Kuzul

Ryan Zimmerman has played on a Washington Nationals team that has been, in a word, lowly since they’ve shed their Canadian-ness.

Before Stephen Strasburg came along, Zimmerman was quite possibly the only thing the Nationals had to celebrate—an established big league star who hits for average and power, and plays marvelous defense at third base.

But because he plays for the Nationals, Zimmerman has been a very underrated player in baseball but he is far less recognized for his clutch play.

Zimmerman is argueably the most clutch player in the league right now.

The evidence is in the statistics—since 2005, Zimmerman has the most game winning home runs with seven, of any player in baseball.

And it seems like every time the Nats call on Zimmerman to deliver a big hit, he comes through for them.

A lot of people will point to the fact that Zimmerman bats in front of Adam Dunn, a formidable power hitter who pitchers would rather not deal with even if there is a real shot at striking him out, as the reason for his success.

But Zimmerman’s penchant for late-inning heroics help dispel that rumor as most pitchers don’t have a choice of whom to deal with when the situation gets desperate.

Zimmerman is also a clutch fielder—something you cannot say about a lot of players.

He’s a fluid third basemen and has a Gold Glove to prove it, but his glove is only half the defensive presence that makes Zimmerman stand out.

Zimmerman’s savvy in the field and rarely makes the kind of mistakes that cost his team when in a tough situation.

One of the distinctions that Zimmerman has that no one seems to have, is that he’s a product of the Washington Nationals.

The Nationals drafted the 25-year-old Zimmerman fourth overall in 2005 as he proceeded to make the team that very year—as he continues to progress to this day. 

The polished third baseman hasn’t even entered his prime as a baseball player and is already making a name for himself as a sold superstar around the league.

Zimmerman’s batting average this season has consistently been in the .290s—well above his career mark of .285, suggesting that Zimmerman is really starting to come into his own at the plate.

The Nats have Zimmerman signed through 2013, which is good news for Nationals fans. As he starts to make more of a name for himself, teams will inevitably be knocking on the Nationals’ door, looking to make a deal.

With the whirlwind at the trade deadline that surrounded Adam Dunn and took Christian Guzman from them, the Nats need Zimmerman to stick around to draw even more attention to their still-fledgling franchise.

Hopefully for Washington fans, Zimmerman remains a National long enough for him and Strasburg to really accomplish something in the nation’s capital.

They play in the National League East, not exactly the easiest division in baseball, but the Nationals can certainly compete in the coming years once Strasburg starts harnessing his potential and the Nationals get more pieces together.

Things do have to be kept in perspective, however, the Nationals are in last place right now and need a lot of help before they can start threatening for a playoff berth.

A run to the playoffs would certainly be nice for Nats fans, but right now they’ll take a winning percentage that rivals Zimmerman’s slugging percentage.

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It’s well known in the baseball world that Ozzie Guillén has the biggest mouth in the majors.

Never one to shy away from publicity, Guillén recently made comments pertaining to the treatment of Latin baseball players comparing it to the treatment that Asian players receive.

His stance is that Asian players are given more privileges, and that he’s the only one in baseball that’s doing anything to educate young Hispanic players about performance enhancing drugs.

I’ve never been a fan of Guillén. Actually, I’ve never liked him much at all. He says things to satisfy either his need for attention or to ignite a meaningless firestorm in the media and the people surrounding his club.

People like me tend to write off what Guillén says because he is portrayed as a hot head that impatiently declares whatever is on his mind, no matter how inflammatory his comments may be.

I’ve come to realize, however, that organizations need people like Guillén.

Occasionally the man will say something that, despite how egregiously misguided it may seem, sheds light on an issue that deserves attention.

This is not one of those times.

I don’t know what’s Guillén’s upset about because the last time I checked, Latin players were pretty well taken care of in the majors.

Case in point: The best player in the league, Albert Pujols, is from the Dominican Republic. The best player on the best team in the American League is Alex Rodriguez, who is also from the Dominican Republic. The best player on the best team right now in the National League, is Adrian Gonzalez, who is from Mexico.

The list literally goes on and on. It makes sense considering that Latin baseball players make up nearly a third of the Major Leagues.

