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.

Sunday Wrap: Week Five is in the Books

Tanner and… Jose Altuve

 

Oofta, as my Mom would say.  The Astros got swept by the Tigers, were beaten so badly, that even though not much was expected of them, the players had a closed-door meeting after Justin Verlander nearly no-hit them. They were outscored in the four-game sweep 37-8. They’ve lost six in a row.  And now, they are indeed, on track to lose more than the Mets record of 120 games.

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How about them Giants?  A three-game sweep of their rival Dodgers in dramatic fashion with Posey‘s walkoff HR on Friday, Quiroz in a 10th-inning walkoff HR on Saturday, and Matt Cain finally showing his old form in today’s nationally televised 4-3 defeat. They Gigantes have now won six in a row and are back in first place. The poor Dodgers had Hanley Ramirez back for four games before he returned to the DL with a hamstring injury sidelined him in Friday’s game.

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The Rangers made a statement.  They swept the Red Sox, who were the hottest team in the league.

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Roy Halladay is probably going on the DL.  He got spanked- hard- again.

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Playoff picture if the season ended today:

NL West: Giants [Last Week: Diamondbacks/Rockies tied]

NL Central: Cardinals [Last Week: Pirates]

NL East: Braves [Last Week: Braves]

NL Wild Cards: Rockies & Reds [Last Week: Diamondbacks/Rockies & Cardinals]

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AL West: Rangers [Last Week: Rangers]

AL Central: Tigers [Last Week: Royals]

AL East: Red Sox [Last Week: Red Sox]

AL Wild Cards: Royals & Yankees [Last Week: A’s & 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) 31: Austin Jackson

2) 26 (two tied): Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Gonzalez

4) 25 (two tied): Shin-Soo Choo, Nate McLouth

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Coco Crisp (2-T), Adam Jones (2-T), Matt Carpenter (4-T)]

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Home Runs

1) 12: Justin Upton

2) 10: John Buck

3) 9 (five tied): Chris Davis, Edwin Encarnacion, Bryce Harper, Mike Morse, Mark Reynolds

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: J.P. Arencibia (T-4), Anthony Rizzo (T-4)]

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RBI

1) 36: Miguel Cabrera

2) 32: Prince Fielder

3) 31: Mike Napoli

4) 30: Chris Davis

5) 29: John Buck

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Brandon Phillips (3)]

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Stolen Bases

1) 12: Jacoby Ellsbury

2) 11: Juan Pierre

3) 10: Starling Marte

4) 9: Nate McLouth

5) 8 (three tied): Everth Cabrera, Coco Crisp, Jean Segura

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

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Batting Average

1) .385: Miguel Cabrera

2) .379: Carlos Santana

3) .368: Carlos Gomez

4) .361: Torii Hunter

5) .348: Troy Tulowitzki

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Chris Johnson (T-1st), Bryce Harper (4)]

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Wins

1) 6: Clay Buchholz

2) 5 (five tied): Yu Darvish, Jason Hammell, Lance Lynn, Matt Moore, Jordan Zimmermann

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Doug Fister (T-4), Matt Harvey (T-4), Jon Lester (T-4), Justin Masterson (T-4), CC Sabathia (T-4), Adam Wainwright (T-4)]

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Saves

1) 12 (two tied): Jason Grilli, Sergio Romo

3) 11 (two tied): Jim Johnson, Mariano Rivera

5) 10 (two tied): Addison Reed, Rafael Soriano

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Rafael Betancourt (T-4), Craig Kimbrel (T-4), Brandon League (T-4), Joe Nathan (T-4), Tom Wilhelmson (T-4)]

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Strikeouts

1) 72: Yu Darvish

2) 57: A.J. Burnett

3) 54: Max Scherzer

4) 52 (two tied): Clayton Kershaw, Jeff Samardzija

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Felix Hernandez (4), Ryan Dempster (5)]

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E.R.A.

1) 1.01: Clay Buchholz

2) 1.07: Jake Westbrook

3) 1.55: Madison Bumgarner

4) 1.55: Justin Verlander

5) 1.56: Matt Harvey

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Matt Moore (2), Anibal Sanchez (4)]

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WHIP

1) 0.75: Jordan Zimmermann

2) 0.76: Hisashi Iwakuma

3) 0.82: Matt Harvey

4) 0.84: Madison Bumgarner

5) 0.88: Mike Minor

[Last week leaders falling out of Top 5: Yu Darvish (3), Carlos Villanueva (4)]

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So there you go.

 

 

Day in Review: Three Weeks in the Books

A few items from today…

Ryan Braun continues to prove that he’s a dick.  Mr. Class himself through a little hissy fit, throwing his bat in the air when an umpire had the gall to call a third strike on the douchebag.  C’mon MLB– suspend this PED ass clown already.

