Bryce Harper: The "Lebron" of Baseball

Bryce Harper has been referred to as many names, but the first time I read about him, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headlines, "The 'Lebron' of Baseball" and that title stuck with me. Now, let's consider what has happened between now and then, Harper dropped out of high school to pursue his career in the Majors. When Harper was 17, he was being scouted at a New York Yankees training camp, where he pitched, caught, and played outfield. Harper was a natural catcher, but we all know too well that most catchers career's are cut short due to problems with their knees deteriorating. Bryce was then drafted as a second pick by the Washington Nationals and converted to a full-time outfielder, he now predominately plays left field, but also is able to play center (right field being taken by Jayson Werth). In his debut at-bat, nothing special happened, Harper hit a soft grounder back to the mound and was forced out at first. His second at-bat was a slamming double to straight-away center, and was only a few feet short of a homerun. In his last at-bat of the game, Harper hit a sacrifice fly for his first RBI of his MLB career. He also flashed his glove in Sunday's game by making a great catch off a hard hit ball from Juan Uribe, slammed into the outfield wall, and still remained in the game. Right now Bryce is the youngest player in the National League at the age of 19, and is the first position player of the MLB 2010 draft to play. So what will happen with Bryce Harper? In my opinion, he will probably stay on the Nationals roster the entire season, but possibly could come back full-time in September. Who knows? The Nationals could keep him on the entire season and he could become Rookie of the Year, and the Nationals will have him help to winning their first NL East Pennant. I don't know if all of that will happen, but I do know Harper's track record. He once hit a 570 ft homerun, something that sluggers now have never done. One thing I do like about Bryce Harper is that he comes from a Christian family, and Harper is not cocky about hist talent, but modest and puts God in front of everything, which I find to be admirable. I wish Bryce Harper luck in the rest of the MLB career and hope that he lives up to all the hype that people give him.

Age is just a Number

My dearest apologies blog followers, but I haven't been posting for approximately one week due to my recent trip to Baton Rouge. I was following my other love of bowling rather than posting about baseball, and in my absence a perfect game has been pitched, and that's about it. Phil Humber is his name and his start after the perfect game, he was Rocked! But as I have been looking more and more into baseball I keep seeing these names come back time and time again. I look at MLB Trade Rumors and all of a sudden, a familiar name has been signed to a one-year deal with another ball club. Favorite of mine, Vladimir Guerrero (age 37) is now working out for the Diamondbacks, hoping to make a deal sometime soon. Hideki Matsui signed with the Rays as of yesterday, Matsui is 37. Recently, Johnny Damon has signed a one-year deal with the Cleveland Indians. Damon is now 38. Jamey Carroll signed a one year deal with the Twins, Carroll is 38. Manny Ramirez is serving his suspension with the Oakland A's, but once he returns he will be 40. Jim Thome is now playing with the Phillies, Thome is 41. Omar Vizquel is playing with the Toronto Blue Jays, Vizquel is 45. Last but certainly not least, Jamie Moyer made the team with the Colorado Rockies at the ripe old age of 49. Those names are the names of All-Stars, World Series Winners, an MVP, Silver Slugger winners, Gold Glove winners, and various MLB records and recognition. Who are these men? They are ballplayers and that is what they love to do, want to continue to do, and will until they are told they have to stop. Their numbers may have dropped off slightly, but they are making the team, and ensuring that their roster spot is still there at the end of the season so that they have a chance for glory once more. Some people wrote off Jamie Moyer in his 20s, but he has more wins in his 40s than in his 20s. Moyer has set the record for the oldest pitcher to win a game, and continues to set that record as the season goes on. Vladimir Guerrero gained an All-Star position and won a Silver Slugger at the age of 35. Omar Vizquel has been playing since 1989, and still manages to play first base, second base, and outfield at the age of 45. How many people can say that they can still get out there in such a demanding sport at the age of 45? Jamie Moyer is the oldest player in the Majors right now at the age of 49, and has 10 years to go if he wants to break the record Satchel Paige, who stopped playing in 1965 at the age of 59. Wrapping up this blog I know it was not what it normally is of stats, facts, and recaps of current news, but more of a hommage to the "elderly" players in the Majors. I hope they succeed in their new teams and hope these veterans can set an example for the rookies.