Guillén ‘s point is as difficult to understand, as is half of the things that he says.

As a Mexican-American, I get where Guillén is coming from. There are certain social problems and trends that probably influenced what he said, namely, the Arizona immigration situation and whatnot.

Guillén is from Venezuela and his English isn’t the best. Whatever prejudices he feels Spanish-speaking people in America have to face, he believes must be present everywhere.

And naturally, as a person of Hispanic descent, Guillén flips out when he was made aware that Asian players get to have translators because he’s projecting whatever injustices he feels in the real world, to Major League Baseball.

Guillén is completely wrong on this. I defy you to find one Major League Baseball team that doesn’t have at least one proficient English and Spanish speaker.

Asian players are significantly less prevalent in the Bigs than Latin players and Guillén knows that.

But he can’t stand to see other minorities getting benefits that Latin people don’t necessarily get. 

He has failed to overlook that the sport of baseball saves countless Latin players from poverty by paving the way for them to receive paychecks that would dwarf any CEO’s.

You would think that Guillén, the first Latin-born manager in the history of baseball to win a World Series title, would be aware of the contribution that Latin players have made to the game and just how prevalent their influence is.

I think it’s safe to say that someone in that group can serve as an able interpreter.

As far as performance enhancing drugs are concerned, you can only do so much educating before it becomes a matter of morals, or lack thereof.

Baseball is doing all they can to shut the door on the Steroid Era and I think they’ve been doing an admirable job.

If Guillén thinks he was left alone in the task to educate Latin players about performance enhancing drugs, then he made a serious error in judgment.

One of the bigger awards that Major League baseball gives out is the Roberto Clemente Award, named after one of the game’s most celebrated figures who happens to be from Puerto Rico.

Whoever wins that award must possess a combination of prowess on the diamond, altruism in the community, and qualities of refined character.

Guillén would do well to follow Clemente’s model.

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If you didn’t know who Miguel Cabrera was, and you asked him what he did for a living, his staunch response would obviously be: professional athlete. Your response would probably be, “bowler, Lucha Libre wrestler, competitive eater, possibly?”

He enjoys this distinction with the likes of Brian Scalabrine or John Daly as guys who don’t necessarily fit the perception of their job description.

Cabrera is the anomaly of anomalies. Baseball players aren’t usually associated with a reputation for being the most cut humans, but that’s not why Cabrera is so different from everyone else.

Common knowledge teaches us that nobody is simply born good at anything. Miguel Cabrera may possibly be the exception to this rule.

I would not be surprised if Cabrera had a chromosome in his DNA that specifically coded for the ability to mash.

The thing that separates Cabrera from other hitters in the Majors is that he possesses that rare, contact/power hitter distinction. He enjoys this skill with the likes of Albert Pujols and Justin Morneau, this year as Cabrera has recently been flirting with an in-progress Triple Crown.

Now I know what you’re thinking. The second that any athlete does something even distractingly good, everyone is quick to anoint him something or prematurely award him some type of hardware.

We witnessed this earlier this year when Roy Halladay tossed a brilliant perfect game and everyone was dying to give him the Cy Young award over Ubaldo Jimenez who is having himself one sizable and historic season.

Many people thought Jimenez wouldn’t have that much chance at the award anymore.

Just weeks later, Jimenez is recognized at the front-runner for the award as Doc has fallen off the wagon a bit while Ubaldo has remained scary good.

So back to Cabrera.

This guy is legitimately the greatest hitter in the world right now and he’s only 27 years old – AKA as a baseball player, he’s on the doorstep of his prime. Apparently, he’s supposed to get even better.

Many baseball writers have been quick to “hyperbolize” Cabrera all the way to baseball immortality. And a lot of this is due to the moral comeback that Cabrera is spearheading after his alcohol related problems in 2009.

No member of the media, however, has come as close to the adulation of Miguel Cabrera as his teammate, Johnny Damon.

Damon went as far to say that Cabrera might be the greatest hitter of all time.

That could possibly be an exaggeration but can you blame Damon for being awestruck by the lumbering Cabrera swinging his bat with alien power and precision?

