Losers of the Week

During our unofficial hiatus, some teams began their June slide. The Cubs and Athletics have lost seven straight. The Marlins lost five in a row. And the Indians, having dropped five slid behind the Yankees in their winning percentage and gave the recovering Texas Rangers a new season. 

The Cubs and A's were unlikely candidates in their divisions despite the new age of parity in baseball. But the next week or so should be a good indicator of whether the Tribe can stay ahead of the Tigers or whether this was all an early season illusion. They have two more against the Twins, then a four-game series in the Bronx, followed immediately by a series in Detroit. 

The Indians' left-handed heavy lineup is struggling against left-handed pitchers. They will be missing Travis Hafner and the .345 batting average at the time of his departure. He may only make it back in time when the Indians begin Inter-league play and lose their DH. 

Sabean's Wimper

We are opinionated at The Slurve Sometimes we're right, sometimes we're wrong, and most of the time it could go either way. But rarely do I say something that I had not seen anyone else say, and then watch someone else prove me right, within a week.

Last Tuesday I wrote this about the Buster Posey situation. The thing I wanted readers to take away from it was this type of thing happens all the time, but since it happened to a star catcher, it was a big deal. If it were the backup catcher for the Mariners, or the starter for the Mets, no one would care.

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Now All Catchers Must Suck?

Last Wednesday night Scott Cousins collided at the plate with Buster Posey in the top of the 12^th inning of a tie game.  Since then, baseball people have been tearing their hair out trying to make heads or tails of the situation. 

Make no mistake- if Scott Cousins had collided with Kyle Phillips, we wouldn't be talking about this.    It's because Posey is a star, and the title hopes of the defending World Champions are at stake that this is a conversation. 

The immediate reaction was 'Well, this is unfortunate, but it's the way the game is played, it's the way it always have been.'  While I'm always suspicious of white people saying 'This is the way it's always been', everyone knows the play was legal.  It was only after it became clear that Posey was probably out for the season that we began committing seppuku.   

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OOOOOHHHHHHOOOOOHOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH | Atlanta's baseball club just completed a tidy four-game sweep of the Brewers. For the Brewers this disaster trip exploded their hopes of having a Phillies-level rotation. And Atlanta's hitters finally found themselves. Besides the incredible numbers of Jayson Heyward, the rest of the Braves are only now starting to lift their batting averages over .240. 

Meanwhile they have won 10 of their last 13 and are at least keeping pace with the Phillies while they gain ground on the Marlins. The experts of counterintuitivity told us all before the season that the Phillies would underperform and the NL east would be weaker than usual. But the top three teams all look like they can be in the race come September. 

Josh Johnson is, by far, the best pitcher of April | He didn't get the decision on Saturday, but he did push his ERA down to 0.88 for the season after seven scoreless innings against the Reds. 

The Palm Beach Post puts this month in perspective: 

Johnson passed Nolan Ryan in the record books by allowing 18 hits over 41 innings in his first six starts, the fewest hits allowed in the modern era before May 1.

Ryan set the previous record in 1978, allowing 19 hits over 41 innings, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Just a funny thing to note, Nolan Ryan was being paid $200,000 by the Angels that year. And he had similar luck to Johnson, the Angels bullpen failed Ryan pretty regularly too. 

First and Second with No Outs

Michael Jong at Marlins Maniac a great breakdown of a fascinating baseball situation from last Saturday's game against the Mets. 

In the tenth inning of the Saturday night game between the Marlins and Mets, Scott Cousins made an interesting decision that apparently got the Marlins’ brass talking. In a situation with no one out and Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan at second and first respectively, David Wright popped a foul ball into right field that Cousins intentionally dropped. 

Cousins explained that he let the ball drop, because catching it would only make one out, but would have advanced Reyes and Pagan to third and second base respectively. Ultimately, Wright shot the ball  up the middle, and both scored. 

But Jong's examination says the numbers confirm Cousins made the right decision, at least barely, if you take into account that Wright was sitting in a 1-2 count. 

The Salute

I don’t want to like Logan Morrison.  He plays for the Florida Marlins.  And, let's be real, who wants to root for the Marlins?  Certainly not Floridians.  They’re more likely to root for the teams from their native northern metropolises.  And what of the erstwhile Tallahassee baseball fans, who’ll find themselves no longer represented in the Marlins’ name next season?  Screw that.

What do you get for being a Marlins fan?  As soon as they have any kind of success, they dismantle the team, and sell off the pieces.  It’s hard to latch onto a young talent like Morrison when you know that should he take your club to ultimate glory on the ball field, he’ll almost certainly be wearing gray when he comes back for his next game in Miami. 

I don’t want to like Logan Morrison or Hanley Ramirez, or anyone in those ugly teal uniforms.  They’re not my team, they’re not my guys, and, and at least until the Marlins win the World Series, and the fire sale ensues, none of them will be. 

But it’s difficult to begrudge Logan Morrison.  Some guys take forever rounding the bases, making the game come to a stand still because they can.  Others stare at their shot, awed once again at their own power (I can’t say I wouldn’t fall into this category if I was capable of hitting a major league pitch out of the infield.)

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