2016 MLB thread. THE CUBS HAVE BROKEN THE CURSE! Chicago Cubs are your 2016 World Series champions

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@ delmon young's season. You too adam dunn.
 
The worst part about Dunn is he is 0 for 2011 against lefties
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Everyone thought he would rake in Chicago too
30t6p3b.gif
 
The worst part about Dunn is he is 0 for 2011 against lefties
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Everyone thought he would rake in Chicago too
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Spoiler [+]
Michael Pineda bounced back and had a good outing, and there is an interesting situation developing for the Mariners. Seattle has been one of the great surprises in the majors and are right in the middle of the four-team AL West race, and Pineda is a big part of that.

fan_u_pineda_200.jpg

Getty ImagesPineda's previous career high in IP is 139.1.

But before this year, this is how many innings Pineda has thrown in his career in the minors:

2006 20.1
2007 59
2008 138.1
2009 47.1
2010 139.1
This year: 70.1

Pineda is 22 years old. A lot of teams have adopted usage rules for their young pitchers, increasing the innings limit by about 30 a year. If Seattle were to apply those kinds of guidelines to Pineda and hold him to something in the range of 170-175, that would mean that the talented right-hander would have about 100 innings left for the final four months of the season.

It's possible, of course, that the Mariners would have a different standard, and allow Pineda to pitch more than that; other teams have done that, and with success (see: Tim Lincecum, Cy Young Award winner).

But as we sit, about a third of the way into the year, with Pineda at 50 percent of any previous year's innings total, it's a decision that is bound to get a lot of attention, one way or the other, in the months ahead.

Eric Wedge was unhappy after the Mariners latest loss. The Mariners are striving for a higher standard now, writes Jerry Brewer.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• Offense is down and right now the pitchers are the kings of the hill in Major League Baseball, and Cody Ross is among those hitters -- like Chipper Jones and others -- who are convinced that the cut fastball is playing a major role in this.

"Everybody is throwing a cutter these days," Ross said the other day, in St. Louis.

To review: The reason why the cut fastball is so effective against hitters is that it has the movement of a slider, but doesn't have the telltale spin that a slider does. Hitters will often recognize the red dot in the center of a spinning baseball and know that is coming at them is a breaking ball.

The cutter looks like a fastball, but in the last few feet on its journey toward home plate, the ball veers. Roy Halladay throws a cutter, Cliff Lee throws a cutter, everybody throws a cutter.

Major League Baseball is all about ebbs and flows, about adjustments and counter-adjustments. Ross smiled when asked about what hitters will have to do to adapt to the cutter. There has not yet been a meeting of the Legion of Major League Hitters to discuss how to battle against the Forces of Pitching Evil.

But Ross did note that he's noticed some hitters trying the mechanics of a hitter who is having a lot of success in this Era of the Cutter: Lifting the front foot in a leg kick, getting the foot down early, and then tomahawking the ball. "Guys are trying different things," Ross said...

By the way: Jose Bautista leads the All-Star voting.

• The Angels' charter flight made an emergency landing overnight, writes Kevin Baxter and Mike DiGiovanna.

• The Pirates' matched their total for road victories from the entire 2010 season, as Bill Brink writes. The Pirates won their 17th road game of the season Wednesday, equaling their total from all of last season (17-14 this year, 17-64 last year). Kevin Correia, who won his major-league leading eighth game, has seven road wins this season, two more than any other pitcher in baseball. The last pitcher with seven road wins in his team's first 54 games was Pedro Martinez, in 2000. Some other with 7 road wins in the first 54 games, since 1975:

2011 Kevin Correia
2000 Pedro Martinez*
1996 John Smoltz*
1988 Roger Clemens

* Won Cy Young

• The White Sox swept the Red Sox, with a lot of help from Paul Konerko, as Mark Gonzales writes. Brent Lillibridge was on the attack.

• Bruce Bochy is campaigning strongly for the rules that protect catchers. The Posey injury won't change the Twins' approach with their catchers.

• The Twins are now 20 games under .500, 17-37, astonishing numbers. Some rival executives wonder when Minnesota will raise the white flag on its season, in light of the fact that the Twins are, generally speaking, among the more conservative clubs when it comes to midseason moves -- buying or selling. A super-aggressive general manager (like Kenny Williams) might already be inclined to make major changes, given the number of potentially marketable players the Twins have, from Jason Kubel to Michael Cuddyer to Delmon Young, in what is a thin market. For now, Kubel might have to go on the DL, as mentioned within this piece.

Joe Mauer will try to catch three innings today.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. Major League Baseball aims to wrap its investigation of the Dodgers' finances on June 22, writes Bill Shaikin and Ben Bolch.
2. The White Sox are sticking with their six-man rotation.

3. Nate Schierholtz had a big night on Wednesday; he is winning more playing time, as Andrew Baggarly writes.

4. Domonic Brown is getting a shot to win the right field job, writes Paul Hagen.

5. Marc Kroon decided to stay with the Giants.

6. Dan Uggla was dropped to seventh in the Atlanta lineup.

7. Casey McGehee got a day off.

8. Hideki Matsui is unused to sitting, writes John Shea.

9. Scott Rolen got some badly needed rest.

10. Jake Fox was designated for assignment.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. The Red Sox are facing a double-whammy, with injuries to Rich Hill and Daisuke Matsuzaka.
2. The Cardinals are going to have to do without Matt Holliday and Kyle McLellan for awhile, as Derrick Goold writes.

3. Aramis Ramirez needed stitches.

4. The Marlins will decide by tomorrow whether Hanley Ramirez will be placed on the disabled list.

5. Matt Harrison was scratched.

6. Phil Hughes has been cleared for a rehab start.
[h3]Wednesday's games[/h3]
1. The Diamondbacks have this mojo thing going: They rallied in the bottom of the ninth to beat Florida.
2. The Rockies had something really good happen for them for the first time in about a month: Ubaldo Jimenez shut out the Dodgers. From the good folks at ESPN Stats & Information, how Jimenez won:

• Jimenez threw strikes, aided by the Dodgers chasing pitches out of the strike zone. The Dodgers swung at 20 of Jimenez's 51 pitches (39.2 percent) out of the strike zone, tied for the highest percentage against Jimenez in the last three seasons. As a result, Jimenez was able to throw 73 of 106 pitches (68.9 percent) for strikes, his highest percentage since May 16, 2008. (He also had a 39.2 chase percentage last July 8.)

• Dodgers right-handed hitters were 0 for 16 against Jimenez, striking about five times. Jimenez pounded the strike zone against them, throwing 62.9 percent of his pitches to righties in the zone, well above his 48.2 season average entering Wednesday.

3. The Nationals closed out a nice series against the Phillies. They must still overcome the engrained culture of losing, writes Thomas Boswell.

4. Terry Collins was really, really upset about the Mets; he believes in his players, writes Kevin Kernan.

5. Adam Jones was not shy in talking about his tremendous catch.

6. Upon further review, Billy Butler's home run was a walk-off.

7. Tommy Hanson changed his shirt three times in six innings and the Braves salvaged the final game of a series.

8. Roy Oswalt was surprised he was pinch-hit for.

9. Colby Lewis was The Man for the Rangers. From ESPN Stats & Info, how he won:

• He had a great slider: Lewis threw his most sliders of the season with 32, 27 of those coming with Lewis either even or ahead in the count. The Rays went 1-for-10 with five strikeouts in at-bats ending with the slider.

• He pitched away with two strikes: Lewis threw 39 pitches with two strikes, with 21 of those pitches being away to hitters (54 percent). Four of Lewis' five strikeouts came on pitches away and the Rays went 0-for-7 in at-bats ending with a two strike pitch away.

• Held runners on base: After allowing eight hits with runners on base in his last two starts, the Rays went 0-for-10 with four strikeouts against Lewis on Wednesday. Four of Lewis' five wins have come in starts where he has allowed either none or one hit with runners on base (1-3, 1 no decision in starts with two or more).

7. The Jays got crushed; Kyle Drabek said it was absolutely the worst start he has ever had.

8. The Cubs got swept at home by the worst team in the National League, and now it's time for them to get serious about going young, writes David Haugh.

9. The Cardinals' loss on Wednesday provided another example (http://www.stltoday.com/s...-9fe9-0019bb30f31a.html) of why the addition of a reliever like Heath Bell would make a lot of sense, as Derrick Goold writes.

10. The Brewers had some early work blown up by the Reds.

11. Oakland lost to the Yankees again, and Bob Geren says it's coincidence. I would respectfully disagree; I think Oakland's best young players have to get over the emotional hurdle of playing the Yankees.

12. The Angels' long stretch of games came to an end with a loss.

13. The Dodgers were shut down.

14. The Padres couldn't finish off a sweep of the Braves, writes Don Norcross.

15. Miguel Cabrera got a really big hit; Detroit has nine straight wins over the Twins for the first time since 1950, writes Tom Gage.

16. The Reds put together a badly needed comeback, writes John Fay.

17. The Indians took a 12-0 lead, and then hung on, as Paul Hoynes writes.

18. David Price pitched well, but the Rays couldn't generate any runs, as Rick Stroud writes.

19. Brett Myers helped the Astros wrap up a sweep, writes Zachary Levine.

20. The Marlins wilted in the desert.

21. Nick Swisher missed a sign and then got a big hit.

22. The Red Sox were swept, and Dustin Pedroia was right in the middle of a couple of controversial plays, as John Tomase writes.

Charlie Morton.

Spoiler [+]
When a player has been in the majors for a few seasons, we usually have a pretty good idea of his abilities. Sometimes a guy will put up a one-year statistical blip -- like when Chone Figgins walked 101 times in 2009 -- and that's all it is, a blip.

But every once in a while we get a Jose Bautista situation, when a guy performs in a manner that is so radically different from what we've seen from him before that we have to reconsider our perception of him, which brings us to Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Charlie Morton. Drafted by Atlanta in 2002, he was sent to the Bucs as part of the Nate McLouth trade two years ago. After posting a 7.57 ERA last season (with a 2-12 record) he remodeled his delivery after Roy Halladay and suddenly has a Doc-esque 2.51 ERA with two complete games in 10 starts.

In Sabermetrics 101, we'd probably look at his 2010 batting average on balls in play (.353) and compare it to his 2011 BABIP (.283) and conclude that he was insanely unlucky last year, a bit fortunate this year, and his real skill level is probably somewhere in the middle. The problem is that the rest of Morton's stat line is so atypical that we can't fall back on such facile analysis.

To wit: Morton's ground-ball rate of 63.1 percent is the best in baseball. Going back five years, here are the five pitchers who have led the majors in ground-ball rate: Tim Hudson, Joel Pineiro, Brandon Webb and Derek Lowe twice. While that may not be Hall of Fame company, those are some pretty good pitchers. So Morton must be for real, right? Well, maybe not. Thus far in 2011, Morton has 37 strikeouts to go with 29 walks. To play the arbitrary end-points game for a second, only once in the last 25 years has a pitcher had a strikeout-walk ratio of 1.3 or below and an ERA of less than 3.00, and that was Wilson Alvarez in 1993. In other words, Morton's current stat line is a bit of an outlier and is probably unsustainable.

Morton_2011.jpg

Bloomberg SportsMorton's 2011 pitching chart.

So where does that leave us? Upon examining Morton's pitch data, there are reasons to remain bullish about the 27-year-old. After throwing his two-seam fastball less than 60 percent of the time in 2010, he is throwing it more than 80 percent of the time this year, which is the most in the National League. The graphs on the right show the location of his two-seam fastball in 2010 compared to 2011. (The numbers represent the number of two-seamers in each zone; the more blue shading there is, the more frequently the pitch appeared in that zone.)

As you can see, Morton has done a remarkable job of running his two-seamer in on right-handers, while he left it out over the plate far more frequently last season. His ability to keep the ball on that part of the plate is represented quite clearly in his splits: Righties have a .475 OPS against Morton, while lefties are mashing him to the tune of .888.

Morton_2010.jpg

Bloomberg SportsMorton's 2010 pitching chart.

Clearly, Morton needs a better weapon to combat lefties. He might want to consider implementing his changeup more, since he's thrown it just 35 times to lefties this year and they have managed just two singles off the offering. However, that's not much of an issue when you can turn the average right-handed hitter into Mario Mendoza. Furthermore, Morton isn't even getting much help from his defense. Even lefties put the ball on the ground 56 percent of the time against him, yet according to defensive runs saved, Pirate infielders Lyle Overbay, Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez have all been well-below average with the leather this season.

More than anything, it's obvious that Morton is a pitcher in transition who has changed his delivery and has become far more reliant on his fastball. Considering the success he's had locating his two-seamer to righties thus far, it's not unreasonable to think that his overall command will improve -- and it has already shown signs of doing so. After walking 23 men in his first six starts, Morton has issued just six free passes in his last four outings, while allowing the same number of runs.

It's easy to look at Morton's stat line and assume there will be regression, but not every player develops in the same manner, which is what makes player evaluation so tricky. Morton won't hit free agency until after the 2014 season, and until then he looks like the kind of pitcher who can help Pittsburgh actually contend at some point in the next few years.

May numbers.

Spoiler [+]
ST. LOUIS -- A general manager chatting about one of his slumping players said Tuesday, "It's not early anymore."

Nope. Now it's June, when the first major trades will probably be made, when aging stars may lose their jobs, when teams will start to determine whether they'll be buyers (like the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have money to spend) or sellers (like the Houston Astros, who will have many teams calling about Hunter Pence).

