Kuzul

When LHP Cole Hamels had his national coming-out party in the 2008 playoffs, I thought it would springboard him to a Cy Young-caliber year in 2009.

I predicted Hamels would win the National League Cy Young, and that prediction slapped me in the face like I would like to slap Braylon Edwards in the face for getting a DWI this morning.

Hamels suffered through a miserable 2009 campaign, going 10-11 with a 4.32 ERA (highest of his career), a 1.28 WHIP (highest of his career), and a whopping 9.6 hits/9 allowed. His head wasn’t in the game, and he just looked off the whole season.

2010 has been a different story for Hamels, and last night he continued his great season against the Atlanta Braves.

In a showdown for first place in the NL East, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Braves 3-1 behind eight extremely solid innings from Hamels. Hamels gave up just six hits, one run, and one walk and struck out six in the 117-pitch effort.

His changeup was awesome last night, as he kept it down in the zone and got Brave hitters to swing and miss on it 20 percent of the time, which was more than any other pitch he threw last night.

For Hamels, this is nothing new. Over his last five starts, he has absolutely been on fire. In his last five starts, Hamels is 5-0 with a 0.49 ERA and is holding batters to a .173 batting average.

Most importantly, Hamels’ confidence is back. He looked like a man possessed last night. He was quick to the plate, he looked in command, and he looked like a guy who knew he was going to win the game.

A stark contrast from last season.

Not only has Hamels been great over his last five starts, he has been great all season as well. Hamels has bounced back in 2010 with a 2.93 ERA, 9.2 K/9 (highest since 2006), and more ground balls than ever before (45 percent).

His velocity is back up on his fastball to 92 mph, and Hamels has even added a cutter in 2010. Perhaps watching Andy Pettitte throw his cutter against the Phillies in the World Series last year inspired Hamels. A cutter biting down and in is death to a right-handed batter.

With Hamels on a roll and Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt anchoring the top of the rotation, the Phillies right now have the best top three in baseball. I feel bad for whoever they are playing in the NLDS.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Talk about a rarity. We saw a very surprising September trade over the weekend. The reason September trades are usually non-existent is because players traded after August 31st aren’t eligible for the postseason.

In another attempt to shore up their bullpen, the Colorado Rockies acquired reliever Octavio Dotel from the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named later. Dotel was traded to the Dodgers from the Pittsburgh Pirates at the July 31st trade deadline for Andrew Lambo and James McDonald—a trade that has looked very good for the Pirates, by the way.

With Manuel Corpas lost for the season because of Tommy John surgery and Manny Delcarmen sucking, the Rockies could use another arm in the pen. Dotel should be able to help the Rockies out over the course of the next two weeks.

In 61 games, Dotel has a 3.97 ERA and is striking out almost 11 batters per innings, which is right near his career average. Dotel has also pitched extremely well in the second half. He has a 2.63 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP in 24 second-half innings.

Dotel pitched in the seventh inning against the Dodgers yesterday and that is where he will most likely be used down the stretch.

On a side note to this trade, did you know that the Rockies will be Dotel’s 10th team in his 12-year career? For some reason, I find that amazing.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Three teams separated by 1.5 games. Three teams that have their strengths and certainly have their weaknesses. Three teams that have 12 or 13 games remaining and two of them play the final weekend of the season.

That is the National League West.

The San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, and Colorado Rockies will be battling it out over the final two weeks for the NL West crown. Let’s look at the tale of the tape over the next two weeks and try to find out who has the advantage in the NL West.

Tulo is doing everything he can to make it another Rocktober

San Francisco Giants

Place: 1st

Playoff Odds: 60.1 percent

Last 10 Games: 6-4

Games Remaining: 12

Final 12 Game Breakdown: Away –  Chicago Cubs (3), Colorado Rockies (3). Home – Arizona Diamondbacks (3), San Diego Padres (3).

Record Versus Remaining Opponents: 25-24

Who’s Hot In September: Buster Posey – .298/.385/.579 with four HR’s. Jonathan Sanchez – 2-0 with a 0.45 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, and 11.8 K/9 in 19 IP.

Quick Take: The Giants have a half game lead in the NL West, but the Padres and Rockies both have a game in hand on them. Out of the three teams, the Giants control their own destiny the most.

