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One team was able to sweep this week's AL Pitching studs and duds. Several high profile pitchers came close to becoming this week's pitching stud, but a not so recognizable name took home the prize. This week brought a complete reversal for this week's dud, and he will see how it feels to go from the top to the bottom.
There were some solid pitching performances this week in the American League. Josh Beckett has put together two more above quality starts to move his ERA below 2.00. Jered Weaver remained sharp and became the first to 5 wins, but this week Scott Baker of the Minnesota twins gets my nod for best pitcher. Baker had two impressive performances last week and was able to lower his ERA from 6.55 to 3.24. Baker held the Rays to 1 ER over 7 innings of 4 hit baseball and then last night held the Orioles scoreless over another 7 innings. During this two game stretch, Baker recorded 15 strikeouts while only walking 2 batters. The Twins hope Baker can help the club continue their climb back to .500.
Baker dominated AL East opponents this week
There were several players that felt inclined to nominate themselves for this week's AL pitching dud. Ervin Santana was awful over 4 innings against the Rangers, and Erik Bedard even went to the trouble of being terrible in consecutive starts this week. However, I chose this week's dud just to show the sometimes dramatic ups and downs of a baseball season. Last week Carl Pavano was great, allowing a single run over 16 strong innings. The week before Pavano was not so great, allowing 7 ER in his debut against the Blue Jays. Pavano reverted back to his not so great form this week and for that he is crowned AL pitching dud. Pavano only lasted 4.2 innings against the Baltimore Orioles, surrendering 7 ER. Last week Pavano saw his ERA drop to a respectable 3.60. After his most recent performance, it is back to 5.47. The Twins hope Pavano can become more consistent and produce results closer resembling those that earned him last week's AL stud pitcher.
Pavano could not replicate last week's success
Tomorrow we will look at the best and the worst of the National League.
There was a little reshuffling in my top 5 this week, with one team dropping off the list. The 4 that remain from last week change slots, and the World Series champs make the cut for this week's top 5. It's still very early and there are some other teams with solid records, but it's hard to compare wins and losses when teams are still rounding into regular season form. With that I felt like I had a little explaining to do with my choices.
The Cleveland Indians share the best record in baseball with the Colorado Rockies, but the Indians did not make the cut. They only have played in one full series against a team playing at least .500 baseball and they lost that series to the Angels. Their pitching has been lights out but it's still too early for me to tell if this streak is due to scheduling or a legitimate turnaround. Two other teams that I seriously looked at for spots on the list were the LA Angels and Cincinnati Reds; maybe next week guys.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phils look forward to Utley's return
The top team was not as clear this week as last, but I have to choose one and I'm going with the one that has four aces. The Phillies finished up their NL East tour with the Marlins this weekend, splitting a rain shortened set against Florida. They took the tough loss Monday in extras against Milwaukee; the Brewers taking advantage of the Phillies starting someone not named Cliff, Roy or Cole. There have been positive Chase Utley sightings and people are getting more optimistic about his return. The big question mark going forward for the Phillies will be their bullpen.
Colorado Rockies
The Rockies are currently sharing the best record in baseball with the Cleveland Indians. They are 8-2 over their last 10 games and had a great week last week. They went into New York and swept the Mets and then took 2 of three from the Cubs. Monday night they ran into the wall that is Tim Lincecum. The Rockies have been lead by their bats, but their pitching looks to get a boost Tuesday night with the return of Ubaldo Jimenez. Colorado will look to get back on the winning track against San Fran before heading to Florida and Chicago next week for three game sets against the Marlins and Cubbies.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers have been reeling since Hamilton's injury
The Rangers were my number 1 team last week after a 9-1 start. Last Tuesday Texas was faced with the unfortunate news that MVP Josh Hamilton would be missing considerable time due to a broken arm. The Rangers have been on a slide since that game Hamilton went down, going 2-4 over their last 6. They ended up losing series to the Tigers and Yankees last week. CJ Wilson was able to right the ship for a night against the Ranger's AL West foes the Angels. Hamilton is not someone that is replaced, but I think the Rangers have the depth to work around his injury for the time being. They play their best ball at home (7-0) and welcome the Angels, Royals and Blue Jays in over the next week.