Well maybe a little, but still – Cabrera is starting to come into his own. He is finally beginning to realize that he has been endowed with more than prodigious talents. Now it’s up to him to take advantage.

Ted Williams is widely recognized as the greatest hitter who ever lived. This is largely due to his sheer talent and ceaseless work ethic. His fragmentation of hitting into a science, branded him as quite a nerd-jock.

Cabrera might not end up being the greatest hitter who ever lived, but he could certainly join the discussion if he keeps his newfound determination up. He just has to combine his talents with more hard work. Williams would be a nice model to follow.

When I think of baseball greats to compare him to, Babe Ruth is the kind of guy that comes to mind. This isn’t to say that Cabrera is as good as Ruth, that’s ridiculous to think of right now.

But Ruth was once known for his reckless behavior and for being somewhat more rotund than you would expect a player of his magnitude to be.

If Miguel Cabrera wants to prove that he is deserving of the considerable praise he’s receiving, he can’t afford to leave the rest of his career to chance. He has abnormal talents but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen people flirt with triple crowns.

Cabrera, however, is putting his foot on the pedal at the right time. Anything can happen from here on.

And if Miguel someday ends up reaching his unbelievable potential, then his greatness can be accurately recognized. Other promising hitters, the likes of whom come around once-a-generation, would inevitably be compared favorably to Cabrera.

It’s looking like comparisons to him could end up being quite an exaggeration. 

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My favorite sport has been disparaged, criticized and unjustly hated on ever since the 1994 strike initiated the decline of baseball into an exclusively older man’s game—the new fly fishing, if you will.

The sport lacked the caché of football, lacked the flair of basketball and more recently, lacks the recurring Renaissance that soccer experiences when Americans are patriotically aroused by the notion that we’re actually pretty decent at soccer—a sport typically associated with Europe and Latin America.

Baseball is routinely cast aside as a fading sport, no longer America’s pastime, and a sport more apt to be found on television screens in old folks’ homes than sports bars.

With a resounding smack into Pudge Rodriguez’s catcher’s mitt—courtesy of Stephen Strasburg’s 101 mph gas—that’s all changed.

The game is undergoing a drastic makeover: Think David Gest suddenly waking up one morning and looking like Taylor Lautner.

No longer is baseball associated with men who look dangerously close to popping. The younger stars of today—Strasburg, Jason Heyward, Ike Davis, etc., are revered because they are talented at baseball, not necessarily because their pecs are listed on Moh’s.

The game is “smart” now. With statistics being kept that would make Newton blush, baseball is increasingly becoming a technical game, a refreshing change from the “me-smash-ball-try-dismember-22-year-old-sitting-three-rows-up” game from the late ’90s and early 2000s.

You’d think that the lack of power hitting would render baseball less interesting than a Golden Girls marathon.

The exact opposite has happened.

The fervent crowd at Strasburg’s game notwithstanding, baseball games have been getting more interesting—a product of it exiting the “Steroid Era” and the playing field leveling.

Besides the notion that the competition is evening out, baseball players are actually beginning to look more like professional athletes.

Ubaldo Jiménez looks like he was engineered by Stark Industries. Ryan Howard probably could double as a formidable power forward on the 76ers. And Albert Pujols can barely fool Steve Levy and John Anderson into believing that he is not, in fact, a machine.

This unprecedented surge for baseball is not going to end anytime soon, Aroldis Chapman and Bryce Harper will make sure of that.

But it will take time for baseball to re-establish its presence in America’s youth and America’s youthful adults—the principle demographics that the sport has struggled to maintain over the last few years.

Luckily, for baseball to retain its popularity, it’s not going to take some overly anxious high school coach teaching “Mr. Teen MetRx 2016” what to do with a bat.

For the trend to continue to subsist, all it’s going to take is more legitimate baseball talent and current, established baseball minds to guide that talent. The people in baseball will take care of themselves, but the sport itself also has to evolve.

Not to keep going back to the justifiable institution of instant replay but it has to happen, Bud Selig, or you will continue to be the party-pooper in power. David Stern and Roger Goodell will continue to wonder “Why do we even hang out with this guy?”

