Tuesday, June 1, 2010

6/1: Baseball!

Hola... it's kind of a dead period in the NBA world... and although I know the Stanley Cup Finals is in full swing (Blackhawks up 2-0), I have nothing insightful to say on that... so an all-baseball entry...
  • The Braves are in first place!!.... Okay that's a little false excitement... am I thrilled that the Braves are 16-4 in their last 20 games? Absolutely... am I thrilled that for this moment, they are 0.5 games ahead of the vaunted Phillies? Absolutely... but it's June 1... It's not pessimism, moreso realism to think that Philadelphia isn't necessarily the benchmark for this Braves team... preseason, I'd say 95% of "experts" agreed that Philly was the NL's best team... they've sustained injuries to Rollins, Lidge, Madson and Happ, and are still a starter short IMO... but top-to-bottom? Better roster than Atlanta... However(!), there are signs of life... Martin Prado is still raking, Chipper is coming alive (at least a little), and Nate McLouth... oh, wait, he's still bad... anyway... I'm excited, and so should you be... but the fist-pumping should slow down a little... I do find it funny though, that the old "wisdom" of not looking at standings until Memorial Day coincides with the overtaking of the Phils
  • Ubaldo Jimenez is borderline absurd... 10-1 to start the season... a sub-1 ERA... and a current 26 inning scoreless streak... nothing phases this guy it seems like... But if you look around... you'll see he's getting his due... a guy who isn't?....
  • How bout Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals? This ROOKIE has thrown 61.1 innings in his 10 starts... he's 5-2 despite bad run support numbers, and his ERA is... 1.32! That's crazy stuff when you consider he's fresh off Tommy John surgery and is a rookie... For all the talk about Ubaldo and Jason Heyward (and rightfully so)... I need more discussion of Garcia... I'm not so sure (although it seems like sacrilege in this town) that Garcia wouldn't get my ROY vote...
  • Stephen Strasburg to debut on June 8... officially now it seems... Mark your calendars...
Quick MLB Predictions from this point forward (refer to my archives for my pre-season looks, which I stand by)
  • The Rays will slow down a little... they have to... but they're winning 100 games...
  • San Diego isn't winning the NL West (not going on a limb here but alas)
  • The team with the worst end-of-year record isn't going to be the Orioles or Pirates... it'll be the Astros
  • The Nationals won't finish last in the NL East... the Mets will
  • And finally... Roy Halladay will still win the NL Cy Young despite Ubaldo's start
What to watch for tonight...
  • Braves/Phillies - 7:00 ESPN or Peachtree TV - Hudson/Hamels... Best pitching matchup of the series
To say it's a slow day would be an understatement... Tomorrow I'll get up my NBA finals mini-preview... until then

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