-Sorry I can't let the Stephen Strasburg story die quite yet without getting in my two cents. I now get why the Nationals gave Ivan Rodriguez a two-year deal last December. The Nats forced Strasburg to slow down his approach to the plate in the stretch and Pudge's presence can counter that with throwing out would-be base stealers (he was third with a 34.9 CS|PERCENT| last year). He's not going to hit a ton but with Strasburg on the mound he doesn't need to. Throw in his experience calling a game and knowing hitters and Washington got themselves a good deal.
-The over/under for strikeouts was 5.5 for Strasburg's first game. What will it be for the Indians on Sunday, I wonder? I don't know that they're much better offensively than Pittsburgh, so 9.5, 10.5? For the record I'd back the under whatever it is.
-If Aroldis Chapman got up to $30 million as a free agent, what would Strasburg have gotten? Before you answer, think about what Dice-K got too including the posting fee (ok that's a little apples and oranges).
-Isn't it great that we'll get to see plenty of Strasburg vs. Heyward, Strasburg vs. Stanton and Strasburg vs. Davis for years to come?
-Are we giving him a nickname yet? So far we have "The Rocket", "The Big Unit", "The Guy Who Beat The Crap Out Of Robin Ventura When He Charged The Mound". Discuss.
Notables:
-Jake Arrieta won his MLB debut, holding the Yankees to three runs over six innings. He's a solid prospect and the Orioles have quite the young talent in the starting rotation. They'll make some noise in the AL East in the next few years.
-Mat Latos turned in another quality start allowing only two runs over six innings. He struck out eight and walked only one. Owners in keeper leagues take note; he's now at 72.1 innings this year and the Padres claim they'll cap him at 150, so he's about half way there.
-Brandon Phillips had a 4-for-5 day, raising his average to .301. His batting average splits from the first three months is .236/.316/.343.
-Roy Oswalt got to 4-8 (despite a 3.16 ERA) by allowing only two runs over seven innings. Which uniform will he be donning at year's end?
-Tommy Hanson picked up a no-decision but picked up 10 Ks through 5.1 innings. The 121 pitches thrown were a season-high.
-Josh Johnson got the best of Roy Halladay this time, tossing eight innings of shut out ball. Since a rough April, he's been outstanding as I've mentioned before. Roy Halladay took the tough loss, giving up a run over the same eight innings.
-Jonathon Niese tossed a complete game one-hit shutout and now has given up one run over 16 innings in his last two outings. Take note: John Garland's home/away splits for ERA – 1.15/4.37.
Save Chances:
-Heath Bell, converted. One inning, no damage. With the plethora of options in the bullpen, wouldn't still make sense (if the price is right) to trade him even if the Padres are in contention?
-Bobby Jenks, converted. I find it somehow funny (not being a Sox fan) that Jenks (4.91 ERA) makes $7.5 million, Scott Linebrink (5.55 ERA) makes $5 million but J.J. Putz (2.61 ERA) makes $3 million and Matt Thornton (3.81 ERA – it was miniscule four days ago) makes $2.25 million. With Chicago out of it and the Rays needing a lefty out of the pen, would a trade here make sense?
-Brandon Lyon, converted. Last week I recommended him as a speculative pickup given the recent struggles of Matt Lindstrom. Lyon hasn't taken over the closer role, yet it seems Lindstrom should have been available after not being used in last night's game. Outings like this obviously don't hurt Lyon and keep in mind that Lindstrom's 1.590 WHIP does not match his 3.08 ERA.
-Tyler Clippard, converted. Not a changing of the guard, Capps pitched three of the last four nights. As for Clippard, I've got some concerns with his usage; he's totaled 32 appearances this year after a total of 65 last year.
-Leo Nunez, converted. It took 20 pitches and he allowed a hit but he held the Phillies scoreless in the ninth.
-David Hernandez, converted. Will Ohman pitched the earlier innings (1.1) and Hernandez has the stuff to convert to a closer. It will be interesting to see what the O's do with Mike Gonzalez and Alfredo Simon when they come back from the DL.
-Kerry Wood, blown, then gets the win. Wood gave up a two-run homer to Beltre and then got bailed out when the offense got to Daniel Bard.
-Daniel Bard, blown. Bard loaded the bases before getting two outs. Then he allowed Russell Branyan to barely lace a single over the outstretched glove of Dustin Pedroia. Jonathan Papelbon (who has not pitched better than Bard on the season as a whole) should be back on Friday.
-Joakim Soria, converted (barely). Soria allowed two runs before getting Michael Cuddyer to line out with two outs.
Other Closer Outings:
-Jon Axford (he's the closer, right?) got the win after tossing a scoreless tenth and the Brew Crew got a run in the bottom of the inning.
-Billy Wagner pitched a scoreless inning but made things interesting with two walks and a hit. His two strikeouts helped douse the fire and his ERA now sits at 1.48.
-Chad Qualls gave up four runs in .1 innings of work, taking his third loss. Not good. The silver lining was that he had four previous scoreless outings (one with three walks, though) and there isn't any threat to his job at this point (see Juan Gutierrez).
Non-Closer Outings:
-Luke Gregerson struck out the side to reduce his ERA to 1.39. That's now a 39:2 K:BB ration in 32.1 innings.
-Nick Masset allowed another run over one inning. That's now seven runs over his last seven innings. The Reds welcome Arthur Rhodes (who picked up the win today) with open arms.
