Oakland’s Josh Reddick Has Been A Boon For Billy Beane
When Oakland sent closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney to the Red Sox, not much thought was given to what the Athletics were getting in return. It turns out that Billy Beane received the best player in the trade so far in outfielder Josh Reddick.
Reddick was decently hyped as a prospect, but the Red Sox signed Carl Crawford to pair with Jacoby Ellsbury in a speedy outfield, so it didn’t seem like Reddick would fit in. Instead of installing him as the rightfielder to replace the departing J.D. Drew, Boston GM Ben Cherington went with a platoon of Sweeney and 2010 World Series hero Cody Ross. Sweeney is batting over .300, but it’s Reddick that has been one of the most pleasant surprises around baseball this season.
The 25-year-old lefty leads the team in batting average, home runs, runs scored and OPS. He hit his 9th dinger of the season in the A’s 5-0 win in Anaheim on Monday, pulling into a tie for sixth place in the AL in round-trippers. Reddick is batting .289 with a decent .340 OPB and an other-wordly .549 slugging percentage that ranks him ninth in the junior circuit. Reddick is one of the reasons Oakland is a surprising 19-17, competing for a playoff spot at this early juncture in the season.
As for that trade for Boston? Bailey needed surgery on his thumb to begin the season and will be out until at least the All-Star break. The Red Sox have had trouble closing out games and no Boston hitter has more homers than Reddick. Seems like Billy Beane knows what he’s doing after all.
Marlins & Mets Display Relief Woes
If you’ve watched the Marlins-Mets series over the weekend, a major takeaway was clearly the problems both teams have at the closer position. I diagrammed what is ailing Heath Bell in this lovely piece, and his head still isn’t totally into the game right now. His curveball is flat, allowing hitters to sit on the fastball. And even the heater is giving Bell trouble in terms of control. He allowed two runs in the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon with Miami wearing its orange uniforms, making Bell look like Garfield the cat sans John, Odie the dog and a heaping helping of lasagna.
Bell has been nominally removed from the closer’s role by Miami Manager Ozzie Guillen, with a committee led by Steve Cishek and Edward Mujica leading the way. Bell was given the customary closer’s job of coming into a tie game at home in the ninth inning, so perhaps Guillen is trying to restore the faith in his $27 million man.
On the Mets side, Frank Francisco blew his second save in three days on Sunday and lost his mind as well (he may have lost his closer’s job as well, we’ll see about that). After a couple of strike calls that did not go his way, Francisco looked totally rattled and as manager Terry Collins removed him from the game, Francisco incessantly barked at home plate umpire Todd Tichenor and Collins had to restrain him. Francisco was ejected from the game even though Collins had already replaced him with Manny Acosta. Acosta proceeded to load the bases and serve up a walkoff grand slam to Giancarlo Stanton in an 8-4 defeat.
It would be foolish for Collins not to at least consider his options after Francisco’s pitching woes were compounded by his petulant arguing of balls and strikes with Tichenor. His on the field antics reveals that he may not have the mental makeup to close right now. Jon Rauch and Bobby Parnell have both closed in the past, and those would likely be the top two options to take over the role if Collins chooses to head in that direction. Perhaps a committee with lefty Tim Byrdak could also be in order.
Long story short, these two teams have to address its back end bullpen issues before we can discuss either team contending for a playoff berth.
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Should The Mets Bring Up Jeremy Hefner?
NEW YORK– By Mo Miller
Coming into the season, the Mets starting rotation was a big question mark. One of the big questions was Mike Pelfrey, who was pitching well before going down to injury. Ever since then the Mets have been struggling to fill that fifth spot of the rotation.
They tried Chris Schwinden for two starts, who pitched a total of eight innings going 0-1 with an 11.25 ERA. Since then the Mets used 40-year-old Miguel Batista on Tuesday, who pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and four runs in a Mets win. Mets manager Terry Collins has said that Batista will get at least one more start. With Chris Young at least a couple of weeks away before returning from injury, who is the pitcher to fill the fifth spot?
