With a .294/.354/.523 line while playing shortstop, J.J. Hardy has been one of the most pleasant surprises of 2011. Despite missing more than a month of action, his 13 homers are the fifth most from the SS position in all of baseball. His .878 OPS is also third best, all while transitioning to a new league and playing in the game's toughest division. Hardy averaged 25 home runs and 77 RBI from 2007-2008, but he battled injuries over the past two seasons, and it's important to note he's still just 28 years old. While the numbers don't point to it this season, Hardy has also been a fantastic defender throughout his career, and he now looks like a key building block as part of a young Baltimore team moving in the right direction. Camden Yards typically boosts home runs at a significant rate (just ask Mark Reynolds, who has the most homers in MLB since April ended), so he also has that going for him. Batting leadoff while qualifying at a thin position, and someone who came dirt cheap on draft day, Hardy has been one of the biggest fantasy bargains to date.
How to properly troll a dating Web site.
I'm playing in a high stakes AL-only league this year featuring some industry guys as well as some high-roller poker players called Card Runners. Before the auction, RotoWire's Chris Liss told me to buy Melky Cabrera, and while I loath the idea of giving Liss any credit, since he's a broken man and all, I'll throw him a bone this time, as Cabrera has so far been quite productive. In 2010, Cabrera posted a -1.0 WAR, which tied with Carlos Lee for the worst in baseball, and there were serious concerns he'd be replaced by one of the Royals' impressive farm talents by June of 2011. Instead, Cabrera has entered the halfway point of the season hitting .286 with 11 homers, 10 steals, 51 runs scored and 48 RBI. He could pretty much tank from here on out and still be worth far more than his draft day price tag, especially in an AL-only format. Of course, he hasn't been that much of a better player for Kansas City, posting a -1.5 UZR in center field with a .324 OBP and an almost identical batted ball profile as last season (although he's recorded an 11.0 HR/FB|PERCENT| this year compared to his career mark of 5.0|PERCENT|). Batting primarily second has helped, and regardless, Cabrera has been plenty valuable in fantasy terms.
Woman dies of heart attack caused by shock of waking up at her own funeral.
Cat gets caught barking by a human and resumes meowing.
Something is clearly wrong with Brian Matusz, and while that may seem like Captain Obvious since he has an 8.77 ERA and 1.99 WHIP, far more troubling is his steep drop in velocity. After averaging 91.5 mph with his fastball as a rookie, Matusz is down to 86.7 this year, which is beyond significant and almost certainly a sign of an injury. He's also yielded a 52.1 FB|PERCENT| this season. To put that in context, only two batters in MLB have higher fly ball rates (Carlos Quentin and Chris Young). That's an especially bad combo considering 18.4|PERCENT| of those fly balls are leaving the yard. Of course, anyone with an ERA that high is going to have some ugly underlying stats, and the bigger picture is the drop in velocity. It's too bad, both for the Orioles and baseball in general, as Matusz entered 2011 looking like one of the brighter pitching prospects in the game.
This dog was crowned "ugliest" in a recent contest, but she's nowhere close to competing against this all-timer.
This seagull stealing a video camera results in some pretty cool footage.
Well, that's one way to try to escape prison.
At risk of the small sample police arresting me, I must ask, what do we make of Josh Hamilton's day/night splits? They have been extremely pronounced in four of his five seasons, including an OPS discrepancy of 1.076 vs. .399 this year. Hamilton recently blamed it on his blue eyes, but that seems specious. There's an obvious accusation because of his past, but that also seems irresponsible (although probably with more merit than calling Jose Bautista a steroid user, since, you know, he's passed tests and his body hasn't changed whatsoever). Anyway, I'm a Hamilton fan, and he's a highly valuable player even with the splits, which are likely to come back toward the middle soon enough, but there has been a big enough gap throughout his career to at least take note moving forward.
I'm pretty big into reading about crime stories (morbid, I know), and this one ranks as one of the craziest I've come across.
Speaking of crimes (and I won't get into the Casey Anthony verdict here, but if you have any opinions, please feel free to discuss in the comments), this is a terrific overview of the Amanda Knox case that continues to be one of the most noteworthy trials of this generation.
