INSIDE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL NOW

A good baseball fan knows their team inside and out. But they don’t stop there. They have to know what else is going on throughout the entire MLB. Here are a few players to watch:

Domonic Brown is simply on fire lately. The Phillies outfielder has been a wrecking crew all by himself these last two weeks. He has racked up 10 homers, 20 RBIs, and boasts a slash line of .396/.439/1.038. If he continues this white hot performance he will drag Philadelphia into the post season all by himself. Pitchers need be very wary of Brown.

Matt Moore, wunderkind starter for the Tampa Bay Rays, has hit a wall of late. He has lost both of his last two starts. His ERA from those games? An absolutely brutal 15.75. Quite a far cry from his magnificent start to the season.

In a previous article about Moore, during his headier days early in the season, I examined several intangibles contributing to his success. Things like BABIP and LOB%, and how those stats were showing he was benefiting from quite a bit of luck. The chickens have apparently come home to roost for Matt Moore. Nobody listens to me, and I am always right.

RED FLAG, YANKEE FANS!

At first glance, you may pass right over Jarrod Parker. This season he is 5-6 with a 4.68 ERA. Nothing special here, right?

Look again. Three of his wins came in the last 14 days. In that span, he struck out 15 and walked 5, sporting an ERA of 1.77. That get your attention? It should. Especially if you are a Yankee fan. He faces the Bombers on Thursday and the way the boys have struggled at the plate lately, Parker will give them fits. Danger, young Robinson!

Starlin Castro, what is wrong with you? The superstar shortstop from the Cubs seems to be shedding his elite status. His batting average is absolutely plummeting. It is .114 over the last two weeks, dragging his season average down to .250. He has stolen all of one base in that time.

If, like me, you are unfortunate enough to be stuck with this expensive layabout on your fantasy team, NAIL HIM TO THE BENCH! Castro will only hurt you right now. Play anyone else at short in the meantime.

Whatever problems the Kansas City Royals might have, Greg Holland is not one of them. The closer has sandwiched himself between Jim Johnson and our own Mariano Rivera as one of the three guys batters don’t want to see in the ninth inning.

Don’t believe me? That’s fine, Holland’s numbers speak for themselves. The last two weeks have seen him strike out 7 and save 5 games in 6 innings of work. His ERA is 0.00.

And that’s a quick glance around the league. Pay attention to how the Yankees do on Thursday.



Chad R. MacDonald
BYB Writer
Facebook: New York Yankees the Home of Champions
My Blog: ChadRants


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AROUND MLB & EDDIE MONEY

That's one way to get a hit: Ichiro Suzuki got a shirt hit last night. I know, you have no idea what that is, right? Ichiro cranked a hit to A's pitcher Jarrod Parker and the ball fell into his shirt. Ichiro ran out the hit and Parker struggled to try and get it out of his shirt.  He couldn't. Base hit Suzuki.

The video is HERE.  Really weird and a highlight real for years to come. It reminds of of the time when Terry Mulholland had the ball stuck in his mitt and threw the whole mitt to first base back in 1986. I think I just dated myself.  Whoops.


42: I cannot wait to see this film.  Chadwick Boseman plays Jackie Robinson, one of the bravest men in the history of this great nation.  I am a baseball movie freak so this is a film that I will no doubt recommend when it comes out in April 2013.  Give the trailer a look. "You give me the uniform. You give me a number on my back. I'll give you the guts." God Bless Jackie.

The Washington Nationals clinch: Wow, that was fast. It is the first playoff spot for a Washington baseball team in 79 years. According to the Washington Post, Adam LaRoche said “This is no doubt a big day for this organization and this city... Not to downplay the day at all, but guys aren’t satisfied at all. We don’t look at this like mission accomplished.” Read HERE. Congrats on clinching, but yeah, there's still a ways to go.

Stand up guy: Elliot Johnson of the Tampa Bay Rays is cool as hell.  What other athlete is tweeted by a fan to come out and play catch with them in the parking lot before a game and they actually do it? The full story is HERE. The video is HERE.  Bravo Elliot Johnson, it's nice to see this kind of stuff once in a while.

