Incase you missed it, the Yankees have been quite the story since Saturday when the struggling Jorge Posada asked to be taken out of the lineup after being demoted to ninth in the lineup. He claimed her had a bad back and needed a day off to clear his head. GM Brian Cashman said Posada wasn't hurting and the next day Posada apologized to the team and his GM. End of the story right? Wrong, Derek Jeter then told reporters he thought Posada didn't need to apologize because he didn't do anything wrong, this only angered management more. If the Yanks think this is bad now, just wait until it's Derek Jeter, C.C. Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez that start to struggle like this.
The Tigers, Reds and Giants are among the hottest teams in baseball right. The Tigers have won seven in a row and 10 of their last 11, they're getting it done thanks to pitching and Victor Martinez's hot bat. The Reds just swept the Cards and have won eight of their last 10 to jump into first place while the Giants also have won eight of their last 10 to jump the Rockies for first in the West.
While most baseball fans will tell you the Yankees-Red Sox or the Cardinals-Cubs are the best rivalry in baseball I'm here to tell you they're wrong. The Reds-Cardinals rivalry is quickly becoming one of the best rivalries in the game. It started last summer when the two were competing for the NL Central and Brandon Phillips called the Cards "a bunch of complainers" going on to say that he "hates the Cardinals". That then led to this fight last August between the two teams. The Reds would go on to win the Central and things seemed to cool off until yesterday when Francisco Cordero hit Albert Pujols on 0-2 count, 1 out with a runner on second base and the Reds up two. Cordero was seen yelling at the Cardinals dugout after the game because Gerald Laird was apparently yelling at him, now if Pujols didn't take the beaning personal then Laird and his solid .200 batting average might want to pack up his stuff and get on the bus. This rivalry is just heating up and it's only May, keep an eye on this series the rest of the year because more fireworks are going to come.
Arizona Diamondbacks: 17-22, 5 GB 4th NL West. Josh Collmenter became the first pitcher in the last 100 years to win his first career start while throwing six shutout innings and allowing two hits or less when his team had only one hit, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Atlanta Braves: 23-19, 3.5 GB 3rd NL East. The Braves just took two of three from division foes the Philadelphia Phillies so you'd think they're feeling good right now right? Wrong! Chipper Jones has a slight tear in his meniscus in his right knee. Given Chipper's history a trip to the DL is looming.
Baltimore Orioles: 19-20, 3.5 GB 5th AL East. The Orioles are treating Tropicana Field like it's their home away from home this year improving to 5-1 after taking two of three from the Rays this weekend. If you remember the O's swept the Rays in the Trop to start the season this year.
Boston Red Sox: 20-20, 3 GB t-3rd AL East. For the first time this season, the Red Sox are playing .500 baseball and they got there thanks to a sweep of the Yankees in New York. Four previous times the Sox had a chance to get to .500 but failed to, finally they've gotten there and look to improve over .500 with a two game series with Baltimore.
Chicago Cubs: 17-21, 5 GB 5th NL Central. The Cubs seemed to have caught some luck on Sunday when they got rained out and avoided having to face Tim Lincecum. Their luck ends there though as the Cubs get ready to take to the road to face the Reds, Marlins and Red Sox this week.
Chicago White Sox: 17-24, 9 GB 4th AL Central. Ozzie Guillen has gone to a six-man starting rotation to give his pitchers an extra day of rest but also to try and figure out which starter is the weak link and could face a demotion. The six in the mix are: Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, Edwin Jackson, John Danks, Phil Humber and Jake Peavy.
Cincinnati Reds: 23-17, 1st NL Central. Dusty Baker has had to do a lot of juggling with players hurt to keep the Reds close in the Central, now that those injured players have started to return since May 5th the Reds have won nine of their last 11 including a three-game sweep of the Cardinals. The sweep allowed the Reds to jump the Cards for first in the Central.
Cleveland Indians: 24-13, 1st AL Central. It was only a matter of time before adversity struck the Indians and finally it arrived. Grady Sizemore has been placed on the 15-day DL with a right knee contusion, the move is retroactive to May 11th. Let's see how these young Indians handle this.
Colorado Rockies: 20-18, 1.5 GB 2nd NL West. The Rockies started the season hot, seemingly putting their slow starts to a season behind them. However, in their last six series the Rockies are 1-5 which is why they've fallen from first to second in the West. Their problem has been the cooled off offense coupled with spotty pitching. The Rockies need to right the ship soon before too much damage has been done.
Detroit Tigers: 22-18, 3.5 GB 2nd AL Central. The Tigers have won seven games in a row and jumped the Royals for second in the Central thanks largely to great pitching and Victor Martinez. V-Mart has a 13-game hitting streak going and 15-for-37 with a home run and 12 RBI in 10 games since coming off the DL. The Tigers hope that Verlander's early no-hitter propels the team much like Jack Morris' did in 1984 as the Tigers went on to win the World Series.
Florida Marlins: 23-16, 2 GB 2nd NL East. One reason the Marlins are where they are this year is because of closer Leo Nunez. Nunez blew eight saves last year but this season he's a perfect 14 for 14 in saves. Javier Vazquez has a first inning ERA of 15.75 this year, Vazquez for whatever reason just can't escape the first inning this year as he's allowed runs in the first in all eight of his starts.
Houston Astros: 15-25, 8 GB 6th NL Central. There hasn't been much to cheer about in Houston as the Astros struggle to win games this season. Just like the Astros are struggling so are the security guards and cops working the game as they failed to catch a fan on the field Friday night. For what it's worth, the Astros claim that the perp was eventually caught. Sure he was.
Kansas City Royals: 20-19, 5 GB 3rd AL Central. Thanks to Eric Hosmer and their offense the Royals got their first series win against the Yankees in New York since 1999. Hosmer helped lead the charge hitting his first two home runs in back-to-back games.
Los Angeles Angels: 22-19, 1st AL West. While trying to intentionally walk Paul Konerko Wednesday night, relief pitch Kevin Jepsen uncorked this wild pitch allowing Alexi Ramirez to score, the Sox eventually won 6-4. More bad news, through Sunday the Angels batters have struck out 309 times which is the most in the American League.
Los Angeles Dodgers: 19-22, 4 GB 3rd NL West. Chad Billingsley became just the 44th pitcher to lose a game in which he and relief pitcher Kenley Jansen allowed only one hit combined. With Stephen Drew standing on second, Billingsley went to pick him off only shortstop Jamey Carroll never covered the bag. Drew took third and scored on a sacrifice fly later in the inning. Tough way to lose a game.
Milwaukee Brewers: 19-21, 4 GB 3rd NL Central. Since 2007 the Brewers have won 33 of 36 games at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates. So if you're wondering, yes the Brewers did go on to sweep the Pirates this weekend. Ryan Braun is hitting .309 with 12 HR and 33 RBI, he's just throwing his hat in to the MVP conversation.
Minnesota Twins: 12-26, 12.5 GB 5th AL Central. You hate the write the Minnesota Twins off this early in the season but at the quarter of the season mark the Twins have been downright awful. The Twins rank 12th or worse in every major hitting or pitching stat in the American League this year.
New York Mets: 19-21, 6.5 GB t-4th NL East. Two days after it seemed Carlos Beltran was back, hitting three home runs in one game he was missing a game due to a swollen eye. Don't worry he was back in the lineup Sunday. Justin Turner hit his first career home run Sunday, if you remember correctly Turner took a pitch to the face in 2003 College World Series trying to bunt. Props to Turner for sticking with it.
New York Yankees: 20-18, 2 GB 2nd AL East. Never mind the Posada drama going on in the Yankees clubhouse these days. The new speculation in New York is Bartolo Colon and his stem cell surgery he had done in the offseason. The doctor who performed the surgery has been known to use HGH, which is banned in baseball. The doc claims he didn't use it in Colon's surgery, only time will tell.
Oakland Athletics: 20-20, 1.5 GB 3rd AL West. .500 baseball seems to be the A's MO over the last two seasons. Last year the A's finished the season at 81-81 good for .500 and were at the .500 marks 33 times. This year they're back at it as they've been .500 12 times already this young season.
Philadelphia Phillies: 25-14, 1st NL East. Roy Halladay picked up his second straight complete game and for the second time in a row Halladay also picked up the loss. Halladay also picked up his major league leading fourth complete game this season.
Pittsburgh Pirates: 18-22, 5 GB 4th NL Central. Former Pirates shortstop Mario Mendoza is the man credited for the term Mendoza Line, which is a .200 batting average. The Pirates have five starters who are close to the Mendoza Line, Andrew McCutchen at .235, Ronny Cedeno at .232, Jose Tabata at .226, Lyle Overbay at .224, and Pedro Alvarez at .210.
San Diego Padres: 17-23, 5.5 GB 5th NL West. No one in the Padres locker room was happier than Mat Latos was Sunday after their 8-2 win. Latos had been on a 0-10 streak and was finally able to lay his streak of bad luck to rest.
San Francisco Giants: 22-17, 1st NL West. Tim Lincecum's Sunday start was rained out which means he'll get start today in Denver against the Rockies. Lincecum has made it a habit to own the Rockies, so we'll see if that trends continues.
Seattle Mariners: 16-23, 5 GB 4th AL West. Brandon League had to be the happiest guy about the back-to-back rain outs in Cleveland this weekend. His last appearances have seen League take four losses including three blown saves. League was supposed to be given Saturday/Sunday off but had not lost his job...yet.
St. Louis Cardinals: 22-19, 1.5 GB 2nd NL Central. Never mind the fact that the Cards got swept by the Reds this weekend. The real highlight came when Kyle Lohse did his best impersonation of Tony La Russa Thursday in Wrigley Field. Don't believe me, check it out.
Tampa Bay Rays: 23-17, 1st AL East. The Rays got Evan Longoria back this week and couldn't be happier after struggling to stay afloat in the East early without him. Now that he's back he makes the Rays much more scarier the way they've been playing without him.
Texas Rangers: 21-19, 0.5 GB 2nd AL West. The Rangers have hit the tri-fecta this season. Julio Borbon joined Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz on the DL meaning their Opening Day outfield is now hurt. This marks the third time in history a team has had their Opening Day outfield on the DL at the same time.
Toronto Blue Jays: 20-20, 3 GB t-3rd AL East. Jose Bautista hit three home runs on Sunday giving him 70 home runs since the start of last season. Of those 70 home runs only three of those have gone to the opposite field. Ironically enough all three of those homers have come at Target Field, where the Twins call home.
Washington Nationals: 19-21, 6.5 GB t-4th NL East. Roger Bernadina made the catch of year on Friday against Marlins robbing Mike Stanton of a double at the least. While he might have made the catch of the year it's not safe to say that this is the play of the year though.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
The 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Conference Finals
The Conference Semi-Finals proved us with some great action going from a shocking sweep to a near miraculous 3-0 rally. The Tampa Bay Lightning swept the Washington Capitals, which sent the title of chokers from the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks over the Caps who continue to disappoint the fan base. Meanwhile the Boston Bruins just went ahead and beat down the Flyers causing the Flyers to yank Brian Boucher twice and start Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 4. The Vancouver Canucks had their hands full with the Nashville Predators but disposed of them in 6 even after losing their green men who are fan favorites in Vancouver. And the last series to wrap up saw the San Jose Sharks jump out to a 3-0 lead on Detroit, only to choke that lead away and see the series even up 3-3 and give us a Game 7. The Sharks almost became the all-time choke artists of the playoffs but ended up squeaking past the Red Wings in a thrilling Game 7.
Quick recap to catch you up, I'm now 11-1 on my predictions with Washington over Tampa as my lone screw up and I still have both my of my finalists in the running. I've also predicted six of the 12 series down to the very game they'd end, high five! Now let's breakdown these Conference Finals.
Eastern Conference Finals
3. Boston Bruins v 5. Tampa Bay Lightning - The Bruins are fresh off their dominance of the Philadelphia Flyers and moving on to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Boston went 3-1 against Tampa in the regular season winning both games at home and splitting on the road. Tim Thomas shook off a rough first round and rebounded into the Vezina winner he'll likely be, which is good news for the Bruins. The only bit of bad news for Boston is that center Patrice Bergeron is likely out for the series if not the remainder of the playoffs due to a concussion he suffered in Game 4. 19-year old rookie Tyler Seguin will likely take his spot in the lineup.
Never would I have thought that Tampa would sweep the Capitals but that's exactly what they did. They did it with great and timely goaltending and having an equal scoring balance while still converting on the power play (4 for 18, 22%). Martin St. Louis is playing like a Conn Smythe candidate and Vinny Lecavalier have provided the spark for Tampa. However, guys like Steve Downie (12 points, 10 assists), Sean Bergenheim (7 goals) and Teddy Purcell (11 points, 10 assists) have really stepped up. They'll need to continue at this rate if Tampa hopes to make it to the Stanley Cup. The main concern for the Tampa is if their 41-year old goalie, Dwayne Roloson can avoid getting rusty during the time off.
Boston moves on in 6 games.
Western Conference Finals
1. Vancouver Canucks v 2. San Jose Sharks - The Canucks find themselves in the Conference Finals for the first time since 1994, this time their not led by a Russian Rocket but rather Swedish twins and an American firecracker. There's no secret that the Sedins are the best players on the Canucks, Daniel (6 goals, 4 assists) and Henrik (1 goal, 8 assists) but they're both a -8 this year in the playoffs. Ryan Kesler has been a difference maker for the Canucks, scoring 5 goals with 10 assists and is a +6. Not only does he score but he hits and gets under people's skin to the point of drawing penalties. Roberto Luongo seems to have put his shaky first round performance behind him and there's no word on Mikael Samuelsson who was injured in Game 5 and didn't play in Game 6.
The Sharks are coming off a draining seven game series which almost saw them choke a 3-0 lead off. Antti Niemi kept the Sharks in every game in the Detroit series and was a huge reason for their advancement. Devin Setoguchi had 5 goals last series and Logan Couture seemed to score a big goal when needed for the Sharks. Two pieces of good news for the Sharks, Joe Thornton found ways to be productive even when he wasn't on the score sheet and Patrick Marleau finally showed up, it only took Jeremy Roenick calling him out to do so. The Sharks need to remain physical if they hope to advance to their first Stanley Cup final ever.
Sharks top the Canucks in 7.
Quick recap to catch you up, I'm now 11-1 on my predictions with Washington over Tampa as my lone screw up and I still have both my of my finalists in the running. I've also predicted six of the 12 series down to the very game they'd end, high five! Now let's breakdown these Conference Finals.
Eastern Conference Finals
3. Boston Bruins v 5. Tampa Bay Lightning - The Bruins are fresh off their dominance of the Philadelphia Flyers and moving on to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Boston went 3-1 against Tampa in the regular season winning both games at home and splitting on the road. Tim Thomas shook off a rough first round and rebounded into the Vezina winner he'll likely be, which is good news for the Bruins. The only bit of bad news for Boston is that center Patrice Bergeron is likely out for the series if not the remainder of the playoffs due to a concussion he suffered in Game 4. 19-year old rookie Tyler Seguin will likely take his spot in the lineup.
Never would I have thought that Tampa would sweep the Capitals but that's exactly what they did. They did it with great and timely goaltending and having an equal scoring balance while still converting on the power play (4 for 18, 22%). Martin St. Louis is playing like a Conn Smythe candidate and Vinny Lecavalier have provided the spark for Tampa. However, guys like Steve Downie (12 points, 10 assists), Sean Bergenheim (7 goals) and Teddy Purcell (11 points, 10 assists) have really stepped up. They'll need to continue at this rate if Tampa hopes to make it to the Stanley Cup. The main concern for the Tampa is if their 41-year old goalie, Dwayne Roloson can avoid getting rusty during the time off.
Boston moves on in 6 games.
Western Conference Finals
1. Vancouver Canucks v 2. San Jose Sharks - The Canucks find themselves in the Conference Finals for the first time since 1994, this time their not led by a Russian Rocket but rather Swedish twins and an American firecracker. There's no secret that the Sedins are the best players on the Canucks, Daniel (6 goals, 4 assists) and Henrik (1 goal, 8 assists) but they're both a -8 this year in the playoffs. Ryan Kesler has been a difference maker for the Canucks, scoring 5 goals with 10 assists and is a +6. Not only does he score but he hits and gets under people's skin to the point of drawing penalties. Roberto Luongo seems to have put his shaky first round performance behind him and there's no word on Mikael Samuelsson who was injured in Game 5 and didn't play in Game 6.
