Kemp has just one homer. One other interesting stat: Dodgers have a .305 batting average against lefties, best in the majors.

16. Rays. Didn't see this coming: since April 17, James Loney is hitting 28/53 (.528) and providing Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist with some much-needed support. Matt Joyce has 6 home runs and 9 RBI (in 26 games!). Tampa hitters homered in 17 straight games, a streak that ended surprisingly in Colorado Saturday. Rays starters are now one of six teams since 1916 to have starters pitch at least five innings in each of the team's first 31 games. Matt Moore has been great, which is a good thing because David Price has not (1 win in 7 starts, 6.25 ERA).

15. Indians. Here's a stat you probably couldn't guess: Indians pitchers have the lowest opponents batting average. Catcher Carlos Santana doesn't offer much defensively, but with the bat he is crushing, leading the league with a .379 average and adding power (6 homers). Mark Reynolds is hitting an un-Mark-Reynolds-like .296. The pitching is erratic, but the hitting should be good enough to keep them around the middle of the pack.

14. Royals. Jeremy Guthrie is 9-0 since August 3. The new additions in the rotation (James Shields and Ervin Santana) have lifted the Royals to one of the most productive rotations in the AL. At 17-10 KC is off to a hot start but I’m not a believer. There is no power in the lineup (just 16 total homers) and their .393 OBP with runners in scoring position will drop. Things get tougher as 23 of their next 26 games are against the Orioles, Yankees, Angels, Athletics, Cardinals, and Rangers. We’ll see where they are at in a month, but my guess is on the other side of .500.

13. Diamondbacks have done a good job fighting through injuries but have one glaring weakness: the bullpen. Arizona relievers have blown 10 saves in 18 chances. Funny thing is the peripheral numbers aren't bad: 3.12 ERA, .229 average against. Starter Ian Kennedy hasn't won a game since Opening Day. Didi Gregorius is batting .433 in 8 games with 7 extra-base hits.

12. Pirates. Hitting has improved and pitching has slipped as Pittsburgh floats closer to the .500 mark. Jason Grilli has been lights out: 12/12 in saves, 21/4 K/BB, 0.69 ERA and 0.85 WHIP. One early cause for concern: Pirates relievers have thrown the most innings of any bullpen. Pedro Alvarez has had 39 at bats with runners in scoring position and just 6 hits (.154).

11. Yankees. Watching them every day I feel like they should be lower, but they keep winning. Looking at their record I feel like I should put them higher, but they keep losing players to injury. Right now Jeter, A-Rod, Teixeira, Granderson, Youkilis, Cervelli, Nova, Pineda and Chamberlain are all on the disabled list, and Eduardo Nunez and David Robertson are also hurt. There is no doubt that a 18-12 start is much better than anyone could have anticipated, but can it continue with Jayson Nix, Chris Nelson, Lyle Overbay, Ichiro and Chris Stewart playing every day? Robinson Cano has serious legitimacy as the MVP so far.

10. Giants. Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval haven’t disappointed, and Madison Bumgarner (1.55 ERA, 0.84 WHIP) has leapfrogged Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum as the dominant ace of the staff. Giants have allowed ten more home runs and doubles then their offense has provided, but they’ve still outscored their opponent by ten. Giants starters have 10 wins, relievers have 9.

9. Braves. 6-11 record since their 12-1 start. Evan Gattis and Chris Johnson have been good surprises, but overall Justin Upton hasn’t gotten much support in the lineup. Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann have all been hurt, but B.J. Upton, Dan Uggla and Heyward (when he’s played) have been totally awful, combining for a .158 average. And while their starting pitching overall has been great, the Braves have lost nine of the last ten starts by Kris Medlen, Mike Minor and Paul Maholm. Justin Upton's 12 home runs is worth mentioning again.

8. Athletics. Traditionally a pitching team, things have changed dramatically in Oakland, and without any true slugger. I don’t know what’s so scary about the Athletics lineup but they have tallied the most (by far) base-on-balls in the league, extra-base hits, and runs. (Sounds like Moneyball to me.) They are also near the top in stolen bases. 39 year-old Bartolo Colon has issued one walk in six starts.

7. Orioles. Speaking of extra-base hits, Chris Davis, Manny Machado and Adam Jones have 53 of them, most of any teammate trios, and if you add Nate McLouth’s nine stolen bases, that makes four O’s that get themselves around the bases into scoring position. Matt Wieters isn’t doing anything with the bat but he’s been great defensively, throwing out eight would-be-basestealers (57%).