Cy Young Contender: Bartolo Colon

You may laugh at me as you read this blog, as I write about how I think that Bartolo Colon is once more a Cy Young contender, but I feel as though Bartolo is back in business. The two time All-Star and Cy Young winner has gone through a career that has had the highest of pinnacles to the lowest troughs. Now, he is back on the rise in Oakland and has a somewhat viable offense to back him up. But after being with Yankees last year, you would have thought that Colon would have won more games, give him a break! He was coming back from a year plagued with surgeries repairing his torn rotator cuff and many other shoulder problems. Now Colon is 3-1 with the A's and gave a great performance in Japan against the Mariners. His one loss is when pitching against "King" Felix Hernandez, but I would just like to think that Colon was still jet-lagged from the flight back from Japan. In his second start in the US, Colon faced Hernandez again, and then beat the pants off him only giving up 3 hits and 1 walk in 7 innings pitched. But last night's game could have been Colon's hardest outing, but he went out with his best stuff, blanking the Angels to only 4 hits in 8 innings pitched. Bartolo was pitching against Ervin Santana, who entered the day with 13 wins and a 2.00 ERA in 23 career games (21 starts) against the A's. So the Athletics were in a position where it didn't look good, but Colon looked past the numbers and threw 82 strikes, with 38 in a row! Bartolo Colon threw strikes from the first pitch in the 5th inning into the 8thing inning. Throwing strikes against a lineup that is full of powerful hitters means nothing to Colon, he was unfazed. He also did all of this under the team in which he won his 1st and only Cy Young award with, the Angels. Another story developing with the Bartolo Colon triumph is the power behind the bat of Yoenis Cespedes, who hit his 4th homerun of the season to give the A's an early 3-0 lead. As of right now, Colon has a 2.63 ER, a WHIP of 0.80, leads the MLB in innings pitched with 27 1/3 innings, and ties Roy Halladay in MLB with 3 wins. I really think he can pull through for another Cy Young award if he keeps up this pace, what do you think?

Those Crazy Marylanders*

Is there something in the Chesapeake? 13 games into the season, who would have thought that the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals would still be leading their respective divisions. Looking at the Orioles who are 7-5, they lead the division by 0.5 games over the Toronto Blue Jays. What exactly is leading to their success? To start off the season the O's swept the Twins, but then got swept by the Yankees. The Orioles are ranked 2nd in homeruns in the American League with 20, and without any from Mark Reynolds! But Reynolds is certainly contributing to their #1 ranking in strikeouts with 100 Ks.   Offense hasn't been the Orioles biggest problem in the past few years, it's been their lack of pitching. This year they are ranked 5th in the American League in ERA with 3.65 and are leading the American League in saves with 5. Who would have thought that Jim Johnson would have 5 saves with a 0.00 ERA through 5 2/3 innings pitched? Last night the Orioles pitched got hurt by the sluggers of the Chicago White Sox, and they need to learn how to rework some pitching placement against big bats, especially with being in the AL East. With all of that falling into place, the Orioles are still 2 games over .500, and for the team and O's fans everywhere, I hope they stay there.

Even though the Orioles appear as though they are unfortunately on the decline, the Washington Nationals are just starting. The Nationals are a National League best with a 10-3 record, only behind the Texas Rangers in all of MLB. The Nats are just unstoppable. It's just amazing how much they have improved with having Stephen Strasburg back and a Jayson Werth who is actually contributing. New faces to the Nats like Gio Gonzalez and Edwin Jackson are pitching like there is no tomorrow, and old faces like Ryan Zimmerman, Jordan Zimmermann, and Rick Ankiel are contributing to more win games. In their last 10 games, the Nats are 8-2, only losing to the Cubs, Mets, and Reds all this season. But still leading the NL East by 2.5 games? That is something that I never thought I would see this far into the season, but the NL East is nothing of what I thought it would be as of now. In power rankings, the Nationals are ranked 12th by the professionals, and 7th by the fans, giving them a power ranking of 11th out of 15. But after losing Mike Morse to injury, and still not having pitcher Drew Storen until the All-Star break, the Nationals are working to fulfill those gaps in the lineup. As a baseball fan I love to see the Nationals succeed, but as a Phillies fan, I'll keep that opinion to myself.

*Washing D.C. I understand is not technically in Maryland

Pudge Rodriguez Calls it a Career

Thumbs Up from Pudge!

After 21 seasons in the Majors, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez is retiring. Out of those 21 seasons, 12 (and some change in 2009) were spent in Texas with the Rangers from 1991 to 2002, one year with the Marlins in 2003, 4 years with the Tigers 2004-2008, some time with the Yankees in 2008, one year with the Astros in 2009, and lastly two years with the Nationals from 2010-2011. Wow, talk about some serious playing some with true contenders. Pudge played in two World Series, his first in 2003 with the Marlins against the Yankees to win his first ring, and then lost to the Cardinals in 2006 with the Tigers. He is a lifetime .296 hitter, with .255 batting average in the playoffs. The funny thing about his batting average in the playoffs is that Pudge played the Yankees in every single post season, so realistically, 5/9 of that average is from Yankees pitching, which isn't that bad. If you don't think Ivan Rodriguez is an amazing catcher, well then you apparently haven't seen his stats. Yes I understand that in his later years with the Astros and Nationals his numbers faded, but he's been catching longer than I've been alive, and a 40 year old catcher is nothing to shake a stick at. I mean those knees must be tired! "I-Rod" has racked up 13 Gold Gloves (10 with the Rangers), 7 Silver Sluggers, 14 All-Star games, and one MVP award. Of active players, Rodriguez leads all of MLB in doubles with 527, which greatly outnumbers such players as Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, and Chipper Jones. Pudge also leads all of Major League Baseball history with 2,427 games started as a defensive catcher, which outnumbers the next highest catcher (Carlton Fisk) by over 200 games. Other things Rodriguez leads all of MLB history in is: Putouts as a catcher, caught stealing as a catcher, caught stealing %, assists as a catcher, and total zone runs as a catcher. Phew! Those are Hall of Fame statistics in my book, and hopefully he will make it there some day. Pudge has decided to retire with the team that he was most successful with and made a name for himself with, and the Rangers have not made a formal announcement, but should do so soon. What a great career Ivan, I'm glad I was there to see possibly the greatest catcher of Major League Baseball play during my lifetime.