The Sharks are coming off a draining seven game series which almost saw them choke a 3-0 lead off. Antti Niemi kept the Sharks in every game in the Detroit series and was a huge reason for their advancement. Devin Setoguchi had 5 goals last series and Logan Couture seemed to score a big goal when needed for the Sharks. Two pieces of good news for the Sharks, Joe Thornton found ways to be productive even when he wasn't on the score sheet and Patrick Marleau finally showed up, it only took Jeremy Roenick calling him out to do so. The Sharks need to remain physical if they hope to advance to their first Stanley Cup final ever.
Sharks top the Canucks in 7.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The Check Swing: Mother's Day Pink and History in the Making?
What a week we saw this past week. It started with Francisco Liriano throwing the first no-hitter of the season, it also saw Justin Verlander one up the kid with his no-hitter and near perfect game. Andre Ethier saw his run at history end with his hit streak at 30 games and Jacoby Ellsbury is now working an 18-game streak. We saw numerous umpires eject numerous players and saw some top prospects make their debuts. But more importantly, we saw the players on Mother's Day show their support for their mothers and the fight against breast cancer with players going as far as to wear all pink cleats this year. It was a great week indeed, let's recap it!
Arizona Diamondbacks: 15-18, 4 GB 3rd NL West. After going 1-3 in six starts with a 6.49 ERA the D'Backs have sent Barry Enright down to the minors. No word on who will replace him and if that's not bad enough, the team's trio of first basemen are drawing the ire of skipper Kirk Gibson. Someone needs to step up and win this job.
Atlanta Braves: 20-16, 4 GB 3rd NL East. The Braves have been surging lately as they surpassed the Nats in the standings this week and it's largely because of their pitching. As a team the Braves rank second in ERA, first in WHIP and second in opponents' batting average. If the offense picks up this team could be scary good.
Baltimore Orioles: 14-19, 5.5 GB 5th AL East. To say things are going bad in Baltimore would be an understatement. In their three-game sweep by the Rays on Mother's Day weekend, the Orioles never held a lead and saw BJ Upton torch them as he appealed his two-game suspension. SS J.J. Hardy could be activated today.
Boston Red Sox: 17-18, 3.5 GB 3rd AL East. SS Jose Iglesias was called up due to Marco Scutaro going on the 15-day DL and made his debut Sunday as a pinch runner for Jed Lowrie and scored the game-winning run in extras that night. Jacoby Ellsbury is attempting to make a run at the hitting streak as he's working on a 18-game hitting streak.
Chicago Cubs: 15-18, 4 GB 4th NL Central. The Cubs renew their rivalry this week with the St. Louis Cardinals and Ryan Theriot might be sought out for revenge when he made comments about being on the right side of the rivalry now. Jeff Baker hit a ground-rule double in Wrigley that means the ball hopped over the 11-1/2 foot fence.
Chicago White Sox: 14-22, 9.5 GB 4th AL Central. Paul Konerko was one of the few players to sport all pink cleats on Mother's Day and all he did was go 5 for 5 in the game. While Konerko undoubtedly took some ribbing from teammates he did back up his decision to wear them.
Cincinnati Reds: 19-16, 1 GB 2nd NL Central. Pitching was supposed to be a key aspect for the Reds but it wasn't until lately that this was true. In their last six games, Reds' starters are 4-0 with a 1.70 ERA and the Reds have won five of six in that stretch.
Cleveland Indians: 22-11, 1st AL Central. Jeanmar Gomez was designated to triple-A Columbus to make room for Carlos Carrasco which means that rookie Alex White will stay with the club for a little longer.
Colorado Rockies: 19-14, 1st NL West. Catcher Chris Iannetta seems to be the only one of the Rockies who seems comfortable at the plate as he's hit safely his last six games. The Rockies just went 1-5 on last week's road trip and managed to scored 16 runs, the Rockies need to be careful as the Giants are right on their heels.
Detroit Tigers: 18-18, 5.5 GB 3rd AL Central. Justin Verlander became the 27th pitcher in history to throw multiple no-hitters when he did so on Saturday in Toronto. The Tigers are now at .500 again on their season and things seem to be on the right track with Austin Jackson and Victor Martinez are heating up. One piece of bad news is slugger Miguel Cabrera has been playing through a bad back as of late.
Florida Marlins: 20-14, 3 GB 2nd NL East. Hanley Ramirez is struggling so bad right now that he's using bats from the 2009 season when he won the NL Batting Crown. Ramirez went 2 for 4 in Monday's game putting his average over the .200 mark. Tonight is a matchup of Aces as Roy Halladay squares off against Josh Johnson.
Houston Astros: 13-22, 7 GB 6th NL Central. Bill Hall was one of the numerous victims of the umpires in the past week. Although it seems that Hall was thrown out for no real reason as I've seen far more players get away with far more worse than that.
Kansas City Royals: 18-16, 4.5 GB 2nd AL Central. The Royals finally caved and called up their top prospect Eric Hosmer who was hitting .439 in the PCL. The rookie went 3 for 9 his first three games this weekend including plating his first RBI on Sunday. The job appears to be his to lose.
Los Angeles Angels: 20-16, 1st AL West. Vernon Wells is showing signs of breaking out of his slump, unfortunately for him he's now headed to the 15-day DL. In other news, manager Mike Scioscia won his 1,000th game as a manager on Sunday.
Los Angeles Dodgers: 16-20, 4.5 GB 4th NL West. Andre Ethier saw his 30-game hitting streak come to an end earlier in the week but Ethier picked back up after that. Also, manager Don Mattingly picked up his first ejection as a manager on Monday night along with Juan Uribe.
Milwaukee Brewers: 15-20, 5 GB 5th NL Central. Brewers fans got what they wanted out of Zack Greinke when he made his home debut Monday. Greinke went 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER with 9 K but the real highlight was the double play turned by the Brewers middle infielders.
Minnesota Twins: 12-21, 10 GB 5th AL Central. The Twins season has been so bad that they're now the worst team in baseball and they're missing three of their top hitters. The good news for the Twins is Francisco Liriano might be righting his stuff after no-hitting the White Sox last week.
New York Mets: 15-20, 8.5 GB 5th NL East. Bad news for the Mets and their pitching rotation, Chris Young is likely done for the season after re-tearing the anterior capsule in his right shoulder. Young was 1-0 in four starts with a 1.88 ERA and 2:1 K to BB ratio. Young now has to decide between surgery and rehab but either one is likely to end his season.
New York Yankees: 19-13, 1st AL East. Derek Jeter might have silenced the critics temporarily when he hit his first two home runs of the season Sunday in Texas. The new focus is now locked on Alex Rodriguez who hasn't homered in 14 straight games and is batting .170 with 1 RBI in that stretch.
Oakland Athletics: 19-17, 1 GB 2nd AL West. Josh Willingham was tossed out of Saturday's game and "bumped" umpire Bill Miller getting him a one game suspension. Willingham appealed and on Monday he had three-run home run and two-run single in the A's 7-2 win.
Philadelphia Phillies: 23-11, 1st NL East. Joe Blanton returned from the DL on Monday and helped the Phillies get a win, next the Phillies hope that Roy Oswalt will return too. Oswalt is hoping to return before the road trip ends and is eying a May 17th return.
Pittsburgh Pirates: 18-17, 2 GB 3rd NL Central. Stop the presses, the Pirates are over .500 on May 10th for the first time in seven seasons. While this may be a small step in the right direction, the Pirates still have had 18 consecutive losing seasons. If the Pirates are over .500 come the All-Star Break, then we'll talk.
San Diego Padres: 14-21, 6 GB 5th NL West. Hard to imagine that Aaron Harang and his five wins could be overshadowed in San Diego right now but it is largely due to the Padres hitting a league worst .216. It should also be noted that no other starter has more than one win on this staff while Mat Latos is still searching for his first win.
San Francisco Giants: 18-16, 1.5 GB 2nd NL West. The Giants have a lot of players on the DL right now with some of them coming off soon, which presents a problem for Bruce Bochy. Mark DeRosa, Andres Torres and Barry Zito are set to come off the DL soon but guys like Aaron Rowand, Pat Burrell and Nate Schierholtz have produced in the outfield. Meanwhile, Mike Fontenot has been lights out at shortstop and Ryan Vogelsong has pitched better than expected. Tough times ahead for Bochy.
Seattle Mariners: 16-19, 3.5 GB 4th AL West. It appears that not only are Milton Bradley's days in Seattle done but the troubled outfielder's day in the Majors might also be numbered. On Monday the Mariners designated Bradley for assignment allowing for younger players to come up see what they can do.
St. Louis Cardinals: 20-15, 1st NL Central. Things have been going well lately for the Cardinals until news broke today that Tony La Russa won't be managing the team today when they start a series with the Cubs. La Russa has a case of shingles that has been effecting vision in his right eye and has been causing him to be fatigued. No word on when he'll return to the team.
Tampa Bay Rays: 20-14, 2nd AL East. B.J. Upton also fell victim to the umpires as he was ejected and given a two-game suspension for his behavior on Wednesday. Upton appealed the suspension because he enjoys hitting in Camden Yards, hitting to the tune of .297/.350/.535 with nine homers and 31 RBI. Odds are he'll serve the suspension in Cleveland this week.
Texas Rangers: 18-18, 2 GB 3rd AL West. Staying healthy has been quite hard for the defending AL Champions this year as they've lost numerous guys in the bullpen and Josh Hamilton. Now you can add Nelson Cruz to the list too, as he's suffering from a strained right quad. If the Rangers can survive this, they could still contend for the AL West.
Toronto Blue Jays: 15-20, 5.5 GB 4th AL East. The Toronto Blue Jays got Jose Bautista and he picked up where he left off before missing five games with neck spasms. The Jays are also being careful with hard throwing Brandon Morrow who struggled in last night's start against the Tigers. Morrow saw a dip in his velo between the second and third innings causing some concern.
Wahington Nationals: 16-18, 7 GB 4th NL East. Things are so bad offensively right now for the Nationals that Jayson Werth is their leading qualified hitter with a .227 average. As a team the Nats are hitting .224, that's only eight points better than the Padres and their league worst .216 average.
Check back next week as I'll hopefully be on time and have the newest Check Swing ready come Monday! Have a great week!
Arizona Diamondbacks: 15-18, 4 GB 3rd NL West. After going 1-3 in six starts with a 6.49 ERA the D'Backs have sent Barry Enright down to the minors. No word on who will replace him and if that's not bad enough, the team's trio of first basemen are drawing the ire of skipper Kirk Gibson. Someone needs to step up and win this job.
Atlanta Braves: 20-16, 4 GB 3rd NL East. The Braves have been surging lately as they surpassed the Nats in the standings this week and it's largely because of their pitching. As a team the Braves rank second in ERA, first in WHIP and second in opponents' batting average. If the offense picks up this team could be scary good.
Baltimore Orioles: 14-19, 5.5 GB 5th AL East. To say things are going bad in Baltimore would be an understatement. In their three-game sweep by the Rays on Mother's Day weekend, the Orioles never held a lead and saw BJ Upton torch them as he appealed his two-game suspension. SS J.J. Hardy could be activated today.
Boston Red Sox: 17-18, 3.5 GB 3rd AL East. SS Jose Iglesias was called up due to Marco Scutaro going on the 15-day DL and made his debut Sunday as a pinch runner for Jed Lowrie and scored the game-winning run in extras that night. Jacoby Ellsbury is attempting to make a run at the hitting streak as he's working on a 18-game hitting streak.
Chicago Cubs: 15-18, 4 GB 4th NL Central. The Cubs renew their rivalry this week with the St. Louis Cardinals and Ryan Theriot might be sought out for revenge when he made comments about being on the right side of the rivalry now. Jeff Baker hit a ground-rule double in Wrigley that means the ball hopped over the 11-1/2 foot fence.
Chicago White Sox: 14-22, 9.5 GB 4th AL Central. Paul Konerko was one of the few players to sport all pink cleats on Mother's Day and all he did was go 5 for 5 in the game. While Konerko undoubtedly took some ribbing from teammates he did back up his decision to wear them.
Cincinnati Reds: 19-16, 1 GB 2nd NL Central. Pitching was supposed to be a key aspect for the Reds but it wasn't until lately that this was true. In their last six games, Reds' starters are 4-0 with a 1.70 ERA and the Reds have won five of six in that stretch.
Cleveland Indians: 22-11, 1st AL Central. Jeanmar Gomez was designated to triple-A Columbus to make room for Carlos Carrasco which means that rookie Alex White will stay with the club for a little longer.
Colorado Rockies: 19-14, 1st NL West. Catcher Chris Iannetta seems to be the only one of the Rockies who seems comfortable at the plate as he's hit safely his last six games. The Rockies just went 1-5 on last week's road trip and managed to scored 16 runs, the Rockies need to be careful as the Giants are right on their heels.
Detroit Tigers: 18-18, 5.5 GB 3rd AL Central. Justin Verlander became the 27th pitcher in history to throw multiple no-hitters when he did so on Saturday in Toronto. The Tigers are now at .500 again on their season and things seem to be on the right track with Austin Jackson and Victor Martinez are heating up. One piece of bad news is slugger Miguel Cabrera has been playing through a bad back as of late.
Florida Marlins: 20-14, 3 GB 2nd NL East. Hanley Ramirez is struggling so bad right now that he's using bats from the 2009 season when he won the NL Batting Crown. Ramirez went 2 for 4 in Monday's game putting his average over the .200 mark. Tonight is a matchup of Aces as Roy Halladay squares off against Josh Johnson.
Houston Astros: 13-22, 7 GB 6th NL Central. Bill Hall was one of the numerous victims of the umpires in the past week. Although it seems that Hall was thrown out for no real reason as I've seen far more players get away with far more worse than that.
Kansas City Royals: 18-16, 4.5 GB 2nd AL Central. The Royals finally caved and called up their top prospect Eric Hosmer who was hitting .439 in the PCL. The rookie went 3 for 9 his first three games this weekend including plating his first RBI on Sunday. The job appears to be his to lose.
Los Angeles Angels: 20-16, 1st AL West. Vernon Wells is showing signs of breaking out of his slump, unfortunately for him he's now headed to the 15-day DL. In other news, manager Mike Scioscia won his 1,000th game as a manager on Sunday.
Los Angeles Dodgers: 16-20, 4.5 GB 4th NL West. Andre Ethier saw his 30-game hitting streak come to an end earlier in the week but Ethier picked back up after that. Also, manager Don Mattingly picked up his first ejection as a manager on Monday night along with Juan Uribe.
Milwaukee Brewers: 15-20, 5 GB 5th NL Central. Brewers fans got what they wanted out of Zack Greinke when he made his home debut Monday. Greinke went 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER with 9 K but the real highlight was the double play turned by the Brewers middle infielders.
Minnesota Twins: 12-21, 10 GB 5th AL Central. The Twins season has been so bad that they're now the worst team in baseball and they're missing three of their top hitters. The good news for the Twins is Francisco Liriano might be righting his stuff after no-hitting the White Sox last week.
New York Mets: 15-20, 8.5 GB 5th NL East. Bad news for the Mets and their pitching rotation, Chris Young is likely done for the season after re-tearing the anterior capsule in his right shoulder. Young was 1-0 in four starts with a 1.88 ERA and 2:1 K to BB ratio. Young now has to decide between surgery and rehab but either one is likely to end his season.
New York Yankees: 19-13, 1st AL East. Derek Jeter might have silenced the critics temporarily when he hit his first two home runs of the season Sunday in Texas. The new focus is now locked on Alex Rodriguez who hasn't homered in 14 straight games and is batting .170 with 1 RBI in that stretch.
Oakland Athletics: 19-17, 1 GB 2nd AL West. Josh Willingham was tossed out of Saturday's game and "bumped" umpire Bill Miller getting him a one game suspension. Willingham appealed and on Monday he had three-run home run and two-run single in the A's 7-2 win.
