400 HR, 2000 hits and .285 average

As you know on this blog, I really am a big fan of not just good pitching but great pitching. When it concerns writing about hitters, I enjoy hitters who have longevity and that continue to impress year in and year out. For me one of those players is Chipper Jones.

There are a couple of things I look for when I follow hitters, do they hit for power and average at the same time. I like the guys who will hit 400+ HR's and 2000+ hits. Of course the ultimate would be to have a hitter with 3000 hits, 500 HR, and an average over .285 in their career. Chipper clearly fits the 1st category and is closing in on the second.

Let me share with you the active players with at least 400 HR's and 2000 hitting at least .285:

1. Ken Griffey Jr. 625 HR, 2751 hits, .285 lifetime average
2. Gary Sheffield 509 HR, 2689 hits, .292 average
3. Chipper Jones 424 HR, 2386 hits, .309 average
4. Vlad Guerrero 403 HR, 2218 hits, .322 average

Alex Rodriguez 576 HR, 2497 hits, .304 (I put him here for stats, but I don't consider him a legitimate numbers guy)
Manny Ramirez 541 HR, 2474 hits, .314( Ditto for Manny, same as A Roid)

Let me speculate, who are 4 more legitimate contenders for this rare feat:

1. Albert Pujols 360 HR, 1675 hits, .333 average
2. Mark Texiera 234 HR, 1129 hits, .289 average
3. Miguel Cabrera 202 HR, 1184 hits, .312 average
4. Justin Morneau 162 HR, 888 hits, .283 average

Let me know your thoughts...

Congrats to Mark Reynolds who hit the elusive 40 HR. He now joins big Albert who is sitting on 41 long shots. It does seem that Ryan Howard and Carlos Pena are going to be members of that club in the very near future.

Here is to celebrating some great hitters.

Clutch HR's rule the night

Last night there were big home runs to win games.

My favorite HR on the night was from Khalil Greene. I am a Nationals fan but I am a bigger fan of players who overcome adversity. Even though I was pulling for a rare Nats win, two of my favorite players hit HR's against them.

First it was Greene who hit a pinch hit dinger for his eighth on the season. He is slowly returning to action as he deals with his anxiety disorder. I work with and live with people with anxiety disorders and I understand how difficult it is to overcome it and push through. I will always celebrate small victories for the Greene's and Greinke's of the baseball world.

The second big HR for the Cards was in the bottom of the ninth. Albert Pujols led off the inning and crushed #41 on the year. I am going out on a limb, Pujols will win NL MVP this year. Actually I don't think it is too risky a pick, I just do not see anyone else who would be close. Pujols has 360 career shots and needs just 340 more for 700. I have confidence that Albert is going to hit 9 more this season to get to 50. Go Albert!!!

As you know by now I am not a Yankees fan, but I do appreciate their talent. Robinson Cano hit a three run shot last night in the bottom of the ninth to win another game for the dreaded boys in pin stripes. That team can hit!!! Here are the home run totals for their team:

Texiera 31
Damon & Matsui 23
Rodriguez 22
Cano & Swisher 21
Jeter & Posada 17

They have six guys with at least 20 + HR and another two ready to reach that mark. It would be incredible to have eight of nine guys on the team put up those kind of numbers. Poor Melky Cabrera, he needs to get going.

Can the Yanks win it all? I sure hope not!!!

Lots to update

My computer crashed a couple of weeks ago so updates have been hard to do. I thought I would get back in the saddle so to speak by updating the win totals.

1. Jamie Moyer 258
2. Roy Halladay 144
3. Mark Buehrle 133
4, CC Sabathia 132
5. Johan Santana 122
6. Josh Beckett 103
7. Justin Verlander 60
8. Felix Hernandez 52
9. Jered Weaver 48
10. Chad Billingsley 47
11. Zach Greinke 46
12. Matt Cain 42
13. Tim Lincecum 38
14. Jon Lester 37
15. Matt Latos 4

I have made a decision to remove one of my pichers from the list, you could say I am making a trade after the trade deadline. Cole Hamels is not headed in the right direction, so I will be trading him to the banished list. In his place I am picking up Josh Beckett.

