Sports

Saturday, April 21, 2012

COMEBACK THRILLER, 3 STARS, ROTATION WOES, BOWDEN-BYRD

As Phil Rizzuto used to say Holy Cow!  Down 9-0 with 2 outs in the sixth and the Yankees go wild in Boston! Tex hits a solo home run and Swisher hits a Grand Slam and the Yanks are back in it!  When the smoke cleared, the Yankees were, unbelievably, the 15-9 victors in this slugfest with the Sawx.  You don't see ball games like this every day!


The 3 Stars of Yankees-Red Sox Game, Saturday, April 21, 2012

3. Red Sox SP Felix Doubront: 6IP, 4H, 1ER, 3BB, 7K

2. Yankees RF Nick Swisher: 3-6, Double, HR (Grand Slam), 6RBI

1. Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira: 3-6, Double, 2HR, 6RBI


Rotation Woes
While Yankee hitting seems to have caught fire, they're having issues with two of their starters, Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia. Hughes has an ERA of 6.75 through his first 13.1 innings of 2012, while Garcia's ERA is 9.75 through 12 innings this season. Luckily, they have replacement options for both pitchers even without Michael Pineda for a while.

David Phelps, currently a long reliever out of the Yankee bullpen, could replace one of them almost immediately. Going into Saturday's game against the Red Sox, he had pitched to a 1.08 ERA in 8.1 innings while striking out 9 batters.

Though, the likelihood of Phelps moving to the rotation seems slim, as Joe Girardi said during the game on Saturday that he hasn't considered it at all. That is my one problem with Girardi, the fact that he is so set in the way he ranks players.

Also, Andy Pettitte will be returning in a few weeks to take over for Hughes, assuming he doesn't right his ship in a hurry. The odd man out may be Hughes anyway, as we know that Girardi considers CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda locks in the rotation and Ivan Nova has started the season 3-0.

Bowden for Byrd:
Earlier on Saturday, the Red Sox traded relief pitcher Michael Bowden to the Cubs in exchange for Outfielder Marlon Byrd. The Cubs will send the Red Sox some cash consideration to cover a lot of the $6.5 Million left on Byrd's contract.

Byrd, 34, is basically a player on the decline, as his number of home runs, doubles, and RBIs have declined each year from 2009 through 2011.

Bowden, 25, could make a solid middle reliever for the Cubs over the next few years.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

MLB PREDICTIONS 2012

AL East Winner: Yankees
The American League East will come down to the wire in 2012, but ultimately the division title will go to the Yankees. They have enough rotation depth to make it through the season, they have an explosive offense that should improve (with a healthy Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter), and the best bullpen in the American League, with David Robertson and Mariano Rivera at the back end. In 2011, the Yankees pitching staff ranked fifth in the American League in ERA and first in strikeouts. On the offensive side, they ranked fifth in batting average and ranked third in On Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage and Stolen Bases. They ranked second in runs scored and first in Home Runs and walks. They may be baseball's most complete team.

AL Central Winner: Tigers
This one is clear. With 2011 AL Cy Young winner and MVP Justin Verlander leading and the likes of Doug Fister and Max Scherzer, the Tigers should have a scary rotation, but the offense is even scarier. After Victor Martinez was injured, taking him out for the year, the Tigers added slugging first baseman Prince Fielder to the lineup, to go with Miguel Cabrera. Not to mention the fact that All Star Catcher Alex Avila, Center fielder Austin Jackson, and power hitting left fielder Delmon Young could all have solid years in 2012.


AL West Winner: Angels
The Angels are going for it this year, as they signed both Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson to large contracts this offseason. With Pujols, Mark Trumbo, and Howard Kendrick leading the offensive charge, the Angels have the offense to compete with anyone. Their starting pitching is remarkable; they have four pitchers who could be top of the rotation starters elsewhere (Jered Weaver, CJ, Wilson, Ervin Santana, Dan Haren). The rotation will lead them past the Texas Rangers in the AL West in 2012.

AL Wild Card Winner: Rays
The Rays' rotation will help them come close in the East, but it's not enough to overtake the Yankees. Their rotation is led by 2010 Cy Young runner up David Price and 2011 second runner up James Shields, they are followed by 2011 AL Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson and super prospect Matt Moore. On the offensive side, third baseman Evan Longoria is primed to be an MVP candidate this coming season.

