A very special episode of Growing Pains

In Mike Pelfrey's first two starts, he at least managed not to fall completely apart. There wasn't too much to be encouraged by beyond that, but for a guy only a year into his professional baseball career, it was something. Start number three did not even reach those lofty heights and the day may be approaching when the Mets have to reevaluate their short-term plans for their first round draft pick of two years ago.

The previously punchless Colorado Rockies came to life at the sight of Pelfrey's fastball on Thursday, pounding him for six runs on eight hits and one walk in three innings, knocking him out of the game before he even had a chance to bat. Pelfrey now has an ERA of 7.90 in 10.2 innings with six strikeouts, seven walks and two home runs allowed. He's given up a total of twenty hits. There's been a lot of talk from Mets announcers this year about Pelfrey choosing to pitch to contact and generate ground balls rather than going for strikeouts and, if this really is his intent, early on it looks to be about as good an idea as it sounds like. One of the differences between Pelfrey's time in the majors and his brief but excellent stint in the minors in 2005 is that in the minors he was striking out more than a batter per inning whereas in his major league career he's struck out exactly one batter per walk allowed. The Mets' infield defense may be very good, at least up the middle, but getting outs without having to rely on your defense is still a surer route to success if you can pull it off. These three starts don't provide a very large sample on which to judge these ideas, especially since Pelfrey got knocked out of each of them before the end of the sixth inning, but the early results are not encouraging. Pelfrey's still just twenty-three and has a history of success in college in the minors, but he may not be quite ready to dominate major league hitters. It would not be the first or even the five hundredth time that Spring Training success failed to mean a damn thing.

Pelfrey's pummeling could not quite erase the memory of the first two games of this series, each of which went rather well for the Mets. Games one and two featured excellent starting pitching performances, from John Maine and Orlando Hernandez, respectively. Each pitched at least seven innings with Maine allowing one run and Hernandez none. Maine got plenty of offensive support while El Duque had to settle for watching extra inning heroics from the bench. Jose Valentin and Carlos Delgado each homered in game one and Damion Easley provided a dramatic two-out, two-strike, game-tying blast in the bottom of the tenth inning of game two to set things up for the inevitable Endy Chavez-fueled victory. Scoring just thirteen runs in three and a third games against the Rockies' pitching staff is a bit of a letdown for the Mets' offense, but at least they escaped with a couple of wins.

The "teams they really ought to beat" segment of the first-place Mets' (13-7) schedule takes its show on the road this weekend as they make a stop in the NL East cellar to take on the Nationals (6-15). Oliver Perez (2-1, 3.31), Tom Glavine (3-1, 3.07) and Maine (3-0, 1.71) will start for the Mets as they try to improve upon the two-game split these teams battled to two weeks back at Shea. None of them pitched in that series. Neither did Matt Chico (1-2, 6.38), Jerome Williams (0-4, 7.77) nor Jason Bergmann (0-1, 3.27), who will take the hill for the Nats this weekend.

The new Fonz

Antonio Alfonseca, signed for $700K, at this point looks like a pretty good pickup by a guy who did nothing to improve the Phillies bullpen.

O's Keep Pace

The Baltimore Orioles are 11-9 through 20 games following an exhilarating 3 game sweep of the division rival Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend which they capitalized on immediately by dropping 2 straight to the Oakland A's. The O's remain 2 games back of Boston by virtue of the Red Sox sweep of the Yankees over the weekend followed by dropping 2 straight to Toronto.

The O's stand 3rd in the AL in pitching (ERA), 3rd in fielding (PCT) and 8th in hitting (AVG).

Their lofty standing in pitching is largely due to the bullpens' spectacular performance through 20 games. The starting pitching has been less than stellar, but has shown signs of strength. The O's just placed Scott Williamson on the DL with a right elbow problem. Could be the last we see of him.

O's fielding has tightened up since the opening week of the season standing at 12 errors committed through 20 games after committing 8 errors through 9 games.

O's hitting has been sporadic thus far. They've beaten a few left handers which is good, but they haven't beaten any pitchers who have pitched well. I don't know if you can fashion a winning record over the long haul by only beating lousy pitchers or good pitchers who have an off game. On the up side, Jay Payton is off the DL and having a good start. Ramon Hernandez is due to be available for today's game against Boston. Getting these two guys active significantly improves both the offense and defense.

The O's are 7-2 in the AL East.

So, it's Orioles vs. Red Sox in a 2 game set for AL East Supremacy! (of the first 22 games).

Division wars

The Tigers face Chicago (twice) and the Twins (thrice) over the next 5 days. I hope Detroit can get at least one in Chitown; with Chad Durbin pitching tonight, the better shot is tomorrow with Nate Robertson on the hill.

Here is how tough the Minnesota series could be: Johan Santana has the worst ERA of the three starters the Twins will send out. Ramon Ortiz (2.48) and Carlos Silva (2.74) will toss the first two games before Santana (3.44) meets Jeremy Bonderman in the finale. On the bright side, two of the Tigers' starters -- Justin Verlander (2.08) and Bonderman (3.18) have lower ERAs than their opponents.

Beyond that, Detroit just needs Craig Monroe, Brandon Inge and Todd Jones to get straightened out. Given the Tigers' starting pitching depth, I wonder how long GM Dave Dombrowski will wait to explore trade possibilities. Dombrowski will look to improve this team, I'm sure. It's too early to panic, but as tough as the AL Central is, one can't afford to wait too long.

The season in a game

The Tigers' 9-8 loss at Anaheim today was a microcosm of the season. Jeremy Bonderman continued his habit of giving up first-inning runs, getting touched for 4; Detroit showed its resilience by rallying late, taking an 8-7 lead on Magglio Ordonez's 2-run homer in the 9th; the bullpen collapsed and couldn't make it stand.

At least the Tigers got a split. Now it's time to tangle with the White Sox again.

Swinging

Detroit pounded Jered Weaver in a 9-5 win last night. Curtis Granderson hit Weaver's first pitch for a home run, and the rout was on. Gary Sheffield got his stroke going with a 2-for-4 effort that included two runs, an RBI and a walk. Surprisingly, the only Tiger among the top six in the lineup not to have a multi-hit game was Placido Polanco, who was hitless. Granderson, Sheff, Maggs, Guillen and Pudge all came through. Casey, Monroe and Inge went 0-for-11 at the bottom of the lineup as their woes continue.

Mike Maroth could only go 4.2 innings as he struggled with his control. He gave up 5 walks and 7 hits while yielding three runs (two earned) on 105 pitches. Jason Grilli got the win with 2.1 innings of no-hit relief.

Go west

The Tigers go to Anaheim for a two-game West Coast swing. Mike Maroth faces Jered Weaver in tonight’s contest.

Detroit is 3-0 in Maroth’s starts this year, even though Maroth has been inconsistent, at best. He doesn’t throw hard or strikeout many batters, so he usually gives up his share of hits, but this year opponents are batting .328 against him. Still, Maroth missed most of last year because of elbow surgery, so he might just need a little more time to put it all together. He was the Tigers best pitcher last April. Weaver has made only one start this year because of bicep tendonitis.

Tomorrow, the snake-bitten Jeremy Bonderman faces Kelvim Escobar. Bonderman has been brilliant, especially when he gets past the first inning. Escobar will be coming off the DL to pitch Tuesday. Normally, I’d say this gives the Tigers an edge, but Escobar is 8-0 with a 2.10 ERA in his career vs. Detroit.

Memories

Sports Illustrated recently had a feature about Chris Drury of the Buffalo Sabres, and what makes him a winner. I had the pleasure of covering Drury in the 1989 Little League World Series when his Trumbull, Conn., upset Taiwan for the title. It was the first LLWS I covered. The SI story talks about what a fierce competitor Drury is, and I saw it firsthand.

One day, I was chatting with Chris while Taiwan was playing one of its mid-week games. The conversation turned to the Taiwanese. Chris, gazing at them from atop the hill behind centerfield at the LLWS complex, commented with absolute disdain, "They think they're going to win. F*ck them." There was no false bravado in his voice, just honest confidence.

At that moment, I believed Trumbull had a chance. When I reported to others in the press section that I thought Trumbull could win it all, it was dismissed as the thoughts of a rookie reporter who didn't understand the Taiwan machine.

Chris has been one of my favorite athletes since that day on the hill.

The Braves? Again?

