Sunday Wrap: Six Weeks in the Books

Pablo Sandoval “painted” his nails pink for Mother’s Day (they are actually decals).

“Relax, all right? Don’t try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they’re fascist. Throw some ground balls. It’s more democratic.” – Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) to Nuke Laloosh (Tim Robbins), Bull Durham (1988)

[I had reserved this spot for Chris Sale had he completed the perfect-game-in-progress he had going through six tonight, but Mike Trout broke that up. I never really get excited anymore when announcers or twitter starts getting excited about a perfect game or no-hitter.  Don’t we all feel a little embarrassed to tune in only to see it broken up?]

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Okay, this Indians run is getting ridiculous.  They have now won 12 of their last 14 (setting aside Umpire Angel Hernandez‘s terrible call on the HR review against the A’s), they took 2 out of 3 from the Tigers and now are tied with the Tigers for first place in the AL Central.  Amazing.  They’ve got a double header against the Yankees tomorrow and the Tigers play Houston. Michael Bourn is back and contributing already.  We’ll see.

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Closer blues: The Tigers lost in extras following Jose Valverde‘s first blown save of the season… Brandon McCarthy pitched eight scoreless innings and was removed with only 88 pitches to give way to Heath Bell in the 9th.  Bell gave up four hits while recording only two outs. The Diamondbacks eventually lost… The Indians are always flirting with disaster when closer Chris Perez is out there (he did give up a game-tying HR to A’s Rosales– the ump bailing him out doesn’t really change that).

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Jim Cook, that Sam Adams Boston Lager guy, always sounds drunk and huggy and a little weepy– he’s got that drunk’s sentimentality to him and their ads always have corny music that are all emo.  My question is: the Sam Adams people know that he sounds like the drunken uncle you wouldn’t wanna get stuck in a conversation with, don’t they?

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Michael Cuddyer, Rajai Davis, Jake Westbrook, J.J. Putz, Roy Halladay…. just a few of the recent entries to the Disabled List.  Here is the link to see updates on all injured players, whether they on the DL or not.

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Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo agreed to a seven-year, $41 million extension with the Cubs.  It isn’t a ton of money, so it is low-risk for the Cubs.  For Rizzo, not only might he outperform that deal, but even worse, he’s just agreed to remain a member of the Cubs through the prime years of his career.  No World Series.

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Yankees legend Mariano Rivera is taking advantage of his last year in baseball by raising money for his foundation as well as paying tribute to the many workers from around baseball that he’s gotten to know in the past few decades.  In Kansas City, during batting practice, Rivera was being interviewed by reporters and Joba Chamberlain was yelling to family members in the stands.  Mo shushed him– not probably the best thing to do– but Chamberlain made a bit of a scene.  Look, maybe Mo was rude, but Chamberlain comes across as a pretty unlikable guy.  Or it could just be that like everybody else, just the mere mention of Joba makes our eyes roll into the back of our head, and that conditioning makes us all think of him as a douche.   maybe.

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Playoff picture if the season ended today:

NL West: Giants [Last Week: Giants]

NL Central: Cardinals [Last Week: Cardinals]

NL East: Braves [Last Week: Braves]

NL Wild Cards: Reds & Pirates [Last Week: Rockies & Reds]

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AL West: Rangers [Last Week: Rangers]

AL Central: Indians/Tigers [Last Week: Tigers]

AL East: Yankees [Last Week: Red Sox]

AL Wild Cards: Orioles & Red Sox [Last Week: Royals & Yankees]

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Now let’s take a look at the league leaders in all 10 statistical categories that our Fantasy League competes in:

Runs

1) 33: Austin Jackson

2) 29 (three tied): Shin-Soo Choo, Adam Jones, Starling Marte

5) 28 (five tied): Carlos Gonzalez, Evan Longoria, Manny Machado, Nate McLouth, Justin Upton

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Miguel Cabrera]

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Home Runs

1) 12: Justin Upton

2) 11 (three tied): Chris Davis, Edwin Encarnacion, Mark Reynolds

5) 10 (three tied): John Buck, Robinson Cano, Bryce Harper

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Mike Morse]

