Kuzul

I know, I know. You’ve never heard of Tom Milone.

He’s just another no-name pitcher toiling somewhere within the deep recesses of the Washington Nationals’ minor league system.

You’ve seen the various top-20 prospect lists for 2010 and he’s nowhere to be found.

Yawn.

“Wake me when the season is over,” you might be thinking.

OK, you’ve never heard of Tom Milone. I get that. But I’m very sure that, prior to his call up in mid 2007, you had never heard of John Lannan either.

Trust me, here. You really need to know more about this 23-year-old from USC.

I have enjoyed watching Lannan pitch the last couple of years, partly because he’s good, but also because I love it when underdogs succeed at the major league level.

An 11th-round pick in 2005 out of Siena College (17-5, 3.86), Lannan was considered to be no more than another organizational arm who might one day become a lefty specialist out of the pen.

In his first two seasons (Vermont and Low-A Savannah), that is how he pitched.

In 35 starts, Lannan was just 9-13, with a 4.89 ERA. In 2007, however, he blossomed. He cut his hits per nine innings in half. He began hitting his spots.

In the span of just a couple of months, he was promoted to Double-A Harrisburg, then Triple-A Columbus, and finally to the major leagues, where he started six games for Washington.

He finished the season with a line of 12-3, 2.31 ERA, and a slash line of 6.6/3.0/5.3 (hits/walks/strikeouts per nine innings).

Lannan’s career 20-30 record and 3.89 ERA with the Nationals is deceiving.

Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum had 26 quality starts last season and former Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee had 23.

Lannan had 21.

In other words, he’s still young, still learning, and when he doesn’t spot his pitches well, he still gets clobbered.

With a bit more luck and a little more offensive support, Lannan should win a dozen or so games each year for the next decade. He’s an ideal No. 4 starter.

And yes, I understand that Lannan pitched poorly earlier this season and was demoted to Double-A Harrisburg. But since his return to Washington, he has gone 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA, allowing opponents a .279 batting average, .340 on-base percent and .395 slugging mark (compared to a .327/.393/.462 and 5.76 ERA before his demotion).

I think it’s safe to say that Lannan has found whatever he had lost earlier in the season.

Milone, like Lannan, is a lanky lefty who must pitch to spots to be successful.

He is eighth all-time in games started for Southern Cal.

In 2007, he was named Pitcher of the Year in the prestigious Cape Cod League with a record of 6-1 and a 2.92 ERA. He struck out 46 and walked just seven in 52 innings.

His next summer was spent in Wenatchee, Wash., pitching in a West Coast summer league. In 51 innings, Milone went 6-1 with a 2.61 ERA.

Against some of the best college hitters, Milone combined to go 12-2 (2.81 ERA) while striking out 101 in 103 innings. He walked just 13.

But a lack of a dominating fastball, and a so-so 16-17 career record with a 4.78 ERA at Southern Cal, relegated Milone to a 10th-round afterthought in the 2008 amateur draft.

Though major league scouts didn’t think much of his ability, Milone was confident that he would succeed.

Pitching for Vermont and Hagerstown, Milone crafted a record of 1-6 but with a solid 3.51 ERA. He allowed 10.3 hits per nine-innings but just 1.3 walks.

Nationals’ scouts saw enough to promote him to High-A Potomac for the 2009 season. And just like Lannan two seasons earlier, Milone blossomed.

After watching him pitch in a bullpen session early in the year, Potomac pitching coach Paul Menhart approached Milone about adding a cut fastball to his repertoire.

Pitching to contact is fine, he said, but disguising his 87 mph fastball would help him greatly.

Milone’s cutter looks like his fastball but dives at the last second. Against right-handers, it first dives in, then away as it crosses the plate.

His ERA was 3.89 when he began to throw his new pitch in early July.

By the end of the year it had dropped to 2.91, best on the team. His batting-average against, .275 the season before, was just .252 with Potomac.

Milone’s fastball tops out at 87 mph but usually sits in the 84-86 mph range. His curve is sharp and about 10 mph slower than his fastball, providing good separation.