Philadelphia Phillies: 23-11, 1st NL East. Joe Blanton returned from the DL on Monday and helped the Phillies get a win, next the Phillies hope that Roy Oswalt will return too. Oswalt is hoping to return before the road trip ends and is eying a May 17th return.
Pittsburgh Pirates: 18-17, 2 GB 3rd NL Central. Stop the presses, the Pirates are over .500 on May 10th for the first time in seven seasons. While this may be a small step in the right direction, the Pirates still have had 18 consecutive losing seasons. If the Pirates are over .500 come the All-Star Break, then we'll talk.
San Diego Padres: 14-21, 6 GB 5th NL West. Hard to imagine that Aaron Harang and his five wins could be overshadowed in San Diego right now but it is largely due to the Padres hitting a league worst .216. It should also be noted that no other starter has more than one win on this staff while Mat Latos is still searching for his first win.
San Francisco Giants: 18-16, 1.5 GB 2nd NL West. The Giants have a lot of players on the DL right now with some of them coming off soon, which presents a problem for Bruce Bochy. Mark DeRosa, Andres Torres and Barry Zito are set to come off the DL soon but guys like Aaron Rowand, Pat Burrell and Nate Schierholtz have produced in the outfield. Meanwhile, Mike Fontenot has been lights out at shortstop and Ryan Vogelsong has pitched better than expected. Tough times ahead for Bochy.
Seattle Mariners: 16-19, 3.5 GB 4th AL West. It appears that not only are Milton Bradley's days in Seattle done but the troubled outfielder's day in the Majors might also be numbered. On Monday the Mariners designated Bradley for assignment allowing for younger players to come up see what they can do.
St. Louis Cardinals: 20-15, 1st NL Central. Things have been going well lately for the Cardinals until news broke today that Tony La Russa won't be managing the team today when they start a series with the Cubs. La Russa has a case of shingles that has been effecting vision in his right eye and has been causing him to be fatigued. No word on when he'll return to the team.
Tampa Bay Rays: 20-14, 2nd AL East. B.J. Upton also fell victim to the umpires as he was ejected and given a two-game suspension for his behavior on Wednesday. Upton appealed the suspension because he enjoys hitting in Camden Yards, hitting to the tune of .297/.350/.535 with nine homers and 31 RBI. Odds are he'll serve the suspension in Cleveland this week.
Texas Rangers: 18-18, 2 GB 3rd AL West. Staying healthy has been quite hard for the defending AL Champions this year as they've lost numerous guys in the bullpen and Josh Hamilton. Now you can add Nelson Cruz to the list too, as he's suffering from a strained right quad. If the Rangers can survive this, they could still contend for the AL West.
Toronto Blue Jays: 15-20, 5.5 GB 4th AL East. The Toronto Blue Jays got Jose Bautista and he picked up where he left off before missing five games with neck spasms. The Jays are also being careful with hard throwing Brandon Morrow who struggled in last night's start against the Tigers. Morrow saw a dip in his velo between the second and third innings causing some concern.
Wahington Nationals: 16-18, 7 GB 4th NL East. Things are so bad offensively right now for the Nationals that Jayson Werth is their leading qualified hitter with a .227 average. As a team the Nats are hitting .224, that's only eight points better than the Padres and their league worst .216 average.
Check back next week as I'll hopefully be on time and have the newest Check Swing ready come Monday! Have a great week!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The Check Swing: April's Over, What's May Got In Store?
The first full month of the season is over, at this point most teams are around 30 games played give or a take a few. Andre Ethier is making a run at history after making history in April, Lance Berkman has resurrected his career in St. Louis and Alex Avila is quietly becoming one of the best offensive and all-around catchers. Let's go through this week's check swing!
Arizona Diamondbacks: 12-15, 5.5 GB 4th NL West. After losing 23 times in a team's last at-bats last year, the D'Backs finally had their first loss of that kind in 2011. Closer J.J. Putz gave up 2 runs in the 9th inning of Saturday's game against the Cubs. Sunday he bounced back and got the save making Putz a perfect 6 for 6 on save opportunities this year.
Atlanta Braves: 15-15, 4.5 GB 4th NL East. Thursday starting pitcher Derek Lowe was arrested for a DUI. This came following news earlier in the week that pitching coach was to take a leave of absence following a homophobic slur incident in San Francisco last weekend. For what it's worth, Lowe went 5 innings allowing 4 runs on 6 hits in his start Sunday, the first since his DUI.
Baltimore Orioles: 13-14, 4.5 GB 3rd AL East. Rookie left-handed starting pitcher Zach Britton is making a strong case for rookie of the year. On Sunday he turned in another quality start in the O's 6-1 win improving to 5-1 on the season. But the impressive number this season for him would be his outstanding 2.63 ERA, not bad for a kid who was supposed to start in triple A this season.
Boston Red Sox: 13-15, 5 GB t-4th AL East. Much to Marco Scutaro's disliking he's been relegated to the bench in favor for the hot hitting Jed Lowrie, who's off to a .342 start going in Tuesday's game. But now the pressure in on Lowrie to keep hitting or else he runs the risk of losing the job back to the scuttling Scutaro.
Chicago Cubs: 12-16, 3.5 GB 5th NL Central. After setting a franchise record for home runs in April (10) the slugging Alfonso Soriano is back at, homering in Monday's game to give him 11 on the season. Those 11 home runs separate him from Ryan Braun for the lead in all of baseball. At this rate 50 isn't out of the question, assuming he can keep this up.
Chicago White Sox: 11-19, 9.5 GB 4th AL Central. Manager Ozzie Guillen was ejected from Wednesday's game in New York, which saw him promptly fire off two tweets about the ejection. Those actions got Ozzie a two-game suspension and easily more Twitter followers. Unfortunately for Ozzie, the move didn't fire up the troops as they lost the next four games after his ejection.
Cincinnati Reds: 14-14, 1.5 GB 2nd NL Central. The Reds got rained out on Monday scheduled to play the Astros. Now they'll play the makeup game on Thursday since both teams have an off day that day. But the bigger news is the return of starting pitcher Homer Bailey, which means Sam LeCure goes back to the bullpen.
Cleveland Indians: 19-8, 1st AL Central. In case you missed it, the Indians are for real... right now. They've won 13 games in a row and had a six sweep of the two teams closest to them in the Central right now, the Royals and Tigers. Cleveland's record at home is 13-2 best in the bigs.
Colorado Rockies: 17-9, 1st NL West. The Rockies can't be happy that ace Ubaldo Jimenez is 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA on the season and the the team is 0-4 in starts but they should be happy that they're still in first. But Jimenez isn't the only guy in a slump, CarGo is hitting .232 this season and Troy Tulowitzki hasn't homered in his last 56 at-bats.
Detroit Tigers: 12-17, 8 GB 3rd AL Central. Not much is going right in Detroit right now as the club is on a seven game losing streak. Joaquin Benoit is getting lit up, Austin Jackson and Magglio Ordonez are batting under .200, Will Rhymes has been optioned to Toledo because of his lack of offense and Jim Leyland has begun to manage his way into losses, a common theme the last few years under Leyland. The Tigers however, have to be happy about the production their getting from second year catcher Alex Avila. Avila is hitting .309 with 5 HR and 21 RBI.
Florida Marlins: 18-9, t-1st NL East. While Hanley Ramirez hit his first home run of the season he's still hitting a meager .191. Ramirez continues to slump but the good news is Mike Stanton might be heating up. Sunday Stanton crushed a homer off the back wall in center field in Cincy and Monday he belted one 426 feet over Big Mac land in St. Louis.
Houston Astros: 11-17, 4.5 GB 6th NL Central. The Astros caught a break this week when X-rays and a CT scan came back negative for fractured ribs on slugger Carlos Lee. Lee stayed in Houston on Sunday and joined the team Monday in Cincy, Lee is considered to be day-to-day for the time being.
Kansas City Royals: 15-13, 4.5 GB 2nd AL Central. The Royals are the only other team besides the Indians to have an above .500 record. They've done so without Jeff Francis picking up a win this season as he's 0-3 with a 5.03 ERA, tonight he goes up against Baltimore.
Los Angeles Angels: 16-13, t-1st AL West. Jered Weaver was looking to be the first pitcher to go 7-0 in his first seven starts of the season for the first time since the late 1800s. He was scratched from Sunday's start due to a stomach virus and said he lost nine pounds during his illness. He made his start last night, in Boston and looked like a guy who had sick. Weaver didn't have his best stuff and suffered his first loss of the season.
Los Angeles Dodgers: 15-15, 4 GB 2nd NL West. Andre Ethier is trying to catch the hardest record in maybe sport to be caught, Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak. He's currently at 28 but it was his 26-game streak in April that made history for the longest streak in April. Ethier has eight infield hits during the streak which is surprising considering he had only nine all of last season.
Milwaukee Brewers: 13-15, 2.5 GB 4th NL Central. Nyjer Morgan should be activated off the DL before today's game in Atlanta and if he stays hot like he did before going on the DL then Carlos Gomez could possibly be out of a job. Gomez is hitting .236 with an on-base percentage of .278.
Minnesota Twins: 9-18, 10 GB 5th AL Central. Not much is going right for the Twins these days, especially on Sunday when Carl Pavano failed to break a bat in his tantrum following his yanking from the game. Pavano is 2-3 with a 5.84 ERA on the season.
New York Mets: 12-16, 6.5 GB 5th NL East. If you missed it Sunday, Philly fans broke into a USA chant following the news of Bin Laden's death. David Wright summed it up best saying, "I don't like to give Philly fans too much credit but they got this one right." Yeah David, they did.
New York Yankees: 17-9, 1st AL East. The good news for the Yankees and Phil Hughes is that all his tests for thoracic outlet syndrome came back negative. Now the fun of diagnosing what is the problem starts for the Yanks.
Oakland Athletics: 15-14, 1 GB 3rd AL West. Kurt Suzuki has been one of the hottest hitters for the A's since the birth of his daughter on Thursday. Suzuki has gone 6 for 14 with two home runs and five runs batted in.
Philadelphia Phillies: 18-9, t-1st NL East. Sunday provided a great act of patriotism as fans united in a USA chant leaving the players on the field clueless as to why. The fans were rallying around the news of Bin Laden's death.
Pittsburgh Pirates: 14-15, 2 GB 3rd NL Central. Good news for the Pirates and their fan base, stud center fielder Andrew McCutchen is willing to negotiate a contract extension through 2015 taking him through his arbitration years. McCutchen has said he wants to stay in Pittsburgh, they need to get this deal done for their sake!
San Diego Padres: 11-18, 7.5 GB 5th NL West. The Padres players decided that they wanted to wear their camouflage jerseys for Monday's home game in honor of the capture of Bin Laden and to show their support for the troops. Good move on their part.
San Francisco Giants: 13-15, 5 GB 3rd NL West. The Giants are 3-4 on their current 10 game road trip and wrap up in New York. What's surprising is their ability to make the pitching of the Pirates and Nationals make look very very good.
Seattle Mariners: 13-16, 3 GB 4th AL West. Justin Smoak returned this week to the Mariners following the death of his father and he seems to be playing with a heavy heart. Smoak hit two home runs and 10 RBI in his first four games back.
St. Louis Cardinals: 16-13, 1st NL Central. Lance Berkman seems to have things figured out, he's hitting .406 with nine home runs and 27 RBI. He's slowly been making people forget about the Pujols struggle but he'll need to keep it up now that third baseman David Freese is out at least a month due to a broken hand.
Tampa Bay Rays: 15-13, 3 GB 2nd AL East. Tampa Bay has some good news coming their way... Evan Longoria is expected back today and thinks he's close to 100 percent. Imagine how much scarier this team gets with the return of Longoria.
Texas Rangers: 16-13, t-1st AL West. The Rangers have been able to piece together their bullpen with closer Neftali Feliz on the DL, good news for them is they might not have to do it much longer. Feliz could be back as early as Friday which means Arthur Rhodes and Darren Oliver can return to their normal duties.
Toronto Blue Jays: 13-15, 5 GB t-4th AL East. Jo-Jo Reyes hasn't won in his last 23 starts, a streak that dates back to 2008 when Reyes was a Brave. Reyes is 0-2 with a 5.48 ERA this season, but his ERA could be higher. Reyes needs a good start Tuesday in Tampa if he hopes to stay in the rotation.
Washington Nationals: 14-14, 4.5 GB 3rd NL East. The Nats wore their dark blue jerseys with the W that looks like the American flag on Monday. What was more surprising was the effort they got from Tom Gorzelanny, going eight innings of shutout ball. The Nats are .500 despite their offense hitting a weak .228 this season.
Will Andre Ethier still be the talk of baseball come next week? Check back and find out with the Check Swing.
Arizona Diamondbacks: 12-15, 5.5 GB 4th NL West. After losing 23 times in a team's last at-bats last year, the D'Backs finally had their first loss of that kind in 2011. Closer J.J. Putz gave up 2 runs in the 9th inning of Saturday's game against the Cubs. Sunday he bounced back and got the save making Putz a perfect 6 for 6 on save opportunities this year.
Atlanta Braves: 15-15, 4.5 GB 4th NL East. Thursday starting pitcher Derek Lowe was arrested for a DUI. This came following news earlier in the week that pitching coach was to take a leave of absence following a homophobic slur incident in San Francisco last weekend. For what it's worth, Lowe went 5 innings allowing 4 runs on 6 hits in his start Sunday, the first since his DUI.
Baltimore Orioles: 13-14, 4.5 GB 3rd AL East. Rookie left-handed starting pitcher Zach Britton is making a strong case for rookie of the year. On Sunday he turned in another quality start in the O's 6-1 win improving to 5-1 on the season. But the impressive number this season for him would be his outstanding 2.63 ERA, not bad for a kid who was supposed to start in triple A this season.
Boston Red Sox: 13-15, 5 GB t-4th AL East. Much to Marco Scutaro's disliking he's been relegated to the bench in favor for the hot hitting Jed Lowrie, who's off to a .342 start going in Tuesday's game. But now the pressure in on Lowrie to keep hitting or else he runs the risk of losing the job back to the scuttling Scutaro.
Chicago Cubs: 12-16, 3.5 GB 5th NL Central. After setting a franchise record for home runs in April (10) the slugging Alfonso Soriano is back at, homering in Monday's game to give him 11 on the season. Those 11 home runs separate him from Ryan Braun for the lead in all of baseball. At this rate 50 isn't out of the question, assuming he can keep this up.
Chicago White Sox: 11-19, 9.5 GB 4th AL Central. Manager Ozzie Guillen was ejected from Wednesday's game in New York, which saw him promptly fire off two tweets about the ejection. Those actions got Ozzie a two-game suspension and easily more Twitter followers. Unfortunately for Ozzie, the move didn't fire up the troops as they lost the next four games after his ejection.
Cincinnati Reds: 14-14, 1.5 GB 2nd NL Central. The Reds got rained out on Monday scheduled to play the Astros. Now they'll play the makeup game on Thursday since both teams have an off day that day. But the bigger news is the return of starting pitcher Homer Bailey, which means Sam LeCure goes back to the bullpen.
Cleveland Indians: 19-8, 1st AL Central. In case you missed it, the Indians are for real... right now. They've won 13 games in a row and had a six sweep of the two teams closest to them in the Central right now, the Royals and Tigers. Cleveland's record at home is 13-2 best in the bigs.
Colorado Rockies: 17-9, 1st NL West. The Rockies can't be happy that ace Ubaldo Jimenez is 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA on the season and the the team is 0-4 in starts but they should be happy that they're still in first. But Jimenez isn't the only guy in a slump, CarGo is hitting .232 this season and Troy Tulowitzki hasn't homered in his last 56 at-bats.
Detroit Tigers: 12-17, 8 GB 3rd AL Central. Not much is going right in Detroit right now as the club is on a seven game losing streak. Joaquin Benoit is getting lit up, Austin Jackson and Magglio Ordonez are batting under .200, Will Rhymes has been optioned to Toledo because of his lack of offense and Jim Leyland has begun to manage his way into losses, a common theme the last few years under Leyland. The Tigers however, have to be happy about the production their getting from second year catcher Alex Avila. Avila is hitting .309 with 5 HR and 21 RBI.
