Kuzul

MLB umpire Angel Hernandez was trending on Twitter on Friday night after yet another blown call. At least this time it didn’t cost a team a victory. But it was egregious nonetheless.

I know, you’re thinking to yourself, “Wait, didn’t MLB suspend him after he blew that home run call a few weeks ago?”

Well, this is Major League Baseball you’re talking about. Hernandez wasn’t disciplined in any way, although MLB at least acknowledged that Hernandez blew it.

Just to refresh your memory: With the Oakland Athletics down to the Cleveland Indians 4-3 in the top of the ninth inning on May 8, shortstop Adam Rosales hit what appeared to be a game-tying home run. But Hernandez thought otherwise, saying the ball bounced off the wall rather than the railing above the yellow line. Rosales was given a double on the play.

After A’s manager Bob Melvin pleaded for a video review, Hernandez and the rest of the umpiring crew relented, stepping off the field to review the play. After several minutes, they returned, and Hernandez was apparently not swayed by the video he reviewed.

Needless to say, Melvin was beside himself. He was ejected from the game, and Rosales was stranded at second base with the A’s eventually losing 4-3.

At the time, the A’s beat reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, Susan Slusser, said everyone in the press box knew Hernandez completely blew the call:

Slusser was also the pool reporter sent in to interview Hernandez about the call. He refused to have his comments taped:

The following day, MLB vice president of operations Joe Torre admitted that Hernandez blew the call.

Via the New York Daily News:

“By rule, the decision to reverse a call by use of instant replay is at the sole discretion of the crew chief,” Torre said. “In the opinion of Angel Hernandez, who was last night’s crew chief, there was not clear and convincing evidence to overturn the decision on the field. It was a judgment call, and as such, it stands as final.

“Home and away broadcast feeds are available for all uses of instant replay, and they were available to the crew last night. Given what we saw, we recognize that an improper call was made. Perfection is an impossible standard in any endeavor, but our goal is always to get the calls right. Earlier this morning, we began the process of speaking with the crew to thoroughly review all the circumstances surrounding last night’s decision.”

Hernandez saw what everyone else saw, yet still made an “improper” call. And MLB handed out no discipline.

Let’s fast-forward two weeks, shall we?

On Friday night during the 10th inning of a game between the Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins, the White Sox loaded the bases with one out. Alex Rios grounded into a double play to end the threat.

But on closer inspection, it appeared that Rios beat the throw to first base. Another blown call by Hernandez.

Fortunately for the White Sox, Jeff Keppinger hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the 11th. The White Sox, unlike the A’s 16 days before them, didn’t have a win taken away from them.

It was just delayed by an inning.

By another blown call by Hernandez.

We can’t show the video here, but we’ll let you make the call.

White Sox play-by-play man Ken Harrelson nearly blew a gasket. I expected another F-bomb on TV, but he was able to hold his tongue.

People on Twitter, however, weren’t afraid to hold back their feelings.

Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com didn’t exactly have a birds-eye view of the play, but he thought Rios was safe:

Bleacher Report’s own Zachary Rymer thought it was the right time to mention that Hernandez was prominently featured in his column about people in baseball ruining the sport:

Chris Rongey is one who believes the MLB needs to act immediately in the wake of yet another blown call:

For the record, I completely agree with Rongey, but we’ll get to that later.

Britton Robinson believes that Hernandez could be collecting unemployment checks in the very near future:

I’m not quite that convinced.

Another Twitterer thought that the reason Hernandez still has a job might have something to do with blackmail:

Well, I don’t think I’d go quite THAT far.

Needless to say, baseball fans are out of their minds with anger, wonderment and incredulity. The fact that Hernandez was in a position to make another bad call in the first place is bad enough. With MLB essentially doing nothing in the wake of the fiasco 16 days ago, Hernandez was given free rein to continue blowing calls.

MLB has no one to blame but themselves. They had a golden opportunity to clean up a situation that cost a team a ballgame. How are the A’s going to feel if they lose out on a postseason berth by one game at the end of the season?

This latest egregious and obvious error by Hernandez must be dealt with—and severely. There have been far too many instances this season already in which umpires—rather than baseball games—have been the story.

Susan Slusser had to leave her tape recorder behind when interviewing Hernandez after the blown call in the A’s game. Was it because he simply didn’t want to leave a digital trail?

Jim Joyce didn’t have a problem owning up to his error with his blown call in the near-perfect game thrown by Armando Galarraga. And that cost Galarraga a piece of history.