Time's up!: Eric Duncan retired. You remember Eric Duncan right? He was a Yankees farm hand and last season he was in AA for the Royals.  According to NBC Sports, "Duncan was the Yankees’ third baseman of the future, as the 2003 first-round pick ranked as the game’s 36th-best prospect in 2005 according to Baseball America and then cracked the top 100 again in 2006." It turns out, he retired now at the age of 27 and will help coach at Seton Hall, read about it HERE.




Money's Back!: Eddie Money is still around and thank god.  Sure, Money has nothing to do with baseball, but I have to tell you, I laugh hysterical every time I see this GEICO commercial above.  Enjoy it.

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MARTIN WALK-OFF & THE YANKEES MOMENTUM

Oh what a night! It was an emotionally back-and-forth night for those who watched the whole game. Russell Martin, whose hitting has been much maligned this season, saved the Yankees bacon tonight. On a night when the closer blew the save, Martin hit a walk off home run to bring excitement and optimism back to the Bronx. This, of course, was after a fantastic performance by CC Sabathia and a blown save by Rafael Soriano.

CC Sabathia took the mound, with an extra day's rest, trying to re-establish himself as the ace of this pitching staff. He certainly did so tonight. He came out of the gate strong, striking out the side in the first. He walked a batter in the first, and did not allow another base runner until the sixth. It was nice to see his fastball reaching 94-95 mph, with his slider in the mid-80s'. It really makes him hard to hit, and it showed, as the Athletics looked lost against him. It also helped to keep CC's pitch count down, not throwing his 75th pitch until the 6th inning.

Jarrod Parker also came out strong, retiring the first seven batters he faced. He held the Yankees scoreless through the first 3 innings and the final 3 innings. His change up was hard to hit, his fastball was reaching 93-94 mph, and his location was very good. The Yankees have a great hitting team, and should be scoring more runs, but we have to give credit where credit is due. Parker pitched very well tonight.

Rafael Soriano, who literally pulled double duty on Wednesday and consequently was unable to pitch last night, perhaps should have been given another day of rest. He blew the save on what was a 1-0 game by giving up a home run to Brandon Moss. It is easy to judge Joe Girardi's decision-making. Many did on Twitter and Facebook. A manager should always know whether their players are good to go. However, to his credit, Soriano has 42 saves on the season in 45 tries. Many were on short rest. I understand why he brought him in - it was an important game. Despite not having his best stuff, he did keep it to one run and gave the Yankees a chance to get a walk off win. So you cannot really blame Joe too much. I still feel comfortable giving Soriano the ball in the ninth every time out.

The Yankees hitting did have a bright spot in the bottom of the 4th inning, playing some nice small ball. Nick Swisher led off with a single to right. Swisher showed some aggressive base running by tagging up and pretending to go for second on Robinson Cano's fly ball to left, drawing a throw. It paid off in the next at-bat as he moved to third on an Alex Rodriguez base hit to left-center. Curtis Granderson hit a sacrifice fly to bring Swisher in for the first run of the game. Get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in. We love it!

Ichiro Suzuki continued his red-hot streak, as he went two for three on the night. Ichiro reached on an infield single, in one of the weirdest plays we've seen.  The ball went in Jarrod Parker's shirt, and it did not come out until Ichiro reached first. Weird, but we will take the hit!

Derek Jeter extended his hitting streak to 15 games, hitting his league-leading 204th hit. It also brings his career total to 3292, pulling him to within 23 hits of Eddie Collins and 10th place on the all-time hits list. It will be hard to do it in the 12 games left this season, but you never know with the Captain!

David Robertson held Oakland down, as he came in for a 3-up 3-down 10th inning. It was exactly what the Yankees needed - a confidence boost that the bullpen could hold Oakland to one until they scored.

An honorable mention goes to Eduardo Nunez. He made a fantastic catch in the top of the seventh on a liner from Josh Donaldson to end the inning. He also stole second in the bottom of the eighth, putting a man in scoring position for a potential insurance run.

Anytime you have a game where the pitcher holds the opposition scoreless for 8 innings, the MVP is the starting pitcher. What impressed me the most was that even as late as the 8th inning, CC was still hitting 95 on the radar gun. The only reason Oakland loaded the bases in the 8th was that the slow roller that he induced wasn't charged by Eduardo Nunez, and the next pitch was too far inside. Sabathia completely dominated tonight. I have written in the past that CC simply does not look like an ace. Tonight, he looked like an ace. It could not have come at a better time.

Final Score: Yankees 2, Athletics 1

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon

My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

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