Kuzul

As the season winds down, more and more teams are getting closer to clinching a playoff berth. The Yankee, Rays, Twins, Rangers, and Reds are all sitting very comfortably in the driver’s seat as their respective magic numbers drop by the day.

This is not quite the case in the wild, wild NL West.

The Padres’ struggles have opened the door for both the Giants and Rockies. Now only 1.5 games separate the three teams.

The Rockies, seemingly dead in the water two weeks ago, are pounding teams in September and are now a legitimate contender.

The Giants pitching staff has righted the ship and might just run away with the title if the Padres don’t figure out how to score more runs.

And at this point in the season, that isn’t going to happen.

Two of the three could conceivably make the playoffs as the Braves are starting to fall apart. They have relinquished the NL East lead to the Phillies. Now they are just hanging on for dear life in the wild-card hunt.

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The 2010 MLB season has been the year of the pitcher. But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been plenty of elite performances on offense.
 
Home run totals may be down across the board, but there have been plenty of players that have a legitimate argument for MVP.
 
The list is very exclusive—all of these players should receive at least a few MVP votes. Some of these players have carried their respective mediocre team for the majority of the season. Others are leading the way into the postseason.

In no particular order…the top sluggers in 2010.

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All hail the Jay Bruce express! Hop on the bandwagon now, because it’s filling up quick.
 
Bruce has been up-and-down all season long for the Reds…shoot, for his whole career. Yet the offense had never gone through an extended lull this season until Bruce went down.
 
The Reds offense had become stale over the past two weeks. Having two-and-a-half healthy outfielders will do that to a team (Chris Heisey had been playing banged up).
 
Bruce strained his right side in batting practice 12 games ago. Getting hurt in BP has to be one of the more disappointing ways to get hurt—especially in a playoff chase.
 
So the Reds had to labor through 12 games with nobody to replace Heisey, Jonny Gomes, and Drew Stubbs. Jim Edmonds and Laynce Nix are still recovering from injuries as well.
 
The Reds went 5-7 in Bruce’s absence.
 
He’s back now and came through in a big way Monday night. He belted a home run in his first at-bat since the injury, and added another one. He finished 3-4 with two HR and four RBI. Rust…what rust?
 
He picked up right where he left off prior to his injury. In the last four games before hurting his side, Bruce hit five homers and drove in eight runs.
 
After hitting a frightful .200 in the month of July, Bruuuuce has raised his average 24 points to .278 since then. He is beginning to hit lefties better and has really cut down on his strikeouts.
 
Before the All-Star game, Bruce whiffed 83 times. Since the break he has cut that number down to 36. He is getting much better at adjusting the big loop he has in his swing and it has helped his K rate immensely.
 
For the season Bruce is hitting .278 with 20 home runs and 61 RBI with a .346 OBP.
 
The time off might have given Bruce a chance to rest mentally.
 
“It helped me be more relaxed. That’s the biggest thing about hitting. You need to be relaxed up there. I guess that’s how I’m supposed to feel all the time. Hopefully I can feel that, know what it’s like and repeat it.”
 
The thing people forget about Bruce is that the guy is just 23. He’s been in the majors for two-plus years now, but is still younger than the average rookie.
 
His defense has been phenomenal. The cannon of an arm has mowed down plenty of baserunners and his coverage is excellent. He is one of the best defensive right fielders in today’s game.
 
He currently has alternated between the fifth and sixth spots in the lineup. The numbers are quite similar for him. He provides excellent protection for fellow sluggers Scott Rolen and Gomes.  Having Bruce at the six-spot is a huge luxury for any team.
 
Funny thing is, Bruce has really excelled in the lead-off spot. Sure he may not have much speed and the sample size is small…but check the numbers: 7-12 (.583), 4 HR, 7 RBI, 1.583 slugging percentage.
 
I’m not saying it should be a permanent move, but those are some impressive numbers. And it’s not like Brandon Phillips and Orlando Cabrera are lighting up the stolen base column.
 
Regardless of where Bruce hits in the lineup, the Reds need him badly.
 
The rotation for the playoffs is up in the air and the bullpen has been less than stellar of late.
 
What is the best medicine for these aliments? An explosive offense. The Reds have one when everybody is healthy.
 
