I keep waiting for Brennan Boesh to come back down to earth, but it doesn’t seem to be happening.
At the beginning of the season, I can honestly say I had no idea who this kid was. The tigers called him up in late April to replace an injured Carlos Guillen. He honestly wasn’t even supposed to replace Guillen, just take the roster spot open to him. Someone forgot to tell him that. He came up and played extremely well, still in the shadows of Austin Jackson’s strong first month in the league.
Jackson eventually took home the rookie of the month honours for April…while a strong start to Boesh’s career landed him an outfield and DH platoon eventually forcing the tigers to move Guillen to yet another position. He took home his own rookie of the month honours in May (or at least I believe I read that somewhere, but MLB.com only has April’s winners listed despite it being July). Just to make sure people were noticing, he did it again in the month of June (I know I read about that month).
The New York Mets have consistently been making front page news over the past several years. It has not been without good reason either. A team which has been involved in the acquisitions of Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana, Fransisco Rodriguez, Jason Bay, J.J. Putz as well as others has earned its fair share of headlines. The corresponding question with these headlines is why the Mets have not received the headlines that should go hand in hand with having several big name all-stars on their roster. Headlines which mention the Mets winning the National League, the N.L. East, or even a Wild Card. With so many big name players, why have the Mets played so poorly?
It is no secret that Atlanta has less than excitable baseball fans. I truly wish that I could say otherwise, because I love the Braves and baseball and rowdy fandom, but in general, Braves fans care more about texting on their iPhones than baseball.
In recent years I have attended Braves games mostly with my Braves partner in crime, Chris Bartelski. Chris is full on dutch…. which means he’s incredibly loud with no inhabitions. There have been many times when Chris and I were the only ones making noise or standing. A couple of years back we’re at a game, Matt Diaz is up to bat, game tied up with a chance to take the lead, and some guy asks us to sit down so he could see. This type of thing is common in Atlanta and it burns my mitt… especially when I watch a Red Sox game in April and everyone is standing in the 2nd inning. Now, don’t get me wrong… there are some excitable Braves fans at games… but in general they are found in the cheap seats.
On June 27th, an important record was set in Major League Baseball, and yet it wasn’t talked about nearly as much as it should have been. It wasn’t a flashy record and it wasn’t set by an MLB superstar, but that doesn’t take away from its importance.
There is now a new “home run king” in baseball. A record that had stood for more than 50 years was finally broken.
On the night of June 27th, 2010 at an “away” game in Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park with the Toronto Blue Jays in town, Jamie Moyer served up a two-run jack to Vernon Wells, and with that homerun, Moyer became the new “king.” It was the 506th homer served up during a 24-year career of the 47-year old southpaw, breaking the record held by Phillies Hall of Famer Robin Roberts.
The expectations were sky high before the major league debut of Stephen Strasburg, the most highly-touted pitching prospect in recent years. Strasburg saw those high expectations, and he raised them one.
Making his professional debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of a sellout crowd in the nation’s capital, Strasburg lived up to the hype – at least in his first game. Strasburg needed just 94 pitches (65 thrown for strikes) to blow through seven innings while recording an astounding 14 strikeouts.
Strasburg’s first pitch, a fastball obviously inside to Andrew McCutchen, was booed by the crowd as it was called a ball. Of course, the crowd can’t be blamed too much, as many of them had likely never attended a Nationals game before the hype surrounding Strasburg took hold. Strasburg started several hitters 2-0, but didn’t walk a single batter, showing good command.
The MLB Amateur Draft kicked off yesterday, and the number one overall pick came as no surprise. 17-year old phenom Bryce Harper was selected with the first overall pick by the Washington Nationals, as the Nationals decided that Harper’s raw talent outweighed any “character issues” some claimed could be a problem with Harper. In all likelihood, there was never really any doubt in Washington as to who they would select first overall.
The 6 foot 3 inch Harper is widely regarded as the “LeBron James of baseball,” gaining national attention when he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated at age 16. Harper dropped out of high school in 2009 and obtained his GED, making him eligible for this years draft.
Harper enrolled in a community college, the College of Southern Nevada, and batted .442, with a .542 OBP and an absurd .986 slugging percentage. Harper also smashed the school record of homeruns (12) by swatting 31 this past season.
Although Harper is currently a catcher, there is thought of him switching positions. If Harper transitions to a corner outfield position, many believe he could reach the Majors within 3 years. However, Harper will be most valuable to the Nationals as a catcher because of his incredible bat and there is still a possibility that he may remain a catcher because of this reason.
The Pittsburgh Pirates took 6 foot 7 inch right hander Jameson Tallion with the second overall pick. The 18-year old pitcher attended The Woodlands High School in Texas, the same school that produced former Phillies first round pick and current Blue Jays prospect Kyle Drabek. Tallion is raw, but has tremendous upside, with a fastball that tops out at 99 miles per hour and a plus-curveball.
The rest of the first round of the draft looked like this:
This draft has shaped up very nicely for the Cardinals (thanks, Cubs!) and now they get the best pure hitter in the draft at #25. Sign-ability is an issue, as Cox is a sophomore. I don’t think he’ll be able to do better in the stacked 2011 draft, so he’d be wise to sign, and I have to think the Cardinals will do what it takes to get it done. I wonder about his overall power potential, but at #25, this is absolutely tremendous.
The follow is the scouting report from Kieth Law:
Cox is a draft-eligible sophomore and one of the most advanced college bats in this year’s draft. He’s very strong, including strong hands and wrists, and is very short to the ball, hitting line drives to all fields, but with the ability to drive a ball on the inner half.
