(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
I’ll be the first to admit that it’s waaaaaay to early to be thinking about the All-Star Game, but I happen to live in the host city of St. Louisand MLB saw fit to open up Internet balloting last week. Who am I to argue?
Many of these picks will most certainly change over the course of the next few months, but a vote today counts just as much as a vote in early June. You might as well make them educated.
American League
C: Victor Martinez, Indians (Not even close; You can carve this one in stone)
1B: Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox (Slightly better across the board than Miguel Cabrera)
2B: Ian Kinsler, Rangers (see AL MVP section at the bottom of this column)
3B: Mike Lowell, Red Sox (MLB-high 28 RBI enough to overcome Evan Longoria’s 40-point BA edge)
SS: Jason Bartlett, Rays (The heyday of AL shortstops is over; Bartlett is the best of a weak bunch)
OF: Nick Markakis, Orioles (21 RBI is the key to Baltimore’s early-season legitimacy)
OF: Bobby Abreu, Angels (8 R, 8 RBI, 8 SB, 0 HR; It’s like he’s on reverse steroids.)
OF: Jason Bay, Red Sox (.500 on-base percentage a month into the season? Holy cow.)
Next tier: 1B Miguel Cabrera, Tigers; 2B Brian Roberts, Orioles; 2B Aaron Hill, Blue Jays; 2B Robinson Cano, Yankees (Second base in the ALis loaded); SS Derek Jeter, Yankees; 3B Evan Longoria, Rays; OF Torii Hunter, Angels; OF Grady Sizemore, Indians; OF Nick Swisher, Yankees
National League
C: Yadier Molina, Cardinals (Younger bro gets the edge over elder brother Bengie thanks to a higher BA and OBP, plus the fact he has a triple and a stolen base, no small feat if you’ve ever seen him run)
1B: Albert Pujols, Cardinals (Leading NL in homers with seven and RBI with 25)
2B: Chase Utley, Phillies (Not the highest average at .317, but the best all-around hitter at the position with five homers and 16 RBI)
3B: Aramis Ramirez, Cubs (The best hitter on the Cubs right now at .358 with three homers and 14 RBI)
SS: Ryan Theriot, Cubs (Could just as easily go with New York’s Jose Reyes or Houston’s Miguel Tejada; I’m going Theriot just because I like him better)
OF: Ryan Ludwick, Cardinals (Fully taking advantage of opposing teams pitching around Pujols: .356 with five homers and 19 RBI)
OF: Kosuke Fukudome, Cubs (.371, 14 R, 6 2B, 4 HR, 15 RBI; Add the production to legions of Cubs loyalists and Japanese online voters, and Fukudome is a dead-lock guarantee for the NL starting lineup)
OF: Carlos Beltran, Mets (Doesn’t produce the same power that he used to, but it’s hard to argue with a .406 BA, .488 OBP and .580 SLG)
Next tier: 1B Joey Votto, Reds; 1B Adrian Gonzalez, Padres; 2B Orlando Hudson, Dodgers; 2B Freddy Sanchez, Pirates; 2B Luis Castillo, Mets (NL 2B is loaded, too); SS Jose Reyes, Mets; SS Miguel Tejada, Astros; OF Manny Ramirez, Dodgers; OF Andre Ethier, Dodgers; OF Ryan Braun, Brewers
Onto this week’s notebook:
25. Bullpen of the Week: Atlanta
Early in the season, it was the starting staff carrying the load and the bullpen crashing the party. But this week it was the other way around: 1 ER in 14.2 IP (0.61 ERA), 20 K to just 5 BB, and a 0.95 WHIP.
Imagine if the starters and relievers decided to be good in the same week.
24. Hitting Line of the Week: Ryan Braun, Brewers: 5-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI against the Phillies on Tuesday
23. Pitching Line of the Week: Zach Grienke, Royals: 9 IP on 108 pitches, 0 ER (one unearned), 3 H, 1 BB, 10 K, W over Detroit on Friday
22. Bust of the Week: Marlins
After running out to an 11-1 record and the headliners in the early “will they last?” columns, Florida stumbled mightily in week three: Swept by Pittsburgh on the road, then at home by the Phillies. It doesn’t get much worse than 0-6.
The Marlins pen gets a good deal of the credit for the step back. After cruising through week two only giving up one earned run in 25 innings, they gave up 23 earned on 26 hits in 16 innings in week three.