This won’t be a history-altering blown call, but for the A’s, it well could decide their fate at the end of the season if they’re in the thick of a playoff race.

Joe Torre and MLB need to act on Hernandez’s latest outrageously bad call. Torre’s got incontrovertible evidence, and he needs to use it.

Enough is enough.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle.

Feel free to talk baseball with Doug anytime on Twitter.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Shelby Miller was about as close to perfection as one can get without the threat of ever actually throwing a perfect game.

That possibility no longer existed after the very first batter of the game on Friday against the Colorado Rockies.

Rockies leadoff hitter Eric Young Jr. hit a soft single to right fielder Carlos Beltran to open the game. Young also stole second base but would go no further as Miller bore down and retired the next three hitters to end the Rockies’ threat.

That would be the only nibble the Rockies would get all night from Miller, who proceeded to retire 27 consecutive Rockies hitters following Young’s single.

On his 113th and final pitch of the night, Miller caught Young looking on a fastball for a called third strike, giving him his 13th strikeout and a brilliant one-hit shutout.

It was without question a dominant performance that will be talked about in St. Louis for days and weeks to come.

It’s already getting Twitter attention, obviously.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Miller put himself in rarefied air:

Yahoo! Sports baseball expert Jeff Passan added another historic tidbit:

For those wondering what score Passan is referring to, that can found at Baseball-Reference.

Jon Presser talked about how far Miller has come since some not-so-pretty numbers last year:

So how did Miller accomplish the feat, especially considering his opponent?

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com was duly impressed:

Miller was simple in his approach, consistently pounding the strike zone with fastballs ranging from 94-97 miles per hour.

Rockies hitters consistently flailed away, and many came away shaking their heads:

In all, Miller threw 84 of 113 pitches for strikes.

After the game, Miller told the media swarming around him that he was just a wee bit excited (via AP, h/t ESPN.com):

I feel really good. It’s definitely the best game I’ve thrown in my life. How it finished was unbelievable. It was a great experience. Yadi (catcher Yadier Molina) was calling a great game and they were making great plays for me. It was a start I’ll remember the rest of my life.

With his epic night, Miller is now 5-2 on the season with a 1.58 ERA, 10.1 K/9 and .179 BAA. It’s fair to say he’s living up to his billing.

On this night, he lived up to a lot more.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle.

Feel free to talk baseball with Doug anytime on Twitter.

Follow @twitter

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the San Francisco Giants on Friday night, courtesy of a Buster Posey walk-off home run. But more importantly, they may have lost their starting shortstop for a significant period of time.

Hanley Ramirez was helped off the field after he unsuccessfully attempted to go from first to third on a single by catcher A.J. Ellis. AT&T Park is not the field of dreams for Ramirez—he fractured his thumb in his last game there in March in the finals of the World Baseball Classic.

Clutching his hamstring on the way into the dugout certainly wasn’t a good sign, nor was the pained expression on his face. Manager Don Mattingly wasn’t too thrilled about it either. In fact, in comments made to reporters after the game, it was clear he’s downright shaken by it.

“We can’t keep losing guys at this rate,” Mattingly said. “This is going to end. Right now it doesn‘t look very good. … I’m not confident about anything at this moment.”

One Twitter joker suggested that Mattingly practice empathy instead of sympathy for his injured roster mates:

Who can blame Mattingly for feeling the way he does right now? He’s had to use nine starting pitchers already and the season is barely 30 games old. He was forced to use an infield on Friday night that had Jerry Hairston at first, Nick Punto at second, Justin Sellers at short and the slumping Luis Cruz at third.

My confidence would be pretty shaken just seeing an infield that looked like that too.

Adrian Gonzalez is nursing a sore neck, Carl Crawford is battling through his own hamstring issues, Mark Ellis could go on the DL with a strained quad and slugger Matt Kemp is still nowhere near 100 percent after offseason shoulder surgery.

Now, Ramirez, back for just his fourth game after returning from his thumb injury, could be lost for a substantial amount of time once again.

Mattingly likened Ramirez’s injury to that of Kemp’s hamstring strain last year. Kemp missed 51 games overall after two DL stints. Losing Ramirez for the same amount of time will absolutely force Mattingly and general manager Ned Colletti to reassess the left side of their infield.

Their third baseman—Cruz—is hitting .098 and clearly looks lost at the plate. There could be a Triple-A stint in his near future. Backup Juan Uribe is hitting .200 with two homers in 17 games—he’s not a choice for a long-term gig. Sellers is hitting just .194, so he’s not a replacement that makes the Dodgers breathe easier right now, either.