"The Freak" in Trouble

Tim Lincecum is a 2 time NL Cy Young Winner, a 4 time NL All-Star, and a World Series Champion, but what's wrong with him? After three very poor outings, Giants fans everywhere are wondering exactly what is wrong with their ace pitcher? I was able to watch Lincecum's first outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks in which he got rocked. He did two things that he did not do in all of the 2011 season which was give up two homeruns in the same inning, and give up a homerun in the first. Lincecum got the lost that day after pitching 5 1/3 innings, with 6 hits, 1 walk, 5 runs, and an ending ERA of 8.44. His next start was not much better after the entire Colorado Rockies had his number. Lincecum only pitched 2 1/3 innings with 8 hits, 2 walks, 6 runs, and a rising ERA of 12.96. Last night against the Phillies, Lincecum's struggles continued as he "dueled" against Doc Halladay. In his longest outing of 6 innings pitched, Lincecum gave up 8 hits, 1 walk, 5 runs, and lowered his ERA to 10.54. Now Lincecum is 0-2 and since 2007, he has never allowed at least five runs in more than two straight games. He has allowed a total of 16 runs this year, marking that the first time he has given up that many runs in a three-game span. Who knows what is going on with "The Freak" but apparently neither does he. After his start against the Rockies and before last night's game against the Phillies, Lincecum cut off a considerable amount of his hair, maybe to remedy his poor starts. In 2011, Tim finished 13-14, but with an ERA of 2.74, the reason behind his poor win-loss record can be attributed to the Giants lack of offensive power, finishing 2nd to last in the National League. Now the Giants are facing more problems losing closer Brain Wilson to Tommy John surgery, his second of his lifetime. Two years after winning the World Series, the Giants are scratching their heads trying to find out what they did wrong. Was it getting rid of Pat Burrell? Or is it that Tim Lincecum is smoking too much marijuana? Who knows, but in my opinion, it's getting harder to compete in the NL West with the Dodgers and Diamondbacks starting off the season red-hot. I know that I say this often, but I remember going to Tim Lincecum's Major League debut back in 2007 against the Phillies. I remember him looking goofy and also looked like he was 12 at the time, but I never knew that he would become a 2 time Cy Young winner. I really don't mind Tim Lincecum and even think that he is an amazing pitcher, especially for his size, but I hope "The Freak" can regain his former stature.

Freddy!

Freddy Galvis' name has been tossed around for the past year or so, debating whether or not he could fulfill shortstop if Jimmy Rollins did not sign with the Phillies, but after it was apparent that Chase Utley would not be available to start the season, it's all about Freddy. Galvis started off the season going 0-12 and finally notched his first Major League hit last Monday with a 2-run double off Anibal Sanchez. Freddy was quoted saying, "As soon as I got to second, I could breathe. I was feeling much better. After the second game, I was like, 'Wow, when am I going to get it?'" That double was the only offense for the Phillies on their home opener, but Galvis' bat didn't quiet down after that. On Wednesday night's game against the Marlins, Josh Johnson on the mound, Freddy's name was being chanted by the fans at Citizen's Bank Park, and Freddy ripped a double into right field, giving him his second hit, 3rd and 4th RBIs, and the love of Philadelphia. "Freddy! Freddy! Freddy!" is what they were chanting, to which Roy Halladay said he was jealous because no one has ever chanted his name like that. Maybe someday soon Roy. But Freddy is now batting .226 going 7-19 after his 0-12 stretch, so as of last Monday, Galvis is batting .368. His offense isn't the only thing that is turning heads, but his defense is impecable. Many have been speculating that Galvis is turning plays that a healthy Chase Utley could not make, and saying that would mean that Galvis' defense is better than a 5 time NL All-Star. So far, Galvis has committed one error, but that in my mind is debatable because the ball took an awkward hop at the last second, causing Galvis to misread the ball. Is that an error? I don't know. Let's hope that Freddy moves up in the Phillies lineup, allowing him to get more at-bats and hopefully more RBIs and runs scored. Ending on a happy note, Freddy Galvis had his first home run on Friday against the Mets off R.A. Dickey in the 3rd inning in front of Phillies fans at CBP. After receiving the standard "freeze-out" by his teammates, he was welcomed into the dugout with high-fives, hugs, and congratulating pats on the back. Good luck Freddy and keep up the good work.