As I browsed through some tweets last night, I came across a story that was too funny not to pass along.  According to Steve Gilbert, the Arizona Diamondbacks beat writer for MLB.com, Adam LaRoche changed Kelly Johnson’s hitting music to prior to the start of Tuesday night’s game against the Padres.

As Johnson stepped to the plate in the first inning, “It’s Raining Men” was blasted throughout the stadium, much to the delight of his teammates.  The same thing happened as Johnson came to the plate for his second at-bat, which prompted Gilbert to predict that, “Payback certain to follow.”

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Did Aroldis Chapman really hit 105 mph on the radar gun last Friday? Does it matter?  In his major league debut on Tuesday night, Chapman challenged all of his skeptics with a perfect, 1-2-3, 8th inning against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The first hitter that the 22 year-old Chapman faced was Jonathon LuCroy, whom he retired on 3 straight pitches: 98mph fastball, a filthy 86mph slider, 102 mph fastball, and then another untouchable 87 mph slider.

He then retired the next two hitters, Craig Counsell and Carlos Gomez, on weak groundouts that more than likely have their hands hurting today.

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According to Rotoworld, Manny Ramirez is not currently in the Chicago White Sox starting lineup for Tuesday night’s game against the Indians.  After many were disappointed that Manny was not available for Monday’s contest, we quickly learned that Ramirez’s flight from Los Angeles was scheduled to arrive in Cleveland this afternoon, and that he would undoubtedly be in Tuesday’s lineup.

For those who wish to remain hopeful about Ramirez making his White Sox debut tonight, remember that there are still several hours until the game’s scheduled start time.

Considering that Ramirez has been a regular on the All-DL Team this season, it wouldn’t surprise me if his inclusion in the starting lineup was a game time decision.  Ozzie will most likely let him stretch and take batting practice before having a street-spanish-riddled coversation with him about whether he is able to play.

Currently, Mark Kotsay has been penciled in as the White Sox DH for tonight’s game against the Tribe.

On Monday night, Mike Moustakas established a new precedent for what we call a “career night.”  After being named the Texas League Player of the Year earlier in the day, Moustakas lead the Royals’ AAA affiliate Omaha Royals to a 23-5 route of the Round Rock Express that featured 25 hits, 11 of which went for extra bases.  Since being selected 2^nd overall in the 2007 draft, Moustakas has mashed his way through the Royals minor league system, and Monday’s performance only further solidified his place at the hot corner in 2011.

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There are very few schools each year that land a kid in the first round.  Maybe a couple will land two.  This year Vanderbilt has a realistic chance to land three kids in the first round, including two righties who potentially could wind up in the top 10 overall.  Those two righties are Sonny Gray and Jack Armstrong.  The hitter is 3B Jason Esposito, who likely will be the second ranked collegiate 3B behind probable first overall selection, Anthony Rendon of Rice.  With guys like this, Vanderbilt has a chance to play deep into the NCAA tourney as well as help make some kids a lot of money.

Let’s start with Esposito.  The guy flies.  He stole over 30 bases last season.  His speed is rare for a corner guy and proves that he has the athleticism to stay at third in the pros.  His slashes in 2010 were .359/.455/.599.  He went deep 12 times and walked very nearly as many times as he struck out.  The guy simply shows the polish and athleticism that scouts covet from the collegiate ranks.  While he might slip to the supplemental round, he probably shouldn’t.  The fact that Esposito has a clear left-side arm and plus speed suggests that there is a realistic chance he plays short in the pros.  If he proves somewhere in the next handful of months that he can adequately do this, he is going to climb.  His hands have room to develop, but third often skews perspectives in that area.  I really like the guy because of his polish at the plate and defensive versatility.  Guys like Esposito tend to stay productive for a really long time.

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