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The Red Sox lost both games of a double header.  While it is appropriate to care about Boston and the victims of the heinous crimes from last week, it is okay to now resume not liking the Red Sox, as is a grand tradition.  The Royals lead the AL Central.

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The Diamondbacks cooled off the Rockies, scoring two runs in the top of the 9th, to end the Rockies winning streak at 8.

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The Rays finally are showing some life.  They swept the A’s– no small feat- in authoritative fashion, outscoring them 17-4.  A non-surprise, Brett Anderson hurt himself again.  Josh Reddick tamed his mane and beard, to no positive effect.  Matt Snyder of CBS Sports pointed out that six teams swept series this weekend: Twins over White Sox (though due to cold weather, they only played twice), Rangers over Mariners, Giants over Padres, Brewers over Cubs, and Angels over Tigers.

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Barry Zito rebounded from a thumping in Milwaukee earlier in the week to pitch 7 SO innings versus the Padres.  It was his third time this season so far that he has done so at home. The Padres haven’t scored a run in 21 innings.  More good news for the Giants: Buster Posey finally hit his first HR of the year.

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The Dodgers won.  And if that wasn’t news enough, Matt Kemp also went 3 for 5.  I’ll take my digs now, because part of me is also saying “uh-oh”.

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I feel like I should write about how the Tigers are in trouble, but like ESPN’s Buster Olney pointed out, the Tigers were under .500 in early July last year and they ended up in the World Series.

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But it is Sunday, and it is a good time to take a look at what the playoff picture would be if the season ended today!  I like this part of the week:

AL East: Red Sox   [Last Week: Red Sox]

AL Central: Royals [Last Week: Royals and Tigers were tied]

AL West: Rangers [Last Week: A’s]

AL Wild Cards: A’s/Yankees [Last Week: Royals/Tigers]

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NL West: Rockies [Last Week: Giants]

NL Central: Reds [Last Week: Cardinals]

NL East: Braves [Last Week: Braves]

NL Wild Cards: Giants plus 4-way tie of Nats/Pirates/Cards/D-Backs [Last Week: D-Backs/Rockies]

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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) 19 (two tied): Austin Jackson, Carlos Gonzalez

3) 18: Coco Crisp

4) 17 (four tied): Shin-Soo Choo, Adam Jones, Daniel Murphy, Josh Rutledge

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Home Runs

1) 9: Justin Upton

2) 7 (six tied): J.P. Arencibia, John Buck, Chris Davis, Dexter Fowler, Bryce Harper, Mark Reynolds

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RBI

1) 22: John Buck

2) 21 (three tied): Chris Davis, Prince Fielder, Brandon Phillips

5) 20: Mike Napoli

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Stolen Bases

1) 8: Jacoby Ellsbury

2) 6 (two tied): Coco Crisp, Andrew McCutchen

4) 5 (eight tied): Everth Cabrera, Rajai Davis, Austin Jackson, Desmond Jennings, Josh Reddick, Ben Revere, Jose Reyes, David Wright

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Batting Average

1) .407: Chris Johnson

2) .403: Chris Davis

3) .392: Torii Hunter

4) .385: Adrian Gonzalez

5) .382 (two tied): Shin-Soo Choo, Jed Lowrie

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Wins

1) 4 (two tied): Clay Bucholz, Matt Harvey

3) 3 (sixteen tied): Madison Bumgarner, Jhoulys Chacin, Yu Darvish, Doug Fister, Jon Lester, Lance Lynn, Paul Maholm, Justin Masterson, Tommy Milone, Matt Moore, Eric O’Flaherty, Andy Pettite, C.C. Sabathia, Adam Wainwright, Jordan Zimmerman, Barry Zito

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Saves

1) 8: Sergio Romo

2) 7 (four tied): Rafael Betancourt, Jason Grilli, Jim Johnson, Craig Kimbrel

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Strikeouts

1) 38: Yu Darvish

2) 35: A.J. Burnett

3) 33 (two tied): Ryan Dempster, Jake Peavy

5) 32: Matt Harvey

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E.R.A.

1) 0.90 (two tied): Clay Bucholz, Ross Detwiler

3) 0.93: Matt Harvey

4) 0.95: Mike Minor

5) 1.00: Matt Moore

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WHIP

1) 0.52: Hisashi Iwakuma

2) 0.66: Matt Harvey

3) 0.68: Garrett Richards

4) 0.77: Derek Holland

5) 0.79: Yu Darvish

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Hopefully you see some of your players in those leader categories.  If not, don’t fret, next week could change all that.

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