Kuzul

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but I have been at a trade show for work in Orlando, FL. Bill Simmons thought that Orlando was the cougar capital of the U.S. and I would have to agree with him on that one. This city is littered with them.

If you are ever in Orlando, I recommend Texas de Brazil. It’s a Brazilian steakhouse and they just keep coming with meat after meat after meat. The bacon wrapped filet mignon was especially fantastic.

Last year, I did a live blog for the MLB Draft. It disappoints me to say I will not be able to do the same this year. I am missing the draft tonight because of this trade show. However, I will do a recap on Tuesday.

I will also be doing a live blog of Stephen Strasburg’s debut for the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night. Strasburg’s debut might be the most covered regular season pitching performance in quite some time.

I will also be taking a closer look at the pennant races throughout baseball this week. In case you haven’t noticed, the largest lead of any division leader is just 3.5 games.

A special kudos go out to the Atlanta Braves. The Braves tied for the best record in baseball in May (20-8) and have carried over their good play in June. The Braves now have a two game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.

I thought the Braves would make the playoffs in 2010, but I in no way thought they would be ahead of the Phillies in June.

I have to run for now. I will be back later tonight if I get the chance.

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

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It looks like the ax is going to fall pretty soon on a second manager.

A source has informed ESPN.com’s Buster Olney that the Baltimore Orioles will relieve manager Dave Trembley of his duties any day now. The source also informed Olney that third base coach Juan Samuel will take over when Trembley is let go.

Trembley took over for Sam Perlozzo in the middle of the 2007 season and is 187 and 282 in his four years as Orioles manager. That is a winning percentage of .399.

If you look at Trembley’s tenure in Baltimore, the Orioles have gotten worse every year under his stewardship. Here are Trembley’s winning percentage’s year by year:

2007: .430

2008: .422

2009: .395

2010: .283

In all fairness to Trembley, the Orioles haven’t had the best talent roster while he has been there, but 2010 was supposed to be the year where the Orioles turned the corner. Unfortunately for Trembley, the Orioles have gone severely backwards this year, and it will cost him his job.

Adam Jones has a .271 OBP, Matt Wieters is hitting .240, and Nolan Reimold was sent to the minors. These are the players the Orioles were planning on building around, and all have taken a step back this year. That is on Trembley.

The Orioles have an off day on the seventh. That is when I think president of baseball operations, Andy MacPhail, will let Trembley go.

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

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

If you are going to play center field in the very spacious Comerica Park, you better be able to cover some ground. Detroit Tigers’ CF Austin Jackson has been covering ground all year and has been playing spectacular defense.

Over the last two games, Jackson has taken his defense to another level.

I wish I could share with you the two catches Jackson has made over the last two games, but Major League Baseball doesn’t allow their fans to share videos promoting their product.

Jackson made a catch in the ninth inning of the Armando Galarraga/Jim Joyce game that was Willie Mays-eque. He covered so much ground to his right on that play it was jaw dropping.

Then he was at it again yesterday in the second inning against the Cleveland Indians. Jackson tracked down a drive by Luis Valbuena, but this time to his left.

For those following Jackson all year, these catches and this high level of defense is nothing new. In a short period of time, Jackson has already established himself as one of the better defensive center fielders in the game.

Jackson has only made one error so far this season and currently ranks sixth amongst all center fielders with a 4.1 UZR. His defense in center has been better so far than defensive standouts like Torii Hunter and Adam Jones.

While Jackson’s .341 average will probably garner most of the headlines, it’s his defense which might win him the AL Rookie of the Year award.

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

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Good news for fantasy owners like me who were suffering at the catcher position while they had Jorge Posada on the DL. The New York Yankees activated the 38-year-old catcher prior to last night’s tilt against the Baltimore Orioles.

Posada DH’d last night, which might be a good thing for his fantasy owners. Francisco Cervelli is clearly a better defensive catcher than Posada at this point of his career. Posada at DH the majority of the time will preserve his bat and health for the rest of the season.

Posada is hitting .326 with six home runs on the season. Hitting sixth in the Yankees’ lineup, Posada should see plenty of RBI opportunities.

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

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Never before have I heard a home crowd irate after their pitcher just fired a one-hitter. Unfortunately, that was the case in Detroit last night.

Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga was working on trying to become the third pitcher in the last month to throw a perfect game. He had retired 26 batters in a row in a truly dominant performance.

Then came up Cleveland Indians SS Jason Donald.

On a 1-1 pitch, Donald hit a slow roller between first and second, which first baseman Miguel Cabrera ranged over to his right to field. With Galarraga covering the bag at first, Cabrera threw the ball to Galarraga who stepped on first.

