2010 MLB Season

[ghost of miles]

Yanks looked none too hot last night, dropping a game to the lowly O's. Hughes had another good start, but the middle bullpen (continuing worry for many NY fans) imploded, this time in the form of Robertson. Bad baserunning too. They definitely seem to have lost the great groove they had for the first two weeks of the season, but they'll still surely emerge from April with a much better record than they did last year. Good thing, as Tampa Bay shows no signs of slowing down yet.

Edited April 28, 2010 by ghost of miles

[Brad]

Mets in first place!!

Amazin'!

Probably won't last too too long so have to enjoy it while you can!

[BERIGAN]

Well, the Braves have just about ruined any chance of winning the wildcard even, with an 8 game losing streak.

Reasons??? About the worst offense out there.

Melky Cabrera, after a few hits last few days has brought his average up to .197. 3 RBI's Sure is tearing the cover off in the girly man AAAA league!

Yunel Escobar, a .296 career hitter, hitting .197 after 76 AB's.

Brian McCann , a 292 career hitter, is hitting .250. A hot hitter on this club.

Jason Heyward has 4 HR's and 16 RBI's, but is only hitting .224, and was called out by Bobby Cox for not swinging the bat enough!

Nate McLouth, is hitting .160 with 1 Homer, and 3 RBI's after hitting 20 Hr's and 70 RBI's last year.

Chipper Jones is hitting. 241 , on pace for 18 Hr's and 53 RBI's, but as the beat writer for the Braves said tongue in cheek since he has a .397 OBP, does that mean he's really having a good year??? His defense has been beyond terrible, with mental mistakes you would expect from a rookie.

Troy Glaus is hitting .203

Oh, forgot, Matt Diaz, a .306 hitter for his career, is hitting .200

Only Martin Prado has hit, but his average is "down" to .357, after being well in the .400's

But, sooper smart future HOF'er manager Bobby Cox won't put him in the leadoff position, cuz, well, you know...you don't want to mess up a lineup that has lost 8 games in a row.

Now down 3-0 in the 3rd, to Adam Wainwright. And Jair Jurrjens has left with a hamstring problem.

Sigh....

[Neal Pomea]

Don't worry. Your Braves can quickly gain ground by sweeping my team Washington when they meet! I have a feeling since we have done so well against the Phils, Mets, Rockies, and Dodgers, we will have a hard time with the Braves, Cardinals, Brewers, and Giants!

[ghost of miles]

Chris Perez: Kendrick's walkoff bunt was a stupid play

Whatever. I guess Kendrick broke baseball's unwritten rule that only wussies bunt in the winning run with two outs.

[Quincy]

Saw a fine game at Busch on Tuesday. Got there early enough to catch the Braves bp (unfortunately missed the Cards turn). I was close to where Hanson and Heyward were shagging flies and I just missed on a couple of foul bounces my way. I was struck by how many kids shouted out "Mister" and then the player's name anytime a ball was caught in hope that the player would toss a ball in their direction. One guy looked to be just a few years younger than Hanson but politely called out "Mr. Hanson, Mr. Hanson…" It was all kind of charming.

In my honor La Russa batted the pitcher 8th for the first time since July. He also had one of his patented let's-use-4-pitchers-to-get-3-outs innings. Oof!

Heyward just missed a monster HR to right. I think he'll work out just fine for you Beri. Ludwick was the one in the zone that night with a homer & a double. That Cardinal outfield is most impressive, and other than Pujols Colby Rasmus gets the heartiest applause. Perhaps it's because at 6'2" he's the little guy. It had been a long time since I was in that sea of red and it was a great atmosphere. I think I'll make of habit of taking in a ballgame for myself when making these trips to visit my parents.

[ghost of miles]

Can I just thank the baseball gods again that Texas did not pick Robinson Cano as their additional player from the Yankees in the A-Rod trade? Cano just hit his second homer of the night against the O's (his 8th of the season overall) and is batting over .400 out of the #5 slot in the NY lineup.

EDIT: he made a helluva throw too.

