Kuzul

Coming out of Cypress High School (Anaheim, CA), Josh Vitters was considered one of the most polished high school hitters in the 2007 draft.

His arm strength was excellent and considered his best defensive tool, but defense was his weakness. He had no range, was a below average fielder, and had no running speed.

Still, the Cubs selected him as their No. 1 pick in 2007, and Baseball America currently lists him as the No. 3 prospect in their organization.

That decision appears to be starting to pay off. Last summer Vitters hit for both average (.316) and power (15 home runs) in 70 games with Peoria. He advanced to High-A ball and played 50 games with Daytona but did not perform as well. He hit .238 and only had three round-trippers.

This season Vitters started out strong with Daytona (.291, three HRs, 13 RBI) and after 28 games was promoted to Tennessee (AA). In 42 games with Tennessee he has struggled, hitting .233 with four home runs and 17 RBI.

There has been some concern with his patience at the plate. He walked only 12 times in 458 at-bats between Peoria and Daytona last season but has improved this season, walking 14 times in 258 at-bats between Daytona and Tennessee.

On a positive note, he appears to be a good contact hitter, striking out once every 7.05 at-bats last season and 5.40 this season.

Vitters continues to show that he will be a good major league hitter but needs to work on his defense. He is still a few years away but is someone the Cubs will be looking to when Aramis Ramirez’s contract expires (2012).

GO CUBS GO!

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Friday afternoon at Cellular Field in Chicago, Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano erupted after allowing the White Sox to score four runs in the first. Apparently, Big “Z” was upset with Derrek Lee’s effort on Juan Pierre’s leadoff double.

I am not sure whether Lee could have gotten to the ball or not, but with Zambrano and the team struggling as much they are, it is not the time to show a lack of effort.

Lee needs to step up and take some accountability for the Cubs’ poor start. He is supposed to be their leader, but he is just not getting the job done.

Besides grounding into as many double plays (10) as he has home runs, he strikes out every 3.9 at bats; he’s on pace to drive in only 73 runs.

His defense, although still good, has been his worst since the 2002 season, when he committed 12 errors. Lee’s disaster of a season is a big reason why the Cubs find themselves nine games below .500.

This is not to say all the blame falls on Lee. Zambrano’s performance has been an even bigger disappointment.

On top of that, his behavior cannot be tolerated. Jim Hendry, Cubs GM, said, “From my point of view, we’ll play with 24 before we tolerate that kind of behavior.”

My question is: How long will Hendry and Cubs fans tolerate the failure and lack of effort on the field?

I am tired of hearing Lou Piniella say he’s tried everything and doesn’t know what to do. Maybe it is time to bring someone in who knows what to do!

GO CUBS GO

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Entering the 2010 season, Scott Rolen was a career .283 hitter averaging 20 home runs and 81 RBIs per season. However, just as a fine wine becomes better with age, so has Rolen.

He is on pace to hit .303 with 35 homeruns, 105 RBIs, and slug .581. This would be one of the best if not the best season of his career. A career which includes a Rookie of the year award (1997), seven Gold Gloves (1998, 2000-2004, 2006), five All-star appearances (2002-2006), a Silver Slugger award (2002), and his next home run will be number 300. This would make him one of the only 128 player to accomplish this milestone.

As you can see, Rolen has a well decorated career and has certainly earned his sixth all-star appearance. However he currently is fifth among NL third baseman in voting. This is a shame and baseball fans need to recognize him for the contribution he has made to the success of the Reds this season.

Reds fans, let’s pay Rolen the respect he has earned and vote him into his sixth All-star game. It is simple enough to do, just vote Rolen in.

GO REDS!

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2008 was a break-out season for Edinson Volquez. He was a NL all-star and finished the season 17-6 with a 3.21 ERA and 206 strikeouts. However, it has been all down hill for him since a June 1, 2009 start in St. Louis against the Cardinals. That’s when he felt numbness in the pinky and ring finger of his right hand.

That numbness landed him on the DL and eventually lead to Tommy John surgery in August. Then in April 2010 he was handed a 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s performance-enhancing drug policy. Even so, the Reds set a tentative return date of late July or August.

According to Mark Riggins (Chicago Cubs Minor League Pitching Coordinator) it generally takes 1 1/2 to 2 years to fully regain velocity after Tommy John surgery. Volquez appears to be ahead of that.

Saturday Volquez began his road to recovery in a start for Single-A Lynchburg. He pitched well, allowing singles to the first two hitters he faced and then retired the next nine in a row, striking out three of them.

The road to recovery will be a long one and with the already strong rotation in Cincinnati, it is anyone’s guess where it may lead.

GO REDS

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The 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen leaves a lot to be desired, but Evan Meek has quietly become a very good set-up man.

His numbers this year are staggering. He’s 3-1 with a 0.78 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP. In addition, his 33:8 strikeout to walk ratio is very impressive.

In a category I call quality appearances, (an appearance of 2/3 of an inning or more, with an ERA below 4.00 and a WHIP below 1.33) he is 19 of 25. That is, 76 percent and most of those that don’t qualify we’re not extremely poor appearances.

In this age of baseball, where managers tend to hold starters to pitch counts and play pitcher shuffle in the late innings, Meek is a hot commodity.

I would love to see the Pirates keep him around, but I believe there is a real good chance they move him prior to the 2010 trade deadline.

If the Pirates do move him, they need to realize the commodity they have and must demand the premium he will bring.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope Huntington and company decide to keep their talent and build a champion.

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Armando Galarraga just completed a perfect game for the Detroit Tigers, except Jim Joyce made the worst call I, and most likely all Tiger fans have ever seen.

Galarraga retired the first 26 Cleveland Indian batters and faced Jason Donald for his moment in history. Donald hit a weak grounder to first baseman Miguel Cabrera who tossed to Galarraga at first. Joyce called Donald SAFE!