Closer Matt Lindstrom took a severe beating against Philadelphia on Friday, giving up seven earned in just two thirds of an inning. It was the first loss charged to the Florida bullpen.
And then of course there’s Emilio Bonifacio. The third baseman and lead-off hitter was the break-out star of week one, going 14 for his first 28 with a .517 OBP and .714 SLG. But his average has sunk down to.270 on the heels of going just 3-21 in week three.
And for a guy with incredible speed, he’s not using it: His stolen base on Wednesday was his first attempt since the third game of the season.
21. I’m making Houston’s Cecil Cooper the odds-on favorite as first manager to get canned. He’s already in last place at 7-12, they’re not getting on base or scoring runs (under 3.5 per game), and his bullpen has already pitched an NL-high 65.2 innings.
Houston now heads out on an eight-game road trip and plays 14 of their next 19 away from the juice box. I know the Astros already picked up Cooper’s option for next year, but that’s just semantics. It’s one thing to finish behind Chicago and St. Louis. But when you’re looking up at Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, you’re not going to last long.
20. Everybody in St. Louis is feeling good seeing the Cardinals on top of the NL Central standings at 13-6, but they’re playing uncharacteristic bad defense, leading all of baseball with 20 errors.
Eleven of their 85 runs against have been unearned. You can get away with that in the short term, but eventually that’s going to catch up to you.
(Or will it? Sounds like a good topic for a little research project.)
19. Speaking of the Cardinals, you probably heard that Pujols picked up his 1,000th RBI with a grand slam on Saturday against the Cubs.
Two other less known/significant stats on Albert the Great this week:
He scored four times in Thursday’s 12-8 win over the Mets. It was just the fourth time in his career that he had scored four runs in a single game, the last coming in April 2006.
He stole a base in three consecutive games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Not only was it the first time he had stolen a base in three consecutive games, it was the first time in his 1,258-game career he has stolen a base in even two consecutive games.
18. Look what happens when Johan Santana doesn’t start in a series. Three game series at St. Louis:
Oliver Perez: 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 5 BB, 4 K, L
John Maine: 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 5 BB, 2 K, L
Livan Hernandez: 4.1 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 0 K, L
The Mets are now 1-5 in the two series in which Santana hasn’t pitched. That’s not great news considering Santana is currently scheduled to miss next weekend’s road series at Philadelphia.
17. Headline: “Chicago media angers Bradley”
Geez. Who could have seen that coming?
16. It takes a complete game shutout to get the Pitching Line of the Week, but Russ Ohlendorf’s line on Monday for the Pirates against the Marlins certainly deserves mention: 7 IP on 91 pitches (53 strikes), 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K and the W.
Ohlendorf followed that up with another seven-inning outing on Sunday, giving up three earned on five hits in a 8-3 victory over San Diego. The Pirates now stand at 11-7, just a game and a half back of St. Louisin the NL Central, and are assured of entering May with a winning record for the first time since 2002.
15. I don’t like the decision made in Boston on Thursday to call game one of a double-header after seven, but still play game two that night. The Red Sox were up on the Twins 10-1 in the first game, so it’s not like they called a two-run game, but crazy stuff happens.
You finish the game before you start the next one. It’s two more innings. Finish the game.
14. To give you an indication of how poorly Texas 1B Chris Davis is doing at the plate right now, his strikeout-to-walk differential (strikeouts minus walks) is higher than any other one guy in either league has total strikeouts.
Davis has 30 strikeouts to just three walks for a differential of 27. The next highest total in just strikeouts is New York’s David Wright with 23. The next highest differential is 18 by another Ranger, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia (20 strikeouts to just two walks).
No surprise the Rangers lead all of baseball in strikeouts at 151 in 18 games, or about 8.4 per game. Next up are the Indians with 146 in 19 games (7.7 per game).
13. When Michael Young tagged George Sherrill for a two-run homer in the top of the ninth on Friday, it was the first charged blown save for the Orioles this season. The Red Sox got their first on Saturday. The Rangers got their first on Sunday. That leaves three teams without a charged blown save thus far: the Reds, Mets and Pirates.
12. One more Cardinals note - If you’re looking for an under-the-radar reason for St. Louis’ first-place status, look at the trio of guys filling in for Troy Glaus at third base.
The combination of Joe Thurston, Brian Barden and David Freese has combined for a .323 average, .394 on-base percentage and .468 slugging percentage.
