This weekend's biggest news could be pitchers who won't throw in the major leagues in 2014.
The Cardinals confirmed that RHP Jake Westbrook is retiring after 13 major league seasons. He was supplanted by younger pitchers last season, when he was 7-8 with a 4.63 ERA for the National League champions.
A 16-year veteran, RHP Ryan Dempster, told the Red Sox that he won't pitch this season. He said he was concerned about a neck injury and about spending more time with his family. Dempster is forfeiting an otherwise guaranteed salary of $13.25 million.
LHP Mark Mulder's attempted comeback with the Angels has been short-circuited by a ruptured Achilles tendon. The 36-year-old's comments seemed to indicate a realization that he won't pitch in the majors again.
-- When the season opens, Reds RHP Mat Latos may not be ready to pitch. He underwent surgery Friday to repair torn meniscus in his left knee. He isn't expected to resume throwing until Feb. 24.
-- Giants RHP Santiago Casilla will be throwing in the Dominican Republic for a while, until his visa problem is solved and he can return to the U.S. Also caught in the annual "visa problem" trap is Giants LHP Jose De Paula.
-- The most important player to avoid arbitration by agreeing to a contract was RHP Craig Kimbrel, who will receive $42 million guaranteed for the next four years, with the possibility of earning $59 million for five years. Atlanta is paying big bucks for pitchers, with also a new 6-year, $3.24-million contract with RHP Julio Teheran. There's also a visionary option for 2020.
Also avoiding arbitration:
Mariners 1B Justin Smoak, who signed a one-year deal for $2.63 million, with a team option at $3.65 million for 2015 if he has 525 plate appearances this season.
Smoak's virtual twin, Rangers 1B Mitch Moreland, agreed for this season at $2.6 million.
Athletics OF Josh Reddick, for $2.7 million this year.
Red Sox LHP Andrew Miller, with a 1-year contract.
-- The Indians won their arbitration case with RHP Josh Tomlin, who will receive $800,00 this season.
-- Texas also announced its 1-year contract with free-agent RHP Tommy Hanson, who would receive $1.2 million plus expenses if he could make the major league roster.
-- The Indians signed RHP Aaron Harang, who could work his way into their rotation, to a minor league contract. Also getting a minor league deal was RHP Josh Roenicke with the Nationals.
-- 2B/OF Emilio Bonifacio's strong winter league season earned him a contract with the Cubs. They plan to use him s a utility man. He played seven positions in 2013.
-- The Orioles claimed OF/2B Jimmy Paredes on waivers from the Marlins. RHP Suk-min Yoon doesn't officially have a contract, but he is in their spring training camp in Sarasota, Fla., and supposedly will have a 3-year contract once he passes a physical exam.
-- Second base seems to be a problem position for a number of teams. The Dodgers are hoping Cuban SS Alex Guerrero could be their starter. There are plenty of other options, with varying degrees of desirability: Chone Figgins, Dee Gordon, Justin Turner and Brendan Harris among them.
* * *
Other sports:
The NBA remains off until Tuesday. You still have time to make player moves, even trades while the league and its stats are standing still.
You have more time with your fantasy hockey teams. NHL play resumes Wednesday, Feb. 26. You can be great if you don't procrastinate.
Showing posts with label Mat Latos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mat Latos. Show all posts
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Friday, April 23, 2010
Look for hot pitchers Holland, Hellickson in majors
We’re getting back toward our normal schedule, when the Tuesday Emails will contain Minor League updates, letting you know which players you could look for to move up from the minors or up through an organization.
The free period for these Emails will end Sunday, April 25. After that date, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
NEW!
The good news is that you now CAN subscribe. Here’s how:
Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Include your name, address and phone number so we could contact you with any questions, and (most important) tell us the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. You then would receive an invoice from PayPal, which you could pay by following simple instructions within that Email. Once we receive your payment, we’ll add you to the subscription list so you would receive all of this year’s Emails and have access to any other features from fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Leading the way
The first group of minor league Players of the Week and Pitchers of the Week include the usual overaged suspects and inconsistent or previously underachieving prospects.
