The Weekly Rundown 05.02.08: The Month in Review
Posted by A.J. Stevens on 05.02.2008
Thirty days of baseball are now behind us. Come join us as we talk about the highlights and other surprises of the first sixth of the season!
I love this time of year! The sun comes up early, it's warm but not warm enough to have to shut the windows and crank the A/C (yet), the birds are chirping, and the baseball stadiums that are not in Miami are packed!
NEWS FROM LAST WEEK
Can Roy Halladay catch a break?
My man "Doc" Halladay is leading the majors with an astounding (for this era) 4 complete games for the Blue Jays. Unfortunately, he's lost three of them. Can a man get some run support, please? The Jays haven't scored more than 4 runs for Halladay yet, and haven't scored more than 1 in 3 of his last 4 starts. Halladay is a great, great pitcher, and a real workhorse. C'mon Jays, get this man some runs... STAT!
Tampa Bay, meet Boston. Boston, Tampa Bay. The pleasure will be all theirs.
I've spoken before in this column about the Rays having the Yankees' number. I wouldn't have guessed that the Rays' current hot streak would include sweeping the Red Sox over the weekend, culminating in a two-hit complete game shutout by James Shields. As of this writing, the Rays are 1 game behind Boston for the AL East lead. Obviously, without the sweep, that number is much larger, the Rays are at or below .500, and they don't seem like much of a feel-good story. Still -- these guys are fun to watch this year. Hopefully the fans down in south Florida will realize that soon and start populating the Trop.
All-Star voting has begun, have you cast your vote?
We're one-sixth of the way into the season, and already, voting for the All-Star game has commenced. I've got mixed feelings about the ASG. I don't think it should count for anything. I don't think it should be a "serious" game -- it should just be an exhibition. But I also don't want the voting to start so darn early in the year that fans are just going to resort to the "popular" picks for their team. Yes, I know, the ASG is a popularity contest anyway, and that's why the manager gets to pick reserves and one player from each team. I don't believe that one can accurately start lining up for an All-Star game four weeks into the season. Sure, it's a mid-season contest. Yes, I understand that the people picked to play in the game (by the fans, at least) are legitimate stars, and are very good at what they do. I would like to see something a little closer to the game, though, and not the stupid "25th man" voting that's been done these past few years. I also don't think there should be a forced representative from every team on the roster (although this year the Royals and Pirates actually have people to send). But maybe that's just me. Let's get some discussion going on this, eh?
WALKOFF OF THE WEEK
Joe Crede, Chicago AL, vs. Yankees, 4/24/08
Nathan Haynes, Tampa Bay, vs. Red Sox, 4/25/08
Russell Martin, Los Angeles NL, vs. Rockies, 4/25/08
Wil Nieves, Washington, vs. Cubs, 4/25/08
David Murphy, Texas, vs. Twins, 4/25/08
Victor Martinez, Cleveland, vs. Yankees, 4/26/08
Brian Anderson, Baltimore, vs. White Sox, 4/26/08
Tadahito Iguchi, San Diego, vs. Diamondbacks, 4/26/08
Skip Schumaker, St. Louis, vs. Astros, 4/26/08
James Loney, Los Angeles NL, vs. Rockies, 4/27/08 (2nd walkoff win, LA sweeps COL)
Kevin Youkilis, Boston, vs. Blue Jays, 4/29/08 (Halladay CG loss)
David Wright, New York NL, vs. Pirates, 4/29/08
Felipe Lopez, Washington, vs. Braves 4/30/08 (Braves lose 9th one-run game)
Jason Varitek, Boston, vs. Blue Jays, 4/30/08 (2nd straight walkoff win, BOS sweeps TOR)
Wow - much better than two weeks ago, when we had exactly two walkoffs. This week's winner is Tadahito Iguchi, who not only propelled his team to a win, but he scored his team their first extra-innings win of the season. This one was fun to watch, and not just because the FOX announcers were squirming in their seats at the possibility of yet another San Diego marathon game.
What, you expected anything else? Baseball is about pitching battles, walk-offs, extra-inning games, and big home runs. Of course I'm taking Iguchi's extra-innings jack.
MILESTONE WATCH
Greg Maddux cannot get win number 350 no matter how hard he tries. Manny Ramirez is still at 496 home runs. Randy Johnson finally got a win, then followed it up with a ND. Still, he's at 285 wins and is finally making progress toward 300. Junior Griffey is still at 597 home runs.
PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
And now, without any further ado, here are my picks for April player of the month (by position, irrespective of league):
Catcher: Geovany Soto - He's had a solid start. Almost as many Ks as hits, unfortunately. That would have counted against him, but at this point there just aren't any catchers doing better than him. Add his two jacks Wednesday night, and his team being in first place, and you've got yourself a winner.
First Base: Albert Pujols - "Only" 5 home runs, but at press time he has a whopping .538 OBP and 1.167 OPS. That's some quality stuff. Here's hoping he can stay injury-free for the rest of the year.
Second Base: Chase Utley - Is there any argument here? 10 hrs, including 7 in 7 games, plus excellent defense. This man is playing out of his mind so far.
Third Base: Chipper Jones - Even with injuries, he has been a force to be reckoned with for opposing pitchers. He's still dangerous from both sides of the plate; when all is said and done he's going to go down as the switch-hitting archetype of this generation of ballplayers.
Shortstop: Rafael Furcal - Total package for the Dodgers: speed, OBP, and defense. He's having the kind of season that Juan Pierre wishes he could have. Come to think of it, he's having the kind of season that Dodger fans wish Juan Pierre would have.
Left Field: Pat Burrell - It was a toss-up between him and Manny, but Pat the Bat's got the edge on stats. The Phillies don't really have what it takes on the mound, so any assistance at the plate is extremely valuable.
Center Field: Nate McLouth - He threw some power in with his hit streak. When I mentioned earlier that the Pirates will be sending a legit all-star to Yankee Stadium this year, I was thinking of this guy. Stand up and cheer, Pirate fans. You've got someone special here. Hopefully he'll stay past July.
Right Field: Kosuke Fukudome - He's been leading by example at the plate with patience, something Sweet Lou and the Cubs can definitely get behind. He's got a .444 OBP and is currently 3rd in MLB in walks.
LH Pitcher: Cliff Lee - Cliff is this year's version of Fausto Carmona. Unfortunately, Indians fans can't put another pitcher with him like last year's "Carmona and Sabathia" tandem. Hopefully, someone else in the rotation will get healthy and step up, because the way the Tigers have started out, it's anybody's division.
RH Pitcher: Brandon Webb - 6.0, 1.98 ERA. And lest you think this is a fluke, this is the third time in his career that he's started the season 5-0. He's been so dominant, people are already penciling him in as a Cy Young contender.
YOU DIDN'T SPEAK, SO WE COULDN'T LISTEN
::crowd boos::
CLOSING IT OUT
It's May! School is starting to wrap up the year, summer is starting to peek its head around the corner, and baseball is almost out of the shadow of the never-ending NBA playoffs. Will the season's torrid pace be kept up? Let's follow it together, right here next week.
If you want to talk baseball, drop us a line at 411baseball@gmail.com, or leave me a comment below. Thanks for reading this week, and we'll see you again next Friday morning!