I feel like I needed to make a change just like the Angels and Rays. After all the Angels did pick up Scott Kazmir in a trade. I thought the Angels had a great staff, now they have an incredible staff. Can they be beat in the AL?

Potential 20 game winner

I am going out on a limb, CC Sabathia is going to win 20 games this season. He is becoming the most dependable and dominant pitcher to toe the rubber. Added to that, the Yankees look unstoppable. I believe that CC has seven more starts so surely he can put up at least 5 more "W"'s.

If you remember a previous blog I mentioned Buster Olney of ESPN was interviewed by a friend of mine on his talk radio show. Olney stated that he thought the next 300 game winner, if there were ever to be one again, would be CC. I stated that I though the next one would be Felix Hernandez. Right now it looks like Buster knows more than me. Actually I already knew he did but I am justing trying to "compete"

Speaking of guys competing, here are three young starters that are doing just that. J.A. Happ moved to 10-2 on the season. The Phillies look so impressive this season and Happ has been a big part of that. He continues to give consistent great starts.

Tommy Hanson moved to 9-2 on the season. The Braves are making a charge for the division as they try and catch the Phillies. They are also in a fight for the Wild Card with the Rockies and the Giants. Hanson has been so impressive and they will need him to continue to pitch beyond his years if they have a chance. The Braves have improved so much since the arrival of Adam Laroche, I think he needs to stay a Brave.

Ricky Romero has been one of the few bright spots in another bad year for the Jays. He picked up his 11th victory of the season. In fact he is just a couple of victories behind staff ace Roy Halladay. There may be hope for the Jays in the future as many young pitchers have been called upon to step up this year.

I had a big smile on my face last night as I watched Cards new pitcher, the 42 year old John Smoltz pitch. He was written off by the Red Sox, and man do they ever need pitching, and picked up by the Cards. Smoltz now has 213 career wins. Don't forget that he was a closer for four years of his career where he amassed 154 saves. He is a sure Hall of Famer I would think.

Albert Pujols became the first official member of the 2009, 40 HR club. Come on Albert get hot and get to 50 for the year and 359 for his career. If he struggles to get to 50 imagine how rediculous 70 by McGwire, Bonds and Sosa are.

Finally Ken Griffey Jr. went yard again for the 13th time on the season. It was almost two weeks between homers, lets hope #625 comes in the next game or so. He is a true professional. Come on Mariners, make a run, get in the playoffs so Griffey gets that experience.

The next big power hitter

Every once in a while a player sneaks onto the big league stage and goes unnoticed for a short time. He can even fly under the radar longer if he plays for a small market club. It can be even more challenging if the team you play for plays in a difficult stadium to hit HR's in. So who is this relative unknown hitter that has all this potential?

Let me tell you a little bit about this player:

1. He is a right handed hitter from Pennsylvania
2. He attended a small community college in Arizona
3. He was born on 9/11 and will be 23 years old next month
4. He has been in the minors for the last three years and has been on many all star teams in the minors.
5. He has nine homeruns on the year, including an inside the park HR
6. He is 6'6" and 285 lbs.
7. In the last two weeks he has raised his batting average by 33 points
8. He has homered in 3 of his last 4 games.
9. He finally offers protection for Adrian Gonzalez
10. He is Kyle Blanks.

When he gets in the batters box he reminds me a lot of Adam Dunn. He is getting much more comfortable in the batters box and his numbers continue to go up. I am projecting that Blanks will finish the season with at least 15 HR and that next year he will be a 30 HR guy. Only time will tell but I love to watch this guy hit.

Jered Weaver continues to be a dominant pitcher. In his last start he threw another great game, with a nine inning shutout of the Cleveland Indians. His numbers are impressive with a 13-4 record on the season. His career record is now 48-23. Weaver's complete gave him 4 on the season. He now trails just Roy Halladay and Zach Greinke with 5, and ties with Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. He deserves to be mentioned among the elite pitchers in the bigs this year.

Jon Lester had another impressive outing as he manhandled the Blue Jays. That in itself is no major feat as it seems like everybody beats up on the hapless Jays. That being said, Lester pitched 8 solid innings of 3 hit ball. He did not put up his usual high strikeout numbers, but on this night he did not need to. His 10th win of the season and 37th of his career moved the Sox into the lead once again in the Wild Card standings.

