Kuzul

As earlier announced, Nick Franklin has been called up from Triple-A Tacoma to replace a struggling Dustin Ackley at second base for the Mariners.

Franklin debuted for the Mariners as a defensive substitution in the Mariners 9-0 win over the San Diego Padres on Memorial Day, making two plays in the field and walking in his only at-bat. As reported by Greg Johns of MLB.com, Franklin will start on Tuesday night against the Padres, most likely at second base.

Nick Franklin has hit at every stop on his road to the major leagues and was flourishing in Tacoma this season. Before being called up, Franklin was batting .325 with four home runs, 20 RBI and seven stolen bases on the season.

Franklin’s call-up isn’t the only big development, however, as the demotion of former second-overall pick Dustin Ackley is just as noteworthy. Ackley struggled mightily this season, as he was batting only .205 with one home run and eight RBI over 45 games. This isn’t the first sign of struggle for Ackley either, as he is coming off a sub-par 2012 season in which he batted .226 with a .294 OBP.

Manager Eric Wedge was very vocal early Tuesday, claiming that Ackley was caught up thinking more about sabermetrics than actually playing the game.

“It’s the new generation. It’s all this sabermetrics stuff, for lack of a better term, you know what I mean?” Wedge said. “People who haven’t played since they were 9 years old think they have it figured out. It gets in these kids’ heads.”

Obviously, this isn’t what Mariners fans want to hear from their manager; for a multitude of reasons. Many will point out that as manager, it is Wedge’s job to keep Ackley‘s mind in the right place while he plays. Essentially, Wedge is indirectly throwing himself under the bus for not being able to protect Ackley from his own thoughts; but that is a story for another day.

The story right now is that Ackley is down in Tacoma, and Nick Franklin hit his way to Safeco Field. Franklin made it clear that he isn’t sure how long he was going to be in Seattle, but made sure that every one knew he was there to play; and to win. Franklin acknowledged that he has had to be patient through each stop, but it was that patience that helped him develop into the player he is today.

“Going from last year to this year was the big difference, just seeing pitches, seeing the good ones and hitting the good ones. Not trying to hit every single ball. Just trying to get your pitch and square it up as best you can.”

If Franklin can back up his talk and continue his success at the major league level, the Mariners will be hard pressed to find a place for Dustin Ackley when, and if, he fixes whatever problems he has. One can not help but be impressed by the confidence Franklin is carrying coming to Seattle, even though some of it may be contributed to the outcry of fans who have wanted Franklin in Seattle for the last few weeks.

As of now, the second base job is Franklin’s to lose. After three years of working hard in the Mariners’ farm system, it is difficult to see him relinquishing it any time soon.

Remember, Ackley was performing so poorly that even if Franklin were to bat .250 for the season, he would still be a vast improvement in offensive production.

The Franklin era will officially get underway Tuesday night against the Padres, and if it is up to Nick Franklin, it may be an era that lasts for a very long time.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

One of the greats has passed. Dr. Lewis Yocum, one of the top sports surgeons in the world, died on Tuesday according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. Long the team physician for the Los Angeles Angels and a consulting surgeon to hundreds of major league players, Yocum‘s work at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic in Los Angeles placed him on a high pedestal. While no sports surgeon is in any Hall of Fame, Yocum deserves consideration, along with his mentor, Dr. Frank Jobe.

The esteem he was held in was manifest in two ways. The surgeons he trained and the medical staffs he consulted with often identified themselves as “Yocum guys.” The orthopaedic fellows from Yocum‘s Kerlan-Jobe program, along with those from James Andrews’ ASMI fellows make up the majority of sports surgeons today. The legacy Yocum built through his mentorship is strong, with some of the top names in sports medicine today amongst them.

Yocum was also honored by his own team. The Angels’ training room was named on May 5th for Dr. Yocum, an honor to be sure, but one even more than most realize. The training room is the holy of holies in most locker rooms, a place where no one enjoys going, but within those walls, the trust that must be shared takes on an element of the confessional. That everyone in an organization would agree that one man, one doctor, was worthy is truly notable.

The list of Yocum‘s patients is extensive. Returning players in recent years like Stephen Strasburg, Dustin Pedroia and Daniel Hudson barely scrapes the surface. Just the list from the last few years would be enough to fill out the rosters of a couple All-Star teams (the list is below). 

Yocum‘s research was also groundbreaking. His work on the rotator cuff, along with Dr. Frank Jobe, led to the near universal use of the “thrower’s ten” exercises which helped reduce the number of shoulder injuries. His work on shoulder impingement also led to a much greater understanding of what could be done to help baseball pitchers. His work went beyond the shoulder, with key papers on the knee and elbow to his credit as well. 

