Around the Horn: July 21, 2010

(1) Clayton Kershaw suspended, then appeals suspension.

(2) Brett Myers, 20 starts, 20 outings of at least six innings.

(3) Jose Bautista, David DeJesus, Jayson Werth, Prince Fielder, Jorge Cantu, Adam LaRoche rumors heating up.

(4) Mets looking to bolster bullpen.

(5) Pedro Martinez will not pitch in 2010.

(6) Scott Sizemore to play third base for Tigers.

(7) Carl Crawford doesn’t wear a cup.

By Ray Flowers

Let Tuesday Roll

I’m all over the place today (seems like I’ve written that before). So I thought what better way to lead off my grab bag o’ thoughts than to just put it – so there it is.

For all the posturing and good news about the health of Carlos Beltran’s knee, word from the Mets is that he will not start his minor league rehab assignment this week. In fact, some reports seem to suggest that he is still running with a limp at times. I’m still not counting on him being back until the All-Star break, so even if he does somehow return before that point I won’t be counting on much production.

Ryan Braun has an OPS of .865 which is, remarkably, less than guys like Austin Kearns (.877), David DeJesus (.871) and Luke Scott (.868). Come on Mr. Braun, get her in gear buddy. Speaking of getting it in gear, how wretched has Prince Fielder been this year? Fielder has 24 RBI, the same total as Eric Hinske who has 120 fewer at-bats, and his .447 SLG is lower than Gaby Sanchez (.452) who has all of seven homers. All told, Fielder is on pace for 30 homers and 61 RBI. That’s the kind of production you were hoping for when you spent your second round pick on Fielder this season, isn’t it? I know it’s really close to the 46 homers and 141 RBI he had last season. Goodness.

If you spent all day watching True Blood’s season three opener over and over again, you might have missed the fact that the Athletics traded for Conor Jackson. If you did, or if you simply are curious, you can find my thoughts about the deal at Around the Horn – Bay Area Style.

Aaron Heilman has been named the closer for the D’backs ending the nightmare that has been the closing run of Chad Qualls. At the same time, manager A.J. Hinch indicated that he will use Heilman when he is needed most based on the game situation, so he could still pitch in the 7th or 8th innings. With as bad as that pen has been, they might see if they can find a way to get Heilman to pitch the 7th, 8th and 9th innings each night.

Am I the only one out there fellas that hates shaving everyday? Wait, I don’t have to do that because I have one of the coolest jobs in the world. Don’t spread this around either, but I also wear slippers to work on some days. How bad do you want to be me right now?

Never known as a power bat, Howie Kendrick has 18 RBI in his last 14 games for the Angels. Kendrick knocked in 61 runs last season, a career best, and is currently on pace for 101 this season. Of course, you know these things have a way of evening out which is why it’s hardly surprising to see that he is batting only .273 this season (career .297).

People always wonder what my thoughts are on players – at least that’s what I tell myself even if there are only three of you out there who continue to submit questions from various email addresses. For those of you that do care about my thoughts, or simply would like to see some analysis of pitchers Derek Lowe, Ricky Nolasco, James Shields, Matt Talbot and C.J. Wilson, the link to The Chopping Block is one that you’ll want to click on.

I’m sitting here staring out the window thinking about my plans for Wednesday night. Since my life is always private – when have I ever written or talked about it (wink, wink) – I’ll simply state I’m looking forward to it about as much as Matt Holliday is looking forward to hitting second in front of Albert Pujols, the best hitter in baseball, and that’s a lot.

Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick have been flipped in the Phillies rotation meaning Moyer will pitch Wednesday and Kendrick Thursday. Since both will face the Yankees you shouldn’t have either active regardless of when they are on the bump.

Speaking of the Phillies, the latest report seems to suggest that Jimmy Rollins (calf) might still be a year, I mean a week, away from returning. I got confused there and thought we were talking about Brian Roberts.

By Ray Flowers

Around the Horn: April22, 2010

(1) Carlos Zambrano moved to bullpen for Cubs.

(2) Jacoby Ellsbury has four fractured ribs. What does that mean for is recovery?