Dee Gordon is currently toiling away at Triple-A Albuquerque, attempting to hone his skills and work on a more consistent hitting approach. He’s hitting .314 with 14 stolen bases, but the Dodgers had wanted to keep Gordon there—that may no longer be an option.

The Dodgers’ anemic offense produced 11 hits on Friday against the Giants, but only one of them went for extra-bases, and that was provided by starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw.  They stranded 13 runners, further adding to their offensive woes.

What Do the Dodgers Do at This Point?

That’s a question that has no clear answers. Their inability to produce in key situations is indeed troublesome. Kemp is hitting .267 with just one home run and 11 RBI. He’s hitting just .161 with runners in scoring position.

Andre Ethier is hitting just .250, including a .148 average with RISP. That’s two players with a combined value of $33.5 million hitting .155 in crucial situations.

Skip Schumaker, acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals during the offseason, is hitting just .119 with one RBI, while Cruz is hitting .098 with two RBI.

If general manager Ned Colletti is looking for answers from within, he’s simply not going to find them.

Gonzalez’s neck injury is likely short-term, a Mattingly did say that he was available to pinch-hit if needed on Friday. So there’s that at least.

Aside from Gordon, Colletti doesn’t have many infield options internally. His best hitters at the Triple-A level include Scott Van Slyke and Alex Castellanos, both of whom man the outfield. Very few options are available on the open market as well, not to mention the fact that teams are generally unwilling to part with any pieces this early in the season unless they’re completely blown away by an offer.

And then there’s Mattingly himself. He was called into question for not playing small-ball on Friday night. In the top of the fourth inning of a scoreless game, catcher A.J. Ellis drew a walk, followed by a single by Ethier, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Cruz promptly followed up with a double-play grounder, ending the threat.

Fans on Twitter immediately questioned Mattingly’s failure to consider an important option:

Another fan was just a bit more to the point about his feelings:

You can find any number of experts who point to the sacrifice bunt as a useless offensive tool. Dave Cameron of FanGraphs is one of them:

Bunting for a base hit, putting on a well-timed squeeze, beating an overshifted defense, having a pitcher move a runner into scoring position… there’s room for bunting in baseball. The frequency of sacrificing bunting that is prevalent now, though, is simply incorrect strategy, and the sooner it is removed from the sport, the better off Major League teams will be.

Cameron and others may be right about that, but considering the Dodgers’ current state of affairs, couldn’t it at least have been considered? Especially with the struggling Cruz coming up?

Coming up with different ways to score—especially on the road in a pitcher-friendly park—has to be considered. Stranding 13 runners and the complete inability to produce in key situations warrants a change of thinking.

Mattingly isn’t helping his own cause by failing to consider these options with his team struggling mightily at the plate. Injuries aside, he needs to adjust his way of thinking when run-scoring opportunities are presented.

Answers aren’t going to come for the Dodgers via the trade market at this point. They’re going to have to ride out the injuries and hope that key offensive contributors like Kemp and Ethier can break out of their funks are start doing what they’re paid very handsomely to do: produce.

There are no quick fixes at this point in the season. Colletti isn’t in a position that gives him an advantage. Even if he were to reach out to other teams to find a fix, opposing general managers have the upper hand in knowing that the Dodgers are desperate for help. They will be looking for a return package in any deal that would be much more advantageous for them then it would be for Los Angeles.

If Colletti wants to deal, it will cost him dearly. And the Dodgers have already paid dearly for the roster currently assembled.

Fixing the offense is not going to happen overnight. Kemp isn’t suddenly going to have a shoulder that’s 100 percent healthy. There’s no magical cure that can put Ramirez back on the field any quicker.

The onus is on the roster to collectively pick itself up, dust itself off and start delivering. The onus in on Mattingly to be more creative with run-scoring opportunities. The onus is on the bullpen to keep the team in the game.

Ramirez will return at some point. Kemp will be completely healthy at some point as well. Players like Zack Greinke, Chris Capuano, Ted Lilly and others will return as well. It’s up to Mattingly and the roster to stay afloat and ride out the storm.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle.

Feel free to talk baseball with Doug anytime on Twitter.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The St. Louis Cardinals are engaged in a tight battle already in the NL Central, and some sobering news on Friday will make their fight to stay alive in that race a little bit tougher.

Closer Jason Motte will undergo Tommy John surgery after attempting to rehab his right elbow for the past month.

