Random Collection of #MLB thoughts re: April 26 in the MLB

Toronto Blue Jay Brandon Morrow gave up no hits on Saturday versus the Boston Red Sox.  Morrow did however give up EIGHT walks in 2 and 2/3 innings.  To make matters worse, Blue Jay reliever Chad Jenkins (making his 1st appearance of 2014) gave up homeruns to the first two batters he faced.  At the end of the 3rd inning the Boston Red Sox line read 6 runs on 2 hits. EEP!


So did Ryan Braun take out Jean Segura OR did Segura aimlessly wander into his bat? http://m.mlb.com/video/v32407589/chcmil-segura-leaves-the-game-with-an-injury/?partnerId=as_mlb_20140427_22756654  OBVIOUSLY, if Braun always does his bat stretching at the top step of the dugout (as the announcer states in the clip), then it's on Segura for not paying attention.  Agree or disagree? 


Chicago White Sox Adam Dunn, the king of all or nothing at the plate, is batting .265 in 68 AB.  Dunn is 35 and is part of a three headed monster which features the future in Jose Abreu and the past in Paul Konerko.  Indulging in a game of wannabe GM, the only team that might even be remotely interested in an aging power hitter would be the Milwaukee Brewers who are platooning 37 year old Lyle Overbay and 33 year old Mark Reynolds (if ever there was an Adam Dunn clone it's Reynolds - - minus the height).  Wouldn't you love to see Dunn's bat in Miller Park?


The Minnesota Twins beat Detroit Tigers Saturday.  If the Twins win again on Sunday against the Tigers, that would put them in a tie for first place in the AL Central.  On March 27th if you would have told me on April 27th the Twins would be playing for a share of first place, I would have sent you to live these folks.


Continuing with my look at All Star balloting, here's the three separate submissions in respect to second baseman. 

1. American League - Howie Kendrick, Ben Zobrist, Robinson Cano
2. National League - - Anthony Rendon, Chase Utley, DJ LeMahieu

Random Collection of Thoughts re: April 15 in MLB



"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives" ~Jackie Robinson.

Brett Lawrie of the Toronto Blue Jays hit a grand slam Tuesday versus the Minnesota Twins.  Why is that noteworthy?  The runners on base were all WALKED!  I'm trying to work in a joke about some of the Blue Jay players wearing balaclavas on a night the temperature hovered around 0 degrees Celsius to defend the Twins relief pitcher but I just can't defend back-to-back-to-back walks.


On Monday night during the 8th inning of their game, the Colorado Rockies walked the bases loaded then made two throwing errors to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  On Tuesday night, the Rockies gave up a leadoff single then with two outs walked the bases loaded.  Are the Rockies in the business of giving away wins to the San Diego Padres?  As Buzz Lightyear would say, "NOT TODAY!".  The Rockies held on to win 3-2.


My apologies to the Milwaukee Brewers and specifically relief pitcher Jim Henderson.  In his first appearance since praising him for his good start to 2014, the St. Louis Cardinals would put three up on the board against him.  Makes me nervous to praise Oakland A's relief pitcher Jim Johnson on his second straight win and his 3rd straight solid outing after losing his closer title.


The 10 homerun suspended game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds was played out Tuesday night and won by a RBI single in the 7th from the Pirates catcher Russell Martin.  Well that was anticlimactic!!  The Reds would win the scheduled regular Tuesday night game to even the series.  Going into Wednesday's matinee at Pittsburgh, if the Reds were to lose that would be 5 straight series to start the season which they dropped 2-1 which equals T-R-O-U-B-L-E.


You know the cliché "mama said there would be days like this" Boston Red Sox rookie shortstop Xander Bogaerts had one of those Tuesday night.  0-4 at the plate with a hat-trick in strikeouts and the game ending throwing error giving the Chicago White Sox the win.  The Red Sox fall to 5-9 to start 2014 which is a stark contrast to the 10-4 start they had in 2013. 

Random Collection of Thoughts re April 13 in the MLB

Sweeps and their ramifications will be the subject of the day.


The Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Arizona Diamondbacks making it a 5-0 regular season start against the NL West Kirk Gibson led foe.  The D'Backs currently sit at 4-11 two days away from Jackie Robinson Day on Tuesday April 15th.  I mentioned in an earlier post that if going into Jackie Robinson Day the Diamondbacks were still counting wins with only one hand that Manager Kirk Gibson likely does not make it through the month of May with his job.  A 3 game series with the New York Mets may just be what the doctor ordered.  Then again, it may be the iceberg that sank the Titanic.


Speaking of baseball managers doubling as crew members of the Titanic, Kansas City manager Ned Yost must be feeling sea sick after being outscored 21-6 whilst being swept by the Minnesota Twins.  The Royals now have lowest scoring offense in the American League 0.02 less runs per game than the Houston Astros.  The Astros happen to be their next opponent before an opportunity for redemption when the Twins visit Kauffman Stadium next weekend.  For a trendy pick to win the division, the Royals are doing it wrong!!