Seven of the 10 minor leagues that have started their season used the entire season since Opening Day, April 8, as the basis for these first awards. The Triple-A International League and Double-A Southern and Texas leagues based their awards on the calendar week April 12-18.
The shining stars on the list are two of baseball’s best young pitchers, who won the weekly awards from the two Triple-A leagues: LHP Derek Holland (Oklahoma City, Rangers organization, Pacific Coast League) and our Best Arm from the Farm, RHP Jeremy Hellickson (Durham, Rays, IL).
Holland spent most of last season with Texas. Even though he could be a better pitcher than anyone currently in the Rangers’ rotation, he began this season with the 89ers again and has gone 2-0 with an 0.46 ERA and 15:3 strikeout/walk ratio in 19 2/3 innings during three starts. Hellickson improved to 3-0 in a week when he was 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 15:2 K/W ratio in 14 innings.
The biggest surprise among the award winners was that three catchers had big weeks at bat. They were 25-year-old Robinson Chirinos (Tennessee, Cubs, Southern League), who batted .444 (8-for-18) with three homers, eight RBI and four runs; Ryan Lavarnway (Salem, Red Sox, high Class A Carolina League), .462 (18-39), three homers, 15 RBI, 13 runs, and Travis d’Arnaud (Dunedin, Blue Jays, high Class A Florida State League), .425 (17-40), three homers, 10 RBI, seven runs and a stolen base. D’Arnaud was one of the prospects Toronto received from the Phillies in the Roy Halladay trade.
Other than 24-year-old Nick Evans, who already has played in the major leagues, the Triple-A and Double-A award winners are at least 25 and thus marginal prospects at best. The PCL Player of the Week, 1B John Lindsey of Albuquerque (Dodgers) is 33! He batted .538 (21-39) with two homers, 13 RBI and 13 runs in a hitters’ home park. OF John Mayberry, 26, of Lehigh Valley (Phillies) had an 11-for-21 (.538) week with a homer, five RBI and eight runs.
In Double-A, 25-year-old 1B Andrew Brown began the Texas League season 3-for-18, but last week batted .423 (11-26) with three homers, 11 RBI and five runs for Springfield (Cardinals). In the two games where I saw him play, he was 1-for-8 (a home run) and didn’t impress me as a prospect. Evans began the season 16-for-43 (.372) with three homers, 10 RBI and 11 runs.
The other Players of the Week were LF Dan Robertson of Lake Elsinore (Padres, high Class A California League), .400 (16-40), one homer, eight RBI, eight runs and a stolen base); RF Jerry Sands of Great Lakes (Dodgers, low A Midwest League), .439 (18-41), two homers, 12 RBI, 11 runs, two steals, and 3B Tyler Kolodny of Delmarva (Orioles, low Class A South Atlantic League), .386 (17-44), six homers, 11 RBI, 11 runs and two stolen bases.
The Double-A Pitchers of the Week also were older than the prime age for a prospect – 25-year-old LHP Luis Perez of New Hampshire (Blue Jays, Eastern League), 2-0, 0.53, 11:6 K/w ratio in 17 innings; 27-year-old Tom Cochran, a former independent-league pitcher now with Carolina (Reds, Southern League), 2-0, 0.75, 15:3 K/W ratio in 12 innings, and 26-year-old RHP Federico Castaneda of Northwest Arkansas (Royals, Texas League), 0-0 with an 0.00 ERA and 11:1 K/W ratio in 9 2/3 relief innings. Castaneda, who has spent five years in the Mexican League, could find a spot in Kansas City’s bullpen this season.
Another Royals farmhand, 2008 first-round draft pick Michael Montgomery, was the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week at Wilmington. The lefty was 1-0 with an 0.75 ERA and 19:1 K/W ratio in 12 innings, including a 17-strikeout game against Kinston (Indians). He’ll also get to the major leagues, though not likely this year.