Motte made nine appearances in spring training before experiencing pain in his elbow. An MRI at the time showed that he had strained his flexor tendon. With Motte starting the season on the disabled list, it was hoped that rest and rehab would be enough for him to avoid surgery.

The news probably wasn’t totally shocking, but it does add to the woes that have already piled up for the Cardinals bullpen.

Southpaw Marc Rzepczynski was demoted to the minors on Monday after struggling mightily in his first nine appearances. He posted a 7.88 ERA, allowing opposing batters to hit .361 against him.

One struggling reliever was just the start, however.

Earlier in the day on Friday, the Cardinals sent right-hander Mitchell Boggs to the minors as well, recalling Carlos Martinez to take his place on the roster. Boggs was named to replace Motte as the closer and completely spit the bit before being replaced by Edward Mujica. Boggs goes down to Triple-A after posting an ugly 12.66 ERA in 14 appearances.

The starting rotation for St. Louis has been simply outstanding, leading the majors with a 2.09 ERA heading into action on Friday. But the bullpen has been quite the opposite, posting a league-worst 5.90 ERA with six blown saves.

Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel summed up the state of the Cardinals pitching staff very succinctly.

It’s likely that Motte will need the minimum of 12 months to recover from his surgery, meaning he won’t be ready until early to mid-May of next year at the earliest. That’s the best-case scenario.

It may be time for the Cardinals to unleash Trevor Rosenthal.

Rosenthal is Ready to Assume the Mantel

Rosenthal was groomed as a starter by the Cardinals, and for good reason. He has a fastball that touches 100 MPH along with an effective curveball and changeup.

Everything changed for Rosenthal last year when he was called up by St. Louis in July. He made 19 regular-season appearances, posting a 2.78 ERA and 9.9K/9 rate. But during the postseason Rosenthal was electric, striking out 15 of the 30 batters he faced overall. The 100-MPH fastball was in evidence in both the NLDS and NLCS. He simply turned heads.

Rosenthal reported to spring training hoping to win a coveted rotation slot. After giving Shelby Miller a run for his money, Rosenthal settled back into a bullpen role once again to start the season. Thus far he’s posted a 3.18 ERA in 16 appearances with a 12.6 K/9 rate.

Cardinals fans clearly believe Rosenthal is the closer of the future. With Motte’s injury, that future could begin now.

He got into a spot of trouble in the eighth inning of Thursday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, but limited the damage to just one run. One fan loved the poise he saw in the 22-year-old.

Another fan agrees.

However, here’s the thing—Mujica has picked up seven consecutive saves since taking over for Boggs. Why fix what isn’t broken?

He has been somewhat shaky in his last two outings, giving up runs in both to make things interesting for the Cards. And there’s also the fact that Mujica was absolutely magical in his role last year as a seventh-/eighth-inning reliever, posting a ridiculously low 1.03 ERA in 29 outings following his trade from the Miami Marlins.

While he’s done a stand-up job as the temporary closer, wouldn’t it make more sense for manager Mike Matheny to set his bullpen in a way that maximizes everyone’s potential right now?

Mujica was dominant in his role last year—there’s no reason to think he can’t continue to be effective in that role again, even as the primary setup man. Matheny can use Joe Kelly in long/middle relief and Seth Maness in middle-relief situations as well.

Randy Choate continues as the left-handed specialist and Martinez and Fernando Salas can work in front of Mujica and Rosenthal. Setting more defined roles and moving Rosenthal now as opposed to later in the season simply makes more sense than waiting for a more opportune time.

The Cardinals have already tried just about everything they can to straighten out a bullpen that has been positively putrid. It’s Rosenthal’s time now, and the Cardinals can’t afford to wait any longer to make that decision.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle.

Feel free to talk baseball with Doug anytime on Twitter.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

With each passing day in the MLB, trade talk becomes a bit more pronounced.

Oftentimes, performance dictates how a team proceeds as it approaches the trade deadline in late July. In some cases, injuries will determine a team’s actions as well.

Inevitably, each team will have players on its roster that it may try to unload but will find no suitors. Bloated long-term contracts could be a factor. So, too, could current performance and historical trends.

Whatever the case, each MLB team has at least one member of its roster that would be considered worthless trade bait.

Here is an accounting of those players.

Begin Slideshow

On a slightly overcast night at Citi Field in New York that saw the wind blowing out, two young hurlers got together for an early dream matchup.

Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals was already an established star before this night. Fans and experts alike have wondered aloud what kind of year he would have after the training wheels were taken off, having been limited to 160 innings last year.

