Bleacher Report - Articles by Stephen Williams

Rough Times on Rocky Top

Stephen Williams — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:47:30 -0400

When fans are upset after a 35-3 victory, there may be issues on the home front.

This has been the case around Rocky Top country since Saturday. Whether fans are upset after Saturday's 35-3 win over UAB, or if they are still steaming from the bad loss in Los Angeles, there's a sour taste in Volunteer fans' mouths.

For the first time in many years, Tennessee stepped outside of the family to fill holes in the coaching staff. Richmond head coach Dave Clawson was brought in to replace to vacated David Cutcliffe, now head coach at Duke.

With Clawson came a new offensive scheme unknown to Tennessee fans, the spread. For years it was the pro-style offense and smash-mouth football in Knoxville. They ran the ball from opening kickoff to final whistle and played excellent defense.

Installing a brand new offensive scheme with a brand-new quarterback, Jonathan Crompton, usually means struggles are on the horizon, which many Tennessee fans are quickly finding out. The offense is struggling to find its rhythm and the coaching staff is not making the appropriate adjustments to counter the opposing team.

Defense still has the ability to win championships, and this was thought to be the strength of the Volunteer team. Many considered the Tennessee secondary to be among the best nationally, led by safeties Eric Berry and Demetrice Morley. That changed when they were carved up by third-string quarterback Kevin Craft in the second half of a game in which he served up four interceptions in the first half.

Tennessee still has the ability to salvage the season, but they must do so quickly. With Florida, Auburn, and Georgia on the schedule over the next month, times could be tough in Knoxville.

They greatly need to come out and make a statement at home against rival and top five ranked Florida or fans in Knoxville will be calling for the firing of head coach Phil Fulmer more than they already are.

Sans Fans: The Real American League All-Stars

Stephen Williams — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:46:39 -0400

(Part 1 of a two-part series)

In a game where home field advantage for the World Series is determined, the players who have earned the right to represent their league should be starting the game. Let's take a look at who should start for the American League based on their performance to date.

1B - Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins - Morneau leads all American League first basemen with a .310 batting average, 102 hits, and 63 runs batted in. All statistics aside, he's leading his team on a surprising run in the AL Central, trailing the Chicago White Sox by only 2.5 games.

Honorable Mention - Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox

2B - Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers - The first of several Texas Rangers on this list, Kinsler not only leads all American League second basemen in OPS, but he has the sixth highest in all of baseball. He also sports a .323 average and 50 runs batted in from the second base position.

Honorable Mention - Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox

SS - Michael Young, Texas Rangers - The Texas Rangers have a double play combo that rivals any in baseball, and this year they both earn starting spots on the All-Star team. No American League shortstops have put up eye-popping numbers, but Young's are better than everyone else's.

He does already have 100 hits just over the halfway point through the season.

Honorable Mention - Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

3B - Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees - Despite playing in only 65 games this year, A-Rod's numbers are far and away better than the other candidates. With an OPS over 1.000 and a .321 average, Rodriguez is the no-doubt choice here.

Honorable Mention - Mike Lowell, Boston Red Sox

LF - Carlos Quentin, Chicago White Sox - Quentin has finally emerged on the Major League scene after being stuck behind players in Arizona, and it has paid off as he is having an excellent year for the Sox.

There have been very few players who have come up with more clutch hits than Quentin. He also ranks in the top three in the American League in home runs and runs batted in.

Honorable Mention - Johnny Damon, New York Yankees

CF - Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers - This is the most slam dunk of all the picks. Hamilton is not only one of the best stories in all of baseball, but also one of the best players.

Any time you have a legitimate shot at the Triple Crown around the All-Star break, you're doing something right. His numbers: .308 average, 19 home runs, and 82 runs batted in. Not too shabby.

Honorable Mention - Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners

RF - J.D. Drew, Boston Red Sox - When David Ortiz went down for the Red Sox, some people wondered where the offense would come from. Drew answered that question right away, and has been tearing the cover off the ball since Big Papi went down.

Jermaine Dye has been having a great year, but a higher on-base percentage for Drew gives him the nod.

Honorable Mention - Jermaine Dye, Chicago White Sox

C - Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins - The catcher position could have the fewest number of players that deserve All-Star consideration. Mauer just happens to be the best of those. Mauer doesn't hit for any type of power, but he uses all fields and currently has a .326 average.

Honorable Mention - A.J. Pierzynski, Chicago White Sox

DH - Milton Bradley, Texas Rangers - The Rangers get their fourth selection out of the nine starters. Bradley has been able to keep his head on his shoulders (for the most part), and has been raking from both sides of the plate to the tune of a .320 average. His 17 home runs and 51 runs batted in don't hurt his case either.

