Its a little more than a quarter of the way through the 2010 baseball season and there are some interesting stories brewing in baseball so lets hit a few.
Stephen Stasburg has absolutely destroyed hitters so far in AA and AAA minor leagues for the Washington Nationals. He is 6-1 with a 0.89 ERA in minor league starts this season. The Nats are expected to call him up to make his Major League Debut in the early part of June. Can't wait to see the kid in the majors.
A lot is being made about David Wright having the day off last Tuesday. Please do not make a big deal about this. Every player needs a day off every now and then. You need them to be sharp physically and mentally for the course of 162 games. Wright has hit well since taking the day off, he will be fine the rest of the season. The Mets on the other hand are not fine. After a 9-0 home stand in late April, the Mets have cooled off considerably thanks to horrible starting pitching. John Maine was pulled after 5 pitches on Thursday, and Oliver Perez has been moved to the bullpen. Mike Pelfrey has been the only solid starter of the 5. Jason Bay has only 1 HR, Jeff Francoeur and Jose Reyes are batting .215. Basically, the Mets are not hitting, and they need to find a bat and find it quickly. The call-up of Ike Davis has gone well, but you can not put the weight of the team too much on the kid. Wright and Bay must start hitting if Jerry Manuel wants to keep his job.
The Toronto Blue Jays are 6 games over .500 and 15-9 on the road this season. With the loss of Roy Halladay, I expected the Blue Jays to lose around 90+ games this season, however I give manager Cito Gaston a lot off credit, but lets see if they continue this streak through 162 games.
The Baltimore Orioles are struggling and I believe manager Dave Trembley will lose his job by the end of the year. Nick Markakis is the only regular player hitting above .300 and their best pitched Kevin Milwood has yet to win a game, he is 0-4.
The Yankees have gotten unexpected production out of Francisco Cervelli and Brett Gardner. Mark Tiexiera had his usual April and did not wake up until May. He is still only hitting .204 and must pick up his production. The Yankees can not expect the bottom of the order to carry them all year. The Yankees are winning because of their starting pitching. Phil Hughes is 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA and has totally electric stuff. The ageless Andy Pettite is also 5-1, with Sabathia and Burnett having 4 wins. The only bad spot is Javier Vazquez, who looks a lot better since being skipped last week. He pitched well against the Tigers in a no decision, and picked up a mop-up win against the Red Sox in relief, and then pitched a gem against the Mets. The Yankee bullpen, aside from Mariono and Joba, is a mess. Alfredo Aceves is hurt, causing Nate Robertson to be overworked. Chan Ho Park and Boom Logan have been ineffective. The Yankees need to get healthy, Granderson will be off the DL by next weekend, and Posada will be back next month. Nick Johnson is probably done for the year, so look for the Yankees to go out and get a bat. They just need to not fall too far behind the Rays by the trade deadline.
The Rays are the best team in baseball so far at the quarter point. They have the number 1 team ERA among starting pitchers with David Price leading the way with a 7-1 record with a 2.41 ERA. Shields and Garza each have 5 wins. The Rays are unstoppable. They are getting big time production out of Evan Longoria who has 38 RBI. Zobrist and Crawford are also producing and producing well. If the Yankees struggle with injuries and the Red Sox keep struggling, the Rays could run away early with the division.
The Red Sox are a struggling ball club to this point. Josh Beckett has an ERA over 7 and has been put on the disabled list. Their starting pitching must be better because they offense is not going to carry them. Ortiz is showing his age, and the numbers are not coming or him. Youkilis and Victor Martinez can not carry this team by themselves. I picked he Red Sox to miss the postseason this year. They have to pick it up if they want to keep pace with the Rays and Yankees.
Jason Heyward has been a rookie sensation for the Atlanta Braves and looks to be the front runner for rookie of the year. The Braves are keeping pace with the Phillies. Tim Hudson and Derick Lowe are pitching well, but the rest of the rotation has been shaky. Melkey Cabrera has not been producing so far, but Erik Hinske has. Its going to be an interesting race in the NL East this year.
Roy Halladay has been leading the Phillies starting pitchers, going 6-3 with a 2.22 ERA. Every time he steps on the mounds, you would expect the Phillies to win, and that will bode well later in the year and the playoffs. The offense is still their with Utley, Howard, and Werth. Whether the Phillies win or lose will come down to the rest of their starting rotation, if Cole Hammels and Jamie Moyer keep pitching the way they are pitching, they will be the NL East champs at the end of the year.
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