The Mets' offense remained hot over the last five games, putting thirty-six runs on the board against the Marlins and Braves, even smacking around Dontrelle Willis and John Smoltz along the way. They were able to take two games in Florida with relative ease, but bad defense and relief pitching allowed Atlanta to win two of three at Shea. At least the starting pitching was pretty good.

John Maine and Orlando Hernandez both pitched well in Florida, each allowing two runs in seven innings. Maine continued to walk too many batters, four this time, but he also struck out seven, which, along with allowing just two hits, helped him get away with it. El Duque, meanwhile, fanned ten, allowed just three hits and two walks, and would have allowed only one run if not for a David Wright error.

The worst start this time through the rotation belonged to Mike Pelfrey, who gave up four runs in five innings on six hits and two walks, while striking out three. He also hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. Pelfrey hasn't been completely embarrassed in either of his first two starts, but he's clearly got a lot of work to do before he'll be a dependable piece of this rotation. But the Mets' offense and the rest of the rotation is good enough to let him work through his issues at the major league level for at least a little while longer and it's not as if any of the possible replacements at AAA are very enticing.

On the subject of working through issues, Oliver Perez bounced back with a terrific performance on Saturday. He lasted six and two-thirds innings and gave up two runs on nine hits but the real story was how consistently he was hitting the strike zone. He struck out nine and walked none, throwing 72 of 98 pitches over the plate between the letters and the knees. Proclaiming him cured now would make about as much sense as writing him off after his last start, but I'm back to being excited by his potential.

The more dependable but less spectacular Tom Glavine took the mound on Sunday and would've had career win number 294 if not for a spectacular collapse on the part of the Mets' bullpen and defense. Glavine gave up three runs on seven hits in six innings, striking out five. He wasn't dominant, but he left the game with a three-run lead. With two outs in the seventh, the Mets' lead was still 6-3, but then a long fly ball to right field found the glove of Shawn Green shortly after which it found the ground below the glove of Shawn Green, opening the door to a Scott Schoenweis-fueled three-run inning. Green's play was not ruled an error, but the ball that bounced between Jose Valentin's legs at the start of a three-run eighth inning was. Aaron Heilman didn't do any better a job limiting the damage than did Schoenweis. Willie Randolph still seems to be figuring out what he's got as far as the bullpen is concerned. Hopefully he'll be able to discern the difference between Heilmand having a bad day and Schoeneweis pitching like Schoeneweis.

While Green playing defense badly is no more surprising than Schoenweis failing to record outs, it is hard for me to campaign for the Met right fielder's benching when he's hitting as well as he is. He homered on Friday and Sunday, giving him three home runs on the season, or three more than David Wright and Carlos Delgado have combined. Green is hitting .338/.411/.569 on the season, which is probably enough to make his avant-garde interpretation of the position of right fielder tolerable.

Of course, the Mets' offense isn't entirely the Shawn Green show. Jose Reyes (.370/.452/.644) and Carlos Beltran (.357/.420/.671) remain unstoppable and Ramon Castro made the most of some playing time this week, hitting his second and third home runs of the year, putting him at .353/.450/.882 while Paul Lo Duca struggles at .245/.317/.321. Wright (.273/.348/.368) isn't hitting for any power and Delgado (.211/.268/.278) isn't hitting at all, but after just seventeen games with plenty of guys picking up the slack, I'm not ready to panic just yet.

Up next the Mets (11-6) will host the Rockies (8-11) for three games. Maine (2-0, 1.93), Hernandez (2-1, 3.24) and Pelfrey (0-1, 5.06) are the scheduled starters for the Mets. Taylor Buchholz (1-0, 5.68), Aaron Cook (0-1, 4.00) and Josh Fogg (0-1, 6.61) will start for Colorado. Presumably the Mets' offense will make them feel at home.

Pluses and minuses

After seeing the Tigers lose the first two to Chicago, I'm thrilled to get one of the series. Marcus Thames hit a 2-run homer with 2 outs in the 9th to force extra innings today and Placido Polanco won it with a single in the 12th.

On the down side, Detroit is still struggling with the bats and the bullpen continues to be shaky. Thames, Craig Monroe, Sean Casey, Brandon Inge and Gary Sheffield all are hitting below .187. The pen's ERA is 4.78 and fourth-worst in the bigs.

On the bright side, the Tigs are 10-8 despite these woes. Detroit has won four games this season in which it trailed in the 9th. Only one loss has been by more than 2 runs and the Tigers have led or been tied after 6 inning in each of their last five setbacks. The starters, for the most part, have been solid to outstanding.

If the bats come to life, which would seem a reasonable expectation, and the pen, particularly Fernando Rodney, regains its form, Detroit will be in excellent shape. Rodney's woes have been blamed, in part, on a sore neck.

Maybe the Tigers are lucky to be 10-8 when they easily could be 6-12. Maybe the AL Central is lucky they're struggling when they could be 15-3. They're not playing like a top team right now, but they're grinding out wins, and that's probably the biggest positive so far.

Here come the Sox

The Tigers begin a 3-game series with the White Sox tonight; a clash between the AL's last two World Series reps. Chad Durbin faces John Danks in the opener, followed by Nate Robertson vs. Jose Contreras and Justin Verlander vs. Jon Garland.

Durbin has given up 17 hits in 8.2 innings, indicating he’s been spending too much time around Jose Mesa. Danks is a lefty, which should be to the Tigers’ advantage with right-handed bats like Pudge, Sheff, Maggs, Monroe, Thames, and Inge. I’d feel better if some of those guys were hitting better at the moment.

Robertson and Verlander went a combined 1-7 vs. CWS last season. We might get a small indication whether Robertson’s success through the early part of this year represents a step up. Contreras seems to pitch well in Motown (3.35 ERA).

Chicago has won two in a row, including Mark Buehrle’s no-no, heading into this series. The Tigers were last seen watching the bullpen spoil Jeremy Bonderman’s day. If Detroit wins 2 in this series, I’d be thrilled.

My, my Myers

From the way some people are reacting, you'd think the Phillies moved Koufax into the bullpen. Brett Myers is a good starting pitcher. He's 54-42 with a 4.42 ERA. I have doubts he was ever going to live up to his projected status as a No. 1.

Granted, he's only 26. But this is full season 5 in the bigs, and he's regressed since 2005. Putting Myers in the bullpen seems to make sense because of his demeanor and his numbers. Over the course of his career, Myers has held batters to an average of .253 on pitches 1-15, .258 on 16-30, .225 on 31-45, .288 on 46-60, .275 on 61-75, .275 on 76-90 and .279 on 91-105. Clearly, he's at his best on pitches 1-45. Last season mirrored his career: .223 on 1-15, .243 on 16-30, .216 on 31-45, .275 on 46-60, .242 on 61-75, .324 on 76-90 and .293 on 91-105.

I would think Myers will be the future closer. That suits me fine.

This is all possible because Jon Lieber is still around. People have said Eaton should have been the one to go to the pen, not Lieber, but I heard Gillick explain that Eaton is a slow starter, which isn't the kind of pitcher you want coming out of the pen. The numbers back that statement up: Eaton is best on pitches 31-76.

Another thing, Eaton's career record of 55-46 and 4.45 ERA isn't much different from Myers' record in virtually the same number of games.

Standing up

Jeremy Bonderman pointed the finger after yesterday's disappointing loss to KC, but only at himself. Todd Jones apologized to everyone and says he probably ruined their off day today.

What a waste

I can't say I'd blame Jeremy Bonderman if he tore up the Tigers clubhouse today. Todd Jones blows his first save of the year, at JB's expense. Not that I'm going to be tough on Jonesy after going 7-for-7 to open the campaign, but it's another great effort from JB and nothing to show for it. Not only will Bonderman register his fourth no decision in four starts this season, Detroit will fall to 1-3 in his starts (unless there is a rally in the bottom of the 10th). This for a man who has given up 18 hits and 4 runs in his last 27 IP.

Phalling phlat

I haven't thought much about this, but the thought I have given leads me to this: The Phils have to be the strangest team in MLB. How can a team that's No. 1 in OBP in the NL and No. 3 in OPS have so much trouble scoring runs? Obviously, Utley and Howard going 5-for-32 is a factor. But you'd still think they could produce a little something.

I'm a little concerned about Howard. I was suspicious of him entering last year, and his performance got me to change my mind. Now I'm hoping last year wasn't the irregularity.

