By Dalton Del Don
Over the last two days, David Ortiz is 5-for-10 with three walks, three homers, five runs scored and eight RBI. He’s going to sit a little more frequently this season because of the balky knee, but any chance of buying low has officially dissipated. Despite the horrifically slow start, he’s still on pace to finish with 35 HRs and 130 RBI.
Sunday’s matchup between Cliff Lee and Edinson Volquez featured the lowest combined ERAs of two starters in MLB history (through at least seven starts). Additionally, Volquez entered Sunday having started the season with eight straight games allowing one earned run or fewer, tying a major league record. All those walks will catch up to him eventually, but he’s one of the toughest pitchers to hit in the game. Imagine if he ever becomes more than a two-pitch pitcher.
I’m not ready to call Howie Kendrick the next Rocco Baldelli, but that’s one slow-healing hamstring he’s got there. He has batting title written all over him, but Kendrick simply can’t stay healthy and is extremely slow to heal when hurt. He’s a frustrating talent.
Dating back to last season, Brandon Phillips has four more homers versus left-handers than he does righties, despite 304 fewer at-bats. He’s also batting nearly 100 points higher (.356 vs. .259) when facing southpaws. The end result is really all that should matter, but for some reason, I always feel less comfortable with players who rely so much on splits, especially when it’s the side with fewer opportunities.
It can’t hurt to at least see what Rich Harden brings back in a trade after another dominant start Saturday. Probably not much, but hey, he’s now just 25 innings away from throwing the most he has since 2005.
Game 7 of the Cavs/Celtics series was the first time I got excited this postseason. Paul Pierce deserves a lot of credit, but Boston is not winning the title. It cannot be understated just how bad LeBron James’ supporting cast is. That team is truly awful. Jeff Van Gundy is by far my favorite color commentator in any sport.
With Jeff Clement’s demotion to Triple-A, it’s time to keep your eye on Jeremy Reed in deeper leagues. The former prospect has been tearing up minor league pitching this year, hitting .364/.432/.597 with six homers and six steals. Of course, an opportunity will need to open up, but Reed’s still young enough to not be completely written off.
Ryan Howard arrested?! “The Office” finished an uneven season on a high note with its season finale. The Kevin storyline killed me.
Tough break for Jake Peavy owners. Petco Park aside, he’s one of the game’s three best pitchers, but risk is always there with him. Hopefully, his latest setback isn’t too serious, but it’s definitely worrisome. Manager Bud Black did an excellent job keeping his pitch count down game-to-game last season, but consecutive years with more than 200 innings pitched was bound to catch up to someone as fragile as Peavy.
The Indians have zero home runs from their cleanup hitter this season. Meanwhile, the Marlins lead Major League Baseball in long balls. And who cares if the Yankees are currently in last place? It’s not like they won’t be in contention come September.
With Jason Isringhausen put out to pasture, Chris Perez needs to be closely monitored. With not a lot of top options in the Cardinals’ pen, the 2006 first round pick might emerge as the team’s best relief option over the second half of the season, so there’s some save potential. He had a 2.16 ERA with 21 Ks over 16.2 innings in Triple-A this season before getting called up.
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