Kuzul

The Texas Rangers are going to the playoffs, and it is clear they are not going to be happy with just “being there.”

Texas’ nine-game lead in the AL West appears to be safe as the fledgling Angels search in vain for answers.

With the addition of Cliff Lee, most of baseball realizes the Rangers will be able to hang with any team in the playoffs, but Texas is clearly not interested in just “hanging.” They are out to win their first world championship.

This is what going for it looks like, Angels fans.

Not satisfied with winning the biggest pitching prize at the trade deadline, Texas has kept busy acquiring key playoff pieces like Bengie Molina—a World Series champion catcher and clutch veteran leader.

Still not done, the Rangers acquired Jorge Cantu and his 54 RBI to help out at first base.

Their All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler goes on the disabled list, and boom! The Rangers waste no time in picking up two-time All-Star middle infielder Christian Guzman today to fill in.

So now they’re done, right?

Wrong.

Today, the Rangers offered the Florida Marlins their top three prospects for pitching ace Josh Johnson and are still reportedly in the running for Adam Dunn.

Clearly Texas is making moves they feel they need to make in order to compete with the New York Yankees—not the Angels.

Granted, these players are no Alberto Callaspo, but something tells me baseball fans in the Lone Star State are willing to live with that.

Obviously, the Dan Haren move was nice for the Angels, but once again, it is too little, too late at the trade deadline.

It’s a good thing the Angels did not make any short-term moves to try to save this season because it wouldn’t have done any good. They would have hurt themselves long-term in the process.

In fact, Angels fans should be sending thank you cards to Derreck Lee right now for saving Angels GM Tony Reagins from himself.

However, it makes one wonder what the Angels could have done if they would have traded their prospects to supplement the key pieces they already had in place a few years ago—pieces that are now scattered across the baseball landscape.

Texas is doing what most Angels fans were screaming at the top of their lungs for then-Angels GM Bill Stoneman to do.

Stoneman balked at the idea—touting virtually every Angel prospect as an un-tradeable future Hall of Famer.

So, instead of having Alex Rodriguez and possibly a few more rings, the Angels instead retained the services of their “future Hall of Famers” Brandon Wood, Howie Kendrick, Jeff Mathis, and Erick Aybar.

They also refused to trade baseball greats Casey Kotchman, Dallas McPherson, Joe Saunders and Kevin Jepsen.

When they finally did part with a few of these individuals, some acted as if they had parted with Mickey Mantle.

Ask yourself this, Angels fans. Is there any talent in that group of eight that you couldn’t acquire on any given year in free agency at a very reasonable price?

Then ask yourself, how often do you get the chance to make a trade for Babe Ruth? Because that is exactly who you passed on, Stoneman.

Texas understands that concept, despite having one of the top-ranked farm systems in baseball.

The Angels should have understood that, but they were too preoccupied falling in love with the fantasy of an impending dynasty that never materialized.

Instead, the Angels became to this decade what the Atlanta Braves were to the last—a very good team that never took the next step to greatness.

Now the Angels find themselves in a quagmire of underachieving, untradeable disappointments. They will now have to buy themselves out of this situation through free agent purchases during the offseason.

Not only have their prospects underperformed, they have managed to turn a team on the verge of greatness into nothing more than a .500 ball club.

As of now, and hopefully before the trade deadline, Reagins should consider nobody un-tradeable.

In the meantime, Angels fans will be gazing enviously toward Texas to see if their gamble pays off. If it does, Angels fans will continue to wonder about what might have been.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Carl Pavano, Jeff Niemann, Colby Lewis. According to ESPN’s Player Rater (PR), these three have been top 25 starting pitchers to date… and none of them were drafted in ESPN standard ten-team leagues. In fact, of the top 60 pitchers on the PR, 22 of them went undrafted.  Think pitching is deep? 

Moreover, the guys at the top are truly elite.  Of pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched, an astounding 17 of them have an ERA under 3.00.  So, you may not be hurting for pitching, but there are still plenty of guys out there who remain undervalued for you to target either through trade or on the waiver wire. All ownership percentages are from ESPN. (stats as of Sunday, July 25, 2010)

TIER 1
1.    Adam Wainwright (100% owned)
2.    Josh Johnson (100% owned)

Each has a WHIP right around 1.00, and Johnson has a marginal five strikeout lead over Wainwright.  The only differences between them are Johnson leads in ERA 1.61 to 2.02, and Wainwright has four more wins.  Johnson is more likely to see his ERA regress towards 2.00 than he is to win more games than Wainwright the rest of the way.  So, while wins are not the best way to evaluate pitchers, they still count in fantasy, and their value cannot be ignored.