Speaking of trendy picks to win the division, the Washington Nationals just got swept by the Atlanta Braves, the team they would have to overcome to win the NL East.  The Braves scored 23 runs during the series doubling their season long production at the plate.  Another Nats sweep of the Miami Marlins would likely keep them neck and neck with the Braves for 1st place but an abysmal showing in their 4 game set with the St. Louis Cardinals next weekend will help solidify their "pretender not contender" status.


Speaking of the Miami Marlins, anybody remember when they were 5-1?  After being swept by the Philadelphia Phillies, the Marlins now sit at 5-8.  I never thought they would keep pace with the Nationals and Braves but third place in the NL East is feasible.  The Marlins will have to win these games back from the Phillies when they visit Miami May 20-22.


I ran out of "speaking of" tie-ins.  The Milwaukee Brewers extended their winning streak to 9 games by sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Now the real fun begins as they host the St. Louis Cardinals then fly to Pittsburgh for a three game re-match.  The Cardinals were the gold standard last season beating the Brewers in the pennant race by 23 games.  Can a full year of Ryan Braun and tweaked starting rotation really close that gap?

Random Collection of Thoughts re April 11 in MLB

First off, an apology to Mr. Paul Goldschmidt.  I tried to latch onto him for MLB Beat the Streak contest.  A logical choice because he was on a 31 game on base streak, and now it's over.  I'm sorry I was your Brock Lesnar to your streak.

By gawd, did the baseball lords not read the script going into Friday nights games? 

The Minnesota Twins annihilated the Kansas City Royals - - script says the Royals are suppose to challenge the Tigers for the Division Title.  Those Detroit Tigers got shut out by the San Diego Padres!  The Padres scored 6 runs which translates into 1/3 of the offense they had put up the entire season! 


The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals in extra innings.  The Cards needed a job losing effort from now former Cubs closer Jose Veras just to send it into extra innings.  The script clearly reads that the Cards are the class of the NL Central while the Cubs are there to bring up the rear.


With a loss last night, the Cincinnati Reds fell into sole possession of last place in the NL Central while with a win, the Milwaukee Brewers sit alone atop of the NL Central.  Anybody who tells you they saw this coming likely has a pet unicorn and has people read the script to them!


The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies.  That's fine and dandy.  The win was based in large part to a grand slam BY THE PITCHER!! Some people say baseball is boring, but you can't make this stuff up folks!

Let's see if normalcy returns to the MLB on Saturday.

Random Collection of Thoughts re: April 10 in MLB

Does anybody play ESPN's Streak for Cash?  Were you like me and swearing up a storm when the Pittsburgh Pirates fell behind 4-0 to the Chicago Cubs?  The Bucs can't possibly lose back to back games to the Cubs could they?  The "luvable loser" Cubs sent four pitchers to the mound in the 7th inning, two of them would give up homeruns to the first batter they faced and my streak extends to 7.


Whenever one of my favorite teams opens up a 3 game series, the hope is that they take two of three.  The thought of finishing a season with a winning percentage is .667 is absurd but it helps break up the marathon that is the MLB season.  As (most) teams head into their fourth series this weekend, only 2 AL teams and 4 NL teams are producing at that clip. 


Sweeping a series is always the fans desire.  Brewers fans are full of desire as their Milwaukee Brewers just swept their second straight series ON THE ROAD. The Oakland A's also just completed a road sweep of the Minnesota Twins.  I predicted the Washington Nationals would sweep the upstart Marlins, and they did just that with another chance to do so next week on the road in Miami.


Arizona Diamondbacks Paul Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak to 31.  Goldy is 25 shy of tying Joe DiMaggio's record.  I have to be honest, since the Undertaker lost his streak at Wrestlemania last Sunday, I need something to get behind and believe in.  For the next week, I will chose Goldy as my MLB Beat the Streak batter.  If he loses his streak, blame Brock Lesnar!

Random Collection of Ideas re: April 7 in MLB

According to an article from ESPN's Buster Olney, a MLB executive is floating the idea of 7 inning games instead of 9.  Here's a link to the free part of the article.  While we are it, lets make hockey three 15 minute periods instead of 20 minutes and condense the NBA into three quarters instead of four quarters.  Dear Mr. MLB Exec, if you want to protect the athletes like your starting pitchers, vote to cut 62 games off of the schedule, that translates to approximately 12 less starts.  Oh wait, that would dip into your bottom line wouldn't it?  I'm sure if the games were reduced 22% to seven innings, ticket prices would be reduced 22%, right?  My idea to ban defensive shifts doesn't seem so absurd anymore does it?


Texas Ranger Prince Fielder went 0-4 tonight dropping his average to .143.  This batting average will double by season's end.  J.P. Arencibia went 0-3 tonight dropping his average .125.  This batting average will NOT double by season's end.


With today's loss to the Anaheim Angels, the Houston Astros drop under .500 by one game.  Official prediction, the Astros will not reach the .500 mark again this season.  Guess I'm cheering quite hard for the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday night.


Speaking of the Angels, they fly to Seattle Tuesday to face James Paxton for the second time in a week.  In college baseball, the third time round the order is usually the most nerve wracking as the batters now have seen most of what the pitcher has to offer.  This is the first time in Paxton's 6 six start career that he is facing a team for the second time. Paxton shut the Angels out over seven inning facing everybody minus the bottom of the order three times.  Smells like boom or bust for the Halo's.