Other Class A Pitchers of the Week were RHP Juan Nicasio of Modesto (Rockies, California League), 1-0, 2.65 ERA, 13:2 K/W ratio in 17 innings; RHP Hector Noesi of Tampa (Yankees, FSL), 2-0, 1.50, 16:1 K/W ratio in 12 innings; Australian RHP Lian Hendriks of Beloit (Twins, Midwest League), 0-0, 0.00, 20:1 K/W ratio in 17 innings, and LHP Nick Hernandez of Lakewood (Phillies, Sally League), 2-0, 1.29, 20:1 K/W ratio in 21 innings.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
Padres RHP Heath Bell earned his fourth save in the day’s best-pitched game, a 1-0 victory over the Giants in which the winning pitcher, RHP Mat Latos, had a pitching line of 740012.
The only save with any kind of trouble was by Astros Lindstrom, whose third save came in a game he entered with a 7-4 lead against the Marlins and left with a line of 121100.
The other saves were by Reds RHP Francisco Cordero, fifth, 11-9 vs. the Dodgers; Angels RHP Fernando Rodney, fifth, 6-5 over the Tigers; Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gregg, fourth, 4-3 against the Royals; White Sox RHP Bobby Jenks, third, 4-1 vs. the Rays, and Diamondbacks RHP Chad Qualls, second, 9-7 over the Cardinals.
The free period for these Emails will end Sunday, April 25. After that date, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
NEW!
The good news is that you now CAN subscribe. Here’s how:
Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Include your name, address and phone number so we could contact you with any questions, and (most important) tell us the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. You then would receive an invoice from PayPal, which you could pay by following simple instructions within that Email. Once we receive your payment, we’ll add you to the subscription list so you would receive all of this year’s Emails and have access to any other features from fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Leading the way
The first group of minor league Players of the Week and Pitchers of the Week include the usual overaged suspects and inconsistent or previously underachieving prospects.
Seven of the 10 minor leagues that have started their season used the entire season since Opening Day, April 8, as the basis for these first awards. The Triple-A International League and Double-A Southern and Texas leagues based their awards on the calendar week April 12-18.
The shining stars on the list are two of baseball’s best young pitchers, who won the weekly awards from the two Triple-A leagues: LHP Derek Holland (Oklahoma City, Rangers organization, Pacific Coast League) and our Best Arm from the Farm, RHP Jeremy Hellickson (Durham, Rays, IL).
Holland spent most of last season with Texas. Even though he could be a better pitcher than anyone currently in the Rangers’ rotation, he began this season with the 89ers again and has gone 2-0 with an 0.46 ERA and 15:3 strikeout/walk ratio in 19 2/3 innings during three starts. Hellickson improved to 3-0 in a week when he was 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 15:2 K/W ratio in 14 innings.
The biggest surprise among the award winners was that three catchers had big weeks at bat. They were 25-year-old Robinson Chirinos (Tennessee, Cubs, Southern League), who batted .444 (8-for-18) with three homers, eight RBI and four runs; Ryan Lavarnway (Salem, Red Sox, high Class A Carolina League), .462 (18-39), three homers, 15 RBI, 13 runs, and Travis d’Arnaud (Dunedin, Blue Jays, high Class A Florida State League), .425 (17-40), three homers, 10 RBI, seven runs and a stolen base. D’Arnaud was one of the prospects Toronto received from the Phillies in the Roy Halladay trade.
Other than 24-year-old Nick Evans, who already has played in the major leagues, the Triple-A and Double-A award winners are at least 25 and thus marginal prospects at best. The PCL Player of the Week, 1B John Lindsey of Albuquerque (Dodgers) is 33! He batted .538 (21-39) with two homers, 13 RBI and 13 runs in a hitters’ home park. OF John Mayberry, 26, of Lehigh Valley (Phillies) had an 11-for-21 (.538) week with a homer, five RBI and eight runs.
In Double-A, 25-year-old 1B Andrew Brown began the Texas League season 3-for-18, but last week batted .423 (11-26) with three homers, 11 RBI and five runs for Springfield (Cardinals). In the two games where I saw him play, he was 1-for-8 (a home run) and didn’t impress me as a prospect. Evans began the season 16-for-43 (.372) with three homers, 10 RBI and 11 runs.