3.    Roy Halladay (100% owned)
4.    Cliff Lee (100% owned)
5.    Tim Lincecum (100% owned)
6.    Jon Lester (100% owned)
7.    Jered Weaver (100% owned)

Weaver is striking out almost ten batters per nine innings while walking just over two batters per nine, and all of his peripheral numbers indicate that what he has been is what he is going to be.  If you have a stud starter with a lot of name value (say, Justin Verlander or Johan Santana), do not hesitate to swap them straight up for Weaver.

TIER 2
10.    Zach Greinke (100% owned)

In his last 7 starts, Greinke is 4-1 with a 2.89 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 7.98 K/9.
The “buy-low window” is probably closed by now as Greinke looks poised for a monster second-half.

11.    Justin Verlander (100% owned)
12.    Ubaldo Jimenez (100% owned)
13.    Yovani Gallardo (100% owned)
14.    David Price (100% owned)
15.    Chris Carpenter (100% owned)
16.    Clayton Kershaw (100% owned)
17.    Dan Haren (100% owned)

Haren has always been a notorious first-half stud and second-half bust, but this year he had a disappointing first half.  This led many to wonder how much worse it would get once he hit the inevitable second-half decline.  However, if he broke the trend in the first-half, why can he not do the same in the second-half?  He is third in the league with 141 K’s.

TIER 3
18.    Matt Cain (100% owned)
19.    Johan Santana (100% owned)
20.    Roy Oswalt (100% owned)
21.    Colby Lewis (98.5% owned)
22.    Tommy Hanson (100% owned)

With a record of 8-6, a 4.12 ERA and 1.36 WHIP, Hanson has not exactly given fantasy owners the return they were expecting on a top 80-ish draft pick.  However, Hanson has pitched better than those numbers indicate.  He is striking out almost a batter more per inning than he did last year at a clip of 9.03 K/9 , his walks are down, and his BABIP is .348 (the higher the number is over .300, the more unlucky the pitcher has been).  If your league redrafted today, Hanson still might be worth a top 80 pick.

23.    John Danks (100% owned)
24.    Tim Hudson (100% owned)
25.    Jeff Niemann (100% owned)
26.    Stephen Strasburg (100% owned)
27.    Mat Latos (100% owned)

Both Strasburg and Latos are going to have their innings limited as we get deeper into the season, but if they were pitching through September, they would both be top 15 pitchers.  Just keep running them out there every time they pitch, and then, use their roster slot to stream pitchers once they hit the shelf.  By doing so, you can still get top 20 value out of that slot in your rotation.

28.    Jaime Garcia (99.9% owned)

Garcia was one of the most difficult guys to rank.  You keep expecting the rookie pitcher with the unusually low HR/9 rate (0.41) and good but not great K/BB rate (2.09)  to regress, but so far it just hasn’t happened.  He is currently third in the majors with a 2.21 ERA and could absolutely continue to be a top 25-30 starting pitcher.

TIER 4
29.    Francisco Liriano (100% owned)
30.    Clay Buchholz (100% owned)
31.    Matt Garza (100% owned)
32.    Max Scherzer (84.1% owned)
33.    Ricky Nolasco (97.9% owned)

In 2009, Nolasco had a 5.76 ERA and 8.93 K/9 before the All-Star break.  He rebounded nicely with a 4.39 ERA and 10.02 K/9 after the break.  This year, he had a 4.55 ERA and 7.64 K/9 before the break, but in his two starts since the break, Nolasco has posted a 4.05 ERA and 10.99 K/9.  See where this is going?

34.    Jonathan Sanchez (99.4% owned)
35.    Wandy Rodriguez (55.4% owned)
36.    Cole Hamels (100% owned)
37.    Ryan Dempster (100% owned)
38.    Carl Pavano (93.1% owned)

Pavano in 2010: 12-6, 3.26 ERA, 1.01 WHIP (!), and 81 K’s to just 19 BB’s. Really?!?!  As mentioned above, the undrafted Pavano is providing substantial value to his owners.  In a 16-team league with 30 man rosters, I got Pavano with pick No. 433.  Now that is value!  The only reason he is not ranked higher is because, well, he is still Carl Pavano.