6. Cardinals have 23 quality starts in 31 games and the lowest starters ERA. In fact, all five starting pitchers have an ERA under 2.80. That’s good because their relievers have been the worst group in all of baseball. With Beltran, Holliday, Yadier Molina and Allen Craig, the St Louis lineup is very balanced and has been the best with runners in scoring position, hitting .328 with a .405 on-base percentage. Cardinals are MLB-best 13-6 on the road.

5. Reds. Shin-Soo Choo has been the most impactful new addition to any team this year, with his .463 on-base percentage in the leadoff spot. He has a .615 on-base percentage with runners in scoring position, and thanks to 8 walks in those situations actually has more runs scored than at-bats. Joey Votto’s overall OBP is higher, at .464. Jay Bruce hit 66 home runs the last two seasons but has just one so far in 2013 (with 46 strikeouts).

4. Nationals. I said they had the most complete (and best) team and even with their poorish start I still believe. The strange things are Strasburg’s struggles, the offense’s inability to score runs, and the most errors in baseball. Nats only hitting .203 against lefties. Jordan Zimmerman has been outstanding (5-1, 1.64) but Gio Gonzalez (4.97) and Dan Haren (5.01) have a long way to go. If I had to make my season predictions again I would still pick the Nats to make the World Series.

3. Red Sox. The Sox still are tied for the best record in baseball despite getting swept in Texas. David Ortiz has a 25-game hitting streak, going back to last July and through a couple stints on the DL. Mike Napoli is enjoying the Green Monster as he leads the league with 22 extra-base hits. Clay Buchholz has won all 6 of his starts, with a 1.01 ERA and 0.96 ERA. I’m still not picking them to win the division, but with their soft schedule the next four weeks Boston should stay around the top for another month.

2. Rangers. Yu Darvish has emerged as one of the top pitchers in all of baseball, but the key to the Rangers success has been the rookies: Nick Tepesch, Justin Grimm, Robbie Ross and Tanner Scheppers. Even with their hitter-friendly home of the Ballpark in Arlington, the Rangers have the league-lowest ERA and WHIP. They are also the only team without a blown save.

1. Tigers. Miguel Cabrera has picked up right where he left off. He leads baseball in hits and has walked 17 times and has knocked in 36 runs already. He is definitely enjoying lots of protection in the Tigers lineup with Prince (8 HR, .429 OBP, 32 RBI), and Torii Hunter (.361 average). Being on the unemployment market and then in the minors has gotten Jose Valverde’s attention; he has only allowed one baserunner in four innings and put the back of the Tigers bullpen under control. And then there’s Verlander, Sanchez and Scherzer. Any question why the Tigers are in the #1 spot?

Players of the Week

AL: Ryan Raburn, Indians. (I could have gone with Miguel Cabrera here, but he did all his damage in one game against the Astros.) Raburn had two multi-homer games followed by a 4-hit game, and another multi-hit game on Sunday.

NL: Carlos Gomez, Brewers. Milwaukee lost 5 in a row, but you can’t blame Gomez. He went 12-26 with 6 extra-base hits and 5 stolen bases. The centerfielder is now hitting .368 on the season, with 6 HR and 7 SBs.

hope you didn't go to bed early on Tuesday night

2013-05-01T11:03:00.001-04:00

Last night may be one of the nuttiest baseball days I can ever remember! Here are the highlights:

- Braves pitcher Tim Hudson doubled and homered, helping himself win his 200^th career game.

Other starting pitchers weren't so lucky...

- Mets' Jeremy Hefner pitches 8.1 shutout innings, leaves leading 1-0 with a man on third. His reliever Brandon Lyon gives up a single for a run, then the Marlins walk-off with a wild pitch.

- Trevor Cahill of the Diamondbacks also pitched a shutout into the ninth inning. After he was removed (after throwing just 88 pitches), J.J. Putz gave up a two-run homer to lose the game 2-1.

So two starting pitchers were removed in the ninth inning leading 1-0 and both teams lost.

- Poor Robin Ventura, all he needs is a reliever he can count on. He brought in a new White Sox pitcher for the sixth inning in a tie game. The pitcher walked a batter and was taken out. The new pitcher gave up a double to his only batter and was removed. The third reliever gave up single, single, walk, wild pitch, wild pitch, home run. Suffice to say, the game was no longer tied.

