As I watch the Mets play the Reds I thought I would toss some random thoughts around. This is an important win for the Mets. They got crunched on Tuesday by the Brewers and had a tough loss yesterday to the Reds.
DJ Carrasco had to take some of the credit for those losses. On Tuesday night he gave up a homer to weak hitting Weeks then he beaned Brewers MVP Ryan Braun. The bean ball forced Met’s manager Terry Collins to pull the Mets big bats David Wright and Dan Murphy out of the game before the Brewers could retaliate. Not sure if Grienke would have. He’s not that type of pitcher. Still with injuries the Mets have had this year they couldn’t chance losing Wright or Murphy. Wright did not agree with the being pulled from a game. I think Collins did the right thing pulling Wright. I also think Wright did the right thing by complaining. Manager’s manage, players play. Read more... (395 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)
The Philadelphia Phillies are struggling. The team that went 102-60 in route to claiming a fifth straight National League East title in 2011 sits at just 19-19 thus far in 2012. The Phillies‘ struggled aren’t a total surprise given the absence of former All Stars Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. Howard is still recovering from the torn Achilles tendon he suffered in the NLDS loss to the Cardinals last October. Utley is working his way back from chronic knee problems. There is no timetable for either of their returns.
To this point the Phillies have counted on the contributions of unlikely heroes Carlos Ruiz, Ty Wigginton, Laynce Nix, and Juan Pierre to keep the team afloat. That group will need to keep producing in order for Philadelphia to remain in the playoff hunt in the ultra-competitive NL East. The Philadelphia farm system can’t be called on for support as it lacks impact prospects at the upper levels. Read more... (401 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)
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No Help on the Farm for Struggling Phillies
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On Wednesday night, the Boston Red Sox will begin one of their most important series of the year to date, when they open up against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. The Red Sox, coming off of 5 straight wins, will look to remain hot against the Rays, who are currently tied for first place in the American League East division.
The Rays, coming off three straight wins of their own, will look to remain hot as well, despite injuries to outfielder Desmond Jennings, starting pitcher Jeff Niemann, and All-Star third baseman Evan Longoria. The Rays will also be looking to avenge an early April series at Fenway Park, in which the Red Sox won three out of four games. Read more... (441 words, 1 image, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)
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Red Sox Head to Tropicana For Big Series With Rays
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Los Angeles Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto made a huge statement to the team by firing long-time hitting coach Mickey Hatcher Tuesday night.
Although the 57-year-old Hatcher has been with the Angels since 2000, coming onboard shortly after the team hired manager Mike Scioscia, the writing was on the wall that a change needed to be made.
The team is 27th in the majors in on-base percentage (.301), 24th in OPS (.680) and 22nd in runs scored (134). The Angels have been shut out eight times this season, the most in the majors. And, oh yeah, the guy who they paid $240 million to all but guarantee this team a trip to the World Series, Albert Pujols, is off to the worst start of his career. Read more... (369 words, 1 image, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)
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Los Angeles Angels Fire Hitting Coach Mickey Hatcher
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Whenever the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs get together it’s usually a good game. Today was no exception. Both teams scored multiple runs in the first inning– three for Chicago, two for St. Louis. The game went back and fourth after that. Paul Maholm went six innings, gave up seven hits and four runs. He issued three walks and five strike-outs. He was lifted in the seventh with the Cubs ahead by a run.
And then an astonishing thing happened: Kerry Wood came in and issued a walk to the first batter he faced on four straight balls! Oh, no, wait. That’s been happening a lot lately. In fact, I was expecting it. How sad is that? Read more... (505 words, 1 image, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)
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Cardinals Walk Off vs. Cubs as Cubs’ Bullpen Struggles
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Sure, he might be a little late to the social media party, but after Josh Hamiliton’s Herculean week in May, including eight home runs in seven games, the Texas Rangers slugger has created his own official Twitter account. Here is first tweet acknowledging the momentous day:
Ok everyone- This IS my real account. Working on verification. Will tweet more once that’s taken care of. @RangerBlake is working on it!
10:19 AM – 15 May 12 via Twitter for iPhone · Embed this Tweet
That post showed up at 12:19 p.m. CT Tuesday. Less than three hours later, Hamilton was up to more than 14,000 followers. At the time of this writing, he’s up to 28,489 followers.
Look out, Kim Kardashian.
Read more... (154 words, 2 images, estimated 37 secs reading time)
Voting for the eighty third major league all-star game has begun. Philadelphia Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz deserves to be voted in as the National League starting catcher or at least on the team. He is well deserving and as of right now one of the Phillies best players.
Carlos Ruiz, also known as Chooch, has the highest batting average on the team as a position player. His average is .340, only falling behind pitcher Cliff Lee. Ruiz has one hundred and two at bats. With those at bats he has thirty five hits. Twenty three of them were RBI. Thirteen of those hits were extra base. His offense has been unstoppable. He has been clutch and a big part of the offense with the loss of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Read more... (230 words, 1 image, estimated 55 secs reading time)
The Baltimore Orioles are clinging to their perch at the top of the American League East. The injury bug has bitten the O’s and the team has been forced to make frequent calls to Triple- A Norfolk for reinforcements. Stu Pomeranz, Xavier Avery, and Steve Tolleson have all been called the big leagues in the past week and contributed to the Orioles‘ efforts. Let’s take a tour around the Baltimore farm system to see if there are any other names who could be getting the call to Camden Yards in the near future.
Delmarva Shorebirds Read more... (579 words, 1 image, estimated 2:19 mins reading time)
Ryan Dempster finally won a game Monday night. Ironically, it was one of his worse pitching performances of the season. Over six innings he gave up nine hits, allowing four runs with a walk and five strikeouts. His era was 1.02 coming into the game, and shot up to 1.74 after– however, that is still enough to place him at fourth best in the Majors, and this time he got enough run support to give him a W, bringing his record to 1-1. Read more... (197 words, 1 image, estimated 47 secs reading time)
Andy Pettitte’s return to Major League Baseball didn’t quite go the way he’d probably envisioned, but after 19 months away from the game, the 39-year-old looked as comfortable as ever on a mound rocking pinstripes.
Struggling Seattle Mariners veteran Kevin Millwood spoiled the homecoming, allowing just three hits in seven innings, helping the Seattle Mariners avoid a three-game sweep with a 6-2 win over the New York Yankees.
Although Pettitte suffered the loss—allowing four runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings—the buzz around Yankee Stadium, in the stands and the dugout, was all about the return.
“I thought it was so awesome. I was so excited. I know we lost today and that’s what a lot of people are going to focus on—I could really care less about that,” Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher said. “We got our boy back.” Read more... (324 words, 1 image, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)
Josh Hamilton 
