The Indians loss to the Angels Sunday still stings, but I'll get over it. The bullpen hasn't been as sharp as it could be and they've been losing leads or giving up crucial runs late in games. I'm waiting for the arrival of Josh Judy to supplant Joe Smith. I'll probably be waiting a while.

Hats off to the Giants Ryan Vogelsong. Of all the great pitching performances over the weekend (and there were plenty) Volgesong's work for the Giants was most impressive to me. Vogelsong was cast aside by major league clubs and spent 3 years in Japan working his way back. He threw a gem yesterday and if he doesn't have another great start in his life, at least he showed himself and his skeptics he can do it. I do think he'll pitch well going forward. I've always liked his makeup.

Jed Lowrie now takes over at SS for the Red Sox. I believe he will provide quality play day in and day out. He can hit and he can defend his position very well. Marco Scutaro is out with an oblique injury and it may take him a while to return. Jose Iglesias was promoted from Pawtucket to be the back-up SS. Iglesias is known more for his defense and Terry Francona may play him only as a defensive late game replacement or as a pinch-runner. I don't see Iglesias getting much playing time because of his .253 minor league bat. I saw him extensively in the Arizona Fall League. The Cuban defector needs lots of work on hitting mechanics, but his future is very bright.

Carl Pavano continues to be a mess. He now has a 6.64 ERA for the Twins. He isn't walking guys but he's giving up huge hits. All at the wrong time. I've relegated him to a nice, comfortable place on my bench for the next few months. I can't just drop him because in my AL Only league there are no other starting pitchers available. I'm hoping he'll come around.

After seeing his 30 game hitting streaked stopped, Andre Ethier homered for the Dodgers yesterday.

Kyle McClellan is 5-0 for the Cardinals. Dave Duncan has worked hard with McClellan and it's paying off. With their need for starting pitching, McClellan has been a blessing.

More proof that it's very, very tough to hit big league pitching on a consistent basis: Jason Heyward is hitting .226 for Atlanta.
Michael Stanton .233 for Florida. Carlos Santana .218 for Cleveland. Jerry Sands is at .214 for the Dodgers. The list continues but these guys will all improve as the year progresses and they make adjustments. Freddie Freeman is up to .241 which is a marked improvement. He had a 3 hit day yesterday and that helped.

I've been watching Robbie Cano go after the first pitch more and more lately. He seems to be getting himself out by lunging at the ball and swinging at the pitcher's pitch. He's usually a much more patient and selective hitter. I know he'll come out of it soon.

I also noticed that Derek Jeter has cut down on his swing. The more compact approach with less visible effort seems to be working for him. His home runs looked effortless yesterday. It's almost as though he decided to speed up his bat by getting out front quicker with less torque and force behind a softer swing. I'm not saying he's fixed, but he sure looked much better in his Sunday at bats than I've seen recently. Jeter hadn't homered in 259 at-bats.

Torii Hunter was the culprit behind the Gatorade soaking of manager Mike Scioscia Sunday. It was Scioscia's 1000th major league win. Hunter and his buddies ambushed Scioscia after the last out--football style.

I saw where Johnny Cueto had a great outing Sunday against the Cubs. I'm happy for him, but I'm still not buying it.

Caught Justin Upton slamming his bat after a strikeout again this weekend. When does he begin to get fined? It really has little place in the game. And it's getting old and tired. It's a sore spot with me.

According to the announcers on the TBS Game of the Week yesterday, players are not permitted to paint their pink Mother's Day bats to conform with the standard, approved MLB bat colors. If a guy is getting big hits with his pink bat, he can't use it anymore. That makes no sense to me. Why not paint it the approved color and get on with it? And why do I care? I really don't. I just thought it was an interesting, useless bit of information.

The Red Sox are still in that hunt for a catcher. Will they be calling Bengie Molina? Will they trade for Ryan Doumit (no-he can't catch or he would have been catching in Pittsburgh.) Will they try to get Pudge? No. Begie, Bengie, Bengie.

I'll be profiling Diamondbacks prospect Paul Goldschmidt in my regular RotoWire column. It should hit later this week.
DBacks fans want to see Goldschmidt with the big league club...um now. I'll discuss that in the article. Hope you'll stop by and give it a read.

I hope you'll follow my updates and comments on Twitter @BerniePleskoff.
I'll be on XM with Chris and Jeff this Thursday at 10:03AM Phoenix time
Catch my segment on Thepulsenetwork.com Sports Buzz on Thursday's at 8:30AM Phoenix time.

I'm always eager to answer questions to the best of my ability in the comments section of my blogs or articles. Don't hesitate to ask or comment with your thoughts. They are always most welcom Have a great week.