Aroldis Chapman: Mr. Untouchable

There has been a lot of talk surrounding Reds relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman. The Reds are looking for a much needed pitcher to fill out their rotation, because after Johnny Cueto and Bronson Arroyo, there isn't much left. The current Reds rotation has a combined ERA of 3.98 which is weighs down their team ERA of 3.27, 4th best in the National League. The eight pitchers who have thrown in relief for the Reds have combined for 4 of the Reds' 14 losses, while the starting lineup attributes for 10 (9 coming from the 3,4,5 starters). So what should the Reds do with Aroldis Chapman? In my (and Adam's) opinion, they should make Chapman the closer.

For those who are unfamiliar with Aroldis Chapman, he is a 24 year-old, left-handed relief pitcher, who left it all behind in Cuba so he could come to the United States to play baseball. Chapman holds the Major League record for fastest ball thrown at 105 mph, which he has almost broken his own record several times. This season Aroldis has pitched 14 2/3 innings with 2 wins, 25 strikeouts, and an ERA of "0.00." After losing Ryan Madson as their official closer, the Reds are now in a position where they are struggling to find a definite closer, but have one right in front of their eyes. Chapman! Not many players can hit a 100 mph fastball, a dirty slider, and then a 82 mph changeup leaves hitters scratching their heads.

If the Reds put Chapman in the starting rotation, they're asking for a lot of trouble. This season there has been some success in the relief pitcher to starter transition. Pitchers like Neftali Feliz, Lance Lynn, and Chris Sale are all adjusting well into the new role, but success stories aren't always the case. Jeff Samardzija and Daniel Bard are struggling in their new roles, but when you play for the Cubs and Red Sox respectively, your managers really might not have a choice. My favorite example of the untouchable middle-relief pitcher to starter was Joba Chamberlain who has a lifetime 1.94 ERA as a relief pitcher, and a 4.58 ERA as a starter. Ouch. But if the Reds do decide to place Chapman in the starting lineup, he'll probably strain something in the first three innings. Starting pitchers don't throw their fastball 100 mph consistently, not since the "Big Unit" did in the Kingdome back in the '90s. So if the Reds front office ends up reading this: Make. Chapman. The. Closer.

Lets Go O's!

The Baltimore Orioles are the best team in baseball. Let me reiterate that, the Baltimore Orioles are the best team in baseball. During the offseason, a lot of big names were being tossed around like Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, and many more, but none of which were signed by the Orioles. The O's are starting the same great players they have been for the past few years like Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, and Matt Wieters, but now their is something in the water down by the inner harbor that has the Orioles winning games. This past weekend, the Orioles played a total of 13 hours of baseball against the Boston Red Sox. Those 13 hours split between three games resulted in 3 Orioles wins, in 39 innings. The Orioles bullpen were the true stars of the weekend, especially Friday, only giving up 3 hits while executing the last 24 outs of the 13-inning game. Adam Jones was the hero of this weekends games with 2 homeruns, one of which was today's game winning with a 3 run shot. His other blast of the weekend was a rocket that went over the Green Monster, out of the ballpark, and into the parking lot. At the end of tonight's marathon game of 17-innings, designated hitter Chris Davis was the winner of tonight's game. He pitched two scoreless innings, with 2 hits and 2 walks. He might not have the best WHIP in baseball, but he has a better record than Red Sox outfielder/pitcher Darnell McDonald who gave up tonight's final runs. 

So is it the Orioles success or Red Sox failure that leads to this sweep? Bobby Valentine has lead the Red Sox to a 11-16 record, and about 2 weeks ago I had a dream of how to turn the Red Sox around, and if you're reading this Bobby, hit me up on my cell. The Orioles have an AL best 2.76 ERA, are 2nd in double plays turned, but 1st in errors committed, if they can clean up their fielding, they might have a few more wins under their belt. The Orioles are tired of being the AL East's doormat and are now commanding the division with an iron fist. Buck Showalter is now who has over 1,000 wins in his career as a manager, has lead the Orioles to a .679 winning percentage. This is the first time since June 10-12th, 1994 that the Orioles have swept the Red Sox in Fenway. This is also the first time that a player has gone 0-8 and wound up as the winning pitcher, when Rube Waddell did it on July 4th, 1905. What does this all mean? The Orioles have been the butt of many jokes throughout the past few years, but now they are laughing at the top of the division. 