Unless things change quickly, I'd say Charlie Manuel has to go. I'm not blaming Charlie. In fact, I've always defended Charlie (and would have helped pay whatever fines would have come as a result of punching Howard Eskin). But the Phils are in need of a shakeup. This would basically send this message to the players: Look at what you did to the manager you (supposedly) loved playing for.

Having been an assistant women's college basketball coach for two years, I think the strategy aspects get overblown to some extent. Charlie might not be a tactician, but I do think he is great at working with personalities. That's what the game really is about these days. Jim Leyland's performance last year would be another example.

Of course, great pitching helps, too. The Phils' pitching is last in ERA, last in opposing BA, last in OPS allowed, and second-to-last in pitches per inning. On the bright side, Brett Myers says he's fixed a flaw in his delivery that will benefit his fastball. We'll see.

Let's hear it for Global Colding

The Baltimore Orioles are 1-4 in games contested at room temperature and 6-3 in games contested at a temperature below 50 degrees. Given the likelihood that the O's have seen the last of cold weather games (they're indoors at Tampa Bay now and head to Toronto next), I hope this is not a telling observation.

At least the Phillies can look forward to a good draft pick next year

It seems only Mother Nature can prevent the Mets from beating the Phillies because the Phillies themselves aren't much good at it. After two days and two nights of rain, the Mets saw the light and the light's name was Freddy Garcia. A thirteen-hit attack led by Moises Alou combined with solid pitching and good defense to give the Mets their third win in four games against the NL East favorites.

Five Mets had two hits each including Alou, both of whose were home runs. Jose Valentin had a pair of doubles and Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran each stole two bases, though Reyes was picked off of second base once. The Mets also drew six walks, two of which were intentional. Paul Lo Duca had to leave the game after taking a foul ball to his bare hand, but it is apparently nothing serious and Ramon Castro went two-for-two with a walk in his absence.

Despite the offensive outburst, Tom Glavine didn't exactly have an easy road to win number 293. He allowed just one run in six innings, but six hits and five walks meant he needed a lot help from his defense to keep the Phillies from crossing the plate. The infield obliged by turning three double plays, raising their league-leading total to twenty-one for the year. They probably can't keep up this ridiculous pace all year, but then they'll probably stop walking a batter every other inning at some point, too.

Up next, the Mets (8-4) head to Florida to face the Marlins (6-7) for a pair. John Maine (1-0, 1.54) and Orlando Hernandez (1-1, 4.00) will start for the Mets. The Marlins will send out starters from both ends of the "people you've heard of" spectrum with Dontrelle Willis (3-0, 3.32) going in game one and Rick Vanden Hurk (0-0, 3.86) taking game two. Maine and Hernandez have both struggled somewhat in limited career action against the fish, with ERAs of 4.50 and 5.19, respectively. Willis, of course, is 11-2 with a 2.02 ERA against the Mets. Vanden Hurk , on the other hand, had never pitched above A-ball prior to this year and has yet to record a decision in a professional baseball game. I would imagine his parents are still very proud of him.

Speak softly ...

Placido Polanco's big stick keeps thundering. Polly tripled, homered, scored three runs and drove in the game-winner with 2 outs in the 8th to lift the Tigers to a 7-6 win tonight over the Royals. Detroit blew a 5-2 lead as KC rallied for a 6-5 edge, but the Kitties kept clawing.

Maggs had 3 hits and 3 RBI while Marcus Thames homered. Sheffield's RBI double, scoring Polanco, tied the score at 6 in the 7th.

But back to our man, Polly. At the plate in the eighth, Tigs color analyst Rod Allen noted that since the start of the 2005 season, Polanco leads all active players with a .388 average with men in scoring position. One pitch later, Polanco lashed a single to drive home Infante with the winning run.

Polly batted .396 in 96 AB with RISP in 2006 and .380 in 100 AB in 2005.

To your health

This from the Detroit News:

Marcus Thames is over the flu, but it spread to the coaching staff. Rafael Belliard and Andy Van Slyke were suffering from it.

The cause, according to (Jim) Leyland? "None of them smoke."

Pudge is phat

Pudge hit a grand slam off Zack Greinke last night for his third homer of the year. All 3 have come vs. Kansas City. This shouldn't be much of a surprise. Lifetime, Pudge has played 154 games against the Royals. In 589 at-bats he's got 210 hits (.357), 48 doubles, 21 homers, and 101 RBI. He's got a .956 career OPS vs. KC, his second best against any AL team; he's got a 1.031 mark vs. Tampa Bay.

The Tigers turned last night's game into their first lopsided win, but not before Jose Mesa spoiled what should have been an easy night for the bullpen. Mesa has been a train wreck. He's given up 2 runs in 3 of 4 appearances, twice only getting one out. Opposing hitters are batting .467 off Mesa. I don't know if they could do any better hitting off a tee, which might be a better way to go for Detroit.

Take me out to the Ballgame (redux)

The O's Sam Perlozzo and Royals Buddy Bell exchange lineup cards prior to their April 12th tilt. Picture was taken with a Motorola Razr cell phone camera.

Royal treatment

Detroit got a split in Toronto, although that seems disappointing now after having the chance to take 3. The bats continue to sputter, seeming to do just enough, or not just enough. The Tigers have scored 10 runs twice this year, in 10-9 and 10-7 wins. They've scored two or fewer runs on four occasions, losing 3-1, 6-2, 2-1 and 2-1. In between are 6-5, 3-2, 3-1, 4-1, and 5-4 wins and a 5-3 loss. On the bright side, they're in every game. On the down side, so are their foes.

Kansas City comes to Comerica for 3 games now. The Tigs will send out Verlander, Maroth and Bonderman, which should lead to positive results, especially if Detroit would hit for Bonderman they way it does for Maroth.

The Royals counter with Zack Greinke, Jorge DeLaRosa and Gil Meche, which are their 3 top arms. Greinke is a Tiger killer: 6-1 with a 2.08 ERA in nine career appearances against the Tigers, and 4-1 with a 2.54 ERA at Comerica. He probably will get locked into one of those 2-1 type games with Verlander, who has had success against KC.

DeLaRosa baffled the Tigers earlier this season. Meche got hit by Detroit earlier this year, but has been good since. But the way Bonderman is pitching he'll need to be great.

Detroit should take 2; I hate to be greedy and ask for a sweep. If the Tigers can win 2, they would be on pace to win 97 games, which is terrific for a team that's batting .229 and slugging .357.

A little momentum for the White Sox series would be nice.

Get him in the first

Jeremy Bonderman has given up 6 runs in 3 starts this year, with 5 coming in the first inning. That makes his first-inning ERA 15.00 and his ERA 0.50 the rest of the way. Lifetime, Bonderman has yielded 88 runs on pitches 1-15 and given up a .316 batting average. The span represents 100 innings.

Learn to speak Canadian

Main Entry: ¹hal-la-day
Pronunciation: 'how-l&-"dA, Britain usually 'hä-l&-dE
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hAligdæg, from hAlig holy + dæg day
1 : HOLY DAY
2 : a day on which one is exempt from work; specifically : a day marked by a general suspension of work in commemoration of an event
3 chiefly British : VACATION -- often used in the phrase on holiday (sic); often used in plural
4 : a period of exemption or relief
5 :chiefly Canadian : every fifth day from April through September

Usage: The Blue Jays bullpen celebrated the Halladay by watching a ballgame.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

My 25 yr. old nephew says he knows Mike Flanagan (O's EVP, Baseball Operations, '79 Cy Young Award, etc...). Claims he met him in a restaurant and then Mike Flanagan bought him lunch. My nephew took me to the ballgame last night. Section 38 is behind home plate, Row CC is 8 rows deep and Seat 4 is behind the right handed batters box.

Maybe this is what Jimmy Rollins meant by "the team to beat"

The Mets took Rollins up on his offer in two out of three games despite less than stellar starting pitching. On Monday a Rollins error opened the door for the Mets to take batting practice against the Phillies' bullpen in a seven-run eighth inning. Overall they scored eleven runs despite just one extra base hit. Wednesday's game saw Adam Eaton somehow hold them to just two runs on four hits and three walks over seven innings. The bats showed signs of life on Thursday scoring five runs on nine hits including two doubles and a triple. The New York offense leads the National League with 54 runs scored through nine games.