It will be nice to see Anibal Snachez back on the mound tonight. Sanchez is a member of the no-hitter club, so he will indeed be a welcome addition for the Marlins as they try and make a run for the playoffs. He is a nice young pitcher to watch.

Old Man Wins again

Pedro Martinez was the final piece of the puzzle for the Phillies. He joined the rotation to make the Phillies become the team to beat in the NL. When he joined the rotation it forced Jamie Moyer to the pen. So how has Moyer done? Well last night he pitched better than Pedro.

Moyer pitched 6 innings of 2 hit ball in relief. He struck out 5 and showed why he should still be in the starting rotation. I have a feeling that within another few weeks Mr. Martinez will develop some kind of arm problem and Moyer will be called back to front line duty. Moyer now has 257 wins and sits 41st in all time wins, 40th if you take out Roger Clemens!!! It will be almost impossible for him to reach 300 as a starter, but as a reliever, well the odds just got harder.

Chad Billingsley picked up a victory last night over the talented Cardinals. Win #47 on his career and 12th on the season was important for Chad as he was coming back from injury. He was not dominant but he did pitch well enough to win. The Dodgers need a healthy Billingsley if they are going anywhere this post season.

CC Sabathia continued his winning ways with a victory over the A's. It looked early on that he might get ejected after plunking Kurt Suzuki in retaliation for the A's pitcher hitting A Rod. Suzuki had the biggest laugh as he homered off CC moments later. CC got his game back on track. He knew he would get lots of run support as always. Pitching 8 solid innings ensured the victory for Sabathia who now is tied with Beckett for the league lead in wins with 14. He now has 131 for the career.

It is great to have 3 pitchers add to their win column. Maybe Halladay, Verlander, and Latos can do the same tonight.

What if Chris Carpenter had been healthy?

There are some players who play in the majors that you just wish they had been able to stay healthy. You know they have the talent, you know they have the smarts, but their bodies just won't cooperate with them.

For me Chris Carpenter is one of those players. When he is healthy he is one of the best pitchers in baseball. Before the start of this season he had won 100 games and lost 70. In the last 7 seasons he has only been able to pitch for three and a hlaf of those seasons. In 2003 he had 0 starts, in 2007 he had 1 start and last year he had just 4 starts before his seasons ended. What a shame.

He missed a good portion of this season too. Yet since he has come back he continues to be impressive. In just 20 starts this season he has a 13-3 record and a microscopic 2.27 ERA. He reminds me so much of Roy Halladay. If he could pitch another 5 seasons and win 17 games he would move his win total to over 200. Then add in the three seasons he lost due to injury and we would potentially be looking at a 250 game winner. That will never happen, but oh what could have been.

Carpenter picked up win #113 of his career and for the fifth consecutive start he picked up the "W". If he can stay healthy and the Cards make the playoffs, incidentally I think that they will, I like the Cards chances to win it all. They certainly have the best offensive talent in the game with Albert Pujols.

Albert and Mark Reynolds continue their torrid homerun pace. Reynolds temporarily caught Albert in the HR column with a HR earlier in the day and Albert took the lead back with one of his own later in the evening. Pujols now is sitting on 358 dingers, so only 342 more to get to 700. He has amassed these numbers in just 8 seasons. On top of that Albert has driven in 100 RBI's each season and has 1082 on his career. He can hit for average too and now has 1666 career hits. He is still only 29 years old. WOW!!

Vlad Guerrero continues to climb towards 500 on his career with another 2 HR and 5 RBI last night. That is 402 on his career.

Look out for both the Crads and the Angels as we head down the home stretch. It is gonna be fun.

Computers,ahh!!!!!

I am having computer issues, I am slightly frustrated by that. It means that I have not kept this site up as much as I wanted. I may be writing this blog just for me as I am unsure if anyone ever reads it anyway. That being said here is my synopsis of the last few days in the big leagues.

Mark Reynolds keeps on hitting HR's, he is now up to 37 dingers. He still trails Albert Pujols who has 38. Adrien Gonzalez has 32, Adam Dunn has hit 31 and Prince Fielder along with Ryan Howard both have 30 in the NL. Carlos Pena with 31 and Mark Texiera with 30 lead the AL.

Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia are the only pitcherson my list to pick up victories over the last 4 days. All three pitchers now stand at 13 wins on the year. All three would be considered to be good candidates for the Cy Young.

Josh Beckett leads the AL in wins with 14 and Adam Wainwright tops the NL in wins with the identical 14 wins. Others with impressive win totals at this time are: (NL) Jason Marquis and Johan Santana with 13, while Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum of the Giants, Derek Lowe, Chris Carpenter, Danny Haren and Josh Johnson have had solid campaigns with 12 wins each.
In the AL: Scott Feldman, Jered Weaver and Felix Hernandez have 12 wins each.

Will someone get to 50 homers this year? Will anyone get to 40?

Will anyone get to 20 wins? Will anyone get to 18 wins?

Who are the MVP's of the leagues? Who wins the Cy Young's? There is still much to be decided and if my computer cooperates, I may be able to keep up a bit better.

Another pitching gem

I stayed up very late last night, I am on vacation, to watch what I figured to be a great pitching duel between Mark Buehrle and Felix Hernandez. They did not disappoint. I was struck by two things in the game.

First, I do not think that there is a pitcher in baseball that works quicker than Buehrle. He gets the ball back from Pierzynski and sees a quick sign and throws. He does not throw real hard but he mixes up his pitches well. He never shakes off his catcher. Whatever AJ calls he throws, and he does it well. Last night he threw 8 innings of shutout ball.

Second, Felix Hernandez is the coolest pitcher I have seen on the mound in sometime. If there is a more relaxed pitcher, I am not sure who it would be. Felix throws a pitch, blows a bubble with his chewing gum, gets the ball back goes to the rubber, gets his sign and pitches. This was never more evident than in the top of the seventh, when he had runners at first and third with no outs. Felix goes to the mound blows a couple of bubbles and throws. He strikes out the hitter with a great series of pitches. He knows what he needs now, a double play. He throws a great low pitch and induces the twin killer and walks off the field, blowing more bubbles. So relaxed.

It must be so much fun for the fielders to play behind those guys. One works so fast and is so calm, the other is a little more methodical but is soooooooo relaxed. On top of that they know how to pitch. Between them they pitched 15 innings and gave up 0 runs. The game was much like the Yankees Red Sox game a few days earlier. This game went into the bottom of the 14th before "the man", Ken Griffey Jr. drove in the game winning run.

It is such a shame that no one got a "W", but on the other hand no one got an "L" either. I guess that is the way it should be when two phenomenal pitchers get together.

Vlad Guerrero reaches 400 HR

I grew up an Expos fan. I loved the days of Ron Leflore, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Gary Carter, Steve Rogers. Then as I got older I still loved the Expos, guys like Tim Wallach got my attention. When I got into my early to mid 30's, I was always impressed by Vladimir Guerrero. He had speed, power, played great defense, had a strong arm and could cretainly hit for avergae. He was what the scouts refer to as a 5 tool player.

Unfortunately back in the days of the Expos, they could never afford to keep their star players. I think many of the other teams in baseball saw that the Expos could draft well and develop players and at the right time they could buy them out of the Expos system. Time and time again it happened. I hoped that it wouldn't happen with Vladdy but I knew itwas inevitable.

In just seven full seasons with the Expos he hit 234 homeruns and he stole 123 bases. In 2002 his penultimate season with the Montreal squad Vlad missed out on a 40-40 season by just one HR. He was a dominant player in baseball. This was the final straw for Montreal, there was no way they weregoing to be able to keep him. They did not have the money to keep elite players, and eventually it cost the Expos its franchise.

In 2004 , a sad ting took place. Guerrero ended up being a member of the Anaheim Angels, now the LA Angels. He has continued to be a productive player. This year he has been hit hard by the injury bug. BUT, Vladdy is back. He has hit 4 HR in his last 5 games, and last night he drilled 2 more HR's to give him 9 on the season and 400 in his career. Vlad has hit 25 or more home runs in every season but his rookie campaign, unless he catches on fire it is unlikely he will do that again this year.