With May 2011 in the books, here are some numbers from the hard-working folks at ESPN Stats & Information and the Elias Sports Bureau that put the month in perspective:

Scoring continues to fall

Even with more runs scored on Memorial Day than on any other day this season, scoring fell even lower in May. Runs per game dropped to 8.29 (8.58 in March/April), starters' ERA dropped to 3.85 (4.06) and shutouts rose to 61 (52). Home runs per game are down to 1.73. League-wide, the numbers through May are the lowest in a while. Batting average (.252) is the lowest since 1989, runs per game (.843) is the lowest since 1992 and ERA (.385) is the lowest since 1992.

Does first place matter?

From Elias: Of the 128 teams to make the postseason in the wild-card era (since 1995):

• 119 were in playoff position or within five games on the morning of June 1. Twenty-one teams meet this qualification.
• 95 were in playoff position or within one game on the morning of June 1. Twelve teams meet this qualification.
• 65 were leading the division or tied for the lead on the morning of June 1. Six teams meet this qualification.
• 17 were leading or tied for the wild card on the morning of June 1. Two teams meet this qualification.

Boston and Arizona were hot

Boston and Arizona each followed up an 11-15 March/April with a 19-10 May, best in baseball. The best records in May:

Red Sox 19-10
Diamondbacks 19-10
Braves 17-11
Cardinals 17-12
Brewers 17-12

But others struggled. After a 17-8 April that was third-best in the majors, the Rockies were a major league-worst 8-21 in May. And from Elias: The Twins finished May at 17-36, the worst record by a defending division champion in the divisional era (since 1969). The worst records in May:

Rockies 8-21
Twins 8-19
Royals 10-17
Astros 11-17
Nationals 11-17

No-hitters

Francisco Liriano and Justin Verlander continued last year's no-hitter trend, as they each fired one in a five-day stretch at the beginning of the month. It was the first time since 1996 that there were two no-hitters (excluding combined ones) in such a short span.

From Elias, a look at two no-hitters in a five-day span, since 1990: from May 11-14 in 1996, Dwight Gooden and Al Leiter threw them; from September 4-8 in 1993, Jim Abbott and the late Darryl Kile threw them, and on June 29, 1990, Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela threw no-hitters.
The three-homer game
Despite the continued drop in offense, five players had a three-home run game in May, most in a month since July 2004. Players with three-homer games in May:

May 24: Carlos Quentin
May 23: Corey Hart
May 19: Jason Giambi
May 15: Jose Bautista
May 12: Carlos Beltran



Historic command

Phillies starters have a 4.38 strikeouts-to-walk ratio, third-highest since 1900 by a team's starters through the end of May. Unlike the other two teams with a rotation strikeouts-to-walk ratio over four on June 1, Phillies starters have excelled at keeping the ball in the ballpark.

[h4]Commanding[/h4]
From Elias: Highest strikeout-to-walk ratio for a team's starters since 1900, through end of May:
[table][tr][th=""]Team[/th][th=""]K/BB[/th][th=""]ERA[/th][th=""]HR/9[/th][/tr][tr][td]2005 Twins[/td][td]5.13[/td][td]3.73[/td][td]1.20[/td][/tr][tr][td]2002 D-backs[/td][td]4.45[/td][td]4.06[/td][td]1.23[/td][/tr][tr][td]2011 Phillies[/td][td]4.38[/td][td]3.41[/td][td]0.66[/td][/tr][tr][td]1966 Dodgers[/td][td]3.80[/td][td]2.58[/td][td]0.48[/td][/tr][tr][td]1996 Braves[/td][td]3.74[/td][td]2.72[/td][td]0.71[/td][/tr][/table]

Given their strong strikeout, walk and home run numbers, it might be reasonable to expect that the ERA for Phillies starters might drop even lower. FIP (fielding independent pitching) shows what a player or team's ERA should have been, based on elements that pitchers can control (strikeouts, walks, home runs). Phillies starters have a FIP much lower than their 3.41 ERA. Lowest FIP for team's starters, 2011 season:

Phillies: 2.65
Giants: 3.23
Athletics: 3.25
Mariners: 3.29

Pitcher of the month

Clayton Kershaw went 4-0 with 46 Ks in six starts. Kershaw posted a 1.77 ERA in May after compiling a 3.52 ERA in April. A big difference for Kershaw was his slider. He threw it more often, especially with two strikes. Kershaw had 24 strikeouts with his slider in May after registering 13 in April. Opponents' batting average fell to just .117 with two strikes after they hit .208 in April.

Hitter of the month

Reds right fielder Jay Bruce earns the honors after raising his batting average from .237 to .293. He had a league-leading 12 home runs and 33 RBIs in May. Bruce has done his damage against the hard stuff, nailing fastballs at a .356 clip after hitting .254 in April. His slugging percentage against fastballs rose to .699, and his OPS against them was a whopping 1.118.

Long balls

The longest home run in May was Mark Trumbo's 472-foot blast on Memorial Day, the third-longest home run of the season. Justin Upton's 457-foot homer on the same day was the fifth-longest of the month. Here are the rest:

5/30 Mark Trumbo: 472 ft.
5/13 Ryan Howard: 470
5/24 Kelly Johnson: 466
5/15 Mike Stanton: 465
5/30 Justin Upton: 457

May saw 727 home runs hit for an average distance of 394.4 feet. This was remarkably similar to March/April, in which there were 724 home runs hit at an average distance of 394.6 feet. In May 2010, 785 home runs were hit, averaging 396.7 feet.

Worst top 10 picks of the last 10 years.

Spoiler [+]
ST. LOUIS -- A general manager chatting about one of his slumping players said Tuesday, "It's not early anymore."

Nope. Now it's June, when the first major trades will probably be made, when aging stars may lose their jobs, when teams will start to determine whether they'll be buyers (like the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have money to spend) or sellers (like the Houston Astros, who will have many teams calling about Hunter Pence).

With May 2011 in the books, here are some numbers from the hard-working folks at ESPN Stats & Information and the Elias Sports Bureau that put the month in perspective:

Scoring continues to fall

Even with more runs scored on Memorial Day than on any other day this season, scoring fell even lower in May. Runs per game dropped to 8.29 (8.58 in March/April), starters' ERA dropped to 3.85 (4.06) and shutouts rose to 61 (52). Home runs per game are down to 1.73. League-wide, the numbers through May are the lowest in a while. Batting average (.252) is the lowest since 1989, runs per game (.843) is the lowest since 1992 and ERA (.385) is the lowest since 1992.

Does first place matter?

From Elias: Of the 128 teams to make the postseason in the wild-card era (since 1995):

• 119 were in playoff position or within five games on the morning of June 1. Twenty-one teams meet this qualification.
• 95 were in playoff position or within one game on the morning of June 1. Twelve teams meet this qualification.
• 65 were leading the division or tied for the lead on the morning of June 1. Six teams meet this qualification.
• 17 were leading or tied for the wild card on the morning of June 1. Two teams meet this qualification.

Boston and Arizona were hot

Boston and Arizona each followed up an 11-15 March/April with a 19-10 May, best in baseball. The best records in May:

Red Sox 19-10
Diamondbacks 19-10
Braves 17-11
Cardinals 17-12
Brewers 17-12

But others struggled. After a 17-8 April that was third-best in the majors, the Rockies were a major league-worst 8-21 in May. And from Elias: The Twins finished May at 17-36, the worst record by a defending division champion in the divisional era (since 1969). The worst records in May:

Rockies 8-21
Twins 8-19
Royals 10-17
Astros 11-17
Nationals 11-17

No-hitters

Francisco Liriano and Justin Verlander continued last year's no-hitter trend, as they each fired one in a five-day stretch at the beginning of the month. It was the first time since 1996 that there were two no-hitters (excluding combined ones) in such a short span.

From Elias, a look at two no-hitters in a five-day span, since 1990: from May 11-14 in 1996, Dwight Gooden and Al Leiter threw them; from September 4-8 in 1993, Jim Abbott and the late Darryl Kile threw them, and on June 29, 1990, Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela threw no-hitters.
The three-homer game
Despite the continued drop in offense, five players had a three-home run game in May, most in a month since July 2004. Players with three-homer games in May:

May 24: Carlos Quentin
May 23: Corey Hart
May 19: Jason Giambi
May 15: Jose Bautista
May 12: Carlos Beltran



Historic command

Phillies starters have a 4.38 strikeouts-to-walk ratio, third-highest since 1900 by a team's starters through the end of May. Unlike the other two teams with a rotation strikeouts-to-walk ratio over four on June 1, Phillies starters have excelled at keeping the ball in the ballpark.

[h4]Commanding[/h4]
From Elias: Highest strikeout-to-walk ratio for a team's starters since 1900, through end of May:
[table][tr][th=""]Team[/th][th=""]K/BB[/th][th=""]ERA[/th][th=""]HR/9[/th][/tr][tr][td]2005 Twins[/td][td]5.13[/td][td]3.73[/td][td]1.20[/td][/tr][tr][td]2002 D-backs[/td][td]4.45[/td][td]4.06[/td][td]1.23[/td][/tr][tr][td]2011 Phillies[/td][td]4.38[/td][td]3.41[/td][td]0.66[/td][/tr][tr][td]1966 Dodgers[/td][td]3.80[/td][td]2.58[/td][td]0.48[/td][/tr][tr][td]1996 Braves[/td][td]3.74[/td][td]2.72[/td][td]0.71[/td][/tr][/table]

Given their strong strikeout, walk and home run numbers, it might be reasonable to expect that the ERA for Phillies starters might drop even lower. FIP (fielding independent pitching) shows what a player or team's ERA should have been, based on elements that pitchers can control (strikeouts, walks, home runs). Phillies starters have a FIP much lower than their 3.41 ERA. Lowest FIP for team's starters, 2011 season:

Phillies: 2.65
Giants: 3.23
Athletics: 3.25
Mariners: 3.29

Pitcher of the month

Clayton Kershaw went 4-0 with 46 Ks in six starts. Kershaw posted a 1.77 ERA in May after compiling a 3.52 ERA in April. A big difference for Kershaw was his slider. He threw it more often, especially with two strikes. Kershaw had 24 strikeouts with his slider in May after registering 13 in April. Opponents' batting average fell to just .117 with two strikes after they hit .208 in April.

Hitter of the month

Reds right fielder Jay Bruce earns the honors after raising his batting average from .237 to .293. He had a league-leading 12 home runs and 33 RBIs in May. Bruce has done his damage against the hard stuff, nailing fastballs at a .356 clip after hitting .254 in April. His slugging percentage against fastballs rose to .699, and his OPS against them was a whopping 1.118.

Long balls

The longest home run in May was Mark Trumbo's 472-foot blast on Memorial Day, the third-longest home run of the season. Justin Upton's 457-foot homer on the same day was the fifth-longest of the month. Here are the rest:

5/30 Mark Trumbo: 472 ft.
5/13 Ryan Howard: 470
5/24 Kelly Johnson: 466
5/15 Mike Stanton: 465
5/30 Justin Upton: 457

May saw 727 home runs hit for an average distance of 394.4 feet. This was remarkably similar to March/April, in which there were 724 home runs hit at an average distance of 394.6 feet. In May 2010, 785 home runs were hit, averaging 396.7 feet.

Rumors.

Spoiler [+]
http://[h3]Could Orioles be in Fielder hunt?[/h3]
10:32AM ET

[h5]Prince Fielder | Brewers | Interested: Orioles? [/h5]


The Baltimore Orioles are a much better team since Buck Showalter took over as manager, but keeping up with the pace in the talent-laden American League East isn't easy.

It couldn't hurt if the Orioles add a potent bat, so why not think big? Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports Showalter wants a first baseman who can hit in the middle of the order, and Prince Fielder may be the top free agent target on Baltimore's list.

Knobler says the Orioles could have significant money to spend this winter. That's important since it will take a king ransom's to land Fielder, who is likely in a lame duck season with the Brewers.

The Cubs, who currently have first baseman Carlos Pena signed to a one-year deal, are another team with the resources to land Fielder. Heading the Fielder talks will be Scott Boras, who rarely leaves an extra dollar on the negotiating table.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Uggla dropped in order[/h3]
10:11AM ET

[h5]Dan Uggla | Braves [/h5]


With $62 million invested in Dan Uggla, the Atlanta Braves are sticking with the struggling second baseman, for better or worse.

After benching Uggla twice in seven games, manager Fredi Gonzalez dropped him to seventh in the batting order Wednesday against San Diego. Uggla had another 0-for-4 night, dropping his batting average to a meager .175.

"He's your everyday second baseman," Gonzalez tells David O'Brien of the Atlanta JC. "He can't break out of that [slump] sitting on the bench."

Before Wednesday, Uggla's .178 average this season was the second-lowest among National League qualifiers. The Braves have no choice but to let Uggla play, but look for him to spend more time lower in the order.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Hensley back to the DL?[/h3]
9:58AM ET

[h5]Clay Hensley | Marlins [/h5]


Clay Hensley appears to be headed back to the disabled list, just over a week after returning from a rib injury, reports MLB.com.

The Marlins reliever left Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the D-backs with what appeared to be a shoulder injury after striking out pinch-hitter Sean Burroughs in the ninth inning. Hensley has been a valuable middle reliever for the Fish with eight holds in 20 appearances.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]More PT for Schierholtz?[/h3]
9:37AM ET

[h5]Nate Schierholtz | Giants [/h5]


Before the lights went out on a bizarre night at Busch Stadium, the Giants' Nate Schierholtz made another case for more playing time. Schierholtz, given the start in right field, delivered a tying single with two outs in the ninth inning and the go-ahead hit in the 11th to key a 7-5 victory.

