The Scoop

By Dalton Del Don

I really don’t know what to make of Ben Zobrist, but it’s impossible to ignore what he’s done so far in 2009. While uncommon, it’s not entirely unique for a 28-year-old to burst onto the scene like this, and he more than held his own in the big leagues during 198 at-bats last season. Zobrist was never considered a top prospect, but he did post a .887 OPS throughout his career in the minors, always exhibiting terrific plate discipline. His power surge will no doubt decline (only two players finished with a higher HR/F rate last season than Zobrist’s current 23.5% mark), but his 30:31 K:BB ratio shows he’s for real, and he can somewhat negate the inevitable drop in power by continuing to steals bases. Between Zobrist and Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay has two of baseball’s biggest surprises playing in its infield.

It’s no secret Javier Vazquez has always been one of the most frustrating pitchers, with his strong peripherals rarely matching a seemingly disappointing ERA. Call him the anti-Tom Glavine. While it fundamentally makes sense for a pitcher to struggle out of the stretch compared to the windup, Vazquez takes it to extremes, as his BAA goes from .246 with the bases empty to .277 with runners on throughout his career. Moreover, his K/9 falls from 8.8 to 7.0, and his BB/9 jumps from 2.1 to 2.8. That said, he’s been unbelievably durable, averaging a remarkable 216.1 innings over the previous nine seasons entering 2009. The move out of homer-prone U.S. Cellular Field has obviously helped, as has the switch to the easier league. After another flat-out dominant performance Thursday – eight innings, two baserunners, 12:0 K:BB ratio – it’s past time to consider Vazquez among the 10 best fantasy starters. Although he entered Thursday with easily the best xFIP (2.57) in baseball even before his gem, it’s safe to assume based on his past a sub 3.50 ERA may not be forthcoming, but a fantastic WHIP and 250 strikeouts should be expected. His current 11.2 K/9 mark is the best among all starters in baseball.

The only real significance I see regarding the Red Sox winning the first seven games against the Yankees this season is the shift in the standings. I wouldn’t read much, if anything, into the head-to-head discrepancy so far.

Chris Coghlan has hit just .230 since getting called up by Florida, but he’s someone who should still be owned in deep leagues. He’s picked it up since June started (.290/.371/.419), and with a 19:19 K:BB ratio, he’s hardly been overmatched. Remember, he had a .970 OPS with nine steals in 25 Triple-A games before getting called up earlier this season and is a legit prospect. With Cameron Maybin hardly impressing in Triple-A (.733 OPS), Dan Uggla a strong trade candidate and Emilio Bonifacio being terrible, Coghlan should have plenty of job security, making him a fixture atop Florida’s lineup. Since he’s also eligible at 2B in most formats, he’s a sneaky MI option.

More proof not to project wins based on team context – after finishing in the bottom three in run support each of the past two years, Matt Cain has gotten 6.14 runs per start in 2009, which is the sixth-best in the National League. This despite the fact the Giants have scored the fewest runs in the NL. Speaking of which, San Francisco has drawn a whopping three walks from its cleanup hitters in 2009 – the second lowest is Seattle with 14 base on balls.

With three multi-hit games in a row, maybe Rick Ankiel is finally coming out of his slump. It would be nice if he were actually healthy for once, as a sports hernia contributed to him batting .169 over the final two months of 2008, and it’s taken some time for him to fully recover from crashing into the wall earlier this season. Remember, Ankiel has only been a full-time hitter for three years, and he had 20 homers at the All-Star break last year. He strikes out too often to ever hit better than .270, but there remains a lot of power potential. Hitting directly in front of (or behind) Albert Pujols should pay dividends as well.

Despite hitting just three homers over his first 81 at-bats and batting .200 at the end of April, Mark Teixeira is on pace to finish the season with 52 homers, 115 runs scored and 143 RBI. It’s safe to say he’s been hot since May started.

I’m tired of writers speaking negatively about Stephen Strasburg simply because no other No. 1 pick has succeeded much as a starter. Michael Wilbon is hardly the only one taking this stance, but some of his arguments are especially outrageous: Strasburg will only play every fifth day, and he isn’t any different from any of the other 13 pitchers selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft since 1973. Say what now? This isn’t Kris Benson, Ben McDonald or Tim Belcher, folks. Strasburg just posted a 195:19 K:BB ratio over 109 innings! He regularly works at 97-100 mph with good command and has a curveball that breaks like most pitchers’ sliders do. Oh, and he also possesses a changeup, only he rarely threw it in college because reportedly the hitters there weren’t good enough to be fooled by it. This is a prospect on an entirely different level. And how preposterous is the premise of not taking Strasburg because no No. 1 pick has won a Cy Young? So if no third baseman drafted 12th has ever made an All-Star game, should they all be scratched off the list at that draft slot every year? And whom are you going to take otherwise in a relatively weak class anyway? Dave Cameron makes an intelligent argument for Dustin Ackley here, but come on, Strasburg has the chance to be a true difference maker. Listen, I understand throwing a baseball is an unnatural act, and position players are far more likely to stay healthy, but this is a risk that simply must be taken. And while I don’t necessarily agree with players getting paid so much before proving anything, giving Strasburg $50 million is hardly more egregious than Mark Sanchez getting a similar contract.

Speaking of the draft, what terrible coverage by the MLB network. Having it televised is obviously a step in the right direction, but watching a catatonic Bud Selig announce the picks was laughable. And it was amazing how the panel loved every single pick, no matter how big of a reach it was. I especially liked when Harold Reynolds explained what “signability” meant to the uninformed audience.

I’ve been known to give Brian Sabean a hard time every now and then, but I must applaud the Giants’ recent draft picks, from Tim Lincecum to Madison Bumgarner, Tim Alderson and Buster Posey. The team went from having one of the worst farm systems in baseball to quite possibly the best, at least at the top. And the Zack Wheeler selection sure looks like another quality arm, although the kid should politely decline all future interviews: “Umm, ya San Francisco is beautiful. Although actually I’ve never been there. I think Barry Bonds used to play there.”

Fun facts: Jimmy Rollins “leads” baseball with 201 outs made…Nick Johnson has the best LD% (29.0)…Chris Young is the only hitter in baseball with more than 20% of his flyballs remaining in the infield, and it’s at a staggering 27.4%…Brad Hawpe is hitting a crazy high, and MLB-leading, .460 with RISP…Javier Vazquez has gotten the third best run support (6.37) in the National League, has a 3.31 ERA and yet, 53 pitchers have more wins than his four…Clayton Kershaw averages the most pitches per plate appearance (4.8) by a wide margin…Johan Santana has the highest strand rate (.861) in the league.