Vlad needs just 3 more hits to hit the 2200 mark, and he is just 34. Will he get to 3000 hits and 500 homeruns before his career is over? It seems a long shot. I for one am going to be cheering him on. I still think that he is one of the most imposing hitters in baseball. I wish he were still an Expo, but obviously that will never happen. Maybe, just maybe in two or three years the Nats will be a solid team and they will be looking for a good veteran player to roam the outfield. I can hope right.

Until then go Vladdy and go Nationals. One day the Expos will win a world series. Wait, they should have had the chance in 1981. And yes, I am bitter!!

Updated win totals as of Aug 9th

My top 15, that's right 15 are updated, do you notice the new addition?

1. Jamie Moyer 256
2. Roy Halladay 143
3. Mark Buehrle 133
4. CC Sabathia 129
5. Johan Santana 122
6. Justin Verlander 58
7. Felix Hernandez 51
8. Jered Weaver 47
8. Chad Billingsley 46
10. Zach Greinke 45
10. Cole Hamels 45
12. Matt Cain 42
13. Tim Lincecum 37
14. Jon Lester 36
15. Mat Latos 4

I just love that Latos is 21 , plays on a poor team(not good) and has won 4 straight starts. he only needs 296 more wins, right?

Back in the groove of things

Finally this weekend my prospective pitchers got things rolling again. I believe 4 days have passed since I have been able to write something exciting about my top 13. There wer actually some quality pitching performances this weekend.

Let me start with Zach Greinke. Finally his squad got him some run production. The Royals scored nine times in 7 innings to ensure a victory for the struggling Royals. In seven innings of pitching Greinke struck out 5 and only allowed 3 ER, all in the second inning. Win #11 on the season and career win #45 was much needed by his team and him personally.

CC Sabathia had his most dominant outing of the season, this time at the expense of the BoSox. What a performance it was. Once again the Sox could not get the bats going and wer shutout again. CC pitched 7 2/3 innings of 2 hit ball while striking out 9. CC picked up win #12 on the season aedged closer to 130 career wins, needing only one more to hit the mark.

Is there a better pitcher right now in the AL then Angels right hander Jered Weaver. For the second consecutive start Weaver racked up 11 K's as he overpowered the Rangers in a close 3-2 victory. Weaver is emerging as the top Cy Young candidate in the Al with his 12-3 record. Weaver's start was his 100th of his career and he now has an impressive record of47-22. This kid can pitch.

Finally Doc Halladay got back in the win column after a particularly poor month of outings for him. Roy mowed down the Orioles over 8 innings to pick up his twelfth win of the campaign. With a 12-5 record on the season, Doc also has to be in the running for the Cy Young. Roy now needs just 7 more wins to reach the 150 mark. When Doc is on his game there are none better, so let's hope he finishes strong and wins 20. He would need to win all his starts to do so.

Will there be a 20 game winner this season, if so who do you think will do so? My pick will be Weaver.

One for the ages

Beckett vs. Burnett

Two great pitchers going to battle for their teams against two very strong offensive teams. I hoped that the pitching would dominate and there wouldn't be a repeat of the poor pitching from the night before. I was not disappointed, in fact I was wondering if anyone would ever score.

Burnett pitched 7 2/3 innings of 1 hit ball. The only hit a bloop single to lead off the game by Jacoby Ellsbury. When Ellsbury gets a single it often gets turned into a runner in scoring position because of his incredible talent to steal bases. Sure enough Ellsbury stole the base but was left stranded. AJ bore down and threw a no hitter the rest of the way. He did walk some batters but was able to throw the shutout.

Beckett was equally impressive in his seven innings of work giving up just 4 hits. He had some trying situaions to deal with but pitched like the ace that he is. Both pitchers were not going to give in, and so they left half way through the game handing the important outcome over to the bullpens.

The Yankees used 5 relievers over the next 7+ innings and they only gave up 3 more hits. They seemed to have the Sox number all night. The Red Sox ran 6 pitchers out from the pen over the next 6 innings and Josh Bard was the only one to give up a hit. In the 14th the Sox were in a bind and had to put in Junichi Tazawa for his first appearance in the majors.