Dr. Tim Kremchek, the team physician for the Cincinnati Reds worked with Yocum and sums up how so many in the industry feels. Kremchek told me “I got to know Lew over the last 15 years and taking care of high profile athletes, there was no one better. He was always calm, straight up, experienced. Always invaluable assistance. Great doctor, great human being, and a better friend. In this business, too many people are trying to keep the case. Lew was there to help the player.

The loss of Dr. Yocum is one not just for the Angels, for whom he served so long and well, but for all of baseball. As yet, there is no doctor enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but when it does, Dr. Yocum should be noted alongside the giants of his profession and the best of baseball. 

Patient List:

Major patients:  Stephen Strasburg, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jordan Zimmermann, Kendrys Morales, Ted Lilly, Robb Nen, John Lackey, Randy Wolf, CJ Wilson, Francisco Liriano, Billy Wagner, Joakim Soria, Jake Westbrook, Cal Eldred, Scott Erickson, Daniel Hudson

Others: Chris Narveson, Cory Luebke, Joe Wieland, John Lamb, Ryan Kalish, Sergio Santos, David Riske, Tsuyoshi Wada, Trevor Crowe, Anthony Reyes, Danny Duffy, Felipe Paulino, David Aardsma, Hector Ambriz, Carlos Gutierrez, Mike Aviles, Zach Miner, John Franco,  Lucas Giolito, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jeremy Bonderman, Jose Arredondo

Special thanks to Dan Wade for his research assistance on this piece.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Houston Astros and Miami Marlins took different routes to end up in the dirty cellar of Major League Baseball.

The question is who will get out of the sewage first?

The Astros have played in Houston ever since they started as the Colt .45’s in 1962, but their seasons have lately gone far south of that. A record of 15-36 is a pace that only the Cleveland Spiders could aspire to.

Meanwhile, on the coast of west Florida, the 13-38 Marlins have gone bottoms-up, with a fire-sale the only thing that kept them from drowning in their 2012 Opening Day payroll.

But is there any real hope for these teams in the near future? And which team will we stop scoffing at first?

The Marlins have had their fun in the sun over their franchise’s relatively short life. But now they seem dead in the water; a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since their last of two World Series runs in 2003.

The Astros, who have never won a World Series, are well on to their way to a fifth straight season under .500, and a third consecutive 100-loss campaign.

There was a time where Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, and Lance Berkman ran the show in Houston. Heck, even Carlos Lee was a star for them not too long ago.

But now that those talented pieces have departed from everyday duties at Minute Maid Park, what’s left for Houston? Jose Altuve, modern day’s Eddie Gaedel? Or Carlos Pena, once held high but now washed-up?

What Houston does have going for them is the fact Altuve (hitting .311 as of Sunday), at age 23, can be a cornerstone for the team’s future. But players like Brett Wallace (.042 average in 24 plate appearances) and Matt Dominguez haven’t exactly turned into what they were supposed to.

The Marlins have many of the same problems. The one difference between the clubs may be the fact that the Marlins have a potential superstar in Giancarlo Stanton.

But ever since he went on the disabled list, the Marlins have been lost at the plate and in the NL East standings. They have about as many hits as Vanilla Ice and about as much pop as Redenbacher without a microwave.

In fact, Marcell Ozuna is the only hitter (barely) above a .300 average, and no Marlin has shown much power at all, with Justin Ruggiano leading the club with eight homers.

So through all the woes, the lack of building blocks, and not much production from the veterans either, which team has the edge to build a winner again?

In slightly more than a flip of a coin, the ‘Stros have the better future.

The Marlins can’t buy their way out of this one. They went for the high-risk, high-reward strategy again after it worked twice for World Series runs, but the third time was the charm of destruction for Miami.

They have a brand new stadium they are paying off, and a shopping spree they wish they could forget. They have Ozuna, and Jose’ Fernandez, an ace-to-be. But the Astros can match them with guys that will soon be up with the club, including pitchers Jarred Cosart and Lance McCullers, and a potentially dangerous infield for 2014 or ’15.

The Astros truly do have a dump of a squad on their major league roster right now, but for the Marlins, the deciding factor may be Stanton.

It can only be rumored, but there’s more than a fair chance Miami moves him.

I see him in a different jersey by the trade deadline of 2014, if not before. And the Marlins won’t pick themselves up off the canvas until well after that.

As for Houston, they won’t exactly be the talk of the league any time soon with the Texas Rangers owning the NL West and the Los Angeles Angels beefing up their roster. But the Astros will become relevant again before the Marlins.

