The rosters for the Triple-A All-Star game have been announced. Some names of note:Eric Young Jr. (Rockies)Clay Bucholtz (Red Sox)Andy Marte (Indians)Shelly Duncan (Yankees)Chris Shelton (Mariners)Brandon Wood (Angels)Matt Murton (Rockies)...
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As Ricky noted earlier today, the Rockies and Jason Hammel suffered a 1-0 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday that essentially came down to one at-bat. Thus, the Rox left Los Angeles stung, losing the series two games as they attempt to carry their scorching June into July. Colorado is 2-10 against the Dodgers this season. The Rockies are angry at the series outcome, but are still a confident team. That is quite a change from where this team was at the beginning of June. Colorado was a team looking for a way to get back to the promise they showed in...
Read more | Discuss | Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Jason Hammel, Jim Tracy, Los Angeles Dodgers
The monthly All-Star team is another feature I'm bringing over from my old blog. For those unfamiliar with my previous work, here are the April and May posts. I'm bringing the All-Star team over to MLB Notebook with a twist. It's going to be divided into two posts. One for the position players and a second for the pitching staff. Now that I'm working with some other great writers, these monthly posts can properly be used to start a discussion.*All stats are compiled as of 7 PM EST on July 1. Catcher: Bengie Molina, San Francisco GiantsMaking this selection was...
Read more | Discuss | Tags: Aaron Hill, Adam Lind, Albert Pujols, Andrew McCutchen, Bengie Molina, Boston Red Sox, Brad Hawpe, Carl Crawford, Chase Utley, Colorado Rockies, Evan Longoria, Florida Marlins, Hanley Ramirez, Home Run Trot, Home Run Trot All-Stars, Jason Bay, Los Angeles Angels, Pablo Sandoval, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Torii Hunter, Toronto Blue Jays
Jordan Zimmermann is getting a lot of fantasy love lately. I was on this guy in late April. He out-pitched Josh Johnson yesterday. Cody Ross hit his 14th bomb of the season of newly acquired Sean Burnett. Ross is slugging .633 vs. left handed pitching this season. Josh Johnson left the game after only 3.1 innings. No injury, just a rain delay and 4 walks to go with a rising pitch count. Ricky Romero continues to impress. He's stranding over 85% of runners and his FIP is a run higher than his ERA before his start yesterday. Walks and the AL East are my concerns, but he's definitely a guy worth rostering right now. He's only owned in 33% of Yahoo! leagues. Brad Bergesen impressed against the Red Sox. He's not going to strikeout a ton of guys, but he's keeping the ball on the ground and keeping the walks to a minimum. His next start comes against the Mariners. If you need a spot start, he's worth another go. Yovani Gallardo struck out a career high 12 in 7 IP against the Mets. If Gallardo can reduce his walk rate, he's basically Lincecum light. Gil Meche, coming off a "dead arm" period, threw 121 pitches in only 6 innings. His arm looked fine with a fastball sitting in the mid 90's, but minor injuries have been an issue this season. If I'm A Meche owner (or a Royals fan) I'm not happy about the pitch count at all. Billy Butler, 4-4, continues to outperform James Loney, but it seems no one is paying attention. Jason Hammel has been pitching well for the Rockies lately. He's not quite the ground ball pitcher Aaron Cooks is, but he is getting enough groundballs and limiting walks to be an NL-only add. Troy Tulowitzki got cold just as fast as he got hot two weeks ago. I think he'll finish with an AVG around .270. Jimmy Rollins took another o'fer, but so did most of the Phillies against Jair Jurjjens who only allowed 1 hit. Justin Verlander was touched up last night. That makes two less than spectacular starts in a row. I'm not reading much into it. Jose Contreras has struck out 8 batters in 3 of his last 4 starts. Randy Wells pitched well again and got his third straight win. I'd start him again at home vs the Braves in his next start. Johnny Cueto brought back the strikeout last night against the D-Backs. Of course the D-Backs are second only to the Marlins in team strikeouts. Kevin Millwood and Jered Weaver squared off in a battle of the "sell highs". Neither faired particularly well and neither are likely to repeat their first half numbers in the second half. Nelson Cruz left with a back injury. It didn't sound serious, but I never like to hear about back problems. Keep an eye on the situation. Albert Pujols did not hit a homerun, but he did go 2-2 with a stolen...