The other Players of the Week were LF Dan Robertson of Lake Elsinore (Padres, high Class A California League), .400 (16-40), one homer, eight RBI, eight runs and a stolen base); RF Jerry Sands of Great Lakes (Dodgers, low A Midwest League), .439 (18-41), two homers, 12 RBI, 11 runs, two steals, and 3B Tyler Kolodny of Delmarva (Orioles, low Class A South Atlantic League), .386 (17-44), six homers, 11 RBI, 11 runs and two stolen bases.
The Double-A Pitchers of the Week also were older than the prime age for a prospect – 25-year-old LHP Luis Perez of New Hampshire (Blue Jays, Eastern League), 2-0, 0.53, 11:6 K/w ratio in 17 innings; 27-year-old Tom Cochran, a former independent-league pitcher now with Carolina (Reds, Southern League), 2-0, 0.75, 15:3 K/W ratio in 12 innings, and 26-year-old RHP Federico Castaneda of Northwest Arkansas (Royals, Texas League), 0-0 with an 0.00 ERA and 11:1 K/W ratio in 9 2/3 relief innings. Castaneda, who has spent five years in the Mexican League, could find a spot in Kansas City’s bullpen this season.
Another Royals farmhand, 2008 first-round draft pick Michael Montgomery, was the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week at Wilmington. The lefty was 1-0 with an 0.75 ERA and 19:1 K/W ratio in 12 innings, including a 17-strikeout game against Kinston (Indians). He’ll also get to the major leagues, though not likely this year.
Other Class A Pitchers of the Week were RHP Juan Nicasio of Modesto (Rockies, California League), 1-0, 2.65 ERA, 13:2 K/W ratio in 17 innings; RHP Hector Noesi of Tampa (Yankees, FSL), 2-0, 1.50, 16:1 K/W ratio in 12 innings; Australian RHP Lian Hendriks of Beloit (Twins, Midwest League), 0-0, 0.00, 20:1 K/W ratio in 17 innings, and LHP Nick Hernandez of Lakewood (Phillies, Sally League), 2-0, 1.29, 20:1 K/W ratio in 21 innings.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
Padres RHP Heath Bell earned his fourth save in the day’s best-pitched game, a 1-0 victory over the Giants in which the winning pitcher, RHP Mat Latos, had a pitching line of 740012.
The only save with any kind of trouble was by Astros Lindstrom, whose third save came in a game he entered with a 7-4 lead against the Marlins and left with a line of 121100.
The other saves were by Reds RHP Francisco Cordero, fifth, 11-9 vs. the Dodgers; Angels RHP Fernando Rodney, fifth, 6-5 over the Tigers; Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gregg, fourth, 4-3 against the Royals; White Sox RHP Bobby Jenks, third, 4-1 vs. the Rays, and Diamondbacks RHP Chad Qualls, second, 9-7 over the Cardinals.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Strasburg, Storen sent down by Nationals
The Nationals’ future will remain in the future. They have sent their 2009 first-round-draft-pick right-handers, Stephen Strasburg and Drew Storen, to their minor league camp. The expectation is that Strasburg would be in Washington by June and Storen at least by September.
The Dodgers demoted RHP James McDonald a day after he gave up six runs in 1 1/3 innings.
After saying the switch of 3B Chone Figgins to second base and 2B Jose Lopez to third was just an experiment, the Mariners played them both consistently at the new positions. Now the word is that the team will use Figgins at third and Lopez at second on occasion during the remaining exhibitions, but Seattle will almost certainly have Figgins in the middle of the infield and Lopez on the hot corner on Opening Day.
A bigger problem for the Mariners could be OF Milton Bradley. He has been ejected from his last two exhibition games for seemingly minor infractions. The question is whether his reputation has preceded him and put him on a short leash, or that there was more to the ejections than meets the eye and they’re a bad sign for the volatile player.