Or at least stay far away from the Cleveland Spiders.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Oakland Athletics have won 10 of their last 13 games versus National League opponents, which is important to consider when making your MLB picks Tuesday, as they take on the San Francisco Giants at the O.co Coliseum.

Sports bettors will find that the Athletics are -135 home favorites in the pro baseball odds (courtesy of SBR Forum), while the total stands at 8.5 in the betting market.

Let’s take a closer look at this interleague matchup from a betting perspective, while offering up a prediction along the way.

Begin Slideshow

The early stages of the 2013 season have been dominated by good pitching, so it would not be all that surprising to see something accomplished on the mound that has not been done in over a decade this season.

Texas Rangers right-hander Yu Darvish became the first pitcher to 100 strikeouts this season when he fanned 14 Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday to bring his season total to 105 in 74.1 innings of work.

In the process, he became the first pitcher to reach the century mark through Memorial Day since 2002. That was also the last time someone reached the 300-strikeout mark in a season, and that is something Darvish has squarely in his sights moving forward this season.

Through his first 11 starts, Darvish is averaging 6.7 innings per start and striking out roughly 1.41 batters per inning. If he maintains that pace and stays healthy enough to make 33 starts, that would put him at roughly 312 strikeouts in 221 innings of work, so the mark is certainly obtainable.

Let’s take a look at how his numbers through Memorial Day stack up to the last 10 instances of 300 strikeouts in a season.

Statistics compiled via BaseballReference.com

What this shows us, other than the fact that Randy Johnson was absolutely ridiculous during his prime, is that Darvish falls right in line and even ahead of some of these guys. With his 105 strikeouts in 74.1 innings and 1.41-strikeout-per-inning mark, he certainly stacks up to this group.

The 26-year-old Darvish struck out 221 in 191.1 innings of work last season. If his splits from 2012 are any indication, he could actually pick up the pace as the season progresses.

Whether you attribute it to him getting more comfortable in the MLB or simply improving as the weather heats up, Darvish posted his two best K/9 rates of the season last year in July (10.8) and August (12.2).

For what it’s worth, he never reached the 300-strikeout mark during his time in Japan, with his closest finish coming in his final year pitching for the Nippon Ham Fighters when he struck out 276 in 232 innings.

Still, he was 24 that season and it is safe to assume he has improved his overall game since then, as he enters the prime of his career.

Whether Darvish is able to end the 300-strikeout drought will be one of the better storylines to follow in the second half, provided he stays healthy. 

One thing is for sure, the $111.7 million that the Rangers invested in Darvish over six years last offseason is looking more and more like one of the better deals in franchise history.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

If only they awarded points for how awesomely you failed.

Had Yoenis Cespedes made this diving Matrix catch, a ripple in the fabric of space would’ve began in Keanu Reeves’ pants and reverberated throughout the world, revealing our perceived reality to be but a computer simulation perpetrated by our machine overlords.

Maybe that’s a bit grandiose, but the believer in me likes to think Neo at least felt a twinge in his apples when the Oakland A’s outfielder went into bullet-time during Monday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants, courtesy of NextImpulseSports.

I’ve seen people lay out for the ball before, but Cespedes‘ almost-catch reeked of science fiction movie physics and Trinity lobby-flips. It didn’t record an out, but hot damn did it look cool.

While Cespedes didn’t make the grab or stop the machines from harvesting our bodies like living batteries, he did found other ways to contribute, knocking in a two-run double to help the A’s wrap up a 4-1 victory over the Giants.

Now if only Cespedes can focus his energy and concentrate on the ball instead of the circus tumbling, he might prove to be “The One”—a distinction currently held by this young baseball player, who puts Cespedes‘ missed catch to shame. 

That’s what taking the red pill looks like, Cespedes. Just remember—there is no ball.

Follow @Dr__Carson

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Los Angeles Angels have put together a season-high five-game winning streak, which can’t be ignored when making your MLB picks on Friday as they take on the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Sports bettors will find that the Angels are minus-115 road favorites in the pro baseball odds (courtesy of SBR Forum), while the total sits at nine in the betting market.

Let’s take a closer look at this American League matchup from a betting perspective, while offering up a prediction along the way.

Begin Slideshow

The Oakland A’s received some bad news Friday about the ace of their pitching staff, Brett Anderson. He was already on the disabled list with a sprained ankle, but was determined to have a fractured foot and will be out for at least another month.

Oakland announced that the 25-year-old left-handed Anderson has a navicular stress fracture in his right foot via their official Twitter account:

The #Athletics announced that LHP Brett Anderson has a navicular stress fracture of his right foot. He will be reevaluated in four weeks.

— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) May 17, 2013

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser confirmed the story, while indicating Anderson will be re-evaluated in four weeks. In an update to her story, she reported that he is expecting to pitch again this year, but if it is determined he needs surgery, it would likely end his season.

Now in his fifth major league season, Anderson has been consistently plagued by injuries since a successful rookie campaign in 2009 that saw him go 11-11 with a 4.06 ERA in 30 starts. He has appeared in just a combined 44 games (43 starts) in the four years since, and been on the disabled list a number of times, including undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2011.

Anderson is 1-4 with a 6.21 ERA this year in six games. He has been on the disabled list with a sprained ankle since May 1, and was nearing a return when he found out about his most recent injury.

According to an Associated Press Report on ESPN.com, the southpaw was bitterly disappointed about his most recent setback:

It’s pretty frustrating, disappointing and all the other similar adjectives. I was two days away from making another rehab start and now I’m in a walking boot with a fracture in my foot…

I’d pitched in San Antonio and felt good after that. I was running Monday in the outfield and all of a sudden my foot started hurting. I got it checked out and this is the result. I’m still processing it. I should take up a hobby, maybe play darts or something.

Slusser reported Anderson is in a walking boot and on crutches. She believes that even in the best case scenario, between healing and necessary rehab, he would miss at least two months with his fracture.

Young right-hander Dan Straily replaced Anderson in the Oakland rotation, but his poor performance so far suggests the team could look at other options. He is 1-2 with a 7.27 ERA in five starts, while walking 4.2 batters per nine innings.

In a separate article, Slusser suggests the A’s could look at minor leaguers Sonny Gray or Andrew Werner to step in for Straily if needed.

The right-handed Gray was the team’s first-round draft choice in 2011. He has dominated at Triple-A so far this season, going 4-2 with a 2.47 ERA in seven starts.

Werner, a left-hander, pitched briefly in the majors with the San Diego Padres last year before being traded to Oakland during the offseason. He is just 4-5 with a 6.92 ERA at Triple-A this season, but had a 3.57 career minor league ERA the previous four years combined.

Anderson told Slusser that while he is frustrated, he can’t dwell on his string of injuries or his current situation:

I can’t feel sorry for myself. That would be a waste of time. I’m still young, I’m 25. You never want to be labeled injury prone, but hopefully, I’ll get out there and make consecutive starts. I have the highest expectations for myself and I think I’m one of the better pitchers in the game when I’m healthy.

In baseball, players’ reputations are made from production. If Anderson can come back and pitch to his fullest potential, his snake-bitten past will recede from memory, which would surely be welcomed by both Oakland and the hobbled pitcher.

Statistics via Baseball-Reference 

Follow @historianandrew

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

With optimism higher for many Mariners fans after a series win against the AL East leading New York Yankees, fans are starting to think about bigger things for the 2013 Seattle Mariners.

From individual performances to team goals, there just seems to be a different vibe surrounding this Mariners team than has been there in years past. The Mariners may still be a shade under .500, but they continue to battle against quality teams and show glimpses of what could be when everything starts to click.

So what exactly could the Mariners do if everything clicks?

Well, there are of course the individual statistics that could come from it, but there are also moves the Mariners could make to truly make a splash in the AL West. With that in mind, here are five radical predictions for the remainder of the Mariners’ season.

Begin Slideshow

The Houston Astros have their Ryan.

Maybe not the Ryan they were hoping for, mind you, but the Ryan the Astros have hired certainly comes to them with baseball cred, and his hiring could potentially lead to a fascinating shake-up of the baseball landscape in Texas.

If you’re just now catching up, the Astros introduced Reid Ryan, son of Hall of Fame pitcher and Texas Rangers boss Nolan Ryan, as their new president on Friday, according to Alyson Footer of MLB.com. He’s replacing George Postolos, who resigned from his post earlier this week.

This is a hiring that came together fairly quickly. FOX 26 Sports in Houston reported just a couple days ago that Ryan was “being strongly considered” to fill Postolos’ shoes, and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported Thursday that it was all but a done deal.

“Today really is a dream come true because you grow up an Astros fan if you’re in Houston,” said Ryan at his introductory presser on Friday, via the aforementioned article on MLB.com. “This is just a very special day.”

The hiring of Ryan falls in line with other hirings the Astros have made recently. They’ve shown little interest in bringing aboard old retreads, choosing instead to favor fresh faces and voices to carry out their rebuilding process. The Astros have been around since 1962, but right now, they have the look and attitude of a start-up.