11. I keep hearing about Jake Peavy trade rumors, but if people balked at the remaining salary on his deal this off-season, watching him so far this year can’t possibly make them any less wary.
On Tuesday, Peavy gave up six earned on seven hits in six innings to the Giants. On Sunday, he gave up five earned on six hits in five innings to the Pirates. On the season, he’s 2-3 with a 5.45 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and .277 BAA.
What about that would make some team want to pay him $60 million over the next four years?
10. We’ve all had our fun mocking Elijah Dukes, but there’s a reason why he’s been given so much latitude over his young career: Dude can hit.
It’s easy to overlook any bright spots in the Nationals’ abysmal start (4-13; took until the 13th game of the season to get their first save), but Dukes is quietly having himself a very good season: .302, 4 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, .578 SLG.
And for as long as he’s been getting kicked around in the headlines (and deservedly so), he still doesn’t turn 25 until June. If he ever permanently removes his head from his ass, he could become a perennial All Star.
9. Man, the Blue Jays just can’t catch a break. Already missing young studs Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan, both likely out for the season, the Jays were forced to place rookie starter Ricky Romero on the 15-day DL Thursday with a strained muscle in his right side.
Romero is 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA in three starts with 13 strikeouts and only four walks in 21 innings.
Good thing the Blue Jays have the most prolific offense in baseball with 120 runs scored already.
8. Remember when I said Troy Tulowitzki had regained his stroke after a disastrous 2008?
Yeah, go ahead and forget that.
Toluwitzki is hitting just .167 with a .308 on-base percentage and .389 slugging percentage. The Rockieshave lost seven of nine and stand at just 6-11 and are fixing to get buried behind the Dodgers in the NL West.
7. The Yankees tattooed Josh Beckett for eight earned on ten hits in five innings on Saturday and still lost the game.
Not a good sign.
6. If somebody in your fantasy league has pushed the panic button early on Cliff Lee (and you can certainly understand if they have), there was a sign of positive momentum on Wednesday.
Lee still took a loss against the Royals to fall to 1-3, but he went eight innings, allowing two runs on nine hits with one walk and five strikeouts. The hits are still higher than you want, but Lee still allowed just 10 base-runners in eight innings.
4. Dan Haren finally got his first win of the season on Wednesday, and all it took was seven shutout innings against the Rockies.
To give you an indication of how anemic Haren’s run support has been so far, the two runs Arizona scored in Wednesday’s game was double the number of runs they scored in Haren’s three previous starts. Twice this season, they had been shut out in Haren’s starts.
And that’s how you get a 1-3 record with a 1.38 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 26-5 K/BB ratio and .194 batting average against.
In other bad news for Arizona, Brandon Webb experienced a setback in his recovery from shoulder problems when the right-hander felt tightness in the shoulder while playing catch last Friday. The D-Backs have no idea why or when he can get back on the mound. Early word is he’s out for at least six more weeks.
3. The story of Cole Hamels’ week was getting nailed by a line drive, but he was actually pitching quite well up until that point: 3.1 IP on just 45 pitches (34 strikes), 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 K. Expect him to finally turn the corner this week with two starts: home to Washington on Tuesday, then home to the Mets on Sunday.
2. Heck of a week for Cincinnati’s Joey Votto: 11-30, 5 R, 6 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB
In keeping with the talented-but-young nature of Dusty Baker’s club, the Reds took two of three at Wrigley from the Cubs, then dropped two of three at home to the Astros.
1. If the season ended today:
AL MVP: Ian Kinsler, Rangers
With all the NFL Draft stuff, plus the NBA and NHL playoffs, it seems to be going unnoticed by much of the sporting public, but Kinsler is off to an absolutely ridiculous start to this season: .359, 18 R, 7 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 7 SB.
His on-base percentage is .438 and his slugging percentage .795.
NL MVP: Albert Pujols, Cardinals
AL Cy Young: Grienke (Four starts, four wins, no earned runs, two consecutive complete games, 36-6 K/BB; Any questions?)
NL Cy Young: Johan Santana, Mets (3-1, 0.70 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 37-6 K/BB, .183 BAA; This is all-time kind of stuff we’re seeing here.)
AL Rookie of the Year: Ricky Romero, Blue Jays SP (even on the DL, he’s the best of the bunch)
NL Rookie of the Year: Colby Rasmus, Cardinals (Takes over for Jordan Schaffer after a 7-17 week with two doubles and four runs scored as part of the St. Louis outfield rotation)
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