It looks like someone for MLB.com has been watching a little too much wrestling lately � as the performances of rookie pitchers Aaron Heilman (Mets), Mark Hendrickson (Blue Jays), and Rich Harden (A�s) on Monday night inspired a headline referring to Triple-H proving their pedigree � a reference to Hunter Helmsley�s close-out maneuver. If I were a wrestling promoter, I would keep Heilman and Hendrickson in the opening matches at the American Legion post down the street, although Hendrickson did have a nice shutout going at Yankee Stadium of all places. But don�t get disillusioned by those two, for this year at least they are merely prospects attempting to hold down fifth-starter status for the rest of this year.
Harden however is a entirely different case however, as his splash figures to rank right up there with those of Mark Prior and Dontrelle Willis within the past year. In case you haven�t been following the exploits of this 21-year old this year, Harden opened the season in Double-A pitching 13 innings without allowing a hit. That impressed Oakland brass enough to earn an immediate promotion to AAA where he went 9-4 with a 3.15 ERA and 91 K�s in 88.2 innings. Harden got his first taste of pitching in a Major League venue just last week as he represented the World team (Harden is a Canadian) in the Futures game in Chicago, and despite a small case of the jitters managed to strike out the side.
With Oakland three games out of the Wild Card (and four behind Seattle in the division), the organization decided not to wait any longer and had Harden make his MLB debut in Kansas City this past Monday. Against a hot Royal lineup Harden did not disappoint, allowing only one earned run in seven innings pitched along with four hits and two walks, Harden struck out four. A�s manager Ken Macha indicated after the game that Harden needs to work on tipping his pitches, but that his stuff was so good that it didn�t matter � that�s a scary thought.
Currently Harden�s fastball is consistently in the 93 MPH range and tops out at around 96. The fastball has movement and can either rise or sink. The changeup is considered his most effective pitch since it comes at the same release point as the heater. Harden has a nasty split-finger while the slider is considered the one pitch he needs work on.
Come to think of it a lot of wrestlers come out of Canada. I think Harden is working on his interviewing skills for his next start � I have a feeling that he�s going to proclaim that he�s never, EVER going back to the minors again.
That constant menace known as the reaper had been way too quiet in recent weeks � but wasted no time making his presence known from almost the second the All-Star Break ended. The casualty report is as follows�
Ken Griffey Jr. � If you jumped on Griffey back in Spring Training and took him for the Diamond Challenge game shame on you. If you jumped on Griffey again for second season after he returned in June shame on me. You knew this was coming, even after hitting five home runs in consecutive games the previous week. Sure enough, Griffey admires a shot he thinks is a home run � then has to turn it on just to get to second. In the process Griffey manages to tear his ankle tendon ending his season. In addition to the ankle, Griffey will now also have surgery on the shoulder injured back in April. There are now rumblings that Griff is now done in Cincinnati and that he might even call it a career rather than go through rehab yet again. Don�t know about retirement � like what else is Griffey going to do away from baseball. Look for him to return somewhere � the real question will be how many will take him at 600 or whatever for the Diamond Challenge next year. Think I�ll resist the temptation there.
Austin Kearns � Finally landed on the DL with what is described as an �inflamed� rotator cuff injured which dates back to a collision back on May 21, where his hitting troubles began. Is due to come off this weekend but don�t hold your breath � this may drag on well into August as least. By the way, feel free to pick-up Jose Guillen at 430 now � his playing time is now guaranteed as if it weren�t already.
Mike Lowell � It appeared that a major detour had occurred in his career season as Lowell missed this past weekend with a sore groin. That would normally not be a big deal except that Lowell is a testicular cancer survivor. Concerns grew after a cyst was found in an examination � and it was thought that Lowell might be out two weeks or longer. However follow-up test revealed only a condition that Lowell has probably had his entire life � so Lowell immediately returned to the Marlins lineup on Monday.
Juan Gonzalez � Was actually producing with six home runs over a two week period, but like Griffey you know it will not last � as Gonzalez is now out with what is being described as a sore calf. The current timetable has him being out until at least this Wednesday, but further muddling things are the fact that the team is still desperately attempting to trade him. Look for the Rangers to keep Juan in a bubble until they finally convince him to accept a trade somewhere � that won�t be easy.