Also, not to keep going back to Jim Joyce, but Bud Selig owes this guy an apology. The flack he’s been getting is a product of a stagnant game. I will now forever refrain from using Jim Joyce for the millionth time as the reason that baseball needs replay.

The game is going to be OK. I’m certain of it. I mean, people are even beginning to show up to Marlins’ games.

Baseball won’t become the most popular sport in America again, but it doesn’t need to be. It will, however, be as respected as it was in the past very soon.

Football is littered with less-than-reputable activity (culminating in Seattle’s Golden Tate’s heinous Maple Bar incident) while baseball is starting to atone for its own missteps.

In a few years’ time, people won’t even care about the names Canseco, Clemens and Bonds. The record books will soon be re-written—asterisk free.

With the exception of an unfortunate call by Jim Joyce (OK, I had to).

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

As a franchise, firing your manager signals two things to your fan base:

1)       This season marks the beginning of our quest to rebuild frantically in order to use it as an excuse for our inevitable suckdom.

2)       Our team is now going to be less competitive than Jonah Hill in a triathlon so in order to keep you interested, Elliot Yamin or other reasonably famous people will possibly be signing stuff at the gate every Tuesday game from here on.

After two-and-half seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, Dave Trembley was fired on June 4th after guiding the Orioles to a paltry .278 winning percentage through the club’s first 54 games.

Largely a victim of being in the wrong situation at the wrong time, Trembley never managed to win more than 68 games with the anemic Orioles, despite expectations each season that the Orioles would improve on the disappointment of the previous one.

Trembley’s dismissal actually came as little surprise to O’s fans as Trembley had recently come under fire for his mismanagement of the pitching staff,  lack of disciplinary tactics, and possibly for looking a little too much like William Shatner.

Now the Orioles are on a quest to find a way to somewhat compete in one of the toughest divisions in Major League Baseball history, as the American League East has produced a different World Series contender in 2009, 2008 and 2007.

At this point, digging the Orioles out of futility seems like an insurmountable task. But Baltimore fans are always hopeful owing to the formidable, young offense that the Orioles have that seemingly possesses all the talent in the world, but just can’t put it together consistently.

The Orioles have never been known as a team that has put up banner after banner for winning divisions and pennants, but they have a long history of talent and for being one of the more respected franchises in baseball.

Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, and Jim Palmer are some of the names that typify Baltimore lore and stir in Orioles’ fans memories of competitiveness and a winning percentage higher than Joe Mauer’s batting average.

The Orioles of the 2000s, however, have been a far cry from a force to be reckoned with; especially competing against the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox on a regular basis.

There are many reasons for Baltimore’s lack of success over the last few seasons. To enumerate them would only add insult to the myriad of injuries that Orioles’ fans have undergone over the years but there are serious issues that should be addressed promptly if the O’s are ever going to undergo a revival.

Baltimore has not been fond of quality pitching for about the last ten years or so. The Orioles have not had a legitimate ace since Erik Bedard, and continue to either cough up leads or dig themselves holes early in ball games due to an increasingly inconsistent pitching staff.

Despite talent at the plate, the Orioles need to develop some form of consistency if they expect to even get their record back over .500 over the next few seasons. But if Orioles’ fans are patient, they could see signs soon.

Because if the Orioles could have learned anything from Dave Trembley is that they should live long – and eventually they might prosper.

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It’s the year of the pitcher.

The rookie pitcher—Stephen Strasburg, the perfect pitcher(s)—Roy Halladay, Dallas Braden, the breakout pitcher—Ubaldo Jiménez.

And recently, the robbed pitcher—Armando Galarraga.

Pick any of these fine talents, and you’ll quickly find out that they have dominated the headlines of the first quarter of the Major League season.

And there’s good reason for this. Strasburg is quite possibly the most hyped rookie in the history of baseball. Anyone who’s seen him pitch will tell you he’s worthy of the praise.

Braden and Halladay each threw a perfect game in the same month—the 19th and 20th of all time.

Ubaldo Jiménez is primed to have one of the greatest seasons a pitcher has had in the last 20 years. The lanky Rockies pitcher has boasted a sub-1.00 ERA for the better part of the season so far.