His change, though, is by far his best pitch, one he can throw wherever he wants and at any point in the count.

His control is remarkable. Over his minor league career, Milone has walked just 66 while striking out 271, more than a 4-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio.

Milone has trouble when he’s not hitting his spots. When facing a walk, he tends to throw his fastball down the middle of the plate, a bad place for a slow fastball.

But that is a peril that all contact pitchers face. If you don’t have an “out” pitch, there just aren’t many safe pitches to throw.

Overall, Milone’s minor league numbers are very similar to those of Lannan:

Record
Lannan: 21-16 (.567)
Milone: 21-16 (.567) (no, not a misprint; exactly the same)

ERA
Lannan: 3.92
Milone: 3.04

Opponent’s Batting Average
Lannan: .258
Milone: .261

Hits/Walks/Strikeouts Per Nine-Innings
Lannan: 8.7/3.5/6.3
Milone: 8.9/1.8/7.3

Lannan and Milone are very similar pitchers.

One would think that Milone might have a major league career similar to Lannan, that of a mid-to-back-of-the-rotation starter who can be counted on to win 10 to 14 games a year.

Sure, Milone is not on any watch list and isn’t considered much of a prospect. But Lannan didn’t show up as a true prospect until the 2008 season, after he had already pitched in the major leagues.

Milone has a prospect grade of “C” and is lumped together with a bevy of other non-prospect types like Taylor Jordan, Nathan Karns, and Pat Lehman.

I am in no way suggesting that Milone is going to repeat the success of Lannan.

But he has similar tools, has even better control, and at 23 is mowing down older and more experienced opponents in the Eastern League.

Lannan was also 23 when he pitched for Harrisburg.

Yes, it seems unlikely that a 10th-rounder will eventually make the Nationals’ starting rotation, especially when you consider that the Nationals will have a solid rotation when all of the team’s walking-wounded return to the major league roster.

But isn’t that the same thing we all said about Lannan, the 11th-round selection from Siena College?

This year, Milone is 8-5 with a 2.95 ERA with the Double-A Senators. On Thursday, he pitched seven strong innings, allowing just six hits and no walks while striking out seven.

He’ll likely pitch for Triple-A Syracuse next year and will be just a phone call away from the major leagues.

Suddenly, the Nationals have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to young pitchers and it’s about time. The 2011 season is looking better and better with each passing day.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Brandon Phillips escalated the Cardinals/Reds feud when he said this about the Cardinals:

“I’d play against these guys with one leg. We have to beat these guys. I hate the Cardinals. All they do is b—- and moan about everything, all of them, they’re little b——, all of ‘em. I really hate the Cardinals. Compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs. Let me make this clear: I hate the Cardinals.”

The comments led to the eventual brawl between the two clubs last night. Some have argued that Brandon Phillips may have been out of line, but here are the top 10 Reasons The Cardinals Are the Whiniest Team in MLB.

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Shortly after securing their future long-term home, Marlins Ballpark, in Little Havana near Downtown Miami, the Marlins began their long-term deals with their marquee players. 

In 2008, the Marlins signed their all-star shortstop Hanley Ramirez to a six year, $70 million extension that goes through the 2014 season. It was their first such long-term deal since they signed first baseman Carlos Delgado to a five year deal in 2005. 

The Marlins continued that trend by locking up their ace, Josh Johnson to a four year extension worth $39 million in 2010. 

In order to keep their nucleus intact and the future bright, the Marlins must continue to fortify their long-term investments by signing a few others to long-term deals as well. 

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Emotions got the best of both the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night.

Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips made comments a few days earlier about the Cards that didn’t sit well with St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina.

Before the bottom of the first inning, the pair got into a heated argument and the benches cleared.

Managers Tony La Russa and Dusty Baker got involved. So did starting pitchers and former allies.

With a playoff chase on the line and bad blood, this rivalry won’t be going away anytime soon.

Here are five reasons why St. Louis and Cincinnati just made the race atop the NL Central division that much more interesting.

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Brandon Phillips’s comments from Sunday served as the catalyst for the brawl that erupted in last night’s game between the NL Central co-leaders. 