TIER 5
39.    Gavin Floyd (90.4% owned)
40.    Jason Hammel (26.2% owned)
41.    Javier Vazquez (94.7% owned)
42.    C.J. Wilson (72.3% owned)
43.    Ervin Santana (88.9% owned)
44.    Scott Baker (65.5% owned)

Baker’s increased strikeout rate, decreased walk rate, high BABIP, and inflated FIP all indicate that he has pitched better than it looks on paper.  FIP, or Fielding Independent Pitching, shows how well a pitcher pitched regardless of how the defense played behind him.  The nice thing about FIP is that it is based on the same scale as ERA.  So, while his ERA is right at 5.00, Baker’s FIP is just over 4.00, and his xFIP (Expected FIP predicts future ERA by adjusting home run rates) is actually below 4.00.

45.    Phil Hughes (100% owned)
46.    Brett Myers (21.3% owned)
47.    Chad Billingsley (95% owned)
48.    Edinson Volquez (73.2% owned)
49.    Kris Medlen (9.8% owned)
50.    Tommy Hunter (67.4% owned)

Both Medlen and Hunter are nice young pitchers with which to fill out the back end of your rotation.  While Hunter’s ownership percentage is substantially higher, Medlen is the guy you would rather own.  He has an impressive 3.57 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 92.1 innings, and nothing in his peripherals suggests that he has just been lucky.  Meanwhile, Hunter is 7-0 with a 2.09 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in nine starts, but he is striking out less than five batters per nine innings and is receiving 7.3 runs per game of support from his offense.

Just missed the cut: Trevor Cahill (84.8% owned), Jason Vargas (20.8% owned), Shawn Marcum (66.3% owned), Barry Zito (88.2% owned), Ricky Romero (91.4% owned)

Agree or Disagree with the rankings?
Leave a comment and let us know, or reply to us on Twitter@TheFantasyFix

Article written by Brett Talley exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. Brett is a blackbelt and taught Steven Seagal everything he knows.

Here are some more articles that will not self destruct in ten seconds…

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Throughout the history of the game and the history of sports, there have been over a million trades done which have forever changed the direction of a sports franchise or landscape forever. You can call it the butterfly effect because thats what it is, a small trade here and there can cause big changes later on (managerial changes, free agent signings, new stadium, or even a World Series).

In the case of the Florida Marlins, a Major League Baseball franchise that has been around since 1993, they have won a couple of World Series (1997 and 2003). The little known story behind both of those titles have been the trades they made in order to win them. I’ll chronicle that here and run down over the trades that forever changed the Florida Marlins and made up what they are today.

Without these trades, this franchise, would not be here right now. In the spirit of the Trade Deadline and trades period here are those trades that have forever this MLB franchise, the Florida Marlins…

Begin Slideshow

Fantasy Baseball’s Pitching Line of the Week:

C.J. Wilson (SP-TEX) 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W

C.J. Wilson chucked eight innings of four-hit baseball, striking out three batters and failed to surrender a walk in a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday. Wilson retired 17 of the last 18 batters he faced before giving way to young Neftali Feliz, who saved his 27th game for the Rangers and helped Wilson improve to 9-5 on the season.

See Win Probability Game Graph of C.J.’s Win Courtesy of FanGraphs

Prior to the 1-0 victory over the Angels, Wilson was 8-5 with a 3.23 ERA and had accumulated a string of nine consecutive quality starts. 

Wilson, the pride of Fountain Valley High School, attended Santa Ana Junior College, where he was named MVP of Orange Empire Conference and California’s Junior College Player of the Year Award in 2000. The following year, he was drafted in the fifth round (121st overall) by the Texas Rangers out of Loyola Marymount University.

While cruising through the minor leagues in 2003, Wilson suffered an elbow injury which required “Tommy John” surgery. C.J. needed the entire 2004 season to recover and returned to AA action in 2005.

Wilson debuted for the Texas Rangers on June 10, 2005 at 24 years of age. He went 1-7 in 24 appearances, finished with a 6.94 ERA and a 1.67 K:BB ratio. 

From 2006-2009, C.J. primarily worked out of the bullpen. Following the Rangers trade of Eric Gagne in 2007, Wilson was asked to step into the closers role. He successfully converted his first 11 save opportunities for Texas. Wilson was once again named the Rangers closer in 2008 and converted in 24 of 28 attempts. Despite not being named the closer in 2009, Wilson still earned 14 saves. 

Wilson features a fastball, sinker, slider and change-up in his repertoire. Wilson is currently owned in 63 percent of Y! leagues. 