Florida Marlins: 18-9, t-1st NL East. While Hanley Ramirez hit his first home run of the season he's still hitting a meager .191. Ramirez continues to slump but the good news is Mike Stanton might be heating up. Sunday Stanton crushed a homer off the back wall in center field in Cincy and Monday he belted one 426 feet over Big Mac land in St. Louis.
Houston Astros: 11-17, 4.5 GB 6th NL Central. The Astros caught a break this week when X-rays and a CT scan came back negative for fractured ribs on slugger Carlos Lee. Lee stayed in Houston on Sunday and joined the team Monday in Cincy, Lee is considered to be day-to-day for the time being.
Kansas City Royals: 15-13, 4.5 GB 2nd AL Central. The Royals are the only other team besides the Indians to have an above .500 record. They've done so without Jeff Francis picking up a win this season as he's 0-3 with a 5.03 ERA, tonight he goes up against Baltimore.
Los Angeles Angels: 16-13, t-1st AL West. Jered Weaver was looking to be the first pitcher to go 7-0 in his first seven starts of the season for the first time since the late 1800s. He was scratched from Sunday's start due to a stomach virus and said he lost nine pounds during his illness. He made his start last night, in Boston and looked like a guy who had sick. Weaver didn't have his best stuff and suffered his first loss of the season.
Los Angeles Dodgers: 15-15, 4 GB 2nd NL West. Andre Ethier is trying to catch the hardest record in maybe sport to be caught, Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak. He's currently at 28 but it was his 26-game streak in April that made history for the longest streak in April. Ethier has eight infield hits during the streak which is surprising considering he had only nine all of last season.
Milwaukee Brewers: 13-15, 2.5 GB 4th NL Central. Nyjer Morgan should be activated off the DL before today's game in Atlanta and if he stays hot like he did before going on the DL then Carlos Gomez could possibly be out of a job. Gomez is hitting .236 with an on-base percentage of .278.
Minnesota Twins: 9-18, 10 GB 5th AL Central. Not much is going right for the Twins these days, especially on Sunday when Carl Pavano failed to break a bat in his tantrum following his yanking from the game. Pavano is 2-3 with a 5.84 ERA on the season.
New York Mets: 12-16, 6.5 GB 5th NL East. If you missed it Sunday, Philly fans broke into a USA chant following the news of Bin Laden's death. David Wright summed it up best saying, "I don't like to give Philly fans too much credit but they got this one right." Yeah David, they did.
New York Yankees: 17-9, 1st AL East. The good news for the Yankees and Phil Hughes is that all his tests for thoracic outlet syndrome came back negative. Now the fun of diagnosing what is the problem starts for the Yanks.
Oakland Athletics: 15-14, 1 GB 3rd AL West. Kurt Suzuki has been one of the hottest hitters for the A's since the birth of his daughter on Thursday. Suzuki has gone 6 for 14 with two home runs and five runs batted in.
Philadelphia Phillies: 18-9, t-1st NL East. Sunday provided a great act of patriotism as fans united in a USA chant leaving the players on the field clueless as to why. The fans were rallying around the news of Bin Laden's death.
Pittsburgh Pirates: 14-15, 2 GB 3rd NL Central. Good news for the Pirates and their fan base, stud center fielder Andrew McCutchen is willing to negotiate a contract extension through 2015 taking him through his arbitration years. McCutchen has said he wants to stay in Pittsburgh, they need to get this deal done for their sake!
San Diego Padres: 11-18, 7.5 GB 5th NL West. The Padres players decided that they wanted to wear their camouflage jerseys for Monday's home game in honor of the capture of Bin Laden and to show their support for the troops. Good move on their part.
San Francisco Giants: 13-15, 5 GB 3rd NL West. The Giants are 3-4 on their current 10 game road trip and wrap up in New York. What's surprising is their ability to make the pitching of the Pirates and Nationals make look very very good.
Seattle Mariners: 13-16, 3 GB 4th AL West. Justin Smoak returned this week to the Mariners following the death of his father and he seems to be playing with a heavy heart. Smoak hit two home runs and 10 RBI in his first four games back.
St. Louis Cardinals: 16-13, 1st NL Central. Lance Berkman seems to have things figured out, he's hitting .406 with nine home runs and 27 RBI. He's slowly been making people forget about the Pujols struggle but he'll need to keep it up now that third baseman David Freese is out at least a month due to a broken hand.
Tampa Bay Rays: 15-13, 3 GB 2nd AL East. Tampa Bay has some good news coming their way... Evan Longoria is expected back today and thinks he's close to 100 percent. Imagine how much scarier this team gets with the return of Longoria.
Texas Rangers: 16-13, t-1st AL West. The Rangers have been able to piece together their bullpen with closer Neftali Feliz on the DL, good news for them is they might not have to do it much longer. Feliz could be back as early as Friday which means Arthur Rhodes and Darren Oliver can return to their normal duties.
Toronto Blue Jays: 13-15, 5 GB t-4th AL East. Jo-Jo Reyes hasn't won in his last 23 starts, a streak that dates back to 2008 when Reyes was a Brave. Reyes is 0-2 with a 5.48 ERA this season, but his ERA could be higher. Reyes needs a good start Tuesday in Tampa if he hopes to stay in the rotation.
Washington Nationals: 14-14, 4.5 GB 3rd NL East. The Nats wore their dark blue jerseys with the W that looks like the American flag on Monday. What was more surprising was the effort they got from Tom Gorzelanny, going eight innings of shutout ball. The Nats are .500 despite their offense hitting a weak .228 this season.
Will Andre Ethier still be the talk of baseball come next week? Check back and find out with the Check Swing.
Friday, April 29, 2011
The 2011 NFL Draft Day Review: Winners, Losers, Shockers and Surprises.
Day 1 of the 2011 NFL Draft has come and gone leaving many fans happy, sad, mad or stunned. Plenty of surprises from last night's draft rolled out but one thing that wasn't a surprise was the boos commissioner Roger Goodell received last night, although he did handle it rather well. With that said let's get this recap started.
Shockers
Jake Locker - I didn't doubt that Locker would be a first round pick, I did however doubt that he'd be a Top 10 pick. If you missed it last night, this move was so shocking that Denver Bronco fans were seen saying, "wow" over and over. It's rather ironic that they would question this move after last year's move of boldly taking Tim Tebow in the first round. Locker has the tools and the talent to be a good QB, but he needs to work on his accuracy and pocket skills. I'd be surprised if he takes the field next year beyond mop up duty of some blowouts.
Christian Ponder - If the Jake Locker picked shocked you, this one blew your mind out. There's no doubt that the Vikings need a quarterback and maybe they underestimated teams trading up to snatch Blaine Gabbert in the two picks before them. Ponder is a talented kid who was probably the most ready for the NFL, but he was by no means a first round QB. Ponder now has added pressure to be successful because of how high he was drafted. Although the good news for him is he's surrounded by a talented running back (Adrian Peterson) and receivers (Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin).
Baltimore Ravens - The Baltimore Ravens missed their pick last night which allowed the Kansas City Chiefs to move ahead of them. So what happened you may be asking. Well the Ravens believed they had a deal worked out with the Chicago Bears to swap picks. The Ravens thought the Bears would announce it, the Bear thought the Ravens would announce and it turns out the Bears dropped the ball. The Ravens could get a small compensation from the Bears for this.
Surprises
Da'Quan Bowers - You have to feel bad for the kid who was predicted by many as the first overall draft pick in January. Then he started sliding a bit to somewhere Top 10. And then came the news of his knee and possible microfracture surgery looming. He slid out of the Top 10 last night and all the way out of the first round. Someone will draft him, whether it be Day 2 or Day 3 of the draft and he'll make that team very happy once he's healthy.
Nick Fairley - Fairley once was rated the best defensive tackle, then he and Marcell Dareus switched spots but he was still believed to be a Top 10 pick. Fairley fell all the way to the Detroit Lions at 13 where he'll get to team up with Ndamukong Suh, who he sought of before the draft for advice. Now Suh will get to give him all the advice he'll want and need. The Lions have created one beast of a defensive line.
Patrick Peterson - It was no surprise that Peterson was drafted fifth let alone inside the Top 10 but what was surprising was the team who drafted him. The Arizona Cardinals had more glaring needs than drafting a corner back, like finding a quarterback to throw to Larry Fitzgerald. But adding Peterson to their team solidifies their secondary which in turns strengthens their defense as a whole.
Winners
Atlanta Falcons - The Falcons made a huge splash to get Julio Jones, but it was a move they needed to make to give Matt Ryan better options to throw to. They swapped first round picks with Cleveland and gave up their second, fourth and next year's first round pick. If Jones pans out and works well opposite of Roddy White, the Falcons could be unstoppable for years to come.
New England Patriots - The Patriots went into Day 1 with two picks and they came out of it making one pick and trading the other. They traded the 28th overall pick to New Orleans, missing out on Mark Ingram but they got back the 56th overall pick and the Saints' first round pick in 2012. The Pats can still bolster their defense in Day 2 while stocking up for the future like they did yesterday.
New Orleans Saints - The Saints took care of both sides of the ball last night, first drafting defensive end Cameron Jordan 24th overall and then trading up to take running back Mark Ingram 28th overall. Besides the other three teams in the NFC South, the only other person who didn't like this draft was Reggie Bush who has tweeted he's out of New Orleans.
Losers
The NFL - Usually the one boos heard at the draft come from Giants', Jets' and Eagles' fans when they hear the name of their draft pick. However, all of Day 1 was marred by boos and chants of "WE WANT FOOTBALL". The fans let both sides know they aren't happy with this lockout and their patience is running thin.
Jimmy Clausen - The reigning Carolina Panthers starting QB might be reduced to a clipboard holder once the season finally starts. While Clausen had every right to be upset, he wasn't. He sent Cam Newton a text welcoming and congratulating him and he followed that up be being the first person in the building for the Panthers today. Got to hand it to him, he's not just going to roll over and accept his fate, he's going to fight to preserve it.
The Draft Picks' Fashion Sense - Last night was a weird night with the boos and lockout pending, but it was even weirder thanks to the fashion the picks wore up on stage. The bow-ties, the thick lense glasses and other questionable items. For a good look, check out this article. Props to Yahoo!'s Shutdown Corner for the find.
Shockers
Jake Locker - I didn't doubt that Locker would be a first round pick, I did however doubt that he'd be a Top 10 pick. If you missed it last night, this move was so shocking that Denver Bronco fans were seen saying, "wow" over and over. It's rather ironic that they would question this move after last year's move of boldly taking Tim Tebow in the first round. Locker has the tools and the talent to be a good QB, but he needs to work on his accuracy and pocket skills. I'd be surprised if he takes the field next year beyond mop up duty of some blowouts.
Christian Ponder - If the Jake Locker picked shocked you, this one blew your mind out. There's no doubt that the Vikings need a quarterback and maybe they underestimated teams trading up to snatch Blaine Gabbert in the two picks before them. Ponder is a talented kid who was probably the most ready for the NFL, but he was by no means a first round QB. Ponder now has added pressure to be successful because of how high he was drafted. Although the good news for him is he's surrounded by a talented running back (Adrian Peterson) and receivers (Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin).
Baltimore Ravens - The Baltimore Ravens missed their pick last night which allowed the Kansas City Chiefs to move ahead of them. So what happened you may be asking. Well the Ravens believed they had a deal worked out with the Chicago Bears to swap picks. The Ravens thought the Bears would announce it, the Bear thought the Ravens would announce and it turns out the Bears dropped the ball. The Ravens could get a small compensation from the Bears for this.
Surprises
Da'Quan Bowers - You have to feel bad for the kid who was predicted by many as the first overall draft pick in January. Then he started sliding a bit to somewhere Top 10. And then came the news of his knee and possible microfracture surgery looming. He slid out of the Top 10 last night and all the way out of the first round. Someone will draft him, whether it be Day 2 or Day 3 of the draft and he'll make that team very happy once he's healthy.
Nick Fairley - Fairley once was rated the best defensive tackle, then he and Marcell Dareus switched spots but he was still believed to be a Top 10 pick. Fairley fell all the way to the Detroit Lions at 13 where he'll get to team up with Ndamukong Suh, who he sought of before the draft for advice. Now Suh will get to give him all the advice he'll want and need. The Lions have created one beast of a defensive line.
Patrick Peterson - It was no surprise that Peterson was drafted fifth let alone inside the Top 10 but what was surprising was the team who drafted him. The Arizona Cardinals had more glaring needs than drafting a corner back, like finding a quarterback to throw to Larry Fitzgerald. But adding Peterson to their team solidifies their secondary which in turns strengthens their defense as a whole.
Winners
Atlanta Falcons - The Falcons made a huge splash to get Julio Jones, but it was a move they needed to make to give Matt Ryan better options to throw to. They swapped first round picks with Cleveland and gave up their second, fourth and next year's first round pick. If Jones pans out and works well opposite of Roddy White, the Falcons could be unstoppable for years to come.
New England Patriots - The Patriots went into Day 1 with two picks and they came out of it making one pick and trading the other. They traded the 28th overall pick to New Orleans, missing out on Mark Ingram but they got back the 56th overall pick and the Saints' first round pick in 2012. The Pats can still bolster their defense in Day 2 while stocking up for the future like they did yesterday.
New Orleans Saints - The Saints took care of both sides of the ball last night, first drafting defensive end Cameron Jordan 24th overall and then trading up to take running back Mark Ingram 28th overall. Besides the other three teams in the NFC South, the only other person who didn't like this draft was Reggie Bush who has tweeted he's out of New Orleans.
Losers
The NFL - Usually the one boos heard at the draft come from Giants', Jets' and Eagles' fans when they hear the name of their draft pick. However, all of Day 1 was marred by boos and chants of "WE WANT FOOTBALL". The fans let both sides know they aren't happy with this lockout and their patience is running thin.
Jimmy Clausen - The reigning Carolina Panthers starting QB might be reduced to a clipboard holder once the season finally starts. While Clausen had every right to be upset, he wasn't. He sent Cam Newton a text welcoming and congratulating him and he followed that up be being the first person in the building for the Panthers today. Got to hand it to him, he's not just going to roll over and accept his fate, he's going to fight to preserve it.
The Draft Picks' Fashion Sense - Last night was a weird night with the boos and lockout pending, but it was even weirder thanks to the fashion the picks wore up on stage. The bow-ties, the thick lense glasses and other questionable items. For a good look, check out this article. Props to Yahoo!'s Shutdown Corner for the find.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Bring on the Conference Semi-Finals!!
If you haven't been keeping up with the Stanley Cup Playoffs, shame on you! You've missed quite possibly some of the best hockey the Conference Quarterfinals have ever seen. For starters, there has been overtime hockey nine straight nights in a row. There's nothing better than overtime hockey, it keeps you on the edge because one mistake leads to the demise of a team, one odd man rush save can deflate a team there's nothing like it. On top of the overtime streak, we had four series go the full seven games including the Canucks-Blackhawks series which saw Chicago come back from 3-0 only to lose in a heartbreaking Game 7 and the Penguins-Lightning series which saw Tampa come back to win from down 3-1. And if I may brag here before the Law of Averages comes crashing down on me heavily, I went 8-0 in my Quarterfinal predictions and called four of the series down to the games it would go which means my Sharks over Bruins Stanley Cup Finals is still intact. Let's get to the Conference Semis matchups:
Eastern Conference
1. Washington Capitals v 5. Tampa Bay Lightning - The Capitals went 4-1-1 this season against the team that almost dethroned them from their division title. In their last series the Caps had showed us that they were no longer the choke artists they had been in years past by playing great defense and getting even better goaltending. They allowed eight goals in their five game series with the Rangers and rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth had a 1.38 GAA and a .946 save percentage while posting one shutout. In his career Neuvirth has never lost a series, winning back-to-back Calder Cups in the AHL and now winning his first NHL series. The Caps definitely have the skill and goaltending to matchup well with the Lightning.
