Kuzul

1.                   New York Yankees 61-34

The Yanks has won three straight and is in the midst of a series with the bottom-dwelling Royals. They won their series with the Rays keeping their top spot in the AL East and are 7-3 in the last ten games. The pinstripe superstars will be without Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett for the next few weeks.

2.                   Tampa Bay Rays 57-38

The Rays lost a tough series to the Yankees. They are in a series with the Indians after winning their last game against the Orioles. They are 5-5 in the last ten games.

3.                   Texas Rangers 57-40

Nelson Cruz, Molina, and Josh Hamilton have been on hot streaks since the All-Star break. After destroying the Red Sox they are now tackling the Angles. Don’t be surprised if you see the Rangers in the World Series.They are 7-3 in the last ten games.

4.                   Atlanta Braves 56-40

The Braves are sitting on top of the NL East with the best home record in the NL. They are 5-5 in the last ten games.

5.                   San Diego Padres 56-39

The Padres is the top dog in the NL West and is currently in a series with the pitiful Pirates so they should stay there for the time being.

6.                   Boston Red Sox 55-42

The Rangers handled the Sox at Fenway Park. Beckett is set to return but several other starters are still sitting on the DL.

7.                   St. Louis Cardinals 54-43

The Cards ran through the Dodgers to take first place in the NL Central. But they have since lost two straight to the Cubs leaving them only half a game ahead of the Reds. They are 8-2 in the last ten games.

8.                   Cincinnati Reds 53-44

The Reds are only half a game behind the Cards for the top spot in the NL Central. Like the guys they are chasing they get some easy games against the Astros.

9.                   Chicago White Sox 52-42

Gordon Beckham has stepped up in the last week to help the men in black keep the top spot in the AL Central.

10.               San Francisco Giants 54-43

The Giants are 3.5 games behind the Padres in the NL West. They are 8-2 in the last ten games. “Kung Fu Panda” Pablo Sandoval did well last week hitting .308 with six RBI.

11.               Colorado Rockies 51-45

The Rockies are on a three game losing streak and are in the middle of a series with the Phillies.

12.               Los Angeles Dodgers 51-46

They look to fair better than the Rockies this week, so look for them to nip at the Giants for second place. Manny Ramirez is back on the DL.

13.               Minnesota Twins 51-46

The Twins are in a three-way tight race for first place with the White Sox and Tigers in the AL Central. They will cruise against the worst team in baseball, the Orioles this week.

14.               Detroit Tigers 50-44

The Tigers have won two straight and are only two games behind the White Sox.

15.               Los Angeles Angels 51-47

The Angels have a nice record but unfortunately they are in second place and seven games behind the Rangers.

16.               Philadelphia Phillies 50-46

Ryan Howard has been on fire launching balls into the bleachers. The Phillies are currently battling AL Central’s best, St. Louis Cardinals.

17.               New York Mets 50-47

The Mets have lost four straight before finally getting a win against the Dodgers.

18.               Oakland Athletics 48-47

The Athletics are in a tough series against the first place Rangers so it doesn’t look good for improving their record.

19.               Toronto Blue Jays 48-48

The Blue Jays are 13.5 games behind first place in the AL East. Yunel Escobar was doing terrible when he was wearing a Braves uniform. Now that he is sporting a new jersey, he has hit two home runs already.

20.               Florida Marlins 48-48

The Marlins are eight games behind in the NL East. Hanley Ramirez didn’t do well last week posting only a .174 AVG with four hits in 23 at-bats.

21.               Milwaukee Brewers 45-53

The Brewers are 9.5 games behind the Cards in the NL Central. They have won two straight and are currently in a series against the Nationals. Rickie Weeks hit four home runs last week.

22.               Chicago Cubs 43-53

The Cubs are ten games behind the Cards in the NL Central. They are 6-4 in the last ten games.

23.               Washington Nationals 42-55

The Nationals are in last place in NL East. But everyone has forgotten that with the arrival of Stephen Strasburg who has two wins with a 2.31 ERA.

24.               Kansas City Royals 41-55

Zack Greinke is a fantastic pitcher, yet he is 6-9 for the season. That is what it is like to be on the Royals.

25.               Cleveland Indians 41-55

They are sellers in the second half as they match the Royals’ success this season.

26.               Houston Astros 39-57

The Astros are in a series with the Reds. The Phillies are looking to pick up Roy Oswalt, as the Astros have accepted defeat.

27.               Seattle Mariners 37-59

The Mariners seemed to have made all the right moves in the off-season. Now it looks like none of them panned out.