(3) Dallas Braden continues great early season work against the Yankees.

(4) Prince Fielder goes deep for first time in 54^th at-bats.

(5) Brewers destroy Pirates 20-0.

(6) Scott Baker has rough outing, or did he?

(7) Carlos Quentin demoted to 6^th in order. Andruw Jones takes his spot in third hole.

(8) Brian Fuentes still closer in Anaheim.

(9) Mike Lowell gaining on David Ortiz?

(10) Ryan Zimmerman dealing with another hammy issue.

It's an Odd World

I was struck by quite a few oddities on this day as I sat down to pen this entry, so I just went with that theme for today.

Mat Latos was reportedly hitting 97 mph on the radar gun last night in his seven shutout innings against the Giants. Latos was almost matched on the night by the Giants Jonathan Sanchez who allowed only one run in his seven innings as the Giants lost 1-0. Moreover, Sanchez struck out 10 while allowing only one hit in the loss. Three points. (1) The last time that the Giants lost a game in which they allowed only one hit World War I was happening – it was September 22nd, 1917. (2) Latos is a potential stud. I worry though that the Padres will limit him to 150-160 innings, so it might be wise to ride him for a while and then move him to a leaguemate who isn’t aware that his innings will be limited. (3) I keep saying it, and people keep laughing at me, but Sanchez just might end up being as valuable as Clayton Kershaw in 2010. Seriously.

The Cubs are a mess, and Lou Pinella isn’t one to sit idly by. He’s already switched the lineup around moving Marlon Byrd (vs. lefties) and Kosuke Fukudome (vs. righties) to the top of the order, and now the team is making a change in the rotation. With Ted Lilly set to return from his minor league rehab assignment this weekend, and with that a starter will need to be moved to the bullpen. Speculation was rampant on Twitter today about who it might be, and ultimately the man chosen to move might have been the one least likely to have taken on a bullpen role – and that is Carlos Zambrano. Big Z hasn’t made a bullpen appearance since 2002. Zambrano certainly has the stuff to dominate in shorts stints, but there are two big concerns. First, he often has no idea where the strike zone is, and you don’t want a late game arm coming in walking guys. Second, Zambrano is the hot head of hot heads. How anyone thinks that matches a role where, even at best, you often end up blowing things for your team, is beyond me. Be very afraid Cubs fans, but if you can, hold on to him in fantasy leagues cause this simply cannot last (sooner or later Carlos Silva will implode).

Mark Ellis missed seven games with a hamstring injury before playing last night. Well, he suffered a setback and today the A’s placed him on the DL. So, he’ll now have to miss 15 more games. Would the team have been better off just placing him on the DL when the injury initially occurred, thereby saving them a week of time? Probably. Too bad the Red Sox did the same thing with their handling of the rib injury to Jacoby Ellsbury (they left him on the bench, but not on the DL, for a week and a half before deciding to DL him).

Prince Fielder isn’t hitting his weight, which is something when you way like a quarter of a ton (he is hitting .224). Beyond the concern with the batting average there is the fact that he hasn’t gone deep in 49 at-bats. Well, I guess we know why – he has a sore hand. I have a sore wrist, but it hasn’t precluded me from continuing to type out really good articles the past week (I must be tougher than Prince).

Zack Greinke allowed two runs over seven innings against the Blue Jays only to see his bullpen cough up the lead and the game. He’s now 0-2 through four starts despite a 3.28 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP.

Speaking of the Royals, Jose Guillen continues to mash as if he was the reincarnated Josh Gibson. Guillen is hitting .377 with six homers and 13 RBI through 15 games. How is that for a forgotten man in the fantasy game?

Oh, and one last thing. Mr. Lyle Overbay, my starting first basemen in JEDWARS, an AL-only league, please remember how to hit. How he is batting .119 through 59 at-bats, considering that he owns a .277 career average, is simply astounding. It also goes to show you that things always even out. What do I mean? I have Guillen going absolutely nuts on that same squad, though his production has pretty much been negated by the failures of Overbay.

