Nearing the All-Star Break: Corey Patterson and Rebuilding the Orioles, Pelfrey, and Quentin

 The Baltimore Orioles have a long-term plan to revamp and reimage the organization falling just short of cleaning house top to bottom.

With  Felix Pie(notes) back in the lineup and buzz surrounding a Ty Wigginton(notes) trade starting up,  Corey Patterson(notes) may not be in an Orioles uniform for much longer. Patterson however has been on a complete fantasy tear over the last 25 days sporting a .344 AVG., 14 Runs, and 11 Steals. For nervous or considering fantasy owners, Patterson should still get regular at-bats as the DH and will be the first outfielder off the bench to fill for absent starters.

I want to highlight two other players mentioned in Closing Time: Corey Patterson and the rebuilder's dilemma by Scott Pianowski. New York Mets starting pitcher/All-Star Mike Pelfrey and the spirit of the “SouthSide” Chicago White Sox outfielder Carlos Quention.

Mike Pelfrey(notes), has been a strong performer on my fantasy team but a bad trend is setting in and it is time to let him go. After Pelfrey’s start this Sunday I plan to drop him from my lineup, and pickup OF Carlos Beltran who will be returning from the DL following the All-Star break and starting in Thursday and Fridays games next week. On Pelfrey, Closing Time report said, (He) continues to limp to the first-half finish line – the Reds knocked him for seven runs on Monday. He's now allowed 21 runs over his last five turns, with a mediocre nine strikeouts against 11 walks. You probably should rest him on the weekend when he faces the Braves.

 And this on a man possessed, Carlos Quentin:

Quentins Catch Monday vs LAA Angels - Tori Hunter in the FIRST INNING!

“If you can figure out Carlos Quentin(notes),maybe it's time to move into more lucrative endeavors, like picking lottery numbers. He's clubbed 10 homers over the past five weeks (including two on Monday) after a horrendous opening quarter, but the homer binge in June was surrounded by a lot of curious stats – his strikeout rate went up, his line-drive rate went down, and his ground-ball rate went up. His HR/FB clip was rich in June, as you'd expect, but Quentin wasn't lucky anywhere else, carrying a mere .231 average on balls in play. Looking at the last two years, Quentin is starting to look more and more like a three-category player, someone that can give us power and runs scored but will be a drain in the other two standard categories. Home runs generally carry clout in trade talks, and with that in mind, now is probably a good time to peddle his recent power surge."

Stephen Strasburg – Not an All-Star Yet!

Washington Nationals phenomena Stephen Strasburg will have to wait another year for his 1^st All-Star appearance. Strasburg was a major topic of debate heading into this weekend. It was a tough decision, and I think rather easy to understand both viewpoints.

The Major League Baseball All-Star game should be respected and its integrity needs to be upheld. All other major sports in the U.S. have All-star games that are nothing more than watered down exhibition games.  The NBA is the worst at putting players on the All-Star team that don’t deserve to be on the team.

Strasburg may be good enough to make the All-Star team, but he hasn’t earned it yet. Yes, we all know he will but the fact of the matter remains that he doesn’t have a body of work to back up what we all believe to be true.  

But we all want to see him! It seems unthinkable we would deny ourselves of the timeless memory of watching Strasburg not only play but start in his rookie season All-Star Game.

The USA Today Daily pitch reported,

The NL staff, as announced Sunday will include Nationals' closer Matt Capps, but not Strasburg.

"He got quite a bit of consideration, I haven't seen the guy pitch live yet," NL manager Charlie Manuel said. "Leave him alone, let him pitch. He's going to be an All-Star for a long time." Read More 

 Jeff Passan of Yahoo!Sports wrote in a July 4^th post, “One can look at the All-Star Game in two ways. 

The first is as a showcase for the fans, which is supported by MLB allowing them to vote the starters. No player drives fan interest today like Strasburg. Bring him on board – or, better yet, allow the fans to vote him in – and watch ratings for the game and interest in it soar.

The second is as a game with real implications: World Series home field. Managers should, then, pick the best players for their teams. Only in Manuel’s world, where Omar Infante deserves an All-Star bid, Arthur Rhodes(notes) andEvan Meek(notes) are better equipped to help the NL win than Strasburg.

Like Manuel said, he’ll make plenty of All-Star teams going forward, and so will …” Read More

Regardless of how Strasburg may feel or what we selfishly may want to see, we are both going to half to wait till next year.

Carl Pavano – Behind the Mustache! Back to Back Complete-Games - Beat Santana, Beat Halladay

Behind the Mustache! Back to Back Complete-Games - Beat Santana, Beat Halladay

June 26^th at Citi Field the Minninesota Twins beat the New York Mets 6-0 in a 3-hit complete-game shutout thrown by Carl Pavano. Facing Pavano for the Mets was veteran lefty Johan Santana. 