As we come down the home stretch of the baseball season, Reds fans need to cross their fingers that Jay Bruce stays healthy. He will be essential to finishing off the Cardinals and beyond for the Reds.

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While some division races are winding down, others are just starting to heat up.

The Rockies, dead in the water two weeks ago, have ripped off 10 wins in a row and are now in the mix for both the Wild Card and NL West title.

Carlos Gonzalez continues to remind voters why he should be in the MVP conversation.

Troy Tulowitzki has jut finished a incredibly hot stretch as well. How hot? Well how does eight home-runs and 17 RBI in nine games sound?

The tandem are the reason the Rox find themselves within striking distance.

The Giants have been able to capitalize on the Padres’ massive slump and have tied them for first in the NL West. How will the Padres and their dismal offense respond?

The Reds, losers of seven out of ten, are allowing the Cardinals a chance to get back in the NL Central race. Yet St. Louis hasn’t been able to capitalize a whole lot, going 3-4 in the past week.

The Phillies have taken first place away from the Braves in the NL East. But with six games remaining between the two teams, that race is far from over.

The AL is lacking excitement at this point. The Rangers are in a very comfortable position in the AL West.

The Yanks and Rays have the AL East and Wild Card well in hand. And the Twins have opened up a six-game cushion on the White Sox.

As the season hits the final weeks, all of the questions about who will make the playoffs lie in the NL.

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A startling trend has emerged in the 2010 Cincinnati Reds campaign: They can’t beat high-quality teams.
 
The Reds are in first place because they have been able to take care of business against the teams that range from middle-of-the-road to terrible. They have swept the likes of the Marlins, Diamondbacks, Brewers, Cubs, A’s, and Pirates.
 
But they have fared very poorly against the upper crust of the National League. The Reds are 14-26 against the first and second place teams in the NL. That’s a .350 winning percentage.
 
Against the rest of baseball, the Reds are 65-32 for a .670 winning percentage.
 
The Reds recent slide isn’t the product of them playing poorly, it’s the competition. The Reds were swept away by the Cards back in early August then ripped off a 13-3 run to end August.
 
But guess what? Two of the three losses were spankings at the hand of the second place Giants. Every other game was against teams at around .500 or worse.
 
Now, they have gotten off to a 1-4 start to a seven-game road trip against good teams (Cards and Rockies).
 
Check out the Reds’ record against teams vying for a playoff bid:
 
Braves: 2-3
Phillies: 2-5
Padres: 1-2
Giants: 3-4
Cardinals: 6-12
Rockies: 2-3
 
Luckily, the Reds only have three games left against the best in the NL (San Diego) after this four-game set with the Rockies. The dregs of the league are the majority, so it’s safe to say the Red Legs will be able to stave off any runs by the tired and disinterested Cardinals.
 
The numbers don’t lie though. The Reds will be playing one of the above teams come October 6th. They are going to need to figure out a way to beat other teams’ aces.
 
The offense has been superb against most pitchers, but the bats go into a deep hibernation against the likes of Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum.
 
Even when they are able to touch-up an ace a bit, like Monday against Udalbo Jimenez, the pitching staff doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain.
 
Aaron Harang has been a great player for a lot of crappy Reds teams—but he’s done. Blowing a 4-0 lead against Jimenez in the next inning sealed his fate. Harang will be utilized in a long relief role down the stretch. Remember when this guy was the Opening Day starter?
 
The question of who will be the third starter in the playoffs is currently the elephant in the room for the Reds. At this point, it could be five different options.
 
Assuming Bronson Arroyo and Johnny Cueto are the first two, the third guy could be Homer Bailey (don’t shake off the catcher!), Travis Wood (never pitched this many innings), Mike Leake (ditto), Edinson Volquez (wild card), and Hoss Harang (no way).
 
It’s the biggest question mark for the Reds, and it will be interesting to see if one guy can emerge from this conundrum.
 
I’m not trying to get all Colin Cowherd on you Reds fans, but the inability to beat the upper echelon teams in the league is a huge cause for concern.
 
At this point, a 16-29 record against good teams is not a fluke, it’s a trend.

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Another wacky week of baseball. The ever-annoying Nyjer Morgan decided to slam into the Marlins catcher one too many times.