Game time:
The Padres again had RHP Mat Latos and LHP Wade LeBlanc starting in separate split-squad exhibition games. Again, they both pitched very well, almost identically. In a 4-1 victory over the White Sox, Latos lowered his ERA to 1.93 with a pitching line of 521105. The run came on a home run by OF/1B Andruw Jones. In a 5-1 victory over the Dodgers, LeBlanc lowered his ERA to 1.93 with a pitching line of 511113. The run came on a home run by 2B Ron Belliard after LeBlanc had thrown 4 2/3 hitless innings. San Diego will separate their days to pitch because it’s pretty clear that they’ll both make the season-opening rotation.
The day was full of outstanding pitching performances, with seven shutouts. Our Cy Young Award for the Day goes to Cubs RHP Carlos Zambrano, whose line was 530024 in a 4-0 win over the Royals.
In the other shutouts, RHP Felix Hernandez’s line was 520012 as the Mariners defeated the Diamondbacks 4-0 using home runs by OFs Franklin Gutierrez and Ryan Langerhans against RHP Dan Haren; RHP Tim Wakefield was in mid-season form with a line of 520023 in a 6-0 victory over the Orioles; RHP Todd Wellemeyer’s line of 540023 was plenty good enough in the Giants’ 6-0 win over the Reds that included 1B Aubrey Huff’s third homer; Twins LHP Francisco Liriano had a line of 330004 in a 6-0 victory over the Rays that could have been worse except for five Tampa Bay double plays including three involving 2B Sean Rodriguez and SS Reid Brignac; the pitcher who says, “Ni,” Tigers LHP Fu-Te Ni, used a line of 320001 to outpitch RHP Roy Halladay to help defeat the Phillies 3-0, and Brewers RHP Yovani Gallardo not only had a line of 540023, but also hit a homer for the only run in their 1-0 win over the Royals.
Athletics Ben Sheets lowered his ERA to 17.28 with a line of 431134 in a 7-4 victory over the Cubs.
The Indians used an eight-run second inning against RHP Jason Jennings to defeat another team of Athletics 12-4. Included was Cleveland DH Travis Hafner’s three-run homer, his second. He won’t be playing regular-season games in Arizona, but if he can have some offensive success that could make the Tribe’s offense pretty potent.
OF Cameron Maybin hit his first two homers, against Nationals RHPs Garrett Mock and Shairon Martis, and RHP Chris Volstad had a line of 561122 in the Marlins’ 5-3 win.
In the Dodgers’ 5-4 victory over the Rangers, RHP Ramon Ortiz’s ERA increased to 1.38 on a line of 452226. He was the winning pitcher in relief of RHP Josh Towers, over Rangers LHP Derek Holland.
The Rockies overcame the Angels 11-10 with five runs in the bottom of the ninth against RHP Juan Mateo and Nick Pugliese. Colorado 2B Eric Young cleared the bases with a triple. In a sloppy game, 2B Clint Barmes had three of the Rockies’ five errors.
The Cardinals defeated the Mets 6-5 on 2B Ruben Gotay’s homer in the bottom of the ninth against RHP Kiko Calero. St. Louis OF Colby Rasmus hit his third homer, a two-run shot against New York RHP John Maine, and Mets rookie 1B Ike Davis also had his third, against RHP Jason Motte.
The Blue Jays’ 7-6 win over the Braves had a last-inning rally typical of what we see in spring training. Toronto scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, with Michael McDade hitting a game-winning double against RHP Jon Huber. Neither will have an impact in the majors or in fantasy baseball this season.
Injuries:
Mariners LHP Cliff Lee could begin the season on the disabled list because of a lower abdominal strain. Whenever he is ready to pitch, he’s subject to a five-game suspension for throwing at Diamondbacks C Chris Snyder. Lee is appealing the suspension. If he isn’t in the rotation the first time around, LHP Jason Vargas and RHP Doug Fister both are expected to make the rotation. They have been fighting for the fifth starter’s job. Fister left today’s game after Reds 1B Joey Votto hit a line drive off the pitcher’s forearm. The injury has been diagnosed as a bruise.
The Rockies said RHP Huston Street has no structural damage in his sore shoulder. However, he is likely to begin the season on the disabled list, possibly on an injury-rehab assignment. In his absence, LHP Franklin Morales and RHP Manuel Corpas could be Colorado’s closers.