Edited April 30, 2010 by ghost of miles

[Dave James]

A number of pretty knowledgeable baseball people have said for some time that Cano has the talent to be an AL batting champion. Looks like this could be the year. I remember a couple of years back when he was struggling at the plate, there was a fair amount of talk about moving him. Sure glad that didn't happen. I did not realize that he was one of the pieces Texas had available to them in the A-Rod swap. Sure glad they chose otherwise. Wonder if Big Al would agree?

[ghost of miles]

A number of pretty knowledgeable baseball people have said for some time that Cano has the talent to be an AL batting champion. Looks like this could be the year. I remember a couple of years back when he was struggling at the plate, there was a fair amount of talk about moving him. Sure glad that didn't happen. I did not realize that he was one of the pieces Texas had available to them in the A-Rod swap. Sure glad they chose otherwise. Wonder if Big Al would agree?

Revisiting the Alfonso Soriano-A-Rod trade

Sure glad Cano's smoking hot, given how Tex and now A-Rod have struggled at the plate. Plus Nick Johnson already seems to be in danger of falling into disfavor, in spite of his 20 BB. I think we may be seeing Thames as a DH against lefties more often, a la tonight.

Edited April 30, 2010 by ghost of miles

[WorldB3]

sigh.... the last day of the year that the A's will be over 500. Justin Duchscherer left in the 4th inning to injury and Kurt Suzuki will probably go on the DL on Friday and Sheets will be gone by trade deadline and the A's will get nothing in return for him.

Oh well they gave me a good April. At least there is some good young pitching and it was all about 2011 anyways but damn, giving up by May 1st is rough.

[Quincy]

A number of pretty knowledgeable baseball people have said for some time that Cano has the talent to be an AL batting champion. Looks like this could be the year. I remember a couple of years back when he was struggling at the plate, there was a fair amount of talk about moving him. Sure glad that didn't happen. I did not realize that he was one of the pieces Texas had available to them in the A-Rod swap. Sure glad they chose otherwise. Wonder if Big Al would agree?

Can't speak for Big Al, but the Rangers have a fine 2nd baseman in Ian Kinsler who was a 30/30 guy last year. Though uh, he has had some injury troubles and has yet to play this year.

[ghost of miles]

Nice:

Baseball alarmed by Arizona's new immigration law

Given the large number of Latino and Latino-American ballplayers, it might be a good idea to move the Rookie League to another state--and move next year's All-Star game while they're at it.

Further discussion: Will baseball move the 2011 All-Star game?

Edited April 30, 2010 by ghost of miles

[Tim McG]

This is going to be one strange season. I can feel it.

Thats the beauty of it, like a good novel and a roller coaster. You don't know what kind of ups and downs will happen. Who thought the Giants would beat up on Halliday and then last night Todd Wellemeyer would shut down the best hitting team in the NL?

As for getting swept by the Padres its just one of those things. Sometimes there are other teams you should beat that you can't for whatever reason.

A couple of things to do seem certain. The Rays will score 8 runs a game every day (it just seems like every time I look they have 8 runs on the board) and who ever is the best player on the A's will get injured and who ever was the big free agent they sign will be a bust. Aside from that to quote the Yogi - "In baseball, you don't know nothing" and "It ain't the heat, it's the humility."

Good point.

Then Brian Wilson blows one for Lincecum a couple days ago.

[heaviest of sighs]

I'll just keep the Prilosec handy.

Sheesh.

Don't worry. Your Braves can quickly gain ground by sweeping my team Washington when they meet! I have a feeling since we have done so well against the Phils, Mets, Rockies, and Dodgers, we will have a hard time with the Braves, Cardinals, Brewers, and Giants!

I certainly hope so

Edited April 30, 2010 by GoodSpeak

[ghost of miles]

Listening again to Texas vs. Seattle right now--great pitching duel of Lewis vs. Lee, though Lee's now been pulled after 7 shutout innings (I'm guessing because his pitch count was about to hit 100). Matthew, I'll bet you're pleased--seems like Lee has picked up right where he left off last autumn.