The “Double Dipper” is a starting pitcher who will get two starts in the same week. Each Sunday we will preview top three options in each league and highlight streaming options for players owned in less than 50% of Y! leagues.

The No Brainers in the NL:

Josh Johnson/FLA (@ SF, @ SD) – CY front runner. That’s enough.

Stephen Strasburg/WAS (vs. ATL, vs. PHI) – Tough match-ups, cap on IP, but take his K’s to the bank.

Chad Billingsley/LAD (@ SD, @ SF) – 2-0 in three starts against SD & SF this year.

The No Brainers in the AL:

Felix Hernandez/SEA (@ CHW, @ MIN) – 63:10 K:BB & 8 QS in last 8.

Francisco Liriano/MIN (@ KC, vs. SEA) – The “Mona Lisa” of match-ups..wait..she’s ugly?

CC Sabathia/NYY (@ CLE, @ TB) – Hasn’t lost since 5/23. 10 straight QS.

Warning: Streaming can be lethal. The following are owned in 50% or less of Y! leagues.

Jorge De La Rosa/COL (vs. PIT, vs. CHC) – Last start looked like the JDL of old

Brandon Morrow/TOR (vs. BAL, vs. CLE) – 10.01 K/9 will get him the nod

Jon Niese/NYM (vs. STL, vs. ARI) – Three ER or less in last five outings

Joel Pineiro/LAA (vs. BOS, vs. TEX) – The Russian Roulette of “streaming”

Bronson Arroyo/CIN (@ MIL, vs. ATK) – Six QS in last nine.

Don’t Touch ‘Em

Ryan Rowland-Smith, Brad Bergeson, Zach Duke, Wesley Wright

Week 17 One Start Stars Owned in 50% or Less

Tommy Hunter/TEX 49% Y! – Saturday @ LAA (TBD)  – 8-0 in 10 starts

Brett Cecil/TOR 30% Y! – Friday vs. CLE (Masterson) – Last three were QS. Daniel Hudson/CWS 5% Y! – Friday @ OAK (Mazzaro) – Tons of K potential

Who will win the pitching duel of the week: Josh Johnson or Matt Cain?

Who will be the best 2-Start Pitcher owned in 50 percent or less in week 17?

Leave a comment, or reply to us on Twitter @TheFantasyFix

Here are some more articles that will not self destruct in 10 seconds…

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Batters facing Florida Marlins ace Josh Johnson this season can empathize with those helpless premium dinner entrees. They can slap, bunt, and swing all they want. They can extend the at-bat with foul balls. They can take their sweet old time going in and out of the box trying to break the pitcher’s momentum.

No matter what they do they can’t hit Josh Johnson.

Johnson has cooked batters this season to the tune of 130 strikeouts against 128 innings of work with a 1.62 ERA, and a 10 – 3 record on an average club. The Marlins are currently in the middle of the pack in the NL with a 45-47 record, 9.0 games back in the N.L. East. Additionally the Marlins have one of the worst defensive units in baseball. With 72 errors thus far, they only trail the Nationals (77).

Whether it’s a 96 mph fastball, a vicious slider, or a sinking change-up, players aren’t going to touch first base often and rarely, if ever, cross home plate when JJ is pitching.

In his 19 starts this season he has given up more than two runs a mere three times. Three! The most runs he gave up all season was four, and that was in the season opener against the Mets in April.

Johnson is gaining steam towards his first Cy Young. The Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez has been struggling of late.

His case will only strengthen if the Marlins turn it out around in the second half and close in on the division. Regardless, he is having one of the best seasons in recent history.

Johnson’s 2010 season has a chance to go down as one of the best of the decade for a starting pitcher.

Pedro Martinez’s 2000 season, when he went 18-6 with a 1.74 ERA and 284 strikeouts, comes to mind, as does Randy Johnson in 02′, when he went 24-5 with a 2.32 ERA and an amazing 334 strikeouts.

To say that Johnson’s year thus far isn’t on par with those legendary marks in baseball history is blasphemy.

Johnson is easily among the top three pitchers in all of baseball, and arguably the best. The fact that he’s still just 26 years old just isn’t right. The guy is going to get even better.

Terrifying, I know.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NFL betting players don’t have to worry about crowning a Triple Crown winner, but in Major League Baseball, the Triple Crown is a big deal.  Here’s a look at five players who have the chance to write their names in baseball history.