Orioles 2B Brian Roberts (herniated disk) has resumed baseball-related activities.
Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval is expected to be out two days after having five stitches in his right shin to close a cut resulting from a collision at home plate. 3B Ryan Rohlinger will fill in for Sandoval. The news isn’t as good for 2B Freddy Sanchez, recovering from shoulder surgery. He won’t play until late April or early May. Jose Uribe is likely to get most of the playing time at second, but San Francisco also will use LF Mark DeRosa in the infield while Sanchez is out.
Astros CF Michael Bourn is out because of a strained right oblique muscle. Playing in his place, OF Jason Bourgeois stole his fourth base and improved his batting average to .286 in an 8-6 win over the Yankees.
NCAA news and blues:
No, I’m not just bitter because the teams I picked are dropping like flies in the NCAA basketball tournament. I am disappointed in the subjectivity and bias toward big conferences and big programs by the selection committee. If Kansas truly was the No. 1 overall seed, then why did Duke get a road to the Final Four only slightly tougher than Syracuse’s December schedule?
As short as I can make this discussion, the tournament should take one of two paths. 1. Become a tournament of champions, with each conference sending the regular-season champion and the survivor of a post-season tournament excluding the champ to the dance. Who really needs the ninth-place team with a losing record in a major conference to help decide the winner? 2. Let everyone in, using the conference tournaments as preliminary rounds. The tournament champs plus the remaining teams in the losers’ bracket of a double-elimination format would advance. The whole thing would be double-elimination, so the conference tournament champs would have to lose twice to be out. The conference tournaments still would have meaning and produce a champion. The regular season couldn’t be more meaningless than it is now, and it would lead to seedings for the conference tournament.
Sample Scouting Report:
Mat Latos, RHP, Padres
Ht.: 6-5 Wt.: 210 T: R Age: 22 Inj. Risk: 10 Alt. Pos.: SP
{2010} Latos so thoroughly dominated low Class A ball last season, that San Diego jumped him to Double-A San Antonio. After he went 5-1 and made the Texas League All-Star game, they only place for him was to go straight to the majors. Latos made another 10 starts for the Padres before they shut him down in September. He throws a mid-90s fastball complemented by both a slider and a curve. The hulking, multi-tattooed Latos has the potential to become a staff ace in time. He should do just fine this year as well. Born: Dec. 9, 1987, Alexandria, Va. 2009: Padres, 51 IP, 4 W, 4.62 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 0 S, 39 SO.
Projection
IP: 133 W: 11 ERA: 3.92 WHIP: 1.27 S: 0 SO: 105 Value: $5
Wade LeBlanc, LHP, Padres
Ht.: 6-3 Wt.: 200 T: L Age: 25 Inj. Risk: 10 Alt. Pos.: SP
{2010} LeBlanc completely turned around his 2008 season last year. At Triple-A Portland, he had poorer results (4-9) than in ’08, when he won 11 games, but pitched much better (3.87 ERA and 1.16 WHIP). He was pitching well enough that the Padres called him up for nine starts, in which he turned around his 1-3 major league mark from 2008 by knocking more than four runs off his ERA and 89 points off his WHIP. He’s not likely to become an ace because his fastball barely reaches 90 mph. LeBlanc does have a sharp-breaking curve and a changeup not far on this side of Johan Santana’s. Born: Aug. 7, 1984, Lake Charles, La. 2009: Padres, 46 IP, 3 W, 3.69 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 0 S, 30 SO.
Projection
IP: 124 W: 8 ERA: 4.28 WHIP: 1.30 S: 0 SO: 88 Value: $2
The Dodgers demoted RHP James McDonald a day after he gave up six runs in 1 1/3 innings.
After saying the switch of 3B Chone Figgins to second base and 2B Jose Lopez to third was just an experiment, the Mariners played them both consistently at the new positions. Now the word is that the team will use Figgins at third and Lopez at second on occasion during the remaining exhibitions, but Seattle will almost certainly have Figgins in the middle of the infield and Lopez on the hot corner on Opening Day.