- In the Pirates and Brewers game, both starting pitchers were removed after five innings. Down 5-7, the Pirates hit a 3-run homer in the top of the sixth inning to take the lead. The Pirates relievers then gave up home runs in the bottom of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings and the Brewers won 12-8.

- It was a Home Run Derby in Cleveland! Indians hit seven home runs by six different players, and a couple Phillies poke one out, too.

- Speaking of home runs, Blue Jays Edwin Encarnacion hit an upper-deck shot that went over 500 feet, then after Boston took the lead EE hit a another two-run shot in the seventh inning to win the game.

- Nate McLouth led off the Orioles vs. Mariners game with a home run. Then after Manny Machado followed with a double, pitcher Brandon Mauerer threw two wild pitches to Nick Markakis and Machado scored. Double and two wild pitches, might as well have been another home run!

- The Angels and Athletics combined for five wild pitches, three errors and eleven walks. Do you think going 19 innings on Monday had anything to do with it?

- The Padres and Cubs combined to get 18 extra-base hits (plus 3 stolen bases).

- Last April, Philip Humber threw a perfect game. This April for the Astros he went 0-6.

It was a tale of two Hiroki’s in this game. Kuroda struggled early, needing 67 pitches to get through three innings. There were lots of baserunners, but all seven were stranded and none scored. It took the Yankee pitcher 41 pitches to get through the next four innings, and the only hitter to reach base was caught stealing.

Astros DH Chris Carter hit a home run in the eighth inning, but that was after his 46th strikeout of the month, a new record.

Yup, it was one of those days.

baseball facts n' stats: Week 4

2013-04-29T13:34:00.001-04:00

If you saw my previous article written earlier today, you know that the Red Sox have the best record in baseball. After one month, the Red Sox, Royals and Pirates are all alone in first place, and after Colorado lost two to Arizona this weekend, the Rockies and Diamondbacks are now tied for the division lead. Take that for what it's worth, we've seen it before.

With that in mind, here are some notes from the last week of this great baseball season.

- As mentioned in my Red Sox article, Boston is 14-0 in games that Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, and Felix Doubront pitch.

- Boston's schedule through May 30 includes 27 games against the Twins, Blue Jays, White Sox, Indians, Rays and Phillies.

- Red Sox hit 29 doubles in seven games last week (ten more than anyone else).

- After a slow start, the Pittsburgh Pirates are 11-4 against the Cardinals, Reds, Braves and D-Backs.

- The Pirates' pitching staff, statistically one of the best, is led by A.J. Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez, and Jeff Locke. Who would have guessed.

- As of Saturday those free-spending Angels, Dodgers and Blue Jays were all under .500 (Dodgers now at 12-12).

- Justin Upton has as many home runs as the Miami Marlins team.

- Saturday was the first time the Braves had lost a game in which Justin Upton had homered. They were 10-0.

- Surprise! Despite all that was written prior to the season about losing Swisher, Ibanez, Martin, A-Rod, Granderson and Teixeira, the Yankees have hit the most home runs in the American League.

- Rays have homered in 14 straight games. They had zero the six games before that.

- Without a doubt, Angels Joe Blanton has been the worst pitcher in baseball. In five starts he has allowed 47 hits (including 18 extra-base hits and four stolen bases) in about 27 innings. Only four individual batters (Bryce Harper, Chris Davis, Justin Upton and Carlos Santana) have a higher OPS than he has allowed.

- A lot of big-time hitters are in serious slumps. Andrew McCutchen was 1-22 (.045) last week, Albert Pujols 3-27, Carlos Gonzalez 2-24, Mike Trout 3-24, and Adam LaRoche 0-24.

- Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista hit a combined 8 home runs in a five-game stretch this week, yet the Blue Jays went 1-4 in those games.

- And now my crusade going after terrible relievers and pitchers who can't throw strikes:

-- Baltimore Orioles had won 17 straight extra-innings games. How did that end? Closer Jim Johnson hits a batter to load the bases and then walks Maicer Izturis, of all people (on four pitches), to lose the game.

-- In the same inning, Blue Jays' Aaron Laffey walked Yankees' Ben Francisco (backup DH), Chris Stewart (backup catcher) and Jayson Nix (backup third baseman).

-- In that game, Blue Jays' pitchers walked ten Yankees and and Francisco, Stewart, Nix, Ichiro and Brett Gardner accounted for seven of those.

