Kuzul

The Texas Rangers have outscored their opponents 57-23 in the past eight days, and Endy Chavez has been the unsung hero of this recent hot streak. While players like Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz have been hitting balls out of the park, Chavez has been hitting .435 in 13 games while crossing the plate 11 times.The emergence of this new hitting machine has surprised many in the Rangers fan base. Chavez began the year in AAA Round Rock hitting .305 in 30 games. He recently made his first major league appearance since 2009 where his season ended with a torn ACL. He was called up after Julio Borbon was placed on the disabled list but has remained on the roster despite Borbon being activated.Chavez is putting up career high numbers in a lot of offensive categories and in many cases is outpacing the player he was sent to temporarily replace. ...

View From the Rockpile – Musings From a Mile High Along the Journey to Rocktober A Weekly Colorado Rockies Report – By Michael Paul April 4, 2011 The Colorado Rockies opened their 2011 season in the friendly and paper-thin air of Coors Field against divisional rivals, the Arizona Diamondbacks, their co-tenants at the sparkling new spring raining facility, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona. The hometown faithful openly dared to dream of a Rocktober renaissance after a solid spring training that saw the Rockies win 20 games with a well-balanced attack of power, fundamentals and youth.  MLB fans nationwide, on the other hand, took pause, viewing these Kid Rox with equal doses of skepticism and intrigue.  While club leader Troy Tulowitzki is a popular pick for regular season NL MVP and staff ace Ubaldo Jimenez finds himself a sleeper NL Cy Young candidate, the consensus view on the Rockies as a whole ...

Opening Day is upon us! And each year, teams are destined to begin their regular seasons with certain core players on the disabled list, down with some sort of ailment. But it seems like more than ever in 2011, big-name players have been hitting the disabled list early and often.So with that, I have comprised an All-Star team consisting of players who have been injured in some capacity since the end of last season and will start the 2011 regular season on the disabled list. This list is made up of one player at each infield position, three outfielders, five starting pitchers, a middle reliever and a closer.Of course, like any All-Star team, there will be snubs and there will be controversy. I invite readers' gripes, compliments and opinions.Begin Slideshow

Aging and Injury Plagued Carlos Beltan Equals 2011 Fantasy Baseball BustThe Mets are going to be awful this season and Carlos Beltran is going to be a big part of that.The former Astros playoff hero has never lived up to the enormous contract the Mets threw at him in 2005.Does a guy that hit .255 while hitting seven home runs and 27 RBI sound like a worthy pick-up to you?After sitting out for half the season in 2010 with a knee injury, Beltran had an abysmal 66 games.The soon to be 34 year-old Beltran has seen his home runs, RBI and stolen bases decrease in every season since 2006.To add insult to injury, now his "good" knee is bothering him according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News:"Despite the apparent positive news, the Mets learned this month that Beltran's knees will probably require careful attention all season. ...

Before the start of the season, I wanted to see which pitchers statistically had the best fastballs, curveballs, sliders, cutters, changeups and splitters of the 2010 season.Here are a look at the top curveballs of the 2010 season. A few notes:The Pitch Value data was created by Fangraphs.com. I will be using the statistic, wCH, which denotes the runs above average for a particular pitch—in this case a curveball.  The "wCH" stat benefits starting pitchers and pitchers who throw a certain pitch more often. Because the more often you throw a pitch, the better the chances are of it being successful.Sometimes, PITCH/FX does not sort pitches into the right category. For example, Brandon Morrow’s splitter was categorized as a fastball. Best FastballsBest CuttersBest SlidersBest CurveballsBegin Slideshow

BALTIMORE ORIOLES  Last year: 66-96, 5th place in AL East  Manager: Buck Showalter  PROJECTED LINEUP:  C- Matt Wieters (S) 1B- Derrek Lee (R) 2B- Brian Roberts (S)  3B- Mark Reynolds (R) SS- JJ Hardy (R) LF- Luke Scott (L)  CF- Adam Jones (R)  RF- Nick Markakis (L) DH- Vladimir Guerrero (R) The lineup struggled in the first half of 2010 without leadoff man Brian Roberts. When Showalter took over and Roberts returned, the lineup took off. If Roberts is healthy, he should hit .285/.355/.420 with 10 home runs and 25 stolen bases. Derek Lee struggled in 2010 posting his lowest isolated power numbers in years. I think he will have a rebound year hitting in Camden Yards and should post a .280/.365/.490 line with 25 or so home runs. Mark Reynolds will strikeout almost 40 percent of the time, but he has the ability to hit 45 home runs every season. He does get on base, but his average will always be a problem because of his ...