They play six games against the Padres and Rockies and if they can go 4-2 in those games, they should win this division. The biggest series for me is their three-game set against the Rockies this weekend in Colorado. The way the Rockies are playing right now, that has sweep written all over it. If they can salvage a game or two in that series, they should be okay.

I thought the Giants would win the division a couple of weeks ago, so I am not going to back down from that statement.

San Diego Padres

Place: 2nd. 1/2 game behind the Giants.

Playoff Odds: 34.4 percent

Last 10 Games: 4-6

Games Remaining: 13

Final 13 Game Breakdown: Away – Los Angeles Dodgers (3), San Francisco Giants (3). Home – Cincinnati Reds (3), Chicago Cubs (4).

Record Versus Remaining Opponents: 24-13

Who’s Hot In September: Adrian Gonzalez – .367/.466/.550 with two HR’s. Heath Bell – Five saves with a 2.57 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, and 10.3 K/9 in seven IP.

Quick Take: I am really having a hard time trying to figure out what I like about the Padres right now. They are 26th in baseball in offense in September and 22nd in pitching. The Padres are in a perfect storm of a hot mess and I am not sure if they can get out of it.

I guess if there is a silver lining for the Padres is that they have owned the teams they are playing down the stretch. The downside to that is that the Padres owned those teams when they had the best record in the National League.

If Mat Latos (7.36 ERA) and Clayton Richard (6.00) don’t get their heads out of their butts down the stretch, the Padres will finish third in this division.

Colorado Rockies

Place: 3rd. 1 1/2 games behind the Giants.

Playoff Odds: 16.4 percent

Last 10 Games: 7-3

Games Remaining: 13

Final 13 Game Breakdown: Away – Arizona Diamondbacks (3), St. Louis Cardinals (3). Home – Los Angeles Dodgers (4), San Francisco Giants (3).

Record Versus Remaing Opponents: 27-21

Who’s Hot In September: Troy Tulowitzki – .351/.407/1.000 with 14 HR’s. Jhoulys Chacin – 2-0 with a 1.16 ERA, a 1.37 WHIP, and 5.4 K/9 in 23.1 IP.

Quick Take: Once again, here come the Rockies. Despite having the lowest playoff odds of the three teams, you almost get the feeling they might have the best odds to make the playoffs.

Tulowitzki is playing out of his mind right now and Carlos Gonzalez continues to rake. They have two legitimate MVP candidates.

The one doubt I have about the Rockies — well, I have two. One, can their pitching as a whole stand up? They have done well in patching things together down the stretch, but like with all patches, they eventually rip.

Second, that final series of the season would really bother me if I were a Rockies fan. The Rockies will head to St. Louis for the final series of the season and that has trap series written all over it.

The Cardinals have a lot of pride and won’t lay down for anyone. They would love nothing more than to spoil the Rockies’ season.

Final Thoughts: I said about a week ago that I thought the Giants would win the division and I will stick with that. But — and I will throw a but in there — I really like the way the Rockies are playing right now.

As for the Padres, I just don’t see it. It looks like they have run out of gas and their isn’t a Shell Answer Man in sight.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

I am back from a long weekend, which explains my lack of posts on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It also explains why I woke up at 11:00 this morning for the first time since college. Speaking of college, I attended three football games in a 24-hour span.

I saw the UMass – Michigan game in Ann Arbor, we then made the hour drive to East Lansing and saw the Notre Dame – Michigan St. game, and then I flew back to New York yesterday morning to see the Patriots – Jets game. That’s right, I am a bad ass. Not really, at 33, that was stretching my limitations.

I will say this. I loved Ann Arbor and Michigan Stadium, 100 percent class all the way. Tailgating was great and we met a group that was serving up wild boar sausages that one of the guys killed himself with a bow and arrow. Now that’s bad ass!

Michigan State was a disaster. What a dump of a stadium. Garbage everywhere, seating is terrible, and a quarter of the crowd left in the third quarter with the game tied against Notre Dame. Terrible performance on their part.

Now on to baseball and some of the stories from this past weekend.

Mattingly will take over for Torre next year

Don Mattingly Will Take Over For Joe Torre

This was “Breaking news” on Friday afternoon, but really wasn’t. This has been known for awhile, as Mattingly will take over for Torre at the start of the 2011 season.

Mattingly, who has never managed a day in his life at the Major League level, will only be as good as the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership allows him to be. If the ownership situation is still a clown show this offseason and going into the season, then the Dodgers will be mediocre like they are this year.