New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey was making only the 14th start of his MLB career, already putting together an impressive portfolio of starts that has Mets fans salivating for more.

It was a game billed as a marquee matchup between two young guns, and the 26,675 fans in attendance can honestly say that they weren’t cheated.

Harvey out-dueled Strasburg, going seven strong innings and allowing just one run on four hits. He struck out seven and pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in his final inning.

Strasburg by comparison looked pedestrian, allowing four runs—two earned—on five hits with six strikeouts in six innings. Strasburg gave up home runs to Ike Davis and Lucas Duda as well.

On this night, Harvey clearly had the upper hand, and he served notice to the rest of the league that he is ready to stake his claim as the best young ace in baseball.

Harvey vs. Strasburg: Career Matchup

Harvey and Strasburg are certainly alike in many ways, but the following stats clearly show that Harvey has the upper hand. Here is a breakdown of each young fireballer’s first 14 starts in their careers.

Strasburg was just a year younger when he made his 14th start, and it was only his second after returning from Tommy John surgery.

With Harvey’s effort on Friday night, the conclusion one would gather is that he clearly has the advantage. Strasburg has a slight edge in overall strikeouts, but Harvey has him beat in every other category.

Harvey is already in exclusive company in terms of the fast start to his career in Mets history. Adam Rubin of ESPN New York gives us this interesting tidbit.

And here’s another one for good measure.

Harvey has Mets fans all abuzz thinking about the possibilities. Dwight Gooden gave fans the same feeling back in 1985, and there’s no reason to think at this point that Harvey can’t come close to doing the same.

If being judged solely on his passion, Harvey clearly wants to reach those heights.

Harvey and His Passion

Before the game began on Friday, it was clear that Harvey was well aware of the hype leading up to the marquee matchup. It was also clear to Mets manager Terry Collins that Harvey was ready to face the challenge—his game face was on.

“He’s usually not quite that grouchy,” Collins told Anthony Dicomo of MLB.com. “When your manager walks up to you and the first thing you want to do is bite his head off, you’re a little bit on edge.”

Harvey has been described as intense, and it was clear before the game that he wanted no one invading his space before embarking on his pregame routine.

Harvey was considered to be a great talent in the minors, but not necessarily ace material. Mets assistant general manager John Ricco explains to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN:

The lesson to me is that you don’t know what this arena is going to do for a player. Some guys raise their game here, and some guys can’t.

With Matt, he’s brought his A-game every time out at this level of competition. In the minors, on a smaller stage, maybe you feel like you can get guys out without your best stuff. Here, he’s bringing it, and his best is pretty good.

Mets third baseman David Wright has similarly been impressed with Harvey’s demeanor and approach.

He’s embraced the spotlight and embraced the stage. He welcomes it. It’s important for a young starting pitcher to have the mentality, “I’m better than you.”

It’s not so much cockiness as an extreme confidence. He has that [mentality] where he believes he can go out there and dominate you. And more often than not, he does.

The dominance over Strasburg on Friday night was certainly an indication of just that.

Is it Fair to Compare?

ESPN’s Baseball Tonight highlighted the Harvey performance on Friday night. Analyst Rick Sutcliffe pointed out that Harvey brings the complete package as opposed to Gooden’s fastball-curveball approach at the time.

In addition, Harvey is five years older than Gooden was—that maturity level will certainly be a factor for Harvey as he continues to face pressure situations early on.

It would have been understandable if manager Collins had decided to pull Harvey after loading the bases in the top of the seventh inning with no one out and a run already in.

That, however, was when Harvey was at his best.

He struck out catcher Kurt Suzuki, got pinch-hitter Roger Bernadina to pop up meekly to catcher John Buck and got the dangerous Denard Span to end the inning with a grounder to second base.

Harvey pulled off a magic act and shut the door, exiting to tremendous applause by the Citi Field faithful. One Twitter fan pointed out the one important trait that aces have.

On this night, Harvey bested Strasburg. Considering the strong division rivalry, it is just the first of what could be many matchups between the two young guns.

At times, Strasburg will come out victorious. He’s no slouch when it comes to passion and talent. But on this night—and in this moment—Harvey came out on top.

There shouldn’t be any question in anyone’s mind that at this point in time, Harvey is the best young ace in baseball. His outing on Friday night was clear proof that the youngster has only just started on his journey, and that journey could well lead to lofty heights.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Toronto Blue Jays pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Miami Marlins this offseason in the hopes that the players acquired would help lead them to their first postseason berth since 1993.

Those hopes may have taken a severe blow on Friday night.