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RBI

1) 40: Miguel Cabrera

2) 37: Chris Davis

3) 33 (two tied): Prince Fielder, Mike Napoli

5) 32: Mark Reynolds

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: John Buck]

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Stolen Bases

1) 12 (two tied): Jacoby Ellsbury, Juan Pierre

3) 11 (two tied): Everth Cabrera, Nate McLouth

5) 10 (two tied): Starling Marte, Jean Segura

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Coco Crisp]

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Batting Average

1) .379: Miguel Cabrera

2) .376: James Loney

3) .371: Carlos Gomez

4) ..359: Jean Segura

5) .345: Adrian Gonzalez

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Carlos Santana, Torii Hunter, Troy Tulowitzki]

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Wins

1) 6 (four tied): Clay Buchholz, Yu Darvish, Matt Moore, Jordan Zimmermann

5) 5 (eleven tied): Patrick Corbin, Jeremy Guthrie, Jason Hammel, Felix Hernandez, Hiroki Kuroda, Jon Lester, Lance Lynn, Justin Masterson, Shelby Miller, Max Scherzer, Adam Wainwright

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: none]

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Saves

1) 15 (two tied): Jason Grilli, Mariano Rivera

3) 14: Jim Johnson

4) 12 (two tied): Sergio Romo, Rafael Soriano

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Addison Reed]

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Strikeouts

1) 80: Yu Darvish

2) 66: A.J. Burnett

3) 62: Matt Harvey

4) 61 (two tied): Ryan Dempster, Max Scherzer

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Clayton Kershaw, Jeff Samardzija]

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E.R.A.

1) 1.44: Matt Harvey

2) 1.53: Felix Hernandez

3) 1.58: Shelby Miller

4) 1.59: Jordan Zimmermann

5) 1.62 (two tied): Jake Westbrook, Clayton Kershaw

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Clay Buchholz, Madison Bumgarner, Justin Verlander]

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WHIP

1) 0.73: Matt Harvey

2) 0.74: Hisashi Iwakuma

3) 0.82: Jordan Zimmermann

4) 0.88: Shelby Miller

5) 0.90 (three tied): Mike Minor, Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Madison Bumgarner]

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So there you go.

Day in Review: Saturday, 4.20.13

Big day at Fenway as the Red Sox resumed play following the events in Boston the past few days. During pre-game ceremonies- broadcast live by the MLB Network– David “Big Papi” Ortiz (his first game of the season) made a speech that was both popular, and well, he dropped an F-bomb on live television: “This jersey that we wear today, it doesn’t say Red Sox. It says Boston. We want to thank you, Mayor Menino, Governor Patrick, the whole police department, for the great job that they did this past week. This is our fucking city! And nobody’s going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong.”…  And yes, there are already t-shirts available… What was really surprising was a tweet from the FCC that came out shortly after: “David Ortiz spoke from the heart at today’s Red Sox game. I stand with Big Papi and the people of Boston – Julius“.  That’s right, Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the FCC supported it and let it slide. It isn’t often that you think of the FCC as cool.  That is really cool… On top of that, Neil Diamond himself showed up to perform his “Sweet Caroline”.  The thing that makes that so cool, is that the Red Sox didn’t arrange it.  Neil booked a flight himself, caught a 4AM flight that he paid for, and then offered to perform.  Classy… And then, down 4-2 in the bottom of the 8th, the Red Sox managed to take the lead on the strength of a three-run HR from Daniel Nava, a player who had almost retired twice… They held on after the Royals Lorenzo Cain hit a HR in the 9th (he went 4-4), and the storybook ending was complete… A slight non-baseball add-on.  Boston.com compiled a list of twitter responses to Arkansas state senator Nate Bell‘s tasteless tweet from Thursday/Friday night when the manhunt was on, the one that went: “I wonder how many Boston liberals spent the night cowering in their homes wishing they had an AR-15 with a hi-capacity magazine?”  The replies are worth reading.

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The Tigers Rick Porcello had a crappy day.  He pitched only 2/3’s of an inning vs. the Angels before getting the hook.  In that time he had given up 9 hits, a walk, 9 ER, and a grand slam to Mike Trout.  The performance rose his ERA to 11.08 on the season.  On top of that, the Tigers were shutout, losing 10-0.

