Posts belonging to Category Mike Rosenbaum

When the Atlanta Braves signed Billy Wager to a 1-year/$6.75 mil contract prior to the 2010 season, there was a general skepticism regarding his health, as well as his level of effectiveness at 39 years old.  Luckily for the Braves, Wagner has surpassed what little expectations the club had at the time of his signing, by notching 35 saves while sporting a 1.43 ERA.  Despite the fact that Wagner is having one of the best seasons of his 15-year career, it was made clear at the beginning of the 2010 campaign that he plans on retiring at end of Braves season.

Normally, the thought of losing one of the best closers in baseball, let alone a guy who has been so vital to the success of his team in 2010, would be incredibly worrisome and drives a GM towards action.  Yet, the Atlanta Braves will find themselves in a unique situation with a vacant closer’s spot and 22-year old Craig Kimbrel ready to continue his dominance on the mound.  For those who have not seen Kimbrel pitch this season, there is only one, accurate way to describe him: utterly filthy.

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To say that the Chicago White Sox have hit a skid in September might be an understatement after their latest homestand.  Following their 9-7 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Monday night, the White Sox(79-70) now trail the Minnesota Twins by 10 games, and their dwindling elimination number rests at 4 games entering Tuesday night’s game against the A’s.

After being swept at home by divisional rivals Minnesota and Detroit, the White Sox losing streak sits at a season high six games; it was also the first time that the South Siders had been swept in back to back home series since 1989.  The starting rotation, one of the key ingredients in the White Sox 28-8 midsummer surge, struggled mightily over the past 14 games, posting an 0-8 record and 7.09 ERA while allowing opposing hitters to hit a robust .345.

The offense, which had nicely complemented the excellent starting pitching around the All-Star break, turned in consistent lackluster performances during both the Twins and Tigers series.  In those six games, White Sox hitters slashed .240/.333/.373 with 6 HR and 21 RBI.  Those numbers would have been drastically different had the offense not repeatedly struggled with runners in scoring position.  Against the Twins, the Sox left a total of 62 runners on base; against the Tigers, they left 53 runners on base(including 41 in Monday night’s extra innings loss).

Barring an unprecedented and unimaginable Twins collapse down the final stretch of the season, the White Sox will fail to reach the postseason after finding themselves on the brink of contention for the second consecutive season.  Although the team’s quest for a postseason birth has come up short, there are still many reasons to watch the White Sox play out the remainder of their 2010 season.

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As Chicago Cubs rookie Tyler Colvin crossed home and walked towards the dugout, those watching at home could clearly read his lips when he was approached by the trainer, “I’m bleeding.”  For the next half hour, frightening rumors circulated throughout the online baseball community, fueled by headlines like, “Tyler Colvin impaled by broken bat,” that seemingly left everyone assuming the worst about the youngster.  It seemed that it would only be a matter of minutes until we were seeing photos of Colvin, laying on the ground with the barrel of a bat embedded in his chest.

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This morning, I made my first appearance as the new co-host of The Baseball Show.

Clint, the mastermind behind Diamond Hoggers–and a former collegiate baseball player, as well– was kind enough to invite me to join The Baseball Show as a co-host. Follow Diamond Hoggers on Twitter here, and be sure to bookmark the site. If you’re a fan of the work that we do here at The Golden Sombrero, I guarantee that you’ll enjoy it; it’s very similar in the fact that it’s written by a former player who is as die hard of a fan as there is around.

We go for about 90 minutes, talking everything from prospects, to the playoff chase, to social media night in St. Louis (and bloggers vs. official media types).

I had an absolute blast talking baseball with Clint in such depth, and couldn’t be more excited about the future of The Baseball Show.

Click below to listen:

It has been nearly a week since the Cincinnati Reds first basemen, Joey Votto, launched a 10^th inning, walk-off home run, deep into the left-centerfield bleachers at Great American Ball Park.  The opposite field blast was his 16^th of the season—he now has 17—and only added to his already impressive resume for the N.L. M.V.P.  In my personal opinion, Joey Votto has clearly been the best hitter in all of baseball over the course of the 2010 season.

When I say best hitter, I’m not just referring to what is reflected by his robust slashes of 320/.419/.588.  Rather, what makes Votto the best hitter in baseball is the consistency in his approach to every at-bat, and his ability to crush any mistake that a pitcher makes.  He recognizes pitches and maintains a selectiveness that simply cannot be taught; it’s the type of thing that elevates a player to superstar status.

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