Congratulations to Chipper Jones, who is this week’s Beast of the East
And shame on you, Ryan Zimmerman, for earning this week’s Least of the East honor.
Beast (and least) of the East
May 4, 2008 · No Comments
Categories: Braves · General · Nationals
Tagged: Beast of the East, Chipper Jones, Least of the East, Ryan Zimmerman
Sunday Division Roundup
May 4, 2008 · No Comments
Mets 5-Diamondbacks 2
One of the better pitching matchups of the year as Johan Santana squared off against Dan Haren in a pitchers’ dual that exploded in the 9th for the Mets. Santana was his classic self, going 6 full innings striking out 8 and walking 4, giving up just 1 earned run. Haren was almost as good, going 6 full giving up 2 runs on 2 hits (one a homer to David Wright in the 4th), striking out 7 and walking 1.
Jorge Sosa picked up the win for the Mets (he’s 4-1, unbelievably) and Billy Wagner notched his seventh save of the season after Arizona 1B Connor Jackson made a crucial throwing error in the top of the 9th that started a 3-run rally for the Mets. Bringing in runs for the Mets were Jose Reyes, Wright, and Marlon Anderson. Chad Qualls took the loss for Arizona. What a statement for the Mets, as they take the series off of the NL-leading D-Backs.
Phillies 6-Giants 5.
Charlie Manuel got his 500th win as the Phils took the game on a San Francisco error in the bottom of the ninth that brought in the winning run. Carlos Ruiz tied the game up in the 8th, allowing Brad Lidge to pick up his first win of the year. Cole Hamels allowed 4 runs on 7 hits through 6 innings, but he did have 5 strikeouts and no walks. Young Giants starter Tim Lincecum was better, surrendering no earned runs in 6 innings of work, striking out 5 and walking 2. But it was errors that would prove costly to the struggling Giants, who drop to 14-18. The Phillies remain a half-game up on New York and Florida.
Marlins 10-Padres 3
The big bats came to play today as Dan Uggla hit an RBI double and a home run to keep the Marlins tied with the Mets for second place in the division. Hanley Ramirez was 2-4 and scored 2 runs, and Matt Treanor was 2-4 with 2 RBIs. Young southpaw Andrew Miller finally pitched well for the Fish, getting his 2nd win and allowing 2 runs on 6 innings of work, striking out 4 and walking 2. Greg Maddux dropped to 2-3, allowing 11 hits for 5 runs, 4 earned, for 5.2 innings of work.
Braves 14-Reds 7
The Braves had 19 hits on the day, outhitting the Reds almost 2:1 and surviving a rocky outing by Tom Glavine. Chipper Jones contributed his fair share with a 3-run home run and a 2-run single. Also coming through big for the Braves were Mark Kotsay who homered and had 3 RBIs and Kelly Johnson, who was 4-6 with 2 RBIs. Glavine lasted just 4.2, surrendering 6 earned runs on 7 hits, striking out 3 and walking 5. Royce Ring picked up his first win of the season for Atlanta. As bad as Glavine was, Reds starter Bronson Arroyo was far worse, pitching just an inning and a third, giving up 7 earned runs. Josh Fogg came in for mop-up duty and didn’t pitch much better, giving up 5 earned runs on 6 hits in 2.2 innings.
Nationals 5-Pirates 2
Tim Redding continued his dominant streak, picking up his 4th win and allowing just 1 earned run on 6 innings of work, striking out 5 and walking 1. He was opposed by Pirates ace Ian Snell, who dropped to 2-2 after allowing 4 earned runs on 10 hits with 2 strikeouts and a walk. Aaron Boone hit his first home run as a National, filling in at third for the day as Ryan Zimmerman ended his Major League leading 205 consecutive game streak. Also driving in runs for the Nats were Nick Johnson, Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez, and Wily Mo Peña. The Nats are red-hot, having gone 8-3 on the last homestand.
-Jonathan Kraft
Categories: Braves · Marlins · Mets · Nationals · Phillies
Tagged: Mets, Nationals, Phillies, Marlins, Braves, Andrew Miller, Hanley Ramirez, Chipper Jones, Tom Glavine, Johan Santana, Charlie Manuel, Brad Lidge, Diamondbacks, Dan Haren, Greg Maddux, Cole Hamels, Padres, Ryan Zimmerman, David Wright, Billy Wagner, Ian Snell, Tim Redding, Felipe Lopez, Carlos Ruiz, Nick Johnson, Mark Kotsay, Kelly Johnson, Jorge Sosa, Jose Reyes, Austin Kearns, Giants, Reds, Dan Uggla, Connor Jackson, Marlon Anderson, Chad Qualls, Tim Lincecum, Matt Treanor, Royce Ring, Bronson Arroyo, Josh Fogg, Aaron Boone, Wily Mo Peña
Phillies Beast (and Least) of the Week
May 4, 2008 · No Comments
Beast: Tom Gordon
What a season for Tom Gordon. After letting up 5 runs on opening day, Gordon has let up only 2 since. This week Gordon lived up to numbers he’s been putting up.