After being thrown at, Morgan decided to charge the mound and MLB‘s second brawl of the season occurred.

More violent than Reds vs. Cardinals, Morgan got in a few head shots before getting knocked down by the entire Marlins team.

Aroldis Chapman of the Reds made his major league debut this week. He arrived in a blaze of glory, hitting 103 on the radar gun multiple times.

He already owns the two fastest pitches in MLB since ’06. He has thrown three scoreless innings in a middle relief role. It will be interesting to watch how Chapman will be used down the stretch.

In other news, the Padres are in the midst of a predictable collapse, losers of 10 in a row.

The Yankees continue to stomp the AL while the Rays follow their lead. the Reds are still rolling as the Cardinals fade to black.

The Phillies are breathing down the Braves neck and the NL Wild Card is still up for grabs.

The ’10 baseball season has been fun, but the stretch run should provide even more excitement.

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As the calendar turns to September, baseball races are really starting to heat up.

The NL Wild Card has a few possible candidates: the Phillies lead the Giants by two games and are 5.5 up on the fading Cardinals.

The Rockies find themselves 6.5 games out of the Wild Card lead after a seemingly season-killing, eight-game losing streak at the end of July. They are still 7.5 games out of the NL West, despite the Padres’ continued slide.

Yesterday’s gut-wrenching, 12-11 loss to the Phillies really hurts. Like, soap in both eyes hurt. But with 29 games to play, the Rockies will still be a player down the stretch run.

The Rockies have been able to tread water with injuries to Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki, Jeff Francis, Aaron Cook, Jorge De La Rosa, Manuel Corpas and Huston Street.

They have a Pirate-like road record of 26-42. The offense tends to go into hibernation outside of the friendly confines of Coors Field.

Their ace Ubaldo Jimenez hasn’t won a decision since August 4th despite allowing no more than three earned runs in his past seven starts. The flamethrower has taken it in stride, but people were talking about this guy winning 30 games in July; now he might not even reach 20!

The Rockies have had to deal with the aging of their local legend, Helton, who has been a force for the Rockies for over 10 years. But age is creeping up on him very quickly; Helton hit a paltry .246 before being placed on the DL in early July with a stiff back. The $17.7M dollar man only had two homers to that point.

Since coming off the DL in early August, Helton has improved dramatically.

The re-energized Helton has hit .307 while launching four bombs and knocking in 10 runs, making the offseason choice for Rockies’ management that much harder. Helton’s gargantuan contract runs through the ’11 campaign.

Tulo has returned to All-Star form after being sidelined for 33 games with a broken wrist. He was red hot in August with a .351 average and 16 RBI. His Gold-Glove-caliber defense has shined as well.

But the biggest reason the Rox aren’t completely buried is the one they call CarGo. Carlos Gonzalez has been an absolute monster for the Rockies this season. He is hitting a sizzling .331 with 31 home-runs and 93 ribbies.

He is in the top five of all three major categories in the NL. If it wasn’t for Joey Votto and Albert Pujols, CarGo would be the runaway choice for MVP. The five-tool star plays a magnificent left field and also has some speed, collecting 20 SBs on the year.

The Rockies have a history of late season magic; everybody remembers “Roxtober” of 2007, when they ripped off 14 wins in 15 games to sweep their way into the World Series. In 2009, the Rockies played nine games over .500 in September en route a Wild Card berth.

In both instances, the team struggled mightily throughout the spring and into the summer. But for whatever reason—depth, conditioning, concentration, or something else—the Rockies never give up till the bitter end.

Fast forward to this year and they find themselves in a eerily similar position. World beaters they are not, but the team has refused to fold.

Sure, it looks bleak for the Mile High City, but they are finally healthy again.

They have a set lineup featuring a ton of speed with Dexter Fowler and Eric Young Jr. at the top of the order. The rotation has been solid of late and a healthy Aaron Cook will be back next week. Catching the Phillies won’t be easy, but this team has as good a chance as any to give them all they can handle.

Recent history suggests that the Rockies may not be a team to count out just yet.