It was just the 19th start of the year for Schierholtz, who is hitting .274 with 15 RBI.

Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News suggests that manager Bruce Bochy may be realizing it is time to give Schierholtz a chance to play every day.

There always has been a concern whether Schierholtz can hit lefthanders consistently, but with Pat Burrell hitting a mere .229, it is certainly worth a shot. Schierholtz has just 17 at-bats against southpaws and is hitting .176.

Buster Posey is sidelined and the Giants are in desperate need of offense, so Bochy needs to play the hot hand whenever possible.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]The Joy of Six in Chicago[/h3]
9:17AM ET

[h5]Chicago White Sox [/h5]


If it ain't broke, don't fix. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen apparently feels that way about his six-man rotation and may keep the unconventional alignment as long as the All-Star break, reports Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com.

The White Sox, who completed a three-game sweep in Boston Wednesday, have been using six starters in succession since Jake Peavy returned from the disabled list May 11.Guillen did announce one tweak to the order. Jake Peavy will move ahead of John Danks and pitch Sunday against Detroit.

The White Sox could have been tempted to remove Danks, who dropped to 0-8 after allowing a season-high nine runs and nine hits in four innings against the Jays on Sunday. The White Sox have balked on any suggestion that Danks pitch out of the bullpen.

Guillen indicated the Sox may revert to a five-man rotation no later than the start of the second half because of days off on July 21 and 28.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Lawrie close to The Show?[/h3]
8:48AM ET

[h5]Toronto Blue Jays [/h5]


Brett Lawrie must have felt like a commuter who had a train door shut in his face just as he reached the platform. The Blue Jays prospect appeared to be on the verge of a promotion to The Show before being hit by a pitch on the left hand Tuesday night.

The good news is it could have been a lot worse.

Manager John Farrell said the Blue Jays "dodged a little bit of a bullet" when X-rays taken Tuesday night revealed nothing more than a bruise for Lawrie, who is currently making the transition to third base at Triple A Las Vegas.

The Globe and Mail reported earlier Tuesday that Lawrie was "really, really close" to joining the Jays.

GM Alex Anthopoulos said Tuesday that Lawrie has accomplished all the Blue Jays have asked of him, leading to speculation that his big league debut could come Friday against Baltimore. That may be delayed, but it is clear Lawrie is coming sooner rather than later.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Hanley to the DL?[/h3]
8:20AM ET

[h5]Hanley Ramirez | Marlins [/h5]


We have a plausible explanation for the dramatic fall in production this season by Hanley Ramirez, and it may result in the first-ever trip to the disabled list for the Florida Marlins shortstop.

Ramirez missed all three games of a series in Arizona because of continued stiffness in his lower back that forced him to leave Sunday's game in Los Angeles.

Ramirez told Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun-Sentinel that he's felt discomfort for about a month, adding Monday that it was the worst pain he ever experienced.

Manager Edwin Rodriguez said a decision on whether to place Ramirez on the DL will be made Friday. "We can?t keep going with only one shortstop," Rodriguez told the Palm Beach Post.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/28877/emilio-bonifacioEmilio Bonifacio has started at shortstop in place of Ramirez.
- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Timetable for Mauer[/h3]
8:04AM ET

[h5]Joe Mauer | Twins [/h5]


UPDATE: The Twins may finally formulate a timetable for Mauer's return after he catches three innings in an extended spring training game in Florida on Thursday, his first game action since April 12. Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune says the Twins will gradually increase Mauer?s workload until he's ready to begin a minor-league rehab assignment. That will depend on how his body responds after Thursday.

--

UPDATE: Just a thought here, but it's difficult not to wonder if the club's plan for Mauer, in regards to his timetable for a return to the field, has been impacted by the club's awful two months that has thrown to the cellar of the AL Central. Why not take it even slower, work Mauer back in at a turtle's pace and not worry so much about getting him back since the seasons is pretty much a lost cause? At this stage, 2012 matters, 2011 almost doesn't at all.

--

Every additional day Joe Mauer stays on the disabled list, the speculation grows that the Minnesota Twins might consider moving the catcher out from behind the plate when he returns. Watching the Giants' Buster Posey getting steamrolled by the Marlins' Scott Cousins only adds fuel to that fire.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, however, was adamant on Tuesday that when Mauer comes back this season, it will be at catcher. "He signed an eight-year deal to catch in the big leagues for the Minnesota Twins," Gardenhire tells MLB.com. "So we're trying to get him back as a catcher. If it doesn't work out when he comes back, then we're going to have to figure somewhere else."

Mauer last played April 12 due to a leg injury and there is still no timetable for his return. He has been seeing time at designated hitter in extended spring camp and will DH again on Thursday.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Hughes close to return?[/h3]
7:55AM ET

[h5]Phil Hughes | Yankees [/h5]


UPDATE: Hughes threw a simulated game Wednesday, a sign that he could be close to starting a rehab assignment. Four or five weeks could be the short end of the right-hander's time table. A decision will be made between now and Saturday.

...

UPDATE: Hughes took a big step Friday, throwing off a mound pain or discomfort in his shoulder. He threw 20 pitches, all fastballs, and could soon graduate to more of the same, more often. It doesn't appear there is much chance he is back before the end of June and anytime before the all-star break appears to be a long shot since he still has to pitch to live batters and head out on a rehab assignment before returning.

...

Phil Hughes, who has been out three weeks with shoulder inflammation, continued his rehab Sunday by throwing for the third straight day. He made 45 throws from about 90 feet.

Hughes is likely to be out at least another 3-4 weeks, considering the stage of rehab he's at right now, and it could be longer, so the New York Yankees are still very likely to have interest in any impact starting pitcher that may hit the trade market.

If at some point Hughes is ruled out for another significant period of time, the club may step up the attempt to find pitching, which could put sellers in a great position.

- Jason A. Churchill

http://[h3]Maine won't opt out in Denver[/h3]
7:50AM ET

[h5]John Maine | Rockies [/h5]


The Colorado Rockies could use some pitching help due to a season-ending elbow injury to Jorge De La Rosa. This would seem like the perfect opportunity for John Maine, the former New York Met who showed some promise in spring training.

Maine, however, is just 1-1 with a 6.46 ERA in seven starts at Triple A Colorado Springs and recently struggled with shoulder inflammation. The right-hander had a June 1 opt-out in his contract, but has decided to stay in the Rockies' organization, tweets Troy Renck at the Denver Post.

With pitching at a premium, it seems likely that Maine, a 15-game winner in 2007, will get another chance at some point, either in Colorado or elsewhere.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Holliday to the disabled list[/h3]
7:25AM ET

[h5]Matt Holliday | Cardinals [/h5]


After postponing the inevitable, the St. Louis Cardinals are all but certain to place Matt Holliday on the 15-day disabled list Thursday, two weeks after he first experienced discomfort in his left quadriceps.

Holliday was used as a pinch hitter Tuesday night, so the DL stint will assure him of missing almost two full weeks of games. Holliday remained on the roster Wednesday night against the Giants, partly because St. Louis couldn't get a replacement player in time.

A corresponding move for Holliday was not finalized, and GM John Mozeliak said it could involve an addition to the 40-man roster.

Allen Craig and Jon Jay will likely split time in left field during Holliday's absence. Lance Berkman slides into Holliday's customary No. 4 spot in the St. Louis batting order.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Reyes to play Thursday[/h3]
7:02AM ET

[h5]Jose Reyes | Mets [/h5]


UPDATE: Reyes is expected to come off the bereavement list in time for Thursday's matinee with the Pirates. The Mets have placed reliever Taylor Buchholz on the disabled list with right shoulder fatigue to make room for Reyes.

--

The New York Mets barely missed Jose Reyes Monday, collecting 15 hits in a 7-3 win over the Pirates, but few expect that production to continue without the star shortstop in the lineup.

Reyes was placed on the bereavement list after learning of the death of his paternal grandmother and left the team Monday to fly home to Santiago, Dominican Republic. A player on the bereavement must miss a minimum of three days and a maximum of seven days.

Reyes told ESPNDeportes.com's Enrique Rojas that he hopes to return Wednesday, making him eligible to return Thursday afternoon against the Pirates. In the meantime, Mets fans will get a look at Ruben Tejada, billed as the shortstop of the future under the likely scenario that Reyes is either traded or departs via free agency.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Royals options with Escobar[/h3]
6:53AM ET

[h5]Alcides Escobar | Royals [/h5]


Typically, most likely on Twitter, I'd treat this with a one-line response that goes something like this: "have to play to develop him, no need to send him down." That'd be my reply to any inquiries about what the Kansas City Royals can do with struggling shortstop Alcides Escobar.

But the club's struggles as a team -- they aren't contending -- and their lack of options on the 40-man roster or anywhere near the big leagues restricts what can be done. Mike Aviles could handle shortstop in a short stint, but Christian Colon is struggling in Double-A. And benching Escobar doesn't help him. Sending him back to Triple-A could be the right move at some point, but we're only two months into the season and pulling the plug isn't necessarily a good move at this stage.

Perhaps things change for the Royals in July when it could become a situation where they try to avoid stagnating Escobar's offensive development by trotting him out against big league pitching everyday. Maybe then he heads out to Omaha to right the ship.

- Jason A. Churchill

http://[h3]Dice done in 2011?[/h3]
6:52AM ET

[h5]Daisuke Matsuzaka | Red Sox [/h5]


Daisuke Matsuzaka has elected to have Tommy John surgery, which would end the right-hander's season and likely scratch him for most of 2012 as well, reports Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.

Nikkan Sports was the first to report that Matsuzaka will have the surgery.

The Red Sox may get John Lackey back into their rotation sometime soon, but Dice-K's spot could be filled by committee or the hot hand. Tim Wakefield and Alfredo Aceves, who are manning the back end of the rotation now, are the leading candidates to continue to pick up the slack for the long haul.

Boston also could turn to veteran Kevin Millwood, who recently signed a minor league deal.

The Red Sox may have deep pockets, but the signing of Dice-K still shapes up as a major financial hit. The right-hander did have an 18-3 record with a 2.90 ERA in 2008, but has won 16 games since. Boston paid $103 million ($51 million posting fee, plus $52 million contract) to acquire him from Japan before the 2007 season. He is in the fifth year of a six-year contract.
 
Spoiler [+]
Michael Pineda bounced back and had a good outing, and there is an interesting situation developing for the Mariners. Seattle has been one of the great surprises in the majors and are right in the middle of the four-team AL West race, and Pineda is a big part of that.

fan_u_pineda_200.jpg

Getty ImagesPineda's previous career high in IP is 139.1.

But before this year, this is how many innings Pineda has thrown in his career in the minors:

2006 20.1
2007 59
2008 138.1
2009 47.1
2010 139.1
This year: 70.1

Pineda is 22 years old. A lot of teams have adopted usage rules for their young pitchers, increasing the innings limit by about 30 a year. If Seattle were to apply those kinds of guidelines to Pineda and hold him to something in the range of 170-175, that would mean that the talented right-hander would have about 100 innings left for the final four months of the season.

It's possible, of course, that the Mariners would have a different standard, and allow Pineda to pitch more than that; other teams have done that, and with success (see: Tim Lincecum, Cy Young Award winner).

But as we sit, about a third of the way into the year, with Pineda at 50 percent of any previous year's innings total, it's a decision that is bound to get a lot of attention, one way or the other, in the months ahead.

Eric Wedge was unhappy after the Mariners latest loss. The Mariners are striving for a higher standard now, writes Jerry Brewer.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• Offense is down and right now the pitchers are the kings of the hill in Major League Baseball, and Cody Ross is among those hitters -- like Chipper Jones and others -- who are convinced that the cut fastball is playing a major role in this.

"Everybody is throwing a cutter these days," Ross said the other day, in St. Louis.

To review: The reason why the cut fastball is so effective against hitters is that it has the movement of a slider, but doesn't have the telltale spin that a slider does. Hitters will often recognize the red dot in the center of a spinning baseball and know that is coming at them is a breaking ball.

The cutter looks like a fastball, but in the last few feet on its journey toward home plate, the ball veers. Roy Halladay throws a cutter, Cliff Lee throws a cutter, everybody throws a cutter.

Major League Baseball is all about ebbs and flows, about adjustments and counter-adjustments. Ross smiled when asked about what hitters will have to do to adapt to the cutter. There has not yet been a meeting of the Legion of Major League Hitters to discuss how to battle against the Forces of Pitching Evil.

But Ross did note that he's noticed some hitters trying the mechanics of a hitter who is having a lot of success in this Era of the Cutter: Lifting the front foot in a leg kick, getting the foot down early, and then tomahawking the ball. "Guys are trying different things," Ross said...

By the way: Jose Bautista leads the All-Star voting.

• The Angels' charter flight made an emergency landing overnight, writes Kevin Baxter and Mike DiGiovanna.

• The Pirates' matched their total for road victories from the entire 2010 season, as Bill Brink writes. The Pirates won their 17th road game of the season Wednesday, equaling their total from all of last season (17-14 this year, 17-64 last year). Kevin Correia, who won his major-league leading eighth game, has seven road wins this season, two more than any other pitcher in baseball. The last pitcher with seven road wins in his team's first 54 games was Pedro Martinez, in 2000. Some other with 7 road wins in the first 54 games, since 1975:

2011 Kevin Correia
2000 Pedro Martinez*
1996 John Smoltz*
1988 Roger Clemens

* Won Cy Young

• The White Sox swept the Red Sox, with a lot of help from Paul Konerko, as Mark Gonzales writes. Brent Lillibridge was on the attack.