The game appeared to be over, and Galarraga just threw the 21st perfect game in baseball history.

But it was not meant to be.

First base umpire Jim Joyce called Donald safe.

It was a bang-bang call, but Donald was clearly out. In that spot and situation, it might go down as one of the worst regular season calls in baseball history.

Joyce ruined history. Galarraga went on to record the final out, and pitch a one-hitter, but it wasn’t the same. It might have been the most depressing one-hitter ever.

With a perfect game on the line, there is no way you can call Donald safe on that play. Even if he was safe, you call him out. Trust me, nobody in Cleveland would have cared.

And if you watch replays (I am sure we will get them shoved down our throats in the next 24 hours) you will see Joyce almost start to call Donald out and then change his mind. I am really not sure what he saw in that split second to switch his decision.

While unfortunately Joyce’s bad call will be the highlight of the game, there were a lot of other good things that came out of it. Here were some of the good points.

How about the pitching in MLB this year! Three perfect games in less than 30 days—are you kidding?

Galarraga threw 88 pitches ,and 67 of them were strikes!

Galarraga threw first pitch strikes to 24 of the 28 batters he faced.

Galarraga coming into last night averaged 91 mph on his fastball. He topped out at 94 and averaged 92 mph on his fastball against the Indians.

This entire game took one hour and 44 minutes. That’s old school.

Fausto Carmona was no slouch either. He gave up only two earned runs over eight compete innings, and took just 96 pitches to do so.

Austin Jackson’s catch on Mark Grudzielanek to lead off the ninth inning was Willie Mays-esque. It was just an amazing catch to preserve the perfect game at the time.

Another point that will be made from this game will be the call for more instant replay in baseball. I don’t believe in instant replay; I am more for getting better umpires. I just don’t understand why baseball and all sports for that matter can’t hire younger, more athletic umpires who can keep up with the pace of today’s athletes.

Whatever baseball decides to do, this game was another black eye for the umpires that cost a pitcher a magical night.

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

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Below are two pitchers’ statistics from last night. Guess which pitcher recorded the win and which pitcher recorded a no-decision.

Pitcher A: 6 IP, 12 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K

Pitcher B: 8 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K

Pitcher A is Boston Red Sox pitcher John Lackey and Pitcher B is Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Dan Haren. Defying all logic, Lackey recorded his sixth win of the season last night, and Haren received the hard-luck no-decision.

Lackey was terrible last night against the Oakland A’s. His fastball was flat, his curve had no sharpness to it and as you could imagine, he had runners on base all night.

Essentially Lackey’s start last night was a microcosm of his entire season.

Haren on the other hand was spot-on against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He threw 20 first-pitch strikes to the 31 batters he faced, and when he wasn’t striking someone out, he was inducing weak ground balls.

Unfortunately for Haren, Dodgers’ rookie pitcher John Ely matched him pitch-for-pitch, and the Dodgers eventually won 1-0 in 11 innings.

My point is that as baseball and baseball statistics have evolved, we have learned that wins for a pitcher is not an accurate way to reflect how good a pitcher actually is.

Of course, people will have different opinions on what statistic is the best one to measure the true value of a pitcher, and that’s fine. But I think the one thing everyone will agree on is that wins is not the best way to do it.

Last night was another great example of that.

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

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

I made a promise to myself before the baseball season started that I would attend Stephen Strasburg’s major league where ever it was. Of course I was betting on the fact that there was a 99.9 percent chance that Strasburg would make his debut at home, so a trip from New York to DC was no big deal.

So when Washington Nationals’ GM Mike Rizzo announced that Strasburg will make his major league debut on June 8, I immediately got excited. That is until I checked my calendar.

On June 8th, I will be in Orlando attending a Salon/Spa tradeshow for work. Seriously, just kill me now.

While I won’t be able to attend next Tuesday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, I would imagine there will be around 35,000 plus who will. The Nationals average 20,760 a game, which ranks 24th in baseball, and Strasburg should give them a tremendous attendance boost.

If you think about it, how many people would attend a Nationals/Pirates game on a Tuesday night if Strasburg wasn’t pitching? 15,000 at the most? Strasburg’s debut will be a nice revenue boost for the Nationals.

Not only was it smart for the Nationals to start Strasburg on a Tuesday night, but it was also smart for the Nationals to start Strasburg against the Pirates. The Pirates are 15th in the NL in runs scored and 15th in OPS, so Strasburg is getting almost the worst of the NL has to offer.

In 10 minor league starts between Double A and Triple A, Strasburg is 6-2 with a 1.43 ERA and has 60 strikeouts in 50.1 IP.

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

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Chicago Cubs have decided to play a little roulette with their pitching staff.