It was Phillips who said, “I hate the Cardinals. All they do is b***h and moan about everything, all of them, they’re little b****es, all of ’em.”

That comment, followed by an unwelcome tap of Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina’s shinguards, turned into a face-to-face spat between Phillips and Molina before a bench-clearing brawl broke out between the two teams.

But after the brawl, it was the Reds who limped off the field in an 8-4 loss that cost them sole possession of the division. That may be a gloomy sign for a team that could suffer backlash from Phillips’ bravado.

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Just 10 short years ago, professional baseball in Philadelphia was dead.

Totally, undisputedly, dead.

I was a sixth-grader at the time, back in 2000, and nobody at Elkins Park Middle School in the Montgomery County Philly suburbs even wanted to talk about our city’s ball team.

No one. Wanna talk about Pokemon? Sure. The Harry Potter books? Of course. The Fightin Phils? No way.

The Phillies were nobodys. They were losers.

They were losers until Larry Bowa became the Phillies 49th manager in team history on November 1, 2000.

Now to the present: The 64-year-old Bowa has returned to Philadelphia this week as the Dodgers third base coach. Back in the ‘70’s, Bowa made a name for himself as the Phillies’ terrific shortstop. But 20 years later, he also oversaw the Phils’dramatic turn-around at the start of the new millennium.

Larry’s only previous managerial experience came with San Diego, where he was fired midway through 1988 after just one-and-a-half unsuccessful seasons.

Twelve years later in Philadelphia Bowa inherited a Phillies team, a franchise, in total disarray.

Rebuilding wouldn’t be easy.

Losing had become habitual. From 1987 through 2000, the Phillies had suffered through 13 losing seasons in 14 years. 1993, as great as it was, was simply lightening in a bottle (Bowa was actually the Phils’ third base coach that year).

The 2000 Phillies had the worst record in MLB. It was a brutal year. As a young fan still trying to establish some kind of a love for Phillies baseball, I couldn’t take too many more seasons like 2000.

In 2001, the culture of Phils baseball started to change.

In his time as Phillies’ manager, Larry repeatedly admitted that he wasn’t as outwardly confrontational or emotional as he had been in his initial managerial stint with San Diego. But Bowa still had more than enough passion as the Phils’ skipper.     

Larry didn’t tolerate the complacency that sometimes sets in within the clubhouse of a struggling team. He had learned to handle losing, but he would never, ever learn to settle for it.

Under Bowa, the Phillies weren’t going to be the doormats of MLB any longer. Bad baseball in Philadelphia wasn’t to be expected, or accepted, the way it had been since the Simpsons became America’s most famous animated family in the late 1980s.    

On paper, the 2001 Phillies who finished 86-76 and came within two games of winning the division weren’t significantly better than the 2000 Phillies who finished 65-97. The Phils’ payroll was actually $3.5 million less in 2001 than it had been in 2000.

Clearly, the Phillies players took to Bowa’s intense, hands-on style of coaching much more than they had former manager Terry Francona’s mild-mannered laid-back approach. 

Sure, Bowa rubbed a few players the wrong way in 2001, namely star third baseman Scott Rolen, but the majority of Larry’s players seemed to respond to him.

Back to the present—In case you haven’t heard, these 2010 Phillies are in a pennant race and have a dynamic three-man rotation of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt.

The 2001 Phillies went deep into a pennant race too, equipped with a “Big Three” starting rotation of Robert Person, Randy Wolf, and Omar Daal.

It wasn’t quite the same back then.

Bowa was named NL Manager of the Year in 2001, an honor well deserved. 

Overall, the Phillies had a mid-level payroll during Bowa’s four-year reign, and the Phillies won 86 games three times in a season.

But by September 2004, it was clearly time for Larry to go. Another promising season would end just short of the playoffs, and it seemed that the Phillies players were no longer inspired by Bowa’s intensity and passion. Finally, Larry was fired on the second-to-last day of the ’04 season.

Bowa had taken the Phillies as far as he could. And that was far enough. Thanks to a beautiful new ballpark that helped to keep the stadium turnstiles in motion and a roster loaded with young talent, the road was fully paved for the Phillies to achieve much bigger, better things in the years ahead.

