This Week in Baseball 6/2 - 6/8

[Bored 0]

ESPN/FOX/TBS Games to Poison Our Youth

 

MONDAY

Yankees (Andy Pettitte) at Twins (Livan Hernandez), 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN

 

WEDNESDAY

Rays (Edwin Jackson) at Red Sox (Josh Beckett), 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN

 

SATURDAY

Mariners at Red Sox, 3:55/12:55 PM, FOX

Indians at Tigers, 3:55/12:55 PM, FOX

Cubs at Dodgers, 3:55/12:55 PM, FOX

 

SUNDAY

Phillies at Braves, 1:30 PM/10:30 AM, TBS

Cubs at Dodgers, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN

[vivalaultra 0]

So, true story-

 

My sister works as one of the directors of Public Relations at Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. She calls me a couple days ago and tells me this story about how one of the interns that works for her called in last week and said that she had to take a few days off work because her boyfriend had to go to Cincinatti to play baseball and it was a short notice thing and all this and my sister, who doesn't follow baseball at all, didn't really care that much or think it was a big deal. So, she calls to see if I know who this chick's boyfriend is and she starts telling me the story and then I go "You're talking about Jay Bruce, aren't you?" and she said "Yeah" and I told her about how he was all over ESPN and he was like hitting everything and he was the Second Coming and how I had tried several times in the past couple weeks to trade for him in fantasy baseball and all this. And I told her that she should get me an autographed ball. So, she calls me back the next day and says that she talked to Jay Bruce's girlfriend and she talked to him and he's gonna personalize a ball for me and she said something about getting the hook-up when the Reds come to Houston.

 

Yeah, so my interaction with this year's rookie phenom beats the Hell out of last year when I tried to friend Hunter Pence and Tim Lincecum on Myspace and they both rejected me.

[2GOLD 0]

You know, if Jim Edmonds keeps hitting the ball like he has the last two games and playing decent center then that might work out as a steal for Chicago. Maybe the guy really just did need some swings cause he started to play like a guy trying to stay in the majors.

 

Or maybe the Rockies were just pitching like crap. Hoping for the first one more than the second.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

You can chalk his success on Friday up to the wind, but his hits the last couple days have been legit. I still don't like the idea of him blocking the way of any long-term solution for the Cubs in center, but if he can contribute, I suppose I can deal.

 

The next month is going to tell us pretty quickly about whether Edmonds is cooked or not. Playing in some hitter unfriendly parks without the benefit of winds will let us see if this weekend was a turning point or not. Regardless, he probably bought himself at least another few weeks because of this series.

[2GOLD 0]

With Felix, I don't know if him in the majors this year was working. He was hitting the ball like less than crap and maybe a year down in the minors with his bat can only help him improve. I do know though if they bring him back up, he's got to stay up or he's headed toward Pattersontown.

 

Honestly I don't know if Edmonds is hurting Felix being up. I've yet to see anything that suggest Pie can hit major league pitching right now. I really don't think the Cubs would have went with Edmonds if Felix was hitting or looked like he was ready. I'm really hoping that is all it is and he's not a crazed free swinger with an all or nothing attitude.

[KingPK 0]

Who would have thought that a Rays-Sox series in June would be for the division lead? For anyone that cares, they moved the start time on Thursday to 6:05 to accomodate the NBA Finals.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I was reminded that the Orioles had been wanting Jay Bruce from the Reds for Erik Bedard...

 

pft

[Guest Epic Narcissism]

Edmonds isn't blocking Pie for more than this season. I don't care. I take back all the times I called him Half-Shirt and Mascara Fag. I like what I've seen the last few days, and if he's going to be written into the lineup, then I want him to succeed and help the team win games. It's not like 2006, where the Cubs were irretrievably crappy and I just wanted Neifi Perez, Juan Pierre, and Les Walrond out of my baseball life forever. This is a really good team. There's no room to be petty for some greater good. This is the culmination of not particularly minding the failures of all the turds that the Cubs trotted out up until last July, when you had Rob Bowen and Cliff Floyd in the lineup of a so-called contender. This team is strong 1 through 9.

[geniusMoment 0]

I was reminded that the Orioles had been wanting Jay Bruce from the Reds for Erik Bedard...

 

pft

 

 

Don't be mad, think about this, Reds offered Josh Hamilton and Joey Votto for Bedard. How we lookin' Baltimore. Dumbasses.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Reds weren't trading Jay Bruce anyway.