But unlike his old man, Reid Ryan is very much in need of an introduction. I should admit that I knew little about him or his work, but a few minutes with the wondrous Google machine helped paint the picture.

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle penned quite the glowing endorsement of the young Ryan and what he’s going to bring to the table in Houston. One of the things Ortiz pointed out is that there is a sort of a “prodigal son returns” thing going on, as Ryan has apparently always sincerely viewed the Astros as his hometown team and is very familiar with the organization, the fans and the city.

And though he’s not the legend that his old man is, Reid Ryan does indeed have some credibility within the baseball world.

The young Ryan is a notable figure in minor league baseball, as he’s coming to the Astros from his post as boss of two minor league clubs: Rangers Triple-A affiliate Round Rock and Astros Double-A affiliate Corpus Christi. Both organizations have been highly successful under his watch.

By virtue of his name, his familiarity with the whole Astros operation and his baseball credibility, Reid Ryan is an upgrade over Postolos. He spent years helping Jim Crane acquire the Astros, but he was never a baseball guy. Postolos came to baseball from a basketball background with the Houston Rockets, and Mr. Ortiz will tell you all about how little he did to endear himself to Astros fans.

As for those fans, Baseball-Reference.com’s records show that attendance numbers at Minute Maid Park are still on the decline in 2013. The locals aren’t too keen on spending their hard-earned dollars to watch one of Major League Baseball’s worst teams.

[I would scold Astros fans for being fair-weather fans, but, shoot, I’ve been going through the same thing with my beloved Oakland Raiders for over a decade now.]

Astros fans have every right to be disillusioned, but Ryan can go a long way toward bringing them back by getting the organization’s television mess figured out. CSN Houston doesn’t have anything worked out with any of the major satellite/cable providers, resulting in only 40 percent of the Houston area being able to watch Astros games. In this day and age, that’s absurd.

Getting the TV mess figured out is certainly going to be a top priority for Ryan, but what about the actual baseball side of things? Can he do anything to help the Astros on the field?

Meh. Don’t count on it.

Ryan is more a businessman than a baseball man, meaning the fate of Astros baseball is still going to be in the hands of general manager Jeff Luhnow. He’s in charge of a grand experiment with the club’s farm system, and the good news for now is that he’s built a system that Baseball America put in its preseason top 10.

Don’t expect Reid Ryan to come in and do with the Astros what his old man did with the Rangers after he was brought aboard in 2008. The elder Ryan is rightfully credited for remodeling the Rangers’ approach to pitching, something the younger Ryan couldn’t do if he tried. His pitching experience consists only of two minor league seasons in the Rangers organization in the mid-1990s.

It would have made for a heck of a narrative had the younger Ryan remade the Astros in his image and then pitted them against his father’s Rangers, made, of course, in his own pitching-obsessed image. But that’s not in the cards, to which all anybody can say is: Oh well.

If Ryan vs. Ryan is going to add any sort of element to the Astros-Rangers rivalry, it’s going to be a storyline thing for the fans and the media. It’s not going to resonate on the field.

But maybe there will be no Ryan vs. Ryan at all. Instead, maybe a Ryan and Son operation could be coming to Houston.

Had things gone differently, it could have been Nolan Ryan stepping into Postolos’ shoes. You’ll recall the whispers about the elder Ryan potentially leaving the Rangers by the end of spring training, which prompted speculation that maybe he was going to turn coat and join the Astros. Richard Justice of MLB.com had him pegged as a perfect hire for the Astros.

The whispers were finally silenced last month when the Rangers announced that Ryan was going to stay with the organization, but the Astros talk didn’t go away entirely. Heck, Ryan was even asked if he had any interest in taking up Postolos’ post when he left it earlier this week. His response, via the Houston Chronicle, was “I don’t think so.”

Maybe the prospect of leaving the Rangers for the Astros is more attractive to the elder Ryan now that his son is in the picture. The two of them teaming up to do business is hardly uncharted territory, as the elder Ryan co-owns the two minor league clubs that the younger Ryan had been running before joining the Astros.

Baiting the elder Ryan could be precisely what the Astros have in mind. It could be that hiring the younger Ryan is just a means to an end.

Maybe, but it’s not like the Astros are taking an necessary gamble even if that is the case. They’ll be fine if Reid Ryan lives up to his reputation, in which case the business end of the franchise is going to be in good hands no matter what.

We’ll see. It’s only the young Ryan’s first day on the job. There’s only one thing that’s clear now, and that’s that the Ryan Empire has the baseball market in Texas pretty well covered.

If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com