The Phillies 2008 roster featured just six players who were around at the end of Bowa’s tenure, but all six played major roles in the Phillies’ World Series championship that season (Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Brett Myers, and Ryan Madson).

Larry Bowa wasn’t just the Gold Glove shortstop who helped the Phillies win their first, long-awaited World Championship in 1980, but also the manager who steered the franchise toward its second title in 2008.

Charlie Manuel was at the helm when these ultra-talented Phillies made it back to the summit of the baseball world, and he deserves credit for that. But no one should forget that it was Larry Bowa who got the long-time moribund Phillies finally pointed in the right direction and helped make Philadelphia a baseball town once again.

Phillies Four Seasons Under Larry Bowa:

Year    Record       NL East           Payroll

2001    86- 76       Second           $38, 563, 833

2002    80- 81       Third              $49, 304, 999

2003    86- 76       Third              $63, 260, 000

2004    86- 76       Second           $89, 119, 167

TOT.    338-309

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Let’s call the American League West for what it is, over. Pull out the white flag, hook it up, and raise it to the top of the flag pole and let it fly proudly.

That’s the note that I would write to the front office of both the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It’s time for these two teams to call it a season, pack it in, and start planning their off season capabilities.

So, let it be known, on this 10th day of August 2010, that the AL West was declared for the Texas Rangers (insert the sound of crickets here). Where is everybody? Where is the champagne, where is the celebration?

Oh wait, the fans here in Dallas are waiting for one of the most monumental collapses in sports. They’re waiting for the Rangers to fall on their face like they’ve done so many times before.

Let me soothe you Ranger fans. Let me put your fear at ease. The AL West is a wrap. At no time has a Texas Ranger team held an eight game lead two weeks into the month of August, the second to last month of the regular season.

This is not the team that has fallen in seasons past. These are not the same players that have quit on each other because they didn’t know how to handle a division lead, or a divisional race for that matter.

While the Ranger fans work their way out of hiding, I’ll talk to the other baseball fans whose teams wish they had an eight game lead in their division. They would love to be breathing a little easier at this point, just ask the fans of the White Sox and Twins who are in a dead heat in the AL Central. Ask the fans of those two teams if they wouldn’t love to have that kind of lead and be able to call their division, over.

The Rangers are doing all this despite Vladimir Guerrero hitting .232 after the All-Star break with just a single home run after hitting 11 prior to the break. During the first half of the season, Guerrero struck out just 30 times in 323 at bats.

So far, through just 82 at bats, he has almost half that number (13).

The first three months of his time with the Rangers, it looked as if they had gotten a diamond when all the Angels saw was a guy past his prime. He hit .333, .330, and .356 from April to June respectively. However, those numbers took a huge fall as Vlad hit just .210 in the month of July and had his second highest number of strikeouts (12) that same month.

Not only has Vlad struggled, but they’ve been without second baseman Ian Kinsler who was put on the disabled list on July 28th with a left groin strain.

One guy that they have been getting production from is outfielder Nelson Cruz. Prior to the All-Star break, Cruz was hitting .299 with 11 home runs and 41 runs batted in through 174 at bats. Since the break, Cruz is hitting .344 with four home runs and 20 runs batted in.

However, that’s not the most telling stat. Cruz had struck out 44 times in those 172 at bats but has just 15 in 90 at bats. If he keeps that up, he would have cut down on his strikeouts considerably.

The hottest Ranger of them all since the All-Star break, a guy who’s making one heck of a case for the American League’s Most Valuable Player award, is outfielder Josh Hamilton. While his numbers in the first half of the season were more than respectable, hitting .346 with 22 home runs and 64 runs batted in, his numbers post All-Star break have been nothing short of astounding. Hamilton is hitting .395 with a .457 on base percentage not to mention hitting .454 in June and .418 in July.

Two players can not carry this team, especially if they hope to make a serious run through the playoffs. Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz can’t carry this offense on their own.

