0 comments by Joe Lucia on 7/3/2013
Major League Baseball has fired umpire Brian Runge for failing drug tests, according to a report from the Associated Press. Runge had not umpired in the major leagues this season after suffering a knee injury last August, but did umpire AAA and Spring Training games. Reportedly, Runge failed a minimum of one drug test, but […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia on 7/2/2013
The American League Central this year is…interesting, I guess would be a good word. The division isn't as tight as the NL West (aside from the top two teams),but there's really not a clear division between buyers and sellers. Chicago White Sox, 32-47. Fourth in division, 13 back of second wild card. The fire sale […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia
On Monday night, Andy Pettitte set the all-time record for strikeouts by a Yankees pitcher with 1957. The record he broke was held by Whitey Ford, the legendary New York lefty who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1974. Pettitte's awesomeness is understated at this point in his career though. Keep in mind […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia on 7/1/2013
We're halfway through the season, and while seasons come and go, the dominant players remain… AL Hitter of the Month Jason Kipnis, Indians. The award stays in the AL Central with their first place team, but Jason Kipnis gets the nod this month as opposed to the still hot Miguel Cabrera. All Kipnis did in […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia
The American League East has been a meat grinder this season. The Blue Jays are in last place, but are just one game under .500 and are coming off of a June where they went a division best 17-9. You could make the argument that all five teams are buyers, but I'm not sure that's […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia
It's July 1st. The Pittsburgh Pirates are 21 games above .500 halfway through their year, with a 51-30 record through 81 games. The team has the best record in baseball, and only the Cardinals have a winning percentage over .600 to go along with Pittsburgh's .630 mark. The Pirates are two games up on those […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia on 6/30/2013
Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter in baseball, and there's really no argument otherwise. On Sunday in Tampa, Cabrera hit his 25th homer of the season in the fourth inning of the Tigers-Rays game off of Jeremy Hellickson of the Rays. Cabrera hiting homers is nothing new, but he hit the pitch where just one […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia
I need to beat home this point: the NL West is not a good division. The first place Diamondbacks are just four games above .500, and have the worst record of any division leader in baseball. The last place Dodgers, who had a disastrous first two months to the season, are just five games out […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia on 6/29/2013
During blowouts, when position players get thrown on the mound, it's a beautiful thing. The great part about yesterday is that it happened *twice*. In game one of the Indians-White Sox doubleheader, with Cleveland won 19-10, Casper Wells pitched the ninth inning for Chicago. Wells threw a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one, […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia on 6/28/2013
The trade market for Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco is scorching hot right now. Fox Sports is reporting that as many as six teams are considering Nolasco: the Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Orioles, Rockies, and Rangers. Of that group, the Dodgers are the favorite, while the Giants and Padres are next up in the pecking […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia
RANK TEAM CHANGE SCHEDULE COMMENT 1 +8 vs MIL vs PHI Six in a row for the Pirates, including an impressive five game sweep on the west coast of the Angels and Mariners. Hopefully the first place Bucs get a hero's reception in their return home today against the Brewers. 2 +2 vs CIN vs […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia
The fascination that the Red Sox have with paying a ton of money for "proven closers" is astounding. Over the last two seasons, they've dumped no less than nine players off onto other teams for three closers: Mark Melancon (later one of those nine), Andrew Bailey, and Joel Hanrahan. They've gotten a total of 19 […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia on 6/27/2013
Just when you think things couldn't get worse for the New York Yankees, they have. First baseman Mark Teixeira will undergo season-ending surgery for a torn tendon sheath in his right wrist. Teixeira is expected to be fully healed in six months, giving him plenty of time to be ready for Spring Training. The injury […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia
Today is June 27th, 2013. After the games of Wednesday, there is a tie for the best record in baseball between the St Louis Cardinals…and the Pittsburgh Pirates. That's right: the Pirates 48-30 record is the same as the Cardinals', and there is no team better in all of baseball. Pittsburgh was dominated by Felix […]
0 comments by Joe Lucia on 6/26/2013
During Tuesday night's Rockies-Red Sox game, Stephen Drew of the Red Sox hit a sinking line drive foul down the third base line. The ball skipped off the ground at Fenway Park, caromed off the wall separating the fans from the field, *may* have smacked another fan in the face (or in the hat, whatever), […]