The Mets have allowed the second fewest runs in the league, 23, but this series was not a great one for their starters. On Monday John Maine had to be removed with two outs in the fifth inning having already allowed five hits and six walks, though he was wily enough to limit the Phillies to just two runs. Oliver Perez was not so wily on Wednesday, walking seven in two and two-thirds innings, giving up three runs despite allowing just one hit. Tom Glavine's trademark craftiness could not quite overcome the cold, windy conditions at Shea on Thursday as he gave up three runs on three walks and four hits, including two Rollins home runs, in six innings.

Perez's meltdown is obviously the most troubling of the three. He pitched a good first inning before completely losing his control in the second inning. Perez has had outings like this before, for example last June 23rd when he walked seven in three and two-thirds innings. Last April he walked five batters in a start shorter than five innings twice. There's no reason to think that this disaster will completely shatter his confidence and ruin him forever. It's disappointing after his good spring and excellent first start to see that he may still be the same guy he was the last two years.

The leisurely pace of these first two weeks is about to speed up as the second-place Mets (6-3) don't have another day in the next fortnight. Luckily they get to ease into this stretch with a series at home against the Nationals (2-8). Mike Pelfrey (2-1, 5.48 in 2006) will be called up to make his season debut on Friday. He will be opposed by the theoretical ace of the Nats, John Patterson (0-2, 9.35). Patterson has a career 5.18 ERA against the Mets in twelve starts, having allowed fourteen home runs in 64.1 innings.

Orlando Hernandez (1-0, 1.38) will start Saturday afternoon's game for the Mets. El Duque has been quite successful thus far despite a K:BB ratio of 6:6 and two home runs allowed in thirteen innings. Shawn Hill (0-2, 3.09) will go for Washington. Given that this game will start at 1:10 on a day when Fox is showing games around four, I expect to have some trouble watching it on MLB.TV.

John Maine (1-0, 1.54) will try to rebound from his rough second start on Sunday with the aid of a very beatable opposing offense. Rookie Matt Chico (0-1, 7.27) will see if he can get the Mets out after not having much luck against the Marlins or Braves.

Walk on the wild side

I guess the Phils literally did so last night, thanks to Oliver Perez. It's almost unbelievable you could go oh-fer with the bases loaded, yet still score 3 runs in those situations. Since our resident Phillies expert is too busy studying and trying to stay on the Dean's List, I'll say it for him: Woo hoo!

While I have the stage, one thing that irks me is when people criticize a GM for his failure to make moves, yet don't provide examples of what should have been done. Phil Sheridan in today's Philly Inquirer states "Gillick did too little in the off-season to fix the bullpen." That's all. But what were his shortcomings? Failing to offer Jose Mesa more than the $2.5 million he got from Detroit? Not giving Roberto Hernandez or LaTroy Hawkins more than $3.5 million they got from Cleveland and Colorado, respectively?

There's no help out there. Anyone that is any good got mad deals, like Jamie Walker picking up $12 million for 3 years. I love Jamie Walker and he was a great Tiger, but you can't give him 3 years at this point. Danys Baez, who blew 16 saves last year and 8 the previous season, got $19 million for 3 years.

More than likely Gillick acted responsibly rather than ineffectively.

Heading north

Thanks to Craig Monroe's slam, the Tigers win another series, 2-1. Verlander gave another solid performance, much like the other guys -- Bonderman and Robertson -- at the top of the rotation. So far that troika has tossed 38 innings, giving up 28 hits and 14 walks while striking out 29 and posting a 1.66 ERA.

Now it's off to Toronto for a 4-game set. I'd be happy with a split here. Mike Maroth faces Tomo Ohka tonight and a victory would be nice. Tomorrow night is one of those "worth the price of admission" matchups: Bonderman vs. Halladay. Chad Durbin squares off against A.J. Burnett on Saturday and Robertson faces Josh Towers in the finale.

On paper, it's clear why it would be helpful for Maroth to win tonight. As good as Bonderman is, you have to give Halladay the edge tomorrow and Burnett a big advantage against Durbin. We like Robertson vs. Towers. Of course, predicting baseball games is probably the most difficult proposition out there, so who knows.

The Tigers are tied with Minnesota for first place in the AL Central.

Polly 3, Orioles 1

The Detroit players and manager were singing the praises of Placido Polanco after last night's game. Polly forced a poor throw on what should have been an inning-ending double play, allowing 2 runs to score. He had a sacrifice fly to give the Tigers a cushion in the eighth. Then he made a diving stop and threw out Nick Markakis to end the game with Tejada on deck.

"He is my favorite player," winning pitcher Nate Robertson said. Nate gave a pretty impressive performance, himself, and like Polly might be vastly underrated/underappreciated. I was down on him earlier in his career, I admit it. But this guy is turning into an above-average starter, and he works fast, too.

Leyland on Polanco: "He's an excellent, excellent major league player. He's the total baseball player. He's more talented than most people think."

If you want a ring, go to Helen Hunt for it

During last night's Orioles vs. Tigers broadcast, they showed a picture of the Tigers AL championship rings (which they'd just received). Gary Thorne and Jim Palmer (Orioles talking heads) discussed the stunning beauty of the ring and commented on the great season the Tigers completed in 2006, etc....

Then Gary Thorne asked Palmer how the Tigers 2006 AL Championship ring compared to his rings. Palmer claimed that the Tigers ring was much better because he did not have any AL Championship rings. That's right. None.

Jim Palmer was a member of 6 AL Champion Orioles teams in his career ('66, '69', '70, '71, '79, '83) and no Oriole received a ring for any of those titles. Palmer and the rest do have 3 World Series Championship rings ('66, '70, '83).

Fred Lynn going to Hall

Fred Lynn, who holds the honor of being my favorite player of all time, was among those elected today to the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

I don't recall how Lynn became my favorite player. It most likely had something to do with the fact I was 9 when he was ROY/MVP and the Red Sox were probably frequently on Game of the Week. Maybe it was because he was originally drafted by the Yankees, but didn't sign. (Which I had no knowledge of at the time, but could have perhaps sensed.)

I do remember trying to run and carry my glove like him while patrolling the outfield as a Little League player. I also remember This Week in Baseball closed its show every week with a clip of Lynn leaping over a wall to take a homer away from (I believe) Dan Ford. I used to recreate that catch in the backyard all the time.

Here's a note on Lynn from the story about his election to the Hall: Lynn batted .320 with 28 home runs and 111 RBIs, and helped USC win three consecutive College World Series from 1971-73. He went on to become the American League MVP and Rookie of the Year in 1975, a nine-time All-Star, a four-time Gold Glove winner and the All-Star game MVP in 1983, when he hit the first grand slam in the midsummer classic.

Not mentioned above, Lynn also was the 1982 ALCS MVP even though his Angels lost the series to the Brewers. Lynn was merely 11 of 18 in the five-game set. In 1985, Lynn was the 10th highest-paid player in the game, making a whopping $1.09 million.

I always wonder how great he could have been if not losing so many battles with outfield walls. In 1979, Lynn batted .333-39-122 with 116 R. He led the AL in BA, OBP (.423) and SLG (.637). He finished fourth in the MVP voting and didn't get a single first-place vote, probably because teammate Jim Rice was fifth in the MVP balloting.

Wanted: Baserunners

Detroit is off to a sluggish 3-3 start, and it could be worse if not for Pudge's homer Sunday in KC. Brandon Inge is still looking for his first hit of the season and the team overall is struggling at the plate, batting just .231. Only Polanco, Pudge and Granderson are hitting over .238.

But, it's only 6 games into the season, so it's far too soon to start getting antsy. If the Tigs can go 3-3 while batting .231, I guess that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I expected to find Detroit struggling with men in scoring position, but found the opposite -- also a good sign. The Tigers rank sixth in the AL in OPS (.781), BA (.279) and R (20) with men in scoring position.

What they need, though, is more of those chances. Detroit ranked 11th in AB (43) with men in scoring position; it might have been worse if Seattle and Cleveland actually got to play some baseball last week.

Millar time

Kevin Millar signs autographs during spring training in Fort Lauderdale. Fans in the centerfield and rightfield bleachers took delight in referring to Millar as "Nature Boy" Ric Flair while he was doing his running out there. (The term "running" being used loosely.) Millar responded by flexing.

Curse the Red Sox

Kevin Millar homered yesterday for the Orioles for the 2nd consecutive game. As he rounded the bases, it occurred to me - the Red Sox left Millar get away and they haven't been back to the World Series since!

If it's April 9

The Phillies must be 1-6.