• Bruce Bochy is campaigning strongly for the rules that protect catchers. The Posey injury won't change the Twins' approach with their catchers.

• The Twins are now 20 games under .500, 17-37, astonishing numbers. Some rival executives wonder when Minnesota will raise the white flag on its season, in light of the fact that the Twins are, generally speaking, among the more conservative clubs when it comes to midseason moves -- buying or selling. A super-aggressive general manager (like Kenny Williams) might already be inclined to make major changes, given the number of potentially marketable players the Twins have, from Jason Kubel to Michael Cuddyer to Delmon Young, in what is a thin market. For now, Kubel might have to go on the DL, as mentioned within this piece.

Joe Mauer will try to catch three innings today.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. Major League Baseball aims to wrap its investigation of the Dodgers' finances on June 22, writes Bill Shaikin and Ben Bolch.
2. The White Sox are sticking with their six-man rotation.

3. Nate Schierholtz had a big night on Wednesday; he is winning more playing time, as Andrew Baggarly writes.

4. Domonic Brown is getting a shot to win the right field job, writes Paul Hagen.

5. Marc Kroon decided to stay with the Giants.

6. Dan Uggla was dropped to seventh in the Atlanta lineup.

7. Casey McGehee got a day off.

8. Hideki Matsui is unused to sitting, writes John Shea.

9. Scott Rolen got some badly needed rest.

10. Jake Fox was designated for assignment.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. The Red Sox are facing a double-whammy, with injuries to Rich Hill and Daisuke Matsuzaka.
2. The Cardinals are going to have to do without Matt Holliday and Kyle McLellan for awhile, as Derrick Goold writes.

3. Aramis Ramirez needed stitches.

4. The Marlins will decide by tomorrow whether Hanley Ramirez will be placed on the disabled list.

5. Matt Harrison was scratched.

6. Phil Hughes has been cleared for a rehab start.
[h3]Wednesday's games[/h3]
1. The Diamondbacks have this mojo thing going: They rallied in the bottom of the ninth to beat Florida.
2. The Rockies had something really good happen for them for the first time in about a month: Ubaldo Jimenez shut out the Dodgers. From the good folks at ESPN Stats & Information, how Jimenez won:

• Jimenez threw strikes, aided by the Dodgers chasing pitches out of the strike zone. The Dodgers swung at 20 of Jimenez's 51 pitches (39.2 percent) out of the strike zone, tied for the highest percentage against Jimenez in the last three seasons. As a result, Jimenez was able to throw 73 of 106 pitches (68.9 percent) for strikes, his highest percentage since May 16, 2008. (He also had a 39.2 chase percentage last July 8.)

• Dodgers right-handed hitters were 0 for 16 against Jimenez, striking about five times. Jimenez pounded the strike zone against them, throwing 62.9 percent of his pitches to righties in the zone, well above his 48.2 season average entering Wednesday.

3. The Nationals closed out a nice series against the Phillies. They must still overcome the engrained culture of losing, writes Thomas Boswell.

4. Terry Collins was really, really upset about the Mets; he believes in his players, writes Kevin Kernan.

5. Adam Jones was not shy in talking about his tremendous catch.

6. Upon further review, Billy Butler's home run was a walk-off.

7. Tommy Hanson changed his shirt three times in six innings and the Braves salvaged the final game of a series.

8. Roy Oswalt was surprised he was pinch-hit for.

9. Colby Lewis was The Man for the Rangers. From ESPN Stats & Info, how he won:

• He had a great slider: Lewis threw his most sliders of the season with 32, 27 of those coming with Lewis either even or ahead in the count. The Rays went 1-for-10 with five strikeouts in at-bats ending with the slider.

• He pitched away with two strikes: Lewis threw 39 pitches with two strikes, with 21 of those pitches being away to hitters (54 percent). Four of Lewis' five strikeouts came on pitches away and the Rays went 0-for-7 in at-bats ending with a two strike pitch away.

• Held runners on base: After allowing eight hits with runners on base in his last two starts, the Rays went 0-for-10 with four strikeouts against Lewis on Wednesday. Four of Lewis' five wins have come in starts where he has allowed either none or one hit with runners on base (1-3, 1 no decision in starts with two or more).

7. The Jays got crushed; Kyle Drabek said it was absolutely the worst start he has ever had.

8. The Cubs got swept at home by the worst team in the National League, and now it's time for them to get serious about going young, writes David Haugh.

9. The Cardinals' loss on Wednesday provided another example (http://www.stltoday.com/s...-9fe9-0019bb30f31a.html) of why the addition of a reliever like Heath Bell would make a lot of sense, as Derrick Goold writes.

10. The Brewers had some early work blown up by the Reds.

11. Oakland lost to the Yankees again, and Bob Geren says it's coincidence. I would respectfully disagree; I think Oakland's best young players have to get over the emotional hurdle of playing the Yankees.

12. The Angels' long stretch of games came to an end with a loss.

13. The Dodgers were shut down.

14. The Padres couldn't finish off a sweep of the Braves, writes Don Norcross.

15. Miguel Cabrera got a really big hit; Detroit has nine straight wins over the Twins for the first time since 1950, writes Tom Gage.

16. The Reds put together a badly needed comeback, writes John Fay.

17. The Indians took a 12-0 lead, and then hung on, as Paul Hoynes writes.

18. David Price pitched well, but the Rays couldn't generate any runs, as Rick Stroud writes.

19. Brett Myers helped the Astros wrap up a sweep, writes Zachary Levine.

20. The Marlins wilted in the desert.

21. Nick Swisher missed a sign and then got a big hit.

22. The Red Sox were swept, and Dustin Pedroia was right in the middle of a couple of controversial plays, as John Tomase writes.

Charlie Morton.

Spoiler [+]
When a player has been in the majors for a few seasons, we usually have a pretty good idea of his abilities. Sometimes a guy will put up a one-year statistical blip -- like when Chone Figgins walked 101 times in 2009 -- and that's all it is, a blip.

But every once in a while we get a Jose Bautista situation, when a guy performs in a manner that is so radically different from what we've seen from him before that we have to reconsider our perception of him, which brings us to Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Charlie Morton. Drafted by Atlanta in 2002, he was sent to the Bucs as part of the Nate McLouth trade two years ago. After posting a 7.57 ERA last season (with a 2-12 record) he remodeled his delivery after Roy Halladay and suddenly has a Doc-esque 2.51 ERA with two complete games in 10 starts.

In Sabermetrics 101, we'd probably look at his 2010 batting average on balls in play (.353) and compare it to his 2011 BABIP (.283) and conclude that he was insanely unlucky last year, a bit fortunate this year, and his real skill level is probably somewhere in the middle. The problem is that the rest of Morton's stat line is so atypical that we can't fall back on such facile analysis.

To wit: Morton's ground-ball rate of 63.1 percent is the best in baseball. Going back five years, here are the five pitchers who have led the majors in ground-ball rate: Tim Hudson, Joel Pineiro, Brandon Webb and Derek Lowe twice. While that may not be Hall of Fame company, those are some pretty good pitchers. So Morton must be for real, right? Well, maybe not. Thus far in 2011, Morton has 37 strikeouts to go with 29 walks. To play the arbitrary end-points game for a second, only once in the last 25 years has a pitcher had a strikeout-walk ratio of 1.3 or below and an ERA of less than 3.00, and that was Wilson Alvarez in 1993. In other words, Morton's current stat line is a bit of an outlier and is probably unsustainable.

Morton_2011.jpg

Bloomberg SportsMorton's 2011 pitching chart.

So where does that leave us? Upon examining Morton's pitch data, there are reasons to remain bullish about the 27-year-old. After throwing his two-seam fastball less than 60 percent of the time in 2010, he is throwing it more than 80 percent of the time this year, which is the most in the National League. The graphs on the right show the location of his two-seam fastball in 2010 compared to 2011. (The numbers represent the number of two-seamers in each zone; the more blue shading there is, the more frequently the pitch appeared in that zone.)

As you can see, Morton has done a remarkable job of running his two-seamer in on right-handers, while he left it out over the plate far more frequently last season. His ability to keep the ball on that part of the plate is represented quite clearly in his splits: Righties have a .475 OPS against Morton, while lefties are mashing him to the tune of .888.

Morton_2010.jpg

Bloomberg SportsMorton's 2010 pitching chart.

Clearly, Morton needs a better weapon to combat lefties. He might want to consider implementing his changeup more, since he's thrown it just 35 times to lefties this year and they have managed just two singles off the offering. However, that's not much of an issue when you can turn the average right-handed hitter into Mario Mendoza. Furthermore, Morton isn't even getting much help from his defense. Even lefties put the ball on the ground 56 percent of the time against him, yet according to defensive runs saved, Pirate infielders Lyle Overbay, Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez have all been well-below average with the leather this season.

More than anything, it's obvious that Morton is a pitcher in transition who has changed his delivery and has become far more reliant on his fastball. Considering the success he's had locating his two-seamer to righties thus far, it's not unreasonable to think that his overall command will improve -- and it has already shown signs of doing so. After walking 23 men in his first six starts, Morton has issued just six free passes in his last four outings, while allowing the same number of runs.

It's easy to look at Morton's stat line and assume there will be regression, but not every player develops in the same manner, which is what makes player evaluation so tricky. Morton won't hit free agency until after the 2014 season, and until then he looks like the kind of pitcher who can help Pittsburgh actually contend at some point in the next few years.

May numbers.

Spoiler [+]
ST. LOUIS -- A general manager chatting about one of his slumping players said Tuesday, "It's not early anymore."

Nope. Now it's June, when the first major trades will probably be made, when aging stars may lose their jobs, when teams will start to determine whether they'll be buyers (like the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have money to spend) or sellers (like the Houston Astros, who will have many teams calling about Hunter Pence).

With May 2011 in the books, here are some numbers from the hard-working folks at ESPN Stats & Information and the Elias Sports Bureau that put the month in perspective:

Scoring continues to fall

Even with more runs scored on Memorial Day than on any other day this season, scoring fell even lower in May. Runs per game dropped to 8.29 (8.58 in March/April), starters' ERA dropped to 3.85 (4.06) and shutouts rose to 61 (52). Home runs per game are down to 1.73. League-wide, the numbers through May are the lowest in a while. Batting average (.252) is the lowest since 1989, runs per game (.843) is the lowest since 1992 and ERA (.385) is the lowest since 1992.

Does first place matter?

From Elias: Of the 128 teams to make the postseason in the wild-card era (since 1995):

• 119 were in playoff position or within five games on the morning of June 1. Twenty-one teams meet this qualification.
• 95 were in playoff position or within one game on the morning of June 1. Twelve teams meet this qualification.
• 65 were leading the division or tied for the lead on the morning of June 1. Six teams meet this qualification.
• 17 were leading or tied for the wild card on the morning of June 1. Two teams meet this qualification.

Boston and Arizona were hot

Boston and Arizona each followed up an 11-15 March/April with a 19-10 May, best in baseball. The best records in May:

Red Sox 19-10
Diamondbacks 19-10
Braves 17-11
Cardinals 17-12
Brewers 17-12

But others struggled. After a 17-8 April that was third-best in the majors, the Rockies were a major league-worst 8-21 in May. And from Elias: The Twins finished May at 17-36, the worst record by a defending division champion in the divisional era (since 1969). The worst records in May:

Rockies 8-21
Twins 8-19
Royals 10-17
Astros 11-17
Nationals 11-17

No-hitters

Francisco Liriano and Justin Verlander continued last year's no-hitter trend, as they each fired one in a five-day stretch at the beginning of the month. It was the first time since 1996 that there were two no-hitters (excluding combined ones) in such a short span.

From Elias, a look at two no-hitters in a five-day span, since 1990: from May 11-14 in 1996, Dwight Gooden and Al Leiter threw them; from September 4-8 in 1993, Jim Abbott and the late Darryl Kile threw them, and on June 29, 1990, Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela threw no-hitters.
The three-homer game
Despite the continued drop in offense, five players had a three-home run game in May, most in a month since July 2004. Players with three-homer games in May:

May 24: Carlos Quentin
May 23: Corey Hart
May 19: Jason Giambi
May 15: Jose Bautista
May 12: Carlos Beltran



Historic command

Phillies starters have a 4.38 strikeouts-to-walk ratio, third-highest since 1900 by a team's starters through the end of May. Unlike the other two teams with a rotation strikeouts-to-walk ratio over four on June 1, Phillies starters have excelled at keeping the ball in the ballpark.