Miguel Cabrera, Detroit

At the break, Cabrera leads the American League in RBI, he’s tied for first in average, and he’s tied for second in homers. Even by his high standards, Cabrera is on pace to set career highs across the board, which would put him in a very good position to be the first American League hitter since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to win the Triple Crown.

Josh Hamilton, Texas

Cabrera’s competition for the Triple Crown is Hamilton, who is actually tied with Cabrera in average. They’re both tied behind Toronto’s Jose Bautista in homers, and Hamilton is fourth in RBI.  However, he may be hurt by the fact that Vladimir Guerrero hits in front of him, and he’s second to Cabrera in RBI, which takes RBI away from Hamilton. NCAA football betting players would compare this to having two 1,000-yard rushers, which isn’t a bad problem to have, but it’s not good for Hamilton’s Triple Crown odds.

Josh Johnson, Florida

Johnson is going to have to get some help from his teammates in terms of wins, as he has just nine, but he is sixth in the National League in strikeouts and his 1.70 ERA is far and away the best in the entire major leagues. But playing in the tough East division with Atlanta, the Mets, and Philadelphia could throw a wrench in Johnson’s plans to catch up in wins. He’ll pitch well and hold up his end, but can the Marlins help him out?

Roy Halladay, Philadelphia

“Doc” has lived up to the hype in Philadelphia, and it’s not his fault that the Phillies’ MLB betting odds are falling.  Halladay is 10-7 with a 2.19 ERA (including a perfect game against Johnson and the Marlins), and he would have more if the Phillies gave him run support. Halladay is third in wins, fourth in ERA and tied for second in strikeouts, but he’s going to need a massive second half to beat the final player on the list to the Triple Crown.

Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado

Jimenez is trying to become the third National League pitcher this decade (Randy Johnson in 2002, Jake Peavy in 2007) to win the Triple Crown, and he has a no-hitter as well. Jimenez’s 15 wins leads the majors, he’s fifth in the league in ERA, and he’s ninth in strikeouts, which is the category that he needs the most work in, especially to catch the two-time defending strikeout and two-time defending Cy Young winner champ, Tim Lincecum, in San Francisco. But the way he’s pitching, I wouldn’t lay a bet against him. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

I’ve been thinking about writing some MLB articles, and this is the first one of what I hope to be many.

So far this MLB season, when I hear about the best pitchers in the game, I hear about Roy Halladay (Phillies), Johan Santana (Mets), Felix Hernandez, and Cliff Lee (Mariners), but let me bring up the guy who I think is the best pitcher in baseball, Josh Johnson.

Johnson is the Marlins ace pitcher at this point in time, and he’s only 26 years old. So far this season, Johnson is 9-3, with a 1.70 ERA (best in the majors), and 123 strikeouts. Those numbers are very impressive. Let’s compare him with Roy Halladay. Halladay is 10-7 this season, with a 2.33 ERA, and 119 strikeouts. So if you look at it, Johnson has a better record and ERA, and more strikeouts than Halladay does.

Another factor that comes into play is the two teams these two pitchers play for. Halladay is on a very talented Phillies squad, although they have been having a lot of injuries. Still, the Phillies probably have more talent even when injured than the Marlins do when healthy.

Johnson has great power on his pitches, but he also has a great ability to control the movement of the ball. Honestly, I really do believe he is the best pitcher in the majors right now, he just doesn’t get recognized as much because he plays for the Marlins, and when he doesn’t start they don’t get a lot of convincing wins.

Thoughts?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Don’t get me wrong.

Ubaldo Jimenez’ no-hitter counts for something. So do his major league-leading 14 wins. Same goes for Roy Halladay’s perfect game and major league-leading seven complete games.

But the pitcher who deserves the starting nod for the National League All-Star team plays for the Florida Marlins.

That’s right, the same team that rarely captures national attention unless the manager gets fired or it trades away a star player. 

Josh Johnson is the most dominant hurler in baseball during the “Year of the Pitcher.”

Ask the Los Angeles Dodgers, who failed to score a run on him through eight innings in a 4-0 loss Wednesday night.

Johnson did not allow a hit through the first four frames. He held the Dodgers to six hits and one walk. He struck out eight and lowered his earned-run average to 1.70.

For those keeping score, the second-best ERA in the majors is Jamie Garcia’s 2.17 clip. 

That’s 47 points higher. 

To prove how dominant Johnson, June’s NL Pitcher of the Month, has been look at the other statistics.

The 6’7″, 250 pounder hasn’t allowed more than two runs in a start in almost two months. He’s given up four runs in a game only once all season, which was during the opener at Citi Field against the New York Mets.