Honorable Mention - Hideki Matsui, New York Yankees

SP - Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians - Has anyone been more of a surprise in the American League than Cliff Lee? Coming into the season, many wondered whether Cliff Lee would be able to keep his spot in the rotation.

He immediately eliminated all doubt and now sits with an 11-1 record and minuscule 2.26 earned run average. Other pitchers are having great years, but Lee is just off the charts.

Honorable Mention - Joe Saunders, Los Angeles Angels

(Look for Part 2, where I will name the NL All-Star starters)

Atlanta Braves News: Bullpen About To Receive Huge Boost

Stephen Williams — Sat, 24 May 2008 15:39:46 -0400

The Atlanta Braves are about to make the best acquisition a team could make, and they won't have to give away any players to do it.

Over the course of the next two weeks, the Braves bullpen is about to get a brand new look. Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez, and John Smoltz, all former closers, are scheduled to return to the team in the near future.

If all three are able to return to form, Atlanta will quickly have arguably the best bullpen in baseball.

Soriano has missed the last six weeks due to tendinitis in his right elbow. He could be the first one activated, as early as Monday. In his second rehab appearance for Class AA Mississippi on Friday, he recorded a strikeout in a perfect inning. According to the team, his fastball was clocked as high as 93 miles per hour.

Gonzalez is looking to make a successful comeback from Tommy John surgery on his elbow 12 months ago. The left-hander may be the furthest away from his original form when he returns. He pitched an inning Friday and Saturday in extended spring training, and is on his way to Atlanta to be checked by team doctors. If all is well, Gonzalez will begin his rehab stint with Class AAA Richmond.

Smoltz went on the disabled list a couple of weeks ago with an inflamed shoulder, and decided that his career as a starting pitcher is over. The only player to ever record 200 wins and 150 saves, Smoltz will become the Braves' closer when he returns to the field. In his first rehab appearance Saturday, he faced four batters and allowed one hit on twelve pitches. The most important thing for the Braves, may have been that Smoltz told the team he felt fine after.

The 41-year old Smoltz will employ a new three-quarter style delivery when he returns. This arm angle allows his to throw with very little discomfort.

Bobby Cox has not decided how he is going to use these three when they return, but you know he must be salivating thinking about the possibilities with three former closers returning to the team.

If National League teams haven't noticed the Braves starting to play better, they might want to pay attention. This team may just be getting started.

Major League Baseball: 2005 Draft Class the Best Ever?

Stephen Williams — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:40:31 -0400

The 2005 Major League Baseball draft has not waited very long to leave its mark on the Major Leagues. Just pick players from the first round and you have yourself an all-star team.

The first round of the 2005 draft has already produced a great number of major league players.

Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Clay Buchholz.

How's that for a first round?

Justin Upton is in his first full season for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and already people are tagging him as the next major superstar. He currently is hitting .333 with 11 extra-base hits, including five home runs. Drafted number one overall as a shortstop, Upton is finding a home for himself in right field.

Alex Gordon is making great strides in his second season for the Kansas City Royals. His first season was full of struggles, hitting just .247, but he showed that the Royals third base position should be locked down for years to come. Gordon is currently batting .310 through his first 23 games.

Ryan Zimmerman made the first appearance in the majors of any of the 2005 draft picks. The Washington Nationals picked him with the fourth overall pick in June of '05 and Zimmerman appeared in 20 games by season's end. In those 20 games he gave Nationals' fans a glimpse of what was to come. Ryan has averaged 175 hits, 22 home runs, and 100 RBIs in his first two full seasons.

Milwaukee followed Washington and selected Ryan Braun with the fifth pick. Braun made his appearance on the scene last season, appearing in 113 games. In his shortened season, Braun hit .324 with 34 home runs on his way to picking up the National League Rookie of the Year award. Milwaukee fans have a lot to look forward to with Braun in the middle of the order with fellow youngster Prince Fielder.

Troy Tulowitzki really made a name for himself during the Colorado Rockies' wild ride through the playoffs to the World Series. People began to realize how good the slick-fielding shortstop really was. While his .291 batting average may not stand out, his .987 fielding percentage in 155 games definitely will, especially at a position as difficult to play as shortstop.

Jacoby Ellsbury is just now starting to make a name for himself in Red Sox Nation. Ellsbury got his first taste of the big leagues late last season and made the most of the opportunity, hitting .353 in 33 games. He left such a good impression on the Red Sox front office that all the talk this off-season was about trading centerfield Coco Crisp to make room for Ellsbury. He's getting his chance this season, anchoring the explosive Boston line up.

Nobody in this draft made a better first impression than Clay Buchholz did. In just his second major league start, Buchholz tossed a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles, tying Wilson Alvarez for the second quickest no-hitter by a major league pitcher. Buchholz only started three games for Boston last season, but has become a part of the 2008 starting rotation that is dealing with all kinds of early-season injuries.