Tazawa was in trouble in the 14th, but thanks to a great catch from JD Drew he escaped to the 15th. I was ready to go to bed, and I wrote on my twitter account that I felt the game would end in the bottom of the 15th. We all know how it ended, with 2 outs Alex Rodriguez slammed a 2 run HR over the left field wall to put an end to the game.

The defeat may also represent the end to the AL East crown. It was a game the Sox needed to win. It wasn't so much that the Sox lost it was how they lost. Somehow they need to pull out a victory in this series, but it appears unlikely unless Jon Lester can pull out a victory for his squad.

I will always remember this game. Great pitching, great defense and a 15th inning HR to break a scoreless game. Baseball is an amazing game.

Long homeruns...great website

If you want to check out the longest HR's hit this year, go to:

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/top_true_distance.php

There have been 13 HR's hit this year over 465 feet. Here they are and who hit them:

Mark Reynolds 481 ft
Raul Ibanez 477
Joey Votta 473
Adam Dunn 473
Josh Hamilton 471
Adrien Gonzalez 471
Chris Ianetta 471
Adam Dunn 469
Adam Dunn 467
Seth Smith 467
Nelson Cruz 467
Carlos Pena 466
Albert Pujols 465

Last night "The Sheriff" hit another HR, for number 34 on the season and he is now just 2 behind Albert Pujols on the year. While I was checking out Reynolds stats, I also realized he has stolen 20 bases. He has done all this and still didn't make the all-star game. What must a guy do to make the roster?

Looks like Adam Dunn is the big bopper this year. HE takes up three of the top 13 HR's on the year. Imagine where the Nat's would be without Dunn and Zimmerman!!!

Dunn is only 29 years old and has hit 307 career HR. Looks like we will have another 500+ HR guy joining the select group over the next 5-6 years.

I am focusing on the hitters right now because all of the 300 win club potential members are not putting up any W's. Right now it seems like the offense is better than the pitching right now. Of course one game last night was the exception. Red Sox vs. Yankees, 15 inning classic, read about it in my next blog.

Tidewater, Virginia....what a great place.

There is a region of the USA, in the state of Virginia called the Tidewater Region. It is basically any of the cities/towns east of I-95 which travels North to South on the eastern seaboard of the US through the state. It is astounding how many quality baseball players, all close to the same age who have made the big leagues in the last three to four years from that area.

Here are six of those players:

BJ Upton
Justin Upton
Michael Cuddyer
David Wright
Ryan Zimmerman
Mark Reynolds

All six of these players are major contributors on their teams. I think if you were to put together a list of the best young hitters in the game with potential to be future HOFers, at least five of the six would be on most lists.

So how do so many highly talented players come from one area? I am not sure if I have the answer, but I can speculate. My thought is that they must have a great baseball program available at young ages. That in itself does not ensure success, but having great coaching and playing against other great young players must be a major contributing factor. I am going to do some homework and see what factors I can come up with.

Today though I want to focus on Mark Reynolds, the man known as "The Sheriff" amongst his teammates. Reynolds was drafted in 2004, 476th overall. He played collegiately for the University of Virginia. It took him three years in the minors before he made his debut in 2007. He made quick impact as he drove in 14 runs in his first 15 games.

Reynolds just turned 26 years old and in his third season in the bigs. In his first year he had 17 HR and 62 RBI, last year he raised those numbers with 28HR and 97 RBI, and this year he is going to another level with 33 HR and 76 RBI. He is known as a guy that can hit the ball regularly over 400 feet but he strikes out a lot. Last year he set a record with over 200 K's on the season. He is a prototypical power hitter. In 2007 10 of his 17 HR's traveled over 400 feet.

If Reynolds can stay healthy he can hit 40-45 HR this season and have 100+ RBI. Look for him to put up big numbers the next couple of seasons as well. It seems that many major leaguers post their best numbers between 27-29 years old. Everything seems to be moving in that direction for "The Sheriff" as he is the offensive leader for the Diamondbacks. Imagine how good he will be if he gets some more protection is the lineup.