The 2011 fantasy baseball season begins in less than 24 hours and now is the last chance to solidify your lineup. While finding that unheralded utility man who ends up being Jose Bautista is always a thrill—a smart fantasy player is more concerned with avoiding guys that will severely disappoint them. It's going to be hard to win your ERA and WHIP battle with a former stud that has been reduced to nothing more than a has-been that gets lit up on a regular basis. Look at a guy like Jonathan Papelbon, a former All-Star closer that was considered almost unhittable for years. But last year he saw his ERA jump two full points and his increased amount of fly balls is extremely troubling. I'm here to give you stats, trends and expert analysis as to why you should avoid Player X.  Don't blindly pick your team based on recognizable names. Here are the biggest ...

TEXAS RANGERS Last Year: 90-72, 1st in AL West   Manager: Ron Washington      PROJECTED LINEUP  C- Yorvit Torrealba (R)  1B- Mitch Moreland (L) 2B- Ian Kinsler (R) 3B- Adrian Beltre (R)  SS- Elvis Andrus (R) LF- Josh Hamilton (L) CF- Julio Borbon (L) RF- Nelson Cruz (R) DH- Michael Young (R) The Rangers' offense is still just as strong as last year's group that went to the World Series. Led by AL MVP Josh Hamilton, they have a great balance of power and speed that makes them tough for other teams to deal with. Hamilton has all the offensive tools. His combination of power and ability to hit for average make him one of the game's most dangerous hitters. He should hit .315/.370/.580 with 30 home runs. Nelson Cruz is a dangerous right-handed bat who should hit behind Hamilton. Like Hamilton, Cruz has an ability to hit for power and average. One facet of Cruz's game that is overlooked is his speed. The key with Cruz ...

Minor Cuts Mean Little To New York Yankees Pennant HopesThe Yankees are starting to finalize their roster right now.The catcher spot has been the most interesting. Along with outfielder Justin Maxwell and infielder Doug Bernier, they sent Jesus Montero down to triple A and sent Austin Romine to Double A.But the more high-profile moves: cutting Ronnie Belliard and sending former Cubs phenom Mark Prior all the way down to single A.As far as the normal bumps and bruises caused by spring training, three players, Curtis Granderson is still sidelined by an oblique strain and there is a chance he will start out the season on the disabled list, but it don't seem like long-term problems.The club's offseason moves were fodder for the press this winter, as were the non-moves (not signing Cliff Lee) and with more likely to come this summer, Mike Vaccario of the New York Post expects the ...

KANSAS CITY ROYALS Last Year: 67-95, fifth in AL Central  Manager: Ned Yost   PROJECTED LINEUP  C: Jason Kendall (R) (will start season on DL) DH/1B: Kila Ka'aihue (L) 1B/DH: Billy Butler (R) 2B: Chris Getz (L) 3B: Mike Aviles (R) SS: Alcides Escobar (R) LF: Alex Gordon (L) CF: Melky Cabrera (S) RF: Jeff Francoeur (R) During the 2010 season, the Royals were second in baseball in terms of batting average. However, the offense had trouble scoring by the lack of power (19th in SLG) and the average rate of getting on base overall (14th in OBP). Billy Butler is the Royals' best hitter. Butler will hit over .300, but his power declined over last year. He did cut his strikeouts by 20 and increase his BB total slightly. I expect close to 20 home runs, a .390 OBP and a .480 SLG line for Butler. Kila Ka'aihue will provide the power in the KC lineup. He has never had more than 200 big-league at-bats ...