The Lightning fell behind 3-1 in the Quarterfinal matchup with the Penguins then they came striking back winning 8-2 and 4-2 to force Game 7 which they won 1-0 in Pittsburgh. The Lightning have some great skill and scorers on this team but those guys need to show up as Martin St. Louis had 4 goals and 4 assists in the series. Steven Stamkos can't wait for Game 5 to show up in this series because if he does, he might be the only one showing up to it. The line of Sean Bergenheim-Dominic Moore-Steve Downie was a great third line down the final games for the Bolts. If they want to win they'll need to be effective on the penalty kill (34 for 35 in the series with Pittsburgh) but they'll also need to stay out of it too. They can't afford to give the Caps 35 power plays and win this series. One has to wonder how much the seven game series took out of the 41-year old Dwayne Roloson? One stat to remember, Rollie the goalie is now 6-0 when starting in elimination games for his team.
Ultimately the Caps are too much for the Bolts and win in 5.
2. Philadelphia Flyers v 3. Boston Bruins - The Flyers got all they could handle from Ryan Miller and the Sabres but advanced in 7. One glaring question for the Flyers is how confident are they in their goalies? Philly used three different goalies in this series and they all made at least one start while Brian Boucher eventually started and won Game 7. The Flyers went 1-3-0 against the B's in the regular season but they have to be happy to see Boston the way their power play is performing as the Flyers killed only 75% good for 12th in the playoffs. Getting Chris Pronger back is huge for the Flyers and Jeff Carter is questionable for Round 2 with a knee injury.
The Boston Bruins became the first team in history to win a 7 game series without scoring a power play goal going 0 for 21 in their series with Montreal. If the B's hope to advance they're going to have to figure the power play out and take advantage because Philly's forwards are a bit more talented than Boston's. Tim Thomas appears to be back on his game after a rough start to the series for Boston but the bad news is the team could start the series without defenseman Andrew Ference for his questionable hit he put on Jeff Halpern in Game 7. Boston is 3-0 in overtime games this post season.
In a tough, gritty series Boston wins in 7.
Western Conference
1. Vancouver Canucks v 5. Nashville Predators - The Vancouver Canucks were one goal away from blowing a 3-0 series lead and becoming the fourth team to do so. Alex Burrows made sure that didn't happen as the Canucks recovered to win Game 7 2-1 in overtime. Not only that but after a horrible three game spell, Roberto Luongo seemed to return to form as he made a big save early in the overtime when the team was shorthanded. One thing the Canucks need to do is to get Ryan Kesler going as he was held without a goal and only had 4 assists, they'll also need him to shutdown Mike Fisher the way he shutdown Jonathan Toews. The Canucks finally beat the Hawks in the playoffs as the last two years the Hawks were the team to bounce Vancouver from the playoffs.
For the first time in their 12 years of existence, the Nashville Predators finally advanced past the first round of the playoffs. Now they have the task of beating the NHL's top team in Vancouver to make their first Western Conference Finals. For that to happen, the Preds are going to need goalie Pekka Rinne to steal them a couple of games. Rinne who was outstanding in the regular season was hardly ordinary in the first round posting a 3.29 GAA with a .876 save percentage. Shea Weber and Ryan Suter draw the task of shutting down the Sedin twins which is no easy task. Good news for the Preds, they went 2-2-0 in the regular season with the Canucks.
Canucks take this in 6.
2. San Jose Sharks v 3. Detroit Red Wings - In their series with LA, the Sharks at times looked like a team that could win the Stanley Cup and looked like a team that still hasn't shed that choke artist label. Well they shed and in a big way. Joe Thornton who has been a big reason for past chokes scored the OT winner and series ender in Game 6 in Los Angeles. The Sharks might be the deepest team in the playoffs when it comes to forwards. Joe Pavelski, Dany Heatley and Ryan Clowe led the team through the series in goals but seven other guys scored for the Sharks as well. Goalie Antti Niemi showed he's not rock solid getting pulled twice but he did go 3-0-0 against the Wings with a .935 save percentage in the regular season. This matchup could come down to the Sharks power play vs the Wings penalty kill. The Sharks went 2 for 23 in the first round while the Wings PK was torched for 6 goals in 18 kills.
The Wings came into the playoffs battered and facing a tough challenge in Phoenix but quickly disposed of them in 4 games hardly trailing at all in the series. With 8 days off between games the Wings have gotten healthy and should have both Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen for the start of this series. 13 different guys scored in the 4 game series against Phoenix which is good news because the Wings can't rely on Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg to carry this team alone if they want to advance. Another thing they'll need to do is stay physical, last year the Sharks took the fight to the Wings and eventually knocked them out in 5 games. Guys like Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader and Todd Bertuzzi have to lead the Wings in a battle to win the tough pucks in corners. One last thing is stay out of the box and improve the PK, killing only 66.7% of the penalties they took in round one was bad. Penalties last year help lead to the Wings downfall. Jimmy Howard posted a 2.50 GAA with a .920 save percentage, he allowed only 4 goals in full strength situations in round one.
The homer in me wants to say Wings in 6 after round one but I have to stick with the team I took to win it all and say Sharks in 7.
Eastern Conference
1. Washington Capitals v 5. Tampa Bay Lightning - The Capitals went 4-1-1 this season against the team that almost dethroned them from their division title. In their last series the Caps had showed us that they were no longer the choke artists they had been in years past by playing great defense and getting even better goaltending. They allowed eight goals in their five game series with the Rangers and rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth had a 1.38 GAA and a .946 save percentage while posting one shutout. In his career Neuvirth has never lost a series, winning back-to-back Calder Cups in the AHL and now winning his first NHL series. The Caps definitely have the skill and goaltending to matchup well with the Lightning.
The Lightning fell behind 3-1 in the Quarterfinal matchup with the Penguins then they came striking back winning 8-2 and 4-2 to force Game 7 which they won 1-0 in Pittsburgh. The Lightning have some great skill and scorers on this team but those guys need to show up as Martin St. Louis had 4 goals and 4 assists in the series. Steven Stamkos can't wait for Game 5 to show up in this series because if he does, he might be the only one showing up to it. The line of Sean Bergenheim-Dominic Moore-Steve Downie was a great third line down the final games for the Bolts. If they want to win they'll need to be effective on the penalty kill (34 for 35 in the series with Pittsburgh) but they'll also need to stay out of it too. They can't afford to give the Caps 35 power plays and win this series. One has to wonder how much the seven game series took out of the 41-year old Dwayne Roloson? One stat to remember, Rollie the goalie is now 6-0 when starting in elimination games for his team.
Ultimately the Caps are too much for the Bolts and win in 5.
2. Philadelphia Flyers v 3. Boston Bruins - The Flyers got all they could handle from Ryan Miller and the Sabres but advanced in 7. One glaring question for the Flyers is how confident are they in their goalies? Philly used three different goalies in this series and they all made at least one start while Brian Boucher eventually started and won Game 7. The Flyers went 1-3-0 against the B's in the regular season but they have to be happy to see Boston the way their power play is performing as the Flyers killed only 75% good for 12th in the playoffs. Getting Chris Pronger back is huge for the Flyers and Jeff Carter is questionable for Round 2 with a knee injury.
The Boston Bruins became the first team in history to win a 7 game series without scoring a power play goal going 0 for 21 in their series with Montreal. If the B's hope to advance they're going to have to figure the power play out and take advantage because Philly's forwards are a bit more talented than Boston's. Tim Thomas appears to be back on his game after a rough start to the series for Boston but the bad news is the team could start the series without defenseman Andrew Ference for his questionable hit he put on Jeff Halpern in Game 7. Boston is 3-0 in overtime games this post season.
In a tough, gritty series Boston wins in 7.
Western Conference
1. Vancouver Canucks v 5. Nashville Predators - The Vancouver Canucks were one goal away from blowing a 3-0 series lead and becoming the fourth team to do so. Alex Burrows made sure that didn't happen as the Canucks recovered to win Game 7 2-1 in overtime. Not only that but after a horrible three game spell, Roberto Luongo seemed to return to form as he made a big save early in the overtime when the team was shorthanded. One thing the Canucks need to do is to get Ryan Kesler going as he was held without a goal and only had 4 assists, they'll also need him to shutdown Mike Fisher the way he shutdown Jonathan Toews. The Canucks finally beat the Hawks in the playoffs as the last two years the Hawks were the team to bounce Vancouver from the playoffs.
For the first time in their 12 years of existence, the Nashville Predators finally advanced past the first round of the playoffs. Now they have the task of beating the NHL's top team in Vancouver to make their first Western Conference Finals. For that to happen, the Preds are going to need goalie Pekka Rinne to steal them a couple of games. Rinne who was outstanding in the regular season was hardly ordinary in the first round posting a 3.29 GAA with a .876 save percentage. Shea Weber and Ryan Suter draw the task of shutting down the Sedin twins which is no easy task. Good news for the Preds, they went 2-2-0 in the regular season with the Canucks.
Canucks take this in 6.
2. San Jose Sharks v 3. Detroit Red Wings - In their series with LA, the Sharks at times looked like a team that could win the Stanley Cup and looked like a team that still hasn't shed that choke artist label. Well they shed and in a big way. Joe Thornton who has been a big reason for past chokes scored the OT winner and series ender in Game 6 in Los Angeles. The Sharks might be the deepest team in the playoffs when it comes to forwards. Joe Pavelski, Dany Heatley and Ryan Clowe led the team through the series in goals but seven other guys scored for the Sharks as well. Goalie Antti Niemi showed he's not rock solid getting pulled twice but he did go 3-0-0 against the Wings with a .935 save percentage in the regular season. This matchup could come down to the Sharks power play vs the Wings penalty kill. The Sharks went 2 for 23 in the first round while the Wings PK was torched for 6 goals in 18 kills.
The Wings came into the playoffs battered and facing a tough challenge in Phoenix but quickly disposed of them in 4 games hardly trailing at all in the series. With 8 days off between games the Wings have gotten healthy and should have both Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen for the start of this series. 13 different guys scored in the 4 game series against Phoenix which is good news because the Wings can't rely on Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg to carry this team alone if they want to advance. Another thing they'll need to do is stay physical, last year the Sharks took the fight to the Wings and eventually knocked them out in 5 games. Guys like Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader and Todd Bertuzzi have to lead the Wings in a battle to win the tough pucks in corners. One last thing is stay out of the box and improve the PK, killing only 66.7% of the penalties they took in round one was bad. Penalties last year help lead to the Wings downfall. Jimmy Howard posted a 2.50 GAA with a .920 save percentage, he allowed only 4 goals in full strength situations in round one.
The homer in me wants to say Wings in 6 after round one but I have to stick with the team I took to win it all and say Sharks in 7.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
The 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Game 7s Galore
With three Game 7s upon us and a possible fourth looming I thought I'd update everyone on what's happening with the Stanley Cup Playoffs and how I've done predicting the series.
Western Conference
1. Vancouver v 8. Chicago - Tied 3-3
When Vancouver took a 3-0 lead eeveryone thought that this series was over and Roberto Luongo had shaken his playoff yips and all was good. Then the Blackhawks lit Luongo up for 10 goals in the next two games. That led to rookie goalie Cory Schneider sstaring Game 6 and playing well enough to keep the team in it before he got hurt. Luongo comes in, game goes to overtime and the Blackhawks win. Now Luongo is going to start Game 7 tonight and no one knows what Luongo they're going to see tonight, the siv from Game 4 and 5 or the stud from Games 1-3. I like Chicago's odds to pull this comeback off.
2. San Jose v 7. Los Angeles - SJ wins 4-2
It looked as if Los Angeles was going to force a Game 7 with the way Jonathan Quick played but unfortunately for him his defense and offense didn't support him enough. Joe Thornton sealed the series with his OT winner last night. One worry for the Sharks going on is their goalie was pulled twice in this series. The Sharks will face either the Chicago Blackhawks or the Detroit Red Wings next.
3. Detroit v 6. Phoenix - Detroit wins 4-0
Detroit looked like the best team in all of hockey the way they disposed of Phoenix in four games, trailing only twice in the series. The Wings played without Henrik Zetterberg for the series and Johan Franzen in Game 4 so just imagine how scary this team will be when they get somewhat healthier. The Wings will face either the San Jose Sharks or the Nashville Predators next.
4. Anaheim v 5. Nashville - Nashville wins 4-2
The Predators have finally won their first playoff series in the franchise existence and are looking to keep it going. They played a hard, physical series with the Ducks and are going to enjoy the little time off they'll have. The Preds will either face the Vancouver Canucks or the Detroit Red Wings next.
Eastern Conference
1. Washington v 8. New York Rangers - Washington wins 4-1
Washington pretty much owned the Rangers for most of this series but after the Rangers lost Game 4 in the fashion they did, you knew the series was over. And the Caps finished them off with 3-1 Game 5 win. The Caps will face either the Buffalo Sabres, the Montreal Canadiens, the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Tampa Bay Lightning.
2. Philadelphia v 7. Buffalo - Tied 3-3
These two teams have come to hate each other in this series because of all the physical play. The Flyers are lucky to have captain Mike Richards available as he escaped two dirty plays suspension free. Ryan Miller has been up and down in this series but has followed a bad game with a great game. The Flyers have used 3 goalies in this series and Brian Boucher is supposed to start tonight. I like Philly tonight given the injury problems Buffalo is facing tonight, plus the Sabres are 0-4 in road Game 7s.
3. Boston v 6. Montreal - Boston leads 3-2
The series started out with the road team winning the first four games before Boston took Game 5 at home in double overtime. If Montreal wants to stick around a little longer they'll have to play better tonight at home and get some luck. The Canadiens are one great Tim Thomas save away from being up 3-2 with the chance to close out tonight at home. That said, I see this series going to a Game 7 in Boston.
4. Pittsburgh v 5. Tampa Bay - Tied 3-3
The Penguins looked to have this series wrapped up after stealing both games at Tampa Bay, but the Lightning didn't go away quietly. They responded with a 8-2 win in Pittsburgh and again last night with a 4-2 win at home to force Game 7. You have to wonder if the Lightning have figured out Marc-Andre Fluery and have rattled his confidence. Bad news for the Pens, they're 1 for 30 on the power play this series. I like the skill and talent of Tampa in Game 7 over the grit of Pittsburgh.
With 4 series complete, I'm 4-0 with nailing 2 of the 4 on the dot. So in theory I could go a perfect 8-0 in the opening round. Check back and find out.
Western Conference
1. Vancouver v 8. Chicago - Tied 3-3
When Vancouver took a 3-0 lead eeveryone thought that this series was over and Roberto Luongo had shaken his playoff yips and all was good. Then the Blackhawks lit Luongo up for 10 goals in the next two games. That led to rookie goalie Cory Schneider sstaring Game 6 and playing well enough to keep the team in it before he got hurt. Luongo comes in, game goes to overtime and the Blackhawks win. Now Luongo is going to start Game 7 tonight and no one knows what Luongo they're going to see tonight, the siv from Game 4 and 5 or the stud from Games 1-3. I like Chicago's odds to pull this comeback off.
2. San Jose v 7. Los Angeles - SJ wins 4-2
It looked as if Los Angeles was going to force a Game 7 with the way Jonathan Quick played but unfortunately for him his defense and offense didn't support him enough. Joe Thornton sealed the series with his OT winner last night. One worry for the Sharks going on is their goalie was pulled twice in this series. The Sharks will face either the Chicago Blackhawks or the Detroit Red Wings next.
3. Detroit v 6. Phoenix - Detroit wins 4-0
Detroit looked like the best team in all of hockey the way they disposed of Phoenix in four games, trailing only twice in the series. The Wings played without Henrik Zetterberg for the series and Johan Franzen in Game 4 so just imagine how scary this team will be when they get somewhat healthier. The Wings will face either the San Jose Sharks or the Nashville Predators next.
4. Anaheim v 5. Nashville - Nashville wins 4-2
The Predators have finally won their first playoff series in the franchise existence and are looking to keep it going. They played a hard, physical series with the Ducks and are going to enjoy the little time off they'll have. The Preds will either face the Vancouver Canucks or the Detroit Red Wings next.