[h4]Commanding[/h4]
From Elias: Highest strikeout-to-walk ratio for a team's starters since 1900, through end of May:
[table][tr][th=""]Team[/th][th=""]K/BB[/th][th=""]ERA[/th][th=""]HR/9[/th][/tr][tr][td]2005 Twins[/td][td]5.13[/td][td]3.73[/td][td]1.20[/td][/tr][tr][td]2002 D-backs[/td][td]4.45[/td][td]4.06[/td][td]1.23[/td][/tr][tr][td]2011 Phillies[/td][td]4.38[/td][td]3.41[/td][td]0.66[/td][/tr][tr][td]1966 Dodgers[/td][td]3.80[/td][td]2.58[/td][td]0.48[/td][/tr][tr][td]1996 Braves[/td][td]3.74[/td][td]2.72[/td][td]0.71[/td][/tr][/table]

Given their strong strikeout, walk and home run numbers, it might be reasonable to expect that the ERA for Phillies starters might drop even lower. FIP (fielding independent pitching) shows what a player or team's ERA should have been, based on elements that pitchers can control (strikeouts, walks, home runs). Phillies starters have a FIP much lower than their 3.41 ERA. Lowest FIP for team's starters, 2011 season:

Phillies: 2.65
Giants: 3.23
Athletics: 3.25
Mariners: 3.29

Pitcher of the month

Clayton Kershaw went 4-0 with 46 Ks in six starts. Kershaw posted a 1.77 ERA in May after compiling a 3.52 ERA in April. A big difference for Kershaw was his slider. He threw it more often, especially with two strikes. Kershaw had 24 strikeouts with his slider in May after registering 13 in April. Opponents' batting average fell to just .117 with two strikes after they hit .208 in April.

Hitter of the month

Reds right fielder Jay Bruce earns the honors after raising his batting average from .237 to .293. He had a league-leading 12 home runs and 33 RBIs in May. Bruce has done his damage against the hard stuff, nailing fastballs at a .356 clip after hitting .254 in April. His slugging percentage against fastballs rose to .699, and his OPS against them was a whopping 1.118.

Long balls

The longest home run in May was Mark Trumbo's 472-foot blast on Memorial Day, the third-longest home run of the season. Justin Upton's 457-foot homer on the same day was the fifth-longest of the month. Here are the rest:

5/30 Mark Trumbo: 472 ft.
5/13 Ryan Howard: 470
5/24 Kelly Johnson: 466
5/15 Mike Stanton: 465
5/30 Justin Upton: 457

May saw 727 home runs hit for an average distance of 394.4 feet. This was remarkably similar to March/April, in which there were 724 home runs hit at an average distance of 394.6 feet. In May 2010, 785 home runs were hit, averaging 396.7 feet.

Worst top 10 picks of the last 10 years.

Spoiler [+]
ST. LOUIS -- A general manager chatting about one of his slumping players said Tuesday, "It's not early anymore."

Nope. Now it's June, when the first major trades will probably be made, when aging stars may lose their jobs, when teams will start to determine whether they'll be buyers (like the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have money to spend) or sellers (like the Houston Astros, who will have many teams calling about Hunter Pence).

With May 2011 in the books, here are some numbers from the hard-working folks at ESPN Stats & Information and the Elias Sports Bureau that put the month in perspective:

Scoring continues to fall

Even with more runs scored on Memorial Day than on any other day this season, scoring fell even lower in May. Runs per game dropped to 8.29 (8.58 in March/April), starters' ERA dropped to 3.85 (4.06) and shutouts rose to 61 (52). Home runs per game are down to 1.73. League-wide, the numbers through May are the lowest in a while. Batting average (.252) is the lowest since 1989, runs per game (.843) is the lowest since 1992 and ERA (.385) is the lowest since 1992.

Does first place matter?

From Elias: Of the 128 teams to make the postseason in the wild-card era (since 1995):

• 119 were in playoff position or within five games on the morning of June 1. Twenty-one teams meet this qualification.
• 95 were in playoff position or within one game on the morning of June 1. Twelve teams meet this qualification.
• 65 were leading the division or tied for the lead on the morning of June 1. Six teams meet this qualification.
• 17 were leading or tied for the wild card on the morning of June 1. Two teams meet this qualification.

Boston and Arizona were hot

Boston and Arizona each followed up an 11-15 March/April with a 19-10 May, best in baseball. The best records in May:

Red Sox 19-10
Diamondbacks 19-10
Braves 17-11
Cardinals 17-12
Brewers 17-12

But others struggled. After a 17-8 April that was third-best in the majors, the Rockies were a major league-worst 8-21 in May. And from Elias: The Twins finished May at 17-36, the worst record by a defending division champion in the divisional era (since 1969). The worst records in May:

Rockies 8-21
Twins 8-19
Royals 10-17
Astros 11-17
Nationals 11-17

No-hitters

Francisco Liriano and Justin Verlander continued last year's no-hitter trend, as they each fired one in a five-day stretch at the beginning of the month. It was the first time since 1996 that there were two no-hitters (excluding combined ones) in such a short span.

From Elias, a look at two no-hitters in a five-day span, since 1990: from May 11-14 in 1996, Dwight Gooden and Al Leiter threw them; from September 4-8 in 1993, Jim Abbott and the late Darryl Kile threw them, and on June 29, 1990, Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela threw no-hitters.
The three-homer game
Despite the continued drop in offense, five players had a three-home run game in May, most in a month since July 2004. Players with three-homer games in May:

May 24: Carlos Quentin
May 23: Corey Hart
May 19: Jason Giambi
May 15: Jose Bautista
May 12: Carlos Beltran



Historic command

Phillies starters have a 4.38 strikeouts-to-walk ratio, third-highest since 1900 by a team's starters through the end of May. Unlike the other two teams with a rotation strikeouts-to-walk ratio over four on June 1, Phillies starters have excelled at keeping the ball in the ballpark.

[h4]Commanding[/h4]
From Elias: Highest strikeout-to-walk ratio for a team's starters since 1900, through end of May:
[table][tr][th=""]Team[/th][th=""]K/BB[/th][th=""]ERA[/th][th=""]HR/9[/th][/tr][tr][td]2005 Twins[/td][td]5.13[/td][td]3.73[/td][td]1.20[/td][/tr][tr][td]2002 D-backs[/td][td]4.45[/td][td]4.06[/td][td]1.23[/td][/tr][tr][td]2011 Phillies[/td][td]4.38[/td][td]3.41[/td][td]0.66[/td][/tr][tr][td]1966 Dodgers[/td][td]3.80[/td][td]2.58[/td][td]0.48[/td][/tr][tr][td]1996 Braves[/td][td]3.74[/td][td]2.72[/td][td]0.71[/td][/tr][/table]

Given their strong strikeout, walk and home run numbers, it might be reasonable to expect that the ERA for Phillies starters might drop even lower. FIP (fielding independent pitching) shows what a player or team's ERA should have been, based on elements that pitchers can control (strikeouts, walks, home runs). Phillies starters have a FIP much lower than their 3.41 ERA. Lowest FIP for team's starters, 2011 season:

Phillies: 2.65
Giants: 3.23
Athletics: 3.25
Mariners: 3.29

Pitcher of the month

Clayton Kershaw went 4-0 with 46 Ks in six starts. Kershaw posted a 1.77 ERA in May after compiling a 3.52 ERA in April. A big difference for Kershaw was his slider. He threw it more often, especially with two strikes. Kershaw had 24 strikeouts with his slider in May after registering 13 in April. Opponents' batting average fell to just .117 with two strikes after they hit .208 in April.

Hitter of the month

Reds right fielder Jay Bruce earns the honors after raising his batting average from .237 to .293. He had a league-leading 12 home runs and 33 RBIs in May. Bruce has done his damage against the hard stuff, nailing fastballs at a .356 clip after hitting .254 in April. His slugging percentage against fastballs rose to .699, and his OPS against them was a whopping 1.118.

Long balls

The longest home run in May was Mark Trumbo's 472-foot blast on Memorial Day, the third-longest home run of the season. Justin Upton's 457-foot homer on the same day was the fifth-longest of the month. Here are the rest:

5/30 Mark Trumbo: 472 ft.
5/13 Ryan Howard: 470
5/24 Kelly Johnson: 466
5/15 Mike Stanton: 465
5/30 Justin Upton: 457

May saw 727 home runs hit for an average distance of 394.4 feet. This was remarkably similar to March/April, in which there were 724 home runs hit at an average distance of 394.6 feet. In May 2010, 785 home runs were hit, averaging 396.7 feet.

Rumors.

Spoiler [+]
http://[h3]Could Orioles be in Fielder hunt?[/h3]
10:32AM ET

[h5]Prince Fielder | Brewers | Interested: Orioles? [/h5]


The Baltimore Orioles are a much better team since Buck Showalter took over as manager, but keeping up with the pace in the talent-laden American League East isn't easy.

It couldn't hurt if the Orioles add a potent bat, so why not think big? Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports Showalter wants a first baseman who can hit in the middle of the order, and Prince Fielder may be the top free agent target on Baltimore's list.

Knobler says the Orioles could have significant money to spend this winter. That's important since it will take a king ransom's to land Fielder, who is likely in a lame duck season with the Brewers.

The Cubs, who currently have first baseman Carlos Pena signed to a one-year deal, are another team with the resources to land Fielder. Heading the Fielder talks will be Scott Boras, who rarely leaves an extra dollar on the negotiating table.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Uggla dropped in order[/h3]
10:11AM ET

[h5]Dan Uggla | Braves [/h5]


With $62 million invested in Dan Uggla, the Atlanta Braves are sticking with the struggling second baseman, for better or worse.

After benching Uggla twice in seven games, manager Fredi Gonzalez dropped him to seventh in the batting order Wednesday against San Diego. Uggla had another 0-for-4 night, dropping his batting average to a meager .175.

"He's your everyday second baseman," Gonzalez tells David O'Brien of the Atlanta JC. "He can't break out of that [slump] sitting on the bench."

Before Wednesday, Uggla's .178 average this season was the second-lowest among National League qualifiers. The Braves have no choice but to let Uggla play, but look for him to spend more time lower in the order.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Hensley back to the DL?[/h3]
9:58AM ET

[h5]Clay Hensley | Marlins [/h5]


Clay Hensley appears to be headed back to the disabled list, just over a week after returning from a rib injury, reports MLB.com.

The Marlins reliever left Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the D-backs with what appeared to be a shoulder injury after striking out pinch-hitter Sean Burroughs in the ninth inning. Hensley has been a valuable middle reliever for the Fish with eight holds in 20 appearances.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]More PT for Schierholtz?[/h3]
9:37AM ET

[h5]Nate Schierholtz | Giants [/h5]


Before the lights went out on a bizarre night at Busch Stadium, the Giants' Nate Schierholtz made another case for more playing time. Schierholtz, given the start in right field, delivered a tying single with two outs in the ninth inning and the go-ahead hit in the 11th to key a 7-5 victory.

It was just the 19th start of the year for Schierholtz, who is hitting .274 with 15 RBI.

Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News suggests that manager Bruce Bochy may be realizing it is time to give Schierholtz a chance to play every day.

There always has been a concern whether Schierholtz can hit lefthanders consistently, but with Pat Burrell hitting a mere .229, it is certainly worth a shot. Schierholtz has just 17 at-bats against southpaws and is hitting .176.

Buster Posey is sidelined and the Giants are in desperate need of offense, so Bochy needs to play the hot hand whenever possible.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]The Joy of Six in Chicago[/h3]
9:17AM ET

[h5]Chicago White Sox [/h5]


If it ain't broke, don't fix. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen apparently feels that way about his six-man rotation and may keep the unconventional alignment as long as the All-Star break, reports Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com.

The White Sox, who completed a three-game sweep in Boston Wednesday, have been using six starters in succession since Jake Peavy returned from the disabled list May 11.Guillen did announce one tweak to the order. Jake Peavy will move ahead of John Danks and pitch Sunday against Detroit.

The White Sox could have been tempted to remove Danks, who dropped to 0-8 after allowing a season-high nine runs and nine hits in four innings against the Jays on Sunday. The White Sox have balked on any suggestion that Danks pitch out of the bullpen.

Guillen indicated the Sox may revert to a five-man rotation no later than the start of the second half because of days off on July 21 and 28.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Lawrie close to The Show?[/h3]
8:48AM ET

[h5]Toronto Blue Jays [/h5]


Brett Lawrie must have felt like a commuter who had a train door shut in his face just as he reached the platform. The Blue Jays prospect appeared to be on the verge of a promotion to The Show before being hit by a pitch on the left hand Tuesday night.

The good news is it could have been a lot worse.

Manager John Farrell said the Blue Jays "dodged a little bit of a bullet" when X-rays taken Tuesday night revealed nothing more than a bruise for Lawrie, who is currently making the transition to third base at Triple A Las Vegas.

The Globe and Mail reported earlier Tuesday that Lawrie was "really, really close" to joining the Jays.

GM Alex Anthopoulos said Tuesday that Lawrie has accomplished all the Blue Jays have asked of him, leading to speculation that his big league debut could come Friday against Baltimore. That may be delayed, but it is clear Lawrie is coming sooner rather than later.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Hanley to the DL?[/h3]
8:20AM ET

[h5]Hanley Ramirez | Marlins [/h5]


We have a plausible explanation for the dramatic fall in production this season by Hanley Ramirez, and it may result in the first-ever trip to the disabled list for the Florida Marlins shortstop.

Ramirez missed all three games of a series in Arizona because of continued stiffness in his lower back that forced him to leave Sunday's game in Los Angeles.

Ramirez told Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun-Sentinel that he's felt discomfort for about a month, adding Monday that it was the worst pain he ever experienced.

Manager Edwin Rodriguez said a decision on whether to place Ramirez on the DL will be made Friday. "We can?t keep going with only one shortstop," Rodriguez told the Palm Beach Post.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/28877/emilio-bonifacioEmilio Bonifacio has started at shortstop in place of Ramirez.
- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Timetable for Mauer[/h3]
8:04AM ET

[h5]Joe Mauer | Twins [/h5]


UPDATE: The Twins may finally formulate a timetable for Mauer's return after he catches three innings in an extended spring training game in Florida on Thursday, his first game action since April 12. Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune says the Twins will gradually increase Mauer?s workload until he's ready to begin a minor-league rehab assignment. That will depend on how his body responds after Thursday.