New York Yankees
The Yankees just made my list last week and were able to move up a spot after a 2 game sweep of the Orioles and series win versus the Rangers. New York found out that it is losing Phil Hughes for some time, but that may be more of a blessing with Hughes' 13.94 ERA. Nonetheless, he was slotting in as their 3rd starter, so the questions marks are still following this Yankee rotation. The hitting has been there, but if this team looks to improve they are going to need more consistency from their starters.
San Francisco Giants
Cain and Lincecum lead the Giants
The Champs are here. San Francisco comes in at number 5 for me this week. They had a solid past week, taking series from the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. They started off this week on a good note, with their ace almost no-hitting the leaders of their division. Cain and Lincecum have started the year pitching lights out and Jonathan Sanchez has had a good early showing. While their pitching has been the story, the bats are also carrying their weight. The Giants have a bit of a tough stretch coming up as they finish their series against the Rockies and then head home and welcome in the Atlanta Braves. With Lincecum and Cain sitting at the top of the rotation, the Giants should hang around the top all season.
It's certainly hard to have any kind of rankings this early in the year but I'll do my best to try and determine who looks to be the best of MLB. The top two spots are locks right now with Texas and the Phillies. After that things get a little fuzzier. This early in the year it's more common to find unlikely teams like Minnesota, Atlanta, St. Louis and San Francisco on the bottom, so it's hard to truly gauge the top teams. Here are my current top 5 of the MLB.
1. Texas Rangers
Wilson leads the Rangers pitching staff
The Rangers have gotten off to a sizzling start, winning their first 6 and currently sitting at 9-1. They started off the year at home and swept both the slow start Red Sox and 3 win Mariners. They took 2 of 3 from the upstart O's and blanked the Tigers in Tuesday's series opener. While their bats have been hot, the real story will be Texas's arms. If they could put it together this year they may not be as unlikely to repeat as AL champs as some have thought.
2. Philadelphia Phillies
Philly carries four aces up its sleeve
The big four in Philly have all delivered so far this year and have certainly contributed to the teams 7-2 start. While many wondered how the Phillies' offense would respond to the losses of Jayson Werth and Chase Utley, the bats have come out strong. When the team is hitting on all cylinders they are no doubt the favorite to represent the NL in the Fall Classic.
3. Cincinnati Reds
The Reds continue to develop Chapman the Cuban fireballer
The Reds are another team hot out of the gate with a 5-0 start including their comeback against the Brewers opening night. The Reds offense is off to a torrid start, ranking first in runs scored and second in team batting average and on base percentage. Slugger Joey Votto headlines Cincinnati's lineup and is supported by Brandon Phillips and Scott Rolen. While their pitching is not producing at a comparable rate, the Reds do have several solid young arms with perhaps the most intriguing youngster at the major league level, Aroldis Chapman.
4. Colorado Rockies
Rockies hope Jimenez returns to last year's first half form
The NL West ended up being somewhat surprisingly competitive last year and ultimately produced the World Series champion. After a week it's not those San Francisco Giants or the San Diego Padres that sit on top of the West, it is instead the Colorado Rockies. They have a strong young nucleus of hitters including Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gomez and yes you can still find Todd Helton manning first at Coors field. The pitching has been the story early in the season, and that is while last year's first half stud Ubaldo Jimenez has been on the DL.
5. New York Yankees
Yankees ace CC Sabathia
This 5th spot was really up for grabs to me. If the Orioles come into New York and can take the win tonight then I would bump them up to the 5th spot, but right now I'll give it to the Yankees. While there is certainly some questions surrounding their pitchers not named CC, the Yankees still put one of the best lineups on the field every night. I'm not sure if their pitching will keep them here as the season goes on, but for this week the Yankees get my nod at the 5 spot.
As a lifelong Orioles fan, there was a certain routine that I followed each offseason leading up to opening day. Each free agency period would begin and rumors would formulate linking the O's to big name players. These rumors would eventually either die out or the Orioles offers would come in much lower than other teams closer to contention. We would sign our B list free agents as the market played out, and some would have potential (Garrett Atkins) or a storied history (Sammy Sosa).
Spring training would bring its usual new hope for the once proud franchise, every team starting the year in first place. Most years the O's would tread water or make a short sprint at contention. Last year I had legitimate hopes that this would change and the team would become competitive with its promising nucleus, especially the 'calvalry', the term used for the Orioles young arms. Instead the team got off to a 2-16 start and the beautiful Camden Yards emptied to record lows. The team seemed destined to be blown up once again and the start of a new plan was on the horizon
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Raymond Mencke Jr's Blogs
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