And then there’s Armando Galarraga, who will unquestionably go down as the victim of one of the most unjust calls in baseball history.

We’ve witnessed a common denominator in these sizable headlines that have permeated the baseball world: They’re all pitching-oriented.

The steroid era, as far as we can tell, is coming to a close. Power numbers are dipping, no previously anonymous player is on pace for 50 home runs, and even big names like Albert Pujols and Mark Teixeira are seeing significant downturns in their production.

This is a testament to a new style of game introduced by the sabermetric movement or more popularly referred to as the “Moneyball” movement. Teams are now looking to get faster, smarter, and more efficient. On the market, players are no longer solely evaluated on sheer power or RBI potential. They are largely scrutinized for their ability to get on base and score runs. Not produce them.

That’s one of the reasons for the emergence of Joe Mauer, Robinson Cano, and Austin Jackson—superstars that rely more on generating contact than generating round-trippers. These are the guys that really give pitchers fits because they are always on base.

The problem is, fewer and fewer guys have been driving them in on a consistent basis.

It seems that the stronger pitching this year is stifling power hitters because their game is too geared to swing from the heels and watching it fly over the fence. The prevalence of eye-popping home run totals is fleeting due to the inability of hitters to hit home runs off of significantly better pitchers.

There’s even more bad news on the way with Stephen Strasburg and Cuban flamethrower, Aroldis Chapman, rapidly making their ways onto the big league stage. It’s no secret that pitchers are getting smarter, better, and more equipped to deal with the stronger hitters of the last two decades.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing for die-hard baseball fans. For them, baseball is a game of patience and calculation, much different from basketball and football where it’s all about power and show-stopping plays.

Baseball is played much more deliberately and carefully. The steroid era took a significant toll on the plight of the pitcher. The game had taken a noticeable turn in favor of the hitters and it seemed like it would stay that way with then up-and-comers Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard expected to smash 40-50 home runs a season.

As of the 2010 season, however, it’s all changed. Fielder and Howard, as well as power hitters the league over, are going through slumps. Pitchers are moving back on top of the sport as evidenced by the aforementioned pitchers—some of them well known, a few of them obscure, who have had a historic moment in the sun.

Thanks in part to them, baseball is seeing a changing of the guard—such is the fickle nature of America’s pastime.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

What a season.

There have already been two perfect games thrown this year, in the same month, by a pitcher that you would have never expected it from and by a pitcher who we all expected it from sooner or later.

On June 2, in a game against the Cleveland Indians, Armando Galarraga had the chance to make baseball history. History that would have etched his name in the most prestigious of record books as the 21st pitcher to throw a perfect game in baseball history, and the third this year.

It seemed like the stage was set for Galarraga to complete the ultimate gem. He even had a game-saving play by the Tigers’ stud outfielder, Austin Jackson to keep the perfect game alive. At that point, it seemed inevitable that Galarraga was going to ride all the way to the promised land unscathed.

Armando Galarraga didn’t make history. Umpire Jim Joyce stole it from him.

It happened on a ground ball to Miguel Cabrera that took him off the bag by a good ten feet. Cabrera fielded it, steadied himself and fired a strike to the covering Galarraga. You could make the argument that Cabrera should have left the second basemen field it and he could have stayed on the bag to recieve the throw.

That argument would be valid if the runner was actually safe.

By all accounts, Jason Donald, the man who hit the ground ball, was out.

It was apparent to everyone watching the game and everyone who was anticipating one of the most momentous occurrences in Major League Baseball history. Joyce, possibly the only man in baseball who would have called Donald safe, did so much to the ire of everyone in the state of Michigan and the baseball world over.

Up until that point, Galarraga was delivering a masterful performance. He was literally pitching the game of a lifetime and he deserved to achieve that perfect game.

After Galarraga received the throw from Cabrera, he looked at Jim Joyce, arms outstreched, and smiled. There was scant trace of anger in Galarraga’s disposition. He had the look of “well, those are the breaks.” The truth is, however, that those cannot be the breaks.

You could argue that of the other two pitchers that have tossed a perfect game this season, Galarraga would have been the most deserving. He’s the kind of guy that doesn’t get all the accolades but still loves the game and does his job as well as he can.

