Ryan Howard And Other Baseball Notes

Philadelphia Phillies' 1B Ryan Howard hit his major-league leading 29th HR last night and drove in his NL-leading 85th RBI.  With such gaudy RBI totals, one would expect an AVG better than Howard's current .234.

How can he have such a low AVG and great RBIs?  His AVG with RISP is .325!  Looking over his career, he hasn't been consistently better with RISP though.  Can he persist with the RBIs if his AVG stays under .250?

Mike Mussina won his 12th game against six defeats.  With a 3.49 ERA, he may be the most surprising pitcher in baseball this season - Justin Duchscherer and Cliff Lee be damned!

Cincinnati Reds' rookie sensation hit his 7th HR last night.  With a .273 AVG and 23 RBI,  one can safely conclude the hype surrounding debut week at the end of May/beginning of June (15-26, 3 HR, 2 SB) makes the recent market bubbles of internet stocks, real estate and credit lending pale in comparison.

I just won the FAAB bidding for Joe Blanton in my NL-Only.  I can only hope he is 2/3s as successful as C.C. Sabthia has been for his owner.  C.C. moved to 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA and 24 Ks since his move to the NL.  He also went 1-4 and is hitting .222.  With that kind of bat, he is going to throw a ton of innings.

The Texas Rangers called up catcher Taylor Teagarden.  With Jarrod Saltalamacchia failing to impress at catcher (four pased balls in 38 games, 17.5% CS, .977 FPCT), Teagarden may be splitting time with Gerald Laird for the rest of this season and next.  In AL-Only keeper leagues, grab him.

Am I the only person who sees Macier Izturis batting 3rd for the Angels and wonder how in God's name that team has scored enough runs to have the best record in baseball?