In the top of the sixth inning of the Blue Jays’ game against the Kansas City Royals, the Jays took a 6-4 lead following an Emilio Bonifacio run-scoring double.

Shortstop Jose Reyes—one of the principal figures in the team-changing trade for the Blue Jays—followed with a single up the middle to drive in two more runs, giving the Jays an 8-4 lead.

Reyes, known for his great speed, took off for second to put another runner in scoring position. Reyes stole the bag safely, but at tremendous cost.

He was in immediate pain and clutching his ankle in agony after the steal. Reyes was eventually carted off the field.

Reyes was off to a brilliant start with his new team, hitting .395 with five RBI and five stolen bases. He was everything the Blue Jays wanted at the top of their batting order.

Considering the way that Reyes was clutching his leg in pain, it would appear that he could be out of action for an extended period of time. If that’s the case, did the Blue Jays’ hopes of a postseason berth just fly out the window?

Well, not necessarily, but it definitely doesn’t help matters much.

The Blue Jays as currently constituted have weapons. Melky Cabrera has heated up of late and they have the versatile Maicer Izturis who can fill in at short for now. However, Izturis is already taking the place of Brett Lawrie, who is currently rehabbing in extended spring training. Lawrie could be back in 10 days or so, but it leaves the Blue Jays razor-thin in the infield.

The absence of Reyes and Lawrie from the left side of the infield is without question a huge blow. In addition, Adam Lind is struggling with a .136 average and Edwin Encarnacion is also hobbling along with a .132 average in the early going.

Reyes was absolutely the sparkplug for a team that was hitting a collective .240 before Friday night. You bet his absence from the lineup long-term puts a damper on postseason hopes.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos and manager John Gibbons will no doubt be waiting rather impatiently for the full diagnosis on Reyes’ ankle and then make plans accordingly.

But with a roster already facing injuries and slow starts, it couldn’t have been worse news.

The Blue Jays’ odds of winning the World Series at the beginning of the year were right up there with the likes of the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals.

If Reyes is indeed out for a lengthy period of time, the Blue Jays won’t be worrying about a World Series—they’ll just be trying to stay afloat.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

By its very definition, the word “superstar” denotes a position of power and strength. In fact, Merriam-Webster.com defines the word as “a star (as in sports or the movies) who is considered extremely talented, has great public appeal and can usually command a high salary.”

MLB pitchers who fit that description would include Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez and Clayton Kershaw, just to name a few.

But there are several young, up-and-coming MLB pitchers who threaten to become the next wave of superstars.

Here are 10 young hurlers who could be defined as superstars with a stellar 2013 season. Young pitchers are defined as being 25 years of age or younger.

Begin Slideshow

With Opening Day for the 2013 MLB season starting at the beginning of the week, fantasy baseball lovers will have a bevy of two-start pitchers to choose from.

It’s all about matchups, home/road starts and previous performances that makes the decision of who to start in your fantasy league a difficult one.

Pitchers who might have the benefit of making two starts at home in the same week might seem to have an advantage. Others who are facing teams they’ve historically had success with in the past can be helpful as well.

For those fantasy baseball aficionados who are struggling with their lineups this week, here is a look at the two-start pitchers for Week 1 in your fantasy league.

Note: All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

Begin Slideshow

The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, voted on by MLB managers and coaches, is considered the standard for fielding excellence in baseball.

But for many, it simply doesn’t accurately reflect defensive dominance.

Back in 2010, the Associated Press characterized the Gold Glove Award as more of a popularity contest than an award given out for great glove work.

Via ESPN.com:

For years, some fans have viewed the Gold Gloves as mostly a popularity contest, even suggesting that a player’s performance at the plate helped draw extra attention to his glove.

Serious questions about the Gold Gloves have stirred for more than a decade, growing ever since Rafael Palmeiro won the award at first base in 1999. He played there only 28 games for Texas that season, spending most of the year as a designated hitter.

Now, Rawlings is looking to change all that.

They announced on Friday that they are adding a special defensive sabermetric called SDI, or SABR Defensive Index, to more accurately determine the Gold Glove Award winner at each position.

Managers and coaches will still have their say, but once the SDI has been fully created and instituted, it too, will become part of the voting criteria.

So, just what does this all mean for current players who were previously considered to be defensive wizards by managers and coaches?

Here is a list of players who could easily be affected by the addition of defensive sabermetrics to the Gold Glove Award equation.

Note: All defensive statistics courtesy of FanGraphs.com unless otherwise noted.

Begin Slideshow