Frustration All Around

I’m upset. I just watched the umpires in the Giants/Dodgers series blow, and I’m not kidding you, the fifth clear cut call at first base, ALL of which have gone in favor of the Dodgers. Sure, I’m a Giants fan, but at the same time I’m fair and will admit when the Giants get a “break.” I’m here to tell you t that they didn’t get a one in this three game series.

How pathetic is the situation in Baltimore? The Orioles continue to run Jason Berken out there despite the fact that he has been flat out atrocious. Berken lost his start on Wednesday to drop to 2-10 on the year with seven loses in his last 10 appearances. Given that his ERA is 6.63 and his WHIP 1.69, you mean to tell me that the Orioles don’t have a better option? Pathetic.

Michael Crabtree sign the damn contract the Niners have given you already. You weren’t drafted third overall, you aren’t going to get paid like you were drafted third overall, and you had best get your name on a contract before you end up imploding your rookie season completely. Whew. I feel better now that I typed that.

Remember back when Kelvim Escobar was going to help the Angels starting rotation after battling back from shoulder woes? Well that didn’t go so well as he made just one start before having to go back on the DL. Then the club switched tactics and decided it would use Escobar out of the pen. Now the club has decided that nothing can be done to help Escobar overcome that shoulder injury, and therefore KE will likely not return to Anaheim in 2009. Too bad, because when that dude is right he is flat out filthy.

Did you catch the fact that before busting out for six hits last night that Adrian Gonzalez was hitting .199 over 151 at-bats? How is that even possible for a man with that much skill?

Injury #104 for the Mets this season. Working his way back from surgery on his hip, Carlos Delgado is now suffering from a strained right oblique muscle. This setback will likely keep him out of action for about two weeks. At this point, a return in September may only be a 75-25 bet for the slugging first sacker. What was injury #103? Well it wasn’t really an injury, it was actually an illness that has taken a hold of David Wright. Apparently he was pretty darn sick. Honestly, if the Mets didn’t have bad luck, as the saying goes, they wouldn’t have any luck at all.

Jonathan Papelbon will not be available to pitch on Wednesday after recording seven outs the past two days. Papelbon has a wonderful 2.17 ERA and 28 saves in 31 chances, but he is also working on a 4-year low in K/9 (9.79) and a 4-year low in BB/9 (3.62). I’m just saying.

The A’s Cliff Pennington, starting at shortstop now that the club has sent Orlando Cabrera to the Twins, is hitting .326 in 46 at-bats with the club. Don’t expect that to continue given that his current batting average is a mere .063 points better than his minor league mark. You want further proof? His minor league SLG is .358, merely .032 points above his current batting average. Still, he is a fine AL-only option up the middle since he is nearly certain to be in the lineup everyday for the A’s.

John Lewis, a fellow SABR member, put together a rather interesting list of “where are they now” for the Pirates. In his note he mentioned that there are three, THREE, members of the Pirates July 24th, 2008 25-man roster that are still with the club: Ryan Doumit, Paul Maholm and Zack Duke. So in little over one year’s time, the Pirates have moved 88 percent of their 25-man roster. I have no idea if that is a record or not, but I have to believe it is. Here is a list of what happened to the other 22 players.

LF Jason Bay – traded to Boston 2008
CF Nate McLouth – traded to Atlanta 2009
RF Xavier Nady – traded to Yankees 2008
OF Jason Michaels – free agency 2008
1B Adam LaRoche – traded to Boston 2009
2B Freddy Sanchez – traded to Giants 2009
3B Jose Bautista – traded to Toronto 2008
SS Jack Wilson – traded to Seattle 2009
1B-3B Doug Mientkiewicz – free agency 2008
2B-SS Luis Rivas – free agency 2008
INF Chris Gomez – free agency 2008
C Raul Chavez – free agency 2008
P John Van Benschoten – free agency 2008
P Franquelis Osoria – free agency 2008
P Damaso Marte – traded to Yankees 2008
P John Grabow – traded to Cubs 2009
P Sean Burnett – traded to Washington 2009
P Ian Snell – traded to Seattle 2009
P T.J. Beam – waivers to Toronto 2009
P Denny Bautista – to Triple-A Indianapolis
P Yoslan Herrera – to Double-A Altoona
P Tyler Yates – on Disabled List

By Ray Flowers

Injuries and Oddness

Today I’m feeling a bit sick, so I thought it would be appropriate to spend my column discussing guys who are currently on the DL or on the verge of coming off it. So, let’s get to it.