By Ray Flowers

Around the World: ADP

The calendar is about to flip to March, and that will signal that the fantasy baseball season is in full effect. Mock drafts will heat up to the point where you’ll start dreaming about passing up on Andrew McCutchen in the 8th round and you’ll wonder why you didn’t pull the trigger on that second closer at the end of the 15th round.

To help you as you prepare for fantasy baseball’s version of March Madness, I’ll look at Average Draft Position data from time to time. If you need a refresher course in what ADP is and why it matters, make sure you read ADP Talk – What is it?

A caveat. Make sure that whichever ADP information you are looking at is geared toward your specific league. It does you no good to look at National Fantasy Baseball Championship data if you are in a league that has only 10 teams (the NFBC has 15 team leagues. You can win over $100,000 playing in it by the way, so you might wan to check it out). To read some pertinent NFBC ADP data make sure you give a look at Jason Collette’s Talking ADP piece.

As for what follows here, I will be reviewing ADP data from 13 leagues. Each league contains 15 teams with 14 hitters and nine pitchers starting (just like the NFBC starting lineup) with standard 5×5 scoring categories. Here are some things that I noticed in the data (thanks to Geoffrey Stein for sending it along).

(1) Here is the top-10.
Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Chase Utley, Ryan Braun
Matt Kemp, Mark Teixeira, Joe Mauer, Prince Fielder and Evan Longoria.

To me, Mauer at #8 is awful. Too much growth last year for him to sustain it. Plus, catcher is such a brutal position physically.

I also question the wisdom of Teixeira at #7. I’d much rather have Miguel Cabrera at #13.
Last three years: Teixeira (.302-34-116-97-1) and Cabrera (.312-35-116-91-3).

(2) You’re going to need to get your corner infielders quickly. Of the top 33 selections, eight were first basemen and six were third sackers meaning fully 42 percent of the top-33 picks played first or third.

(3) Pitching isn’t a priority early. Tim Lincecum (#17) is the only hurler in the top-30. Here are the others in the top-50: Roy Halladay (31), CC Sabathia (34), Felix Hernandez (38), Zack Greinke (41), Dan Haren (48) and Justin Verlander (49).

(4) Catchers aren’t going early after the big-3. Mauer (#8), Victor Martinez (24) and Brian McCann (39) are the only catchers in the top-75. Next comes Matt Wieters at 78, and after that you have to go all the way down to #126 to find the next backstop – Miguel Montero.

(5) How are people evaluating players that were hurt last year? Here’s a look.

22nd overall – Jose Reyes
He’s currently the fourth SS off the board after Hanley Ramirez (2), Troy Tulowitzki (14) and Jimmy Rollins (20). I think all three should be taken before Reyes because of the reliability factor, but Tulowitzki as a first round pick? I have a real problem with that.

23rd – Grady Sizemore
Mr. 20/20 (each year from 2005-08), clearly has the faithful convinced that last year was just one of those seasons. If healthy, there is little reason to doubt that consensus, but it’s still a bit risky to spend a second round pick on Sizemore at this point.

125th – Brandon Webb
All reports are really positive that Webb looks and feels strong so far. Given his extreme consistency before last years shoulder issues someone is certainly going to be tempted to draft Webb at this point of a draft, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he ends up sneaking into the top-100 if he has no setbacks in spring. Personally, I’ll pass. Scott Baker (137) or James Shields (144) certainly seem like much safer bets to me.

So there you go. As I said, this won’t be the last time I address this issue of ADP.

And finally, with Fanball.com going completely free with our baseball coverage for the next three weeks, here are a few links to some of my recent work. Enjoy.

