Posts
Chipper Jones has been a beast this year so far posting a .400 AVG, 10 HR, 29 RBI, .459 OBP, and .685 SLG. At the age of 36, Jones continues to play at a high level and is on his way to being a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame. Despite the hot start by Jones, don't expect him to continue to hit .400 for the whole season, but I definitely expect him to put up MVP type numbers for the rest of the year.
Right now Chipper Jones' main competition for MVP is the Phillies Chase Utley who is mashing the ball with a .327 AVG, 13 HR, 28 RBI, .409 OBP, & .680 SLG. Utley is having a second consecutive season where he has really crushed the ball and he has turned out to be one of the best players in the major leagues. Utley and Jones are part of the National League that is outslugging the American League so far this season.
I guess we can include Lance Berkman in the early MVP discussion because he is off to an impressive start this season as well. Berkman is hitting .382 with 12 HR, 36 RBI, a .463 OBP, and .772 SLG for the Houston Astros.
Another player who is off to a hot start this season is Pittsburgh's Nate McLouth, who is hitting for .315 AVG with 9 HR and 29 RBI. If you are not familiar with McLouth then check out this article that takes a look inside McLouth's breakout.
There is a push by some to get Frank Thomas voted into the All-Star Game this season because of he has such a phenomenal career and should be recognized in what could be his final season. While I don't think Frank Thomas stands a chance of beating out David Ortiz or Hideki Matsui in the All-Start voting, I would not mind seeing Frank being placed on the All-Star team as the A's representative. Offensively, the A's really don't have any stand out players and if Thomas can get his number to a respectable point by the All-Star Game then I am all for this.
Beyond The Boxscore believes that Arizona Diamondback OF Chris Young is baseball's next big superstar because he has tremendous power and has seen good reviews defensively. They say that his average should rise because he is becoming more selective at the plate but he does strike out way too much, which worries me. This season in 37 games, he already has 45 strike outs and is batting only .238, but he does have 9 HR and 20 RBI. I'm going to have to pass on him being the next big superstar. He might be a great player but I think there will be others who put up similar power numbers as him but hit for a higher average.
The Toronto Blue Jays offense has struggled this season scoring the second fewest runs in the AL and they recently picked up Brad Wilkerson and Kevin Mench to try and boost that offense. However, I don't think either of these guys is going to provide much for them and the news that Vernon Wells broke his wrist and will be out 6-8 weeks is only going to make things worse for the Blue Jays. It's really a shame because their pitching has been exceptional so far this season.
The Hard Ball Times takes a look at Robinson Cano's struggles this season and comes to the conclusion that he is struggling because he is not selective enough and puts too many balls in play. This leads to him hitting pitches that really aren't good pitches to hit but he has such good bat control that he makes contact with them anyway but does not hit those pitches good enough.
Ryan Howard's slump is the worst of his career. Right now Howard is hitting a putrid .171 with 7 HR and 19 RBI, while striking out an amazing 54 times. He is on pace for 224 strikes out this season. Howard set the single seasons strike out record last season when he struck out 199 times.
Tampa Bay Rays closer Troy Percival's key to success this season has been his new changup he has been throwing more often this season.
Good analysis at Oakland A's rookie pitcher Greg Smith, who has pitched well so far this season.
Good analysis here on Florida Marlins rookie pitcher Andrew Miller and how he was rushed to the majors because he hasn't shown that he can command the strike zone yet, so it is no surprise that he has been struggling in the majors.
Baseball-Intellect takes a look at Angels minor league prospect Brandon Wood and his strike out problems.
Jacque Jones was sent down by the Detroit Tigers recently and the Marlins and Padres are interested in picking him up. I guess the Padres just like to keep bringing in past their prime outfielders but you would think they would have learned their lesson having to recently cut the unproductive Jim Edmonds.
Some interesting stats about Mariano Rivera's great start to this season.
Finally, check out this piece from former major league outfielder Doug Glanville, which talks about handling curves at the plate and in life.
Right now Chipper Jones' main competition for MVP is the Phillies Chase Utley who is mashing the ball with a .327 AVG, 13 HR, 28 RBI, .409 OBP, & .680 SLG. Utley is having a second consecutive season where he has really crushed the ball and he has turned out to be one of the best players in the major leagues. Utley and Jones are part of the National League that is outslugging the American League so far this season.
I guess we can include Lance Berkman in the early MVP discussion because he is off to an impressive start this season as well. Berkman is hitting .382 with 12 HR, 36 RBI, a .463 OBP, and .772 SLG for the Houston Astros.
Another player who is off to a hot start this season is Pittsburgh's Nate McLouth, who is hitting for .315 AVG with 9 HR and 29 RBI. If you are not familiar with McLouth then check out this article that takes a look inside McLouth's breakout.
There is a push by some to get Frank Thomas voted into the All-Star Game this season because of he has such a phenomenal career and should be recognized in what could be his final season. While I don't think Frank Thomas stands a chance of beating out David Ortiz or Hideki Matsui in the All-Start voting, I would not mind seeing Frank being placed on the All-Star team as the A's representative. Offensively, the A's really don't have any stand out players and if Thomas can get his number to a respectable point by the All-Star Game then I am all for this.
Beyond The Boxscore believes that Arizona Diamondback OF Chris Young is baseball's next big superstar because he has tremendous power and has seen good reviews defensively. They say that his average should rise because he is becoming more selective at the plate but he does strike out way too much, which worries me. This season in 37 games, he already has 45 strike outs and is batting only .238, but he does have 9 HR and 20 RBI. I'm going to have to pass on him being the next big superstar. He might be a great player but I think there will be others who put up similar power numbers as him but hit for a higher average.
The Toronto Blue Jays offense has struggled this season scoring the second fewest runs in the AL and they recently picked up Brad Wilkerson and Kevin Mench to try and boost that offense. However, I don't think either of these guys is going to provide much for them and the news that Vernon Wells broke his wrist and will be out 6-8 weeks is only going to make things worse for the Blue Jays. It's really a shame because their pitching has been exceptional so far this season.
The Hard Ball Times takes a look at Robinson Cano's struggles this season and comes to the conclusion that he is struggling because he is not selective enough and puts too many balls in play. This leads to him hitting pitches that really aren't good pitches to hit but he has such good bat control that he makes contact with them anyway but does not hit those pitches good enough.
Ryan Howard's slump is the worst of his career. Right now Howard is hitting a putrid .171 with 7 HR and 19 RBI, while striking out an amazing 54 times. He is on pace for 224 strikes out this season. Howard set the single seasons strike out record last season when he struck out 199 times.
Tampa Bay Rays closer Troy Percival's key to success this season has been his new changup he has been throwing more often this season.
Good analysis at Oakland A's rookie pitcher Greg Smith, who has pitched well so far this season.
Good analysis here on Florida Marlins rookie pitcher Andrew Miller and how he was rushed to the majors because he hasn't shown that he can command the strike zone yet, so it is no surprise that he has been struggling in the majors.
Baseball-Intellect takes a look at Angels minor league prospect Brandon Wood and his strike out problems.
Jacque Jones was sent down by the Detroit Tigers recently and the Marlins and Padres are interested in picking him up. I guess the Padres just like to keep bringing in past their prime outfielders but you would think they would have learned their lesson having to recently cut the unproductive Jim Edmonds.
Some interesting stats about Mariano Rivera's great start to this season.
Finally, check out this piece from former major league outfielder Doug Glanville, which talks about handling curves at the plate and in life.
No comments:
Post a Comment