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What a wacky week for incredible comebacks: The Colorado Rockies were down 10-1 to the NL East leading Atlanta Braves—in the blink of an eye, it became a 12-10 Rockies win. Going on at almost the same exact time, the Cincinnati Reds blew a 10-2 lead before having to grind out a 12-11 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Financial records of a few teams were leaked to the website Deadspin last week and the numbers were startling. The Pittsburgh Pirates have been one of the most profitable teams in MLB, in the green $29.3M in 2007 and 2008 combined—that means the Pirates are one of the most profitable teams in all of baseball.

Yes, those Pirates, the worst franchise in professional sports. Needlees to say, fans aren’t happy.

The leaked records are a huge setback for the Florida Marlins as well, who  begged taxpayers to help them build a new stadium, for the Fish have made quite a profit too.

The Oakland A’s, Los Angeles Angels, and Tampa Bay Rays were the other teams with leaked financial documents.

The fact that such private information had been released is another question in itself. How did Deadspin obtain them? Was more than one person involved? It’s turned into a huge story that could possibly alter the revenue sharing landscape as we know it.

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Sure, they have a possible Triple Crown candidate in Joey Votto—and fellow All-Stars Brandon Phillips and Scott Rolen. The pitching staff has been solid, if not spectacular, led by the most consistent pitcher in the majors: Bronson Arroyo.
 
But the glue that keeps this team together is the bench. They are unsung heroes that have proven to be the WD-40 to the Reds’ machine when it gets a bit rusty. The players that were expected to be afterthoughts have instead been essential to the Reds success.
 
Dusty Baker has told media members that the team would be lost without them. Votto calls them “essential” to the team’s good fortunes. Here are the unsung heroes of the 2010 Reds.

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Does a bad break-up ever have a happy ending?
 
After being the poster boy for the Red Sox 2004 “Idiots,” current Detroit Tiger OF Johnny Damon could of gone back to the scene of the crime. Damon instead used it as an opportunity to give a subliminal middle finger to the Red Sox organization.
 
The Red Sox claimed Damon off the waiver wire in hopes of bolstering a stale lineup down the stretch. While his career average is down 14 points (.272), he still has provided the veteran leadership needed for a young team like the Tigers.
 
The Red Sox don’t necessarily need his leadership. But the experience of a two-time World Series champ is quite invaluable. Damon knows how to win, he isn’t intimidated by the six-game deficit with five weeks to go scenario the Sox currently find themselves in.
 
The waiver wire pickup could have been to block the two AL East teams currently ahead of the Red Sox in their quest for a seventh postseason appearance in the last eight years.
 
Boston was ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees in the waiver order and both teams (the Rays more than the Yankees) could of had a great deal of curiosity in adding Damon themselves.
 
Damon famously switched allegiances in the biggest rivalry in sports when he bolted from Boston to the Bronx after the ’05 campaign. The beloved Damon became the archenemy for Boston fans.

The ironic part of the saga is that his ’05 season was statistically the best in his career with his .326 average and 35 doubles. Entering the free agent market, only the Yankees could offer him an eye-popping contract. So like most pro-athletes (and virtually everyone that finds themselves in this situation in their line of work) he jumped to the hated rivals.
 
He consistently was booed in his return appearances to Fenway as the fans looked at him in the same light as Benedict Arnold. When he returned to Yankee Stadium earlier this year as a member of the Detroit Tigers, he was showered with cheers and respect. Damon (without the beard) led the Yanks to a World Series in ‘09 and New York fans didn’t forget.
 
The question remains, would Sox fans have booed Damon if he had gone to any team besides the Yankees in ’06? Nobody knows for sure but the bitterness that is in the blood of Boston fans really resonated with Damon.
 
With all of the Red Sox injury problems, Damon’s .358 on base would have certainly bolster their lineup.
 
But would Sox fans learn to cheer him ever again? Maybe that’s a question that can never be answered. It does seem as if this had a part in Damon’s final decision. How big a factor is up for debate.
 
“My teammates are making this decision easier by saying they want me to stay,” Damon told reporters Monday. “My gut and everything else tells me Detroit’s the place for me.”
 
The 63-63 record of the Tigers defines mediocrity. Yet the Tigers are not a lost ship. They have been decimated by injuries and have a plethora of young, talented players on the roster. So don’t discount the patience of Damon as well. MLB should be cautious of the ’11 Tigers, Damon may just be looking ahead.           

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