-Evan Meek threw another scoreless inning to reduce his ERA to 0.76. He's the next closer should Octavio Dotel be dealt, right?
-Joaquin Benoit had another stellar outing, striking out two over 1.1 innings. How good has he been? Between Triple-A and the Majors he owns a 37:6 K:BB ratio over 23.1 innings.
Lineup-ology:
-Billy Butler got a day off which was probably good since he's not done well against Scott Baker in the past (2-for-25).
-Ryan Doumit got a start at first base due to his concussion and won't be a backstop until Sunday at the earliest. This pushed Garrett Jones to the outfield and Lastings Milledge to the bench.
-Corey Patterson didn't allow his groin injury stop him from leading off on Thursday and stealing a base.
-Jeff Suppan was signed by the Cardinals after his release from the Brewers. Remember this was the same team he won 16 games with a 3.57 ERA. Remember that was five years ago. Remember that both his WHIP and ERA have steadily increased each year since. Remember to stay away at all costs.
"Had A Bad Day":
-Mike Leake gave up two home runs and a total of five earned in only 4.1 innings. Easily his worst start of the year but the fact that this raised his ERA to 2.68 speaks volumes as to how great he's been. Based on the discrepancy between ADPs next year, I would bet Leake is a better value than Stephen Strasburg (gasp!).
-Dontrelle Willis issued six free passes yet kept the damage to only two earned runs over four innings. Remember my Jeff Suppan recommendation.
-Ichiro Suzuki went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. I imagine this was his worst outing in quite a while.
Injuries:
-Todd Wellemeyer pulled a quad trying to dig out a double play. It's instinct but managers need to stress to their pitchers to take it easy on the base paths. Does this open the door for Madison "I have a temper" Bumgarner soon (the Giant claim he won't replace Wellemeyer right now)?
-Jacoby Ellsbury has a non-displace rib fracture and will be out indefinitely. By indefinitely, I'm guessing All-Star Break at the earliest; at least that's how I'd treat it.
-Kendry Morales is out for the season. Mildly important note for those in leagues with a cap on DL spots, drop him immediately.
-Dioner Navarro was a scratch with a stiff neck. I'm thinking he hurt it watching his first home run of the season last night since it's not a common occurrence.
-Alex Rodriguez left after the first inning and it's worth noting he's had groin issues over the past week.
Stolen Bases:
-Kurt Suzuki (1), Cliff Pennington (8), Ryan Theriot (13), Yunel Escobar (5), Brooks Conrad (3), Hanley Ramirez (9), Cody Ross (4), Jose Reyes (15), Angel Pagan (12), Andy LaRoche (5), David Murphy (1), Ryan Langerhans (2), Corey Patterson (6), Scott Moore (2), B.J. Upton (19), Carl Crawford (19)
Caught Stealing:
-Eli Whiteside (1-home plate), Alexei Ramirez (5), Torii Hunter (5), Ryan Theriot (2), Andrew McCutchen (5), Julio Borbon (5), B.J. Upton (5)
Home Runs:
-Henry Blanco (2), Aubrey Huff (8), Aaron Rowand (6), Omar Vizquel (1, no this is not a typo), A.J. Pierzynski (3), Humberto Quintero (3), Corey Hart (16, if you want to feel old, the Canadian singer is 20 years his elder), Xavier Nady (4, although he'll be remembered for the error costing the Cubs the game), Chris Young (10-the best under the radar fantasy player?), Adam Dunn (13), Josh Willingham (12), Mike Morse (1), Dan Uggla (14), Michael Young (7), Josh Hamilton (13), Scott Moore (1), Adrian Beltre (8), Alex Gonzalez (13), Carlos Pena (13), Sean Rodriguez (3), Jason Kubel (8), Mitch Maier (2), Wilson Betemit 2, (2)
Pickups?!?!
-Call me crazy but I'll put in a FAAB bid on Chad Tracy this weekend. I know he went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in his first game back with the big club. However, he was raking at Triple-A (a 1.075 OPS) and was batting cleanup today - which is around where he'll stay for the next couple of weeks. The cheap, hedging NL-only, deep league caveat applies here.
On A Totally Non-Baseball Related Note:
-Saturday the United States plays England for their first match of the World Cup. I can't think of a time when there were higher expectations for the U.S. team. They beat Spain (the World Cup favorite) 2-0 at this venue and eventually lost to Brazil 3-2 in the Confederations Cup final last summer. People also forget that the last winner of the World Cup (2006), Italy, went undefeated in the group stage except a tie to the United States. I've got a thousand word rant on the U.S. but for now I'll let you know that their strengths are on offense and their goalkeeper (Tim Howard) but the defense is flimsy. Luckily, England's big questions are in net and their defense. The game is on at 2:30 EST on ABC, check it out at least in between innings, you might be surprised. (Side note-the U.S. over/under for goals scored for their team, in this game is 0.5 (-120) on both sides. I can't think of the last time the U.S. didn't score in a game, back the over.) Oh and in 1950 when the U.S. beat England, the odds against them were 500:1. They aren't quite as bad this time around.
-Lastly, I caught the last game of the Stanley Cup finals last night and saw more bad officiating, that could have cost Chicago the game. Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers are complaining too. I won't bring up Mr. Joyce. Whenever you watch a good sporting event, do you know how to recognize good officials/umps/referees? No one talks about them after the game is over.