Every Johnson outing since then has been a quality start. Over the 15 games his ERA stands at 1.38.

His 123 strikeouts are third in the majors, behind only Tim Lincecum and Jered Weaver. 

Although his record shows that he’s just 9-3, it’s not his fault. Until Wednesday night’s four-run second inning, the Marlins had scored just five runs over his last four starts.

During that span, JJ struck out at least seven batters during each of those contests—33 in all—while walking two.

Even more remarkable is the history attached to what he has accomplished.

From May 13 to June 26, Johnson went eight consecutive starts throwing at least six innings and giving up no more than one earned run. Only two other pitchers had accomplished that over the past 100 years: Bob Gibson (11 straight in 1968) and J.R. Richard (eight straight in 1979).

When Halladay pitched his perfect game, what got overlooked was Florida’s ace’s line: seven innings, seven hits, six strikeouts, one walk, and an unearned run in a 1-0 loss.

Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has seen the Marlins pitcher enough since his return from Tommy John surgery in 2008, which came in less than 11 months, to convince him.

And if all of this was not enough reason for the 26 year old to become the National League starter in Anaheim, the outing against the Dodgers closes out his half.

Last year when he made the All-Star team for the first time in his career, Johnson remained in the dugout because he had pitched on that Sunday.

Come Tuesday, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NOTE: team and player statistics updated through Saturday, July 3.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (47-33)—Last Week: Second

Offense Rank: Fourth
Pitching Rank: Fourth
Last 10 Games: 5-5

2. New York Yankees (49-31)—Last Week: First

Offense Rank: Second
Pitching Rank: Ninth
Last 10 Games: 6-4

3. Texas Rangers (48-32)—Last Week: Sixth

Offense Rank: Third
Pitching Rank: 10th
Last 10 Games: 6-4

4. Boston Red Sox (49-32)—Last Week: Fourth

Offense Rank: First
Pitching Rank: 21st
Last 10 Games: 6-4

5. San Diego Padres (48-33)—Last Week: Seventh

Offense Rank: 22nd
Pitching Rank: First
Last 10 Games: 6-4

6. Atlanta Braves (38-33)—Last Week: Third

Offense Rank: Ninth
Pitching Rank: Fifth
Last 10 Games: 6-4

7. St. Louis Cardinals (44-37)—Last Week: Fifth

Offense Rank: 19th
Pitching Rank: Second
Last 10 Games: 4-6

8. Minnesota Twins (44-37)—Last Week: Eighth

Offense Rank: 12th
Pitching Rank: Seventh
Last 10 Games: 4-6

9. New York Mets (45-36)—Last Week: 11th
Offense Rank: 15th
Pitching Rank: Sixth
Last 10 Games: 4-6

10. Philadelphia Phillies (42-37)—Last Week: 13th

Offense Rank: 11th
Pitching Rank: Eighth
Last 10 Games: 5-5

11. Cincinnati Reds (46-36)—Last Week: 16th

Offense Rank: Fifth
Pitching Rank: 19th
Last 10 Games: 7-3

12. Colorado Rockies (43-38)—Last Week: 10th

Offense Rank: 10th
Pitching Rank: 13th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

13. San Francisco Giants (41-39)—Last Week: Ninth

Offense Rank: 23rd
Pitching Rank: Third
Last 10 Games: 2-8

14. Los Angeles Dodgers (44-36)—Last Week: 17th

Offense Rank: Eighth
Pitching Rank: 18th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

15. Florida Marlins (37-43)—Last Week: 14th

Offense Rank: 13th
Pitching Rank: 16th
Last 10 Games: 3-7

16. Detroit Tigers (43-36)—Last Week: 15th

Offense Rank: 18th
Pitching Rank: 15th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

17. Toronto Blue Jays (41-41)—Last Week: 12th

Offense Rank: 16th
Pitching Rank: 20th
Last 10 Games: 3-7

18. Oakland Athletics (40-42)—Last Week: 20th

Offense Rank: 21st
Pitching Rank: 11th
Last 10 Games: 6-4

19. Los Angeles Angels (45-38)—Last Week: 18th

Offense Rank: Seventh
Pitching Rank: 24th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