Michael Young (.247), Elvis Andrus (.258), and Benjie Molina (.232) are all guys that they need to step up as the team reaches October, each of three haven’t exactly been impressive since the All-Star break.

However, it’s not the hitting that will make or break this team in the next two months, it’s their pitching. Rich Harden, just this past weekend, showed just how much the team can’t trust him as a starter down the stretch. His five walks and one hit batter through two and a third innings was not what manager Ron Washington was hoping to see.

The best move the Rangers made prior to the trade deadline all but guaranteed them a playoff spot. That move was landing left-hander Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners, a guy that most thought was about to be traded to the New York Yankees.

Since his arrival to the Rangers, Lee is 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA. While he’s going to be instrumental for this team over the last few months, his previous playoff experience will prove to be exactly what will help this team come October. There’s no substitute for having a guy anchoring your rotation that knows what it’s like to get to the World Series. Not only that, but he knows what it’s like to pitch in those games.

Outside of Lee, the Rangers have been getting big performances in their rotation from Tommy Hunter (9-1, 3.01) and C.J. Wilson (10-5, 3.30) not to mention Colby Lewis (9-8, 3.37). Aside from those four, when the starters can turn the ball over to their bullpen and not worry about a lead getting squandered, it helps their confidence that much more. Darren Oliver (2.33), Darren O’Day (1.18), and Alexi Ogando (1.19) have been nothing short of solid when they get the ball in the late innings. Though Oliver has struggled of late, giving up six earned runs in his last five appearances (4 1/3 IP).

What every team needs is a guy that can come in to the game in the ninth and shut the door. The Rangers have that guy in young right-handed flame thrower Neftali Feliz who has racked up 29 saves this season and has blown just two save opportunities all year.

So, for all you Ranger fans who are afraid to come out of the woodwork and believe that this team has it wrapped up, you can come out of hiding and wear your Ranger colors proudly. Sure the Cowboys are almost a month away from kicking off, but there’s another team in Arlington that might have their best shot at a championship this year.

Doubt all you want, question if you must, but admit that this is not the same team or the same players that have let the fans down in the past. This is a team that is gearing up for October.

So, as Brian Dalgin says so well…Let’s go!

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Pablo Sandoval isn’t hitting. What makes things worse is that he’s average at best on defense and has all the speed of a water buffalo. His defense and lack of speed was acceptable because he hit baseballs like they were trying to steal his dinner, but this year he’s sporting an Aaron Rowand-like wOBA of just .303 and an OPS of .701.

Now before you go all Mel Gibson on me and start screaming obscenities that, while hilarious, are also quite disturbing, I’m not saying that the Giants should DFA Sandoval or send him down to Richmond, just that he has ceased to be an everyday player—for this season at least.

There has already been a lot made of Sandoval’s “slump” or, rather, lack of production since April when he had an OPS of 1.008. Some seem to believe that it’s due to his personal issues, or his eyesight, or even the vaunted sophomore jinx, but it has a whole lot more to do with his appetite than his ability.

This winter, Sandoval was coming off a break-out campaign in which he posted an OPS of .943 with 25 HR’s. However, the Giants rightly identified that the Kung Fu Panda would have a difficult time going all Daniel-san on opposing pitchers with any consistency at his then listed weight of 240 lbs. The Giants instituted “Operation Panda” in which Sandoval, along with his older brother Michael, stayed in San Francisco during the off-season and attended daily workout sessions, while also being educated on proper nutrition and eating habits. At first, “Operation Panda” seemed to be a huge success; Sandoval shed weight and seemed to be on a path to better fitness, health, and hopefully prolonged production.

At the end of “Operation Panda” Sandoval returned home to finish the winter ball season in Venezuela, but ran in to Mom’s cooking and put all the weight he’d lost back on.

Initially, this didn’t seem to effect Sandoval much and he had a great April, even though he struggled a bit from the right side. Since a torrid April Sandoval seems to be imposing a lot more fear in to the hearts of all-you-can-eat buffet owners than opposing pitchers. Instead of getting better, he’s getting worse. His 1.008 OPS in April, was followed by a .617 OPS in May, .645 in June and a .597 OPS in July.