Just how bad is that injury to the knee of Carlos Beltran? Well it isn’t catastrophic and doesn’t appear like he will need surgery, but at the same time the team is bracing to be without their star for more than just 15 days. “I can also tell you that I’m not gonna tell you that he’s gonna be back within the 15 days,” GM Omar Minaya said. “I said to myself … if we get him back for the second half, after the All-Star Break, I’d sign up for that right now.” Wow. The Mets are only 1.5 games back of the Phillies, but if they are without Beltran for three weeks in addition to the other injuries they have suffered (Jose Reyes is likely out until after the All-Star break with his hamstring injury and Carlos Delgado is likely out until August because of his hip surgery), do they really have much of a shot at the playoffs?

I’ve written it before, but here is it again. Oliver Perez as a reliever makes zero sense. The guys takes forever to “find” himself and locate the strike zone, so I cannot see how bringing him into a game in the 7th inning makes any sense at all since he won’t have time to see what is working etc. Maybe I’m wrong, but if I’m the Mets I start him or leave him in the minors starting until he figures out whatever that ails him with his knee and or mechanics. Nothing else makes sense. Oh maybe one thing does – the Mets could trade him to the Giants for Jonathan Sanchez.

I don’t get something. OK, I don’t get a lot of things, but I really don’t get how the Indians appear to be handling the case of Grady Sizemore. First off, they let him play far too long with that injured elbow when he clearly wasn’t able to do the things we have been used to seeing from him the past four years since when he finally found his way to the DL he was hitting .223 with a .417 SLG, well below his established baselines of .275 and .486. Then they shut him down for roughly three weeks during which time he basically did nothing to allow the inflammation in his elbow to subside (that makes sense). Then, they had the bright idea of simply activating him without a single game in the minors. “I just want to get back on the field,” said Sizemore. Yeah, we all do Grady, but doesn’t it sound like a bad idea to do nothing for three weeks and then immediately return to major league action? Now we get the following trifecta right before game time on Tuesday night from manager Eric Wedge – Sizemore (a) will not be in the lineup every day, at least for the remainder of this week, (b) might spend some time at DH moving forward and (c) will return to hitting second in the order when Asdrubal Cabrera is ready to return from his shoulder injury, likely later this week. Don’t know about you, but seems like some oddness going on in Cleveland to me.

Joey Votto broke his silence and told the media that the reason that he missed time this season was that he was clinically depressed at the loss of his father last August. I wish you all the best Joey, no more jokes about your condition from this corner now that we know the details.

Does everyone know that Kyle Elfrink and I co-host the Fantasy Buffet Mon., Tues., Thurs. and Fri.? The podcast can be heard at Fanball.com each morning from 8-9 AM, PST. Oh yeah, it’s everyday during the week as Wednesday’s when I’m not there the Godfather of fantasy sports, Charlie Wiegert, steps in to take up my co-hosting chair. Each day we talk about everything sports related, obviously with a fantasy slant, as we break down the latest performances and injuries. Come give the show a listen – it’s not just Kyle and me every day, we also bring in a handful of our other correspondents to allow them to given their views on a myriad of topics. It’s good fun, and if I do say so myself, the show usually comes off without a hitch.

By Ray Flowers

When it Rains, it Pours

There were two ginormous injury reports today, and yes not only do I love that word, I honestly believe my friend invented it back in college though I guess he didn’t file a copyright on the word so he’ll never get the credit he deserves. Let’s get to it.

Carlos Delgado has been suffering from a hip issue for a while now, and therefore no one was too surprised to see him end up on the DL as a result. However, his right hip impingement is apparently a much more serious condition that was originally thought. In fact, Carlos will be forced under the knife on Tuesday to repair a torn labrum and remove a bone spur from the area. The team hasn’t released when Delgado will return, though early estimates are that he will miss two months.

What will the Mets do? It looks like they will try a three-headed monster at first of Daniel Murphy, Fernando Tatis and Jeremy Reed. First off, I can’t see Reed being involved to heavily, not after picking up just 28 at-bats in 32 games. After all he owns just a .260 batting average and just 11 home runs in 1,089 career at-bats after some solid minor league work that he just hasn’t been able to convert into big league production. Tatis has returned from oblivion and has hit .299 with 13 home runs and 56 RBI for the Mets in his last 338 ABs dating back to the start of last season. During that time he has posted a .854 OPS while being a terrific option all over the field. Still, he hasn’t been an everyday player since 1999, the last time he had more than 385 at-bats in a season. That leaves Murphy as the most likely option in my mind, especially considering that the dude has never been confused with Torii Hunter on defense in the outfield. This likely means that Gary Sheffield could be in the lineup every day in the outfield, just in time as his bat has come alive as he has gone 9-for-22 (.409) in his last five games.

