Posts belonging to Category Major League Baseball

Top 1: Lance Berkman struck out swinging against Yovani Gallardo

Top 3: called out on strikes against Gallardo

Top 5: struck out swinging against Cameron Loe

Top 7: struck out swinging against Loe

Final Line: 0-for-4, 4 K

Notes: Tough game for the Big Puma.  Hitting fifth for the Cardinals last Thursday, he basically had to follow a home run in three of his four at-bats.  In both the first and third inning, Pujols homered two spots ahead of Berkman, while clean-up hitter Matt Holliday dropped a two-run bomb in the fifth.  The Big Puma’s sombrero marked an 0-for-14 skid which he snapped in his first at-bat on Friday.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 103

Bottom 2: Lou Marson called out on strikes against Rich Harden

Bottom 5: grounded out to shortstop against Harden

Bottom 7: singled to center against Craig Breslow

Bottom 9: called out on strikes against Fautino De Los Santos

Bottom 12: struck out swinging against Neil Wagner

Bottom 15: called out on strikes against Josh Outman

Final Line: 1-for-6, 4 K

Notes: Marson notched his second golden sombrero of the year on Wednesday night, as the Tribe outlasted the A’s to pick up a 4-3 win in 16-innings.  Unlike the light-hitting catcher’s first sombrero, Marson actually managed to sneak in a hit.  Beneath his 218/.296/.299 slash line (198 plate appearances) is the fact that he hits a ground ball 54.3% of the time.  And the last time I checked, catchers don’t collect many infield hits.  However, Marson does have a 86.8 Z-Contact% (contact made on pitches within the strikezone).  Therefore, his problem doesn’t stem from poor plate discipline or tentativeness.  Rather, he just struggles to drive the ball.  I guess that it’s a good thing he’s throwing out runners at a 41% clip.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 102

–       Stephen Strasburg’s final rehab start has come and gone.  He again looked supreme in comparison to the hitters he faced.  He even appears to have more of a mental edge after recovering from Tommy John.  Watching the way he carried himself, and the mound presence he exuded, gave me goose bumps.  MLB hitters be wary.  Strasburg is about to eat your soul.

–       Had a conversation with a friend last night and discussed what it was like to face Matthew Moore as a senior in high school.  My friend faced him twice that year and said he went from being “…Unreal the first time I faced him…to absolutely unhittable the next time I faced him.”  I can’t wait to see how Moore does with the Rays.

–       Tim Lincecum has finally reached stardom- sort of.  He has his own t-shirt.  The sillohette is pretty good, including the fantastic job they did with his hair.  However, $38 for a t-shirt is stupid.

–       Anybody who says the power/speed guy is history has no idea what they are talking about.  The 20/20 guy is alive and well in major league baseball.  There are currently seven players who have already reached this mark with more than 15 others who are a mere five HR’s or SB’s shy of reaching the milestone.

–       It’s no wonder the White Sox are struggling the way they are.  They are rostering three of the most detrimental players in the game.  Adam Dunn, Alex Rios, and Juan Pierre have all posted negative fWAR’s so far this season.  Adam Dunn at -2.6, Rios at -1.2, and Pierre at -0.1.   Good luck getting that extension Ozzie Guillen.

–       Goodbye Carlos Zambrano.  The Cubs have said he will not pitch again this season- yet they will still pay him.  Sounds like a cushy job.  Until you realize that we won’t be seeing anything like this again this season.

Since I have hardly any time to write today, I thought that I’d just let Mike Stanton’s bat do all the talking.  Here are two videos of the 21-year-old man-child going all sorts of yard at Citi Field against the New York Mets.

May 16, 2011 @ Citi Field
ESPN Home Run Tracker True Distance: 465 feet

August 30, 2011 @ Citi Field

ESPN Home Run Tracker True Distance: 361 feet

This week preliminary rosters for the Arizona Fall League were announced.  The AFL is a prestigious league for what are typically regarded as the surest bets in the Minor Leagues.  While there are some exceptions, in general the rosters for the AFL are comprised of the top prospects in the game.  Exceptions include those pitchers and hitters receiving September call-ups and obviously those players making playoff rosters as well as pitchers who have approached appearance caps, innings caps, or other forms of usage limitations.  Even without these players the rosters can be pretty damn impressive.  Look no further than the Scottsdale Scorpions’ outfield for proof.  It will feature the game’s top two prospects in Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.  Whitney also happens to live a few blocks from their home yard, so I am absolutely ecstatic about the Scorps.  What has me even more thrilled, however, about the Scottsdale roster is a lefty reliever named Will Latimer, a Four Corners baseball product hailing from Bayfield, CO.

Bayfield is a tiny community located immediately east of Durango and well within the gorgeous San Juan Range, which is famous for ski areas like Telluride, Purgatory, and Silverton.  In recent years Bayfield has become a community where Durango’s workforce establishes residence to flee outlandish real estate costs in the Durango city limits.  Will Latimer was raised in this community and ultimately graduated from Bayfield High in 2004.  Latimer played his club baseball in the Farmington Connie Mack league but was never a standout talent until college.  Latimer signed at Trinidad State (CO), which currently rosters former Strike Zone Cardinal Austin Rochford.  While at Trinidad, Latimer saw his fastball begin to pick up pace and his slider begin to bite harder.  He was selected by Boston in the 22^nd round of the 2007 draft and, after missing much of 2008 and 2009 due to injury, is on the right track at the age of 25, reaching as high as Double-A this season.  With a healthy ERA in the low 3’s and more than 3 K’s per BB, his stats certainly justify his AFL invitation.  A quality showing for Scottsdale could land Latimer in the high minors to begin 2012, and with a three-pitch mix featuring a low-90’s fastball and a lanky 6-foot-3 build; the former BHS Wolverine has a very realistic shot at the Show.

In other Four Corners baseball news, former Piedra Vista Panther and current UNM Lobo Jake McCasland has received an invitation to the Cape Cod Baseball League.  If you are a regular guest at The Sombrero, I assume you know what that means.  For those of you who aren’t, The Cape is the premier amateur baseball league worldwide.  Rosters are comprised of nothing but elite collegiate players fighting to climb draft boards.  Jake is the first product of Farmington baseball to crack a Cape roster, and the community is absolutely ecstatic about his invitation.  Jake is arguably the finest local product the town has ever produced, and, after a freshman season at UNM in which he started 15 games, Jake is ready to step back into the weekend rotation in Albuquerque as the Lobos look to build on their 2011 Mountain West title.  Congratulations!