The Kruker said on Baseball Tonight that Philadelphia is one of the worst fundamental teams in the game. "There's not a lot of things they do right," he stated.

Hard to get much debate here.

Apologies to Daniel

I posted below that Daniel Cabrera never went a game without allowing a walk in his major league career. I was wrong. He had done it once. The date was June 5, 2005.

Against Detroit.

Sigh.

So much for patience

After praising the Tigers for their improved base-on-balls rate, they fail to pick up a free pass from Daniel Cabrera! Heretofore, this was thought impossible.

Do you know when Cabrera last pitched a game without giving up a walk? Me either, because it's never happened during his major league career, which dates back to 2004. He's averaged 5.5 BB/9 IP lifetime.

Meanwhile, Chad Durbin, who moved into the rotation because of Kenny Rogers' injury, lived up to his past performances. He gave up 6 ER. Rogers only once last year gave up 6 or more runs in a start, so Chad's gonna have to buckle down from here.

Somewhere I read that Chad Durbin is healthy this season for the first time in a while; which, was followed by the statement that a healthy Chad Durbin is still Chad Durbin.

Sock it to me

A-Rod off to a good start in NY? Gotta be the shoes. No -- wait -- look just a little higher. Then look at pictures of A-Rod from 2006.

Patience

There was talk during spring training that Gary Sheffield's arrival already was having a positive effect on the Tigers at the plate in terms of drawing more walks and working deeper into counts. So far, in the regular season, Detroit is averaging 4.20 walks per game, up from 2.65 in 2006. The strikeouts are down slightly, from 6.99 to 6.80.

Stealing a series

The Tigers escaped KC with 2 out of 3 thanks to Pudge blasting a 3-run dinger in the 9th today. Maggs started the rally with a double, Guillen walked and Pudge homered. Apparently, the Royals thought Pudge might be bunting and Riske grooved a high fastball that Pudge destroyed.

Detroit got very little going against Brandon Duckworth in the first six-plus innings. They started to show some life in the seventh and eighth, but were unable to score. Bonderman gave up another first-inning run, but pitched well overall for the Tigs.

Yesterday, Maroth didn't pitch great, but got the win, which was nice. Granderson, Pudge and Sheff homered.

KC isn't an awful team. The Royals went 46-53 over their last 99 games last season and have some good young talent. Mark Teahen looks legit and if super rookie Alex Gordon starts hitting, they could give teams trouble. Of course, the pitching is suspect, which probably will keep them from being better than 70-75 win team.

Next stop, Baltimore.

Wishful thinking

The Orioles rebounded from yesterday's stunning 10-7 loss to the Yankees with a 6-4 victory today to win 2 of the 3 game road series.

Erik Bedard pitched 7 innings for the O's (7 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 5 K) allowing 3 earned runs in the bottom of the 1st and scattering two singles in innings 2 through 7. The bullpen got nicked for a run in the 8th following a leadoff triple by Johnny Damon.

For the first time in the 2007 campaign, O's defenders played the entire game without committing an error.

A 2 run home run by Kevin Millar and a 3 run shot by Paul Bako highlighted the O's offense.

The O's record is 2-4 in the first six games, all on the road, against the defending Central Division champion Twins and the defending East Division champion Yankees. They now go home to Baltimore and take on the defending American League champion Tigers in a 3 game set.

Thru the 1st week of the season, the O's stand 12th in the AL in hitting, 13th in pitching and 13th in fielding.

If only the pitching and fielding were as good as the hitting....

Maybe if they set the Cuyahoga ablaze

"Like all things current, cool and hip, global warming hasn't yet reached Cleveland."

- ESPN Talking Head reporting on the Cleveland Indians home opener against Seattle, which saw a temperature of 30 degrees and a snowstorm which delayed and eventually postponed the game.

Pen woes

The Tigers bullpen was a key to their success last season, but so far in 3 games has been largely ineffective. Detroit's relievers have given up 11 runs in the Tigs' 1-2 start. Tonight, 40-year-old Jose Mesa got rocked in his debut after missing two games because of a suspension. He gave up a double, triple and single to take the loss in the 3-1 setback in Kansas City.

Detroit was 9-0 in KC last year.

Justin Verlander only gave up two hits and an unearned run in six innings for the Tigers, but struggled with his control. He gave up five walks, all during a two inning span. Most of the trouble came with his curveball, which seems to be the problem he had in spring training. The good news is there's no trouble with his velocity; he hit 100 a few times and was in the high 90s when he needed to dial it up.

The Tigers bats were also ineffective tonight against Jorge DeLaRosa, he of the 5.88 career ERA. Of course, it was a brutal night for hitting -- windy and cold.

Hopefully, Detroit will heat up with the weather.

Walk the walk

Of course, it's not even a week into the season, but right now Jimmy Rollins' assertions that the Phils are the team to beat in the NL East look silly. (If you didn't think that already.)

The Mets go to St. Louis and smack the Cards around to the tune of 20-2 in 3 games while the Phillies have managed to run and relief pitch themselves out of two wins vs. the Braves. With the concerns surrounding the Philly bullpen, this might not be an apparition.

Defense rests

It was pretty nice to read how fired up the fans were in Detroit for Opening Day. Even the players have been impressed with the love being shown. Sure, things didn't go the way we'd hoped yesterday, but overall it was a good day. Now, it's time to move on and focus on this year.

I liked Charlie Manuel batting Victorino in the 2 spot with Howard 3 and Utley 4. I'd think that's certainly the way to go against right-handers. Of course, Victorino has got to produce to make it worthwhile.

Stanley mentioned defense in his post today. Last Friday, I bought the Baseball Prospectus in the hopes of understanding this sabermetric stuff. Anyway, I started looking at their defensive ratings and noticed some interesting things.

First, the Tigers, not surprisingly, rated well. Sean Casey was a -2 in 46 games at 1B (-2 means he allowed 2 more runs than the "average" 1B over 46 full games, which was what Casey played for Detroit after arrriving via trade). Placido Polanco was +7 in 106 games at 2B (which means he saved 7 runs over the "average" 2B), Carlos Guillen was -11 in 138 games at SS, and Brandon Inge was +22 in 156 games at 3B.

Craig Monroe was -1 in 104 games in LF, Curtis Granderson was +19 in CF over 147 games, and Magglio Ordonez was -4 in 142 games in RF. Pudge was +16 in 118 games behind the plate.

So, up the middle the Tigers were +16 with Pudge, +7 with Polly, -11 with Guillen and +19 with Granderson. Other than Guillen's number (and he was +2 in 2005 and +15 in 2004), those are some very good figures. And no one at any position was terribly below average.

Then, I looked at the Phillies. First, I like the comment on Burrell that "no matter how close he seems to be to catching the ball, he's still only halfway there." Burrell, though, only rated -2 in 109 games in LF. Here are the interesting numbers: Chris Coste -8 in 49 games at catcher, Ryan Howard -15 in 157 games at 1B, Chase Utley -11 in 152 games at 2B, Aaron Rowand at zero in 101 games in CF.

I'm not sure what these numbers really means, but maybe the blame heaped on the pitching staff is somewhat misdirected. Jimmy Rollins' +9 in 154 games at SS and Abraham Nunez's +5 in 70 games at 3B don't do too much to offset the damage done elsewhere.

Checking on the Orioles, Ramon Hernandez was +2 in 125 games at catcher, Kevin Millar was +6 in 91 games at 1B, Brian Roberts was -2 in 133 games at 2B, Miguel Tejada was +6 in 148 games at SS, Melvin Mora was -18 in 151 games at 3B, Brandon Fahey was -1 in 43 games in LF, Corey Patterson was +3 in 123 games in CF, Nick Markakis was +6 in 105 games in RF and +2 in 23 games in LF, and Jay Gibbons was +2 in 40 games in RF.

O's debut

The Orioles 2007 debut in Minneapolis last night has generated considerable agita around here. On the up side, there were plenty of positives, however, the negatives compiled into a 7-4 loss at the hands of the Twins.

Positives

The offense scored 4 earned runs in 6 innings off of Johan Santana. Granted, it was only Opening Day and Santana did not yet have his dominating stuff, but he is left handed and that is often enough to stymie the O's offense.

Jay Gibbons returned from an injury riddled 2006 campaign and went 2-4 with 2 doubles and an rbi. Gibbons is now 8-15 lifetime against Santana.

Tejada homered.

The bullpen worked 3 1/3 innings allowing 1 unearned run. O's pitching walked a mere 3 batsmen.