Carlos Zambrano goes from the bullpen to the starting rotation.

Tom Gorzelanny and his 3.66 ERA as a starter moves to the bullpen.

John Grabow heads to the DL and the Cubs have called up Andrew Cashner to replace him in the bullpen.

Cashner might be the big story out of all this movement.

Cashner was the Cubs’ first round pick in 2008 and is the second top prospect the Cubs have called up this season. The first being SS Starlin Castro.

Even though Cashner has made the majority of his appearances as a starter in the minor leagues in 2010, he will work as a reliever for the Cubs.

I really like this move by the Cubs.

The Cubs right now don’t have a power righty in their pen to be a bridge to closer Carlos Marmol (Having a phenomenal season by the way) and Cashner could potentially be that guy.

Sean Marshall has pitched really well for the Cubs this year, but is not a blow-you-away type pitcher.

Cashner, with his 95 mph fastball can be that guy who comes in to start the eighth and just throws pellets.

At the beginning of his career, I wouldn’t have suggested this as Cashner walked 23 in his first 20 professional innings.

Now, Cashner has harnessed his control and has only walked 15 in 57.1 IP this year.

Here are some other facts about Andrew Cashner:

Age: 23

Throws: Right

Bats: Right

College: Texas Christian University

Drafted: 19th overall in the first round of the 2008 Draft

Minor League Stats:

2008 Low Single A, Single A, and High Single A: 1-2 with a 5.85 ERA, a 2.35 WHIP, and 19 K’s in 20 IP

2009 High Single A and Double A: 3-4 with a 2.60 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, and 75 K’s in 100.1 IP

2010: Double A & Triple A: 6-1 with a 2.05 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 59 K’s in 57 IP

Keith Law Ranking and Analysis

Ranking: No. 79 out of 100 best prospects in baseball in 2010

Analysis: “Cashner closed at TCU — which has really improved its baseball profile in the past few years (including landing the top unsigned player from the 2009 draft, lefty Matt Purke) — but has worked as a starter in the Cubs’ system. It’s a big arm, with a fastball at 93-98 mph even over multiple innings and a hard slider with very good tilt in the mid-80s, with his slider command ahead of his fastball command when I saw him.

He has a changeup but rarely uses it; it has some tail but mostly just glove-side run. He gets ground balls but it’s not extreme, and I don’t think his home run rate from 2009 indicates some preternatural ability to keep the ball in the park. What’s odd about Cashner is that for a guy with a power arm, he doesn’t miss a lot of bats, and neither his control nor his ground-ball rate is high enough for him to be a good starter with a low strikeout rate.

If he has to return to the pen, he’ll be dominant there, but the Cubs will probably let him continue to start and see if he can improve his command and find a way to miss more bats.”

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

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The MVP of the National League for the first month-and-a-half of the season is ready to return to the lineup.

After missing just over two weeks with a fractured pinkie, Los Angeles Dodgers’ OF Andre Ethier will be activated from the disabled list before tonight’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. This is probably bad news for Diamondbacks’ starter Rodrigo Lopez.

Before going down with his injury, Ethier had a batting line of .392/.457/.744 with 11 home runs and 38 RBI.

Ethier should be inserted back in your lineup immediately.

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

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

I was sitting on my couch on Tuesday night and turned on the Cincinnati Reds-Pittsburgh Pirates game, mainly to watch Mike Leake pitch. In the top of the eighth, Leake got into a little bit of trouble and Dusty Baker called on Arthur Rhodes to help bail out him out.

Here is the beautiful thing about writing: you start to watch a baseball game with a thought in mind about what or whom you are going to write and then something happens during the course of a game that completely changes your train of thought.

I was fully prepared to write about Leake, but then as soon as Rhodes came into the game, I thought, “Wow, I can’t believe this guy is still pitching, but pitching so well.”

Middle relievers rarely get any love in these parts, so it’s time to give some love to Arthur Lee Rhodes.

Has anyone else noticed that Rhodes has a 0.47 ERA going into tonight’s action? What is impressive about Rhodes’ ERA is that after giving up a run (HR to Jeff Baker) in his second inning of work this season, he has reeled off 17.1 scoreless innings.

Rhodes is 40 years old and has a 0.47 ERA and 19 K’s in 19.1 IP. He also has only given up eight hits on the season and has not allowed more than a single hit in any appearance.

The guy is just getting the job done.

Rhodes is enjoying his most success with runners on base. Going into last night, Rhodes is stranding 100 percent of the runners on base. That number won’t last throughout a 162 game schedule, but is still absolutely incredible.

Rhodes is a big reason why the Reds are in first place and he should be recognized for his tremendous start to the season.

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

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com