Meet Jeremy Hefner. Hefner was called for one game in late April, and pitched three innings, giving up three hits and a walk. Hefner, who is currently at AAA Buffalo, has started six games and is 3-1 with a 1.77 ERA. Hefner, 26, has pitched a total of 40 2/3 innings in those six starts, averaging about 6 2/3 innings per start. Furthermore, Hefner, has pitched a 0.91 WHIP, with 1.3 walks per nine innings. While Hefner only has 5.1 strikeouts per nine, he throws strikes, doesn’t walk people and keeps the ball on the ground.
So with Miguel Batista pitching mediocre ball and Chris Young at least a couple of weeks away, why not give Jeremy Hefner a look?
Is Phillies-Nationals The Next Great Baseball Rivalry?
After Phillies starter beaned Nationals phenom Bryce Harper in Sunday night’s win for Philadelphia, Cole Hamels admitted he hit Harper with a fastball on purpose, calling it his “welcome to the big leagues” moment. It was really the “welcome to the rivalry” moment for the Phillies and Nationals.
Both teams have more than its fare share of marketable stars. Philadelphia has Hamels, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Jonathan Papelbon and injured sluggers Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. Washington now has Harper, Stephen Strasburg, the injured Ryan Zimmerman and former Phillie Jayson Werth, who just broke his wrist on Sunday night. As you can see in this video, there’s now bad blood between the two clubs.
After the game, Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo then went off on Hamels to fan the flames of this newly kindled rivalry, as reported by the Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore.
Rizzo called Hamels “fake tough” and that was the nicest thing he said about the star southpaw. “I’ve never seen a more classless, gutless chicken shit act in my 30 years in baseball. Cole Hamels says he’s old school? He’s the polar opposite of old school. He’s fake tough. He thinks he’s going to intimidate us after hitting our 19-year rookie who’s eight games into the big leagues? He doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.”
Rizzo was not finished ranting on Hamels, perhaps igniting a heated rivalry between the two NL East teams: “He thinks he’s sending a message to us of being a tough guy. He’s sending the polar opposite message. He says he’s being honest; well, I’m being honest. It was a gutless chicken shit [bleeping] act. That was a fake-tough act. No one has ever accused Cole Hamels of being old school.”
Interestingly, Rizzo equated the Hamels beanball incident to the New Orleans Saints BountyGate incident with players trying to intentionally hurting players. “With all the bounty [stuff] going on in professional football, the commissioner better act with a purpose on this thing,” Rizzo said. “Players have a way of monitoring themselves. We’re not here to hit people and hurt people.”
Philadelphia and Washington next play May 21-23. Everyone is already marking their calendars for the next incarnation of baseball’s next big rivalry, but some aren’t sure that there’s enough winning involved to qualify as a rivalry. “Washington hasn’t proven anything yet,” says Pat Gallen, an editor at PhilliesNation.com and a radio and TV sports host.
With the Nats tied for the best record in the National League, perhaps it won’t be too long before Washington and Philadelphia becomes a top notch baseball rivalry according to everyone’s criteria.
Mariano Rivera Out With Torn ACL
Mariano Rivera is probably the best closer who ever lived. After a freak accident before Thursday’s game in Kansas City, the Yankees megastar reliever tore his ACL. His season, and possibly his career, is over.
Rivera was shagging fly balls during batting practice before the game against the Royals and twisted his knee chasing down a fly ball hit by Jason Nix. Here’s the video of what occurred.
MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch was first to report Rivera’s ACL injuryand Yankees Manager Joe Girardi confirmed the fateful news. “You lose a hall of famer … If thats what it is that’s as bad as it gets.”
Rivera has the all time major league saves record with 608. He also has finished the most games, 892, in baseball history. He has previously hinted at retirement after the season, and it is yet to be seen if he will try to come back to pitch the 2013 season.
David Robertson will likely close in Rivera’s stead, with Rafael Soriano and possibly Phil Hughes as his primary setup men.