Kansas City Royal starting pitcher Jason Vargas has pitched 15 total innings in his two starts this season giving up only two runs.  Both runs coming against him were solo homeruns by second baseman (Detriot's Ian Kinsler and Tampa's Ben Zobrist).  Vargas' next scheduled start is against the Minnesota Twins, so if you play fantasy baseball, Brian Dozier is a must have on your roster this weekend.

MLB Nuggets - - PED Penalty Question, World Series Nifty Realization, Tigers Find, Twins Lost, Harper Mad,

The following is the reported new penalties being worked on for players using performance enhancing drugs (PED's).  A first time offense would be 100 games instead of 50 unless it was "unintentional".  A second time offense would be 162 games instead of 100, again unless it was "unintentional".  Third time is a lifetime ban which is also the current penalty. 


Here's what I find interesting, the MLB (much like the NFL) gives itself the power to be judge, jury & executioner.  Therefore they decide if the players use of PED's was "unintentional" or not.  So if a star player gets caught with a PED in their system but no major firm or pharmacy or scandal is linked to the sale of steroids to said star player, does it automatically just become "unintentional"?


Did you know that since the turn of the 2000's the New York Yankees and St Louis Cardinals are tied with 4 World Series appearances while the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants are tied with 3 World Series appearances.  Here's a nifty realization, the 2005 World Series featured the two teams who finished as the bottom two teams in the American League last season, the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros.


A sneaky good signing was recently made by the Detroit Tigers.  The Tigers signed JD Martinez, cast away by the Houston Astros, to a minor league deal.  Martinez big league career started strong midway 2011 but like many hitters, pitchers learn their faults therefore learning how to get them out.  A fresh start in the Tigers organization should bring him back to the .274 batting average that had fans projecting so much good fortune for Mr. Martinez.


Have to feel sorry for the Minnesota Twins.  The Twins entered training camp with arguably the first and second overall prospects in baseball in tow.  Neither Byron Buxton nor Miguel Sano were expected to get much Major League play in 2014 but to have one suffer a wrist injury threatening the start of his season AND the other one to undergo Tommy John surgery ended his season, that's just terrible luck.


Need a friendly reminder that these exhibition games are not completely meaningless?  Bryce Harper got himself worked up enough that he got ejected from a spring training game.

What You May Have Missed From MLB Games Down Under & More

It's the MLB season opener, top of the 9th, Dodgers up 3 to 1.  They announce Guerrero as a pinch hitter, the Diamondbacks change pitchers, the Dodgers change pinch hitters.  It's game one of 162 and we get ourselves a double switch on a pinch hitter.  It's easy to forget how much one measly game means in such a long season.  Thanks Don Mattingly for reminding us that every game matters.


Going into Game 2, Scott Van Slyke went from game one super sub (2-3, double, homerun & walk) to game two defensive replacement in the bottom of the 9th.  Baseball, so unfaithful.


In what had to be a missed hit and run sign in the 5th inning, Adrian Gonzalez STOLE a base as Andre Ethier took a pitch.  Gonzalez, noted as one of the slower runners in the league, advanced to third base on a poor throw that kept rolling away from Aaron Hill.


Onto other news, the Detroit Tigers have recently traded for Alex Gonzalez, Andrew Romine and even contemplated offering 46 year old Omar Vizquel a shot at the glaring hole at shortstop.  Meanwhile, Stephen Drew has reportedly reached out to the Tigers and reduced his demands to an Ervin Santana-like one year Band-Aid deal.  Good on the Tigers for not caving,  I for one will be cheering loudly for Mr. Gonzalez & Mr. Romine.


Poor Vance Worley, from 2011 third place in the NL Rookie of the Year and named one of five starting pitchers of "Baseball America" All Rookie Team to not being able to make the 2014 Minnesota Twins.  Even after elbow problems ruined his 2012, the Minnesota Twins handed him the ball in their 2013 opener.  Unfortunately, Worley never found his command and his MLB career is on hold.

MLB Tidbits and Gems

This blog starts with an addition to the "Sweet Tweets" section.  Orioles skipper Buck Showalter has ordered prospect Josh Hart to write a report about Frank Robinson.  Don't know who that is, shhh don't tell Buck and just google it.


In my pre-preseason picks, I have selected the Angels to make the playoffs as a wildcard.  Josh Hamilton out the next couple days with a calf issue and CJ Wilson taking a ball off the side of his head while throwing batting practice has me a tad less confident.  Meanwhile in Oakland,  Sonny Gray Looks Like A Child According To (Manager) Bob Melvin and A.J. Griffin's weight issues.


Here's another Angels prediction: Albert Pujols will hit his 500th career homerun, his 8th of 2014, against my other pick to be an AL wildcard team, the Toronto Blue Jays on May 8th.


Did you know that Minnesota Twins pitching prospect Alex Meyer, if he makes the MLB, will only be the 9th player 6'9" or taller to make a start?

Spring Training starts tomorrow!!