Breaking Down: Chad Qualls

Breaking Down: Clayton Kershaw

Sabermetric Primer: SWIP

Sabermetric Primer: Game Score

Sabermetric Primer: Quality Start Percentage

By Ray Flowers

Braun’s Brilliance

A year after being a bit unsure about this guy because of his lack of patience and a whole bunch of strikeouts, I’m finally sold on the superlative slugger from the Brewers. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a naysayer last year, but I did have my doubts about whether or not he could be a top-10 fantasy performer (I was thinking more like top-20). Turns out I was wrong. I think Ryan Braun could go 30/30 this year, he seems a fair bet to at go 30/20 as he did last season, and if he continues to show growth in his plate discipline he could rival Albert Pujols in the Triple Crown categories. Given that, I thought it might be fun to compare Pujols and Braun’s first three seasons in the league to one another, though remember that Braun was called up late in 2007 and appeared in only 117 games as a rookie while Pujols appeared in 161 games in his freshman season.

Braun: .308-103-317-296-49 with a .363 OBP and .574 SLG in 1,697 ABs

Pujols: .334-114-381-367-28 with a .412 OBP and .613 SLG in 1,771 ABs

OK, Braun clearly comes up short, but Pujols does arguably own the greatest three season run to open a career of any man who has ever played the game. Therefore, let’s lower the bar a bit and compare Braun’s first three season to some of the best hitters of recent memory to see how he stacks up. In order to make this comparison fair to everyone, I’ll list each players first three “full seasons” in the bigs since no one hits .324 with 34 homers in their rookie season as Braun did. This gives “the field” an advantage over Braun whose numbers come from his true rookie season and following two campaigns. Can anyone use that edge to best Braun’s barometer of success?

Miguel Cabrera: .318-92-342-319-15 with a .394 OBP and .547 SLG in 1,792 ABs

Prince Fielder: .276-112-302-277-12 with a .372 OBP and .536 SLG in 1,730 ABs

Todd Helton: .336-102-358-30-15 with a .415 OBP and .607 SLG in 1,688 ABs

Matt Holliday: .326-89-338-307-35 with a .387 OBP and .571 SLG in 1,171 ABs

Manny Ramirez: .315-90-307-278-16 with a .405 OBP, .559 SLG in 1,595 ABs

Alex Rodriguez: .322-101-331-364-90 with a .375 OBP and .562 SLG in 1,874 ABs

Mark Teixeira: .282-107-340-279-9 with a .362 SLG and .541 SLG in 1,718 ABs

Chase Utley: .310-82-310-328-40 with a .388 OBP and .543 SLG in 1,731 ABs

David Wright: .314-83-325-308-71 with a .396 OBP and .534 SLG in 1,761 ABs

———-

Ryan Braun: .308-103-317-296-49 with a 363/.574/.937 line in 1,697 ABs

Braun is the only player surveyed, other than Pujols and Teixeira, whose production is from his first three seasons in the bigs, while all others were from their first three “full seasons.”

So what does all of this mean? A couple of points stand out.

(1) Braun’s combination of batting average and home runs is nearly unmatched by any of the games current crop of stars. Only Braun, Helton and A-Rod hit at least .305 with 100 homers.

(2) Only A-Rod and Wright can match Braun’s 5×5 talents across the board.

(3) Braun is off to a start that, if not for Albert Pujols, could legitimately be called the best three season run to start a major league players career in 15 years. Sign me up for some bratwursts and Braun Milwaukee as there is little doubt in my mind that he is the top option in the outfield for fantasy leagues in 2010.

By Ray Flowers

Turn Back the Clock: First Base

We all know who the best first baseman in baseball is. He is the same man that is not only the best hitter in baseball, he is the man who provided a normal career arc will end up as one of the top-10 hitters who has ever played the game. This man was my choice to be the top first baseman in fantasy baseball in 2009, a fact that was presented in the 2009 Fanball Annual Guide that was on newsstands prior to the start of the 2009 season. In retrospect, how did my preseason top-10 list turn out?

To read previous positional reviews click on the following link:

CATCHERS

FIRST BASE

1. Albert Pujols

2. Miguel Cabrera

3. Ryan Howard

4. Mark Teixeira

5. Lance Berkman

6. Justin Morneau

7. Prince Fielder

8. Adrian Gonzalez

9. Derrek Lee

10. Joey Votto

Pujols was the best fantasy weapon in the game in 2009, a fact that was simply stated in How Good is Albert Pujols?