In the back of my mind, I get the feeling that this is Mattingly’s audition for a future job with the New York Yankees.

As for Torre, I believe he will manage again. I just think he was fed up with everything going on behind the scenes with ownership. The logical choice would be with the New York Mets, but I don’t think the Mets will cough up the money to pay Torre what he wants.

Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays Continue To Battle In the AL East

The Yankees and the Rays continue battle it out in the AL East. With the Boston Red Sox done in 2010, both of these teams will make the playoffs.

However, I think it is very important for the Rays to win the division. One of the reasons they beat the Red Sox in the ALCS in 2008 was because they had Game 7 at home. I think they will need the same advantage against either Yankees or the Texas Rangers in the ALCS if they get there.

The Yankees and Rays will play a four game set starting today. My guess is that the two teams will split, and the division crown won’t be decided to the final weekend of the season.

Tyler Colvin Gets Punctured With a Broken Bat

A very scary moment happened yesterday in the Chicago Cubs – Florida Marlins’ game. Tyler Colvin was hit with a broken bat in the chest when was trying to score off a ball hit by Welington Castillo.

The scary part about this was that Colvin wasn’t even looking when the bat hit him in the chest. He was watching the ball go to the outfield. If that bat came up a little higher, it could have even been worse.

Colvin was sent to the hospital and had a tube inserted into his chest to allow air to flow and prevent his lung from collapsing. It’s being reported that Colvin is okay, but the Cubs will shut him down for the season.

With the amount of bats that get broken in a Major League game, I can’t believe this doesn’t happen more often.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

With the Texas Rangers 10 games up in the American League West, they are already making plans for the postseason.

The Rangers announced yesterday that ace Cliff Lee will move up in the rotation to pitch on Saturday so he can be on schedule to pitch Game 1 of the ALDS. Lee will flip-flop in the rotation with Tommy Hunter.

While everyone knows that Lee will pitch Game 1 for the Rangers, the question I have is, who is going to pitch Game 2?

For me, Game 2 is always more important than Game 1. For years, the New York Yankees used to lose Game 1 of a series, but Andy Pettitte would always win Game 2, and then the Yankees used to roll.

The Rangers will have the choice of C.J. Wilson, Tommy Hunter, or Colby Lewis. All have had very good seasons in Texas, but the guy I would go with would be Wilson.

I like Wilson to start Game 2 for a couple of reasons.

As it stands, the Rangers will most likely play the winner of the Yankees-Tampa Bay Rays division battle for the AL East. That means that they are playing Games 1 and 2 on the road.

Wilson has been the Rangers best pitcher on the road this season. He has a 3.09 ERA and is holding opponents to a .202 batting average on the road. Outside of his BB/9, his numbers across the board are better on the road than at home.

I also feel throwing two lefties in Lee and Wilson could neutralize the predominately left-handed hitting Yankees and Rays. The Yankees’ OPS is about 20 points lower against lefties. With the Rays, the difference is marginal.

And the reality is that Wilson has been the Rangers’ best pitcher for the entire season. He deserves the start for that reason alone.

He is 14-6 with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Those are numbers I never thought he would put up. Wilson has definitely made a believer out of me.

If I was Ron Washington, I would go Lee, Wilson, Hunter, and Lewis. That would give them the best chance to win a short series against either the Yankees or Rays.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

There would only be one reason why I would sit down to watch a Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays game in the middle of September when both teams are completely out of it.

I wanted to watch the debut of top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek for the Blue Jays.

Despite taking the loss in the Jays’ 3-1 defeat to the Orioles, I thought Drabek was very solid in his debut. His line for the game: 6 IP, 9 hits, 3 runs, 3 BB, and 5 Ks.

Drabek’s night got off to a rough start when he served up a single to Brian Roberts to lead off the game, and then threw a “get me over” fastball to Nick Markakis and he promptly singled to left. Then—and I am guessing it was because of nerves—Drabek didn’t pay attention to Roberts and Markakis and they stole second and third.

Drabek caught a huge break when Ty Wigginton swung at a 3-2 curveball that bounced three feet in front of home plate. That really seemed to settle Drabek down and from there, I thought he was very good.