A bigger problem for the Mariners could be OF Milton Bradley. He has been ejected from his last two exhibition games for seemingly minor infractions. The question is whether his reputation has preceded him and put him on a short leash, or that there was more to the ejections than meets the eye and they’re a bad sign for the volatile player.
Game time:
The Padres again had RHP Mat Latos and LHP Wade LeBlanc starting in separate split-squad exhibition games. Again, they both pitched very well, almost identically. In a 4-1 victory over the White Sox, Latos lowered his ERA to 1.93 with a pitching line of 521105. The run came on a home run by OF/1B Andruw Jones. In a 5-1 victory over the Dodgers, LeBlanc lowered his ERA to 1.93 with a pitching line of 511113. The run came on a home run by 2B Ron Belliard after LeBlanc had thrown 4 2/3 hitless innings. San Diego will separate their days to pitch because it’s pretty clear that they’ll both make the season-opening rotation.
The day was full of outstanding pitching performances, with seven shutouts. Our Cy Young Award for the Day goes to Cubs RHP Carlos Zambrano, whose line was 530024 in a 4-0 win over the Royals.
In the other shutouts, RHP Felix Hernandez’s line was 520012 as the Mariners defeated the Diamondbacks 4-0 using home runs by OFs Franklin Gutierrez and Ryan Langerhans against RHP Dan Haren; RHP Tim Wakefield was in mid-season form with a line of 520023 in a 6-0 victory over the Orioles; RHP Todd Wellemeyer’s line of 540023 was plenty good enough in the Giants’ 6-0 win over the Reds that included 1B Aubrey Huff’s third homer; Twins LHP Francisco Liriano had a line of 330004 in a 6-0 victory over the Rays that could have been worse except for five Tampa Bay double plays including three involving 2B Sean Rodriguez and SS Reid Brignac; the pitcher who says, “Ni,” Tigers LHP Fu-Te Ni, used a line of 320001 to outpitch RHP Roy Halladay to help defeat the Phillies 3-0, and Brewers RHP Yovani Gallardo not only had a line of 540023, but also hit a homer for the only run in their 1-0 win over the Royals.
Athletics Ben Sheets lowered his ERA to 17.28 with a line of 431134 in a 7-4 victory over the Cubs.
The Indians used an eight-run second inning against RHP Jason Jennings to defeat another team of Athletics 12-4. Included was Cleveland DH Travis Hafner’s three-run homer, his second. He won’t be playing regular-season games in Arizona, but if he can have some offensive success that could make the Tribe’s offense pretty potent.
OF Cameron Maybin hit his first two homers, against Nationals RHPs Garrett Mock and Shairon Martis, and RHP Chris Volstad had a line of 561122 in the Marlins’ 5-3 win.
In the Dodgers’ 5-4 victory over the Rangers, RHP Ramon Ortiz’s ERA increased to 1.38 on a line of 452226. He was the winning pitcher in relief of RHP Josh Towers, over Rangers LHP Derek Holland.
The Rockies overcame the Angels 11-10 with five runs in the bottom of the ninth against RHP Juan Mateo and Nick Pugliese. Colorado 2B Eric Young cleared the bases with a triple. In a sloppy game, 2B Clint Barmes had three of the Rockies’ five errors.
The Cardinals defeated the Mets 6-5 on 2B Ruben Gotay’s homer in the bottom of the ninth against RHP Kiko Calero. St. Louis OF Colby Rasmus hit his third homer, a two-run shot against New York RHP John Maine, and Mets rookie 1B Ike Davis also had his third, against RHP Jason Motte.
The Blue Jays’ 7-6 win over the Braves had a last-inning rally typical of what we see in spring training. Toronto scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, with Michael McDade hitting a game-winning double against RHP Jon Huber. Neither will have an impact in the majors or in fantasy baseball this season.
Injuries:
Mariners LHP Cliff Lee could begin the season on the disabled list because of a lower abdominal strain. Whenever he is ready to pitch, he’s subject to a five-game suspension for throwing at Diamondbacks C Chris Snyder. Lee is appealing the suspension. If he isn’t in the rotation the first time around, LHP Jason Vargas and RHP Doug Fister both are expected to make the rotation. They have been fighting for the fifth starter’s job. Fister left today’s game after Reds 1B Joey Votto hit a line drive off the pitcher’s forearm. The injury has been diagnosed as a bruise.