AL Wild Card Winner: Rangers
Though the lineup is stacked, the rotation is led by an unknown. In order to make a third straight World Series appearance, they will rely heavily on Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish, who's never pitched in North America, and former closer Neftali Feliz to anchor the rotation. If both pitchers succeed, the Rangers could make a deep October run, but if not, they may not even make the playoffs.


AL CHAMPION: Angels 


AWARDS: 


MVP: Albert Pujols

CY YOUNG: CC Sabathia

Rookie Of The Year: Matt Moore

Comeback Player: Phil Hughes

NL East Winner: Marlins
With four potentially huge acquisitions this offseason (Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Heath Bell, and Carlos Zambrano), the Marlins look primed to make a serious run this season. With a lineup led by Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez and Mike Stanton, it will all come down to pitching. The Marlins rotation is led by Josh Johnson, who missed most of last season because of an injury, and newly acquired Mark Buehrle. They have Anibal Sanchez and Carlos Zambrano to back them up. Those are all pitchers who have the talent to be at the top of a rotation.

NL Central Winner: Cardinals
Though they lost Albert Pujols this offseason, the Cardinals will be just as good this season as they were last, if not better. They won the 2011 World Series without Adam Wainwright, one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. If he comes back and pitches like he did before he got hurt, the Cardinals won't miss Pujols at all.

NL West Winner: Diamondbacks
The only pitcher in the Diamondbacks rotation who had an ERA above 4.00 in 2011 is Trevor Cahill, whose ERA was 4.16. They are led by star Center fielder Justin Upton, who could contend for the National League MVP award if he builds on last season's totals of 31 home runs and 105 runs scored. The pitching staff is led by 21 game winner Ian Kennedy and closer JJ Putz, who saved 45 games in 2011 while posting an ERA of 2.17. They are a well rounded team, but they don't look like they have what it takes to make a deep run, especially with the new playoff format.

NL Wild Card Winner: Phillies
Though the Phillies will make the playoffs in 2012, they won't have an easy time doing it, as they are a team on the decline. Chase Utley, Placido Polanco, and Shane Victorino missed a combined 119 games last season and it's looking even worse on the injury front this year as Utley and Ryan Howard will start the season on the DL. The Phillies will make it, but  only because they have a rotation with Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Vance Worely.

NL Wild Card Winner: Nationals
With Stephen Strasburg at the top of the rotation and Jordan Zimmerman, Gio Gonzalez, and Edwin Jackson to follow, the Nationals rotation is stacked. The rotation will lead them to the postseason, but they likely won't get any further because of how young their team is. However, they will be fun to watch for years to come.

NL CHAMPION: Cardinals


Awards:


MVP: Hanley Ramirez

CY YOUNG: Cole Hamels

Rookie Of The Year: Bryce Harper

Comeback Player: Johan Santana

WORLD SERIES
LOS ANGELES ANGELS over ST. LOUIS CARDINALS



Monday, April 2, 2012

MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT RED SOX ROTATION


Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine unveiled his starting pitching rotation for the season on Monday. Valentine included Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard as the 4th and 5th starters. Though the team will have a rotation full of hard throwing pitchers, there are many questions about the capabilities of the starters. 

After longtime closer Jonathan Papelbon signed with the Philadelphia Phillies this offseason, the Red Sox went out and traded for former Rookie of the Year closer Andrew Bailey to take Papelbon's spot. They also traded for Astros closer Mark Melancon to pitch the 8th inning. Though Bailey held opponents to a batting average of .218 in 2011, he had a number of injuries and only pitched 41.2 innings. On the bright side, he saved 24 of his 26 attempts, but many were close calls, and his ERA was a high 3.24.  Bailey also tends to give up a lot of fly balls, which could turn into home runs at the smaller Fenway Park.

Melancon was good for the Astros in 2011, posting a 2.78 ERA and saving 20 of 25 chances. He also walked only 26 batters all year and gave up only five home runs. The only question with Melancon is whether he will be able to remain effective in the American League East, believed to be a tougher division.

The Red Sox rotation also has a lot of questions awaiting answers. Will Bard and Doubront be able to pitch effectively deeper into games? Which Josh Beckett will we see -- the one who was phenomenal from April to July, or the one who was inconsistent in August and September? Will Clay Buchholz come back from his injury and pitch well? The only guarantee is Jon Lester, who I believe will contend for the AL Cy Young this coming season.