Results tagged ‘ Cliff Lee ’
Picking up where they left off
Two American League All-Stars who had their seasons cut short in 2008 because of injury are picking up right where they left off early on in 2009.
Texas Rangers’ second baseman Ian Kinsler had his season cut short by a sports hernia in August. Prior to that he batted .319 (165-518) with 41 doubles, four triples, 18 homers and 71 RBI, establishing career highs in every category except for home runs which he likely would have surpassed if healthy (20 in 2007). As I mentioned, he was also named to his first career All-Star Game.
This year, Kinsler has come out of the gate on fire. He currently ranks in the top five in all of the following statistical categories:
SB – 1st; 7
OPS – 1st; 1.283
SLG – 2nd; .814
RBI – 3rd; 16
R – 3rd; 15
AVG – 4th; .407
HR – 4th; 5
OBP- 4th; .470
On 4/15 vs. Baltimore, the fourth-year player from the University of
Missouri, went 6-6, hitting for the cycle while collecting four RBI and
scoring five times. If Kinsler keeps putting up these kind of numbers
and the Rangers stay in the hunt (currently 6-8; 2.5 games behind
Seattle), then he may be become the second straight second baseman to
win the AL MVP Award for the first time in baseball history. (1)
The second AL player to get off to a hot start in ’09 is Chicago White Sox left fielder Carlos Quentin. Quentin injured himself on 9/1 vs. the Indians when he broke his left wrist during an at-bat against Cliff Lee in the ninth inning. At the time of the injury, the slugger from Stanford led the league with 36 homers. He would eventually finish second on the year to Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera. Had Quentin not missed the final 26 games of the White Sox season, there is no doubt he would have been high amongst the list of favorites for AL MVP. (2)
Quentin has shown no ill effects of that injury since the new season has gotten underway. He currently leads the league with seven home runs, ranks sixth in slugging percentage (.706) and 10th in RBI (14). He went deep in three staright games against Tampa over the weekend and already has one multi-homer game this season (4/13 at Detroit).
As the weather heats up at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, look for Quentin to do the same.
Photo Credits:
1 – http://blogs.citypages.com/sports/kinsler.jpg
2 – http://www.newsday.com/media/photo/2008-04/38201331.jpg
That’s the last time I’ll ever be wrong
I’m here to admit I was wrong. To make amends for the error of my thinking and to eat a big steaming plate of crow.
In this space last Monday I wrote about a few surprising elements of the early 2009 season. First, I wrote about the surprise atop the NL East. While the Braves and Marlins were tied for the NL East lead, I predicted that if one of those was going to contend throughout the summer, it would be the Braves. They have experienced bats like Brian McCann and Chipper Jones to go along with a rotation who was looking strong behind Derek Lowe and Jair Jurrjens. The Marlins, in my eye, were too inexperienced to be the real thing. Since that post, the Braves who enjoyed the second highest run differential in the league at +12, have seen that number shrink to -5. They dropped five in a row before picking up their first win in a week over the Pirates.
Off to baseball’s best start at 11-1, the Marlins have been on fire since the word go. They are the only undefeated road team in the game (6-0) and oh by the way, the current five game lead they hold over the Braves and Mets is the LARGEST IN FRANCHISE HISTORY. The Fighting FIsh have done it with quality pitching (3.24 team ERA ranks second in the NL) and timely hitting (see three straight ninth-inning rallies in Washington D.C. over the weekend). I learned my lesson on the predictions, so all I will say is that I’m very excited to watch this Marlins team compete all summer long.
My other surprise (disappointment) was the play of the Cleveland Indians. Cliff was miserable in his first two starts and they had just one win in the season’s opening week. The Tribe finished 3-4 in a seven-game road trip to Kansas City and New York. Lee was much better on Thursday, besting New York’s ace, C.C. Sabathia, 10-2. The reigning AL Cy Young winner allowed only one run over 6.0 IP. It’s too early to tell which version of Lee we’ll get in 2009, but Thursday’s outing was a step in the right direction toward regaining his dominance of a season ago.
The bats also came alive during the trip, capped off by Saturday’s historic 14-run second inning and 22-4 win over the Bombers. No player might be more indicative of the breakout than new third baseman Mark DeRosa. He started the road trip hitting .115, but raised his average to .236 to go along with three homers and 15 RBI (6 in Saturday’s route alone). If DeRosa and Grady Sizemore can get going at the top, the Indians can be in the thick of the race in no time. They currently sit just 3.5 games behind first place (Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City).
After One
Now that the 2009 MLB season is a week in the books…
Biggest Surprise:
The NL East; specifically who’s at the top and who isn’t. If you told me a week ago two teams would be tied for the division lead at 5-1 and asked me to pick the two teams, I would’ve said the Mets and Phillies. Not so fast, my friends. In fact, it’s the Marlins and Braves who are tied atop this loaded division, with Philly and New York coming in at 3-3 and the Nasty Nats still in search of their first win at 0-6.
The Marlins began the week by sweeping the Nationals in Miami. As I wrote above, the Nats are winless, but the Marlins offense produced some solid numbers, doubling up Washington, 26-13 in the three-game series. They followed that up by taking two-of-three from the Mets over the weekend, including an outstanding 2-1 pitcher’s dual on Sunday between Josh Johnson (2-0, 0.57 ERA) and Johan Santana (1-1, 0.71 ERA).
The Braves should be 6-0 with their only loss coming when the bullpen imploded in Philadelphia, inexplicably surrendering a 10-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh. They joined the Marlins as being beneficiaries of getting the Nationals on the schedule so far. Atlanta has the second highest run differential in the league at +12 (St. Louis, +16) and has gotten some solid pitching efforts from both Jair Jurrjens (2-0, 2.45 ERA) and free agent acquisition, Derek Lowe (1-0, 0.57 ERA).
I know it’s early, but I think if I had to pick one of these two that will be in contention once the calendar shows September, it would be the Braves. If they continue to get solid production from familiar names like Chipper Jones and Brian McCann and rookie Jordan Schafer to go along with the strong starting pitching, they’ll be a contender all summer long.
Oh, by the way, the Marlins travel to Atlanta for a three-game set beginning tomorrow night (Volstad vs. Vazquez).
Biggest Disappointment:
The plight of the Cleveland Indians. Chosen by many to be the class of tightly-contested AL Central, the Indians narrowly avoided their worst start in 95 years yesterday by posting their first W, an 8-4 triumph over the Blue Jays. Perhaps even more alarming has been the performance of the reigning Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee. In two starts, Lee is 0-2 with a 9.90 ERA (11 ER/10.0 IP). By comparison, in his magical run a season ago, Lee surrendered only four earned runs during the entire month of April.
The offense hasn’t done much to pick up the staff so far, either. Cleveland has the lowest run differential in the American League at -18 and has surrendered the most runs in all of baseball, 51. Travis Hafner has been all or nothing with three homeruns, but only six hits total. Mark DeRosa, acquired from the Cubs to shore up the hot corner, is batting just .115 (3-26) in the early going.
The Tribe embarks on a seven-game road trip beginning with three in Kansas City before helping to christen New Yankee Stadium in a four-game set beginning on Thursday. They need to win both series or manager Eric Wedge might feel his seat getting a little warmer.
*all stats courtesy of ESPN.com
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