 

You guys act like the Bedard trade was a bust though. They got a potential star center fielder out of the deal, along with their current closer. They have three pitching prospects as well. Chris Tillman is currently 6-0 in AA with a 2.59 ERA. I'd be happy with the trade thus far.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Phillies grabbed first place again, taking two of three from the Marlins. Four games against Jay Bruce and the Reds await.

 

Chase Utley is an absolute monster this season, hitting his 20th home run of the season yesterday. He had 22 all of last season. The record for a second baseman is 43 by Davey Johnson. There may not be a better player in the National League right now.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

The Reds weren't trading Jay Bruce anyway.

 

You guys act like the Bedard trade was a bust though. They got a potential star center fielder out of the deal, along with their current closer. They have three pitching prospects as well. Chris Tillman is currently 6-0 in AA with a 2.59 ERA. I'd be happy with the trade thus far.

 

People are down on Adam Jones but he's been kinda eh at the plate but he's been a gem in CF since day 1..Ive been saying if he doesn't win a gold glove in CF within 2-3 years it'll be a travesty.

 

Its a split concensus on Sherrill but most people are saying if they get an offer for him at the deadline they should take it and go back with Chris Ray as the closer. It really all depends on the offer, but there probably will end up being a team or two desperate for a closer at the deadline who would probably overpay for his services as a closer so maybe, but I dont think Id be happy about it. I like Chris Ray and all but there's no telling how he'll bounce back from the injury, and he wasn't as great of a closer to start with. Sherrill has more of a presence on the mound as a closer to me..

 

And Tillman is going to be in the rotation by the end of next season.

 

The Os got hosed on the Tejada trade though, but thats a 20/20 hindsight thing.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Os got hosed on the Tejada trade though, but thats a 20/20 hindsight thing.

 

Did they? One of the reasons the O's are close to .500 is their bullpen, which is staffed by Matt Albers and Dennis Sarfate, both pitching well and both acquisitions from Houston. Tejada is no longer an elite player, he's lost a step at the plate and I believe his defense has suffered. This is just an assumption but notice that the O's are giving up less runs with Luis Hernandez at shortstop? The trade probably made Houston better right now. Long term the upside is minimal depending on Troy Patton's recovery, but how many other offers were floating?

[Dandy 0]

I was reminded that the Orioles had been wanting Jay Bruce from the Reds for Erik Bedard...

 

pft

I'm sure every team wanted Jay Bruce, Marv, but it wasn't something the Reds considered. Bruce was tagged "Do Not Trade."

[Dandy 0]

Apparently Homer Bailey was called up to the majors and will face the Phillies on Thursday.

[devo 0]

The future is now! Kind of a rough task for his first start of the year, though.

[CanadianChris 0]

We need a photoshop of Jay's head onto this:

 

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The AAA Phillies were scheduled to face Bailey tonight. They have a rough enough time without having to face good pitchers.

 

The Reds now have four rookie of the year candidates (Bruce, Votto, Cueto and Bailey). That doesn't count Edison Volquez, not rookie-eligible but just 24 years old. For kicks, Dusty Baker has never managed a player who finished in the top 5 in Rookie of the Year balloting, and managed only two players who received any votes at all.

[Dandy 0]

Yeah, the Phillies are one of the best hitting teams in the league, and Utley is flat out raking right now. Bailey hasn't looked particularly impressive in Louisville over his last several starts, but replacing Josh Fogg and Matt Belisle's stats in the 5th spot isn't that daunting of a task. I believe their combined ERA is 8.48. Mat Maloney and Daryl Thompson were other rumored callups for the position, but Bailey was ultimately the guy. Maloney has similar stats to Bailey (better record and 1 CG shut out, though) and is a lefty. Thompson just got promoted to AAA and pitched 7 shut out innings on 4 hits in his only game so far. Obviously they would like for him to be in AAA for longer than one game to track his progress. I think putting Fogg on the DL and calling up Bailey gives the Reds the youngest rotation in the NL. Can anyone confirm this?

 

Edit---Here is the Reds 5 man rotation with ages:

 

Harang 30

Volquez 24

Arroyo 31

Cueto 22

Bailey 22

 

Avg age: 25.8

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I think putting Fogg on the DL and calling up Bailey gives the Reds the youngest rotation in the NL. Can anyone confirm this?

 

That gives them a combined age of 25.8. That's impressive, but matched by the Marlins and Rockies. The Pirates and Giants are actually a hair younger.

[tonyjaymzretro 0]

The Os got hosed on the Tejada trade though, but thats a 20/20 hindsight thing.

 

 

really marvin, really?