Most of Sandoval’s decline in OPS can be measured in the D.B. Cooper-like disappearance of power that he’s suffered through so far this season. His ISO (Isolated Power or SLG-AVG) decline this year: April – .207, May – .108, June – .106 and July – .063.  Just as a frame of reference, the great slugger Brett Butler averaged an ISO of .086 over his career, while Barry Bonds averaged an ISO of .309.

As Andrew Baggerly recently pointed out in his blog, “The Braves’ three-run rally in the second inning began when Brooks Conrad’s poorly hit roller down the third-base line got past Pablo Sandoval for a double. Sandoval wasn’t playing off the line, either—the latest alarming evidence that the 23-year-old is slowing down.” It appears that Sandoval’s weight is slowing him down, and this was before he allowed the weakly hit ground ball off the bat of Alfonso Soriano to turn in to a double yesterday.

The problem is the Giants don’t have a better option, even with Sandoval’s meager production it’s more likely that he’ll suddenly snap out of his slump then for the Giants to get better production from Manny Burriss. However, much of Sandoval’s struggles this year have come from the right side, while he’s posted an OPS of just .604 from the right side, he’s posted a more respectable OPS of .736 from the left side; conversely, Edgar Renteria has a lifetime OPS of .912 against left-handed pitchers and would most likely pick up playing time if Sandoval sat.

While, the only real long-term solution for Sandoval is to call in Jenny Craig and Jillian Michaels of The Biggest Loser fame to tag-team the Kung Fu Panda this off-season and do something to make his body resemble a professional athlete outside of Bowling and Sumo wrestling, the short-term solution is to platoon Sandoval until he either picks it up or forces his way to the bench. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Where have you gone, white-hot White Sox? The team that just three weeks ago looked like it could run away with the Central Division is suddenly tied and could spiral downward faster than you can say “Mercy.”

Losing three of four to the Orioles in the middle of a pennant race is inexcusable, no matter who their manager is.

The Sox mustered just 10 runs in four games against Baltimore’s league-worst pitching staff. The 4-5-6 hitters were a combined 5-for-33 in the series, and the Sox hit 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position in the last two defeats. Carlos Quentin has just one hit in his last 12 at-bats, and A.J. Pierzynski is hitting a measly .188 since the All-Star break.

The White Sox return home banged up and scuffed up. The offense has returned to its early-season mediocrity, the bullpen looks vulnerable, and the injury bug has begun to rear its ugly head.

Take Gordon Beckham’s groin injury, then add Andruw Jones’ inability to hit a baseball and Bobby Jenks’ stiff back—not to mention his diminished skills—and it looks like the White Sox have all the ingredients for an August implosion.

Over the next 10 days, the South Siders play six games against the “Piranhas” of Minnesota and a three-game set against the Tigers, who have faded faster than President Obama’s approval rating.

The Twins enter the midweek series at U.S. Cellular Field on a roll, winning seven of their last 10, and lead the majors with a .303 batting average since June 29. All of that has come without MVP-caliber Justin Morneau, who is expected to begin a rehab assignment within the next two weeks. His return to the lineup will be a boon for the Twinkies.

On paper, it looks like Ozzie and Co. may have seen their time atop the Central expire.

Not so fast my friend.

This is baseball, not tic-tac-toe.

These games aren’t played on paper.

Chicago enters the dog days of August down, but by no means out. The 2010 White Sox have shown an uncanny ability to persevere and fight through adversity. For evidence of this, look no further than June 8.

The night before the Blackhawks hoisted the Cup, the South Siders were just 24-33, 9.5 games back of Minnesota in the Central. The roster was on the verge of being gutted.

Luckily, GM Kenny Williams was more patient than many Sox faithful.

Ozzie’s crew is 39-16 since that June night, thanks to their never-say-die attitude, coupled with a stacked rotation and a lineup that had been in a groove.

Last weekend’s series in Baltimore could prove to be a hiccup along the way to a division title or a small hole that led to a BP-sized leak.

The next 10 days are the most crucial of the season; whoever is nestled in first come August 20 will be the odds-on favorites to win the division.