As for the loss of Delgado, that’s obviously a significantly blow for Delgado owners considering that he has gone deep 24 times with at least 87 RBI in each of the past 13 seasons. No other big leaguer can match that level of offense during that time.

A little to the east is the other big-time injury news of the day, this one to my “breakout” star of the year Rickie Weeks who was, not surprisingly (only a little bit of modesty here), on his way to a true breakout campaign. Weeks was hitting .272 with nine home runs, 24 RBI and 28 runs scored, meaning he was on pace (I know its unscientific) to go roughly .270-35-95 with 110 runs this season more than making up for the fact that he has stolen only two bases (putting him on pace for 8-10 steals). Alas, Week’s injured wrist is worse than initially feared, and it now appears that he will be forced to undergo season ending surgery on his left wrist to repair a torn tendon sheath in that left wrist. This is actually the same injury that Weeks had in his right wrist in 2006. “Dr. Sheridan said he never had a patient who had that in both wrists,” said Brewers’ trainer Roger Caplinger. Apparently, the operating belief is that Weeks swings with such ferocity that he basically injures himself on his swing. Don’t know how you fix that other than to wrap those puppies really tightly.

It appears that Craig Counsell will take over in the short-term at second base and he is hitting .339 right now, but dude hit just .223 in 2007-08 over 580 at-bats, so you should be very wary, as should the Brewers, of Craig continuing to be remotely this effective moving forward. Minor league shortstop Alcides Escobar will spend some time playing second base, but he will not be called up for a while yet as his offense his still lagging (.268-2-12 with a .677 OPS in 153 ABs at Triple-A). Perhaps the team will re-sign free agent Ray Durham who hit .280 in 107 late season at-bats with the club last year after he was brought in from the Giants? Time will tell, but the loss of Weeks is likely one that the Brewers will not be able to overcome barring some big-time trade – which seems unlikely to occur.

By Ray Flowers

Illness and Stupidity

Today there are a couple of odd stories in the news. A pitcher from Chicago was fined less than an hours worth of work, while another player was sent to the DL with the flu. In between we also have some possibly uncertain times for a slugger for the White Sox, as well as more concern for the health of Red Sox infielder.

Conor Jackson has been placed on the DL with a “flu-like illness.” We are trying to get more info on just what ails him, and we certainly hope its not something overly serious (has anyone ever been placed on the DL with the flu?). Still, something has to be very wrong with Jackson who is hitting just .182 with 16 Ks and just 11 walks early on, completely backwards for a guy who has hit at least .284 each of the past three years and owns a career BB/K mark of 0.90 (vs. his current 0.69 mark). Not to start rumors at all, and I have NO information about his illness, but hopefully it isn’t the swine-flu.

Updating a report from yesterday, Bobby Jenks was indeed penalized by major league baseball for throwing behind Ian Kinsler and then foolishly discussing the notion with reporters. What was the penalty? Try a $750 dollar fine. What is it, 1979? Jenks is making $5.6 million dollars. For some quick math, consider the following point. Jenks makes roughly $15,000 a day over the course of a calendar year. That means that major league baseball fined him the equivalent of roughly 30 minutes of work, or to put that in perspective, how bad would you feel if you were fined by your boss $10 for showing up late to work? Does major leagues baseball, as an entity, ever do anything right? Bud Selig, I’m sorry, but I’m beginning to side with those people who think you are a moron.

Daniel Murphy can hit, dude is batting .286 this season and owns a career batting average of .301 in his 229 at-bat big league career. However, his defense hasn’t exactly brought back memories of Roberto Clemente, so the club is considering a position switch, possibly to first base since Carlos Delgado will be a free agent at the end of the season. If Delgado does indeed end up on the DL due to lingering issues with his hip, it’s quite possible that Murphy will be able to add first base eligibility to his ledger this season.

Hey, things are improving in the world. It took all of 10 minutes for ESPN to mention Brett Favre on Sportscenter.