I'd say any team that was fortunate enough to draft one of these players has a star in the making.

But those aren't the only players to come out of the first round of the 2005 MLB draft.

Cameron Maybin (Marlins), Jay Bruce (Reds), Mike Pelfrey (Mets), Matt Garza (Rays), Colby Rasmus (Cardinals), Travis Buck (Athletics), and Luke Hochevar (Royals) are all players that have either started making a name for themselves with their respective club, or are on the cusp of being called up from the minor leagues to make their Major League debuts.

The 2005 draft has already started making its mark on Major League Baseball, but in ten years we may be looking back at this draft and saying it was the best ever.

Eric Gagne, Trevor Hoffman, Brad Lidge: Why Are Great Closers Having Trouble?

Stephen Williams — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:59:24 -0400

Recording the final three outs in a baseball game has become one of the hardest things for a pitcher to do.

Just take a look at Eric Gagne. In 2003, Gagne won the National League Cy Young Award after converting all 55 save opportunities he had during the season. From Aug. 26, 2002 to July 5, 2004, Gagne converted 84 straight save opportunities, a Major League record.

Granted, Gagne did develop some arm troubles that caused him to miss significant amounts of time. However, coming into this season, Gagne had fully recovered and was completely healthy.

Through Milwaukee's first 21 games this season, Gagne has had 10 save opportunities. He has only successfully converted six of those.

Why does Gagne, the best closer in baseball four years ago, struggle to convert saves?

Well maybe it is just an anomaly and Gagne is the only one who has seen a significant drop-off.

But that is just not the case.

Trevor Hoffman, the all-time leader in saves with 528, is also struggling. In just six save opportunities this season, Hoffman has blown two of them.

Last night Hoffman was called on to finish off a San Diego victory against San Francisco. He came into the game with the Padres leading 1-0.

Hoffman retired Randy Winn on a fly ball to center, but Bengie Molina followed it up with a solo home run over the left field wall.

Hoffman would retire the next two hitters to finish off the inning, but he blew the save and forced the game into extra innings.

San Diego would go ahead and lose the game in the 13th inning, 3-2.

These are just two examples of great closers having trouble. Let's not even get started with all of the problems that former Astros and current Phillies closer Brad Lidge has had.

Is it just a mental game that pitchers struggle to win? Why are the last three outs of a game harder to record than any other three over the course of the game?

Just a couple of the many questions people are asking after watching the closer of their favorite team blow a lead in the ninth inning.

Atlanta Braves: Back on the Winning Track?

Stephen Williams — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:59:35 -0400

Just one week ago, the Atlanta Braves found themselves in a miserable place. They had just dropped two of three to the Florida Marlins to fall to 5-9, and to top it all off it looked as if Tom Glavine was going to make his first trip ever to the disabled list.

One week later, Tom Glavine is on the disabled list, but the Braves are riding a season-high five-game winning streak, including a weekend sweep at home over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

During that winning streak, no Braves starter allowed more than one earned run, and the only one not to complete five innings was Jeff Bennett, who was making his fourth appearance in seven games.

It also doesn't hurt that Chipper Jones has been on fire to begin this season, and had back-to-back multi-home run nights to start the winning streak.

During the Braves' run of 14 consecutive division titles, pitching was the foundation. However, in previous years when they have struggled, the pitching just has not been there. The Braves have an excellent lineup, but good pitching is always going to beat good hitting.

Now let's not get too excited over a small winning streak early in the season.

Atlanta still faces many health issues in their pitching staff. Mike Hampton and Tom Glavine are both sitting on the disabled list right now. Along with them are arguably the Braves three best relief pitchers, Rafael Soriano, Peter Moylan, and Mike Gonzalez. One has to wonder how long the Braves can hold up with these five pitchers not playing.

If this pitching staff is able to get healthy, then couple it together with an excellent lineup and the National League better watch out. Pitching is what won divisions for Atlanta in the nineties, and if they want to return the division crown to Atlanta in 2008, pitching will have to do it again.

Saturday's MLB Recaps

Stephen Williams — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:42:03 -0400

Chicago Cubs 13, Pittsburgh 1

Chicago scored in each of the first three innings to jump out to a seven run advantage. Derrek Lee stayed hot as he hit his league-leading seventh home run in the first off Tom Gorzelanny. Gorzelanny (1-2) allowed seven runs in just two and two-thirds innings.

Jason Marquis (1-0) cruised through six innings, allowing just one run to pick up his first victory of the season.

Nate McLouth doubled in the fifth to continue his hitting streak. McLouth has hit safely in all 17 games of the season.