--

UPDATE: Just a thought here, but it's difficult not to wonder if the club's plan for Mauer, in regards to his timetable for a return to the field, has been impacted by the club's awful two months that has thrown to the cellar of the AL Central. Why not take it even slower, work Mauer back in at a turtle's pace and not worry so much about getting him back since the seasons is pretty much a lost cause? At this stage, 2012 matters, 2011 almost doesn't at all.

--

Every additional day Joe Mauer stays on the disabled list, the speculation grows that the Minnesota Twins might consider moving the catcher out from behind the plate when he returns. Watching the Giants' Buster Posey getting steamrolled by the Marlins' Scott Cousins only adds fuel to that fire.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, however, was adamant on Tuesday that when Mauer comes back this season, it will be at catcher. "He signed an eight-year deal to catch in the big leagues for the Minnesota Twins," Gardenhire tells MLB.com. "So we're trying to get him back as a catcher. If it doesn't work out when he comes back, then we're going to have to figure somewhere else."

Mauer last played April 12 due to a leg injury and there is still no timetable for his return. He has been seeing time at designated hitter in extended spring camp and will DH again on Thursday.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Hughes close to return?[/h3]
7:55AM ET

[h5]Phil Hughes | Yankees [/h5]


UPDATE: Hughes threw a simulated game Wednesday, a sign that he could be close to starting a rehab assignment. Four or five weeks could be the short end of the right-hander's time table. A decision will be made between now and Saturday.

...

UPDATE: Hughes took a big step Friday, throwing off a mound pain or discomfort in his shoulder. He threw 20 pitches, all fastballs, and could soon graduate to more of the same, more often. It doesn't appear there is much chance he is back before the end of June and anytime before the all-star break appears to be a long shot since he still has to pitch to live batters and head out on a rehab assignment before returning.

...

Phil Hughes, who has been out three weeks with shoulder inflammation, continued his rehab Sunday by throwing for the third straight day. He made 45 throws from about 90 feet.

Hughes is likely to be out at least another 3-4 weeks, considering the stage of rehab he's at right now, and it could be longer, so the New York Yankees are still very likely to have interest in any impact starting pitcher that may hit the trade market.

If at some point Hughes is ruled out for another significant period of time, the club may step up the attempt to find pitching, which could put sellers in a great position.

- Jason A. Churchill

http://[h3]Maine won't opt out in Denver[/h3]
7:50AM ET

[h5]John Maine | Rockies [/h5]


The Colorado Rockies could use some pitching help due to a season-ending elbow injury to Jorge De La Rosa. This would seem like the perfect opportunity for John Maine, the former New York Met who showed some promise in spring training.

Maine, however, is just 1-1 with a 6.46 ERA in seven starts at Triple A Colorado Springs and recently struggled with shoulder inflammation. The right-hander had a June 1 opt-out in his contract, but has decided to stay in the Rockies' organization, tweets Troy Renck at the Denver Post.

With pitching at a premium, it seems likely that Maine, a 15-game winner in 2007, will get another chance at some point, either in Colorado or elsewhere.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Holliday to the disabled list[/h3]
7:25AM ET

[h5]Matt Holliday | Cardinals [/h5]


After postponing the inevitable, the St. Louis Cardinals are all but certain to place Matt Holliday on the 15-day disabled list Thursday, two weeks after he first experienced discomfort in his left quadriceps.

Holliday was used as a pinch hitter Tuesday night, so the DL stint will assure him of missing almost two full weeks of games. Holliday remained on the roster Wednesday night against the Giants, partly because St. Louis couldn't get a replacement player in time.

A corresponding move for Holliday was not finalized, and GM John Mozeliak said it could involve an addition to the 40-man roster.

Allen Craig and Jon Jay will likely split time in left field during Holliday's absence. Lance Berkman slides into Holliday's customary No. 4 spot in the St. Louis batting order.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Reyes to play Thursday[/h3]
7:02AM ET

[h5]Jose Reyes | Mets [/h5]


UPDATE: Reyes is expected to come off the bereavement list in time for Thursday's matinee with the Pirates. The Mets have placed reliever Taylor Buchholz on the disabled list with right shoulder fatigue to make room for Reyes.

--

The New York Mets barely missed Jose Reyes Monday, collecting 15 hits in a 7-3 win over the Pirates, but few expect that production to continue without the star shortstop in the lineup.

Reyes was placed on the bereavement list after learning of the death of his paternal grandmother and left the team Monday to fly home to Santiago, Dominican Republic. A player on the bereavement must miss a minimum of three days and a maximum of seven days.

Reyes told ESPNDeportes.com's Enrique Rojas that he hopes to return Wednesday, making him eligible to return Thursday afternoon against the Pirates. In the meantime, Mets fans will get a look at Ruben Tejada, billed as the shortstop of the future under the likely scenario that Reyes is either traded or departs via free agency.

- Doug Mittler

http://[h3]Royals options with Escobar[/h3]
6:53AM ET

[h5]Alcides Escobar | Royals [/h5]


Typically, most likely on Twitter, I'd treat this with a one-line response that goes something like this: "have to play to develop him, no need to send him down." That'd be my reply to any inquiries about what the Kansas City Royals can do with struggling shortstop Alcides Escobar.

But the club's struggles as a team -- they aren't contending -- and their lack of options on the 40-man roster or anywhere near the big leagues restricts what can be done. Mike Aviles could handle shortstop in a short stint, but Christian Colon is struggling in Double-A. And benching Escobar doesn't help him. Sending him back to Triple-A could be the right move at some point, but we're only two months into the season and pulling the plug isn't necessarily a good move at this stage.

Perhaps things change for the Royals in July when it could become a situation where they try to avoid stagnating Escobar's offensive development by trotting him out against big league pitching everyday. Maybe then he heads out to Omaha to right the ship.

- Jason A. Churchill

http://[h3]Dice done in 2011?[/h3]
6:52AM ET

[h5]Daisuke Matsuzaka | Red Sox [/h5]


Daisuke Matsuzaka has elected to have Tommy John surgery, which would end the right-hander's season and likely scratch him for most of 2012 as well, reports Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.

Nikkan Sports was the first to report that Matsuzaka will have the surgery.

The Red Sox may get John Lackey back into their rotation sometime soon, but Dice-K's spot could be filled by committee or the hot hand. Tim Wakefield and Alfredo Aceves, who are manning the back end of the rotation now, are the leading candidates to continue to pick up the slack for the long haul.

Boston also could turn to veteran Kevin Millwood, who recently signed a minor league deal.

The Red Sox may have deep pockets, but the signing of Dice-K still shapes up as a major financial hit. The right-hander did have an 18-3 record with a 2.90 ERA in 2008, but has won 16 games since. Boston paid $103 million ($51 million posting fee, plus $52 million contract) to acquire him from Japan before the 2007 season. He is in the fifth year of a six-year contract.
 
The underrated Ryan Zimmerman.

Spoiler [+]
Yesterday, I took part (along with Jonah Keri and 28 other contributors to ESPN’s baseball section) in a Franchise Player Draft. We were tasked with selecting one player who we would want to build our franchise around, and in this hypothetical world, actual contract status was irrelevant. I ended up drawing the fourth pick in the draft, giving me an embarrassment of riches to select from, especially after my request to trade down was denied.

By the time my pick was up, Troy Tulowitzki, Evan Longoria, and Felix Hernandez were off the board. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t get a crack at Tulo, who was a pretty easy call as the first player selected. I figured Longoria would probably be gone as well, and wasn’t surprised at all when Keith Law snapped him up. David Schoenfeld made my life easier by taking Felix, which meant that I didn’t have to worry about whether or not I should consider drafting a pitcher – the only one worthy of that kind of selection in my mind was already gone, allowing me to focus on a handful of elite position players to choose from.

As you see in the link, I ended up taking Joey Votto, who I would say is the safest bet of any player in baseball to produce at an elite level going forward. He’s right there with Albert Pujols and Jose Bautista for the title of best hitter in baseball, he’s several younger than both of them, and he just keeps getting better each season he’s in the big leagues. Votto is the no-risk choice, and I’d argue that minimizing risk in this kind of situation is more important than trying to split hairs between which great player is marginally greater. I had a chance to get an elite player no matter which direction I went, so I focused on getting a player who was almost certainly going to produce at a premium level rather than rolling the dice looking for extra mythical upside.

That said, my selection of Votto wasn’t a clear cut choice. In the end, I narrowed my selection down to five players, choosing Votto over Hanley Ramirez, Jose Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, and Ryan Zimmerman. Obviously, my board was quite a bit different than most of the others drafting, as Ramirez went #20, Bautista #26 (to the other FanGraphs author in the draft, which is likely not a coincidence), and both Cabrera and Zimmerman went unselected. I was surprised that Cabrera wasn’t picked, but given his issues with alcohol, I can somewhat understand the drafters going other directions. After all, if others were also looking to minimize risk, there are a lot of great players who don’t have some of the baggage that Cabrera brings to the table. I think everyone realizes how great of a hitter he is, but my guess is that he was left unselected because of his off the field issues.

Zimmerman, though, apparently needs a new PR representative. If Schoenfeld had selected Votto, I probably would have taken Zimmerman ahead of the other three runners-up in the discussion with myself. Instead, he’s hanging out with Cabrera in the voting for biggest snub.

Really, though, what else could Zimmerman do to get noticed? I’m not the first person to mention this, but if you like Evan Longoria, you should like Zimmerman, because they’re the exact same player.

Longoria, 2009-2011: .284/.367/.510, 134 wRC+, +36.3 UZR, +16.6 WAR
Zimmerman, 2009-2011: .300/.378/.518, 137 wRC+, +28.8 UZR, +15.1 WAR

The gap in value is entirely the result of Longoria getting more playing time this year due a shorter DL stint, but they’re essentially twins. Their numbers across the board are the same no matter what category you look at – walk rate, strikeout rate, power, defense, whatever. Zimmerman is a year older and currently on the disabled list, but he’s still younger than most other players selected and a current lack of health didn’t stop Josh Johnson, Joe Mauer, Buster Posey, or Stephen Strasburg from being drafted. Zimmerman’s abdominal strain is not a long term concern, and so I find it hard to believe that it played a major role in his snubbing.

Instead, it seems like Zimmerman simply suffers from a lack of national exposure. Longoria has played in the World Series and had the national spotlight shined upon him in the process, while Zimmerman has spent his career playing for losing teams in Washington. He didn’t burst on the scene with a strong debut, but instead has taken the slower path of improving each year he’s been in the big leagues. He’s not a commanding personality, and even on his own team, has been overshadowed by the likes of Adam Dunn and Stephen Strasburg. Pretty soon, he’ll also have to share the spotlight with Bryce Harper.

With the focus on his teammates, it can be easy to forget that Zimmerman is the Nationals best player, and one of the very best players in the game. He may have gotten ignored yesterday, but he deserves to be mentioned in any conversation of cornerstone franchise players.

Matt Joyce getting snubbed.

Spoiler [+]
Every season, without fail, the All-Star Ballot becomes an object of contention; like the Hall of Fame voting, the All-Star Game is simply a lightning rod for debate. Should this glorified exhibition game decide home field advantage in the World Series? Should we even care about the All-Star Game anymore, as interleague play and television have removed its mystique? And of course, which players deserve to make the game? So many people claim to not care about the game, but that doesn’t prevent copious amounts of digital ink being spilled each year on these same 0l’ questions.*

*Personally, I haven’t watched the game the last few years, but I still can’t help but care on who gets selected for the teams. A part of it is stubborn obstinance – someone is wrong on the internet! - and a part of it is you know the players themselves take pride in these things. It’s only natural to want players to get the recognition they deserve, right?

This year’s All-Star Game travesty – outside of the fact that the Yankees are leading the voting in six out of nine slots – is the fact that one of the game’s best young outfielders isn’t even within the top 15 vote receivers at the position. This is a player that is currently leading the major leagues in batting average (.370), has the best slugging percentage (.636) out of all players not named Bautista, and has the third-best on-base percentage in the AL (.430).

This player has posted a .457 wOBA and a 198 wRC+ this year, much higher than Curtis Granderson’s 171 wRC+, and, according to WAR, he’s been the third-most valuable player in the majors this year (3.1 WAR, trailing only Bautista and Halladay). And if you don’t want to consider the fielding aspect of WAR, he’s also been the second-most valuable hitter in the majors, contributing 20.4 offensive runs. Holy cow, why isn’t he getting more love?

Ah, that’s right – he plays in Tampa Bay. Matt Joyce, come on down.

But wait! Since the All-Star Game happens midseason and it’s still early in the year, shouldn’t a player’s history count somewhat? Joyce was only called up to the Rays in late June last season, so maybe you could make the case that some stars should get a leg up due to their performance last year.

Even that point helps Joyce’s case, though. If you combine Joyce’s stats over the last two seasons, he’s been worth 4.8 WAR for the Rays in just under 450 plate appearances – not even a full season. His WAR figure ranks him 10th among all AL outfielders over the last two years, and that’s considering that all the players above him have around 300-400 more plate appearances than he does. Over that time, his .400 wOBA is third-best among all AL outfielders.