20. Chicago White Sox (41-38)—Last Week: 19th

Offense Rank: 20th
Pitching Rank: 14th
Last 10 Games: 6-4

21. Milwaukee Brewers (37-44)—Last Week: 24th

Offense Rank: Sixth
Pitching Rank: 27th
Last 10 Games: 6-4

22. Kansas City Royals (36-45)—Last Week: 23rd

Offense Rank: 17th
Pitching Rank: 23rd
Last 10 Games: 7-3

23. Chicago Cubs (35-46)—Last Week: 21st

Offense Rank: 26th
Pitching Rank: 17th
Last 10 Games: 4-6

24. Washington Nationals (36-46)—Last Week: 22nd

Offense Rank: 24th
Pitching Rank: 22nd
Last 10 Games: 3-7

25. Seattle Mariners (33-37)—Last Week: 26th

Offense Rank: 29th
Pitching Rank: 12th
Last 10 Games: 4-6

26. Cleveland Indians (32-48)—Last Week: 25th

Offense Rank: 25th
Pitching Rank: 25th
Last 10 Games: 6-4

27. Arizona Diamondbacks (32-49)—Last Week: 27th

Offense Rank: 14th
Pitching Rank: 30th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

28. Houston Astros (32-50)—Last Week: 28th

Offense Rank: 27th
Pitching Rank: 26th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

29. Baltimore Orioles (24-56)—Last Week: 29th

Offense Rank: 28th
Pitching Rank: 28th
Last 10 Games: 5-5

30. Pittsburgh Pirates (29-52)—Last Week: 30th

Offense Rank: 30th
Pitching Rank: 29th
Last 10 Games: 4-6

Carter’s MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year Award Races

American League MVP Award:

1. Josh Hamilton (Rangers): .340 avg., 105 hits, 19 HR, 59 RBI
2. Miguel Cabrera (Tigers): .338 avg., 97 hits, 20 HR, 68 RBI
3. Robinson Cano (Yankees): .346 avg., 109 hits, 16 HR, 55 RBI
4. Vladimir Guerrero (Rangers): .331 avg., 97 hits, 18 HR, 70 RBI
5. Justin Morneau (Twins): .342 avg., 97 hits, 17 HR, 54 RBI
6. Paul Konerko (White Sox): .297 avg., 79 hits, 20 HR, 57 RBI
7. Vernon Wells (Blue Jays): .274 avg., 84 hits, 19 HR, 48 RBI
8. Jose Bautista (Blue Jays): .229 avg., 64 hits, 21 HR, 52 RBI
9. Kevin Youkilis (Red Sox): .263 avg., 60 hits, 17 HR, 54 RBI
10. David Ortiz (Red Sox): .299 avg., 81 hits, 16 HR, 53 RBI

National League MVP Award:

1. Albert Pujols (Cardinals): .306 avg., 90 hits, 20 HR, 60 RBI
2. Joey Votto (Reds): .313 avg., 89 hits, 19 hits, 19 HR, 57 RBI
3. Ryan Howard (Phillies): .296 avg., 93 hits, 15 HR, 58 RBI
4. Scott Rolen (Reds): .302 avg., 80 hits, 17 HR, 56 RBI
5. Corey Hart (Brewers): .287 avg., 78 hits, 18 HR, 60 RBI
6. Adrian Gonzalez (Padres): .295 avg., 86 hits, 16 HR, 51 RBI
7. Adam Dunn (Nationals): .276 avg., 81 hits, 17 HR, 49 RBI
8. Mark Reynolds (Diamondbacks): .221 avg., 59 hits, 19 HR, 53 RBI
9. Prince Fielder (Brewers): .266 avg., 80 avg., 18 hits, 18 HR, 36 RBI
10. Colby Rasmus (Cardinals): .296 avg., 93 hits, 15 HR, 58 RBI

American League Cy Young Award:

1. Jon Lester (Red Sox): 10-3, 2.76 ERA, 118 strikeouts
2. David Price (Rays): 11-4, 2.42 ERA, 90 strikeouts
3. Jered Weaver (Angels): 8-3, 2.82 ERA, 124 strikeouts
4. Cliff Lee (Mariners): 7-3, 2.45 ERA, 78 strikeouts
5. Andy Pettitte (Yankees): 10-2, 2.82 ERA, 78 strikeouts
6. Trevor Cahill (Athletics): 8-2, 2.74 ERA, 56 strikeouts
7. Jeff Niemann (Rays): 6-2, 2.80 ERA, 75 strikeouts
8. Clay Buchholz (Red Sox): 10-4, 2.45 ERA, 64 strikeouts
9. Felix Hernandez (Mariners): 6-5, 3.03 ERA, 116 strikeouts
10. Jason Vargas (Mariners): 6-4, 3.22 ERA, 65 strikeouts