-- He didn't account for all of them, but two of Felix Doubront's last three games had 15 walks issued by both teams. In Saturday's game there were eight bases-on-balls in the first two innings. Yawn...

-- In a tie game in the seventh inning on Saturday, Cardinals pitcher Trevor Rosenthal was pulled after walking a batter. His replacement Joe Kelly threw a wild pitch, hit a batter, then walked in the go-ahead run.

-- Cubs Carlos Marmol has walked six batters in his last four innings. On the season he has 10 BB in less than 11 innings pitched. (Do you trust him?)

Players of the Week
Couple of unlikely candidates.

AL: Josh Donaldson. The Athletics third baseman had 12 hits with 7 doubles and 7 walks, and knocked in 10 runs.

NL: Russell Martin. After a dreadful start, Martin (along with all the Pirates) have really picked up. Martin hit .171 the first two weeks and .409 the last two weeks, including four home runs last week leading Pittsburgh on a 4-2 road trip.

all smiles in Red Sox Nation

2013-04-29T10:54:00.001-04:00

AL BEast Notebook - April 29

There's a lot of buzz right now about the Red Sox hot start. Yes, after a 93-loss season, today they have the best record in all of baseball at 18-7, and they've been quite impressive. Here are some of the reasons why.

- Starting pitching has allowed three runs or less in 23 out of 25 games.

- Boston is 14-0 in games started by Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and Felix Doubront.

- Boston hitters are batting 52 points higher than their opponents (.272 to .221).

- With runners on base, the Red Sox hitters lead the league in average (.310), on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

- Conversely, with runners on base, Red Sox pitchers have allowed the lowest average (.176), on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

- Dustin Pedroia is hitting .330, along with the second-highest walk total in the AL. He actually only has six extra base hits and leads the American League in singles. But all those singles and walks is just fine because...

- Mike Napoli has fallen in love with the Green Monster, hitting a league-high 13 doubles in 25 games and compiling 27 RBI already.

- Jacoby Ellsbury is only batting .273, but he has 11 stolen bases already.

- David Ortiz is back to his old self. He has 16 hits in eight games and dating back to July, has a 20-game hitting streak. In those eight games this season he has 11 RBI and a .529 on-base percentage.

- Red Sox closer Joel Hanrahan struggled then got hurt, yet his replacement Andrew Bailey has been superb. In seven games and innings since taking over, Bailey has given up just three hits, one run, and picked up five saves.

- Looking at the upcoming schedule, you can expect them to keep it up. If we pretend the Twins (who are at 11-10) lose in Detroit tonight, then only 3 of the next 30 games for the Red Sox are against teams above .500. Take a look at the schedule.

It has been a crazy month in Boston. After all they've gone through with a Patriots Day tragedy and successful citywide manhunt, it feels appropriate that they are having a happy start.

early look at AL East Awards

2013-04-26T15:53:00.001-04:00

AL BEast Notebook - April 26

Four weeks into the season isn't too soon to evaluate award races for the AL East. Well, maybe it is... but it's still fun.

First Month Awards

MVP: Chris Davis, Orioles. Davis leads the division in home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and runs created and WAR (sabermetric stats), and all that with virtually no protection in the lineup (J.J. Hardy, batting .181). Napoli and Cano honorable mention.

Best Pitcher: Matt Moore, Rays. 4-0 in four starts in two good hitters' parks (Arlington and Camden Yards) along with dominant performances over the Yankees and Indians. ERA of just 1.04, WHIP of 0.92 and batting average against of .116. Apologies to Clay Buchholz.

Biggest Surprise: Daniel Nava, Red Sox. The 30-year old career fourth outfielder's strong start has allowed him to take over left field from Jonny Gomes and Jackie Bradley, Jr. Nava is third in the AL East in on-base plus slugging percentage (behind just Davis and Cano) with 18 hits in 18 games along with 10 walks, 4 homers, 11 runs, and 15 RBI.

Biggest Disappointment: David Price, Rays. Tampa is 0-5 in last year Cy Young winner's starts. After racking up more Ks than hits three years in a row, he's struck out just 26 batters while allowing 37 hits, and lots of the extra-base variety (five home runs and ten doubles), although neither in recent loss to Yankees).