Rightfielder Nick Markakis notched 2 assists, nailing runners at home and 2nd base.

Negatives

O's starter Erik Bedard got hammered. 4 2/3 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 2 HR.

The Orioles defense committed two errors.

The negatives list is a short one, but critical. Poor starting pitching and shoddy fielding will almost always add up to a loss. There is good reason to expect that Bedard will pitch much better than he did last night. The fielding, however, was shoddy last season and again last night. C'mon glovemen, catch the damn ball!

The defense begins

Hard to believe the Tigers will be out to defend the AL pennant when they take the field tomorrow against the Blue Jay. Here is the lineup Jim Leyland will send into battle:

CF Curtis Granderson, 2B Placido Polanco, DH Gary Sheffield, RF Magglio Ordonez, SS Carlos Guillen, C Pudge Rodriguez, 1B Sean Casey, LF Craig Monroe, 3B Brandon Inge. Jeremy Bonderman gets the start. He was 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in two starts against Toronto last season and held the Jays to a .205 BA in 12 IP.

Polanco flirted with .500 during the spring and is being considered a candidate to win the AL batting title. He hit .295 last year and batted a combined .331 for Philly and Detroit in 2005, so it's not far fetched. Michael Young led the AL at .331 in 2005 -- Polanco's .338 average in Motown didn't figure in the race because he didn't have enough plate appearances in the league after coming over from the Phils.

I read that Granderson likes to eat dinner at McDonald's when he's in a slump -- double cheeseburgers with no onions are his preference, although he says anything off the dollar menu is OK. Hopefully, he's not making many trips to the golden arches this season.

Detroit finished the spring 21-10-3.

Hitting is fundamental

In 2006, the Mets' offense was the third best in the National League as they scored 834 runs, their highest season total since 1999. They got some big years from some players who shouldn't be expected to repeat, but they also had some significant holes which have since been filled. Several key contributors are still in the prime of their careers (or younger). As good as the offense was last year, no one should be surprised if it's as good or better this year.

Catcher Paul Lo Duca is one of those who will likely come back to earth a bit. He had a big year, hitting .318/.355/.428, probably the second best of his career behind his ridiculous 2001 (.320/.374/.543). He avoided the second-half fade that had become tradition for him and was just about everything his vocal supporters have ever claimed he was. The former heart and soul of the Los Angeles Dodgers finally played in a postseason game for the first time in his career and all it took was having a bunch of players who were better than him on the team. Now he's a catcher about to turn thirty-five and can't be expected to remain as healthy and productive as he was last year. Backup Ramon Castro could bounce back from a bad 2006 to relieve some pressure, but this position looks like one that will be less productive for the Mets in 2007.

First baseman Carlos Delgado is another Met in his mid-thirties, but he didn't do anything out of the ordinary in 2006. He hit .235/.361/.548, pretty similar to what he did in 2004 in Toronto. Still, this was an enormous improvement at a position that had been a black hole for the Mets since the start of this millennium. Delgado should be able to keep up this level of performance for at least another year.

Second base is a spot where many think the sky may fall in on the Mets. "Thirty-seven-year-old Jose Valentin certainly won't repeat his miraculous .271/.330/.490 season," they say. "Thirty-seven-year-old Damion Easley is far from an adequate backup plan," they bellow. It is hard to argue with either of these statements. But Valentin was not the only Met to man the keystone in 2006. The likes of Kazuo Matsui and Chris Woodward were so awful that the Mets actually got below average production from the position for the season as a whole. The average National League second baseman hit .272/.336/.422. Met second basemen hit .244/.300/.406. I don't think anyone would be stunned if Valentin and Easley were able to match or exceed that level of production. Yes, Valentin is sure to fade somewhat, but that will hardly doom the Mets to an early offseason.

Then there's David Wright. The Met third baseman didn't hit with a lot of power in the second half of 2006. His defense isn't so hot. And his .311/.381/.531 line was nearly identical to what he did in 2005. On the other hand, he's twenty-four years old and one of the best hitters in the game. Now he'll probably be batting second, the end result of which will be that he gets to hit more often this year than he did either of the last two. I think this will be a position of strength for the Mets for a little while longer.

The same could reasonably be said about shortstop. Jose Reyes finally made good on the promise he'd been showing since his 2003 debut, putting together a spectacular season at the age of twenty-three. He met or exceeded his career highs in walks, hits, doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases, hitting .300/.354/.487 while playing very good defense. Now the question is whether or not he can do it again. We won't know until he does or doesn't, but the all-around improvement he showed last year looked a lot more like real, sustainable growth than any kind of fluke. Reyes has gotten past the injury problems that slowed him early in his career and has begun to mature as a player. He is as fun to watch as any player in the game and seeing where he goes from here should be just as fun.

In contrast to the great infield of 2006, the Mets' outfield showed a lot of room for improvement, no spot more so than left field. After a terrific and healthy 2005, Cliff Floyd surprised few by failing to repeat in 2006. He played in just 97 games and hit .244/.324/.407, leaving the Mets' thin bench a lot of work to do. The Mets' one major move this offseason was to fill this hole with Moises Alou. Now, Alou will turn forty-one in July and he only played in 98 games for the Giants last year. But he also hit .301/.352/.571. He won't give the Mets anything on defense or play 150 games, but as long as he's in the lineup, he should provide a lot more offense than the Mets got out of this spot last year. If Willie Randolph can give him a couple of days a week off in favor of Endy Chavez or Lastings Milledge, maybe Alou can still be ambulatory come October.

The exception to the Mets' outfield troubles was center field, where Carlos Beltran followed up a disappointing 2005 with the best season of his career and finished fourth in NL MVP voting despite a rough September. To the extent that any one player can be said to have "carried" this team, it was Beltran with his exceptional combination of power, patience and defense. He hit .275/.388/.594 and tied the club record for home runs with 41. All this while hitting just .224/.368/.487 at home. He will turn thirty in April and should challenge for an MVP award or two in the years to come. His defense will be especially important this season given his statuesque wingmen.

Right now, officially, the Mets' starting right fielder is scheduled to be Shawn Green. This despite his lack of offense after being traded to the Mets last season, his laughable attempts at defense in the postseason and a poor Spring. To be fair, he did hit pretty well in the playoffs--.292/.346/.542 with three home runs. But his spring batting average of .154 is especially damning when compared to the .352 put up by Milledge. Now, generally a player's Spring Training stats have about as much predictive value as his horoscope ("When the moon is in the Seventh House and Jupiter aligns with Mars, you will be in the best shape of your career..."). But Green not hitting is hardly a new development. Milledge made the opening day roster, so hopefully he'll be able to play his way into a starting job before too long.

Of course, when Milledge stops being part of the Mets bench, it will be a pretty weak group. Chavez is back and will likely provide stellar defense at any outfield position, but he won't repeat the career year he had with the bat last season. Castro has been a solid backup catcher in his career, last year notwithstanding. Aside from those three and Easley, the Met reserves are Julio Franco and David Newhan. Franco didn't have a great year last year as his power declined significantly. I would never bet against the elder statesman of the major leagues, but it's hard to see him making a huge contribution this year. The thirty-three year old former Oriole Newhan couldn't even manage a .300 OBP either of the last two years so I don't have very high hopes for him either. The Mets just signed Ricky Ledee to a minor league deal, but that's probably not the solution to all of their bench problems. They're just going to have to be satisfied with an awesome starting lineup and a weak bench. Who knows? Maybe Green will seem useful by the standard of a pinch hitter once he gets demoted.

The Mets probably won't win 97 games again in 2007, but I think they still have to be the favorites to win the National League East. The Phillies should provide a stiffer challenge than they did last year, but they are still the Phillies. These Mets should be playoff-bound and once they reach the postseason, anything can happen. As a wise man once said, ya gotta believe.

Guillen to stay in Motown

The Tigers signed SS Carlos Guillen to a four-year extension today, locking up the 31-year-old through 2011. Guillen has had some trouble with injuries, but produces offensive numbers to rival any SS when healthy. In 2006, his OPS was .920 and in 2004 it was .921 -- both times the best in the bigs. Guillen would have been a free agent after this season.

Rogers, over and out

Kenny Rogers will be on the shelf for at least 3 months, according to the Tigers. He had surgery today to remove a blood clot and repair arteries.

