Notables:
-Mike Pelfrey went for seven scoreless innings and the bullpen secured the third straight shutout game against Philadelphia. Don't blame Shane Victorino for this one; he had all three hits. I've got a David Wright blog in the works, look for it some time this weekend.
-Jason Hammel turned in a solid start allowing only two runs over 5.1 innings. He struck out eight and now has a 21:3 K:BB ratio over his last three starts. Hammel is worth a roll of the dice when he's on the road if he can duplicate last season's numbers; his home/away splits were 5.73 ERA/3.13 ERA.
-Ted Lilly put up seven scoreless innings with five Ks and three walks. Remember this guy had the fifth best WHIP among starting pitchers last year so a rebound from his early struggles shouldn't be too surprising.
-The Rodney Dangerfield of baseball, Jeff Niemann, threw another gem. He allowed only one run over eight innings to lower his ERA to 2.37. This guy should be getting a lot more press than he has. Throw out his first game when he was removed after getting hit with a line drive and let's examine his other nine starts. He's lasted at least six innings and hasn't allowed more than three runs in each. The bad news is his 84.5|PERCENT| strand rate coupled with a 4.48 xFIP suggests a regression is on the horizon. He's still an automatic start going forward, just be ready for a rough outing or two.
-Johnny Cueto further established himself as the Reds' ace tossing six scoreless innings, striking out nine and walking two. He now has a 4-0 record in May with a 1.59 ERA and 37:7 K:BB ratio over 34.0 innings.
Save Chances:
-Matt Lindstrom, blown save, blown game. Lindstrom entered the game with four walks over 19.1 innings and issued three free passes in 1.2 innings. It was kind of surprising that Lindstrom was allowed to stay in the game for the tenth frame after blowing the game in the ninth.
-Carlos Marmol, converted. Marmol issued a walk and struck out the side en route to his 11th save. For those scoring at home, that's now five times he's struck out the side this season. He now has 49 Ks over 24.2 innings, just missing a 2:1 K/Inn ratio. He's making a strong case to pass Mariano Rivera going forward.
-Joakim Soria, converted. His ERA now sits at a tidy 2.84 and while he has a 97.4|PERCENT| strand rate, his 25.0|PERCENT| HR/FB rate won't last either.
Other Closer Outings:
-Billy Wagner pitched a scoreless ninth with a five-run lead. The Braves might as well use him while he's still wearing their jersey.
Non-Closer Outings:
-So who's the closer in Milwaukee - Trevor Hoffman, Carlos Villanueva or John Axford? Today Hoffman wasn't used, Villanueva pitched the ninth with his team down a run and Axford got the win tossing a scoreless tenth. Comments were issued earlier today suggesting that Hoffman will get the next shot when there is an actual save opportunity. I'm not optimistic Hoffman will last; his velocity is down, his 15.8|PERCENT| GB rate is terrible and the 4.2 HR/9 won't keep him in the role for too long.
Lineup-ology:
-Players given a day of R & R: Carlos Lee, Delmon Young, B.J. Upton (second day off to clear his head), Carlos Quentin, "Mr. Clutch" or "Andre Ethier 2009" Ryan Doumit, and Cliff Pennington.
-Manny Ramirez was out of the starting lineup again for today's game but came on to strikeout as a pinch-hitter. Not being in the starting lineup has become a reoccurring theme for him.
-Neil Walker (see below) got the start at second base for the Pirates. This isn't good news for Akinori Iwamura.
-P.J. Walters picked up his first win by limiting the Padres to no runs and four hits over five innings. While three starts at Tiple-A is a small sample size it's worth noting his ERA (0.48) was lower than his WHIP (.659). Walters has likely earned himself another start but is it time the Cards and Astros talk Roy Oswalt given the Kyle Lohse injury?
-Pat Burrell has been linked possibly to the San Francisco Giants. I'd avoid, even in NL-only leagues. I'm not sure if San Fran realizes that they don't have a DH spot in their lineup. It'll be interesting to see what a -30+ UZR looks like in real life.
Tough Days:
-Dan Haren got roughed up for eight runs over 6.1 innings. He allowed four long balls in Coors Field and has given up 10 total over his last three starts, which is of mild concern. However, everything else looks solid on him. His .346 BABIP is well above his .302 career average and the 9.31 K/9 mark is on pace to be a career-high. I'd love to get an explanation about the long balls from 'Zona (like Timmy might have a blister) but everything else screams buy-low right now.
-I'd also like to get a logical explanation as to why Charlie Morton is still starting games in Pittsburgh. The kid has some talent but his confidence has to be shot after posting a 9.35 ERA (12 home runs) and 1.89 WHIP over 43.1 innings this season. Today's line: 2.2 innings, five earned runs (seven total), three walks and two home runs.
Injuries:
-Brian McCann was held out of the starting lineup but was available to pitch. Too bad, he had four lifetime homers off Marlins' starter Ricky Nolasco.
-Luke Scott, who had been on fire before his shoulder injury, hopes to return to the lineup on Friday.
-Nelson Cruz could be headed back to the DL on Friday if his left hamstring proves to still be an issue after Wednesday night's injury.
-Andre Ethier will play some rehab games this weekend and is set to return to the Dodgers' lineup on Monday.
Stolen Bases:
-Justin Maxwell (2), Stephen Drew (3), Michael Bourn (16), Hunter Pence 2 (5), Evan Longoria (8), Alex Rios (15), Scott Podsednik (15), Chris Getz (6), Brendan Ryan (2), (Hail!) Cesar Izturis (5), Brandon Phillips (7), Hanley Ramirez (5)
Caught Stealing:
Home Runs:
-Adam Dunn (10 and narrowly missed 11), Josh Willingham (9), Aubrey Huff (5), Troy Tulowitzki (6, I advocated trading for him a week ago here, in his last seven games he's got an OPS over 1.500 and five homers), Seth Smith (8), Carlos Gonzalez (6), Ryan Spilborghs (3), Carl Crawford (4), Evan Longoria (10), Mark Teahen (3), Bill Hall (4), Brendan Ryan (1), Albert Pujols (9, don't be surprised if he doesn't go on a tear this weekend), Gabe Gross (1), Scott Rolen (11), Jay Bruce (5), Jason Kubel 2 (5-he's now 7-for-15 with three home runs and nine RBI against the Yanks)
Pickups?!?!
Chris Iannetta-The guy struggled to start the season but his raking at Triple-A (1.145 OPS) may have given his confidence back to make some fantasy noise the rest of the season. He had a 11:4 K:BB ratio over 30 at-bats before his demotion and rebounded to have a 10:10 K:BB mark over 63 at-bats in the minors. The key for him will be to keep the strikeouts down.
Neil Walker-Walker got the start at second base suggesting the end could be near for Akinori Iwamura and his .169 BA. Walker's Triple-A numbers are nice; the .321 BA with six home runs are solid if he sticks at second but the 10 SBs make him really intriguing. A Pirates lineup later this season with Walker, Garrett Jones, Pedro Alvarez, Andy LaRoche, Andrew McCutchen and Ryan Doumit actually has some solid upside. The starting pitching, of course, is another story.