Just after being named Least of the East tonight, Nationals LHP Mike O’Connor was optioned to Triple-A Columbus. Chris Schroder was called up in his place. We’re guessing that Matt Chico migrates back to the rotation in O’Connor’s place.
O’Connor optioned to Triple-A
May 11, 2008 · No Comments
Categories: Nationals
Tagged: Chris Schroder, Matt Chico, Mike O'Connor, Nationals
Beast of the East
May 11, 2008 · 1 Comment
Congratulations to Dan Uggla, who becomes the first ever Florida Marlin to be named Beast of the East.
And GWU-alum Mike O’Connor…NL Beast loves the Colonials but doesn’t love your last pitching performance. You are the least of the east…goodbye.
Categories: Marlins · Nationals
Tagged: Beast of the East, Dan Uggla, Least of the East, Mike O'Connor
Braves Beast (and least) of the Week
May 11, 2008 · No Comments
And for the second week in a row, the Braves Beast of the Week is 3B Chipper Jones. Chipper was great again this week, hitting .304 with 7 RBIs and 2 long balls for a team-leading OPS of 1.060. You can’t say anything bad about this guy–he just does everything right.
Runners-Up: Mark Kotsay, Brian McCann, Jair Jurrjens
The Braves’ least of the week is RF Jeff Francoeur. Jeff didn’t hit well this week, going just 3-22 (.136, .296, .182), walking 4 times and striking out 7. He still did manage to drive in 2 runs, amazingly, and remains a threat in the bottom of the Atlanta lineup despite the bad stretch.
Runners-Up: Jo-Jo Reyes, Tom Glavine
Categories: Braves
Tagged: Braves, Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, Jair Jurrjens, Jeff Francoeur, Jo-Jo Reyes, Mark Kotsay, Tom Glavine
Marlins Beast (and least) of the Week
May 11, 2008 · 2 Comments
Beast: Dan Uggla. Whew! What a week for Uggla. In 21 at bats, he had 9 RBIs, 3 doubles and 3 home runs. He hit .381 over that span and helped lead the marlins to seven straight wins.
Runners Up: Hanley Ramirez, Luis Gonzalez, Matt Treanor
Least: Wes Helms. This guy has had it. He’s hit only .188 on the week and is hitting only .200 for the season. It is the Marlins, but it’s surprising they were willing to take Helms back after his dismal season last year in Philadelphia.
Runners Down: Alfredo Amezaga, Doug Waechter
-Greg Berlin
Categories: Marlins
Tagged: Alfredo Amezaga, Doug Waechter, Hanley Ramirez, Luis Gonzalez, Matt Treanor, Wes Helms
Nationals Beast (and least) of the Week
May 11, 2008 · 1 Comment
Tough choice here, but 1B Nick Johnson barely beats Ryan Zimmerman for the Beast of the Week honors. Nick hit .333 for the week, with a home run and 4 RBIs. He walked 8 times, striking out only 3, for a phenomenal OBP of .565. Nick’s bat will be crucial in the Nats lineup, as the failure to drive home Felipe Lopez and Cristian Guzman has been a significant problem thus far.
Runners-Up: Ryan Zimmerman, John Lannan
The least of the week for the Nationals is LHP Mike O’Connor. Having been moved into the rotation to take the place of ineffective starter Matt Chico, O’Connor needed to establish consistency at the back end of the starting five. He failed, going just 3.1, giving up 9 runs, all earned, on 6 hits, walking 6 and striking out just one. His WHIP increases to 2.44 on the season. His ERA climbs to 13.00. Ouch.
Runners-Up: Lastings Milledge, Felipe Lopez, Luis Ayala
Categories: Nationals
Tagged: Cristian Guzman, Felipe Lopez, John Lannan, Lastings Milledge, Luis Ayala, Matt Chico, Mike O'Connor, Nationals, Nick Johnson, Ryan Zimmerman
Phillies Beast (and least) of the Week
May 11, 2008 · No Comments
NOTE: You are reading this correctly.
Beast: Eric Bruntlett. Yes, that’s right. The substitute short stop turned out to be an excellent replacement for Jimmy Rollins. In the last week, Brunlett hit .333 with 8 RBIs. That stint included two doubles, a triple, and a home run. He had a terrible first game filling in for Rollins, but he got his stuff together and will be a welcome addition to our already potent bench. Oh, by the way, Bruntlett had those 8 RBIs only starting 4 games against the Diamondbacks!
Runners Up: Shane Victorino, Pedro Feliz, Carlos Ruiz
Least: Chase Utley. Yes, that’s right again. Your eyes are not deceiving you. Utley hit .120 for the week, only 3 hits in 25 at bats. He had no home runs and struck out 8 times. Pat Burrell was only 3/19 on the week, and Ryan Howard only 4/24. Needless to say, the middle of the order has to hit better. Luckily, Brunlett, as well as Carlos Ruiz and Pedro Feliz have been hitting the cover off the ball this week.
Runners Down: Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell
-Greg Berlin
Categories: Phillies
Tagged: Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, Eric Bruntlett, Pat Burrell, Pedro Feliz, Phillies, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino
Mets Beast (and least) of the week
May 11, 2008 · No Comments
Hard decision here, but the Mets Beast of the Week is CF Carlos Beltran. The Mets’ cleanup slugger had been hitting .181 over his last 28 games before this weekend, when, apparently, something clicked. Over his last three games, Beltran has gone 5-11 with 8 RBIs, 2 BB, and a homer. Beltran is key to the success of the Mets lineup, and even if he has gotten hot off of two ineffective Reds pitchers (Matt Belisle, Johnny Cueto), it’s about time that Mets fans have seen some life out of the cleanup spot.
