by Jonathan Leshanski on 19 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

At what point do you simply write off a player as too fragile? It depends on how much talent they have, and Troy Tulowitzki is immensely talented. When he’s playing he’s one of the best shortstops, possibly the best, in the game. The problem is that in his seven-year career he’s only twice played 150 games or more, and only one additional time did he manage more than 122 games. Photo by SD Dirk, used under creative commons license. Some people have dubbed him Larry Walker 2.0. Maybe that comparison is fair, maybe it’s not. Larry Walker in his 16-year career...
Read moreby Jonathan Leshanski on 18 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

The trade deadline is approaching, and one of the teams most likely to make some deals are the Chicago Cubs. General manager Theo Epstein has pitching to offer and will be looking to grab good prospects. Ideally he’d like those close to major league ready, but he certainly wants to add to the farm system so that when the team is ready to compete they can field a good number of homegrown players as well as having some blue chip type trading assets. Scott Feldman Photo by Scott LaChance816, used under creative commons license. While they probably won’t be trading much in...
Read moreby Jim Mancari on 17 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

Each league features unlikely saves leaderBy Jim MancariIf you said Mariano Rivera and Jason Grilli would be leading their respective league in saves in mid June before the season started, many people would have thought you were crazy.In any other year, Rivera wouldn’t at all be a stretch, but coming off a torn ACL at the age of 43, it was difficult to predict how he would come back. The Pirates' Jason Grilli Photo by Sports Crazy, used under creative commons license. But Grilli, who had never been a team’s primary closer in his prior 10 seasons, was not even supposed to...
Read moreby Zach Shafron on 16 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

Since the late 2000's, if your baseball team didn't have the lead after the sixth inning against the Cleveland Indians, you could call it a game. The trio of right handed submarine style pitcher Joe Smith, right handed reliever Vinnie Pestano and right handed gunslinger Chris "Pure Rage" Perez have eliminated any sort of rally years in the late innings. Smith would do his thing in the seventh, dazzling Clevelanders with his unusual delivery and realease point making it very difficult for hitters to see the ball off of him. Pestano would attempt to hold to lead in the eighth....
Read moreby Jonathan Leshanski on 15 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

Three years ago, Domonic Brown wasn’t really ready. Sure, there was plenty of hype -- he was tagged “a superstar in the making” -- but he was only 23 and had less than 300 ABs at Class AAA. Nonetheless fans and pundits were looking at a 22 home run season split between AA-AAA and 62 big league at bats. It didn’t matter that he was over-matched in his big league at bats, hitting just .210 in them. Everyone saw the .327 average split between AA and AAA. Photo by Rory Connell, used under creative commons license. So 2011 was supposed to...
Read moreby Jim Mancari on 14 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

Talk about bursting onto the scene.This famous cliché is always tossed around when a player has a hot start to his career. But to use another cliché, Yasiel Puig takes the cake.Through his first nine games, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 22-year-old phenom batted .471 with four home runs and 10 RBIs, including a number of clutch hits. He became just the second player since 1900 to hit four home runs in his first five games, with the other being Mike Jacobs of the New York Mets in 2005. Photo by kla4067, used under creative commons license. Puig, who was scratched...
Read moreby Jonathan Leshanski on 11 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

There was a time when Alex Rodriguez was considered the best player in baseball. Now he’s essentially a pariah in New York. The fans want him gone, the Yankees would like him to be gone. The problem is they still owe him roughly $114 million dollars, and A-Rod doesn’t want to walk away from that. Photo by Keith Allision, used under creative commons license. And Alex may still be able to play baseball, even still be a very good player. But at 37 and coming back from hip surgery, he’s not an elite player. That’s not anything new. A-Rod hasn’t had...
Read moreby Jim Mancari on 10 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

I absolutely love the enthusiasm from one of the game’s best pitchers, but it’s tough to consider any scenario in which Justin Verlander gets voted into the Home Run Derby.About a week ago, Verlander discussed with reporters that he would participate in this year’s Home Run Derby at Citi Field if fans voted him in. He said he could probably hit about three or four home runs and called himself a batting practice hitter. In 24 at-bats this season, not only does he not have a home run, but he also doesn’t even have a hit. Justin Verlander Photo by Keith Allison,...
Read moreby Jonathan Leshanski on 07 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

Major League Baseball needs to throw the book at the players associated with the Biogenesis Clinic and to take the offensive once again on the war on PEDs. Initial reports are that MLB has the paper trail and testimony of disgraced PED pusher Anthony Bosch, giving them enough evidence to suspend perhaps more than 20 MLB players for violating the PED policy even without any of them testing positive. And the powers that be in MLB want punitive damages added to these suspensions due to the players lying about PED use and knowingly gaming the system. Ryan Braun is he the...
Read moreby Jim Mancari on 06 Jun 2013 (In Regular Articles)

Some guys can just never please everybody.Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto has evolved into one of the best hitters in the game today. Yet, he’s recently come under scrutiny for his lack of power hitting.He has just 10 home runs and 28 RBIs this season. During his NL MVP season in 2010, he blasted 37 homers and drove in 113 runs. Photo by Keith Allison, used under creative commons license. But so what if his power numbers are a bit down (though based on games played, he’s still on pace for around 30 home runs this year)? The guy...
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