The Scoop

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer

Sorry for the lack of posts over the weekend, but we’ll get the week kick started with a super-sized edition of “The Scoop.”

Charlie Manuel should be fired immediately. Not tomorrow, or the next day, but now. Taking away 130 innings from your second best pitcher was ludicrous in the first place, but the inherent injury risk of switching a pitcher’s role mid-season had to be considered at the time as well. Brett Myers had never spent time on the disabled list during his career before his recent shoulder troubles, and the cause here is quite obvious. Manuel asked Myers to throw 21 innings in the 36 games since he became a reliever – a 95-inning, 90 appearance pace for an entire season in the bullpen. Oh, and the game he left injured, Myers was pitching when the Phillies had a four-run lead.

When not knocking himself in, Hanley Ramirez has just five RBI this season. Still, he’s been a top-10 fantasy player nevertheless, and you’d have to think the recent switch to the No. 3 hole will lead to more RBI opportunities.

It’s time to start considering Oliver Perez as an elite pitcher again. While he’s walked multiple batters in each of his past five starts, he has improved in that area, and he’s striking out 8.49 batters per nine innings. Rick Peterson deserves a lot of credit here, as Perez’s stuff still isn’t what it was in 2004. While he’s likely to throw in a couple of combustible outings from time to time, pitching for the powerful Mets’ team should lead to 17-20 wins. His last three starts have come against the Brewers, Yankees and Braves, so he’s getting it done against tough competition as well. Perez is back.

With 2 outs and runners in scoring position, Bengie Molina is hitting .542 (13-for-24) this season. That’s pretty clutch.

Chad Gaudin isn’t going to finish the season with a 2.58 ERA, but the more I see him, the more I like him. He’s simultaneously increased his strikeouts and ability to keep the ball on the ground, great signs for the future. Credit Billy Beane for unearthing yet another gem of a previous cast off.

I’m going to be forced to hurt someone the next time Bruce Bochy pencils Rich Aurilia in front of Barry Bonds in the batting order. With a .280 on-base percentage, probably the best spot to hit in baseball is getting completely wasted. Imagine if he didn’t constantly see fastballs – Aurilia’s average would definitely be on the Interstate. I wonder why Bonds had zero RBI over the last 14 games before Sunday.

How good is Jake Peavy? Right now, his numbers look like this: 7-1, 1.47 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 85 strikeouts over 73.1 innings. And don’t go blaming Petco Park either, as he’s allowed just one run over 27 innings on the road this season.

Fun facts about Elijah Dukes: He has at least five children by four different women. All four women have gone to court to wring child support out of Dukes, and at least two of the women have sought restraining orders against him, one as recently as last week. Elijah Dukes has yet to turn 23 years old. After being asked to comment on leaving cellphone messages of death threats toward the woman who’s had two of his children: “I’m just going to play ball, that’s it,” Dukes said. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got a video game to finish.”

As of Sunday, the Rockies will have played the Giants and Diamondbacks a combined 24 times in the team’s first 50 games.

Jack Cust is the absolute king of baseball’s three true outcomes. Entering Sunday, Cust had eight homers, 22 walks and 28 strikeouts in 83 plate appearances – he’s leaving nothing up to chance a remarkable 70 percent of the time.

Rumors of a Carlos Zambrano shoulder injury continue to persist, and if the readings on the radar gun are any indication, they are valid as well. While he insists he’s healthy, there’s no denying his arm angle is lower than last year, and the results so far certainly won’t quiet suspicion. Regardless, Lou Piniella keeps leaving him out there for 125-pitch outings, which can probably be viewed as both a positive and a negative.

Tuesday is the one-year anniversary of Luis Castillo’s last error. He has gone 134 games without an error, a record for a second baseman.

Marcus Thames’ broken-bat, 400-foot homer off CC Sabathia Saturday was quite impressive.

I can’t believe Chuck Lidell got beat like a redheaded stepchild Saturday night. Coming from someone who went to college in San Luis Obispo, The Iceman is often viewed as a demigod. Can’t wait for the rematch.

The season finale for “Lost” was pretty damn good. Maybe I’m naïve, but the ending did catch me off guard, and the show is finally back to its peak as far as raising interesting questions. Now, only nine short months till it comes back on the air.

One thing’s for sure about this Michael Vick controversy, the NFL is going to have to keep him on a short leash this year. (Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week.)