For comparison, here’s how his production over the last two years stacks up against other AL vote getters. All these players have so far received more votes than Joyce:



* Listed in descending order of votes.

Jeff Francoeur and Sam Fuld both have more votes than him? This simply can’t go on. Please, I entreat you – go vote for Matt Joyce and help right a terrible wrong.

Relief pitchers trade targets.

Spoiler [+]
We’ve already run through first basemen and designated hitters, corner outfielders, and middle infielders who could be available at the trading deadline. Today, we cover five relievers who could be switching teams over the next two months.

PLAYER: Heath Bell
TEAM: Padres
POSSIBLE DESTINATION(S): Cardinals, Indians, Phillies
CONTRACT STATUS: $7.5 million, free agent after the season
PROJECTED WAR: 1.3

Bell is pretty clearly the best “proven closer
 
The underrated Ryan Zimmerman.

Spoiler [+]
Yesterday, I took part (along with Jonah Keri and 28 other contributors to ESPN’s baseball section) in a Franchise Player Draft. We were tasked with selecting one player who we would want to build our franchise around, and in this hypothetical world, actual contract status was irrelevant. I ended up drawing the fourth pick in the draft, giving me an embarrassment of riches to select from, especially after my request to trade down was denied.

By the time my pick was up, Troy Tulowitzki, Evan Longoria, and Felix Hernandez were off the board. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t get a crack at Tulo, who was a pretty easy call as the first player selected. I figured Longoria would probably be gone as well, and wasn’t surprised at all when Keith Law snapped him up. David Schoenfeld made my life easier by taking Felix, which meant that I didn’t have to worry about whether or not I should consider drafting a pitcher – the only one worthy of that kind of selection in my mind was already gone, allowing me to focus on a handful of elite position players to choose from.

As you see in the link, I ended up taking Joey Votto, who I would say is the safest bet of any player in baseball to produce at an elite level going forward. He’s right there with Albert Pujols and Jose Bautista for the title of best hitter in baseball, he’s several younger than both of them, and he just keeps getting better each season he’s in the big leagues. Votto is the no-risk choice, and I’d argue that minimizing risk in this kind of situation is more important than trying to split hairs between which great player is marginally greater. I had a chance to get an elite player no matter which direction I went, so I focused on getting a player who was almost certainly going to produce at a premium level rather than rolling the dice looking for extra mythical upside.

That said, my selection of Votto wasn’t a clear cut choice. In the end, I narrowed my selection down to five players, choosing Votto over Hanley Ramirez, Jose Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, and Ryan Zimmerman. Obviously, my board was quite a bit different than most of the others drafting, as Ramirez went #20, Bautista #26 (to the other FanGraphs author in the draft, which is likely not a coincidence), and both Cabrera and Zimmerman went unselected. I was surprised that Cabrera wasn’t picked, but given his issues with alcohol, I can somewhat understand the drafters going other directions. After all, if others were also looking to minimize risk, there are a lot of great players who don’t have some of the baggage that Cabrera brings to the table. I think everyone realizes how great of a hitter he is, but my guess is that he was left unselected because of his off the field issues.

Zimmerman, though, apparently needs a new PR representative. If Schoenfeld had selected Votto, I probably would have taken Zimmerman ahead of the other three runners-up in the discussion with myself. Instead, he’s hanging out with Cabrera in the voting for biggest snub.

Really, though, what else could Zimmerman do to get noticed? I’m not the first person to mention this, but if you like Evan Longoria, you should like Zimmerman, because they’re the exact same player.

Longoria, 2009-2011: .284/.367/.510, 134 wRC+, +36.3 UZR, +16.6 WAR
Zimmerman, 2009-2011: .300/.378/.518, 137 wRC+, +28.8 UZR, +15.1 WAR

The gap in value is entirely the result of Longoria getting more playing time this year due a shorter DL stint, but they’re essentially twins. Their numbers across the board are the same no matter what category you look at – walk rate, strikeout rate, power, defense, whatever. Zimmerman is a year older and currently on the disabled list, but he’s still younger than most other players selected and a current lack of health didn’t stop Josh Johnson, Joe Mauer, Buster Posey, or Stephen Strasburg from being drafted. Zimmerman’s abdominal strain is not a long term concern, and so I find it hard to believe that it played a major role in his snubbing.

Instead, it seems like Zimmerman simply suffers from a lack of national exposure. Longoria has played in the World Series and had the national spotlight shined upon him in the process, while Zimmerman has spent his career playing for losing teams in Washington. He didn’t burst on the scene with a strong debut, but instead has taken the slower path of improving each year he’s been in the big leagues. He’s not a commanding personality, and even on his own team, has been overshadowed by the likes of Adam Dunn and Stephen Strasburg. Pretty soon, he’ll also have to share the spotlight with Bryce Harper.

With the focus on his teammates, it can be easy to forget that Zimmerman is the Nationals best player, and one of the very best players in the game. He may have gotten ignored yesterday, but he deserves to be mentioned in any conversation of cornerstone franchise players.

Matt Joyce getting snubbed.

Spoiler [+]
Every season, without fail, the All-Star Ballot becomes an object of contention; like the Hall of Fame voting, the All-Star Game is simply a lightning rod for debate. Should this glorified exhibition game decide home field advantage in the World Series? Should we even care about the All-Star Game anymore, as interleague play and television have removed its mystique? And of course, which players deserve to make the game? So many people claim to not care about the game, but that doesn’t prevent copious amounts of digital ink being spilled each year on these same 0l’ questions.*

*Personally, I haven’t watched the game the last few years, but I still can’t help but care on who gets selected for the teams. A part of it is stubborn obstinance – someone is wrong on the internet! - and a part of it is you know the players themselves take pride in these things. It’s only natural to want players to get the recognition they deserve, right?

This year’s All-Star Game travesty – outside of the fact that the Yankees are leading the voting in six out of nine slots – is the fact that one of the game’s best young outfielders isn’t even within the top 15 vote receivers at the position. This is a player that is currently leading the major leagues in batting average (.370), has the best slugging percentage (.636) out of all players not named Bautista, and has the third-best on-base percentage in the AL (.430).

This player has posted a .457 wOBA and a 198 wRC+ this year, much higher than Curtis Granderson’s 171 wRC+, and, according to WAR, he’s been the third-most valuable player in the majors this year (3.1 WAR, trailing only Bautista and Halladay). And if you don’t want to consider the fielding aspect of WAR, he’s also been the second-most valuable hitter in the majors, contributing 20.4 offensive runs. Holy cow, why isn’t he getting more love?

Ah, that’s right – he plays in Tampa Bay. Matt Joyce, come on down.

But wait! Since the All-Star Game happens midseason and it’s still early in the year, shouldn’t a player’s history count somewhat? Joyce was only called up to the Rays in late June last season, so maybe you could make the case that some stars should get a leg up due to their performance last year.

Even that point helps Joyce’s case, though. If you combine Joyce’s stats over the last two seasons, he’s been worth 4.8 WAR for the Rays in just under 450 plate appearances – not even a full season. His WAR figure ranks him 10th among all AL outfielders over the last two years, and that’s considering that all the players above him have around 300-400 more plate appearances than he does. Over that time, his .400 wOBA is third-best among all AL outfielders.

For comparison, here’s how his production over the last two years stacks up against other AL vote getters. All these players have so far received more votes than Joyce:



* Listed in descending order of votes.

Jeff Francoeur and Sam Fuld both have more votes than him? This simply can’t go on. Please, I entreat you – go vote for Matt Joyce and help right a terrible wrong.

Relief pitchers trade targets.

Spoiler [+]
We’ve already run through first basemen and designated hitters, corner outfielders, and middle infielders who could be available at the trading deadline. Today, we cover five relievers who could be switching teams over the next two months.

PLAYER: Heath Bell
TEAM: Padres
POSSIBLE DESTINATION(S): Cardinals, Indians, Phillies
CONTRACT STATUS: $7.5 million, free agent after the season
PROJECTED WAR: 1.3

Bell is pretty clearly the best “proven closer
 
The one year I miss hyping up Matt Joyce before the season... 
laugh.gif


Not surprised at all at what he has done. He is an easy selection.

Jeter.
30t6p3b.gif
 
The one year I miss hyping up Matt Joyce before the season... 
laugh.gif


Not surprised at all at what he has done. He is an easy selection.

Jeter.
30t6p3b.gif
 
On top of all that, he's been better against lefties lately. Actually cracked one of CJ the other day.
 
On top of all that, he's been better against lefties lately. Actually cracked one of CJ the other day.
 
Spoiler [+]
It's very rare that a highly ranked executive of one team criticizes a player on another team, but Giants general manager Brian Sabean did not hold back when discussing Scott Cousins, the outfielder who ran over and injured Giants catcher Buster Posey last week.

mlb_a_sabean_200.jpg

Getty ImagesBrian Sabean wasn't subtle in how he felt about the cause of the injury.

Cousins' agent, Matt Sosnick, responded. From Henry Schulman's story:

"What Cousins did was not malicious," Sosnick said. "A statement that anyone makes implying that he did something on purpose to be hurtful or malicious to Posey is untrue. Those people are misinformed. You can't determine on a replay if there was a sliding lane for him to get into. It's impossible."

Sosnick said no player ever tried harder than Cousins to reach out to a player he injured.

The agent, who also represents Freddy Sanchez, said the hit was not illegal and the right thing to do in a close game. If the same situation arose, Sosnick said, "I would hope he'd make the same play, and he would hope that nothing would happen to Posey at all.

"I'd say Brian's opinion is in the vast minority in baseball. I can understand the disappointment that Posey is out. I'm disappointed. My family is disappointed and I don't even represent him. I can just tell you that if you know Scott Cousins, you know it was certainly not intentional."

In spending two days around the Giants earlier this week, it was evident that the anger over the Posey play was still deeply felt, and lasting, and while manager Bruce Bochy held a team meeting to encourage his players to turn the page, my guess is there will be a season-long hangover -- because of how important Posey was to the team, because of what they witnessed in the trainers' room on the night of Posey's injury, and because Sabean and others believe it was a needless play.

What Sabean said was a matter of needlessly piling onto Cousins, who already feels bad, writes Juan Rodriguez. Joe Capozzi wouldn't be shocked if Major League Baseball stepped in; neither would I.

Tim Kawakami isn't sure why Sabean said what he said. Bochy told Posey last July to not block home plate, as Andrew Baggarly writes within this notebook.

Elsewhere...

Braves catcher Brian McCann says within this piece that he wouldn't be upset if baseball changed the rules, to protect catchers. There are other catchers who feel the same way, privately.

The Giants did win on Thursday night, defeating the Cardinals with a lot of help from Aubrey Huff, who had his first three-homer game. From ESPN Stats & Information: He's the first Giants player to have a three-homer game since J.T. Snow on Aug. 13, 2004. After a slow start this season, Huff has been locked in at the plate so far in June. He hasn't missed on 11 swings, and his four homers in two June games match his total in his first 53 games. After hitting .218 with four HRs in the first two months, he's hitting .556 with four HRs in June alone.

Huff's six RBIs were matched by Cardinals center fielder Colby Rasmus, who had a triple and a grand slam. According to Elias, the last time opposing hitters had six-plus RBIs in a game was July 20, 2009 when Justin Morneau drove in seven and Matt Holliday drove in six in a 14-13 Athletics win.

Huff's three-homer game was the sixth this season, all coming since May 12. There were 13 three-HR games all last season.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• Tom Ricketts and the Cubs have run afoul of baseball's debt rules, write Bill Shaikin and Phil Rogers. Other teams which are in the same position, according to Shaikin and Rogers: the Orioles, Tigers, Marlins, Phillies, Rangers, Nationals, Mets and Dodgers.
• Wrote here in yesterday's column about Michael Pineda's early accumulation of innings and the quandary the Mariners will soon face; Pineda has never thrown more than 139.1 innings in any season professionally, and he's already (because of his exceptional work) racked up 70.1 innings this year. Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik outlined the team's perspective in an email: "We will monitor his pitch count, innings and pitches per innings as well as his starts. We will continue to monitor as the season unfolds. Not a hard and fast rule, more of a common-sense approach."

• It's a reasonable guess that Daisuke Matsuzaka's elbow injury will probably end his career with the Red Sox, and if that's the case, then this is the production Boston got in return for its $103 million investment in the right-hander:

W-L: 49-30
ERA: 4.25
WHIP: 1.397

Over the past three years, he was 16-15 with an ERA of around 5.00.

The Yankees got less for the $46 million they put into Kei Igawa:

W-L: 2-4
ERA: 6.66
WHIP: 1.758

So it's safe to say that the spending frenzy on the two pitchers from Japan in the fall of 2006 has not worked out.
[h3]The Draft[/h3]
1. The Orioles are looking to add arms, writes Dan Connolly, and could target Dylan Bundy. My guess is that Bundy is going to go very early; evaluators love his talent.
2. The Rangers are going through their last preparations.

3. Danny Hultzen will be taken near the top of the draft, writes Josh Barr.

4. Gerrit Cole remains an option for the No. 1 pick.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. Wrote here earlier this week that the Diamondbacks will be among the most aggressive teams in the trade market, and sources say that the Marlins will be too. Larry Beinfest says Hanley Ramirez's early-season slump is perplexing, and says upgrades could be made.
2. The Cardinals promoted a pitcher from Double-A, writes Derrick Goold.