"I knew I was going against a pitcher who just had a great outing. There's not much room for mistakes," Santana said. "It's just they were better in the first inning and took advantage right away and I think that's the difference."

Pavano (9-6) gave up three hits in his second consecutive complete game, both of which have come against an NL East ace. The well-traveled right-hander tossed a four-hitter Sunday to beat Roy Halladay and the NL champion Phillies 4-1. 

He only walked one Saturday while striking out four and never allowed a runner to reach third base. Of his last 12 starts, Pavano has pitched into at least the seventh inning in 11 of those contests.


 In his last two games he has give up only one run, and now has his sixth career shutout.  Pavano had two hits and a sacrifice at the plate for Minnesota, which ended a four-game skid.  The Twins began the day a half-game up on Detroit in the AL Central.

Game Recap: Twins vs Mets

Read more on the June 26th Mets shutout: Pavano out-pitches Johan Santana 

Game Recap: Twins vs. Phillies 
Read more on Pavano’s complete-game win against the Phillies on June 20^th 

Wednesday's Highlights

R.A. Dickey knuckles Past Tigers, Mets win 5-0 

Marlins fire Manager Fredi Gonzalez
Padres Go Deep 3-times in win over Tampa Bay 

Giambi’s walk-off HR gives Rockies come from behind Win and saved Jimenez a Loss 

Strasburg Suffers Loss   

o Strasburg threw for 9ks over six-innings.
o When asked how did you beat him? Kansas City manager Ned Yost responded with a laugh saying,
“I don’t want the league to beat up on him. We’ll just keep that to ourselves,”
o In watching the game, Kansas City’s success was evident. The batters were patient. Hitters sat back, kept their heads down and drove the ball to right. Strasburg gave up a couple hits on fastballs that should have been higher in the strike zone, but other than that looked good. Teams should take note of Kansas City’s defensive style of hitting towards Strasburg. The Royals entire lineup seemed dedicated to the notion of small ball and opposite field hitting. This was exactly the type of win Kansas City drew up to face Strasburg. 


Cliff Lee threw another nine-inning beauty and struck out nine batters in his first ever back to back complete games. 

• Lee has now thrown for 42 straight innings without issuing a walk 
• Mariners 6th victory in a row – have only allowed three runs over that span

Brennan Boesch Strikes Again!

Detroit Tigers, Brennan Boesch OF went yard to deep right center for his 11^th of the season in the top of the 4^th vs. the New York Mets currently hot pitcher Jonathan Niese. This 2 run-shot was not enough as the Mets easy rolled the tigers in a 14-6 loss. Boesch who was highlighted in a previous Who’s Hot - Likely free agents post , was batting .337 with 36 RBIs and 22 Runs before his two-run shot today.  

With all the media focus and Atlanta’s rising young star Jason Heyward, it seems this rookie sensation will remain a secret only of the Midwest and the Detroit faithful.  

Named Rookie of the Month in May, many have dismissed Boesch because of his higher strikeout rate. But there has got to be another reason you’re not hearing enough about him, right? Boesch is not the strongest left-fielder and actually didn’t join the team until a few weeks into the season, far into the Heyward frenzy.

As of June 18^th he was still 24 at bats short of qualifying for the percentage lists, where he would be listed with the 5-th Best OPS in the American league and the 2^nd Best Slugging Percentage. Top spot in slugging is held by fellow teammate Miguel Cabrera. 

Last Tuesday in the post, ‘Is Tigers’ rookie sensation for real?,’ Rob Neyer of ESPN.com discussed Boesch’s viability as we go forward into the season.

“Is Brennan Boesch anywhere near this good, really? Historically, Boesch has never been much of a prospect, advancing one level every season despite generally unimpressive numbers. Last year in Double-A, he slugged .510 but also posted a .318 on-base percentage. There's simply nothing in Boesch's statistical record suggesting that he's good enough to play everyday in the majors. Let alone rank among the league leaders for an entire season.

Which doesn't mean he won't. Human beings have this odd way of surprising us. It's just not the smart way to bet.”

The speed of Boesch’s progression through the farm system makes no difference to fantasy owners who are enjoying his production numbers. If anything it has shown Brennan Boeschs unwaivering determination and drive to compete in Major Leagues. So what happen? He got the chance. Boesch has been an overlooked natural talent who likely only needed the opportunity. Simply being a Tiger and playing side by side with high caliber players like Miguel Cabrera could be another factor for these all-star numbers.

Take note of Brennan Boesch, a 2006- 3round pick by  the Tigers, who each year improved, matured, and progressed through the Detroit Tigers system as continues to solidify his spot in Tigers lineup.