On the NY front, great night for Derek Jeter with a game-tying home run and a game-winning triple, and Robbie Cano became the first Yankee ever to end April with a .400 BA and 8 HR. Tampa Bay showed a flash of mortality, losing to KC. I like NY's home/away breakdown vs. TB: the Yankees are 6-1 at home, 9-6 on the road so far. Tampa Bay's 8-5 at home, 9-1 on the road.

[JETman]

Smokin' the Phils!!!

[Dave James]

Another disastrous outing for Javier Vazquez. Against the White Sox today, he threw 65 pitches and gave up five runs in just three innings. Joe Girardi was asked after the game if Vazquez was going to make his next scheduled start in Boston this coming Friday but had no comment. I'm guessing that's a "no" and that Phil Hughes is now, for all intents and purposes, the team's fourth starter.

In other not so encouraging news, Curtis Granderson injured his groin trying to go from first to third on a single and may be headed for the DL. Not that they''ll exactly miss his bat. He's only hitting .221 for the year. It's amazing to me what the Yanks are doing given that Johnson, Texiera, Rodriquez and Granderson's collective batting average is well below the Mendoza line.

[alankin]

Smokin' the Phils!!!

Not today.

[ghost of miles]

Another disastrous outing for Javier Vazquez. Against the White Sox today, he threw 65 pitches and gave up five runs in just three innings. Joe Girardi was asked after the game if Vazquez was going to make his next scheduled start in Boston this coming Friday but had no comment. I'm guessing that's a "no" and that Phil Hughes is now, for all intents and purposes, the team's fourth starter.

In other not so encouraging news, Curtis Granderson injured his groin trying to go from first to third on a single and may be headed for the DL. Not that they''ll exactly miss his bat. He's only hitting .221 for the year. It's amazing to me what the Yanks are doing given that Johnson, Texiera, Rodriquez and Granderson's collective batting average is well below the Mendoza line.

Wow, no comment from Girardi about the Boston start? Over at Pinstripe Alley they were debating which would be worse for Javy--not getting the start at Fenway, or getting shelled at Fenway. New York does have an off-day on Thursday, so they could skip Vasquez's turn in the rotation. I'm not sure what we do if he keeps pitching like this for the next month or so... he's a real drag (literally) on NY's win-loss record right now.

Agreed that NY being at 15-8 is pretty good, though, when you look at the performances of Javy, Nick Johnson, Tex, and A-Rod (of late, anyway, though he's still doing much better than the other two...but only 2 HR in 23 games! Same with Tex... not the kind of power production you expect from your 3 and 4 hitters). But New York has a pretty tough schedule in May--not a good time to be without the starting centerfielder. On the plus side, Brett Gardner is really proving himself worthy of being a day-to-day starter. He'll be back in center now...meaning we'll either have to play the non-hitting Randy Winn or the non-fielding Marcus Thames in left.

[BERIGAN]

Saw a fine game at Busch on Tuesday. Got there early enough to catch the Braves bp (unfortunately missed the Cards turn). I was close to where Hanson and Heyward were shagging flies and I just missed on a couple of foul bounces my way. I was struck by how many kids shouted out "Mister" and then the player's name anytime a ball was caught in hope that the player would toss a ball in their direction. One guy looked to be just a few years younger than Hanson but politely called out "Mr. Hanson, Mr. Hanson…" It was all kind of charming.

In my honor La Russa batted the pitcher 8th for the first time since July. He also had one of his patented let's-use-4-pitchers-to-get-3-outs innings. Oof!

Heyward just missed a monster HR to right. I think he'll work out just fine for you Beri. Ludwick was the one in the zone that night with a homer & a double. That Cardinal outfield is most impressive, and other than Pujols Colby Rasmus gets the heartiest applause. Perhaps it's because at 6'2" he's the little guy. It had been a long time since I was in that sea of red and it was a great atmosphere. I think I'll make of habit of taking in a ballgame for myself when making these trips to visit my parents.

Quincy, I envy you getting to see games at the new Busch! Would love to see a game there someday.

Saw Rasmus in those games, he is really coming into his own. Remember a few years ago where his Minor league numbers sucked, and he wanted to be traded??? Good thing that never happened!