Rocky Biddle � After getting killed in June with Cliff Politte before full disclosure came on a bum shoulder, I got burned likewise with Biddle who was also getting lit up on an every other day basis. Biddle actually got his first two batters out last Thursday, but then came out with what was described as a muscle strain in his back. The good news is Biddle has not been DL�d, at least yet. In fact the Expos activated Vladimir Guerrero along with another player while sending two other players back to the minors. Biddle played catch over the weekend before being scheduled for that dreaded bullpen session on Monday. His status is uncertain at this time.
Melvin Mora � Scary moment as Mora was nailed in the cheek with a pitch. However X-rays were negative and Mora should return to the lineup later on this week while also remaining in numerous trade rumors.
Ben Grieve � Not like he is a fantasy factor, but was complaining of a sore arm and wound up being diagnosed with a blood clot in his shoulder. Grieve is now out for the season as he is going to HAVE A RIB REMOVED to alleviated the problem. Grieve has also managed to suffer a thumb infection this season.
Mark Prior � This was kind of predictable as well after his collision with Marcus Giles, as his start was pushed back from Saturday, to Tuesday, to finally a DL stint. Cubs brass continues to maintain that this is all precautionary, but then again we heard all this a few years back with Kerry Wood. Since this was the result of a contact and not from throwing, I imagine this will not be a long term thing.
Jason Schmidt � Could CDM teams now be forced to find a way to make do without Prior and Schmidt??? The Giants ace was pulled for precautionary (of course) reasons with tightness in his forearm. It was first said that Jason would not miss a start but the team is now leaning having him miss this weeks start as a precaution (of course).
Matt Morris � Things were supposedly looking up here, as Morris was reporting his shoulder to be fine and was slated for a very favorable two-start week starting in San Diego (where STL had won 29 of their last 33) and ending with a home start v. PIT. The promising outlook lasted all of two batters as a comebacker found a knuckle on his pitching hand. Ensuing X-rays were negative and Morris was listed as day-to-day. But then again that�s what they said about Curt Schilling. Sure enough, a CAT scan revealed the next day reveals a 'small' fracture and now Morris is out 3-6 weeks. Someone tell the Padres to quit knocking pitchers out of the box!!!!! On the plus side Morris was clocking out at 92-93 MPH in the early going, far ahead of the 87-88 MPH of recent outings. The extra missed time should make Morris a bargain for next year.
Carl Crawford � Nothing that major here. Bruised a heel over the weekend, and as what often happens with players with suspension appeals hanging over their head elected to start serving his suspension.
Jose Lima - Strained a groin in his first start after the break, and was a late scratch in his following outing.
Troy Glaus � No one quite slumps like this guy, and is now day-to-day with a bruised shoulder. Glaus has all of two home runs and seven RBI in his last 35 games. And this just in, the Angels aren�t repeating.
Alex Rodriguez � Has not missed time but you can tell he is not the usual A-Rod this year. A .280/100/35/100 season is not much to sneeze at for most but this is someone used to 130-140 runs/RBI and 50+ home runs a year. Most telling is a slugging percentage drop from .623 to .530.
There are actually players returning. I already mentioned Vlad Guerrero who is already back � don�t know if he�s 100 percent but he�s back. Dave Roberts may also return to the Dodgers lineup this weekend, far ahead of what I was anticipating. Expect Rickey Henderson and others to be spelling him on a regular basis. Randy Johnson (fresh from his Class-A shelling) is also back in the D-backs rotation.I said in this column two weeks ago that Mike Williams might be sent packing for the second time in three years. Sure enough, Williams goes to Philadelphia where he will now be a set-up man. Ditto for Armando Benitez who goes from being the Mets maligned closer to being a Yankee setup man. That increases the NYY payroll to over $155 million, not including the luxury tax. Other relievers who have been demoted from the closing role in just the past couple of weeks include Mike DeJean (MIL), Jose Jiminez (COL), Lance Carter (TB), and Billy Koch (CWS). Throw in the Ugueth Urbina trade from last week and that makes seven teams who have made changes with their closer. Out of those assuming closing roles the best of the bunch is the White Sox Flash Gordon, who has reeled off four saves in the past two weeks. Flash also has ten strikeouts in those four saves (5 IP) so he is still impressive with the K�s and carries a tidy CDM salary of 710. That cat truly does have nine lives, as has been the case with Flash in recent years overuse is the only issue.