It was a close play but Joyce clearly blew it, and should have got together with the other umpires and got it straight. However, he chose to stick with the WRONG call and ruin history.

It is a shame when a young man tosses a perfect game only to lose it on a blown call. It is an even more shameful when that young man show more class and maturity then umpire who wronged him.

I hope MLB will review this play and hand down some type of disciplinary action on Joyce. Not so much for the missed called, but for the unprofessional behavior and inability to get the call right. Baseball has enough problems, it does not need umpires ruining historic moments.

Armando, your efforts will not be forgotten. Actually, your moment in time will be replayed and talked about more now than if Joyce got it right.

Go Tigers.

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On Monday May 31 the Chicago Cubs called up their 2008 first-round draft pick, Andrew Cashner, and designated him to the bullpen.

Cashner was a closer at Texas Christian University, but the Cubs immedaitely moved him into the rotation. In this new roll, Cashner realized a great deal of success and improved at each level.

This season in a starting roll at Triple-A Iowa he was 3-0, with a 0.95 ERA, and 0.83 WHIP (with a 14:2 strikeout to walk ratio).  

Late in May the Cubs made the decision to convert him back to a reliever.

Why would they do this when Cashner was enjoying success as a starter? I believe it is out of desperation for some much needed help in the Cubs’ bullpen.

Not only do I believe this move was made out of desperation, but I believe it is a very poor move for Cashner’s future.

In his book, Pitch Like a Pro , Leo Mazzone discussed this type of situation. He believes when young fastball pitchers are converted into relievers, they will fire away with blind heat throwing practically nothing but fastballs and won’t learn anything about real pitching.

Mazzone goes on to say, “the most important thing a pitcher can do to improve his pitches is accumulate a lot of innings.”

Suffice it to say, it’s difficult to accumulate innings and improve the quality of your pitches when you are working out of the bullpen as a youngster.

I tend to agree with Mazzone and that is why I do not believe this is the best use of Cashner. I believe this decision will most likely delay Cashner’s climb to becoming a premier pitcher in the Cubs’ rotation and hope it is quickly changed.

GO CUBS GO

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The Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen has several concerns.

Two of the key concerns are that four relievers carry a 4.78 ERA or above and Javier Lopez is the only left-handed arm in the pen.

The answer to some bullpen help may be in Indianapolis. His name is Justin Thomas.

Thomas is a 6’3″ 220 pound lefthander out of Youngstown State and is the Seattle Mariner’s 2005 forth round draft choice.

Thomas began his professional career as a starter and in 2006, his first full year, he won 14 games.

In 2008 he reached Tacoma, the Mariners AAA club, and was converted to a reliever. The conversion had proved mediocre results and on October 29, 2009 the Pirates claimed Thomas off waivers from the Mariners.

This spring the Pirates assigned him to AAA Indianapolis and he is making the best of it.

Thus far into the season he has appeared in 16 games and is 3-0 with a 1.48 ERA, 0.62 whip, and an impressive 22:3 strikeout to walk ratio. In addition, lefthanders are hitting a minuscule .086 against him.

Sure, these are AAA numbers—but I believe he has made his case for the Pirates pen.

GO BUCS

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In November 2007 Major League Baseball took preventive measure to protect first-and third-base coaches. Unfortunately it took the death of Mike Coolbaugh, first-base coach of the Double A Tulsa Drillers, to bring about this safety measure.

Another death, Ray Chapman, was the example used to bring about the rule requiring batting helmets. In August 1920 Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by Yankees pitcher Carl Mays. His death also lead to the rule requiring umpires to replace balls when ever they became dirty.

As you can see, Major League Baseball has a history of waiting for someone to be killed before taking measures to ensure players safety.

This season we have seen how dangerous pitching has become. In April we saw Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Chris Jakubauskas nearly killed by a Lance Berkman line drive. Yesterday we saw Cleveland Indian pitcher David Huff carted off Yankee Stadium field. He took a line drive to the head off the bat of the New York’s Alex Rodriguez.

I believe now is the time for Major League Baseball to make the decision requiring pitcher to wear some sort of head protection. MLB already has options. According to the Commissioner’s Office Senior Vice President for Baseball Operations, Joe Garagiola Jr., four options ( liners, hard caps, helmets without flaps, helmet with flaps) were considered when approving the adoption of base coach helmets.

Mr. Garagiola, please don’t wait for the death of a pitcher before recommending the adoption of protection. This is a situation that needs to be addressed now, not later.

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Ross Ohlendorf finished very strong in 2009, leading the rotation in both ERA (3.92) and WHIP (1.23) while picking up 11 wins.

Nonetheless, the 2010 season began with some concerns. In spring training, he was inconsistent with his fastball and his pitches were flat. However, his first start of the regular season was encouraging; His fastball showed life and he maintained consistent velocity.

On Monday, April 12, new concerns surfaced. Ohlendorf was scratched from his scheduled start against the San Francisco Giants with back spasms and was later (April 17) placed on the 15-day DL.

He returned May 10 to throw four strong innings against the Cincinnati Reds and has recorded two quality starts in his three appearances since. Unfortunately, there still appears to be something wrong with the 6′ 4″ righty – his command.

Over the course of Ohlendorf’s first three seasons, he showed extremely good command. In 245 2/3 innings of work, he walked only 86 batters while striking out 167 – nearly a 2:1 ratio. 2010 has been a different story. He’s walked 18 and struck out 15 in only 24 2/3 innings of work.

If this young Pirates team is going to enjoy any success, they will need Ohlendorf to regain his 2009 form. Let’s hope he finds his command and that this is nothing more than some rust from his month-long stay on the DL.

GO BUCS

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