As we noted yesterday, Chad Durbin moved into the rotation. Rogers had 17 wins last year for Detroit; Durbin has 17 wins in his entire 7-year career. On the bright side, Durbin has been sharp this spring, allowing just 18 baserunners in 21.2 IP and posting a 2.08 ERA.

Rating Pudge

I’ve got a feeling Pudge is sitting on a big year. As this story notes, he’s closing in on a number of milestones and I think he’s going to redouble his focus. I think he is aware that he could have a special place in baseball history if he continues to perform at a top level.

Could Pudge be the greatest catcher of all time already? Certainly, an argument could be made in his favor. He has 12 Gold Glove Awards, the most for any catcher. Johnny Bench has 10 and I think could be the only catcher that could challenge Pudge for the top spot if you factor both offense and defense.

Bench had a career OPS of .818 while Pudge has a .825 mark. Although Bench owns a 389-277 advantage in HR, Pudge has a .483-.476 edge in SLG.

Pudge’s career Runs Created/27 Outs is 6.0 while Bench has a 5.7 lifetime mark.

Yogi Berri won 3 MVP Awards and had a seven-year stretch in which he finished no worse than fourth in the voting, so that certainly merits consideration even though he never won a Gold Glove. The award didn’t start until 1957, when Berra was 32.

To judge Berra’s defense, he had a .989 career fielding percentage at catcher while the league average was .987. He had a 5.61 range factor while the league average was 4.73. Pudge’s numbers are .991 for FP and 6.55 for range factor.

Berra has an .830 career OPS and 6.05 RC/27.

Pudge has 1 MVP Award and 1 NLCS MVP honor to his credit. Bench has a ROY plus 2 MVP and 1 WS MVP awards.

Mike Piazza has a career .930 OPS and 7.75 RC/27, which probably makes him the position’s greatest offensive force.

Bold Talking Head?

This morning on "Mike and Mike in the Morning", Peter Gammons predicted that the Milwaukee Brewers will win the NL Central.

He also declared the Baltimore Orioles to be the among the "most interesting" teams coming into this season. That if Bedard, Cabrera and Loewen "get it together, which is very possible" the Orioles would be a "major contender" in the AL East.

Gammons does not come near the 'Talking Head Standard of Boldness' set by Beano Cook in 1984, but he approaches nearer than any of the Talking Heads I've heard.

Tigers deal out Gambler

This is why it is so tough to win, much less repeat. The Tigers say Kenny Rogers will miss at least 1 start with arm fatigue. Rogers, a crafty 42-year-old lefty, was put on the 15-day DL.

Last year, the Tigers were relatively healthy throughout the season; only injuries to Mike Maroth and Placido Polanco were big blows and by the time Polanco was hurt Detroit had a pretty good hold on a playoff spot.

Just recently I read a blog by Tigers reliever Todd Jones where he said he would take a healthy team over a more talented team when it comes to winning the division.

I don’t know what it means for Rogers’ future if he’s got arm fatigue at this point. Hopefully, this is precautionary. Rogers threw well this spring, posting a 2.05 ERA in 22 IP.

Chad Durbin will move from the bullpen to the rotation and lefty Bobby Seay will be called up to take over in the pen. Durbin has impressed by giving up just 8 hits and 3 walks in 16 IP heading into today.

Given Verlander’s struggles this spring, things are getting unexpectedly interesting with the pitching staff.

The Dream is Still Alive

Julio Franco is the last remaining man on a Major League Baseball 40 man roster who was born before I was. I can still make it to the big leagues. I am not too old.

Too lazy? Probably.

Not skilled enough? Certainly.

Too old?

Julio and I say, "Mente tu maneras, muchacho!"

Waiting For Pedro

A lot of negative things have been written about the Mets' starting rotation in recent months, and justifiably so. The surest thing in the bunch is a soft-tossing forty-one year old. Even now that the list has been pared down to the final five, question marks abound. There's plenty of reason for concern among Mets fans. But I think there's at least as much reason for excitement.

Beyond the two old men at the top of the list there are three pitchers the oldest of whom will be twenty-six at season's end. The Mets haven't had three starting pitchers this young playing major roles since Bobby Jones, Jason Isringhausen and Paul Wilson eleven years ago. And these three kids aren't just roster filler. You've got two newly minted playoff heroes and the most promising New York pitching prospect to actually reach the majors as a Met since the heady days of Generation K. Maybe I'm crazy, but I think this could be a lot of fun.

First, we've got Tom Glavine. Last year Glavine went 15-7 with a 3.82 ERA in 198 innings, narrowly missing his third straight 200 IP season. He enters 2007 ten wins shy of 300 for his career and shouldn't have too much trouble reaching that magic number. Throughout his career, he's been about as consistently healthy as he has been good. While he won't be one of the top handful of pitchers in the league he'll almost surely be an important and dependable piece of the Mets staff.

Somewhat less dependable is the nominal number two, Orlando Hernandez. El Duque got off to a bad start last season, posting a 6.11 ERA in nine starts for the Diamondbacks. He pitched better for the Mets, cutting down on his hits, walks and home runs allowed as he shifted to a more pitcher-friendly environment. His 4.09 ERA in twenty starts was nice, but then he got hurt and missed the playoffs. The only thing we can be sure of for 2007 is that he won't be healthy for all of it. He's pitched over 200 innings in a season once, in 1999. He could very well give the Mets some solid innings for as long as he's healthy, but there's little doubt he'll have them dipping into their surplus starting pitching at some point.

John Maine is where things start to get interesting. Maine had a solid debut for the Mets last year, posting a 3.60 ERA in ninety innings and and pitching well in two of his three postseason starts. In the regular season he had some trouble with the home run ball, allowing fifteen to leave the yard, and got quite lucky when it came to balls in play being turned into outs, allowing just a .225 batting average on such balls, compared to a league average of .303. There's not much chance he'll repeat that. Still, if he can stay in the rotation all year and give the Mets an ERA around four, he'll be an improvement over every non-Glavine starter the Mets sent to the mound last year.

Even more interesting is Oliver Perez who, with a little help from He Who Is Called Endy, shut the Cardinals down for six innings in the Mets' biggest game of 2006. The 2004 season in which he was one of the best pitchers in baseball will always inspire hope and the NLCS wasn't the only time he gave New York fans a glimpse of that pitcher. If that Oliver Perez shows up this season, it could completely alter the complexion of this rotation. Maybe he'll never approach that kind of success (239 Ks and a 2.98 ERA in 196 IP) again. But I wouldn't be shocked if Rick Peterson did a better job coaching him than anyone employed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the last three years.

Finally, there's Mike Pelfrey. The Mets' 2005 first round pick made it to the majors so fast they didn't have a chance to desperately exchange him for shiny veteran trinkets, making his debut less than six months after signing. His first taste of the majors didn't go so well as he posted a 5.48 ERA and a 13:12 K:BB ratio in 21.1 innings. He was much more impressive in tearing through three minor league levels, with a 2.43 ERA, 109 strikeouts and 33 walks in 96.1 innings. It will probably take him some time to establish some consistency at the major league level, but this is clearly a talented kid and it will be exciting to watch a young, homegrown starter grow up in a Mets uniform for once.

This group isn't going to strike fear into the hearts of the National League, but it wasn't starting pitching that carried the 2006 Mets as far as they went. The only guys who pitched more than 132.2 innings last year were Glavine and Steve Trachsel who, 15 wins or not, was not the kind of pitcher you'd want as your number two. The Mets stopped just short of pulling fans out of the stands to man the back of their rotation last year--in fact, that may have been how Jose Lima got four starts--and the only ones who were any good for any length of time were Maine and Hernandez. The situation may not be a whole lot better this year, but it's going to take some serious bad luck for the Mets to be reaching for the Limas and Geremi Gonzalezes of the world in 2007. And they might very well have an ace up their sleeve come July or August if a certain Dominican gentleman is feeling healthy.

The bullpen is a bit more troubling. Met relievers were excellent last year and some of the most important guys are back. There's Billy Wagner, who was great in the closer role, and Aaron Heilman, who was very good setting him up. Beyond that, there's not much we can be sure of. The recent news that Duaner Sanchez will miss most if not all of the season has left some spots up for grabs.

Pedro Feliciano returns to the lefty specialist role he did well in last year. Scott Schoeneweis is also a lefty, but hardly anything special. Rookie sidearmer Joe Smith will try to be the new Chad Bradford. Chan Ho Park will hope to be more successful in relief than he has been as a starter lately. And if all else fails, the Mets will send out Aaron Sele and try again the next day.