Check out this video, it represents the longest HR hit this year so far, 481 ft, by "the sheriff". https://secure.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200907295799033&c_id=ari

I watched John Smoltz struggle once again for the Red Sox. Sadly he doesn't seem to have "it" anymore. Today he was released by the Red Sox, which may spell the end of his career. I do hope that he gets picked up by someone as I think he could be a valuable asset to a young pitching staff. Surely, he is not one of those athletes that stick around too long and end up making people just wish he would retire. He is a probable hall of famer upon retirement, and I loved watching him in his prime. It isn't as much fun to watch him now.

Thoughts...

How one injury changes a career

In 2006 he was having a Cy Young type season. He was 22 years old and certainly would have been a pitcher I would have watched very closely. In fact at one time his Rookie Card (RC) was so hot it was hard to buy one for less than $20. Then came the fateful day when Francisco Liriano blew out his arm, and to this day he has still not recovered. When Liriano went down he was 12-3 on the season with an ERA of 2.16. He was the most dominant pitcher along with Johan Santana.

He missed all of the 2007 season as he recovered and strengthened his arm following surgery. Last year he came back and started 14 games, posting a record of 6-4 with a 3.91 ERA. In 2006 before the injury Liriano had 144 K's in just 121 innings. In 2008 he struck out just 67 in 74 innings and this year his numbers continue to decline.

In 09' Liriano has started 21 games, and in those starts he has won just 4 games. Sadly he has lost 11. On top of that his ERA is 5.63, one of the worst ERA's amongst starters. He has struck out 106 in 118 innings, which shows he is no longer the power pitcher he was. Yet he is just 25 years old.

I can only imagine how frustrated he must be. To go from a pitcher who may have won the Cy Young before he was injured, to being the pitcher who may lose the most games this season has to be difficult to deal with. In four of his last six starts he has barely made it out of the 5th inning.

Others have suffered injuries and recovered, I hope for Liriano's sake he can be one of those success stories. Another player I hope can turn things around is Khalil Greene. Khalil Greene has all the potential and skill needed to be a great short stop and yet he deals with an anxiety disorder. I am a big fan of Greene and want to see him succeed. Talk about a guy that must be frustrated with life and baseball.

I want to keep cheering for the underdog, because I want them to be successful. I am also rooting for Rocco Baldelli and Zach Greinke and Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum just to name a few.

One more quick thought, congrats to Jim Thome who hit 2 more HR last night. The 38 year old has now hit 20+ HR every year since 1994, except for 2005 when he was injured. He has now hit 561 on his career, I do believe that Mr. Thome has a shot at 600. Gotta love it!!

All the games mean a lot this time of year

You can't beat watching baseball in August and September because each game seems to take on added intensity. Teams in the run for the division titles or the wild card can't afford to lose many games. One bad stretch of games or one bad call could make all the difference. It is also the time of year to see which players are going to heat up and carry their teams for a while.

I watched the Red Sox play the Rays last night and it was like a playoff game. The pitching was not dominant though it was good. The defense was smooth for the most part, but the bat of the best young third basemen in baseball was the reason the Rays pulled out a much deserved win.

Evan Longoria , last years AL Rookie of the Year is just 23 years old, and is already a clutch performer. He is also a great defensive third baseman with a fielding % of .964. He has great range, has a strong arm and can really pick it on the hot corner. On top of all that he can hit.

His numbers are very impressive. In just 224 games, Evan has now hit 50 HR. He has 166 RBI in those 224 games and is a consistent .275 hitter. His biggest asset is that he is a clutch performer. When the game is on the line you want this young guy at the dish. If you remember the playoffs last year, Longoria had 6 HR in just 16 games.

It was no surprise last night that Longoria was clutch again. With his squad trailing the Red Sox last night late in the game, Evan hit a HR to tie it and then in the bottom of the 13th he took Hideki Okajima over the fence for a walk off HR. What that means is the Rays are just 4 games behind the Sox and not 6 games. Every AB is so important this time of year.

Albert Pujols heated up last night and got out of his slump a little bit. Mark Reynolds had closed within 2 HR of the Cardinals slugger, but like Longoria, Albert had a two HR night, #'s 35,36 on the season. His career #'s are 355, now he needs just 345 more for the 700 HR club. As I have said before he will make it, and do it clean.

Speaking of doing it clean, I wish MLB would just publish the names of all those caught with PED's in their system so that it all comes out at once. I think by not doing it they bring doubt on everyone which is unfair. Will it be an embarrassment on some players, of course but I do think it will clear up things for others. What do you think?