Toronto 3, Detroit 2

Detroit had the tying run on third in the ninth against B.J. Ryan, but was not able to bring it in as Ryan Raburn struck out looking to end the game. It was Ryan's second save of the season.

Alex Rios had a double and a home run against Jeremy Bonderman (1-2) who took the loss. Bonderman only allowed five hits over five innings, but walked six Blue Jays.

Dustin McGowan (1-1) pitched seven strong innings for the victory.

Milwaukee 5, Cincinnati 3

Bill Hall's two-run double in the top of the tenth gave Milwaukee the victory over division rival Cincinnati. Eric Gagne earned his sixth save of the season with a scoreless tenth inning.

Joey Votto drove in two of Cincinnati's three runs on a home run off Brian Shouse in the seventh.

Guillermo Mota earned his first win with two innings of scoreless relief.

San Francisco 3, St. Louis 0

St. Louis exploded for 11 runs last night against the Giants, but could not manage any runs today against the Giants staff.

Tim Lincecum (3-0) scattered six hits and three walks over seven innings to earn the win.

Aaron Rowand drove in two runs, including a solo home run off Joel Piniero (0-2) in the fourth inning. Piniero allowed all three Giant runs in the loss.

Minnesota 3, Cleveland 0

Nick Blackburn (1-1) notched his first win of the season by shutting down the high-powered Indians. Cleveland had eight hits in the game but grounded into four double plays to kill their rallies.

Justin Morneau started the game off right for the twins with a two-run home run in the top of the first off Jake Westbrook. Westbrook (1-2) allowed just one more run over the next six innings.

Joe Nathan worked a quick 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save.

Atlanta 4, LA Dodgers 1

Andruw Jones finally hit his first home run of the year, but that was the only offense the Dodgers could manage on the afternoon.

Chuck James (1-1) earned his first win of the season filling in for the injured Tom Glavine, who was placed on the disabled list yesterday. Three Atlanta relievers combined to throw four scoreless innings to seal the win. Manny Acosta pitched a scoreless ninth for the first save of his Major League career.

Chad Billingsley (0-3) started well for the Dodgers, striking out nine through five innings, but unraveled in the fifth, allowing four runs.

Mark Teixeira drove in two runs on a RBI-single in the fifth that gave the Braves the lead for good.

NY Mets 4, Philadelphia 2

The New York Mets picked up their fourth straight victory over the Phillies thanks to seven different pitchers combining to allow just two runs. Oliver Perez (2-0) started the game and did not allow any runs over five and two-thirds innings.

Jose Reyes' two-run home run off Ryan Madsen in the seventh proved to be the deciding factor. Reyes also doubled earlier in the game.

David Wright also drove in two runs with a double in the first inning against losing pitcher Jamie Moyer (1-1).

Chase Utley hit his sixth home run of the year in the seventh off Scott Schoeneweis.

Oakland 6, Kansas City 5

After trailing 4-0 early, Oakland scored six unanswered runs and held on for a 6-5 victory.

Daric Barton led the way offensively for the Athletics by scoring twice and driving in one, including a RBI-triple in the seventh. Ryan Sweeney added two RBIs for Oakland.

Joel Peralta (0-1) retired just one hitter in the seventh and allowed two runs earning him the loss.

Jose Guillen and Miguel Olivo each homered for the Royals.

Braves-Dodgers: Chipper Jones Does It Again

Stephen Williams — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:39:44 -0400

Chipper Jones homered twice for the second straight night as the Atlanta Braves spoiled the homecoming of Andruw Jones with a 6-1 win.

Jones, who leads the majors with a .455 average, homered with two runners on in the fifth off Derek Lowe, breaking open what was a 2-0 game, and then homered on the first pitch he saw from Chan Ho Park in the seventh.

Jeff Francouer and Gregor Blanco each drove in one run for the Braves.

Spot starter Jeff Bennett, filling in for the injured Mike Hampton, came within one out of recording a win before being taken out in favor of Will Ohman in the fifth.

Bennett was making his fourth appearance in the last seven games. Ohman picked up the victory after pitching one and one-third scoreless innings of relief.

In his first trip back to Turner Field after departing in the offseason, Andruw Jones went 1-3 with a double and a walk. Jones came within inches of his first homerun of the season in the ninth, but had to settle with a double. The fans at Turner Field stood and gave him a nice ovation after the hit.

Derek Lowe allowed five runs, three earned, in four and one-third innings and picked up his first loss of the season.

Atlanta and Los Angeles will square off in game two of the series tomorrow on FOX at 3:55 Eastern Time. Chad Billingsley will take the hill for the Dodgers and Chuck James will get the start for Atlanta after the Braves placed pitcher Tom Glavine on the disabled list today for the first time in his career.