Eastern Conference
1. Washington v 8. New York Rangers - Washington wins 4-1
Washington pretty much owned the Rangers for most of this series but after the Rangers lost Game 4 in the fashion they did, you knew the series was over. And the Caps finished them off with 3-1 Game 5 win. The Caps will face either the Buffalo Sabres, the Montreal Canadiens, the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Tampa Bay Lightning.
2. Philadelphia v 7. Buffalo - Tied 3-3
These two teams have come to hate each other in this series because of all the physical play. The Flyers are lucky to have captain Mike Richards available as he escaped two dirty plays suspension free. Ryan Miller has been up and down in this series but has followed a bad game with a great game. The Flyers have used 3 goalies in this series and Brian Boucher is supposed to start tonight. I like Philly tonight given the injury problems Buffalo is facing tonight, plus the Sabres are 0-4 in road Game 7s.
3. Boston v 6. Montreal - Boston leads 3-2
The series started out with the road team winning the first four games before Boston took Game 5 at home in double overtime. If Montreal wants to stick around a little longer they'll have to play better tonight at home and get some luck. The Canadiens are one great Tim Thomas save away from being up 3-2 with the chance to close out tonight at home. That said, I see this series going to a Game 7 in Boston.
4. Pittsburgh v 5. Tampa Bay - Tied 3-3
The Penguins looked to have this series wrapped up after stealing both games at Tampa Bay, but the Lightning didn't go away quietly. They responded with a 8-2 win in Pittsburgh and again last night with a 4-2 win at home to force Game 7. You have to wonder if the Lightning have figured out Marc-Andre Fluery and have rattled his confidence. Bad news for the Pens, they're 1 for 30 on the power play this series. I like the skill and talent of Tampa in Game 7 over the grit of Pittsburgh.
With 4 series complete, I'm 4-0 with nailing 2 of the 4 on the dot. So in theory I could go a perfect 8-0 in the opening round. Check back and find out.
Monday, April 25, 2011
The Check Swing: Hope you didn't write the Red Sox off...
The past week of baseball has been a good one. We had a few pitchers flirt with no-hitters, including Anibal Sanchez seeking to become the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter while allowing a run since the late Darryl Kile did it. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox seemingly have their act together as they ran off a five game winning streak to end the week pulling within a game of .500. If you wrote the Red Sox off this early in the season, shame on you this team is too good to go through the entire season playing the way they did early. Still like my Red Sox-Phillies World Series prediction.
Arizona Diamondbacks: 8-12, 5.5 GB 4th NL West. Arizona's woes stems from their weak starting pitching that they're getting. D'Back pitchers have made only two quality starts in the last 13 games and Mr. Perfection, Armando Galarraga has allowed eight home runs in 21 innings pitched. Ouch.
Atlanta Braves: 11-12, 5 GB 4th NL East. The Braves spent the week making a road trip in California, starting with the Dodgers (1-2) and the Giants (3-0). The sweep of the Giants is some revenge from last year's playoffs and the Braves first sweep of the Giants since 1998.
Baltimore Orioles: 8-12, 5 GB 5th AL East. Another series with the Yankess, another rain out which led to the Yankees getting another two game sweep. Saturday's 15-3 loss gave us reason to believe that some bad blood might be brewing as Russell Martin was beaned in the 9th after hitting two home runs that night. With 14 more games to go this might not be over yet.
Boston Red Sox: 10-11, 3.5 GB 3rd AL East. The Sox went 6-1 this week and swept the Angels in LA. It would appear the Sox have this thing figured out. One of the funnier hijinks came from the Angels series when fans threw money at Carl Crawford as he stood on-deck. Crawford would get the last laugh hitting a two-run home run Sunday in a 7-0 win.
Chicago Cubs: 10-11, 1.5 GB 4th NL Central. The Chicago Cubs love being .500 in fact they love it so much their record has been; 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9 and 10-10. Only the 1915 Red Sox and 1970 Yankees have accomplished this feat, and only reached 9-9.
Chicago White Sox: 8-14, 5.5 GB 5th AL Central. To say that Ozzie Guillen isn't happy is a bit of an understatement. The team started 6-3 and now find themselves 8-14 meaning they've gone 2-11 in their last 13 games. Offense is the problem here as the Sox have been held to three runs or less in 10 of their last 13 games. Alexi Ramirez, Gordon Beckham, Adam Dunn and Alex Rios are all batting under .240 this season.
Cincinnati Reds: 11-11, 1 GB 3rd NL Central. The Reds lost Scott Rolen to the 15-day DL with a shoulder injury as cortisone shots couldn't help the third baseman. Infielder Chris Valaika was called up Sunday to take Rolen's place. Meanwhile, Mike Leake had a good start after coming back from his arrest receiving some boos with cheers and some razzing. Two fans in Bengals helmets had signs that read, "Mike Leake we gave you the bunt sign not the steal sign" and "Steal us a win Leake". Oh those Cincinnati fans.
Cleveland Indians: 13-8, 1st AL Central. The Indians had a to go this week with some AL Central foes. They went 2-2 at Kansas City and 0-2 at Minnesota. If the Indians hope to contend they'll need to be better than the 3-6 mark they're at right now vs the Central. Good news is they can improve that mark with two home series this week against KC and Detroit.
Colorado Rockies: 14-7, 1st NL West. Ubaldo Jimenez returned this week from the DL and went 0-1 in his two starts. In his start Sunday, both he and Josh Johnson flirted with no-hitters as for the second time in three games the Rockies almost were no-hit. But Dexter Fowler was in no mood for that, Friday night he ruined Anibal Sanchez's no-hitter with a 9th inning lead-off broken bat single and Sunday in the 6th he stroked a lead-off double to the gap.
Detroit Tigers: 12-10, 1.5 GB t-2nd AL Central. The Tigers for the first time this season are over .500 and did so with Victor Martinez on the DL with a groin injury. One reason for the wins is a move of Ryan Raburn to second base for offensive purposes. With Raburn at second, more at-bats opened up for outfielders Brennan Boesch and Casper Wells who are making the most of them. Justin Verlander recorded his 1,000th career strikeout and the Tigers have beaten the White Sox 9 straight times dating back to last year. Also Max Scherzer is off to a 4-0 start.
Florida Marlins: 13-7, 1.5 GB 2nd NL East. While the Marlins might be happy with the pitching their getting from Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez they can't be excited about Hanley Ramirez and his .182 batting average. Not only is he struggling but his power seems to be gone too as Ramirez has only four doubles with zero homers. The Marlins need Ramirez to return to form if they want to contend.
Houston Astros: 8-14, 4 GB 6th NL Central. The Astros scored 16 runs in their first two game in the weekend series at Milwaukee. Apparently they tired themselves out as they scored one run on five hits in Sunday's rubber match.
Kansas City Royals: 12-10, 1.5 GB t-2nd AL Central. Last week the Royals had a chance to jump the Indians for the Central lead at home. They went 2-2 and gained no ground, now they find themselves in position to do it again with a 3 game series in Cleveland starting tomorrow.
Los Angeles Angels: 12-10, 2.5 GB 2nd AL West. Jered Weaver (5-0) and Dan Haren (4-1) were the first pitchers to go 4-0 in the team's first 15 games since the 45 Tigers did it. Tonight Weaver is trying to 6-0 in his team's first 23 games, last accomplished by Randy Johnson who won six games in a similar stretch in 2002 for Arizona.
Los Angeles Dodgers: 12-11, 3 GB 2nd NL West. The Dodgers are going to be taken over and ran by the MLB. That's what happens when your owner uses the money he made for himself and doesn't put any back into the team and when he goes through a messy divorce with his wife. Good news is Andre Ethier is on a 21-game hitting streak.
Milwaukee Brewers: 11-10: 0.5 GB 2nd NL Central. Zack Greinke went 2 2/3 innings in his first rehab start and thinks he's ready to come back but the Brewers want him to make at least one more start, so he's looking at May 2-5 as his 2011 season debut. Meanwhile the Brewers have committed 7 errors all season resulting in an MLB best .991 fielding percentage. Ryan Braun was given a 5-year, $105 million contract extension.
Minnesota Twins: 9-12, 4 GB 4th AL Central. It only took the Minnesota Twins three weeks to do but they have finally won their first series of the season. In all fariness to the Twins they had split a 2-game series with KC and 4-game series with Baltimore. Still no time table for a Joe Mauer return off the DL.
New York Mets: 9-13, 6.5 GB 5th NL East. Things are starting to look up for the Mets after going 4-2 on their recent homestand. They got slugger Jason Bay back after a late July concussion knocked him out for the rest of last year and the start of this one. Bay hit his first home run on Saturday but they also lost center fielder Angel Pagan to the 15-day DL.
New York Yankees: 12-6, 1st AL East. No doubt the Yankees have to be happy with the results they've gotten from Russell Martin. He's hitting .328 with 6 HR and 16 RBI. Last year he hit .248 with 5 HR and 26 RBI. However some cause for concern is Mariano Rivera has blown two saves this week.
Oakland Athletics: 11-11, 3.5 GB AL West. The A's can't hang their hat on much except their pitching. Oakland leads the majors in pickoffs with 8, 4 coming from Brett Anderson alone. Andrew Bailey is on the rehab and could be back by early May.
Philadelphia Phillies: 15-6, 1st NL East. The Phillies could be in trouble for a while here as closer Jose Contreras landed on the 15-day DL with a right elbow strain. Ryan Madison will presumably take over the role until Contreras is ready. Still no time frame for a possible on Chase Utley.
Pittsburgh Pirates: 9-12, 2.5 GB 5th NL Central. This week the Pirates claimed Brandon Wood from the Angels and he could be the possible replacement to Ronnie Cedeno at short. Wood will be used at short, third and possibly second. In other news the Pirates have struckout a major's best 177 times or roughly 8.4 times per game. Could be a painful summer in Pittsburgh.
San Diego Padres: 8-14, 6.5 GB 5th NL West. Not much has been going right for the Padres. Their starting pitchers have combined for a 2.85 ERA in their last 17 games but in those 17 games they're only 5-12 which means the bats have struggled mightily. They scored a combined 3 runs while being swept by the Phillies this weekend in a 4 game series.
San Francisco Giants, 10-11, 4 GB 3rd NL West. A four game losing streak has the defending champs under .500 for the first time this season. Walks were the killer to the Giants this weekend as the Braves swept them in San Fran for the first time since 1998. The Giants can rebound this week with a road trip to Pittsburgh and Washington.
Seattle Mariners: 8-15, 7 GB 4th AL West. The Mariners are still struggling to score runs for Felix Hernandez as he won this week in a 1-0 game. For Felix he might have to keep teams to 2 runs or fewer if he hopes to repeat as Cy Young. The Mariners continue to have the worst record in baseball.
St. Louis Cardinals: 12-10, 1st NL Central. Albert Pujols seems to have broken out of whatever plagued him to start the season, he's hitting .250 with 7 HR and 17 RBI. He left Sunday's game with a mild hamstring strain but isn't expected to miss any time. Meanwhile, Ryan Franklin isn't winning any fans over after getting boo'ed he complained about it and he also blew a game as the set-up man. Mitchell Boggs is the new closer for the time being.
Tampa Bay Rays: 11-11, 3 GB 2nd AL East. James Shields looked impressive on Sunday throwing a complete game shutout and second consecutive complete game. After a career worst 2010 Shields is off to a 2-1 start with a 2.35 ERA. Good news for Tampa.
Texas Rangers: 14-7, 1st AL West. As if losing Josh Hamilton wasn't enough the Rangers have now lost closer Neftali Feliz to the DL with right rotator cuff inflammation. The Rangers sincerely doubt that he'll be ready to come off on the May 6th date and are being extremely cautious considering his age and value to the club. No closer has been named but Darren Oliver and Arthur Rhodes have closed games since.
Toronto Blue Jays: 9-12, 4.5 GB 4th AL East. Since starting the season 5-2 the Jays have proceeded to go 4-10. Jose Bautista is proving last year was no fluke though, he's hitting .359 with 7 HR and 10 RBI, his 7 dingers tie him for the lead with Curtis Granderson and Adrian Beltre.
Washington Nationals: 10-10, 4.5 GB 3rd NL East. With Ryan Zimmerman going on the DL, the Nats have gone 7-5 since he left. It's not bad considering the team still isn't hitting that well which also means their pitching has still been solid. Jayson Werth is still struggling hitting .200 with 3 HR and 5 RBI.
One last thought: After re-upping Braun one has to wonder if the Brewers make any move at Prince Fielder or let him walk when the season is over.
Arizona Diamondbacks: 8-12, 5.5 GB 4th NL West. Arizona's woes stems from their weak starting pitching that they're getting. D'Back pitchers have made only two quality starts in the last 13 games and Mr. Perfection, Armando Galarraga has allowed eight home runs in 21 innings pitched. Ouch.
Atlanta Braves: 11-12, 5 GB 4th NL East. The Braves spent the week making a road trip in California, starting with the Dodgers (1-2) and the Giants (3-0). The sweep of the Giants is some revenge from last year's playoffs and the Braves first sweep of the Giants since 1998.
Baltimore Orioles: 8-12, 5 GB 5th AL East. Another series with the Yankess, another rain out which led to the Yankees getting another two game sweep. Saturday's 15-3 loss gave us reason to believe that some bad blood might be brewing as Russell Martin was beaned in the 9th after hitting two home runs that night. With 14 more games to go this might not be over yet.
Boston Red Sox: 10-11, 3.5 GB 3rd AL East. The Sox went 6-1 this week and swept the Angels in LA. It would appear the Sox have this thing figured out. One of the funnier hijinks came from the Angels series when fans threw money at Carl Crawford as he stood on-deck. Crawford would get the last laugh hitting a two-run home run Sunday in a 7-0 win.
Chicago Cubs: 10-11, 1.5 GB 4th NL Central. The Chicago Cubs love being .500 in fact they love it so much their record has been; 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9 and 10-10. Only the 1915 Red Sox and 1970 Yankees have accomplished this feat, and only reached 9-9.
Chicago White Sox: 8-14, 5.5 GB 5th AL Central. To say that Ozzie Guillen isn't happy is a bit of an understatement. The team started 6-3 and now find themselves 8-14 meaning they've gone 2-11 in their last 13 games. Offense is the problem here as the Sox have been held to three runs or less in 10 of their last 13 games. Alexi Ramirez, Gordon Beckham, Adam Dunn and Alex Rios are all batting under .240 this season.
Cincinnati Reds: 11-11, 1 GB 3rd NL Central. The Reds lost Scott Rolen to the 15-day DL with a shoulder injury as cortisone shots couldn't help the third baseman. Infielder Chris Valaika was called up Sunday to take Rolen's place. Meanwhile, Mike Leake had a good start after coming back from his arrest receiving some boos with cheers and some razzing. Two fans in Bengals helmets had signs that read, "Mike Leake we gave you the bunt sign not the steal sign" and "Steal us a win Leake". Oh those Cincinnati fans.
Cleveland Indians: 13-8, 1st AL Central. The Indians had a to go this week with some AL Central foes. They went 2-2 at Kansas City and 0-2 at Minnesota. If the Indians hope to contend they'll need to be better than the 3-6 mark they're at right now vs the Central. Good news is they can improve that mark with two home series this week against KC and Detroit.
Colorado Rockies: 14-7, 1st NL West. Ubaldo Jimenez returned this week from the DL and went 0-1 in his two starts. In his start Sunday, both he and Josh Johnson flirted with no-hitters as for the second time in three games the Rockies almost were no-hit. But Dexter Fowler was in no mood for that, Friday night he ruined Anibal Sanchez's no-hitter with a 9th inning lead-off broken bat single and Sunday in the 6th he stroked a lead-off double to the gap.
Detroit Tigers: 12-10, 1.5 GB t-2nd AL Central. The Tigers for the first time this season are over .500 and did so with Victor Martinez on the DL with a groin injury. One reason for the wins is a move of Ryan Raburn to second base for offensive purposes. With Raburn at second, more at-bats opened up for outfielders Brennan Boesch and Casper Wells who are making the most of them. Justin Verlander recorded his 1,000th career strikeout and the Tigers have beaten the White Sox 9 straight times dating back to last year. Also Max Scherzer is off to a 4-0 start.