Runners-Up: John Maine, Carlos Delgado, Ryan Church
I hate to do this, because I love the guy, but I have to give the Least of the Week distinction to RHP Duaner Sanchez. Having “earned” the set-up role (after the implosion of Aaron Heilman), Sanchez was clearly expected to show the same flash as he had in 2006, before his tragic, season-ending shoulder injury. It’s a miracle that Duaner is pitching at all, much less in his current role. But with a fastball that tops off at 89, he’s clearly not capable of being a set-up man. After a horrible performance last Saturday (when he gave up five earned runs), Sanchez continued to struggle. His line on the week: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO. That contributes to a 2.40 WHIP and 10.80 ERA for the last 7 days. Duaner might be a decent middle reliever this season, but he is not a quality set-up man for Billy Wagner.
Runners-Up: Johan Santana, Luis Castillo, Endy Chavez
-Jonathan Kraft
Categories: Mets
Tagged: Aaron Heilman, Billy Wagner, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Duaner Sanchez, Endy Chavez, Johan Santana, John Maine, Johnny Cueto, Luis Castillo, Matt Belisle, Mets, Ryan Church
Phillies Pregame - 5/11 4:05 pm EDT
May 11, 2008 · No Comments
The Game: San Francisco Giants (15-22) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (21-17)
The Matchup: Jonathan Sanchez (2-2, 4.74, 44/17 K/BB, 1.37 WHIP) vs. Adam Eaton (0-1, 5.63, 20/16 K/BB, 1.43 WHIP)
The Story: The Phillies go for another winning road trip today in San Francisco. If they win, they’ll be 4-3 on the trip, alternating every win with a loss. But that would be respectable for the Phils. To take 2/3 from the Giants, losing only against Tim Lincecum, and splitting with the NL leading Dbacks is not too shabby of a road trip.
Trying to get to the 4-3 mark on the road trip, the Phillies will put anti-ace Adam Eaton on the mound. Eaton is coming off one of his worst outings of the year, a 4 inning loss to the Diamondbacks.
Stat of the Day: In 17 at bats against Phillies hitters, Sanchez has 11 strikeouts. May God have mercy.
Lineups:
Phillies
Rollins (SS)
Victorino (CF)
Utley (2B)
Howard (1B)
Burrell (LF)
Werth (RF)
Feliz (3B)
Ruiz (C)
Eaton (P)
Giants
Lewis (LF)
Valez (2B)
Winn (RF)
Molina (C)
Rowand (CF)
Bowker (1B)
Castillo (3B)
Vizquel (SS)
Sanchez (P)
-Greg Berlin
Categories: Phillies
Tagged: Adam Eaton, Giants, Jonathan Sanchez, Phillies, Tim Lincecum
Former Eagles owner sues to stop Marlins stadium
May 11, 2008 · No Comments
You can’t make this stuff up. Former Philadelphia Eagles owner and South Florida car dealer magnate Norman Braman is suing to stop a $3 billion Miami redevelopment plan that includes the construction of a new Marlins ballpark. The judge has sent the case to trial, set for July. Fish at Bat has more:
In all honesty, making it to this stage just means that there is some issues of contention worthy of a jury’s consideration so the situation isn’t worse then it was a few days ago, but it does allow a sideshow to go on while the city, county, and the Marlins continue with the design and development process.
Braman’s battle focuses on the ballpark, but is likely bigger than just that [local10.com]:
Braman’s attorney, Robert Martinez, claims the plan is in violation of Florida’s constitution and the money invested is not being used as it was intended.
“What we have alleged here and what the facts show, as far as we know them, is that the Marlins are getting a business operation delivered to them on a silver platter for business purposes,” said Martinez.
County attorneys said spending taxpayer money on a new stadium is perfectly legal.
As we have previously discussed, Braman was a terrible NFL owner who has a history of challenging these kinds of efforts (maybe sore that he never got his stadium in Philadelphia). Additionally, any of the transportation projects including the the 3 billion dollar funding may have long term impact on his ability to sell cars through his dealerships.
Let’s hope this circus ends soon.
Why can’t Braman ever just go away? He couldn’t get a stadium in Philly, now he’s just a pissed off, cranky, old bum trying to screw the people of Florida, too.
-Greg Berlin
Categories: Marlins
Tagged: Marlins, Norman Braman, Philadelphia Eagles
Jim Salisbury wakes up from hibernation
May 11, 2008 · No Comments
What was Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Jim Salisbury thinking when he decided to write an article claiming Ryan Howard is in a slump? Every Phillies fan, baseball fan, non-Phillies fan, non-baseball fan, and my fish know that Ryan Howard is in a slump. Jim more than missed the boat on this one. Maybe on April 15th this article would be valid, but it’s May 11th! Howard has stunk all season long, and now, when he might just be showing signs of a beating heart, the Inquirer publishes this article.
I’m a fan of Salisbury, but this article is simply outdated.
-Greg Berlin
Categories: Phillies
Tagged: Jim Salisbury, Phillies, Ryan Howard
