The Tigers are now 0-7. With their line-up, no one is taking this tortoise-slow start as anything but a non-representative sample of seven games amidst a 162-game schedule. What if this 0-7 start is closer to the truth than the lofty pre-season predictions?
The Orioles are 6-1 and find their hare-fast start dismissed as a non-representative sample of seven games amidst a 162-game schedule. What if the Orioles end-up being better than the 65-W team they looked like ten days ago?
Arizona Diamondbacks 3B Mark Reynolds hit his 4th and 5th HRs last night. His power is for real, but so are his strikeouts (9 in 8 games). Is this a fluke or did he make adjustments in the off-season that the majors made to him after he began 2007 so weel?
Staying with the Diamondbacks, does anyone believe the NL West will be close if the Diamondbacks' early season hitting explosion represents a real improvement over last year's horrid efforts? The team's 2007 AVG was 29th at .250, its OBP was also 29th and its SLG was a middle-of-the-pack 19th. With just 5% of 2008 finished, the team ranks 9th, 6th and 1st respectively.
After watching Mark Lowe and Eric O'Flaherty fail to secure late-inning duties, Mariners' manager John McLaren turned to lefty Ryan Rowland-Smith to close out yesterday's 6-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Is that the sound of FAAB disappearing?
Low K saber-fave Brian Bannister entered yesterday's start against the Yankees like a cow being led to the slaughter. No way his mediocre stuff and high-octane mind could overcome Yankees' line-up looking to explode on someone after a slow start offensively.
But just like Bannister did with the Tigers, he shut down the Yankees, and, actually, mowed quite a few down. He struck out six including $300MM man, Alex Rodriguez, three times! Here is something cool to watch. MLB's Gameday feature. Just click on Arod's AB to see what pitches he took when he went down looking in those three Ks against Bannister. (2nd, 3rd and 5th innings).