Now, for the Braves...they looked like a team that should fire their manager, and "hitting" coach...but that ain't gonna happen. Finally won yesterday(only 6 hits though) and today broke out and scored more than 4, with 10. They couldn't have been as bad as they looked.

And JHey has hit a homer in 3 straight games, (Had one stolen last night from Hunter Pence as well) and now has 7 HR's and 20 RBI's...not bad for a rookie, on a team that doesn't hit!

And Ghost, and all other Yankee fans...something is not right with Javy...in case you didn't know that!

Seriously, his motion is NOT the same as it was with the Braves last year....have you heard any talk of that??? I know everyone wants to say the pressure, or being in the AL East.

He made one start last year against the Red Sox. 7 2/3rds, 6 hits, 1 run, 8 strike outs...I think it was in the ATL though...

[ghost of miles]

And Ghost, and all other Yankee fans...something is not right with Javy...in case you didn't know that!

Seriously, his motion is NOT the same as it was with the Braves last year....have you heard any talk of that??? I know everyone wants to say the pressure, or being in the AL East.

He made one start last year against the Red Sox. 7 2/3rds, 6 hits, 1 run, 8 strike outs...I think it was in the ATL though...

"Mechanics" is the mantra everyone's using to describe Javy's woes so far. (Also talk that his fastball is a couple MPH slower than it was for the Braves last year.) My concern is that his head will get all messed up from these woeful starts before he gets said mechanics back in gear. I think all NY's looking for from him is 30+ starts and a .500 record, preferably a little better than that; not unreasonable to surmise that he'll end up achieving that, but compared to the other NY starters so far, he's looking pretty awful. Hopefully Phil Hughes will continue to pitch well, and Javy will be the only question mark/weak link in the rotation.

[Dave James]

Swell news for Mariner fans. Cliff Lee's agent says the chances of his client pitching in Seattle next year are about slim and none. Apparently, the M's haven't even had any discussions about an extension. I know it's early, but I'd think they might at least have let Lee's camp know they're interested. On the other hand, when the 2010 free agent market for pitching is this thin, Lee would be crazy not to test the water.

Could someone photoshop a picture of Cliff Lee in a Yankee uniform? In the immortal words of Christopher Walken, "I got a fever!"

[Chalupa]

Smokin' the Phils!!!

Not today.

Yeah, seriously. Phils 10, Mets 0. But isn't that just like a Mets fan to get all excited about his team as it peaks in April?

[Tim McG]

Hey!

Matt Cain finally gets a win!

Things are looking up

Edited May 2, 2010 by GoodSpeak

[Chalupa]

Swell news for Mariner fans. Cliff Lee's agent says the chances of his client pitching in Seattle next year are about slim and none. Apparently, the M's haven't even had any discussions about an extension. I know it's early, but I'd think they might at least have let Lee's camp know they're interested. On the other hand, when the 2010 free agent market for pitching is this thin, Lee would be crazy not to test the water.

Could someone photoshop a picture of Cliff Lee in a Yankee uniform? In the immortal words of Christopher Walken, "I got a fever!"

But notice that he didn't say he definitely would not sign with Seattle. I think Lee's agent's comments are part of the cat/mouse game that agents/owners play with each other, seeing who will blink first. I don't think his agent is particularly all that bright. According to all reports Lee wanted to stay in Philly and was truly stunned that he got his ass traded from the best team in the NL to a so-so team in the AL West all because of his agent's demands. Now his agent's comments have pissed off the Mariners fans. Way to go. Regardless, Lee will command top dollar next winter and will be looking for C.C. dollars. Hoping he stays out of a NY (Yanks or Mets) uniform.

[ghost of miles]

According to all reports Lee wanted to stay in Philly and was truly stunned that he got his ass traded from the best team in the NL to a so-so team in the AL West all because of his agent's demands.

Yes, he seemed really taken aback--I think he was quite happy with Philadelphia, and I still can't believe they traded him.

In other news, Detroit manager Jim Leyland's gonna have to give up smoking in the dugout.