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The opposing pitcher, Angels Garrett Richards went 7 innings, giving up only two hits and no runs. It was the first time this year that an Angels starting pitcher had pitched into the 7th inning.

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Porcello had some company in the crappy day department. Astros (oh, poor Astros) SP Philip Humber made it through only 1/3 of an inning against the Indians.  He gave up 8 hits, a walk, a HR to Mark Reynolds, and 8 ER.  The Indians beat them 19-6.  Oofta.

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Nationals Gio Gonzalez had another bad start, giving 5 ER on 5 hits and four walks in just four innings.  Walks have always been a problem for him, but the Mets had no problem with him. The Nationals did win the game though, 7-6, with some power.  Bryce Harper, Adam Laroche and Ian Desmond all hit homers—- Harper hit two of them.

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The Nationals picked up a game on the Braves, who finally lost a game in which they weren’t shutout.  The Pirates beat them 3-1. Paul Maholm was handed the loss, and he saw his scoreless streak to start the season end at 25 1/3 innings. A good run.

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White Sox SP Jake Peavy had a good day, striking out 9, giving up one run on six hits and four walks in seven innings.  The Twins SP Vance Worley had an even better day though, given how lousy he has been in his previous starts.  He also went 7, giving up one run on 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. The Twins continue to show that they aren’t as bad as everyone thought they would be.  Joe Mauer kept up his great hitting, going 2 for 3 with a couple of walks.  The Twins won in 10 innings, 2-1.

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Tim Lincecum had his best start of the season.  He pitched 6 2/3, striking out 8 and walking two, while giving up no runs.  It lowered his ERA to a respectable 3.97.  The Giants beat the Padres 2-0, the scoring courtesy of a Pablo Sandoval 2-run HR.  The Giants were outhit 5-3.  That’s Giants baseball right there.

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The Dodgers got beat by the Orioles…. twice!

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Day in Review: Tuesday, 4.16.13

1. It started with the Yankees announcing that as tribute to Boston following the terrorist attack yesterday, they would play the theme song of their longtime rival Red Sox during the game. Then, the Indians, who were hosting the Red Sox, announced that they would do the same. After that, I think every host stadium played “Sweet Caroline” today, a sweet enough gesture, especially by the Yankees…of course the hyperbole by some sportswriters/broadcasters, especially when the Red Sox won, was sports schmaltz.  Cranky?  No.  Emphasizing baseball too much in the face of real-life tragic events is embarrassing. Paying proper tribute/recognition is fine. Stating that the Boston Red Sox winning a frickin’ baseball game means anything to people affected by the bombings is moronic.

2. Teams that had an off-day yesterday observed Jackie Robinson Day today… Living in Portland now, I miss the Giants broadcasts so much.  Now I listen to the Mariners, which is fine- it is nice to have some baseball to listen to, but today one of the announcers (I don’t know his name) kept going on about how he loved the scene in 42 where Brooklyn Dodgers SS Pee Wee Reese comes up to Robinson during his first game and puts his arm around him, showing support.  That was a very fine gesture, but to pick that as your favorite part, and then to mention it again and again is, to me, akin to lavishing praise on Branch Rickey for promoting Robinson. Credit is due, but it is like making Kevin Kline the hero of a movie about Steve Biko.  It is Jackie Robinson Day– not a day for the white guys that did the right thing day. Again, not cranky, I just don’t see how so many middle-aged white guys can’t see the underlying aspect to their viewpoints.

3. Speaking of cranky, I loved Texas Rangers‘ Lance Berkman‘s comments about Wrigley Field today.  Click the link to read all of it, but my favorite part was: “But really, what kind of history is there? It’s not like there has been one championship after another. It’s mainly been a place for people to go and drink beer.”  I’m with Lance.  I am fine with the billy goat curse or whatever forever preventing the Cubs from winning the World Series. There are a lot of reasons, but the main one for me is the way they treated Steve Bartman.