Manager: John Farrell, Red Sox. The new sheriff in town came to fix the pitching in Boston and in April he has. Starting pitchers have allowed three runs or less in 20 of the Sox 22 games. Boston’s team ERA has rebounded from worst to best. The offense has also been surprisingly strong, leading the division in on-base percentage, helping the Red Sox jump out to an early tie for best record in the American League at 15-7.

Rookie: Manny Machado, Orioles. He’s not technically a rookie since he had 181 at bats in 2012, but the 20 year old wonder kid has blossomed into an All-Star already. He’s batted #2 and played third base every inning of Baltimore’s games. Along with racking up defensive highlights he is showing a clutch gene, going 6 for 9 with runners in scoring position and two outs, for 11 of his 14 RBI. If not rookie, he's been the breakout player at least.

Crazy Stat: Toronto’s J.P. Arencibia, Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, and Colby Rasmus have combined to hit 22 home runs and just 31 singles. They also have 98 strikeouts.

Updated Projections

Orioles 88 (0)

Blue Jays 87 (-2)

Yankees 84 (0)

Red Sox 84 (+4)

Rays 80 (-3)

injury updates and recent moves

2013-04-26T13:41:00.000-04:00

AL BEast Notebook - April 26

Here's an update of injuries and significant transactions (from reputable sources around the teams) all organized nicely to help you keep tabs on what's going on around the division.

New York Yankees

- Kevin Youkilis has been out a week with a sore back. He was supposed to be back yesterday but needed some more rest.

- As for the regulars, Curtis Granderson is the most likely to return first. He was hitting off a tee this week and could be two weeks away. Mark Teixeira was targeting May 1, but is now realistically hoping for a late-May return. Michael Pineda threw a simulated inning and is hoping to make a June return. Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter are hoping to be ready in July.

Boston Red Sox

- Shane Victorino has missed three games this week with back stiffness. On Thursday John Farrell said he will not return to the lineup until he is “symptom-free.”

- John Lackey threw this week and is on track to come off the DL and pitch against the Astros on Sunday, which is like a glorified rehab assignment.

- Joel Hanrahan threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and is headed to Pautucket on Friday to begin a rehab assignment.

- Craig Breslow is planned to pitch back-to-back days in Pautucket this weekend and could return to Boston next week.

- Franklin Morales had a setback in his rehab, developing some soreness in his chest this week. There’s no timetable on his return.

Other moves: Alfredo Aceves was demoted to AAA. Daniel Bard was brought back up this week after Steven Wright came up for one poor outing before getting sent back down. Allen Webster was called up and started one of the doubleheader games and promptly returned (although he pitched well). Backup catcher Ryan Lavarnway is in Boston.

Baltimore Orioles

- Steve Johnson pitched a rehab game in the minors on Wednesday and didn’t do particularly well, giving up four runs in five innings. He could be back in Baltimore next week.

- Brian Roberts has not been cleared for baseball activities. He jogged on a treadmill in a pool this week (sounds like fun). Late May is a realistic expectation.

- Tsuyoshi Wada, recovering from Tommy John surgery, pitched four innings in an extended Spring Training game this week. Orioles hope he can be back in June.

- Wilson Betemit, torn PCL in his right knee, should be back sometime this summer.

- Top prospect Dylan Bundy is dealing with elbow/arm problems and will visit Dr. Andrews on Monday for a second opinion. 20 year old Bundy hasn’t thrown off a mound since March.

Other moves: It has been a game of musical chairs for Orioles pitchers lately. Josh Stinson was called up for one start and was promptly sent back down. Reliever Alex Burnett was also called up and returned a couple days later. Zach Britton was called up Thursday and scheduled to start Monday after Jake Arrieta was sent to the minors.

Toronto Blue Jays

- Josh Johnson will miss Friday’s scheduled start because of triceps tightness, though the move was described as precautionary. He has had a poor April, giving up four runs and not pitching past the sixth inning in three of his four starts.

- Sergio Santos is eligible to come off the DL on April 30 but I can’t seem to find any update on him. Seems like he’s not likely to come back for at least another week.

- Jose Reyes is targeting the All-Star break as a return date from his severely sprained ankle.

- Blue Jays have several lesser pitchers out without much of a timetable (Dustin McGowan, Kyle Drabek, Drew Hutchinson).

Other moves: Blue Jays picked up Aaron Laffey off waivers and he will start in place of Johnson today (Friday) against the Yankees (New York usually struggle against lefties.) Ramon Ortiz and Brad Lincoln were swapped for the bullpen.