Cabrera is destined to post spectacular numbers while never quite getting his due since he plays the same position as Mr. Pujols. Cabrera has hit at least .292 with 26 homers and 103 RBI in each of the past six seasons and, you guessed it, he and Mr. Pujols are the only two men who can make that claim.

All Howard did was hit 45 homers, the third highest mark in baseball, while tying for the major league lead with 141 RBI. Amazingly, Howard has hit at least 45 homers with 136 RBI each of the past four seasons, and only Sammy Sosa (1998-2001) and Babe Ruth (1926-31) can match or better that run.

Mark Teixeira finished second in the AL MVP vote with yet another tremendous season (.292-39-122-103). Teixeira is one of only four switch-hitters in baseball history who have had at least four seasons of .290-30-100: Chipper Jones (five times), Lance Berkman (four) and Eddie Murray (four).

Berkman struggled out of the gate but finished strong, though 2009 was his worst all-around effort (.274-25-80) since 2005, the last time he was held to fewer than 530 at-bats. Still had a .399 OBP and a .907 OPS, but clearly he was “off” for a good deal of the year.

Morneau managed to sock 30 homers with 100 RBI despite being limited to his lowest at-bat total (508) since 2005 as he missed the last three weeks of the season with a back injury. Hard to call a fourth straight 100-RBI season a disappointment, and he has now alternated great with good seasons the past four years.

Fielder tied with Howard for the major league lead with 141 RBI as he blasted 46 dingers on the year. Fielder also finished a mere percentage point from his first .300 season. He also continued to display a keen eye at the plate as he was fourth in baseball with 110 walks and seventh with a .412 OBP.

If only he could get out of San Diego, something that might happen if the Padres decide to deal their slugger for a boatload of prospects. Gonzalez feel one RBI short of a third straight 100 RBI season but he socked a career best 40 homers despite hitting only 12 in 80 home games. Could produce astounding numbers in a better park with some lineup production.

Lee hit .189 with one homer in April. Those that remained steadfast were rewarded as Lee considerably picked up the pace over the course of the season on his way to hitting .306 with 35 homers and 111 RBI. The RBI were a career best, and the homers the second best mark of his career to his total of 46 from 2005.

Votto missed time with injury and depression over the loss of his father, in between all he did was rip the cover off the ball to the tune of a .322 average and 25 homers in a mere 469 at-bats. As a result he was one of only six big leaguers who hit at least .320 with 25 homers: Pujols, Cabrera, Pablo Sandoval, Joe Mauer and Robinson Cano.

By Ray Flowers

The NL MVP Race

If you say the NL MVP should go to anyone other than Albert Pujols you have taken one too many hits of the hookah pipe. Still, I find it a bit distasteful too only review some of the award races, and since I’ve already gone over the NL Cy Young and the AL Cy Young, I thought it prudent to continue my way around the big time baseball awards for 2009.

With that, here is my top-10 ballot for NL MVP. It’s a tough call choosing just 10 guys, but at least I know the difference between BABIP and batters eye, whereas I would posit the position that well over half the people who vote for the award think those two terms come from the proposed healthcare initiative in Congress.

One final note. I do NOT believe that pitchers should be eligible for the MVP. They have their own award, so leave this one to the hitter’s fellas.

10 – Derrek Lee
Not much went right for the Cubs this season, but after a brutal start (.189 with one homer in April), Lee rebounded to hit .306 with 35 homers, 111 RBI and 91 runs scored.

9 – Mark Reynolds
Yes he set a major league record with 223 strikeouts, an unmitigated disaster, but at the same time he socked 44 long balls, knocked in 102 runs, finished just two runs shy of scoring 100 times and stole 24 bases. That’s a terrific season even if you hit just .260.

8 – Matt Kemp
Though he slumped in the end hitting just .224 over his last 30 games, Kemp was the main man in a lineup that missed Manny Ramirez for 50-games. Kemp hit .297 with 26 homers, 101 RBI, 97 runs and even stole 34 bases. Just imagine how good his numbers might have been if he didn’t have 250 of his at-bats in the seventh and eight holes.