4. April is wreaking a bit of havoc weather-wise. There was a fake tweet that made the rounds yesterday stating that MLB had given the Rockies permission to host a triple-header against the Mets. Well, they were snowed out yesterday, with a double-header scheduled for today.  They had tons of snow to remove, and so the first game started late.  There were so few people in the crowd, that the Rockies offered everyone brave enough to show up for the first game (which was scheduled to begin at 1:10 but was delayed two hours), were welcome to stay for free for the second game, which finally just ended at 11:06pm MT (the second game went into the 10th).  Any fans that spent ten hours at the games today should be given some kind of season-long discount.  Those that showed though did get to see the Rockies win both games against the Mets…  The Mets were snowed out two games in a row- both yesterday in Denver, and the day prior in Minnesota…  Minnesota’s Target Field, which opened in 2010, has a Rain Water Recycle System that has- according to the Twins official Twitter feed- has captured, purified, and reused more than 1.8 million gallons of rainwater… The start of the Reds/Phillies game in Cincinnati was delayed by 80 minutes. They then played to the middle of the 9th with neither team scoring before they were delayed again, the game eventually suspended and will be completed tomorrow before their scheduled game.  Fans from tonight were welcomed back to tomorrow’s game.

5. After taking the final two games against the Astros, the Angels troubles have resumed, losing the first two games against the Minnesota Twins– a team not picked to do much better than the Astros this year.  Josh Hamilton is back in a slump, now hitting .200.  Mike Trout continues to show life (up to .300 after flirting with the Mendoza line), but the Angels now sit at 4-10 and tied for last with the Astros in the AL West. Part of the problem is Albert Pujols.  He isn’t hitting poorly (.280), but he has foot/leg problems that make him a problem on the base paths, which isn’t great with speedy Trout ahead of him and two power hitters behind him.  That batting lineup needs a shake-up… It didn’t help the Angels that Joe Mauer is in prime form. After a slow start, Mauer (.368) has been on fire, getting four hits in each game of the series so far.

6. The Dodgers aren’t doing well either.  They dropped another (7-7, 4th place) to the Padres tonight, scoring only two runs (9-2 to Jason Marquis).  While Carl Crawford is performing well, something which seemed iffy when the season started, it has been canceled out by a dreadful start from Matt Kemp, who is now hitting .185…  Dodgers pitching injury woes continue.  Starter Chris Capuano left the game with a calf injury with no outs in the third after giving up 5 ER… Luckily for the Dodgers, Ted Lilly relented and agreed to make another rehab start, a situation that looked to be a problem for the Dodgers.  Lilly had declared himself healthy, and if the Dodgers hadn’t accommodated him, he would be free to sign with another team.

7. The Giants lost against the Brewers today, and with the Rockies winning both ends of a doubleheader vs. the Mets, the Rockies have overtaken first place. It was Barry Zito‘s first loss since last August, a span of 16 games in which the Giants won (including the post-season).  It also ended his run of 15 2/3 scoreless innings to start this season. Zito gave up 9 ER, 8 of them alone in the third inning. The Giants almost bailed him out, coming back only to lose 10-8, the last play of the game a deep drive from Andres Torres with one on that came up just short…  On the bright side, steroid boy Ryan Braun struck out four times!  (That’s a golden sombrero!).  Braun has been striking out a ton lately.  His neck is hurt more than he’s willing to admit. My heart bleeds for him…  Also, the Brewers bullpen stinks… Pablo Sandoval continued his hot start with 4 RBI.  Both Panda and SS Brandon Crawford extended their hitting streaks to 9 games.

8. The Braves continued their phenomenal start, beating the Kansas City Royals 6-3 on the strength of five HRs- including Justin Upton‘s 8th- and won their 10th game in a row to bring their record to a remarkable 12-1.  The Braves lead the league in ERA and HR and on top of that, Jason Heyward showed he’s coming out of his slump, hitting 2 HRs in the game.  It is a good time to be a Braves fan.

9. The Rays continued their disappointing start (4-9), losing 5-4 to the Orioles.  On the bright side, The Rays scored more than two runs, which seems to be all they’ve been good for this year.  At the start of the game, six of the Rays starters were hitting below .200, and two of them were hitting below .100.  One of the few players that has been hitting- Evan Longoria– wasn’t hitting for power, but today, for the second time in two games, he hit a HR.  So that’s 2, but a good sign of things to come.  He’s heating up.

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