As April turns into May, it is time to evaluatate which players are going to for real in the long term. One April rose whose bloom is starting to fall off is the Kansas City Royals, who are finding life not quite as easy when not playing Detroit and Cleveland on a nightly basis. Although is nothing else closer Mike McDougal may kill someone by the end of the year with simply the wickedist, wildest heater that I have ever seen.
And then there is Tampa Bay rookie sparkplug Rocco Baldelli. Rocco had a great first month with a .350+ average and is a swell guy to boot. Teammates like him so much that they even game him the old pie in the face routine during one post-game interview. If he were just able to remove a beercap with his eyebrow he'd be the next Joe Charboneau.
And there lies the rub. Here is someone who just four years ago was hitting ninth for his high school team. At this time last year Rocco was toiling away in A ball. Although he did provide good power/speed numbers in the minors last year (19 HR/26 SB), he is not quite finding that sort of production yet at the big league level.
It has been a nice ride so far, and it may continue to be so. But the book on How to Pitch to Rocco is now on sale at your favortie magazine stand. And Carl Crawford making out before him will make things even tougher. No doubt, many have riden the Rocco wave as a waiver wire pick-up in April - but now is not a bad time to sell high. Hopefully, he's not the second coming of Joe Charboneau (one year then bust), but don't look for the second coming of Joe DiMaggio - at least not yet...One of the bigger stories right now are the number of proven hitters who just aren�t performing right now, a list which reads as follows�
Jason Giambi � This is getting serious, as the BA as plummeted all the way down to .189. Everyone is saying he�ll snap out of it, but there are problems with his knee, hamstring, and hand which I have a feeling is worse than what�s being let on. It will probably take a trip to the DL before this is straightened out.
Miguel Tejada � Rumored to perhaps join Giambi in New York next year, Tejada is struggling even worse, hitting only .167. His .308 BA from last year notwithstanding, Miggy has never been a big average guy. But there has to be a big-time mechanical flaw here. Manager Ken Macha has been hinting at giving Tejada a day off, which would break a 460-game consecutive game streak.
Lance Berkman � Hitting only .235 while dealing with a strained ligament in his elbow. I would temper expectations for the foreseeable future, and he may be less than 100 percent all year. But Berkman is another gamer who will continue to go out there.
Vlad Guerrero � The .269 BA is not the end of the world, but I just expect more than the 5 HR, 17 RBI he currently has.
Pat Burrell � Only hitting .220 with 4 HR after 37 bombs last year, seems to be a regression after last years breakout.
Torii Hunter � In the same regression boat as Burrell, but a recent five game hitting streak may get him going.
Joe Crede � OK, not the proven quantity the others are, but the rookie is in a horrible 6 for 46 slide after a 10-27 start.
This was simply a good week for pitching, including�
Brett Myers/Kevin Millwood (4/27 - 28) � Second year pitcher worth a waiver-wire look after allowing six hits and no walks in 7 2/3 shutout innings v. the Dodgers. That was a nice follow up to Millwood�s no-hitter the previous day v. the Giants, which included 10 K�s along with three walks.
Roy Oswalt v. Greg Maddux (4/29) � Oswalt was roughed up in the first and sixth innings, but retired 14 straight batters between that. Although he did not win the final #�s (7 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB) were acceptable. Maddux allows only one ER, along with five hits and no walk in his seven innings to get the win.
Javier Vazquez (4/29) � Simply the best pitcher so far in 2003, JV was simply dominant in Milwaukee. Unfortunately, two solo home runs in the fifth cost him a shot at the win � but Vazquez only allowed one other baserunner besides that while striking out 12. JV leads the majors with 58 strikeouts in just 39.2 IP.
Matt Morris (4/29) � With offensive support behind him, Morris cruised to victory allowing 2 ER, 5 hits, and 2 BB in six innings of work.
Barry Zito (4/29) � On a miserable night in Chicago, Zito only strikes out three but otherwise did the job � allowing only one ER along with four hits and three walks while picking up his fourth victory of the season.
Roger Clemens (4/29) � Rocket�s roughest start in what was otherwise a great month, being touched up for three homers while allowing 4 ER, 8 hits and a walk over 6 IP. Clemens did strikeout eight in the outing however.
Kevin Brown (4/29) � Seems to be back after a couple of shaky outings, allowing only an earned run on five hits and no walks while striking out seven in scoring an easy victory over Philadelphia.
Kerry Wood (4/29) � Had the usual wildness, walking four plus hitting Barry Bonds twice with breaking balls. Also allowed seven hits in his six innings of work. However, Wood held the Giants to only one run in picking up the win.
