Thoughts that went through Dallas Braden’s mind while he threw the 19th Perfect Game in MLB history. This is great:
St. Louis placed Outfielder Rick Ankiel on the 15-day DL allowing him to fully recover from his vicious collision with an Outfield wall while making a catch. The move was made retroactive to May 5th. Ankiel is batting .247 on the year with 2 HRs and 11 RBI. To fill his roster spot, the Cardinals called up Shane Robinson, who was hitting .345 for Triple-A Memphis.
A-Rod likely ended his rebab stint going hitless. The new President of the Manny Ramirez Fan Club was 0-2 with a pair of Walks. He will likely make his season debut tomorrow.
A-Rod’s teammate Chien-Ming Wang pitched well in his rehab start. Wang pitched five scoreless Innings giving up three Hits while striking out seven batters. He’ll likely make a could more starts before returning to the Yankees.
Image courtesy of Icon SMI
A-Rod went 1 for 5 with a Single and a Walk as he continues his rehab assignement. He also slid for the first time on his surgically-repaired hip. A-Rod said he felt good after the slide. He is scheduled to play in one more game tomorrow before possibly rejoining the Yankees on Friday to face Baltimore. For the full story, check out this ESPN.com article.
Image from MudHens.com
Dontrelle Willis was back on the mound as well. He pitched much better today. The D-Train threw 7-2/3 Innings for Triple A- Toledo allowing two Runs on 5 Hits. 74 of his 118 pitches went for strikes, but he still managed to walk four batters. He was on the losing end of a Pitchers’ Duel as Michael Bowden led Pawtucket to a 2-1 victory. For the full story, check out the Mud Hens’ site.
Here’s a look at how Willis fared is his previous three starts:
A+ Lakeland: L, 7 IP, 4 Runs, 8 Hits, 0 Walks, 2 Ks, 5.14 ERA, 1.14 WHIP
AA Erie: W, 6 IP, 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 3 Walks, 6 Ks, 3.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP
AAA Toledo: ND, 5 IP, 3 Runs, 7 Hits, 2 Walks, 4 Ks, 5.40 ERA, 1.80 WHIP
Image courtesy of Icon SMI
Alex Rodriguez’s rehab assignment rolls on despite the beating he has taken in the media of late. Like it or not, he’s going to be playing baseball soon. It doesn’t appear that Selena Roberts’ book A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez will do anything to effect his playing status. The court of public opinion is a different story, but the show must go on, both for the Yankees and for fantasy baseball teams with the man everyone is learning to hate.
A-Rod hit leadoff every inning for seven innings. He was 1 for 6 with a HR and a walk. The HR came off the Phillies’ J.C. Romero who ironically has been banished from the Bigs for fifty days as he serves a PED suspension. He got popped taking Andro, which was Mark McGwire’s drug of choice. At least that’s what he wanted to lead everyone to believe.
A-Rod remains on schedule to return to the Yankees by May 15th or sooner.
Images courtesy of Icon SMI
It’s pretty common knowledge that Hanley Ramírez is going to be the #1 pick. What’s not to like about him? He has 30/30 potential at the shallow Shortstop position. Once he’s plucked out of the draft pool, the question is what do you do with the second pick? Not long ago, before a steroid scandal, a bad hip, an affair with an aging Pop star, a link to an infamous madam, the list goes on, that answer would have been simple. Now that A-Rod and his tarnished image is on the shelf, three other names (Albert Pujols, José Reyes, David Wright) rise to the surface.
Naturally Albert Pujols is going to generate some heavy consideration. Why not? The dude can mash. He shrugged off an elbow scare last year to put up another monster year (.357, 100 R, 37 HR, 116 RBI). His 1.115 OPS was the highest of his career. While his numbers are amazing, his Run, HR, and RBI totals of the past two seasons make up the worst two-season stretch in his career. He’s getting walked more. He had a career high 104 BBs last year, which was up five from his previous career high set in 2007. Aside from a minor dip in his production, the other main reason to pass on Pujols in the two-hole is his position. He’s easily the best First Baseman in the league, but he isn’t ahead of his competition by leaps and bounds. You have Lance Berkman, Mark Teixeira, Ryan Howard, Miguel Cabrera, Adrián González, Justin Morneau, and Prince Fielder to name a few. While they aren’t Prince Albert, they’re close.
That leads me to José Reyes. He is part of a Big Three Shortstop group of the aforementioned Hanley Ramírez and Jimmy Rollins. Reyes is rock solid, but he leaves you hanging in the HR, RBI, and Batting Average departments compared to Pujols and teammate David Wright. He scores a lot of Runs, but he gets little (if any) separation from Pujols and Wright there. He swipes a ton of bases, but I contend that they can be made up later. I’d love to have Reyes on my fantasy team, but not before Pujols and Wright come off the board.
That leads me to David Wright. He has averaged 106 Runs, 29 HRs, 112 RBI, 22 SBs, and .311 over the past four seasons. His numbers have looked even better the past two years (114 R, 32 HRs, 116 RBI, 25 SBs, .313). He has topped Pujols in Runs, RBI, and SBs without losing much in HRs or Average. He has topped Reyes in HRs, RBI, and Average without losing much in Runs. He doesn’t touch Reyes SBs, but he’s pretty good for a Third Basemen. Which brings me to the second part of my argument. With A-Rod hurt and Miguel Cabrera switching to 1B, Wright doesn’t really have any peers. Kevin Youkilis and Aubrey Huff had great seasons, but I see them taking a step back. Chipper Jones is solid, but he’ll turn 37 in a month and he hasn’t played 150 games since 2003. Aramis Ramírez is real good, but he doesn’t score Runs or steal bases like Wright, and his HR, RBI, and BA numbers are slightly lower. Evan Longoria has the potential to make the leap, but I see much lower R, SB, and BA for him.
This debate was sparked by the Rotoprofessor’s First Round Rankings.