Tim Lincecum entered his June 1 start with a 2.22 ERA. Three outings later, his ERA stood at 3.41, as he allowed 16 runs over 16.0 innings. He's since settled down, posting a 25:5 K:BB ratio over his last three starts, and despite just six wins on the year, Lincecum currently sports a 3.14 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. His 126 strikeouts rank fourth in the National League, so there remains a chance he records the most punch outs in the Senior Circuit for a fourth straight season. Lincecum remains difficult to homer off (7.4 HR/FB|PERCENT|) and is currently sporting a career-best 50.7 GB|PERCENT|, but after last year's inconsistencies (7.82 ERA in August, 1.92 ERA in September) followed by his recent blowup, I found it funny he actually has the highest quality start percentage of any pitcher since 1950 (h/t Joe Posnanski). Of course, that percentage will drop when his career winds down, but it's still pretty staggering since he appears to be something of a streaky pitcher. Another Giants fun fact: More than 20 percent of the rest of their games this season will be against the Padres (h/t Andrew Baggarly).
I'm sad to report, despite giving the most epic interview ever, the end result appears to have been a dud.
This is a pretty crazy video, and while I hope it's legit, it's also worth pointing out it begins with the fisherman's hand inside the water.
I'm the biggest "Curb Your Enthusiasm" fan ever, and Season 8 premieres July 10, and Larry David, who just killed it during his first appearance on Jay Leno, recently wrote about his golf game.
Admittedly, in competitive leagues these guys are likely long gone, but here are some quick hit pickup suggestions: Rich Harden will almost assuredly get hurt soon, but why not use his bullets for the time being? Last year was ugly in Texas, but he posted a 10.91 K/9 ratio the year prior and is in a much better situation now back in Oakland…Conversely, Mark Ellis is in a much better spot now away from Oakland. No, he's not even close to as good as he's been so far with the Rockies, but calling Coors Field home and now in an easier league counts for something. With his strong defense, Ellis should get regular playing time, and he had a .358 OBP while playing in the Coliseum last season, so there's some upside here…I know he's become tiresome, but Chris Davis has a monstrous .372/.417/.851 line in Triple-A this year, with 20 homers over 148 at-bats. Now an outfielder, don't be surprised if he gets one last shot with the Rangers soon enough. Davis is worth stashing…Rubby De La Rosa has plenty of work to do regarding his control and is a borderline option in redraft leagues right now, but he sure looks like a valuable keeper. I absolutely despise playing scout, but from my TV, I'll break my own rule – he passes the eye test with flying colors. Moreover, his current average fastball velocity is 95.9 mph – the best in baseball among qualifying starters are Justin Verlander and Michael Pineda, who both sit at 95.1.
It's possible Matt Holliday didn't intentionally drop this fly ball, but the outcome is unquestionably beneficial, and he's also been one of the better defensive outfielders in baseball for some time now. These announcers are totally clueless.
Destroying a building (fail).
Aramis Ramirez entered June 8 with two homers, which was especially perplexing since he hit 25 long balls last season while battling injuries over just 465 at-bats. Even while posting a .746 OPS that was his lowest since 2000, Ramirez was still hitting homers. The anomaly has since been corrected, as he's hit a whopping eight home runs over his past 12 games, suddenly giving him 13 for the season. Ramirez will always be a health risk, but Wrigley Field should play as more of a hitter's park in the summer months, and his K rate remains one of the lowest among all "sluggers." It's obviously far too soon to write off the 33-year-old.
I dragged a few friends of mine who aren't exactly into art type movies to see "The Tree Of Life" last weekend, and despite the warnings, I'd argue it was even more extreme than anticipated. Although the dinosaur fight in which I was promised never came to fruition, intense discussion afterward is pretty much mandatory, so while I'd never recommend it to anyone, Terrence Malick definitely impressed yet again.
I like how all this footage supposedly took place within an hour, but nothing can beat his pronunciation of "urinal."
Every year RotoWire makes a trip to Las Vegas during the All-Star break, and while it makes sense as a company to do so during the most down time in the sports calendar, as a degenerate gambler (but only on sports), it's frustrating. So I consistently bet on the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game (including props), so I can't sit here and say I hate the spectacle (any port in the storm, right?), but I will state I genuinely no longer get worked up over who did and didn't make the roster. As a Giants fan, I was later (and unexpectedly) happy to see them have homefield advantage because of it last year, but that rarely matters anyway, and the concept is obviously quite comical. Another joke is not even having Andrew McCutchen on the "Final Fan Vote" ballot. But when I see some of my favorite writers like Jeff Passan arguing "Matt Cain is not an All-Star," I can't help but think time and energy could be better spent. My point here isn't to come across as a Giants' homer when I state only four N.L. pitchers have thrown more innings and recorded a lower ERA than Cain this year (and he has a strong 95:29 K:BB ratio, and his xFIP means less since he always suppresses homers), as I personally would have picked Tommy Hanson over him, but it's this type of crazy nitpicking that seems excessive.