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Week 10 MLB Review
Who’s in first?
AL East: Red Sox (36-25)
AL Central: Tigers (40-23)
AL West: Rangers (34-29)
NL East: Mets (39-23)
NL Central: Cardinals (37-25)
NL West: Dodgers (35-28)
Who’s in last?
AL East: Devil Rays (26-37)
AL Central: Royals (16-45)
AL West: Angels (27-35)
NL East: Marlins (23-37)
NL Central: Pirates (25-39)
NL West: Rockies (30-32)
Phat Albert: How dominant was St. Louis’ Albert Pujols before an oblique strained sidelined him a little more than a week ago?
Consider that he hasn’t played since the injury on June 3 and still has a 9-RBI lead over all major leaguers in that category. Pujols’ 25 HR are also still on top of the list, by two over Washington’s Alfonso Soriano.
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa commented this past weekend that Pujols could be out until after the All-Star Game slated for July 11 in Pittsburgh.
This week's dogs: A 2-5 week might not be dog-worthy some weeks. But these are the Atlanta Braves, winners of the last 14 NL East titles. And it’s not exactly like they were playing the ’27 Yankees or ’76 Reds on last week’s slate.
The Braves entered last week with a 4-game losing streak and losers of six of their previous seven. Atlanta dropped two of three at home to the Nationals then lost three of four in Houston, giving up 32 runs in the 4-game set to a team that has trouble scoring 4-5 per game on most nights.
After getting by on strong pitching for so long, the Braves are suffering on the mound this season. A staff 4.78 ERA is next-to-last in the NL, and a 1.81 K:BB ratio is very unlike previous Atlanta mound corps. The bullpen has struggled mightily, and aside from John Smoltz and Tim Hudson, no other starter has distinguished himself.
With 64 games under their belt, the Braves are four below even at 30-34. If there’s good news in that it’s that they’ve played 36 on the road and just 28 at home so far. That gives them a 53-45 home-to-road schedule the rest of the way.
Injury News: Getting a clean bill of health and coming off the DL last week were Tampa infielder Jorge Cantu, outfielder Rocco Baldelli and left-hander Casey Fossum, St. Louis right-hander Chris Carpenter, Oakland right-handers Jay Witasick and Esteban Loaiza plus outfielder Milton Bradley, San Francisco right-hander Tim Worrell, Atlanta catcher Brian McCann, Washington outfielder Jose Guillen and New York Yankees right-hander Shawn Chacon.
Finding their way to the DL last week were Roy Oswalt (HOU-back), Ryan Doumit (PIT-hamstring), Larry Bigbie (STL-belly button hernia), Cliff Politte (CWS-shoulder), Juan Cruz (ARZ-shoulder), Rich Harden (OAK-elbow), Matt Guerrier (MIN-thumb), Edwin Encarnacion (CIN-ankle), Kerry Wood )CHC-shoulder), Gustavo Chacin (TOR-elbow), Pete Walker (TOR-shoulder), Mike Lieberthal (PHL-hip) and Jorge de la Rosa (MIL-blister).
One trade went down during the week as the Mets sent second baseman Kaz Matsui and a big wad of cash to the Rockies for utility player Eli Marrero.
Fantasy Studs & Duds: They don’t get much better than Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer who went 15-for-24 (.625) last week and had a string of five multi-hit games. Five of Mauer’s 15 safeties were doubles and he scored eight times while lifting his season average to .386, good enough for tops in the AL.
Well, they don’t get much better unless you’re Ichiro Suzuki who had 19 hits in his seven games for Seattle last week. Ichiro batted .559 (19-for-34) with two homers, two doubles and 15 singles, and had a string of six multi-hit games during the week.
White Sox right-fielder Jermaine Dye came to the party as Chicago continues to chase Detroit in the AL Central. Dye cracked three homers on the week while batting .364. For the season, Dye has 19 HR and trails teammate Jim Thome by two for the AL lead in that category.
Carlos Beltran didn’t hit .625 like Mauer or have 19 hits like Ichiro. But the Mets’ centerfielder still had the best week of any batter in either league last week. Beltran batted .483 (14-for-29) with 3 HR, 5 SB, 12 RBI and 13 runs scored as New York won six of seven on the road in Los Angeles and Arizona.
Boston’s Curt Schilling became the first 9-game winner in the AL with a strong performance against the Yankees in New York on Thursday. Schilling is currently 9-2 with a 3.81 ERA for the Red Sox.
New York Mets lefty Tom Glavine beat Schilling to the 9-W mark by a day despite allowing six earned in less than six innings in LA against the Dodgers on Wednesday. Glavine also sports a 9-2 record with a 3.06 ERA.
Quote(s) of the Week: "I'm just not in favor of rewarding somebody for the bad acts that they've committed, and this guy's had a career of cheating. He's a representative of the culture of cheating, and it's just not something that we're going to support at all." - - - Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick on right-hander Jason Grimsley who asked for and was given his release during the week.
"I don't know what basis they have for not paying him." --- MLBPA general counsel Michael Weiner.
"I'd just call (Barry) Bonds in and ask him what the truth is. He won't answer the questions and when he doesn't you have to sit him down and say you're not playing baseball until you either answer my question or I get the truth. I mean, why is this guy on the field?" - - - John Dowd on the fact Sen. George Mitchell doesn’t have any real powers in his probe into steroids/HGH usage by MLB players.
On Deck: A couple of contenders hook up to open the week in Texas as the Rangers host the White Sox. The Rangers are coming off a series split in Boston against the Red Sox, the first time since 1999 Texas hasn’t lost their series in Beantown. Chicago is coming off series wins over the Tigers and Indians, and will be looking to avenge their series loss to Texas a weekend ago. The 4-game series will see Jose Contreras, Jon Garland, Javier Vazquez and Mark Buehrle on the hill for the Pale Hose while the Rangers counter with Paul Koronka, Kameron Loe, Vincente Padilla and John Rheinecker.
The New York Mets travel to Philadelphia to take on the Phillies for a 3-game series beginning Tuesday. The Mets have opened up a 6½-game lead over the Phils in the NL East, and will send Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez and Steve Trachsel to the mound opposite Ryan Madson, Brett Myers and Corey Lidle.
Arizona will try and right their suddenly sinking ship against the visiting San Francisco Giants this week. The Indians and Yankees, who have each lost six of their last 10, meet in New York Tuesday-Thursday.
Next weekend sees a return of interleague play. The Red Sox will be in Atlanta to take on the Braves with Josh Beckett and Tim Hudson the featured pitching matchup on Friday. Detroit opens in Chicago that same day with Nate Robertson slated for the Tigers opposite Carlos Zambrano for the Cubs.
The game I’d like to see next weekend is San Diego in Anaheim as two young arms go at it. Jake Peavy is scheduled to have the start for the Padres with Johan Santana going for the Twins.
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Originally Posted by Mudcat