He featured a fastball that hovered in the 92-96 mph range and a very, very wicked curveball. Out of his 88 pitches on the night, 60 of them were fastballs and 24 were curveballs. His curve is clearly his best pitch, but I think if he wants to take the next step during his career, he needs to develop a third pitch to get batters out the second and third times through the lineup.

Drabek also was helped out by some good Blue Jays’ defense throughout the game. Travis Snider threw out Wigginton trying to extend a single into a double (even though he was safe at second).

And how about John Buck!

Buck threw out Corey Patterson trying to steal second from his knees. I had no idea he had that strong of an arm. He threw a pea to second that was right on target.

Overall, I would give Drabek a B- for his efforts tonight. It would have been a little higher if he threw first pitch strikes to more than 12 of the 26 batters he faced.

On a side note to this game, tip of the cap to Brad Bergesen. He pitched a complete game on just 95 pitches. Great effort on his part.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Baseball, like all sports, is in the age of specialization.

In football, teams have a guy on the roster who is just a long-snapper and a guy who just handle kickoffs. In basketball, teams have guys on their roster who are defensive specialists or three-point specialists.

In baseball, as we all know, teams have left-handed pitchers on the roster just to pitch to one left-handed batter in the game. Well, the Houston Astros took specialization to another level on Wednesday afternoon.

In a 10-inning, 8-6 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, manager Brad Mills used nine different pitchers. Really? Nine pitchers to record 30 outs?

Mills essentially turned Wednesday’s game into an All-Star Game.

Here is the inning breakdown of the nine starters used:

JA Happ: 4.1

Henry Villar: 0.2

Felipe Paulino: 1.0

Tim Byrdak: 0.1

Mark Melancon: 0.2

Fernando Abad: 1.0

Brandon Lyon: 1.0

Matt Lindstrom: 0.0

Gustavo Chacin: 1.0

Now granted, Lindstrom was used because Lyon naturally blew the save in the ninth and Chacin was used because Lindstrom was dreadful in the 10th. But even if you take Lindstrom and Chacin out of the equation, there is no way a team should use seven pitchers in one nine-inning game when the opposing team hasn’t scored 10 runs or more.

You want to know why games three-and-a-half or four hours these days? Just look at innings five, six, and seven for the Astros. They used four pitchers to get nine outs.

I don’t mind mixing and matching late in the game, but there is no reason why middle relievers can’t pitch two or three innings these days. There’s really no excuse for it.

It might be a while before Mills ever manages an All-Star Game for the National League, but he certainly managed one for the Astros on Wednesday.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Toronto Blue Jays have clearly proven they can slug with anyone in baseball in 2010. They are first in the American League in home runs (225), first in total bases (2,225), and fourth in OPS (.766).

While those are great number, it takes a combination of offense, defense, and pitching to win baseball games. If they Blue Jays are going to get back to the top of the AL East anytime soon, they are going to need some starting pitching.

Drabek will make his debut against the O’s

And as we have seen in the past, just one guy isn’t going to cut the mustard. They need three or four quality pitchers to compete in the very tough AL East.

They have Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, and Shaun Marcum. Brett Cecil has pitched well at times this year as well. That’s a good, albeit not great starting rotation. The one guy who can bring this all together for the Blue Jays is the guy they are starting tonight against the Baltimore Orioles.

The Blue Jays have called up Kyle Drabek from Double-A New Hampshire and he will make his major league debut tonight. He is the crown jewel of the Blue Jays’ minor league system and has ace written all over him.

Drabek, the son of former major league pitcher Doug Drabek, was the centerpiece of the Roy Halladay trade back in December. Drabek has fully recovered from Tommy John surgery (see Stephen Strasburg fans, it’s possible) and has succeeded at every level he has pitched in since the surgery.

Due to the fact that he has pitched 162 innings so far this year, look for him to only make about one or two starts for the Jays for the remainder of the season. Pitching against the Orioles in his debut is a pretty good way to ease into the majors as they are one of the lowest scoring teams in the league.

Here are some other facts about Kyle Drabek…

Age: 22

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

College: None. Went to The Woodlands High School in Woodlands, TX

Drafted: 18th pick of the first round of the 2006 Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies

Minor League Stats:

2006 Rookie: 1-3 with a 7.71 ERA, 1.89 WHIP,  and 5.4 K’s/9 in 23.1 IP

2007 Single A: 5-1 with a 4.33 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, and 7.7 K’s/9 in 54 IP

2008 Low Single A & Rookie: 1-3 with a 2.23 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and 4.5 K’s/9 in 32.1 IP

2009 High Single A & Double A: 12-3 with a 3.19 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 8.5 K’s/9 in 158 IP

2010 Double A: 14-9 with a 2.94 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and 7.3 K’s/9 in 162 IP

Keith Law Ranking and Analysis

Ranking: No. 40 out of 100 best prospects in baseball in 2010.