Mike Hampton (4/30) � I was higher on Hampton than most during the Spring, noting that Darryl Kile immediately returned to pre-Rockie form upon escaping from Colorado. The early returns here are good, as Hampton allows only four hits and a walk over seven innings � allowing only a run in getting his first win on the year. Mound opponent Wade Miller had another rough outing, allowing five ER in as many innings, and now has an ERA over six on the season.
Jason Schmidt (4/30) � In the best pitching start of the week, Schmidt pitches a complete game shutout, striking out 12 while allowing only three hits and two walks. This was Schmidt�s first start since the passing of his mother. Mound opponent Matt Clement allows 5 ER in six IP, being taken deep by Barry Bonds twice.
Mark Mulder (4/30) � Another complete game, with Mulder allowing only four hits and an earned run. Mulder had to endure two fog delays, but got the job done in a game that (minus the delays) only lasted 1:54.
Odalis Perez (4/30) � The early season Perez of last season returns as Perez was Curt Schilling-like, striking out 11 in 8 2/3 scoreless innings � scattering eight hits and a walk.
Zach Day (5/1) � This comes with the qualifier that this was only Milwaukee, but the Expo rookie allows only two balls out of the infield in a complete game gem, allowing only three hits and a walk in the shutout. Zach leads all of baseball in ground-ball outs and is worth a look on the waiver wire.
Mark Prior v. Damian Moss (5/1) � Duel to a no-decision here as both starters allow an earned run, although Moss did allow eight hits and a walk, while Prior allowed six hits and three walks. Prior�s most impressive moment does not show up in the box score, as he refuses to back down from an agitated Barry Bonds (what else is new) in a bench clearing incident after Bonds was hit for the third time in the series (all on breaking balls). Prior would say later, �Just because he�s got 15-20 years in the big leagues and 600 homers and I have been in the league a little under a year doesn�t mean I have to stop doing (pitching inside) what makes me a professional�. You have to like that.
Mike Mussina (5/1) � Even though I feel Javier Vazquez was the best pitching in April, Moose has to be given pitcher of the month honors, as he becomes baseball�s first six-game winner in holding Seattle to an earned run while allowing six hits and no walks while striking out nine over eight innings. Mussina�s ERA stands at a sparking 1.60.Randy Johnson came off the DL last Sunday, striking out 12 over six innings, scattering nine hits and two earned runs. However the knee inflammation returned, necessitating surgery that will keep the Unit out for 3-6 weeks. Worse news for now comes on A.J Burnett, who will now be out till at least mid-2004 (and not full strength until 2005) with Tommy John surgery. The Burnett camp (Representatives??? His Mom???) are crying foul that Burnett was allowed to throw 120+ pitches too many times. The day is going to come where pitchers won�t be allowed to go more than five innings. Please.
On a much more optimistic note, it seemed like yesterday (it was exactly two years ago in fact) that I was reporting on Kris Benson being shelved for a similar injury, and noted the success of Matt Morris after undergoing the procedure in 1999. Morris got some work in 2000 before emerging in �01. Meanwhile Benson came back at this time last year and was shaky at times, but has started strong this year with a 2.90 ERA and 1.29 ratio. The injury sucks for now but it is not nearly as devastating as say, a torn rotator cuff.
And then there is the stat of the week. In the last 63 games John Smoltz has appeared in (save or non-save situation), the Braves have won. That is amazing; Smoltz is simply the best closer in baseball and will never be wasted in a hopeless mop-up scenario.
And oh yeah, Cliff Politte (750 in CDM) is now the Blue Jays closer, as Kelvim Escobar will return to the rotation while awaiting some sort of litigation on an off-the-field matter. Something about slipping some woman a Mickey. Probably the same lady that got into with the Milwaukee Bucks players a few weeks back.
Now for the top pick-ups/drops for the week in CDM�
PICK-UPSPIT, HOU, STL, CIN, BAL, and KC are your seven-game teams. FLA, MTL, MYM, CIN, ATL, CHC, TB, TX, KC, ANH, OAK, and SEA are the home teams. SF, SD, LA, STL, COL, MIL, DET, TOR, BOS, CLE, CWS, and NYY are on the road. Potential two-time pitchers include Kris Benson, Wade Miller, Vicenter Padilla, Derek Lowe, Jason Schmidt Odalis (don't call me Oliver) Perez, Mike Hampton, Mark Prior (against Milwaukee for sure), and Mark Mulder.
I told you the CDM list was impressive, and Dave Roberts is back from his hamstring problem. Next week's headliner will be Hank Blalock...