Top 1: Mark Reynolds struck out swinging against A.J. Burnett

Top 3: called out on strikes against Burnett

Top 5: reached on error by Eduardo Nunez against Burnett

Top 7: struck out swinging against Luis Ayala

Top 9: called out on strikes against Rafael Soriano

Top 11: singled home the go-ahead run against Hector Noesi

Final Line: 1-for-6, RBI, 4 K

Notes: It’s about damn time. On Wednesday afternoon, Reynolds collected his first golden sombrero of the 2011 season in Baltimore’s 11-inning victory over the New York Yankees.  With the feat already in the books and the game on the line, Reynolds came through in the clutch with an RBI-single in the 11^th inning that gave the Orioles a 5-4 lead.  I’m actually pretty irritated that it took 139 games; his 31.4% strikeout rate, 27.41% Z-Swing% (percentage of pitches swung at outside the strike zone), and 48.4% O-Contact% (percentage of times a batter makes contact with the ball when swinging at pitches thrown outside the strike zone) suggest it should have happened a long, long time ago.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 110

Two golden sombreros in three days for Howard

Top 2: Ryan Howard struck out looking against Tim Stauffer

Top 4: Howard struck out swinging against Stauffer

Top 6: Howard struck out looking against Stauffer (Really?)

Top 9: Howard struck out swinging against Heath Bell

Top 11: Howard rips go-ahead two-run double off of Chad Qualls.

Final Line: 1-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 4 K

NOTES: The golden sombrero on Saturday was Howard’s second in his last three games and second of the season overall.  After starting the season red hot, Howard has cooled off significantly.  As we all have witnessed during previous seasons, the strike outs start adding up when Howard is slumping.  In his 88 plate-appearances this season, the big man has already fanned 23 times (not including Sunday’s results).  Since Mark Reynolds is yet to record a sombrero — although he is 2 for his last 29 with 10 strikeouts — I’ve gone and added a Ryan Howard Sombrero Counter, which can now be found on our left side bar.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 11

In conjunction with both the start of the 2011 MLB season and our one-year anniversary, The Golden Sombrero is proud to debut the Mark Reynolds Sombrero Tracker. Considering that he has new home with the Orioles, in the fiercely competitive A.L. East, we like the odds that Reynolds surpasses his league leading four golden sombreros from 2010. So be sure to check back with us — and with our friends at Off Base Percentage, who also cherish the always-impressive feat — as we chronicle another year of sombreros. And as for Mr. Reynolds, well, you can track his swing-and-miss prowess via our tracker, which is also affixed on our left sidebar.

• ESPN’s Buster Olney finally confirmed last night’s rumor that Zack Greinke had been traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, a story that was first reported by Jim Breen of Bernie’s Crew.  The Kansas City Royals will send Greinke and another major league player – suspected to be Yuniesky Betancourt – to the Brewers, and the Royals will receive shortstop Alcides Escobar, outfielder Lorenzo Cain, flame-throwing right hander Jeremy Jeffress, and 2008 first-round draft pick, Jake Odorizzi.

• With the acquisition of Greinke, the Brewers have made it clear that the 2011 season will be do or die, especially with Prince Fielder’s looming free agency prior to 2012.  If they aren’t having the season that they expected by the All-Star break, it wouldn’t surprise me to see both Fielder and Greinke be dealt, respectively.  The 2009 A.L. Cy Young winner is set to join a Brewers’ rotation that includes Yovani Gallardo, Chris Narveson, and the recently acquired Shaun Marcum.

(more…)

This morning on The Baseball Show, Clint Evans of Diamond Hoggers and I discussed the following:

– Carl Crawford to the Red Sox. Ramifications of having too many starting outfielders?
– Jay Bruce‘s contract extension
– Mark Reynolds to the Orioles–is this the beginning of the end?
– Carlos Pena to the Cubs
– Possible landing spots for Derrek Lee
– I talk about my work on Prep Baseball Report
– As always, much more!