He was criticized after his freshman year for his strikeout total and cut down his swing to make more contact, with more walks than strikeouts this year. At third base, he has an above-average arm but heavy legs, although he makes up for the latter with good instincts and an aggressive style of play.
The fact that Cox could make such a significant adjustment at the plate in one year is impressive, and we’ve now seen him hit for power and for average and show the ability to get on base; when he puts all of that together in one season, he’ll be an All-Star.
And some additional scouting reports:
Cox is the best pure hitter and top sophomore-eligible player in the draft. He hit just .266 as a freshman on Arkansas’ College World Series team a year ago, but improved as the season went on and adjusted his pull-happy approach when he arrived in the Cape Cod League. He hit .344 with wood bats and ranked as the top position prospect in the summer circuit, setting the stage for a breakout spring in which he was hitting .446/.532/.631 through mid-May. Cox has very good hands, a short, lefty stroke and nice command of the strike zone. He has an uncanny ability to hit the ball with authority to the opposite field. There’s some debate as to how much power he’ll have in the major leagues, but he has the bat speed to do damage once he adds more loft to his swing. He has plenty of strength, as evidenced by a titanic shot he blasted off the top of a 90-foot-tall scoreboard at the 2009 Southeastern Conference tournament. Six feet and 215 pounds, Cox is a decent athlete with fringy speed and range at third base. Not all scouts are sold on his defensive ability. He does have a strong arm—he threw in the low 90s as a reliever a year ago—and will put in the work to improve his reactions at third base. He also has seen time at second base, and one scout said his actions looked better there, but his athleticism is more suited for the hot corner. Cox turned down an $800,000 offer as a Dodgers 20th-round pick out of high school, and he’s in line to make two or three times as much as a top 10 choice this June.
I frequently get harassed at work for being a baseball fan. Most of the insults are thrown by football fans. They love to argue how football is better, and they say things like, “There are too many games in baseball” and, “who cares about a sport where every game doesn’t matter?” I usually reply by giving a couple of “come from behind wins in the 9th” examples and insults to their mothers.
There is no doubt that the Philadelphia Phillies have a closer problem, and if they want to be a contender for the world series or even the division they are going to need a decent closer. With Brad Lidge blowing 11 saves last year and struggling with elbow soreness after one save, Ryan Madson on the DL with a broken toe after kicking a chair after one of his two blown saves already and with Jose Contreras having never saved a game in his career, The two time defending NL champs may have to look somewhere else for a solution.
For example, they could look for a good closer stuck on a poor team such as David Aardsma of the Seattle Mariners, who converted 38 out of 42 save opportunities last year and is 8 out of 10 so far this year. However, Aardsma has had only one successful season as a closer and has only 46 career saves. This may not be the best option for the Phillies if they want to win. Plus, Aardsma has never taken the ball in the ninth inning of a playoff game or any game of true importance.
Joakim Soria is single handedly keeping the Kansas City Royals bullpen together and would fit very well as the Phillies closer. For example Soria has only one more blown save(12) in his four year career than Brad Lidge had all of last season. Soria has a career ERA at 2.21 and has had more than one solid year as closer in the majors(42 saves in 2008, 30 in 2009). Soria is also 8 out of 10 this year and would thrive in a bullpen that could give him a lead to hold in the 9th inning.
The Phillies could also think about an in house solution that is a better option than Contreras like Sergio Escalona in Reading (AA). Escalona has saved 5 games this year and has a 2.92 ERA. Escalona also saved 12 games last year and pitched briefly in the Majors.
Scott Mathieson is a hard throwing right hander from Vancouver,BC and has saved 5 game in AAA Lehigh Valley. Mathieson underwent Tommy John Surgery in 2006 but is slowly coming back to shape. Mathieson has allowed only one run in 16.2 innings this season and could be up to the Major League as soon as Jose Contreras fails to get the job done. However, the thought of an injury ridden rookie taking the 9th inning of a playoff is not an idea Manager Charlie Manuel is going to want to go with.
The Phillies have a team that has already shown they are capable to go deep into the playoffs without a closer. If they can make Contreras or another in house solution such as Escalona or Mathieson work and not have to sacrifice any players to get a closer from another team, they will be the best team in baseball.
Robin Roberts, who pitched 19 seasons in the major leagues, passed away this morning at the age of 83. Roberts, who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976, won 286 games in his career, posting a stellar 3.41 ERA throughout his career.
Known mostly as a Philadelphia Phillie, Roberts spent his first 14 seasons with the Phillies, before brief stints in Baltimore, Houston, and Chicago towards the end of his career. During his career, Roberts hurled an incredible 305 complete games, pitching 300 or more innings per season in six consecutive years, winning 20 or more games in each of those seasons.
One of the last true “workhorses,” Roberts remained a devout Phillies fan, even watching last night’s Philadelphia game against the Cardinals.
From the Phillies press release:
“Dad didn’t miss a Phillies game on television, including last night. He really loved this team and was so thrilled that he was included in the World Series festivities the last two years,” said his son, Jim. “He’d sit there and would comment, ‘Did you see Jimmy make that play… Chase can really play this game… My man Jayson is some kind of an athlete… Did you see that change-up from Cole… How strong is Ryan… Roy makes pitching look so easy and it isn’t… I wish I had Brad’s slider… “Shane can fly, can’t he?.’”
The Phillies will wear special #36 patches on their jerseys to pay tribute to possibly the greatest right hander that the franchise has ever see. Roberts is survived by his five children and seven grandchildren.