Read more | 2 Comments | Tags: Adam Wainwright, Adrian Gonzalez, Albert Pujols, Baltimore Orioles, Billy Butler, Brad Bergesen, Cincinnati Reds, Cody Ross, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Fantasy, Fantasy Baseball, Florida Marlins, Gil Meche, Jason Hammel, Jered Weaver, Jimmy Rollins, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmermann, Josh Johnson, Justin Verlander, Kansas City Royals, Kevin Millwood, Los Angeles Angels, Matt Cain, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, Nelson Cruz, Philadelphia Phillies, Ricky Romero, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Troy Tulowitzki, Washington Nationals, Yovani Gallardo
Looking for something to write that is non-Rays related, I wanted to a quick pitch f/x on someone. Then I found former Ray Jason Hammel pitching arguably his best start of his career, going eight innings of one run ball and only five hits allowed at Los Angeles. And unfortunately for him, Hammel lost the game 1-0 as that run came in the bottom of the eighth as the Rockies offense cooled off against Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers pen. Nothing to talk about in the pitch f/x except for a 40 mph pitch he threw. Wait, 40 miles per...
Read more | Discuss | Tags: Colorado Rockies, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB, Pitch Fx, Rafael Furcal
Notes from Rosenthal this morning:Vernon Wells is unlikely to be moved, due to his no-trade clause and massive salary. However, his teammate Alex Rios could be a popular target.Matt Holliday is not being shopped by the A's, who would "need a strong offer to move him".The Rockies are looking for bullpen help, but there aren't a lot of options available at this point....
Read more | Discuss | Tags: Alex Rios, Colorado Rockies, Matt Holliday, MLB, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Vernon Wells
Gil Meche will fight through injury issues and pitch in the Royals series finale with the Twins tonight.Former Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners manager Bob Melvin is accepting a job with the San Diego Padres. There is no word on what that job may be.Rockies minor leaguer Brandon Hynick threw a perfect game yesterday. Good for him....
Read more | Discuss | Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, Bob Melvin, Brandon Hynick, Colorado Rockies, Gil Meche, Kansas City Royals, MLB, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners
July begins with several teams either looking to extend winning streaks or stop losing streaks. San Francisco and St. Louis continue a series that impacts the early Wild Card race. Colorado looks to turn their luck around against the Dodgers. Plenty of pitchers are looking for win number eight, nine, or ten on July 1. Nyjer Morgan joins the Nationals. Adam Jones and Marco Scutaro begin July looking to end recent slumps. Those, and plenty of other good storylines, can be found in Wednesday's Games of the Day. Washington at Florida: The Nyjer Morgan era begins in Washington. He and...
Read more | Discuss | Tags: Adam Jones, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Brad Bergesen, Brad Hawpe, Chicago Cubs, Clayton Kershaw, Cole Hamels, Colorado Rockies, Dallas Braden, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Games of the Day, Ian Snell, James Loney, James Shields, Jarrod Washburn, Jason Hammel, Jered Weaver, Josh Beckett, Justin Verlander, Kevin Millwood, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Luke Scott, Marco Scutaro, Mike Pelfrey, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Nick Johnson, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Torii Hunter, Toronto Blue Jays, Virgil Vasquez, Washington Nationals, Yovani Gallardo
Sometimes when I think about this list during the weekend before Mondays roll around, things end up looking a bit differently than I pictured. This was one of those weeks. Over the weekend, multiple winning streaks were snapped, teams unexpectedly played poorly, and my top ten list underwent some major reconstruction. The result? A drastically different list compared to what we would've seen on Friday. 1. Los Angeles Angels (41-32)The Halos have won five straight, including a series win over the red-hot Rockies last week. They followed up the impressive series win by sweeping the woeful Diamondbacks over the weekend, and they now hold a 1.5 game lead in the AL West over Texas. They get the chance to widen the gap this week when they continue their road trip in Texas, in what some are calling the biggest series for the Angels this year.2. Tampa Bay Rays (42-35)Don't look...Read more
Read more | Discuss | Tags: Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Minnesota Twins, MLB, MLB Outsider, MLB Top 10, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays
MLB Outsider's Jaymes Langrehr and Kurt Evans debate the issue: Which contending team most needs to make a deal before the July 31 trade deadline in order to stay in the race? Jaymes Langrehr argues that the Brewers desperately need starting pitching:As we get closer to the trade deadline, a good number of teams are developing clear needs that need to be addressed if they're going to stay in playoff contention. Some teams will be able to cope with their weaknesses and still make the playoffs due to their other strengths. Other clubs will need to make a move if they have any chance at contending in the second half.The Milwaukee Brewers are a prime example. Heading into this season, they knew that their pitching wouldn't be as good as it was down the stretch last season. Given the strength of their offense, however, they figured to be in okay...Read more