Carlos Quentin is on the sidelines due to an injured heel. More than that, I’m really worried about this guy, a fact that I have stated all year long, and well before the start of the 2009 baseball season. He blasted seven home runs in his first 12 games this year and everyone seemingly forgot he was coming off of wrist surgery. Alas, Quentin not only has seen his average dip to .237, he has also hit one, yes one, long ball in the last 19 games during which time he has knocked in a mere five runs. That would be poor production for a defensively minded second baseman. Amazingly, every one of his 114 ABs have come out of the third hole this year despite a mere .338 OBP and a .821 OPS. I’m gonna stick by what I said before the year started, and that is Quentin will not better his numbers from last season (.288-36-100) even if he exceeds last years games played total of 130.

Kevin Youkilis missed his seventh straight game on Tuesday do to his back/side issue (that’s an oblique injury for those of you without your medical dictionary handy). The frustrating part is that the team keeps saying it’s nothing major and that he is day-to-day. Well its turns out it has already been a week, and for those of you in weekly transaction leagues you have to be supremely frustrated with lack of anything definitive here. As of this writing Youkilis hasn’t been placed on the DL, but you have to think there is at least a 50-50 chance it will happen at this point since he has already missed a week’s worth of action. Jeff Bailey continues to fill in.

By Ray Flowers

Is Something Amiss?

By Ray Flowers

Another day, another series of injuries to report in the world of baseball. Also, I want to spend a moment detailing the failures of one of the hottest waiver-wire pick ups in the game. Am I surprised that he has struggled mightily? Hardly. Oh, and I have to give a shout out to the Sharks before I close this entry down as well.

How bad is Emilio Bonifacio? He is just 3-for-35 (.086) to drop his season long average to .270, and he hasn’t plated a run since April 11th (12 games). Seems like I warned people about this didn’t I? Oh yeah I did back on April 8th when everyone was going ga-ga over his hot start in an Impact Report. Here are a few direct quotes from that piece.

(1) “…Bonifacio simply must do a better job of making contact if he ever hopes to reach his ceiling as a hitter.” Emilio has 19 K in 74 at-bats, that’s a strikeout in more than 25% of his at bats, and also has resulted in a contact rate of 74%, well below the major league average of 80%.

(2) “Bonifacio needs to continue to work on his plate discipline and control of the strike zone. At this point he is clearly operating at below major league average levels in this respect.” With 19 K and four walks, Emilio’s BB/K mark is a pitiful 0.21 (ML average is 0.50).

(3) “…it might even be advisable to move him because, as we have long preached… take advantage of the weak if you can, it’s survival of the fittest in fantasy baseball.” As you saw above, the time to move Emilio has clearly vanished as his production has dwindled to the point of irrelevance. Hopefully you listened.

Carlos Delgado is out of the Mets’ lineup on Monday after he aggravated his hip sliding into third base on a triple. You think that he somehow innately knew he would be injured if he was asked to slide into third base so that is why he has hit only 18 triples in his career of over 2,000 games? Nah, me neither.

Carlos Gomez will leave the team on Tuesday to witness the birth of his first child. Perhaps while he is away he can ask the doctor for a hitting transplant as he is batting just .195 this season.

Josh Hamilton has a rib injury that has been bothering him for a few days. He had a cortisone shot on Sunday, and it usually takes a few days down time to return after one of those. People just assumed that Hamilton would hit another 30+ home runs with 120+ RBI, but the fact is that it just isn’t that easy no matter how immensely talented one is. So far this year, Hamilton is hitting just .242 with a .660 OPS in 19 games.

Just how much rope will Oliver Perez be given? The club said he will make his next start against the Phillies, but that may be it if he lays another egg. Through four starts he owns a 9.31 ERA, a 1.97 WHIP and a ghastly, maybe atrocious, possibly abysmal, let’s just say pathetic total of 6.98 walks per nine innings. For a pitcher with as much raw stuff as this guy, the fact that he simply cannot throw the ball over the plate to see what would happen is just shocking. His BABIP (.354) is way too high (.296 career) and his LOB-rate is amazingly low (54.6% vs. his career 73.3% mark), but it’s still all about base runners. If you have seen Perez pitch this year there is no way you would believe that once upon a time he posted a 2.98 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP and 239 K (good for a 10.97 K/9 mark). Look it up though, he actually did that all of that in 2004.

I can’t sign off without mentioning the Sharks. They are mere hours away from their biggest game of the year. They trail the Ducks three games to two, and will need to win the next two games to avoid an ignominious end to a season that started with such promise. They simply must win tonight. If they do, anything can happen in a Game 7.