Analysis: “Drabek missed most of 2007 and 2008 due to Tommy John surgery, but he had a strong return in 2009, dominating the Florida State League and holding his own as a 21-year-old in Double-A. He has a chance to throw two above-average pitches, with a curveball that’s currently plus, 79-80 mph with a hard tilt that approaches a slider break, and a fastball that’s comfortably 90-93 mph, although it’s flat and he could benefit from mixing in a cutter or two-seamer so hitters don’t just sit on the four-seamer.

He throws a changeup, but it’s not effective enough against left-handed hitters to grade as average. He’s shown he can throw strikes, but doesn’t command the ball well to his glove side yet, although command is the last thing to return for pitchers who’ve had Tommy John surgery and Drabek has thrown only 267 innings in pro ball.

He’s got some head violence at the end of his delivery, which could point to a future in the pen, although for now he should continue to start and will have the benefit of working with a new player development staff on his stuff and mechanics. With some cleanup and a third pitch, he has a chance to be a No. 2 or No. 3 starter.”

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

September is one of best months of the year. The weather dips to a cool, comfortable 75 degrees, football season begins, the baseball pennant races heat, and the Colorado Rockies’ Troy Tulowitzki mashes the baseball.

On Monday night, Tulowitzki hit his ninth HR in 11 games in the Rockies’ 6-4 loss to the San Diego Padres. Tulowitzki is hitting .346 with a 1.365 OPS for the month of September and has raised his average to .323 on the season.

To say Tulowitzki is locked in right now is an understatement. Kind of like saying Brian Schottenheimer called a hideous game on Monday night.

While Tulowitzki is red hot in September, those of you who have followed him throughout his career, know this is nothing new. Tulowitzki owns the month of September in his career.

In 116 regular season games in September and October, “Tulo” is hitting .310/.380/.565 with 27 HR’s, 25 doubles, and four triples. His 27 HR’s are 10 more than any month during the season and his .945 OPS is 27 points higher than any other month as well.

And it’s no coincidence that Tulo’s awesome offensive play has been a springboard to the Rockies’ September success. Since Tulo became an everyday player for the Rockies in 2007, the Rockies are 25 games over .500 in the month of September and October.

Pretty impressive.

If the Rockies are going to catch the Padres in the NL West and the Atlanta Braves for the Wild Card, they are going to need Tulo to continue his hot hitting. If history is any indication, this shouldn’t be a problem.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Derek Lowe hasn’t lived up to the lofty four-year, $60 million contract the Atlanta Braves gave him two winters ago.

Lowe has produced a combined 5.0 WAR (wins above replacement) over the last two years, which makes him an average starter.

Last year, he had his highest ERA since 2004 and was giving up over 10 hits per nine innings. This year, Lowe has been better, but still not worth $15 million a year. He has a mediocre 4.22 ERA and an unimpressive 1.32 WHIP.

However, even at 37-years-old, Lowe can still be a money pitcher when it counts.

“DLowe”, as I used to refer to him in his Boston days, still can pitch at his best when his team needs him the most.

In his last start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Lowe tossed six innings of one-run ball and last night against the Washington Nationals, Lowe might have pitched his best game since hurling a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2002.

Lowe allowed just six hits, no runs, no walks, and he struck out 12 over an impressive eight innings of work. Granted, he was facing a lineup that had Roger Bernadina batting third, but it was still impressive.

While Lowe had his slider working yesterday (20 percent swings and misses on his slider), it was his signature sinker that really came to the party. Lowe threw 44 sinkers last night and threw an impressive 72 percent of them for strikes.  He pounded the lower-half of the strike zone. As a result, seven out of the 11 balls the Nationals put in play were groundballs.

I know pitching well against the Pirates and the Nationals might not say much.

But if the Braves are going to go into and deep into the playoffs, they are going to need Lowe to step up.

With Lowe leading the Braves to victory last night, the Braves moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the San Francisco Giants in the NL Wild Card race.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com