Sure, the Colorado Rockies may not be on an insanely long winning streak at the moment (they're back to a merely above-average 5-game streak), but they're still playing the best baseball outside of Los Angeles or Boston at this point. For that reason, they hang on to the #1 spot in this week's Top 10 list. But who takes the #2 spot? With quite a few teams piecing together winning streaks lately, there are plenty of contenders -- there are seven teams who have won at least three games in a row, so there's no shortage of teams playing well, unlike in previous weeks.1. Colorado Rockies (36-33)Sure, it may not be an 11-game win streak, but after dropping a game to the Rays to snap the streak, Colorado has won five straight. For those of you keeping track at home, that's 16 wins in their past 17 games, and it's...Read more
Read more | Discuss | Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB, MLB Outsider, MLB Top 10, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays
Everybody's heard of Alex Rodriguez. We all know who Johan Santana is. Lord knows we've all seen the towering homeruns of Albert Pujols. But as fascinating as those players are -- and it's usually a lot of fun to see somebody turn into a star and have a long, successful career -- there are a number of players in the '09 season who have put up heroic numbers... and yet most of us wouldn't be able to spot them in a crowd or even recognize their name in a discussion. Here's a short list of this year's surprises...The HittersPablo Sandoval - 22-years-old, the Giants rookie is batting .338 and is presently on pace to hit 50 doubles, 5 triples, 20 homeruns, and drive in 82 RBI. I'm sure that Giant fans everywhere know his name and are buying his poster, but outside of San Fran he's probably about as recognizable as...Read more
Read more | 1 Comment | Tags: Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, Minnesota Twins, MLB, MLB Outsider, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays
We're now roughly a month away from the All Star Game and while the season is unfolding in a somewhat predictable manner, there have been more than a few unexpected developments. For example -- the Cubs. Sure, we all know that they're the Cubs (aka the Chicago Invent New Ways to Lose Surprisinglys) but did anybody expect them to have such a crappy offense? Certainly not I. But more impressive than the Cubs' historic burn-out have been the teams we'd traditionally expect to be finished due to their Rockie start only for things to develop unpredictably. (See what I did there? "Rockie" start? I'm a genius!) Let's look closer in this week's Stock Market.RisingColorado RockiesAs a simple baseball fan, I have a few rules I try to follow. When it comes to playoff expectations, I never give up on a team before September until they are either 10 games under...Read more
Read more | Discuss | Tags: Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, New York Mets, NL Central, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays
For most teams, the MLB season includes multiple peaks and valleys. Ultimately, you're never as good as you are when you're playing at a peak, and you're never as bad as when you're playing in a valley. Right now, the Colorado Rockies are riding a peak that's a mile high (har har), winning eleven games in a row. Whenever the "L10" column in the standings reads "10-0", you know you're playing really good baseball. It's no surprise that the Rockies take the top spot in this week's top ten list, but who else has been putting together hot streaks while the Rockies steal the headlines?1. Colorado Rockies (31-32)At this point, there's really no one else you can put at the top of this list. I always thought that their run in September two years ago was a once-in-a-lifetime thing and would never be repeated, but it looks like the 2009...Read more
Read more | 1 Comment | Tags: Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB, MLB Outsider, MLB Top 10, San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays
It was an interesting week in baseball -- Randy Johnson won his 300th career game in front of about 12 people in Washington, the Dodgers stole a couple wins from Philadelphia in walkoff fashion, the Rangers proved their worth with a brutal East Coast road trip, and the Rockies started slugging the tar out of the ball...and they weren't even playing at home. So who heads up this week's Top 10 list as the team playing the best baseball?1. Philadelphia Phillies (33-22)The Phillies had a pair of tough walkoff losses in Los Angeles over the weekend, but prior to the late-game collapses the Phils were winners of seven straight. With the Mets running into serious injury problems, Philadelphia has a hold on the NL East -- they have a chance to expand that three game division lead starting Tuesday night when they travel to New York for a three game...Read more
Read more | Discuss | Tags: Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, MLB Outsider, MLB Top 10, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers
More than a few pundits predicted that Colorado Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins' descent into mediocrity would continue in 2009. After three consecutive seasons from 2006 to 2007 of declining walk rates, rising strikeout rates and diminishing OPS, all statistical signs pointed to further regression this season. However, Atkins has fallen off faster than Lindsey Lohan's career and fantasy owners are befuddled by the collapse (unlike our total clarity with regard to LiLo's).Atkins' .192 batting average is the fourth-worst in the major leagues this season (behind D-Backs OF Chris Young, Red Sox DH David Ortiz and Rangers 1B Chris Davis) and his .548 OPS is second-worst (behind Davis). Complicating matters is his horrific .087 isolated power (ISO). Despite all of this, Atkins has some other numbers that create some room for optimism.To begin with, Atkins major league-low .210 BABIP means that he has been extremely unlucky in that so many...Read more
Read more | Discuss | Tags: Colorado Rockies, Fantasy, Garrett Atkins, MLB
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