Poor Washington

Its one step forward and two steps back for the Washington Nationals right now.

Positives:
Strasburg is back from Tommy John surgery and is still lights out
Bryce Harper is playing well and has not been rattled by the media or the major leagues
They have the lowest starting pitching ERA in all of baseball
ESPN was in town last night to broadcast their game in prime time

Negatives:
Ryan Zimmerman has been on the DL
Michael Morse has yet to play in a game this season due to injury. He was arguably their best hitter last year.
Jayson Werth broke his left wrist last night and there is no timetable for his return
Although they were playing in prime time last night, the Phillies reigned supreme
Adam LaRoche has missed three of the last four games with injury

The Washington Nationals looked to be the real deal and it appeared to be their year to possibly make a run at the division title with the Phillies having injury problems of their own. Now both the Phils and Nats are both dealing with major injuries. Maybe the Nationals need to hire a new trainer.

Bartolo Colon: 38 consecutive strikes

Bartolo Colon, of the Oakland Athletics, threw 38 consecutive pitches for strikes last night against the Angels. That includes foul balls and ball that were put in play. That number is amazing and most guys would not be able to through that many strikes in the bull pen. That is incredible. I personally believe that this is more impressive than Cliff Lee and Matt Cain last night.

Lee pitched 10 innings and let up no earned runs. Cain was able to pitch 9 shutout innings. The unfortunate part of this story for them is that fact that Cain got a no decision out of it and even though Lee pitched 10 innings, he also got a no decision and his team lost. What does a guy have to do to win a game?

Colon was more impressive though because sometimes the call depends on the home plate umpire. To be pounding the zone like that explains why he was able to give his club a victory.



Jamie Moyer: Getting it done!

A 78 MPH fastball will win some games for you as long as you can locate it. Moyer, at the age of 49, has become the oldest pitcher to win a game in major league history. He has also faced 8.9% of all the batters in major league history, and that is a fact. Even taking into account players like Babe Ruth and the all time greats that played before he was born.

Its different to say that he one this game as a member of the Colorado Rockies and not the Philadelphia Phillies. This is an impressive accomplishment because the guy is almost 50 years old and he is still doing what he loves. Plus, it cannot be forgotten, that he is coming off Tommy John surgery.



Baseball news

Since the Mets and Phillies open up a three game series today, I have a bit of news from each team. Lets start with the Mets. To update a previous story about David Wright, doctors have cleared him to resume baseball activities. The Mets were 4 - 0 when he was in the line up and are 0 - 2 without him. The organization said that his status for the game will be decided at game time.

Now, on to the Phillies, Pat Burrell signed a one-day minor league contract with them and retired as a member of the Phils. He is fourth in team history in home runs, eighth in RBI's, and ninth in extra base hits. He will retire with two World Series rings to his name. One with the Phillies in 2008 and one with the Giants in 2010.



Mets Are Undefeated!

That's right, my New York Mets are undefeated four games through the season!

Fun Fact:
New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers: 7 - 1
Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies: 3 - 9

They moved the fences in at Citi Field and its their pitching that is winning them ball games. Here are the scores of their games:

vs. Atlanta: 1 - 0
vs. Atlanta: 4 - 2
vs. Atlanta: 7 - 5
vs. Washington: 4 - 3

Even in the game that was 7 - 5, Jonathon Niese took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.  Mike Pelfrey pitched decently well last night in their win over the Nationals. He was bending, but he never broke. He allowed 10 hits and walked only one batter. That turns out to be a WHIP of 1.94, which is a very high WHIP. Daniel Murphy, whose defense was being questioned, made a great diving play right behind second base to prevent the Nationals from scoring late in the game. He then came up and delivered the game winning hit, a line drive into right field. Mets fans left Citi Field chanting, "Undefeated! Undefeated!" showing that people are still excited about this team, which is what is needed after years of not being competitive.

Mets fans finally have a reason to smile.



Opening Day!

Its is finally here: Opening Day of 2012. Everyone starts out with hope and the promise of a fresh start. Fans get to see their old favorites return, young players grow and develop, the new faces in the lineup, the team chemistry. All of it comes out of this one day.

Its the one time of the year where the Pirates have the same record as the Yankees. Neither team is superior to one another on this day. Speaking of the Pirates, they start the season off by playing their in state rival, the Phillies. Jim Thome of the Phillies will be playing his first game at first base in numerous years after serving as a designated hitter in the American League.

The Mets get Johan Santana back after rehabing for a year and a half to recover from shoulder sugery. Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw are setting out to defend their Cy Young award. Prince Fielder gets to hit behind Miguel Cabrera and the two of them could be the most powerful duo in the game today.

No matter who you root for, their is nothing to dislike about the Opening Day in baseball.



More player rankings

There are 7 players, on this list of 15, that play for the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies. That is the reason why those three teams combined for a record of 289 - 197 in the 2011 season. The majority of the hitters on this list hit a lot of home runs.

In the list, there is a comment about Mariano Rivera and it basically says that he should not be ranked 12th and that the list must be a lifetime achievement award. Whoever said something so irrational, knows nothing about baseball. The guy has made himself a hall of fame career by using one pitch. Plus, the consistency you get from him is second to none. In my opinion, he is still the best closer in the game today.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7740099/ranking-top-500-major-league-baseball-players-2012-nos-11-25

Mariano Rivera.



Phillies Deteriorating?

Just a few years ago, there could have been a great argument made that the Philadelphia Phillies had the best infield in the entire league. Today though, the only healthy member of that very infield is Jimmy Rollins. At first base, their slugger Ryan Howard tore his achilles tendon getting out of the batter's box in their last game of the year and is still recovering from surgery. Chase Utley missed a good amount of games last season with injuries and has missed 46 spring training games in a row. Jimmy Rollins is healthy, but is still trying to prove that he can get the job done at shortstop for a team that wants to win a championship this year. Placido Polanco was the no doubt about it starter a few years ago, but like Rollins, he is running out gas.

The Phillies are still one of the best teams in the league, but with all the trades they have made to acquire their great rotation, it leads you to wonder what they will have in a few years. Most of their young prospects are now the young prospects of other teams. It will be interesting to see what their team is like in several years when father time catches up with their major pieces.

 

Spring Training Games Start Today

Its finally here! The first spring training game in between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Florida State Seminoles. The game means next to nothing and is not meant to be all that competitive. But think about this for a minute. If you were on the field playing against the Phillies and beat them, you could go the rest of your life saying that you beat the Philadelphia Phillies. That would be one of the coolest feelings in the world, even if it was only a spring training game.

Its not only fun and exciting for college teams, but its exciting for the major league clubs as well. You get to see all the pieces of your team working together. You get to see the improvement of your players. If you involved with fantasy baseball, you get to root for your players which makes the game even more fun. No matter how your involved in baseball, there is something to have fun with. That's why I love this game.

Members of the Grapefruit League.