Tuesday, Gordon came in replacing JC Romero, who walked one batter to load the bases after relieving Cole Hamels. Gordon pitched two ground balls outs, letting up 1 run, but getting out of a very tough spot to finish up the inning securing the Phils’ 3-2 lead. This performance was a microcosm of Gordon’s season. He’s been put in tough spots all year and he continues to thrive. His performance has been essential to the Phillies.
On Thursday, Gordon pitched 1-2-3 8th inning against the Padres, and on Friday he got out of a tough spot against the Giants. Gordon’s 8th inning role is perfect for him. He’s a former closer with a rediscovered curve ball and the experience of playing on a contender. Flash is back. Let’s hope it continues.
Runners Up: Pat Burrell (PTB), Chase Utley (NL Player of the Month)
Least: Ryan Madson
Ryan Madson has struggled all season long and it’s looking more and more like he’ll never regain the form of his initial foray into the league. Despite his new beefed up stature, he’s failing to perform well and is usually only seeing action in games that look like a lost cause. Madson’s line on the week (4 GP, 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 7 SO). There are worse lines, but he has not shown any promise thus far, and this week just exemplified that feeling.
Runners Down: So Taguchi (you’re lucky we don’t do the same players two weeks in a row), Ryan Howard (patience is a virtue)
Categories: Phillies
Tagged: Beast of the week, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, JC Romero, Least of the week, Pat Burrell, Pat the bat, Phillies, PTB, Ryan Howard, Ryan Madson, So Taguchi, Tom Gordon
Braves Beast (and least) of the Week
May 4, 2008 · No Comments
The Braves Beast of the Week is…
Chipper Jones, 3B. Chipper has easily been the Braves MVP of the season, leading the team in Batting Average (.425), Home Runs (9), RBIs (27), and OBP (.472). This week alone, he went .353, .421, .588. This year, Chipper can really take advantage of a lineup that includes players like Yunel Escobar above him and Mark Teixiera, Brian McCann, and Jeff Francoeur after him.
Runners-Up: Mark Teixiera (OPS of 1.033), Jair Jurjjens (WHIP of 0.29), Tim Hudson (10 SO in 9 innings)
The least of the week is Kelly Johnson. Kelly did not hit well this week (.176, .222, .294) and only walked once, which is not acceptable for a leadoff hitter (see: Jose Reyes).
Runners-Up: Blaine Boyer, Manny Acosta, Gregor Blanco
Categories: Braves
Tagged: Blaine Boyer, Braves, Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, Gregor Blanco, Jair Jurjjens, Jeff Francoeur, Jose Reyes, Kelly Johnson, Manny Acosta, Mark Teixiera, Tim Hudson, Yunel Escobar
Marlins Beast (and least) of the Week
May 4, 2008 · No Comments
The Marlins Beast of the Week is…
Jeremy Hermida, RF. Hermida had a formidable week (.435, .480, .565), compensating for the injured Josh Willingham. His bat is becoming integral to the heart of the Marlins lineup, and his OPS of 1.045 for the week is phenomenal.
Runners-Up: Dan Uggla, Doug Waechter
The least of the week is LHP Andrew Miller, who continues to struggle on the mound for the Marlins. He started one game this week, and went just 3 innings, giving up 6 runs on 9 hits with no strikeouts and 2 walks. His ERA stood at 18.00 for the game.
Runners-Up: Hanley Ramirez, Alfredo Amezaga
Categories: Marlins
Tagged: Alfredo Amezaga, Andrew Miller, Dan Uggla, Doug Waechter, Hanley Ramirez, Jeremy Hermida, Josh Willingham, Marlins
Nationals Beast (and least) of the Week
May 4, 2008 · No Comments
This week’s beast is SS Cristian Guzman. Just a triple from hitting for the cycle Saturday, Guzman has quietly prospered in the two-spot behind Felipe Lopez. Guzman leads the team with a .309 BA and drove in a team-high 6 RBIs this week (note: all 6 runs were driven in on Saturday, which says something about this team).