Florida Marlins: 13-7, 1.5 GB 2nd NL East. While the Marlins might be happy with the pitching their getting from Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez they can't be excited about Hanley Ramirez and his .182 batting average. Not only is he struggling but his power seems to be gone too as Ramirez has only four doubles with zero homers. The Marlins need Ramirez to return to form if they want to contend.
Houston Astros: 8-14, 4 GB 6th NL Central. The Astros scored 16 runs in their first two game in the weekend series at Milwaukee. Apparently they tired themselves out as they scored one run on five hits in Sunday's rubber match.
Kansas City Royals: 12-10, 1.5 GB t-2nd AL Central. Last week the Royals had a chance to jump the Indians for the Central lead at home. They went 2-2 and gained no ground, now they find themselves in position to do it again with a 3 game series in Cleveland starting tomorrow.
Los Angeles Angels: 12-10, 2.5 GB 2nd AL West. Jered Weaver (5-0) and Dan Haren (4-1) were the first pitchers to go 4-0 in the team's first 15 games since the 45 Tigers did it. Tonight Weaver is trying to 6-0 in his team's first 23 games, last accomplished by Randy Johnson who won six games in a similar stretch in 2002 for Arizona.
Los Angeles Dodgers: 12-11, 3 GB 2nd NL West. The Dodgers are going to be taken over and ran by the MLB. That's what happens when your owner uses the money he made for himself and doesn't put any back into the team and when he goes through a messy divorce with his wife. Good news is Andre Ethier is on a 21-game hitting streak.
Milwaukee Brewers: 11-10: 0.5 GB 2nd NL Central. Zack Greinke went 2 2/3 innings in his first rehab start and thinks he's ready to come back but the Brewers want him to make at least one more start, so he's looking at May 2-5 as his 2011 season debut. Meanwhile the Brewers have committed 7 errors all season resulting in an MLB best .991 fielding percentage. Ryan Braun was given a 5-year, $105 million contract extension.
Minnesota Twins: 9-12, 4 GB 4th AL Central. It only took the Minnesota Twins three weeks to do but they have finally won their first series of the season. In all fariness to the Twins they had split a 2-game series with KC and 4-game series with Baltimore. Still no time table for a Joe Mauer return off the DL.
New York Mets: 9-13, 6.5 GB 5th NL East. Things are starting to look up for the Mets after going 4-2 on their recent homestand. They got slugger Jason Bay back after a late July concussion knocked him out for the rest of last year and the start of this one. Bay hit his first home run on Saturday but they also lost center fielder Angel Pagan to the 15-day DL.
New York Yankees: 12-6, 1st AL East. No doubt the Yankees have to be happy with the results they've gotten from Russell Martin. He's hitting .328 with 6 HR and 16 RBI. Last year he hit .248 with 5 HR and 26 RBI. However some cause for concern is Mariano Rivera has blown two saves this week.
Oakland Athletics: 11-11, 3.5 GB AL West. The A's can't hang their hat on much except their pitching. Oakland leads the majors in pickoffs with 8, 4 coming from Brett Anderson alone. Andrew Bailey is on the rehab and could be back by early May.
Philadelphia Phillies: 15-6, 1st NL East. The Phillies could be in trouble for a while here as closer Jose Contreras landed on the 15-day DL with a right elbow strain. Ryan Madison will presumably take over the role until Contreras is ready. Still no time frame for a possible on Chase Utley.
Pittsburgh Pirates: 9-12, 2.5 GB 5th NL Central. This week the Pirates claimed Brandon Wood from the Angels and he could be the possible replacement to Ronnie Cedeno at short. Wood will be used at short, third and possibly second. In other news the Pirates have struckout a major's best 177 times or roughly 8.4 times per game. Could be a painful summer in Pittsburgh.
San Diego Padres: 8-14, 6.5 GB 5th NL West. Not much has been going right for the Padres. Their starting pitchers have combined for a 2.85 ERA in their last 17 games but in those 17 games they're only 5-12 which means the bats have struggled mightily. They scored a combined 3 runs while being swept by the Phillies this weekend in a 4 game series.
San Francisco Giants, 10-11, 4 GB 3rd NL West. A four game losing streak has the defending champs under .500 for the first time this season. Walks were the killer to the Giants this weekend as the Braves swept them in San Fran for the first time since 1998. The Giants can rebound this week with a road trip to Pittsburgh and Washington.
Seattle Mariners: 8-15, 7 GB 4th AL West. The Mariners are still struggling to score runs for Felix Hernandez as he won this week in a 1-0 game. For Felix he might have to keep teams to 2 runs or fewer if he hopes to repeat as Cy Young. The Mariners continue to have the worst record in baseball.
St. Louis Cardinals: 12-10, 1st NL Central. Albert Pujols seems to have broken out of whatever plagued him to start the season, he's hitting .250 with 7 HR and 17 RBI. He left Sunday's game with a mild hamstring strain but isn't expected to miss any time. Meanwhile, Ryan Franklin isn't winning any fans over after getting boo'ed he complained about it and he also blew a game as the set-up man. Mitchell Boggs is the new closer for the time being.
Tampa Bay Rays: 11-11, 3 GB 2nd AL East. James Shields looked impressive on Sunday throwing a complete game shutout and second consecutive complete game. After a career worst 2010 Shields is off to a 2-1 start with a 2.35 ERA. Good news for Tampa.
Texas Rangers: 14-7, 1st AL West. As if losing Josh Hamilton wasn't enough the Rangers have now lost closer Neftali Feliz to the DL with right rotator cuff inflammation. The Rangers sincerely doubt that he'll be ready to come off on the May 6th date and are being extremely cautious considering his age and value to the club. No closer has been named but Darren Oliver and Arthur Rhodes have closed games since.
Toronto Blue Jays: 9-12, 4.5 GB 4th AL East. Since starting the season 5-2 the Jays have proceeded to go 4-10. Jose Bautista is proving last year was no fluke though, he's hitting .359 with 7 HR and 10 RBI, his 7 dingers tie him for the lead with Curtis Granderson and Adrian Beltre.
Washington Nationals: 10-10, 4.5 GB 3rd NL East. With Ryan Zimmerman going on the DL, the Nats have gone 7-5 since he left. It's not bad considering the team still isn't hitting that well which also means their pitching has still been solid. Jayson Werth is still struggling hitting .200 with 3 HR and 5 RBI.
One last thought: After re-upping Braun one has to wonder if the Brewers make any move at Prince Fielder or let him walk when the season is over.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The Check Swing: Indians and Royals hot early, giving fans hope.
The Check Swing is coming to you a day due to some unforeseen circumstances but is here nonetheless. The Indians, Royals and Rockies are some of the hottest teams in baseball, 2 of the 3 come as a surprise to me (hint: it's not the Rockies). So now the question becomes can all if any of them keep it up? I think the Rockies can but come July I expect the Indians and Royals to fall back down to Earth. Let's take a look at the past week's events.
Arizona Diamondbacks: 6-8, 5 GB 5th NL West. The Diamondbacks host the All-Star Game this year and it seems like every game has been a good prelude to the Home Run Derby. A total of 25 HRs have been hit there this year (15 HR allowed and 10 hit) in 9 games played. Home Run Derby should be fun this year.
Atlanta Braves: 7-10, 4 GB 4th NL East. The Braves activated starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens off the 15-day DL and sent back down Mike Minor. Jurrjens went 7 innings while giving up 2 hits in his first start, good news for the Braves if he can stay healthy.
Baltimore Orioles: 6-9, 3.5 GB 4th AL East. The fighting Showalter's are in the midst of an 8 game losing streak and are averaging just under 2.5 runs a game during this streak. The offense has been struggling, Brian Roberts is the best hitter with a .266 and no other batter qualifies with an average over .250.
Boston Red Sox: 5-10, 4.5 GB 5th AL East. The Red Sox took 3 of 4 from the Blue Jays up'ing their win total to 5. While things appear to be on the up and up, tonight's starter John Lackey is yet to make it past the 5th inning. Meanwhile, Jacoby Ellsbury leads the team in HRs with 4.
Chicago Cubs: 8-8, 1 GB t-2nd NL Central. The Cubbies find themselves in a four-way tie for second in the Central this early in the season. Starlin Castro has been on fire so far this season, kid is hitting an outstanding .408, could he be the first since Ted Williams to hit over .400?
Chicago White Sox: 7-9, 5 GB 4th AL Central. It didn't take long for Ozzie Guillen to give us what we all wanted, the famous Ozzie blow-up. His team has blown 6 saves including closer Matt Thornton blowing 4 leading Ozzie to this. He has no bullpen!
Cincinnati Reds: 9-7, 1st NL Central. Bad news for the Reds is second year pitcher Mike Leake was arrested for stealing six shirts valued at $59.88. In case you were wondering, Leake makes $425,000 a year and received a $2.3 million signing bonus. In good news, Aroldis Chapman returned after 4 days off to hit 106 MPH last night.
Cleveland Indians: 12-4, 1st AL Central. Everything seems to be going well for the Indians, they're tied with the Rockies for the best record in baseball. Hopes are so high right now that the fan base has been calling talk shows proclaiming the Indians to be buyers at the deadline. Let's pump the brakes Tribe fans, July 31st is a long way away.
Colorado Rockies: 12-4, 1st NL West. The Rockies find themselves tied for the best record in all of baseball with the Cleveland Indians largely in part due to Troy Tulowitzki. Tulo is hitting .345 with 7 HR and 14 RBI this season. No doubt the Rockies will go as he goes.
Detroit Tigers: 8-9, 4.5 GB 3rd AL Central. Justin Verlander was involved in the goofiest balk play I've seen in all my years this past weekend in Oakland. But the bad news for the Tigers is Victor Martinez, who has struggled this year hitting .250 with 2 HR and 9 RBI tweaked his groin last night and could miss serious time.
Florida Marlins: 8-6, 1.5 GB 2nd NL East. Marlins fans have to feel well after going 5-3 on a road trip that saw them play Houston, Atlanta and Philadelphia. Concerns though have to be with the struggling middle part of the order, Omar Infante at .222, Hanley Ramirez hitting .244 and Mike Stanton struggling at .194.
Houston Astros: 5-11, 4 GB 6th NL Central. Hunter Pence fouled a pitch off his face this past week but sadly no video clip has been found. The foul ball hit the ground then bounced right back up into Pence's right cheek.
Kansas City Royals: 10-6, 2 GB 2nd AL Central. Designated hitter Billy Butler has expressed his desires to play first base, his manager Ned Yost responded to this by saying he'd like to be an astronaut. With starting first baseman Kila Ka'aihue slumping bad it's only a matter of time before Butler wins out or the Royals bring up prospect Eric Hosmer.
Los Angeles Angels: 10-6, 1 GB 2nd AL West. Jered Weaver became the first pitcher in the majors to win 4 games this season. Meanwhile, the Halos are trying to resurrect Scott Kazmir's career. They placed him on the DL with back stiffness to allow him to clear his head and work his mechanical issues out in Triple-A.
Los Angeles Dodgers: 8-9, 4.5 GB 3rd NL West. The Dodgers promoted top hitting prospect Jerry Sands to try and help the struggling offense. Andre Ethier has extended his hitting streak to 15 games and Rafael Furcal broke his thumb and will be out 4-6 weeks. P.S. Matt Kemp is off the map right now hitting .459.
Milwaukee Brewers: 8-8, 1 GB t-2nd NL Central. Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks continue to lead the Brewers in batting average, home runs and runs batted in. In other news, Corey Hart is to begin his rehab stint in Triple-A Nashville.
Minnesota Twins: 6-10, 6 GB 5th AL Central. Bad news for the Minnesota Joes. Joe Mauer goes on the 15-day DL with weakness in his legs then Joe Nathan blows 2 saves and loses his job to Matt Capps.
New York Mets: 5-11, 5.5 GB 5th NL East. The Mets dropped both games of double headers this week, losing twice at home Thursday to Colorado and twice on the road Saturday to Atlanta. In those 4 games, the Mets scored 11 runs total.
New York Yankees: 9-5, 1st AL East. The Yankees lost Phil Hughes to the 15-day DL with a dead arm. In 3 starts Hughes was 0-1 with 10.1 IP and an ERA of 13.94. With Hughes gone, the Yanks hope that A.J. Burnett keeps his hot starts going. They also hope to get A-Rod back in their lineup soom but Eric Chavez has filled in nicely for him.
Oakland Athletics: 8-8, 3 GB 3rd AL West. The A's placed Dallas Braden on the 15-day DL with left shoulder stiffness and is seeking a second opinion on the prognosis, not good. In other news, Coco Crisp loves the A's throwback jerseys so much he's going throwback himself.
Philadelphia Phillies: 10-5, 1st NL East. The Phillies can't seem to avoid the injury bug in 2011. Roy Oswalt left his last start due to back spasms but shouldn't miss his next start. Now J.C. Romero left last night's game with a right calf injury and might land on the 15-day DL.
Pittsburgh Pirates: 8-8, 1 GB t-2nd NL Central. Pedro Alvarez has started the season slow, hitting .193 while leading the majors with 20 strikeouts in 57 at-bats. So the Pirates gave him Monday off in hopes of clearing his head, Alvarez is a key piece to the Pirates success or lack of it depending on how he hits.
San Diego Padres: 7-9, 5 GB 4th NL West. The Padres are off to a slow start this season, unlike last year when they started hot and fell off late. One reason for the Padres slow start is the fact that they've only won back to back games once this season, which was their first two games of the year.
San Francisco Giants: 9-7, 3 GB 2nd NL West. If you don't have the TV channel Showtime, you might want to get it. Especially if you loved HBO's Hard Knocks because Showtime is giving you the MLB equivalent in The Franchise following the Giants. Brian Wilson is quite the character, if you don't like him you will after watching this show.
Seattle Mariners: 5-12, 6.5 GB 4th AL West. I can't believe I missed this last week but the Mariners are rocking the teal throwbacks from the mid-90s when Junior and Co. reigned over the AL West. Sadly they haven't reversed the club's fortune as they own the worst record in baseball.
St. Louis Cardinals: 8-8, 1 GB t-2nd NL Central. Just as the ship seems to righting for Albert Pujols and the Cards a new leak shows up. This time it's in the form of 38-year old closer Ryan Franklin who has blown 4 saves in 5 chances. No word on if Franklin has lost the job yet.
Tampa Bay Rays: 7-9, 3 GB t-2nd AL East. The Rays are 7-3 over their last 10 thanks in large part to Johnny Damon who had some clutch hits off Joe Nathan this past week. One of those hits also gave us this near shaving cream pie gone wrong courtesy of BJ Upton.
Texas Rangers: 11-5, 1st AL West. Josh Hamilton broke his arm this past week trying to tag up on a foul ball in front of the Tigers dugout. The injury is expected to keep the reigning MVP out 6-8 weeks.
Toronto Blue Jays: 7-9, 3 GB t-2nd AL East. The Jays struggled in Boston this past weekend losing the last 3 games of the 4 game series. In the final 3 games, the Jays scored a total of 3 runs... yikes!
Washington Nationals: 8-7, 2 GB 3rd NL East. Of hitters who qualify for the stat, Danny Espinosa leads the team in batting average with a .256 average. He also leads the team with 14 RBI. But with such poor hitting it's a wonder the Nats have 8 wins. Well they have them thanks largely due to strong performances from the pitching. A team ERA of 3.44 ranks 10th in the Majors.
Arizona Diamondbacks: 6-8, 5 GB 5th NL West. The Diamondbacks host the All-Star Game this year and it seems like every game has been a good prelude to the Home Run Derby. A total of 25 HRs have been hit there this year (15 HR allowed and 10 hit) in 9 games played. Home Run Derby should be fun this year.
Atlanta Braves: 7-10, 4 GB 4th NL East. The Braves activated starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens off the 15-day DL and sent back down Mike Minor. Jurrjens went 7 innings while giving up 2 hits in his first start, good news for the Braves if he can stay healthy.