It’s Black and White.

Check out this article along with other examples of Ryan’s work at sportshaze.com, where he is the source for Blackhawks and White Sox coverage.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In the mile-high city, there is an outfielder having the best baseball season you haven’t heard about. 

His name is Carlos Gonzalez, and he has been a menace to National League pitching this season.

Gonzalez, 24, is a tall, lean lefty with a sweet swing. 

Originally from Venezuela, Gonzalez is in his second full year with the Colorado Rockies. He came to the Rockies in the Winter of 2008 when the Rockies dealt Matt Holliday to the Oakland A’s. 

Gonzalez has made A’s general manager Bill Beane regret this trade. 

In 2009, Gonzalez spent the first two months of the season dominating the Pacific Coast League for the Rockies Triple-A affiliate in Colorado Springs. 

On May 29, the Rockies fired manager Clint Hurdle and replaced him with Jim Tracy. A week later, Gonzalez got the call to the majors.

Gonzalez struggled at first, posting a .607 OPS in June. He quickly improved that to an .860 mark in July. Since August 1, 2009, he has been one of the best hitting outfielders in baseball. 

Gonzalez hit 11 home runs and batted .330 over the last two months of 2009. In the playoffs, he hit .588, homered, stole two bases and scored five runs as the Phillies defeated the Rockies in four games.   

This season, he has continued to hit at almost the same astounding level. 

Consider his numbers: 135 hits, six triples, 25 home runs, 77 RBI, 75 runs, 18 stolen bases, 239 total bases .327 BA, .355 OBP, .579 SLUG, 136 OPS+.

These numbers equate to him being second in hits, sixth in triples, fourth in home runs, third in RBI, fourth in runs, first in total bases, first in average, third in slugging, and sixth in OPS among National League hitters.

Among outfielders, his numbers demonstrate why he is now one of the finest hitters in baseball.

Gonzalez leads all NL outfielders in average, home runs and RBI—winning the outfielder batting triple crown. 

He is also first in slugging and OPS. Among all major league outfielders, he is second in home runs, tied for third in RBI, second in batting average, third in slugging, and third in OPS.

Among all outfielders, Gonzalez trails Josh Hamilton and Jose Bautista in most of those categories—two players whose fantastic seasons have drawn them plenty of notice. However, Gonzalez easily trumps Bautista in batting average (by 67 points) and speed (four more triples and fifteen more stolen bases). 

The title of, “Best Outfielder in Baseball” is a debate between Gonzalez and Hamilton.  

Since July 1, Gonzalez has staked his claim to the title by playing out of this world baseball. 

In the six weeks since that date, he has stroked 12 home runs, hit .388, posted a 1.170 OPS and swiped six bases. On July 31, Gonzalez hit for the cycle against the Chicago Cubs. He saved his best for last, smashing a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Gonzalez has also been one of the most versatile outfielders in baseball. He’s played 52 games in center field, 35 in left, and 24 in right. He’s made only one fielding error this year. 

The only thing Gonzalez doesn’t do well is take walks—he has 19 on the season.  

Despite all this success, Gonzalez has received little attention.

Gonzalez barely made a blip in the NL All-Star voting, and was not named as a reserve by the players or NL manager Charlie Manuel. He was chosen as one of the five players for the “Fans Final Vote,” but he finished third.

As previously demonstrated, Gonzalez has maybe the best all-around numbers of any outfielder this season, yet he doesn’t even get total recognition from fantasy baseball players. In Yahoo! fantasy leagues his ownership is 93 percent.   

However, ESPN’s Fantasy Player Rater ranks Gonzalez as the best player in all of baseball (for the standard fantasy categories). But, he still isn’t owned in all ESPN fantasy leagues.  

Carlos Gonzalez should be getting a lot more attention.

His statistics clearly demonstrate why he’s having one of the best offensive seasons in baseball. 

Joey Votto has had an MVP-type season for the NL Central-leading Reds, but Carlos Gonzalez should not be forgotten in the discussion about the National League’s Most Valuable Player. 

In fact, Gonzalez should be at the top of that list.

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