Mariano Rivera tears ACL

The greatest closer of all time has been sidelined due to an unfortunate injury during batting practice today. Apparently Mariano Rivera likes to shag balls during batting practice so that he can stretch all of his muscles playfully. He also jokes with manager Joe Girardi that someday he hopes to play in the outfield. Rivera was racing back to catch a ball near the warning track, when he crumpled to the ground grasping his right knee. An MRI tonight has confirmed that he has a tear in his right ACL. Rivera is 42 years old and possibly in his last season of baseball with the Yankees, and hoped to have a successful year without any problems. Unfortunately, that will not be the case. The all time saves leader with 608, hoped to continue increasing that number for the rest of the season, but as of right now, there is no timeline for his return. The 5 time World Series Winner, 12 time All-Star, and record holder will be sure to come back. More news to come later, but I hope the Sandman has not fallen to sleep.

Roy Halladay Leaves the Phillies

Roy Halladay has reportedly left the Phillies to go back to home attend to a family matter, but should return when the Phils go to DC against the Nationals. Apparently Halladay spoke to Charlie Manuel and Rich Dubee on Tuesday that he needed to leave, but Manuel still had him pitch on Wednesday. Before last night Roy Halladay was 107-0 when his team gives him a 4 run lead, and after last night, he's now 107-1. Halladay was 42-4 in 50 starts when the Phillies give him the lead, before last night's start. So now we step back and look and see what exactly was going on with Roy Halladay. What is the pressing matter with his family that he had to return home for and asked to do so Tuesday? Obviously, his head was not in last night's game and he was thinking about his family's well-being rather than pitching. That's hard to comprehend because Phillies fans know that Halladay is a perfectionist when it comes to pitching and always puts his best stuff out there. Last night was only the second time in his career that he gave up 12 or more hits and 8 or more earned runs. Something must be wrong with Doc. Pressure at home and pressure on the field must finally be getting to Roy Halladay because the Phillies' offensive struggles are still being put on the pitching. Last night the Phil's offense was amazing, but the pitching faltered. As the ace of a team trying to compete in the tight race for the National League East, Roy Halladay has to pick up the slack, especially since Cliff Lee was placed on the DL. The story following Halladay's family matter is still developing and hopefully everything is ok with the Doc and his loved ones. He is expected to come back Friday, but nothing is guaranteed.

Weaver Throws No-Hitter

No clever title today, I've seen enough puns and witty titles about Jered Weaver's no-hitter, all of which take away from the greatness of a no-hitter. There have been 274 no-hitters in Major League history, which includes 21 perfect games. Within the past 10 years, 22 no-hitters have been pitched, 5 of which were perfect games, and of those 22 no-hitters, 10 were pitched within the last 2 years. So call it what you may, but the past few seasons have been the Year(s) of the Pitcher. We've seen every kind of perfect game/no-hitter in which "nobodies" like Phil Humber and Dallas Braden pitch perfect games, but we also see the aces come out like Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander, and now Jered Weaver. Weaver threw 9 innings of no-hit ball, with 121 pitches, 9 strikeouts, and 1 walk, the no-hitter was complete. There was a chance of a perfect game until there was one out in the 7th inning where Weaver issued a walk. But there was only one thing on Jered Weaver's mind when getting ready to go out to the mound in the 9th inning: using the men's room. So, he went, came back, and got the last three outs. Weaver had enough on his mind, let alone adding his pressing bladder to the situation. With this win, the struggling Angels swept the Twins for their first three game winning streak of the year.

Newcomer CJ Wilson told Weaver a week before after Phil Humber's perfect game that it was time for him to throw his no-hitter, to which Weaver replied, "No chance." Weaver's no-hitter is the 10th in Angels franchise history, 4 of which belong to Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. The last no-hitter for the Angels was pitched by Ervin Santana, who still plays for the Angels, last year on July 27th. If you can remember, Santana's no-hitter was not a shutout of the Cleveland Indians, but The Indians scored a run in the game in the first inning as a result of an error, a stolen base and a wild pitch. It was an unbelievable night for the fans, for the Angels, and for Jered Weaver. Last year Weaver resigned with the Angels for less money so he could pitch for his hometown team, and the fact that he pitched his no-hitter at home was truly remarkable. Congratulations Jered Weaver.