Tampa Bay Rays

- Yunel Escobar left the game Wednesday with tightness in his hamstring and not expected to play Friday. He’s day-to-day.

- Luke Scott is set to make his season debut on Tuesday.

- Jeff Niemann underwent shoulder surgery April 10 and will miss the season.

baseball Feats n' Facts for Week 3

2013-04-22T12:37:00.002-04:00

Last week you may recall I expressed my agitation with pitchers who can’t throw strikes. I don’t know if umpires uniformly decided on shrinking the strike zone (besides the one from the Rays/Rangers game a couple weeks back) but there have been more walks than I can ever remember. This week saw some of the same but also some signs of improvement.

- Indians and Red Sox pitchers combined to walk 15 batters in Tuesday’s nine inning game. Seriously, who has time for that?

- With an obviously different home plate ump on Wednesday, Braves and Royals pitchers struck out 19 batters without issuing a single base-on-balls. My kind of game.

- Phillies hitters went four straight complete games this week without taking a walk.

- Athletics collected 22 free passes in the same time period.

- On Monday, Cliff Lee issued his first walk in his last 169 batters faced. On Saturday he walked three batters in five innings.

- Adam Lind, the Blue Jays batter hitting .227 with no homers on the season came into the batter’s box five times this weekend against the Yankees and might as well have left his bat in the dugout. He walked in all five plate appearances.

- The Amazing Astros

-- Erik Bedard continues his bizarre season. In this week’s start Bedard walked four of the first five batters of the game, gave up six runs and only got one out.

-- Philip Humber and the Astros bullpen had an unfortunately memorable day Saturday. By the time they had retired the tenth Indian out, 24 batters had been on base including 18 that touched home plate. In three (plus) innings Houston allowed 17 hits, 4 walks, committed two errors and hit a batter. The home crowd was not pleased.

And like Bedard a week ago, Cleveland’s Scott Kazmir couldn’t even stay in the game long enough to get a win despite getting 19 runs of support!

- Sadly, that wasn’t the only wacky pitching performance of Saturday night. Tigers’ Rick Porcello put up this line: 0.2 innings, 9 hits, 9 runs. The first eight of those hits were singles. The ninth was not (no sir, Mike Trout grand slam).

- Johan Santana who? In four starts Mets pitcher phenom Matt Harvey has a .108 batting average against. He’s given up 10 hits in 29 innings.

- Reigning Cy Young winner David Price has offered up five homers and ten doubles already. Indians pitcher Brett Myers has allowed ten homers and five doubles.

- Speaking of Price: Matt Cain, Cole Hamels and Price's teams are 0-12 in games they start.

- Adam Dunn is at it again. He homered Sunday afternoon, snapping a 0-31 slump. Teammate Jeff Keppinger might catch him; he’s still hitless in his last 24 at bats.

- Twins center fielder Aaron Hicks picked up his third hit of the season Sunday. It took him 14 games and 51 at-bats, but he finally got #3. It raised his batting average to .059.

- Braves are 8-0 when Justin Upton hits a home run.

- Upton has hit 9 homers and 7 singles. (J.P. Arencibia, Dexter Fowler and Mark Reynolds each have 7 home runs and 6 singles.)

- Braves won three straight last weekend over the Nationals. This weekend they lost three straight to the Pirates.

- We all know that it seems the Dodgers have been playing with Monopoly money recently, adding payroll like it's going out of style. Well, Saturday night's lineup featured Nick Punto, Jerry Hairston Jr, A.J. Ellis, Juan Uribe, and Luis Cruz. Not exactly what you were expecting.

- In one inning Friday night, Brewers Jean Segura stole second base, got caught in a rundown at third base, ended up on first base again, and got caught stealing second base. In a span of five pitches. Hard to believe.

- The two batters with the highest on-base-percentage this season are teammates in Cincinnati. Joey Votto's OBP is .522 thanks to a ridiculous 25 walks, and leadoff man Shin-Soo Choo is one better, OBP of .523. You would think the manager would maximize production by putting them together in the batting order, but not Dusty Baker...

Players of the Week

AL: Mike Napoli. Gotta go with a Boston player this week. Napoli had 7 extra base hits and 10 RBI.

NL: Carlos Gonzalez. CarGo went 10/24 with 3 doubles, 1 triple and a homer. He also walked 3 times and stole 2 bases, which is as good as two more doubles, helping the surprise Rockies come a Sunday bullpen meltdown away from winning 9 in a row.