National League Cy Young Award:

1. Josh Johnson (Marlins): 8-3, 1.82 ERA, 115 strikeouts
2. Ubaldo Jimenez (Rockies): 14-1, 2.27 ERA, 107 strikeouts
3. Yovani Gallardo (Brewers): 8-3, 2.56 ERA, 120 strikeouts
4. Adam Wainwright (Cardinals): 11-5, 2.34 ERA, 114 strikeouts
5. Jaime Garcia (Cardinals): 8-4, 2.10 ERA, 77 strikeouts
6. Tim Hudson (Braves): 8-3, 2.37 ERA, 51 strikeouts
7. Roy Halladay (Phillies): 9-7, 2.42 ERA, 112 strikeouts
8. Mat Latos (Padres): 9-4, 2-62 ERA, 91 strikeouts
9. Clayton Richard (Padres): 6-4, 2.74 ERA, 81 strikeouts
10. Matt Cain (Giants): 6-7, 2.93 ERA, 76 strikeouts

American League Rookie of the Year:

1. Austin Jackson (Tigers): .305 avg., 89 hits, 1 HR, 19 RBI
2. Brennan Boesch (Tigers): .345 avg., 77 hits, 12 HR, 46 RBI
3. Reid Brignac (Rays): .277 avg., 49 hits, 2 HR, 24 RBI
4. Justin Smoak (Rangers): .205 avg., 45 hits, 8 HR, 34 RBI
5. John Jaso (Rays): .274 avg., 43 hits, 3 HR, 26 RBI

National League Rookie of the Year:

1. Gaby Sanchez (Marlins): .308 avg., 89 hits, 9 HR, 38 RBI
2. David Freese (Cardinals): .296 avg., 71 hits, 4 HR, 36 RBI
3. Ike Davis (Mets): .261 avg., 66 hits, 10 HR, 38 RBI
4. Ian Desmond (Nationals): .255 avg., 65 hits, 4 HR, 34 RBI
5. Alcides Escobar (Brewers): .244 avg., 65 hits, 2 HR, 24 RBI

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Ubaldo Jimenez has been absolutely filthy through 16 starts this season, going 14-1 with a Bob Gibson-like 1.83 ERA. The 26-year-old flame thrower even tossed a no-hitter back on April 17 .

Likewise, Marlins’ starter Josh Johnson boasts a 1.83 ERA and 0.96 WHIP through 16 starts, but hasn’t gotten the luck or the run support that Jimenez has.

While Colorado’s ace has struggled in his last two starts, Johnson has continued to dominate.

After a closer look, it’s become obvious that Johnson has outdueled the N.L. Cy Young favorite through the first three months in nearly every major pitching category:

Side notes:

FIP (fielder independent pitching) is a stat that measures factors only the pitcher can control. This helps us understand how well a pitcher has pitched, regardless of the defense behind him.

xFIP (expected fielder independent pitching) is an experimental stat which adjusts FIP and “normalizes” home run totals. Because research has indicated that home runs are a result of fly balls allowed and home parks, xFIP can be used to measure a pitcher’s expected ERA based on the average number of homers allowed per fly ball. This is a better indicator of a pitcher’s future ERA.

Using these stats to evaluate these two pitchers, we can conclude that:

• Johnson (2.47 FIP) has been better than Jimenez (3.07) this season.
• Johnson (3.16 xFIP) should continue to out-pitch Jimenez (3.68 xFIP) in the future.

Even if you toss out Jimenez’s recent struggles, (which have accounted for 18 percent of his total hits allowed and 43 percent of his total earned runs allowed this season), you can still argue that Johnson has been just as good:

Taking it one step further, Johnson has clearly outperformed Jimenez in other pitching categories such as:

• O-Swing rate (percent of batter’s that swing at pitches off the plate)
• Contact rate (percent of contact made on all pitches)
• First-pitch strike rate (percent of first-pitch strikes thrown)
• Swinging strike rate (percent of pitches which result in a swinging strike)

In fact, Jimenez has been no more than an average pitcher by these standards, while Johnson ranks 17th, third, 12th, and second in these categories among qualified starters.

Now don’t get it twisted; I envy Ubaldo’s ridiculous pitching repertoire as much as the next guy. I refused to be blinded by win totals and ESPN, however, and therefore believe that Josh Johnson has been (and will continue to be) the better pitcher.

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