Baltimore Orioles: 6-9, 3.5 GB 4th AL East. The fighting Showalter's are in the midst of an 8 game losing streak and are averaging just under 2.5 runs a game during this streak. The offense has been struggling, Brian Roberts is the best hitter with a .266 and no other batter qualifies with an average over .250.
Boston Red Sox: 5-10, 4.5 GB 5th AL East. The Red Sox took 3 of 4 from the Blue Jays up'ing their win total to 5. While things appear to be on the up and up, tonight's starter John Lackey is yet to make it past the 5th inning. Meanwhile, Jacoby Ellsbury leads the team in HRs with 4.
Chicago Cubs: 8-8, 1 GB t-2nd NL Central. The Cubbies find themselves in a four-way tie for second in the Central this early in the season. Starlin Castro has been on fire so far this season, kid is hitting an outstanding .408, could he be the first since Ted Williams to hit over .400?
Chicago White Sox: 7-9, 5 GB 4th AL Central. It didn't take long for Ozzie Guillen to give us what we all wanted, the famous Ozzie blow-up. His team has blown 6 saves including closer Matt Thornton blowing 4 leading Ozzie to this. He has no bullpen!
Cincinnati Reds: 9-7, 1st NL Central. Bad news for the Reds is second year pitcher Mike Leake was arrested for stealing six shirts valued at $59.88. In case you were wondering, Leake makes $425,000 a year and received a $2.3 million signing bonus. In good news, Aroldis Chapman returned after 4 days off to hit 106 MPH last night.
Cleveland Indians: 12-4, 1st AL Central. Everything seems to be going well for the Indians, they're tied with the Rockies for the best record in baseball. Hopes are so high right now that the fan base has been calling talk shows proclaiming the Indians to be buyers at the deadline. Let's pump the brakes Tribe fans, July 31st is a long way away.
Colorado Rockies: 12-4, 1st NL West. The Rockies find themselves tied for the best record in all of baseball with the Cleveland Indians largely in part due to Troy Tulowitzki. Tulo is hitting .345 with 7 HR and 14 RBI this season. No doubt the Rockies will go as he goes.
Detroit Tigers: 8-9, 4.5 GB 3rd AL Central. Justin Verlander was involved in the goofiest balk play I've seen in all my years this past weekend in Oakland. But the bad news for the Tigers is Victor Martinez, who has struggled this year hitting .250 with 2 HR and 9 RBI tweaked his groin last night and could miss serious time.
Florida Marlins: 8-6, 1.5 GB 2nd NL East. Marlins fans have to feel well after going 5-3 on a road trip that saw them play Houston, Atlanta and Philadelphia. Concerns though have to be with the struggling middle part of the order, Omar Infante at .222, Hanley Ramirez hitting .244 and Mike Stanton struggling at .194.
Houston Astros: 5-11, 4 GB 6th NL Central. Hunter Pence fouled a pitch off his face this past week but sadly no video clip has been found. The foul ball hit the ground then bounced right back up into Pence's right cheek.
Kansas City Royals: 10-6, 2 GB 2nd AL Central. Designated hitter Billy Butler has expressed his desires to play first base, his manager Ned Yost responded to this by saying he'd like to be an astronaut. With starting first baseman Kila Ka'aihue slumping bad it's only a matter of time before Butler wins out or the Royals bring up prospect Eric Hosmer.
Los Angeles Angels: 10-6, 1 GB 2nd AL West. Jered Weaver became the first pitcher in the majors to win 4 games this season. Meanwhile, the Halos are trying to resurrect Scott Kazmir's career. They placed him on the DL with back stiffness to allow him to clear his head and work his mechanical issues out in Triple-A.
Los Angeles Dodgers: 8-9, 4.5 GB 3rd NL West. The Dodgers promoted top hitting prospect Jerry Sands to try and help the struggling offense. Andre Ethier has extended his hitting streak to 15 games and Rafael Furcal broke his thumb and will be out 4-6 weeks. P.S. Matt Kemp is off the map right now hitting .459.
Milwaukee Brewers: 8-8, 1 GB t-2nd NL Central. Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks continue to lead the Brewers in batting average, home runs and runs batted in. In other news, Corey Hart is to begin his rehab stint in Triple-A Nashville.
Minnesota Twins: 6-10, 6 GB 5th AL Central. Bad news for the Minnesota Joes. Joe Mauer goes on the 15-day DL with weakness in his legs then Joe Nathan blows 2 saves and loses his job to Matt Capps.
New York Mets: 5-11, 5.5 GB 5th NL East. The Mets dropped both games of double headers this week, losing twice at home Thursday to Colorado and twice on the road Saturday to Atlanta. In those 4 games, the Mets scored 11 runs total.
New York Yankees: 9-5, 1st AL East. The Yankees lost Phil Hughes to the 15-day DL with a dead arm. In 3 starts Hughes was 0-1 with 10.1 IP and an ERA of 13.94. With Hughes gone, the Yanks hope that A.J. Burnett keeps his hot starts going. They also hope to get A-Rod back in their lineup soom but Eric Chavez has filled in nicely for him.
Oakland Athletics: 8-8, 3 GB 3rd AL West. The A's placed Dallas Braden on the 15-day DL with left shoulder stiffness and is seeking a second opinion on the prognosis, not good. In other news, Coco Crisp loves the A's throwback jerseys so much he's going throwback himself.
Philadelphia Phillies: 10-5, 1st NL East. The Phillies can't seem to avoid the injury bug in 2011. Roy Oswalt left his last start due to back spasms but shouldn't miss his next start. Now J.C. Romero left last night's game with a right calf injury and might land on the 15-day DL.
Pittsburgh Pirates: 8-8, 1 GB t-2nd NL Central. Pedro Alvarez has started the season slow, hitting .193 while leading the majors with 20 strikeouts in 57 at-bats. So the Pirates gave him Monday off in hopes of clearing his head, Alvarez is a key piece to the Pirates success or lack of it depending on how he hits.
San Diego Padres: 7-9, 5 GB 4th NL West. The Padres are off to a slow start this season, unlike last year when they started hot and fell off late. One reason for the Padres slow start is the fact that they've only won back to back games once this season, which was their first two games of the year.
San Francisco Giants: 9-7, 3 GB 2nd NL West. If you don't have the TV channel Showtime, you might want to get it. Especially if you loved HBO's Hard Knocks because Showtime is giving you the MLB equivalent in The Franchise following the Giants. Brian Wilson is quite the character, if you don't like him you will after watching this show.
Seattle Mariners: 5-12, 6.5 GB 4th AL West. I can't believe I missed this last week but the Mariners are rocking the teal throwbacks from the mid-90s when Junior and Co. reigned over the AL West. Sadly they haven't reversed the club's fortune as they own the worst record in baseball.
St. Louis Cardinals: 8-8, 1 GB t-2nd NL Central. Just as the ship seems to righting for Albert Pujols and the Cards a new leak shows up. This time it's in the form of 38-year old closer Ryan Franklin who has blown 4 saves in 5 chances. No word on if Franklin has lost the job yet.
Tampa Bay Rays: 7-9, 3 GB t-2nd AL East. The Rays are 7-3 over their last 10 thanks in large part to Johnny Damon who had some clutch hits off Joe Nathan this past week. One of those hits also gave us this near shaving cream pie gone wrong courtesy of BJ Upton.
Texas Rangers: 11-5, 1st AL West. Josh Hamilton broke his arm this past week trying to tag up on a foul ball in front of the Tigers dugout. The injury is expected to keep the reigning MVP out 6-8 weeks.
Toronto Blue Jays: 7-9, 3 GB t-2nd AL East. The Jays struggled in Boston this past weekend losing the last 3 games of the 4 game series. In the final 3 games, the Jays scored a total of 3 runs... yikes!
Washington Nationals: 8-7, 2 GB 3rd NL East. Of hitters who qualify for the stat, Danny Espinosa leads the team in batting average with a .256 average. He also leads the team with 14 RBI. But with such poor hitting it's a wonder the Nats have 8 wins. Well they have them thanks largely due to strong performances from the pitching. A team ERA of 3.44 ranks 10th in the Majors.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Western Conference Quarterfinals
I already told you in the first installment that I think the San Jose Sharks will come out holding the Stanley Cup at the end of the playoffs. But I think to West has some potential for upsets, more so than the East does. Who knows for sure though, that's why they play the games on the ice and not on paper.
Western Conference
1. Vancouver Canucks v 8. Chicago Blackhawks: The Canucks finished as the best team in hockey winning the Presidents' Trophy. They also had to be happy see the Red Wings beat the Blackhawks on the final day of the season only to have the Stars take that joy away by failing to beat the Wild. No doubt the Canucks are better than the Blackhawks but they put some fear into you. The Sedins and the Canucks have seemingly come closer and closer to a Stanley Cup Final and if Roberto Luongo plays like he's capable of it. Ryan Kesler has elevated his game this season and the Canucks go into the playoffs relatively healthy which is always good news.
The Blackhawks are the defending Stanley Cup winners and almost missed the playoffs so they have to be feeling pretty lucky. They come into the playoffs missing two key players in Dave Bolland (concussion, no return date) and Troy Brouwer (right shoulder, day-to-day). They have experience with the exception of their starting goalie, Corey Crawford. Crawford played a lot more than anticipated this year, seeing action in 57 games and could be burnt out come playoffs not to mention he's never faced this kind of pressure. Ultimately the effort the Hawks put in to make the playoffs might cost them as they could be gassed.
Canucks over Blackhawks in 6.
2. San Jose Sharks v 7. Los Angeles Kings: The Sharks come into the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in this thing. The Sharks have a focus that shows they're finally ready to get over the hump and have gone 27-6-4 in their last 37 games. The Sharks seems to be able to get scoring out anybody they throw out there, whether it be Thornton, Pavelski, Couture or even Kyle Wellwood. Their goalie Antti Niemi knows all about the playoffs as won the Stanley Cup last year in his first NHL playoffs ever.
The Los Angeles Kings limped into the playoffs, literally. Two of their top forward got hurt at the end of March, Justin Williams (dislocated shoulder) and Anze Kopitar (torn ankle ligaments). Williams actually could be back for the start of this series if cleared by doctors but Kopitar is lost for the season. A lot of pressure now falls on the Kings defense and goalie Jonathan Quick to keep these games low scoring if they're going to upset the Sharks. Good luck.
Sharks over Kings in 5.
3. Detroit Red Wings v 6. Phoenix Coyotes: The Red Wings have made the playoffs 20 seasons in a row now and have a rematch of last year's Quarterfinal matchup that went 7 games could easily do the same this year. The Red Wings found out that Henrik Zetterberg is out for Game 1 and probably Game 2 of this series but the worse news is he could be out for the series. The Wings need to pick up their play defensively as a team as they've been below average for their standards. They'll also need guys like Johan Franzen, Todd Bertuzzi and Dan Cleary to pick up the slack while Zetterberg is out. Jimmy Howard at one point in this series is going to have to steal a game or two to show he's ready for a long playoff run.
The Coyotes are without doubt channeling the feelings of last year's playoff exit from the hands of the Red Wings and looking for redemption. The Coyotes are healthy with no injuries or guys banged up which is good news for them. When things went right for the Coyotes in last year's matchup, they were money on the power play. They'll need to be that way again and they'll need Ilya Bryzgalov to get hot and steal this series, something the Red Wings run into every 3 years or so in the Quarterfinals.
Red Wings over Coyotes in 7.
4. Anaheim Ducks v 5. Nashville Predators: The Ducks have been playing some of the hottest hockey outside of the San Jose Sharks as they went from 11th in the West all the way up to 4th. Forward Corey Perry led the NHL in goals scoring 50 and he'll have to continue to do so if the Ducks hope to make a run. Not sure who will get the start in net for the Ducks but they have serious depth with the likes of Jonas Hiller, Dan Ellis and Ray Emery on their roster. The Ducks are lucky to have Lubomir Visnovsky as he wasn't seriously injured on a scary play last week.
The Predators are a scary matchup for anyone because of how well they play defensively and the great goaltending they get from Pekka Rinne. The bad news for Nashville is three of their forwards sat out games down the stretch due to injuries but only two of them, Martin Erat and Steve Sullivan are expected to be back for the start of this series. The defense will need to be tight and provide some scoring if they plan on advancing.
Preds over Ducks in 6.
Western Conference
1. Vancouver Canucks v 8. Chicago Blackhawks: The Canucks finished as the best team in hockey winning the Presidents' Trophy. They also had to be happy see the Red Wings beat the Blackhawks on the final day of the season only to have the Stars take that joy away by failing to beat the Wild. No doubt the Canucks are better than the Blackhawks but they put some fear into you. The Sedins and the Canucks have seemingly come closer and closer to a Stanley Cup Final and if Roberto Luongo plays like he's capable of it. Ryan Kesler has elevated his game this season and the Canucks go into the playoffs relatively healthy which is always good news.
The Blackhawks are the defending Stanley Cup winners and almost missed the playoffs so they have to be feeling pretty lucky. They come into the playoffs missing two key players in Dave Bolland (concussion, no return date) and Troy Brouwer (right shoulder, day-to-day). They have experience with the exception of their starting goalie, Corey Crawford. Crawford played a lot more than anticipated this year, seeing action in 57 games and could be burnt out come playoffs not to mention he's never faced this kind of pressure. Ultimately the effort the Hawks put in to make the playoffs might cost them as they could be gassed.
Canucks over Blackhawks in 6.
2. San Jose Sharks v 7. Los Angeles Kings: The Sharks come into the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in this thing. The Sharks have a focus that shows they're finally ready to get over the hump and have gone 27-6-4 in their last 37 games. The Sharks seems to be able to get scoring out anybody they throw out there, whether it be Thornton, Pavelski, Couture or even Kyle Wellwood. Their goalie Antti Niemi knows all about the playoffs as won the Stanley Cup last year in his first NHL playoffs ever.
The Los Angeles Kings limped into the playoffs, literally. Two of their top forward got hurt at the end of March, Justin Williams (dislocated shoulder) and Anze Kopitar (torn ankle ligaments). Williams actually could be back for the start of this series if cleared by doctors but Kopitar is lost for the season. A lot of pressure now falls on the Kings defense and goalie Jonathan Quick to keep these games low scoring if they're going to upset the Sharks. Good luck.
Sharks over Kings in 5.
3. Detroit Red Wings v 6. Phoenix Coyotes: The Red Wings have made the playoffs 20 seasons in a row now and have a rematch of last year's Quarterfinal matchup that went 7 games could easily do the same this year. The Red Wings found out that Henrik Zetterberg is out for Game 1 and probably Game 2 of this series but the worse news is he could be out for the series. The Wings need to pick up their play defensively as a team as they've been below average for their standards. They'll also need guys like Johan Franzen, Todd Bertuzzi and Dan Cleary to pick up the slack while Zetterberg is out. Jimmy Howard at one point in this series is going to have to steal a game or two to show he's ready for a long playoff run.
The Coyotes are without doubt channeling the feelings of last year's playoff exit from the hands of the Red Wings and looking for redemption. The Coyotes are healthy with no injuries or guys banged up which is good news for them. When things went right for the Coyotes in last year's matchup, they were money on the power play. They'll need to be that way again and they'll need Ilya Bryzgalov to get hot and steal this series, something the Red Wings run into every 3 years or so in the Quarterfinals.
Red Wings over Coyotes in 7.
4. Anaheim Ducks v 5. Nashville Predators: The Ducks have been playing some of the hottest hockey outside of the San Jose Sharks as they went from 11th in the West all the way up to 4th. Forward Corey Perry led the NHL in goals scoring 50 and he'll have to continue to do so if the Ducks hope to make a run. Not sure who will get the start in net for the Ducks but they have serious depth with the likes of Jonas Hiller, Dan Ellis and Ray Emery on their roster. The Ducks are lucky to have Lubomir Visnovsky as he wasn't seriously injured on a scary play last week.
The Predators are a scary matchup for anyone because of how well they play defensively and the great goaltending they get from Pekka Rinne. The bad news for Nashville is three of their forwards sat out games down the stretch due to injuries but only two of them, Martin Erat and Steve Sullivan are expected to be back for the start of this series. The defense will need to be tight and provide some scoring if they plan on advancing.
Preds over Ducks in 6.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