7 – Ryan Howard
For the fourth straight year he had at least 45-homers and 135-RBI (he had 45 and 141). Even though he also posted 180-Ks for the fourth straight year, he managed to tie his career best of 105 runs while posting a .931 OPS for the Fighting Phils.

6 – Pablo Sandoval
Pablo for President. Sandoval finished second in the league with a .330 batting average, hit 25 homers, knocked in 90 runs and had a .943 OPS that was seventh in the Senior Circuit, and he did all this in a lineup of hitters that couldn’t hit .300 in a high school game (OK, maybe college).

5 – Ryan Braun
His numbers (.320-32-114-113-20) are better than the man ahead of him on the list, but Braun is a middling defender who only impacts the game on one side of the field. Still, few do it better with a bat in their hands.

4 – Troy Tulowitzki
Undoubtedly the major reason the Rockies turned their season around, Tulo hit .226 with five home runs the first two months (46 games) before going bonkers at the dish leading to a .297-32-92-101-20 line. Those are tremendous numbers for anyone, let alone when they belong to the man that just might be the best defensive shortstop in the National League.

3 – Prince Fielder
Prince socked 46 long balls, knocked in major league best 141 runs (tied with Howard) and managed to hit .299 with 110 walks leading to a .412 OBP the fifth best mark in the NL. He was also one of two men to top a grand in OPS with his mark of 1.014

2 – Hanley Ramirez
Didn’t match his previous totals in the steal department (27) but he led the NL in average (.342), had a higher OPS (.954) and Ryan Braun (.937), scored 101 times while knocking in 106 and also socked 24 long balls. Another tremendous season it was for the Marlins’ shortstop.

1 – Albert Pujols
Duh.

Pujols led the majors with 47 homers and an OPS of 1.101 OPS, and he also knocked in 135, scored 124 times, stole 16 bases for good measure led the NL in OBP (.443) and the majors in SLG (.658). The man is flat out historic.

By Ray Flowers

Players That Are Hot

I’m tired. I had a long day filled with lots of work from writing, editing and posting of football, baseball and hockey stories, including a bunch of rather fantastic hockey articles at Fanball as well. And yes, before you ask, some of them were written by yours truly.

Joey Votto continues to bash pitchers with alacrity over the final month of the season. Votto went 4-for-5 on Wednesday night as he pushed his average up to almost .370 on the month. Votto is now hitting .308 with 22 homers and 74 RBI in a mere 433 ABs on the season. If we push those numbers out to 550 ABs we end up with a .308-28-94 line, and that would obviously suggest that a potential .300-30-100 season could be in the way in 2010 from this sweet swinging lefty.

Votto’s teammate, Homer Bailey, seems to have finally, f-i-n-a-l-l-y figured things out at the big league level. Though he has a 5.02 ERA on the year, he has finally started to throw strikes and the results have been pretty striking. After allowing two runs in six innings against the Pirates Bailey has now allowed three or fewer earned runs in each of his last seven starts while posting a 1.99 ERA. It’s a small sample size for sure, but keep his name in mind in the late rounds in 2010 as a selection of Bailey could result in a nice return.

Welcome back to hitting right-handed Carlos Guillen. Guillen went deep from both sides of the plate on Wednesday night in just his second game since returning to action from that injured shoulder, and this was just the second game that he has even attempted to hit right-handed in. This was the fourth time in his career that he had gone deep from both sides of the dish in the same game.

What is it about the second half and Adam LaRoche? You think it’s frustrating as a fantasy owner – can you just imagine just how hard it is on LaRoche when he knows, he literally knows, he is gonna stink for about two plus months before turning into a dominating force at the dish. LaRoche is hitting .355 with 36 RBI in 47 games since returning to Atlanta. Any doubt where he wants to sign when his contract is up after the season? Jeez, this is another first baseman isn’t it? I’m telling you, they are just everywhere

Another youngster, Bud Norris, has looked pretty solid this season for the Astros even if it hasn’t always been a smooth ride. He tossed six scoreless innings at the Cards on Wednesday to lower his ERA to just barely over 1.50 in his last four starts. With 54 Ks in 55.2 innings he has shown the ability to put hitters away, and as they say, you can’t teach stuff, and he’s got that in spades. A bright future this kid has (channeling my inner Yoda).