 

"Acquired LHP Troy Patton, OF Luke Scott, RHP Matt Albers, RHP Dennis Sarfate and nonroster 3B Michael Costanzo from the Astros for SS Miguel Tejada"

 

Honestly, if we had just gotten Luke Scott and Albers in the trade, I'd call it a great success. Patton, Sarfate, Costanzo is just gravy.

 

Yes, Tejada is having a very good year right now .312/6/37/4

 

But look at the guys we got in the trade

 

Luke Scott- .259/7/21/2

Matt Albers- 2.08/3-1/0/21

Dennis Sarfate- 3.38/2-1/0/27

 

Very good relief pitching, and Luke Scott, who is a good hitter and fielder.

 

And with Tejada gone lets look at the guys that took his place

 

Luis Hernandez- .241/0/3/2

Alex Cintron- .350/0/1/0

Freddie Bynum- .224/0/2/1

 

To say that the O's got hosed in the deal is idiotic. We got some young, good pitchers, a good outfielder, and the shortstops we have now are damn good defenders, and more importanlty, young.

 

Tejada did nothing for Baltimore. Trading him was the biggest contribution he ever gave the team.

[geniusMoment 0]

Holy shit!!! You guys got Freddie Bynum, gotta love fast freddie. I'd start printing up those world series tickets now.

[Guest Vitamin X]

You know, if Jim Edmonds keeps hitting the ball like he has the last two games and playing decent center then that might work out as a steal for Chicago. Maybe the guy really just did need some swings cause he started to play like a guy trying to stay in the majors.

 

Or maybe the Rockies were just pitching like crap. Hoping for the first one more than the second.

Ding ding ding. The thing that's pretty much plagued the franchise throughout its entire existence- humidor at Coors Field or not- is exactly why the team is in last place now. Manny Corpas might get sent back down, as he's been awful in the closer role. Jeff Francis looks nowhere near as good as he was a year ago. Aaron Cook is by far their best pitcher right now, and he's being overworked as a result of it (83 IP, 3.36 ERA) and there's no one else stepping it up- Fuentes is supposed to be in the rotation, but since Corpas is underwhelming, Fuentes is in that role, and then that leaves a Francis-Cook-Jimenez-Reynolds-Rusch rotation which is really underachieving. All the guys on the DL aren't helping either, but it's really the pitching that has just been terrible for them this season.

 

And that Todd Helton is getting jerked around the lineup all over this year instead of doing cleanup like he normally does, which I think has thrown him into a few slumps this year. It's just a total trainwreck so far.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

On Daily News Live, the panelists and Ken Rosenthal are crediting Charlie Manuel's decision to use Geoff Jenkins instead of Greg Dobbs as "intuition." Yeah. That and that Jenkins was good enough to start as a corner outfielder for a decade.

[Guest Smues]

Hey Dodgers/Cubs, that's a fresh and exciting matchup that we haven't seen on ESPN before!

 

Other than that it looks like a good spread of national games this week.

[Guest Epic Narcissism]

Or maybe the Rockies were just pitching like crap.

exactly why the team is in last place now.

I'd also attribute it to being without Holliday, Tulowitzki, Hawpe, and Barmes. I mean, they're trotting out Scott Podsednik and AAAers in the corner outfields. They're just injured beyond belief. They'll put a big run together in July that'll get everyone talking again, but at 17 under with 94 left, even in the crappy Western Division, their goose is probably cooked.

 

Okay, St. Louis Cardinals, this is starting to get a little silly. Quit winning games with Todd Wellemeyer and Braden Looper anchoring your rotation.

[Dandy 0]

With Florida and Atlanta playing each other, and the Mets playing SF, it should be interesting to see who is in second place in the East by Thursday.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

With Florida and Atlanta playing each other, and the Mets playing SF, it should be interesting to see who is in second place in the East by Thursday.

Florida is up by three, hard to see them losing that much ground so soon.

[Guest Epic Narcissism]

With Florida and Atlanta playing each other, and the Mets playing SF, it should be interesting to see who is in second place in the East by Thursday.

Giants beat Mets, Braves beat Marlins, Phillies stay in the lead, but not by much.

 

Hey, what's with the Giants? They're not completely fucking awful! I had them pegged for well over a hundred losses, and they'll probably only finish with 88 losses or so. fire and the passion?

[Dandy 0]

With Florida and Atlanta playing each other, and the Mets playing SF, it should be interesting to see who is in second place in the East by Thursday.

Florida is up by three, hard to see them losing that much ground so soon.

I am not sold on the Marlins and they are facing the Braves at home. I am hoping for at least a split of the 4 game series between the Reds and Philly. I figure that it will be an even tighter 4 team race on Thursday.