What Carlos does when He Isn't Chatting on the Net

hat tip: hardball times

Who are These Guys?!?

Has the whole world turned upside down? Last night, Ronny Cedeno is taking pitches and hitting RBI singles, and today, he hit a clutch grand slam and got a curtain a curtain call! You got Felix Pie shortening his swing and hitting 3 run jacks. You got a 6.5 million dollar outfielder leading the bigs in pitches / plate appearance with an awesome OBP. You got Derrek Lee among the league leaders in OPS, and you got Aramis Ramirez on pace for 105 walks. A-Ram has a career high of 50 walks! Not to mention the favorable starts by Reed Johnson, Geovany Soto, and Ryan Dempster. How long can it last?!? Let the good times roll!!!

Mets game 1
Mets game 2
Ramirez Stats
Player Stats
Team Stats

The Sky is Falling

I know it's silly to get worried this early, but I heard a stat on the radio from this guy. If your team loses 7 of the first 10 games, they only have a 20% chance of finishing above .500. If your team wins 7 of the first 10, there's an 80% chance they'll be above .500. We've already lost 2! I do take solace in the fact we might not have to be .500 to win the division, but I'd sure like to see a few runs.

Scrawny Players

Roger is correct. By removing steroids from the game, we are turning these players into a bunch of scrawny weaklings. Take for example these 3 minor league prospects. I have studiously followed their careers since the late 1970's and have noticed striking changes in their physical appearance. Take note of the larger girth, bigger forearms and dare I say, larger heads! Stop the madness!

2nd Fiddle

Lou is experimenting with new lineups. He is batting Fonzy second to save his legs (less base stealing). I'm really unsure of the logic there, but that's for another post. I don't imagine it'll last long (unless the Brian Roberts trade goes through), but Soriano has already made it known that he's not happy. Alfonso Soriano doesn't like hitting with guys on base in front of him. What?!?!? No wonder he only knocked in 70 ribbis last year with a .560 slugging percentage. Guys on base throw him off his game:

"I never batted second in the big leagues, but the first at-bat was with somebody on base," said Soriano, who was 1-for-3. "I didn't feel very comfortable. But it's the first at-bat. I will have to make a couple little adjustments batting second because I never batted second."

You've got to be freakin' kidding me! I support this guy all the time when BudMan rips him. I know the contract is horrible, but now we've got him and he's our guy. He's not the best player in the league, but he's a really useful guy who does hit really well. But when he says something like this, I don't even know where to start. It bears mentioning that as a whole, hitters do better with men on base because of the pitcher throwing from the stretch and the guy holding the runner on, which opens up holes in the infield.