Remember when Shannon Stewart was supposed to be the games next five-category threat??? Well, he was traded to Minnesota and has hit all of seven home runs and just one stolen base in 303 AB�s this year. Tony Womack was activated off the DL and promptly traded to Colorado where he is at least expected to start daily. A move to Coors Field would be a boon to some but Womack�s power is so anemic that it will make little difference, not to mention he�s not much of a base stealer these days.
The biggest trade (at least in my opinion) thus far saw the Cubs fill two glaring needs by acquiring Aramis Ramirez along with veteran center fielder Kenny Lofton. Ramirez had not been the greatest team player in the world lately, as I noticed him not participating in a full blown meeting of the infielders/battery during a Lloyd McClendon visit to the mound. In that same game Ramirez was also burned twice electing to wait for a ball to bounce foul - on each occasion it stayed fair. In a separate trade the Pirates received Brandon Lyon from the Red Sox, so he could be back in the running for a closers gig.
There also used to be a time back in the day when prima-donnas loafing it in football training camps were constantly threatened by the coach that �I trade your ass to Green Bay (when the Packers were perennial losers) if you don�t shape up�. Well the Dodgers Odalis Perez may be finding out very quickly the baseball equivalent of that scenario. A few weeks back Odalis complained about the team not going out and addressing their offensive woes � which went around in the clubhouse much like when NFL kicker Mike Vanderjagt criticized the rest of his team after getting blown out in the playoffs. Then Perez further angered Dodger brass by arriving late after the All-Star break, then proceeded to pitch batting practice to the Cardinals in the Sunday night game. During Odalis� shelling, the Dodger GM was seen on the phone on TV. Was he perhaps arranging a trade to send Odalis to Colorado??? Perez may be a Jose Lima for a new generation, hope he likes Newark.
Remember last week when I talked about the Red Sox .330 average at home, as opposed to .265 on the road. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Seattle Mariners who lead baseball by a sizeable margin with a .289 road average, but only hit .259 at home. The blame keeps going to a glare coming from the batters eye in center field, which was replaced for the umpteenth time by some sort of new material that is supposed to have no glare whatsoever. There is even talk of keeping the retractable roof closed for all day games. Big ups to Todd Helton for actually reversing a trend, going 8-16 in a four game series in San Francisco, which also came on the heels of his All-Star home run. Although the rest of the team sucks on the road Helton is showing he can be a force anywhere.
Also add Kansas City to the list of venues I gave last week to those with the QUES-TEC system installed. A Royal reliever had a hissy-fit after five consecutive batters walked in a game this week. Another interesting find, the QUESTEC strike zones are different in each park - postage stamp sized in Arizona and Houston, larger in Milwaukee and Tampa Bay.
Who would have thought that Jose Guillen would be a fantasy baseball force this year? Probably the bookie who told you to bet the house on Ben Curtis at the British Open. As Woody Hayes once said, these games are UN-PREDICTABLE. Here are the top adds and drops�
The American League will be West Coast based while the NL action will be on the East Coast next week. Week 19 will be the opposite. CHC, ATL, PHI, PIT, FL, MTL, CIN, NYM, TX, KC, MN, ANH, OAK, and SEA will be at home while SF, HOU, LA, SD, AZ, STL, COL, MIL, TB, BOS, CWS, NYY, CLE, and DET are on the road. Baltimore and Toronto will be the lone teams with split weeks. Even though Colorado is on the road they do draw Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, so their week is not that bad. Philadelphia plays eight games (get Pat Burrell in all your lineups, LOL) while CIN, PIT, STL, ATL, MTL, MIL, NYM, SD, OAK, ANH, TX, and SEA play seven times. Everyone else not mentioned has six games.
Traditionally, it isn�t until the third full week after the break that the two-start list gets good � but this weeks fare is not bad as Javier Vazquez, Johan Santana, Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt, Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Roy Halladay and Gil Meche are the projected two-timers. Kerry Wood and Kevin Brown are also possibilities should another starter be skipped. Santana could be the Yahtzee of the week drawing Baltimore and Detroit at home.
I will tell you up front that the CDM Free Agent list is not much to look at, with Hideo Nomo the only one meriting interest. Here is that list�
C � Brad Ausmus (710) � Come on, he is hitting .210