I watched some of the Reds-Mets game on Monday, and was impressed with Reds starter Mike Leake. He attacks hitters, doesn't hold the ball long, and works both sides of the plate.
Here are more thoughts after reviewing Monday's boxscores:
Leake held the Mets to 2 runs, 1 earned, in 6 innings. He struck out 4 and allowed 4 hits and a walk, as he lowered his ERA to 2.94. He has thrown a quality start in each of his 5 major league starts. Quite impressive.
Blue Jays rookie starter Brett Cecil held the Indians to 1 run on one hit, while striking out 10 in 8 innings of work. Cecil won his second game of the season, and lowered his ERA to 2.61. He has a 21/4 K/BB ratio in 20+ innings of work.
Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay went 0-4 and is now hitting .176-.276-.330 on the season. Brett Wallace is hitting well in AAA, and should be called up as soon as June.
Cardinals third baseman David Freese went 2-5 with 3 RBI hitting in the 5 hole on Monday. He is now hitting .358-.404-.543 with 3 HRs and 19 RBI in 81 at bats. He could drive in 100 hitting behind Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Colby Rasmus this year.
Speaking of Rasmus, he went 3-3 with 2 RBI and a sac fly in the Cards 6-3 win in Philadelphia on Monday. He has an OPS approaching 1.100 in the early going.
Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts against Cardinals lefty Jaime Garcia on Monday. This after he had 3 hits and a HR off of Mets ace Johan Santana. I was listening to First Pitch with Rob Dibble this morning and he was talking about Howard working with Barry Bonds in the offseason. His work has paid off as he has cut down on his strikeouts this season. He has struck out only 21 times in 100+ at bats, and is on pace for 120 strikeouts assuming 600 at bats.
Speaking of striking out, Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton, at the time of this writing, went 1-4 with 2 strikeouts, upping his season K total to 38 in 101 at bats. Wow. The Diamondbacks have moved him to the 2-spot in the lineup, ahead of Stephen Drew.
White Sox starter Jake Peavy bounced back after several rough outings, holding the Royals to 1 run on 4 hits in 7 innings, while striking out 9. The win was his first of the season-who knew Peavy would only have one win by May 3rd?
Twins catcher Wilson Ramos went 3-4 with 2 doubles, a run scored, and an RBI. Joe Mauer = Wally Pipp anyone?
Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson is on fire. He's in the zone. Jackson had 3 more hits on Monday, along with a run scored and an RBI. Kudos to Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski for trading for AJack in the offseason. He found himself a true leadoff hitter.
Yesterday, Edwin Jackson got knocked around for 8 runs. Monday was Max Scherzer's turn, as he gave up 10 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks in 4+ innings. His ERA sits at 6.47.
The Red Sox bats came alive on Monday night to the tune of 17 runs and 20 hits. Mike Lowell and JD Drew both had 4 hits and at least 3 RBIs. Everyone in the Red Sox lineup had at least 2 hits, except for Marco Scutaro and Dustin Pedroia.