Runners-Up: Wil Nieves, Odalis Perez
The least of the week honor goes to Ryan Zimmerman. It’s tough to criticize the Nats’ burgeoning superstar, but something has to give with Ryan’s struggling bat. His stats for this week: .160, .192, .320 with 4 RBIs in 25 plate appearances. In other words, pretty poor. Zim asked for the day off today…could it be that the Z-Man has some sort of nagging injury? Given his slow-ish recovery this offseason, NL Beast wouldn’t be surprised.
Runners-Up: Lastings Milledge, Matt Chico
Categories: Nationals
Tagged: Nationals, Ryan Zimmerman, Felipe Lopez, Wil Nieves, Lastings Milledge, Odalis Perez, Matt Chico, Cristian Guzman
Mets Beast (and least) of the Week
May 4, 2008 · No Comments
The second-ever Mets Beast of the Week is…
Ryan Church, RF
Churchy has been red-hot all year, and is leading the Mets in Batting Average (.333), and is second to David Wright in OPS (.883), RBIs (22), and Slugging (.509). Church has shown an ability to advance the runner in the two-spot, and I’m more than happy to see him and not Luis Castillo behind Jose Reyes.
Runners-Up: Jose Reyes, David Wright, Johan Santana
The second-ever least of the week distinction is given to…
Oliver Perez, LHP
There are really so many choices here, but, unfortunately, Perez gets the decision this week. Once every five days, the Mets need Oliver Perez to deliver his intimidating stuff. In his last start on Wednesday against Pittsburgh, he just didn’t have it, going only 1.2, walking 5 and striking out 2. He needs to do (much) better than that if the Mets want to contend down the stretch this year.
Runners-Up: Mike Pelfrey, Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo
-Jonathan Kraft
Categories: Mets
Tagged: Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, Mets, Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, Ryan Church
Matt Chico likes to sketch
May 4, 2008 · No Comments
Apparently the struggling southpaw enjoys sketching famous baseball players in his spare time. “I take a lot of time and pride in it,” Chico said. “It’s just something I’ve always liked doing.” Chico is currently sketching Ken Griffey Jr. and plans to move on to Tom Glavine next. If only he spent as much time on his pitching as…oh wait, it’s just too easy.
Categories: Nationals
Tagged: Ken Griffey Jr., Matt Chico, Nationals, Tom Glavine
Wagner: 99% sure that next year is my last
May 4, 2008 · No Comments
Great Q & A with Billy Wagner in the Post today…and he didn’t even say anything controversial, how about that. He says that he’s “99% sure” that next year will be his last year pitching, as he wants to spend more time with his family. We’ll see how that goes, but I for one am very happy that the Mets are grooming Eddie Kunz to take over when Billy’s done. Billy also says some nice things about Mets fans, and, not surprisingly, takes a few swipes at Philadelphia.
-Jonathan Kraft
Categories: Mets
Tagged: Billy Wagner, Eddie Kunz, Mets
Costas Now State of Sports Media
May 4, 2008 · 2 Comments
Just finished watching this show and it is a must-see.
The sports blogosphere has been buzzing all week about Buzz Bissinger’s comments on the blogosphere, in which he basically attacked Deadspin’s Wil Leitch. I’m not going to talk about the controversy over Bissinger’s comments because it’s just not worth commenting on, he made an ass out of himself.
What I will say is this. The blogosphere is a great advancement in sports and life in general, but it should not stand alone. Just like every other medium out there, it is best when augmented with other types of media. But I think all in all, the blogosphere has done great things for sports, bringing the average Joe into the equation. Too often on the show, it seemed like the sports establishment was simply jealous that “average” people can sit in their underwear and either call in to sports talk radio or blog. Technology simply levels the playing field, and the fact that athletes like Gilbert Arenas and Phil Hughes have popular blogs of their own should say something. What pissed me off is the generalization that bloggers are much less knowledgable than beat writers or columnists. The fact that I had to hear this from Chris Russo of all people really got me angry, because the amount of absurdity that comes out of Mad Dog’s mouth is laughable. Sure, the “establishment” often has more experience than bloggers, but why should that disqualify us? Like I said, these different media augment each other.
Still, for all my ranting, very insightful stuff and I recommend it to every sports fan.
-Jonathan Kraft
Categories: General
Tagged: Buzz Bissinger, Chris Russo, Costas Now, Gilbert Arenas, Phil Hughes, Wil Leitch