The Rockies said RHP Huston Street has no structural damage in his sore shoulder. However, he is likely to begin the season on the disabled list, possibly on an injury-rehab assignment. In his absence, LHP Franklin Morales and RHP Manuel Corpas could be Colorado’s closers.
Orioles 2B Brian Roberts (herniated disk) has resumed baseball-related activities.
Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval is expected to be out two days after having five stitches in his right shin to close a cut resulting from a collision at home plate. 3B Ryan Rohlinger will fill in for Sandoval. The news isn’t as good for 2B Freddy Sanchez, recovering from shoulder surgery. He won’t play until late April or early May. Jose Uribe is likely to get most of the playing time at second, but San Francisco also will use LF Mark DeRosa in the infield while Sanchez is out.
Astros CF Michael Bourn is out because of a strained right oblique muscle. Playing in his place, OF Jason Bourgeois stole his fourth base and improved his batting average to .286 in an 8-6 win over the Yankees.
NCAA news and blues:
No, I’m not just bitter because the teams I picked are dropping like flies in the NCAA basketball tournament. I am disappointed in the subjectivity and bias toward big conferences and big programs by the selection committee. If Kansas truly was the No. 1 overall seed, then why did Duke get a road to the Final Four only slightly tougher than Syracuse’s December schedule?
As short as I can make this discussion, the tournament should take one of two paths. 1. Become a tournament of champions, with each conference sending the regular-season champion and the survivor of a post-season tournament excluding the champ to the dance. Who really needs the ninth-place team with a losing record in a major conference to help decide the winner? 2. Let everyone in, using the conference tournaments as preliminary rounds. The tournament champs plus the remaining teams in the losers’ bracket of a double-elimination format would advance. The whole thing would be double-elimination, so the conference tournament champs would have to lose twice to be out. The conference tournaments still would have meaning and produce a champion. The regular season couldn’t be more meaningless than it is now, and it would lead to seedings for the conference tournament.
Sample Scouting Report:
Mat Latos, RHP, Padres
Ht.: 6-5 Wt.: 210 T: R Age: 22 Inj. Risk: 10 Alt. Pos.: SP
{2010} Latos so thoroughly dominated low Class A ball last season, that San Diego jumped him to Double-A San Antonio. After he went 5-1 and made the Texas League All-Star game, they only place for him was to go straight to the majors. Latos made another 10 starts for the Padres before they shut him down in September. He throws a mid-90s fastball complemented by both a slider and a curve. The hulking, multi-tattooed Latos has the potential to become a staff ace in time. He should do just fine this year as well. Born: Dec. 9, 1987, Alexandria, Va. 2009: Padres, 51 IP, 4 W, 4.62 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 0 S, 39 SO.
Projection
IP: 133 W: 11 ERA: 3.92 WHIP: 1.27 S: 0 SO: 105 Value: $5
Wade LeBlanc, LHP, Padres
Ht.: 6-3 Wt.: 200 T: L Age: 25 Inj. Risk: 10 Alt. Pos.: SP
{2010} LeBlanc completely turned around his 2008 season last year. At Triple-A Portland, he had poorer results (4-9) than in ’08, when he won 11 games, but pitched much better (3.87 ERA and 1.16 WHIP). He was pitching well enough that the Padres called him up for nine starts, in which he turned around his 1-3 major league mark from 2008 by knocking more than four runs off his ERA and 89 points off his WHIP. He’s not likely to become an ace because his fastball barely reaches 90 mph. LeBlanc does have a sharp-breaking curve and a changeup not far on this side of Johan Santana’s. Born: Aug. 7, 1984, Lake Charles, La. 2009: Padres, 46 IP, 3 W, 3.69 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 0 S, 30 SO.
Projection
IP: 124 W: 8 ERA: 4.28 WHIP: 1.30 S: 0 SO: 88 Value: $2
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