Mat Latos looks impressive

Is it possible that the Padres have finally found an ace for their staff. Is it possible that the next great pitcher in the bigs is a 21 year old kid out of Virginia? Well it is pretty hard to judge that at this point of his career but he is certainly off to a great start.

Latos has made four career starts. He lost his 1st start and since that time has won his last three. He has lowered his ERA to an eye popping 2.66. He has 16 K's over his 23 innings pitched. He will likely be a pitcher that throws up 1 K/ inning pitched. It is not easy to get wins in San Diego, so it is even more impressive that he is pitching so well.

Latos has been tagged as the best prospect in the Padres system for the last couple of years. He was picked in the 11th round and 333rd overall in the 2006 draft. I have a feeling he may be even more impressive than many of the 332 selected before him. If you get a chance to watch him pitch you won't be disappointed.

Mark Reynolds continues his hot hitting of late. He hit HR #31 and #32 on the season and
is hot on the heels of Albert Pujols. I have a feeling Albert will get back on track, but it has been a while. Incidentally Reynolds hit 2 HR on his birthday, so happy birthday to him.

Trades, trades and more trades

I was away for just one week and wow did the baseball world change. The trade that shocked me the most was the Red Sox picking up Victor Martinez. The best pick up I felt was Jared Washburn by the Tigers which now gives them three top ERA starting pitchers along with Verlander and Edwin Jackson.

I was also surprised by the trade that did not happen, though I do think it was the right decision to keep Roy Halladay as a Blue Jay. When you have arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball, why swap him for potential prospects unless you can reload the entire system.

Here are some of the highlights from the week I was out of town.

Monday July 27:
Jamie Moyer picks up a victory against the D Backs for # 10 on the year and #256 of his career.
Tim Lincecum beat the Pirates for win #11 on the year striking out 15 batters for his 37th win. He pitched a shutout and allowed no earned runs.

Tuesday July 28:
Cole Hamels led the Phillies over the D' Backs once again for his 45th career win as he struck out 9.
Mark Reynolds of the D'Backs hit another HR for his 28th of the season

Wednesday July 29th:
Justin Verlander joined Lincecum with an impressive performance against the Rangers with a 13 strikeout performance. He recorded win #58 of his career. In that game he got a 2 HR performance from Curtis Granderson. On the Rangers side Andruw Jones hit 2 HR's for #388 of his career.
Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres hit a HR for the third consecutive game to support young pitching prospect Mat Latos. Latos picked up win #2 of the season and his career.

Thursday July 30th:
Johan Santana and the Mets shutout the Rockies with an impressive 7-0 win for his twelfth on the season and #121 of his impressive career.
David Ortiz hit a HR during the week that he was exposed as another cheater.

Friday July 31st:
Cliff Lee made his first start for the Phillies after his trade and pitched a solid game for his first victory in the NL.
Mark Reynolds hit another HR for #29 on the season. Can he cathc Albert Pujols who has slowed his pace.

Saturday Aug 1st:
Andrew McCutcheon of the Pirates hit 3 HR in one game against the Nationals. Pretty impressive for a player known as a speed guy. Is it possible he could be a 30-30 guy in the future?
Mark Reynolds hits his 30th of the season, wow what a week.
Felix Hernandez took on the Rangers and picked up win #12 on the season. He now has 51 wins on the career with the support of HR #622 from Griffey Jr.
Tim Lincecum added to his win total with a dominant performance against the Phillies with 8 shutout innings of 8 K's. That is win #38 of his young career.

Sunday August 2nd:
CC Sabathia outdueled Mark Buehrle for his 11th win of the season and #128 of his career. He was supported by a cycle from the bat of Melky Cabrera.
Jered Weaver picked up his 11th win of the season with a dominant 11 K effort against the Twins. He now has 46 wins in his young career.
Chad Billingsley beat up on the Braves striking out 9 batters in 5 innings before leaving with cramps. Like Weaver he picked up his 11th season win and 46th of his career.

I would say that the most impressive performances of the week were by Mark Reynolds and Tim Lincecum. I wish I had seen some of the games, but I had a great week away.