I thought that David Ortiz was washed up? He may be hitting only .234 but he has 25 homers and 88 RBI, so he has still been fairly productive despite an OPS below .800. OK, he is only sort of washed up.

Nick Punto hitting .327 in September as the Twins try and clay there way to the playoffs. Just saying.

How stupid do the Red Sox feel right now? John Smoltz worked another night of magic for the Redbirds allowing just two runs over six innings against the Astros. In six starts with Cardinals his ERA is 3.18 and his WHIP 1.00. With the Red Sox try on an 8.32 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. Guess he was tipping those pitches eh? Either that or he and/or Dave Duncan made a deal with Lucifer that involved someone giving over their soul.

We got ourselves quite the race for the NL RBI crown. Here is how things stand after action on Wednesday night:

Prince Fielder – 131
Ryan Howard – 130
Albert Pujols – 129

They all play first base by the way, further proof of just how loaded that position is in the game today. No idea how the situation resolves itself, but can you really bet against Mr. Pujols when it has anything to do with baseball?

By Ray Flowers

Facts and Stuff

There were a few odd stories in the world of baseball today, as well as a few milestones that have almost been reached. Given that I love numbers and that I have always been considered a bit of an odd bird, it seemed only natural for me to touch on a handful of those storylines.

Justin Duchscherer will miss the rest of the season after being diagnosed with depression. “Justin has been battling this for quite some time, and it’s kind of reached the apex where he made a really tough decision and owned up to the problem,” agent Damon Lapa said. A year after posting a 2.54 ERA in 141.2 innings Justin’s follow up effort this season consisted of all of zero innings in the bigs.

Prince Fielder went deep again on Friday and now has 33 bombs and 110 RBI, the second figure leads the majors. He won’t hit 50-homers again, but he is almost a lock to best his pervious career best of 119 RBI.

There is no reason for the John Daly picture above other than the fact that I just really love the pants.

Aaron Hill hit his 29th home run on Friday night leaving him one short of a magical 30-HR season. Since 1980 only two other second basemen in the AL have hit that many and they are Alfonso Soriano (three times) and Brett Boone (twice). By the way, over Hill’s first 1,720 career at bats want to take a guess how many times he went deep? Try 28.

Jesus made an appearance in Washington D.C. today. Oops, my bad, that was just Stephen Strasburg.

Nick Johnson and the Marlins hope that his injured hamstring won’t place him on the DL. My thoughts? I think that Johnson has about as much chance of not ending on the DL as I do of not getting pretty well blitzed on Friday night. Did I mention I’m already three and a half beers in to what will almost certainly be a 12-pack night?

Garret Jones decided to start hitting again and has two homers in his last four games. Don’t look now but he has 14 homers and seven steals in 43 games meaning he is on a Mark Reynolds-esque pace of better than 40 homers and 25 steals. Who knew?

Jake Peavy will have his minor league start moved back from Sunday to Monday. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – do NOT expect Peavy to be a difference maker until 2010.

Freddy Sanchez was out of the starting lineup for the eighth time in 21 games since joining the Giants. He is hitting .304 as a member of the club, but this certainly isn’t what the club had hoped for when they brought him into the mix.

Billy Wagner, whom I wrote of in my most recent Weekly Mailbag piece, has apparently been claimed off waivers by the Red Sox. That leaves the Mets with three choices. (1) They can simply dump Wagner and let the Sox have him (the Sox would be responsible for his salary). (2) They can work out a deal with the BoSox sending something to the Mets in exchange for Wagner. (3) The Mets can simply pull Wagner back off waivers and keep him – no harm no foul. Seems odd that the Mets want so desperately to move him, but it also seems odd to me that every team with a worse record than the Red Sox didn’t bother to put in a waiver-wire claim on Wagner. Maybe I should start circulating my articles to major league front offices?

By Ray Flowers