Kuzul

The Milwaukee Brewers are mired in a Catch-22 with Rickie Weeks. The 30-year-old second baseman is flatlining on a club that was expected to contend heavily in the National League Central division. Instead, the Brewers are more than 10 games out of first place with a record of 16-24.Concerning the Brew Crew's woes, there is plenty of blame to throw around.Predictably, the bullpen has looked atrocious at times.Ace Yovani Gallardo is struggling mightily, watching his strikeout rate dip to a career low while suffering through a 1.46 WHIP.Starters Marco Estrada and Wily Peralta were expected to have large, positive roles with the staff this year. Instead, they have combined for a 6-6 record and 5.63 ERA.Let's not forget the injured Corey Hart, who has yet to hit the diamond thus far.The disappointment of the Brewers is amplified by the sluggish Weeks, though.As most fans in Milwaukee know, Weeks is touting ...

Boston Red Sox reliever Andrew Miller recently dodged a major injury after he was hit in the head by a foul ball while standing in the dugout. The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham reported that Miller was in the dugout during the top of the ninth inning of Friday’s 3-2 10-inning win against the Minnesota Twins when the scary moment happened. A foul ball off the bat of teammate Jarrod Saltalamacchia ricocheted off a wall and struck the left-hander in the forehead. Miller had been searching for a piece of gum at the time and never saw the ball coming. He described to the Boston Herald’s Scott Lauber, "I heard something like whistling, and then, the next thing I know, I was like, 'I think something just hit me in the forehead.' I'm fine—I think." Typically, Miller would have been sitting in the bullpen. However, he had just finished setting down ...

This just in: The New York Mets are unwatchable on days that Matt Harvey isn't pitching.Terry Collins is working with a lineup that, on any given night, has six or seven automatic outs sprinkled in among a couple of major league hitters. David Wright and Co.—though this is no fault of the captain's—are 28th in the league in hitting and last in on-base percentage, a part of the game that Collins and Sandy Alderson have attempted to make of paramount importance.His pitching staff, outside of the aforementioned phenom and the sporadic, solid Jonathon Niese start, has been abysmal. The team is 7-2 in games started by Harvey, and 9-22 in others. Outside of Harvey, everyone has been serving up a nice buffet of batting practice and gopher balls.No team in baseball swoons like the Mets swoon. Their slides are a perfect storm of anemic hitting and pathetic pitching.But, just as ...

According to a report from Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the New York Yankees have acquired infielder Reid Brignac from the Colorado Rockies. Brignac, a utility infielder, was designated for assignment by the Rockies earlier in the week. According to NBC Sports, Heyman later tweeted that the Rockies will receive $75,000 in return. Brignac has been in the majors for six seasons, five in Tampa Bay. In his first season in Colorado, he hit .250 with a .294 OBP, with one home run and six RBI.Brignac's best quality is that he is a guy who can play almost everywhere on the diamond. He primarily plays at second base or shortstop, but has also played in left field, right field and third base. With Derek Jeter, Eduardo Nunez, Kevin Youkilis and Alex Rodriguez all on the disabled list, Brignac could be used in numerous situations to give the healthy players a much-needed rest.This is another nice move ...

It's been four weeks since I looked at the numbers put up by the New York Mets in the early part of the 2013 season. A month is a long time in baseball, and player performance can fluctuate over time. Unfortunately for the Mets, many of the early season positives have evaporated. Additionally, some of the negative stats from the first few weeks of the season haven't improved.On the optimistic side, the season is still young, and there is plenty of time for the Mets to turn things around. If they hope to be competitive, they are going to have to address a number of issues.Here's a look at some of the good signs so far for the Mets and some of the less-than-inspiring ones through the first six weeks of the campaign. Begin Slideshow

The New York Yankees continue to make moves in order to maximize the effectiveness of a roster decimated by injuries.Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports that New York has acquired infielder Reid Brignac from the Colorado Rockies. According to NBC Sports, Heyman reported the Rockies will receive $75,000 in the deal for Brignac. No corresponding roster moves have been announced just yet, but Alberto Gonzalez will likely be the odd man out in this equation. There's no reason to have two versatile reserve infielders on the roster. Brignac also has much more upside than Gonzalez.Yankees fans will remember Brignac from his days with the Tampa Bay Rays (2008 to 2012). During his time there, he hit .227/.268/.317 with 10 home runs and 67 RBI. He played 113 games in 2010 and hit eight home runs and drove in 45—his best season to date.General manager Brian Cashman has been notorious for making these scrappy ...

The Oakland A’s received some bad news Friday about the ace of their pitching staff, Brett Anderson. He was already on the disabled list with a sprained ankle, but was determined to have a fractured foot and will be out for at least another month. Oakland announced that the 25-year-old left-handed Anderson has a navicular stress fracture in his right foot via their official Twitter account: The #Athletics announced that LHP Brett Anderson has a navicular stress fracture of his right foot. He will be reevaluated in four weeks.— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) May 17, 2013 The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser confirmed the story, while indicating Anderson will be re-evaluated in four weeks. In an update to her story, she reported that he is expecting to pitch again this year, but if it is determined he needs surgery, it would likely end his season. Now in his fifth major league season, ...

The Cleveland Indians are now roughly one quarter of the way through their 2013 season and are sitting atop the AL Central standings with a 23-17 record. Even with a nice start, some Indians fans may be hesitant to hop on the bandwagon after similar starts in 2011 and 2012—where the Indians combined for a 49-31 record through the first 40 games in each season. No one could blame them for being hesitant, because the aforementioned teams finished both seasons without a playoff berth. In fact, last year the Indians compiled the worst month in franchise history when they put together a 5-24 record during the month of August. But enough about the past, right? So far in 2013, there isn’t too much to complain about in Cleveland. Breaking down the offense, defense, rotation, bullpen, bench and coaching will give you a better idea of what is working in Cleveland ...

With optimism higher for many Mariners fans after a series win against the AL East leading New York Yankees, fans are starting to think about bigger things for the 2013 Seattle Mariners.From individual performances to team goals, there just seems to be a different vibe surrounding this Mariners team than has been there in years past. The Mariners may still be a shade under .500, but they continue to battle against quality teams and show glimpses of what could be when everything starts to click.So what exactly could the Mariners do if everything clicks?Well, there are of course the individual statistics that could come from it, but there are also moves the Mariners could make to truly make a splash in the AL West. With that in mind, here are five radical predictions for the remainder of the Mariners' season.Begin Slideshow

After a brutal 10-game road trip that saw the Atlanta Braves go 4-6 against the Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks, they returned home to Turner Field and finally got back on track with an 8-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.The main talking point going into Friday night was the return of Jason Heyward, but by the time Craig Kimbrel closed the game out in the top of the ninth inning with his 12th save of the season, all everyone wanted to talk about was the grand slam delivered by Justin Upton in the bottom of the sixth inning. Upton's 14th home run of the season came at a crucial point in the game, as the Braves were down by two runs and starting pitcher Paul Maholm was reaching the end of his start after throwing 95 pitches. After Upton's shot to left field scored Jordan Schafer, Andrelton Simmons ...