Quite the popular teammate, Galarraga’s teammates vehemently defended him as soon as Jim Joyce made the call.

Obviously, Joyce thought that he was just doing his job to the best of his ability. It’s usually hard to find fault with that. Unfortunately for Joyce, this is possibly the only scenario where it’s easy to find fault with that. There’s a human aspect to baseball. That’s why there hasn’t been replay yet. Umpire Jim Joyce has obliterated any weight of that argument against instant replay.

Just ask, Galarraga.

Galarraga was even cordial after he was robbed of the perfect game, showing little sign of discontent whatsoever. Unfortunately for him, in the record books, he’ll go down as one of the countless guys that have thrown a one hitter. He might not be remembered for this game.

Umpire Jim Joyce, however, most certainly will be.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Up until 2010 there had been 18 perfect games in the history of Major League Baseball. This season, in one month alone, Roy Halladay and Dallas Braden tossed two perfectos to go along with a no-hitter by Ubaldo Jiménez earlier this year.

Pitching in the big leagues is one of the hardest things to do in sports. Pitchers need more accuracy than a dart thrower, and an impenetrable will on the mound.

This list celebrates the most incredible displays by a pitcher in the modern era of Major League Baseball.

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It was inevitable that the guy often described as “Mr. Potential” and “Future Great” would reach the point in his career where people have finally recognized that he’s a legitimate superstar.

Robinson Cano is 27-years-old and is already establishing himself as one of the best players in the American League.

Along with Miguel Cabrera and Justin Morneau, Cano should be one of the front-runners for the AL MVP award. And considering how Chase Utley and Dustin Pedroia are both having somewhat off years, Cano can now reasonably be considered as one of the best, if not the best second basemen in baseball.

In addition to his 11 home runs and 40 RBI, he’s also boasting a .363 average to go along with a .405 OBP. And to be frank, while these numbers are superior to Cano’s average seasonal totals thus far in his career, the remarkable start he’s off to should come as no surprise.

Cano is entering the prime of his career and finally seems comfortable with the notion that he’s an integral part of one of the most recognizable franchises in all of sports.

Earlier in his career, the considerable hype that surrounded the infinitely talented Cano seemed to overwhelm him as he was largely inconsistent while still putting up stellar numbers.

Kevin Long, the Yankees hitting coach, has worked extensively with Cano, whose mechanics in the batter’s box had always been questionable. Long helped quicken Cano’s swing and closed off his stance to help him cover more of the plate while still not losing control of the inside corner.

The changes have helped Cano dramatically.

His defense, which has been a point of concern since his rookie year, has improved radically as he only has one error all season since committing 17 in 2005, his rookie year.

Cano is doing everything Joe Girardi can ask of one of his younger stars. He has come up with key hits since the onset of the season and recently hit a grand slam during his first stint batting clean-up in the absence of a struggling Alex Rodriguez.

The reason the Yankees got off to such a good start this year is due largely in part to Cano’s brilliant offensive output in the first quarter of the season. Mark Teixeira got off to his perennial bad start and Alex Rodriguez’s power numbers have taken a significant dip.

Offensively, Robinson Cano was the nucleus of the Yankees all by himself. And much to the delight of Yankee fans, the second basemen was more than apt to take on that role.

It’s no secret that the Yankees are a significantly older team; especially with today’s game emphasizing athleticism and speed.

Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada, or “The Core Four” are all in their mid-thirties and above. Alex Rodriguez is beginning to exit his prime. Luckily, the Yankees still have Curtis Granderson and Teixeira to shoulder much of the offense and play marvelous defense at their respective positions.

But the Yankees have a critical piece in Cano who is on the fast track to one day emerge as the greatest second basemen the Yankees have ever had.

And if he someday reaches that point, I still wouldn’t be surprised if people said his potential had yet to be reached.

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Obviously, any manager would prefer the quiet guy who just goes out there, does his job and leads by example, to the Milton Bradleys of the world.

But that doesn’t mean that these guys can’t shake it up a little and not be so bland all the time.

Part of being an athlete is being an entertainer. It’d be nice if these guys, in addition to their prowess on the diamond, could show a little emotion too.

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