What was one of the best bullpens in baseball last year should be quite effective again in the eighth and ninth innings. Getting there might be a little trickier. Perhaps Park will make like Eric Gagne and go from unimpressive starter to dominant reliever. Maybe Smith's minor league success will translate smoothly to the majors. Someone like Ambiorix Burgos or Jorge Sosa could figure things out in the minors and make an impact. There's not much chance that all of these things will happen. Met relievers aren't about to turn into a half dozen Mel Rojases, but the bullpen won't be quite the strength it was in 2006.

All of this adds up to a pitching staff that's going to need its offense to score some runs. By a fortunate coincidence, the Mets have an offense capable of doing just that. I'll be back later this week with a look at those responsible for really sockin' the ball and knockin' those home runs over the wall.

March Madness?

A certain Orioles fan I know (I won't name him, but everyone calls him Pappy) is predicting 50 wins combined for the troika of O's young starting pitchers: Bedard, Cabrera and Loewen.

I predict 61 wins for the Orioles entire starting staff.

Good news, bad news

There was good news out of Tigers' camp regarding Justin Verlander. The 2006 ROY tossed six scoreless innings yesterday against minor leaguers. It was his sharpest performance of the spring, according to reports. Verlander has been struggling with his location and has an ERA over 8 this spring. Detroit's brass supposedly isn't concerned because Verlander was prohibited from throwing during the offseason, so there was the expectation it could take time for him to get into a groove again. We'll see.

Bad news for Chris Shelton, who got sent down despite hitting .388-2-5 in 49 spring ABs. The news wasn't entirely unexpected because Shelton was battling Marcus Thames for the backup job at 1B -- and Thames is out of minor league options.

Neifi Perez got the last non-pitching spot, beating out Ramon Santiago. Perez is hitting .324-0-4 in 37 ABs this spring and has 9 walks against 6 strikeouts.

Righthander Chad Durbin got the final spot in the bullpen over lefthander Bobby Seay and righty Zach Miner.

So with a week to go before the opener, the Tigers' roster is set. GM Dave Dombrowski said he's "never" had a roster set this early. Jim Leyland didn't see any reason to drag out the process and wanted guys to have time to adjust to the news.

Here's the team:

Starters are RH Jeremy Bonderman, LH Kenny Rogers, RH Justin Verlander, LH Nate Robertson, and LH Mike Maroth. The bullpen is RH Todd Jones, RH Joel Zumaya, RH Fernando Rodney, RH Jose Mesa, RH Jason Grilli, RH Chad Durbin, and LH Wil Ledezma.

The catchers are Ivan Rodriguez and Vance Wilson. The infield has Sean Casey, Placido Polanco, Carlos Guillen and Brandon Inge with Neifi Perez and Omar Infante as backups. The outfield is Craig Monroe, Curtis Granderson and Magglio Ordonez with Marcus Thames as the fourth OF and reserve 1B. Infante also can play CF. Gary Sheffield is the DH.

Pavano to toss Yanks opener?

With Chien-Ming Wang going on the DL, the Yankees will most likely turn to Carl Pavano to start for them on Opening Day. Yes, Carl Pavano. Probably the most hated free agent pitcher signing for the Pinstripes since Eddie Lee Whitson. It could be a fun day.

The blueprint

I'm getting to watch the Tigers play the Yankees today on YES.

Granderson led off the bottom of the first with a hustle double ... Polanco followed with a slashing single, scoring Granderson ... Monroe walked ... Shef followed with a 3-run homer.

More please. All season long.

And just a note: Yankees color analysist John Flaherty called Polanco "the perfect No. 2 hitter."

Numbers vs. the Real World

I was looking at stats today and started studying Placido Polanco. I am not alone in believing his presence in the No. 2 spot for the Tigers is a key to making their lineup go. However, when looking at his numbers, particularly through the use of sabermetrics, Polanco rated very poorly last season. Here is an example.

Polanco's OPS of .693 was last among 14 AL second basemen with at least 425 plate appearances in 2006. His Runs Created/27 Outs was 3.85, which was No. 13 in the same group.

So what gives? The Tigers clearly suffered without Polanco last year. Do intangibles outweigh mere numerical analysis or am I blinded by love for a player and the supposed benefits of "the little things" he brings to the lineup?

This much I know: Detroit was 72-38 with Polly in the lineup and 23-29 without him (by my count). Much of that damage came from mid-August to late September when Polanco was out with a shoulder injury.

It could be argued the Tigers were in a swoon anyway at that point, and Polly's absence was merely coincidental and not a true factor. However, prior to the injury, the Tigs were 70-33 with Polanco and just 8-8 without him.

Maybe it was all because of his defense; he did rank No. 3 in range factor among AL second basemen.

Numbers make my head hurt.

Leading off -- Pudge

Jim Leyland made official what was speculated by writers this spring -- Pudge will bat leadoff against lefthanders this season, replacing Granderson.

Last season, Granderson, a left-handed batter, hit .218 with 4 HR in 147 AB against lefties. He struck out 49 times, or 1 in 3 trips. Pudge batted a team-best .340 against lefties last season and had 5 HR in 156 AB.

Granderson hit .274 with 15 HR in 449 AB vs. righties. He whiffed 125 times, or once every 3.6 times to the plate. Pudge hit .284 with 8 HR in 391 AB against righties.

No maybes about Maybin

Cameron Maybin won't be with the Tigers when the season opens, but he created quite a buzz during spring training. The 19-year-old outfielder was 9-for-21 (.429) with 7 runs, 2 HR, 7 RBI and 2 triples. Last year, he was voted by Baseball America the most exciting player in the Class A Midwest League. He is the consensus top prospect in the Detroit system and Gary Sheffield says he could be a 30-HR, 70-SB guy. From what I've read, it's only a matter of time before he forces Curtis Granderson from CF to LF to make room. That means Craig Monroe, who just turned 30 and had 28 HR-92 RBI last season, could become available.

Just to show I'm not alone

This item was part of the Tigers' preview on MLB.com:

Achilles' heel: How much did (Jamie) Walker mean to this franchise? The Tigers are about to find out. With Walker now in Baltimore's bullpen with a lucrative contract, Leyland is left with the mercurial Wilfredo Ledezma as his primary lefty. Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney can more than hold their own against left-handed hitters, but Detroit needs Ledezma to step up as an option against the American League Central's lefty sluggers.

First sign of spring

Stop me if you've heard this one before, but Kerry Wood and Mark Prior could start the year on the DL.

5 Simple Ways ...

The 2007 Tigers can be better than 2006:

1. Sheffield wears out pitchers.
2. Maroth makes successful return from elbow surgery.
3. Granderson blossoms into top leadoff man.
4. Bonderman ascends to ace status.
5. Casey in clubhouse and lineup for full season.

The 2007 Tigers can be worse than 2006:

1. Sheffield wears out welcome.
2. Rogers, Jones, Pudge, Casey, Mesa, Sheff all start to feel their age.
3. Inge and Monroe don’t come near duplicating 2006.
4. Injuries.
5. Leyland loses magic touch.

Good news for O's fans

The O's have signed Brian Roberts through 2009 adding one more of the key players on the O's roster to be on board thru 2009. Roberts (in addition to several of last seasons' "key signings") repeated the mantra that he's where he wants to be; he wants to be in Baltimore when they bring a winner home to a great baseball town.

I hope he means it. I hope they all mean it. But really, I just hope they make it happen.

Chris Ray delivering heat

Greetings from Fort Lauderdale

Ol' Sparky is "working" in Florida for a few days and had just enough spare time to see the Orioles play the Cardinals. Unfortunately for the O's fans, Baltimore lost 4-0. Unfortunately for the Tigers fans, it meant watching the Cards win again.

Got to see former Detroiter Jamie Walker toss two innings for the Birds. As I've stated previously, I'm fearful the loss of Walker could damage the Tigers' bullpen. Our loss is Baltimore's gain.

The photo is Jamie doing his famous levitating ball trick.

Spring Omen?

I met a Phillies fan last night at a local watering hole who was sky high on the Phillies prospects this year because of the "6 great starting pitchers" in spring camp. He advised that he was hoping the Phillies would deal for either Curt Schilling or Randy Johnson to be the Phillies closer.

After telling him I was an Orioles fan, he told me he was sorry for me. He declared the Orioles were looking at another losing season because they had "let Sosa go".