3. Jeff Zrebiec offers some guesses as to why Nick Markakis started at first base the other day.

4. Chone Figgins was back in the Seattle lineup, as Geoff Baker writes.

5. Pat Burrell is playing his way onto the bench.

6. Dan Bickley wonders if the Diamondbacks should go after David Wright.

7. The Yankees will be shopping for pitching.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Brandon Webb has been shut down because of shoulder inflammation. The situation with Webb is just sad; he has not been able to come back.
2. Joe Mauer caught three innings in an extended spring game.

3. Shane Victorino is coming back.

4. Cameron Maybin got good news about his knee.

5. Matt Harrison is dealing with a blister.

6. In the aftermath of Rich Hill's injury, Andrew Miller might be getting a shot, and he's been throwing well.
[h3]Thursday's games[/h3]
1. James Shields got lit up.
2. The Cardinals' young pitchers got pounded.

3. Carlos Peguero was "the man" for the Mariners, mashing a couple of homers in support of Felix Hernandez. How Felix dominated the Rays, from ESPN Stats & Info:

• He missed bats: Rays hitters missed on 18 of their 47 swings (38.3), the second-highest percentage by a Hernandez opponent in the last three seasons. Kelly Shoppach missed on six of his seven swings alone. His six misses tied the most by any hitter this year who had just three plate appearances.

• Hernandez's off-speed stuff was particularly effective. Hitters missed on 12 of their 17 swings against Hernandez's off-speed pitches, including all four times they swung on his slider. The Rays were 0-for-13 on at-bats ending in a Hernandez off-speed pitch, including 10 outs by strikeout.

• Hernandez stayed out of hitters' counts. He went to a 2-0 count just once and didn't go 3-1. Just 13 of his 97 pitches came when he was behind.

King Felix now also has the best all-time win percentage in June for starters with a minimum of 15 starts:

Felix Hernandez: 16-3 (.842)
Sandy Koufax: 42-12 (.778)
+%!!%@ Ford: 48-14 (.774)

4. Jordan Zimmermann was "the man" against the D-backs. How he won, from Stats & Info:

• The slider. On at-bats ending with sliders, Diamondbacks hitters were 0-for-8 with three strikeouts. Foes are now hitting .224 against Zimmermann's slider on the season.

• He was tough when it mattered. Arizona hitters were 0-for-6 against Zimmermann with runners in scoring position.

• He pitched with command. Of the 27 batters Zimmermann faced, only two saw a three-ball count.

5. The Mets rallied in a big way. Manager Terry Collins picked his spot with his rant, writes David Waldstein. More on the Mets' win: After trailing 7-0, the Mets scored nine unanswered runs and held on to win 9-8. The comeback is tied for the second-largest in Mets history. From Stats & Info: Jason Isringhausen picked up the win for the Mets -- his first this season, and his first with the Mets franchise since June 8, 1999. It marks the longest time between wins by a pitcher for the Mets franchise in team history, at 11 years, 359 days. Bob Miller once went 11 years, 213 days, and David Cone went 10 years, 245 days.

The last player to go that long between wins for any team was Doug Brocail, who went 12 years and 10 days between wins for the Astros, with a win in 1996 and a win in 2008. Al Leiter holds the longest stretch between wins for a team (16 years, 94 days between Yankee wins).

8. The Padres' homecoming was ruined.

9. Endy Chavez had a four-hit night, as the Rangers recovered from an early deficit.

10. The Astros built an insurmountable lead, as Zachary Levine writes.

11. The D-backs had a sluggish performance at the start of a homestand.

12. The Pirates collapsed. Watched a lot of this game and manager Clint Hurdle's reaction as his team lost a 7-0 lead, and he was clearly biting his tongue after the game -- to his credit. In the moment after the Mets tied the score, a camera found Paul Maholm in the dugout as he saw his day blown up completely, and it was apparent from his expression that he could not believe what had happened.

13. Watched a lot of the Indians-Rangers game, and it was among the worst games that Cleveland has played this year; it was sloppy. Grady Sizemore hit in the No. 5 spot.

The Danks Theory.

Spoiler [+]
During the summer of 2010, I coined the phrase “The Danks Theory
 
Spoiler [+]
It's very rare that a highly ranked executive of one team criticizes a player on another team, but Giants general manager Brian Sabean did not hold back when discussing Scott Cousins, the outfielder who ran over and injured Giants catcher Buster Posey last week.

mlb_a_sabean_200.jpg

Getty ImagesBrian Sabean wasn't subtle in how he felt about the cause of the injury.

Cousins' agent, Matt Sosnick, responded. From Henry Schulman's story:

"What Cousins did was not malicious," Sosnick said. "A statement that anyone makes implying that he did something on purpose to be hurtful or malicious to Posey is untrue. Those people are misinformed. You can't determine on a replay if there was a sliding lane for him to get into. It's impossible."

Sosnick said no player ever tried harder than Cousins to reach out to a player he injured.

The agent, who also represents Freddy Sanchez, said the hit was not illegal and the right thing to do in a close game. If the same situation arose, Sosnick said, "I would hope he'd make the same play, and he would hope that nothing would happen to Posey at all.

"I'd say Brian's opinion is in the vast minority in baseball. I can understand the disappointment that Posey is out. I'm disappointed. My family is disappointed and I don't even represent him. I can just tell you that if you know Scott Cousins, you know it was certainly not intentional."

In spending two days around the Giants earlier this week, it was evident that the anger over the Posey play was still deeply felt, and lasting, and while manager Bruce Bochy held a team meeting to encourage his players to turn the page, my guess is there will be a season-long hangover -- because of how important Posey was to the team, because of what they witnessed in the trainers' room on the night of Posey's injury, and because Sabean and others believe it was a needless play.

What Sabean said was a matter of needlessly piling onto Cousins, who already feels bad, writes Juan Rodriguez. Joe Capozzi wouldn't be shocked if Major League Baseball stepped in; neither would I.

Tim Kawakami isn't sure why Sabean said what he said. Bochy told Posey last July to not block home plate, as Andrew Baggarly writes within this notebook.

Elsewhere...

Braves catcher Brian McCann says within this piece that he wouldn't be upset if baseball changed the rules, to protect catchers. There are other catchers who feel the same way, privately.

The Giants did win on Thursday night, defeating the Cardinals with a lot of help from Aubrey Huff, who had his first three-homer game. From ESPN Stats & Information: He's the first Giants player to have a three-homer game since J.T. Snow on Aug. 13, 2004. After a slow start this season, Huff has been locked in at the plate so far in June. He hasn't missed on 11 swings, and his four homers in two June games match his total in his first 53 games. After hitting .218 with four HRs in the first two months, he's hitting .556 with four HRs in June alone.

Huff's six RBIs were matched by Cardinals center fielder Colby Rasmus, who had a triple and a grand slam. According to Elias, the last time opposing hitters had six-plus RBIs in a game was July 20, 2009 when Justin Morneau drove in seven and Matt Holliday drove in six in a 14-13 Athletics win.

Huff's three-homer game was the sixth this season, all coming since May 12. There were 13 three-HR games all last season.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• Tom Ricketts and the Cubs have run afoul of baseball's debt rules, write Bill Shaikin and Phil Rogers. Other teams which are in the same position, according to Shaikin and Rogers: the Orioles, Tigers, Marlins, Phillies, Rangers, Nationals, Mets and Dodgers.
• Wrote here in yesterday's column about Michael Pineda's early accumulation of innings and the quandary the Mariners will soon face; Pineda has never thrown more than 139.1 innings in any season professionally, and he's already (because of his exceptional work) racked up 70.1 innings this year. Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik outlined the team's perspective in an email: "We will monitor his pitch count, innings and pitches per innings as well as his starts. We will continue to monitor as the season unfolds. Not a hard and fast rule, more of a common-sense approach."

• It's a reasonable guess that Daisuke Matsuzaka's elbow injury will probably end his career with the Red Sox, and if that's the case, then this is the production Boston got in return for its $103 million investment in the right-hander:

W-L: 49-30
ERA: 4.25
WHIP: 1.397

Over the past three years, he was 16-15 with an ERA of around 5.00.

The Yankees got less for the $46 million they put into Kei Igawa:

W-L: 2-4
ERA: 6.66
WHIP: 1.758

So it's safe to say that the spending frenzy on the two pitchers from Japan in the fall of 2006 has not worked out.
[h3]The Draft[/h3]
1. The Orioles are looking to add arms, writes Dan Connolly, and could target Dylan Bundy. My guess is that Bundy is going to go very early; evaluators love his talent.
2. The Rangers are going through their last preparations.

3. Danny Hultzen will be taken near the top of the draft, writes Josh Barr.

4. Gerrit Cole remains an option for the No. 1 pick.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. Wrote here earlier this week that the Diamondbacks will be among the most aggressive teams in the trade market, and sources say that the Marlins will be too. Larry Beinfest says Hanley Ramirez's early-season slump is perplexing, and says upgrades could be made.
2. The Cardinals promoted a pitcher from Double-A, writes Derrick Goold.

3. Jeff Zrebiec offers some guesses as to why Nick Markakis started at first base the other day.

4. Chone Figgins was back in the Seattle lineup, as Geoff Baker writes.

5. Pat Burrell is playing his way onto the bench.

6. Dan Bickley wonders if the Diamondbacks should go after David Wright.

7. The Yankees will be shopping for pitching.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Brandon Webb has been shut down because of shoulder inflammation. The situation with Webb is just sad; he has not been able to come back.
2. Joe Mauer caught three innings in an extended spring game.

3. Shane Victorino is coming back.

4. Cameron Maybin got good news about his knee.

5. Matt Harrison is dealing with a blister.

6. In the aftermath of Rich Hill's injury, Andrew Miller might be getting a shot, and he's been throwing well.
[h3]Thursday's games[/h3]
1. James Shields got lit up.
2. The Cardinals' young pitchers got pounded.

3. Carlos Peguero was "the man" for the Mariners, mashing a couple of homers in support of Felix Hernandez. How Felix dominated the Rays, from ESPN Stats & Info:

• He missed bats: Rays hitters missed on 18 of their 47 swings (38.3), the second-highest percentage by a Hernandez opponent in the last three seasons. Kelly Shoppach missed on six of his seven swings alone. His six misses tied the most by any hitter this year who had just three plate appearances.

• Hernandez's off-speed stuff was particularly effective. Hitters missed on 12 of their 17 swings against Hernandez's off-speed pitches, including all four times they swung on his slider. The Rays were 0-for-13 on at-bats ending in a Hernandez off-speed pitch, including 10 outs by strikeout.

• Hernandez stayed out of hitters' counts. He went to a 2-0 count just once and didn't go 3-1. Just 13 of his 97 pitches came when he was behind.

King Felix now also has the best all-time win percentage in June for starters with a minimum of 15 starts:

Felix Hernandez: 16-3 (.842)
Sandy Koufax: 42-12 (.778)
+%!!%@ Ford: 48-14 (.774)

4. Jordan Zimmermann was "the man" against the D-backs. How he won, from Stats & Info:

• The slider. On at-bats ending with sliders, Diamondbacks hitters were 0-for-8 with three strikeouts. Foes are now hitting .224 against Zimmermann's slider on the season.

• He was tough when it mattered. Arizona hitters were 0-for-6 against Zimmermann with runners in scoring position.

• He pitched with command. Of the 27 batters Zimmermann faced, only two saw a three-ball count.

5. The Mets rallied in a big way. Manager Terry Collins picked his spot with his rant, writes David Waldstein. More on the Mets' win: After trailing 7-0, the Mets scored nine unanswered runs and held on to win 9-8. The comeback is tied for the second-largest in Mets history. From Stats & Info: Jason Isringhausen picked up the win for the Mets -- his first this season, and his first with the Mets franchise since June 8, 1999. It marks the longest time between wins by a pitcher for the Mets franchise in team history, at 11 years, 359 days. Bob Miller once went 11 years, 213 days, and David Cone went 10 years, 245 days.

The last player to go that long between wins for any team was Doug Brocail, who went 12 years and 10 days between wins for the Astros, with a win in 1996 and a win in 2008. Al Leiter holds the longest stretch between wins for a team (16 years, 94 days between Yankee wins).

8. The Padres' homecoming was ruined.

9. Endy Chavez had a four-hit night, as the Rangers recovered from an early deficit.

10. The Astros built an insurmountable lead, as Zachary Levine writes.

11. The D-backs had a sluggish performance at the start of a homestand.

12. The Pirates collapsed. Watched a lot of this game and manager Clint Hurdle's reaction as his team lost a 7-0 lead, and he was clearly biting his tongue after the game -- to his credit. In the moment after the Mets tied the score, a camera found Paul Maholm in the dugout as he saw his day blown up completely, and it was apparent from his expression that he could not believe what had happened.

13. Watched a lot of the Indians-Rangers game, and it was among the worst games that Cleveland has played this year; it was sloppy. Grady Sizemore hit in the No. 5 spot.

The Danks Theory.

Spoiler [+]
During the summer of 2010, I coined the phrase “The Danks Theory
 
Sabean said that if Scott Cousins "doesn't play another day in the big leagues, I think we'll all be happy."
30t6p3b.gif
Sabean needs to shut his mouth. The play was legal and Cousins did nothing wrong, the outcome was just very unfortunate.
 
Sabean said that if Scott Cousins "doesn't play another day in the big leagues, I think we'll all be happy."
30t6p3b.gif
Sabean needs to shut his mouth. The play was legal and Cousins did nothing wrong, the outcome was just very unfortunate.
 
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