2-4 on the week may not be much, but it’s a step in the right direction. I’m not here to say that anyone actually did sacrifice a Lackey Rag writer, but at least things are starting to trend positive…
3 UP:
1. Brewers – don’t look now, but they’re 5-1 over the last week, and 14-6 in June. They’ve climbed within 6.5 games of the baby bears, and are only 2 games behind the Redbirds for the WC.
2. Twins – let’s look back and see what TWiB had to say about the Twinkies two weeks ago:
Twins: 2-5 on the week. Much like the Astros, this may be a team that is regressing to its mean.
Hmmm… the Twins now sit at 40-36, just 1.5 games behind the White Sox for the division lead. Yeah, we might have called that one a little early.
3. AL – though I hate to say it, the AL is once again starting the Senior Circuit off with a nice open-handed slap; interleague play sits at 97-71 in the AL’s favor.
3 DOWN:
1. NL West – good lord, what a collection of crap. The division leaders sit at 39-37, a record that would be no better than third place in any other MLB divison. The division is a combined 40 games under .500, and managed a total of 12 wins – combined – last week. (By comparison, the widely mocked NL Central sits at 22 games over .500.)
2. Phillies – once again, let’s look back on TWiB’s commentary of two weeks ago:
The Phils are starting to assert themselves as Masters of Their Domain, and should be able to put the East away in the next couple of months.
Yeah… that 1-5 swing against AL division leaders Boston and LAA didn’t work so well, did it? The Fish in your rearview mirror may be fresher than they appear.
3. Indians – 35-41 on the season, same as the Astros. The problem is, the Indians were considered near-locks to be playoff contenders, and only the overwhelming mediocrity of the AL Central is prohibiting them from being eliminated already.
EN FUEGO:
Jermaine Dye kind of quietly gets it done in Chicago. All he does is go out and put up his .300/.350/.500 line, year in and year out. Last week, he got up on the wheel for a 10-24, 5 HR, 13 RBI performance. Honorable mention to Jeff Baker, the Colorado utility man who went nuts for a 10-23, 4 HR week, giving him 5 HR on the season.
POSITIVELY CLARK:
Perhaps the Boston media could stop gorvelling Jason Varitek’s schlong long enough to notice that he went 0-19 on the week, and now “boasts” a .230/.308/.392 line on the season. Pretty much any catcher that does not play in Houston can top this – for comparison’s sake, whichever Squatting Molina plays in STL has managed a .290/.347/.382, and I’m pretty sure he shares bats with the pitchers.
CHOCOLATE STARFISH OF THE WEEK:
You thought that the 3am firing would be a gimme this week, didn’t you? Oh no, TWiB does not operate on the level of the obvious, gentle reader. Nay, the New York Mess is not even recognized as a legitimate major league franchise – I’m not 100% certain, but JackAstro’s patented Wikipedia Method has borne me out on this.
No, instead we go to Toronto, home of the looney, and by that, I mean J.P. Ricciardi. What kind of frakkin’ GM goes out and calls out an opposing player as soft, much less a slugger that is likely to hit the trade market? Oh, did I mention that Toronto is in desperate need of a DH?
Toronto ownership should have fired the man as soon as the interview was over. If that doesn’t demonstrate gross incompetence, I don’t know what does.
SnS THREAD OF THE WEEK:
Any time that HudsonHawk can recommend the best, and perhaps only, way to get through this losing streak, that has to be the pivotal moment. At least the team is 2-2 since that time.
However, I will take this opportunity to further expound on ESPiN’s commentary.
In June, the Astros have allowed 100 runs, just over the league average of 93. In that time, they have scored 66 runs, well under the league average of 86. And this is a team that was specifically constructed around offense? On the season, the Astros have allowed 369 runs, or a whopping 5% above the league average; their 332 runs scored are actually 3.2% below the league average.
In short – the offense better get their shit together, because they are the ones not living up to expectations.
MM’s ALL STAR BALLOT:
National League
C McCann (ATL)
1b Berkman
2b Utley (PHI)
SS Ramirez (FLA)
3b Jones (ATL)
OF McLouth (PIT)
OF Ludwick (STL)
OF Beltran (NYM)
P Volquez (CIN)
American League
C Mauer (MIN)
1b Youkilis (BOS)
2b Roberts (BAL)
SS Young (TEX) – this is a purely “lack of better options” vote
3b Rodriguez (NYY)
OF Hamilton (TEX)
OF Bradley (TEX)
OF Drew (BOS)
P Kazmir (TB)