But on a funny note:

Albert Pujols Homer-less in April

It's May 2nd, and I was hoping by the end of April, the Philadelphia Phillies would have a record of .500 or better, but one city is hoping for something more. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim signed Albert Pujols to a 10-year $240 million contract this off season, hoping for a chance at having one of the greatest players of all time on their team. But as of right now, it looks like the Angels spent a lot of money for little return. Albert Pujols' trophy room has 3 MVP awards, 2 Gold Gloves, 6 Silver Sluggers, a Rookie of the Year award, and 2 World Series rings. He is a man who has 6.88% of all MVP shares, to which the only two people ahead of him are Stan Musial and Barry Bonds. Pujols has 445 homeruns, 80 of which were hit in the month of April, meaning that 17.9% of his homeruns are in April. If you still do not know what I am talking about, or have not been following baseball, Albert Pujols has not hit a homerun! With very little production, the Angels are now 9-15 in the AL West, and to put things in perspective: if you're team is below both the Athletics and the Mariners, you're in trouble. Pujols has been given a lot of attention due his lack of hitting the long ball, and is putting pressure on Prince Albert. I even made a bet during an at-bat that Albert would hit a homerun, and he was walked, saving me $50. Across the city of Los Angeles, Matt Kemp has hit 12 homeruns and only makes $7 million a year, while Pujols is making much more, maybe the money is slowing his swing down. Albert is hitting .208 this season in 96 at-bats with 8 doubles, and 5 RBIs. Half way across the country, Pujols' main replacement Carlos Beltran has already hit 5 homers, are Cardinals fans happy? I would think so, especially since they are still salty about losing Pujols in the first place, and are looking for some form of sweet revenge. I for one know not to underestimate Pujols because he can hit, he is Albert Pujols for crying out loud! I'm not writing him off, but he certainly needs to start producing if the Angels want a chance in the AL West.

#BeastMode

The term "Beast Mode" is thrown around Major League Baseball quite often now, and older fans may not understand the whole idea of Beast Mode or what a hashtag is. Well here you go #Beastmode. Following baseball players on Twitter offers a lot of insight to what happens off the field. Most players are just like you and me, they have kids, go to church, go shopping, and strive to win. Many players post about the day's game, like Andrew McCutchen posted the other day about how upset he was with his error that cost the Pirates the game. But back to my main point of Beast Mode. In 2011, the National League MVP award went to Ryan Braun with Matt Kemp finishing in 2nd. But after the off season, there were rumors of Ryan Braun taking performance enhancing drugs. After clearing his name, Braun went back to baseball, and Matt Kemp started a journey that the hopes to finish at the end of this season. Kemp wants that award. And as of right now, Matt Kemp is leading the Majors in batting average .417, homeruns - 12, RBIs - 25, and runs scored - 24. He is in BEAST MODE, he is the epitome of beast mode, and through 23 games, Kemp is leading the blazing hot Dodgers to a 16-7 record. Where is Ryan Braun? Well, through 22 games, Braun has 7 HRs, 2 3Bs, 5 2Bs, 3 SBs, and a .294 batting average. Those are still great numbers, but after losing Prince Fielder in Milwaukee, Braun has lost someone to bring him home, to help that lineup win games. So who will finish the season with better numbers? I can't say that. I can't even say that Kemp will win the NL MVP, but as of right now, he has my vote, and I do not see him slowing down any time soon. Rumors have been going around that Kemp could be the first player to be in the 50-50 club, hitting 50 homeruns and stealing 50 bases. I love Ryan Braun, that's a fact. As for Matt Kemp, I think that he is a standup player, who has been increasing his numbers every year, and hopes to continue that. A few years ago it used to be Andre Eithier and Matt Kemp battling for who would be the Dodgers #1 outfielder, and in recent years, Kemp has won. Right now, the only person to come close to touching Matt Kemp is Josh Hamilton, who will be out for a couple days with back problems, and with that, I think Kemp will try to cushion his RBI totals and continue his warpath against the Rockies. Good luck to Matt Kemp in attempting his MVP campaign and 50-50 club, and good luck to Ryan Braun on posting his incredible numbers like he always has.