28.               Arizona Diamondbacks 37-60

The Diamondbacks are in last place in the NL West and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime this season. Justin Upton hit two home runs and went .464 AVG last week.

29.               Pittsburgh Pirates 34-62

The Pirates lost two straight games and are in a series with the Padres.

30.               Baltimore Orioles 31-65

Brian Roberts is finally off the DL. That’s the only good news that the Orioles have had in a year.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

1)       1B Ryan Howard Phi

Philadelphia’s powerhouse went 8-for-20 with four home runs, nine RBI, five runs and finished last week with a .400 AVG.

The last few weeks have been filled with players hitting three or more home runs in a week. But last week, he was the only player with four home runs.

He is on the wave of a five-game hitting streak.

Howard is currently hitting .299 with 21 home runs and 74 RBI for the season.

2)       OF Nelson Cruz Tex

The Texas outfielder went 12-for-23 with one home run, 10 RBI, four runs and finished last week with a .522 AVG.

He is riding a eight-game hitting streak and hit the game winning home run on Monday night’s game against Detroit.

Cruz is hitting .325 with 12 home runs and 51 RBI for the season.

3)       3B,/2B Gordon Beckham CWS

The White Sox infielder went 11-for-18 with one home run, six RBI, three runs and finished last week with a .611 AVG.

He is currently the hottest pick-up off free agency at 29% increase in fantasy ownership.

If he is already on your team you might be able to sell high based on his recent production.

Beckham is currently hitting .241 with four home runs and 28 RBI for the season.

4)       C Bengie Molina Tex

The Texas catcher went 6-for-13 with two home runs, four extra base hits, six RBI, three runs and finished last week with a .462 AVG.

The man known as the slowest player in the majors hit for the cycle against the Boston Red Sox last week. He went 4-for-4 with 4 RBI that night not to mention a grand slam. This ranks up there in unlikely feats with Edwin Jackson’s no-hitter.

He saw only a slight increase in his fantasy ownership this week.

Molina is currently hitting .261 with five home runs and 23 RBI for the season.

5)       2B Rickie Weeks Mil

The Brewers second baseman went 8-for-21 with three home runs, six RBI, six runs and finished the week with a .381 AVG.

Weeks is currently hitting .275 with 18 home runs and 59 RBI for the season.

6)       SS Yunel Escobar Tor

Toronto’s newest addition went 8-for-17 with two home runs, seven RBI, four runs and finished last week with a .471 AVG

He was doing terrible when he was wearing a Braves uniform. Now that he is sporting a new jersey, he has hit two home runs already.

His fantasy ownership increase is about 5% in most leagues but he is still at only 45% total ownership.

Escobar is hitting .252 with two home runs and 26 RBI for the season.

7)       OF Justin Upton Ari

The Diamondbacks popular outfielder went 8-for-17 with one home run, six RBI, four runs and finished last week with a .471 AVG.

Upton is hitting .270 with 15 home runs and 48 RBI for the season.

8)       3B Adrian Beltre Bos

The Red Sox third baseman went 6-for-15 with two home runs, three RBI, three runs, and finished last week with a .400 AVG.

With all the injuries to a large portion of the starting line-up, he is one of the only bats that are keeping the Red Sox in the race.

He is currently hitting .333 with 15 home runs and 58 RBI for the season.

9)       3B/1B Pablo Sandoval SF

Kung Fu Panda was kicking tail as he went 8-for-17 with five RBI, four extra base hits and finished last week with a .471 AVG

He was doing horrible in July hitting under .200 until last week.

Sandoval is hitting .273 with 6 home runs and 39 RBI this season.

10)   OF Josh Hamilton Tex

The Texas outfielder went 10-for-22 with three RBI, four extra base hits, three runs and finished last week with a .455 AVG.

He is only two home runs behind leading home run hitter, Cabrera. However he recently sustained a calf injury last week, which may put out his fire.

Hamilton is hitting .353 with 22 home runs and 67 RBI for the season.

Honorable Mentions:

JJ Hardy

Jason Bartlett

Evan Longoria

Delmon Young

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The San Francisco Giants have won four of their first five coming out of the All-Star break — five of five if not for a blown call at home plate that cost them a win over the New York Mets on Sunday.

The Giants blew into Los Angeles and beat the suddenly slumping Dodgers, 5-2, on Monday night. The Dodgers have lost five in a row after being swept in a four-game series by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Things are going well for the Giants. They look as though they could win the National League West.

Wait.

We’ve been here before, only to have things go terribly wrong. Right?

It’s different this time. These Giants aren’t winning by utilityman Juan Uribe is on a hot streak or because one of the half-dozen or so prospects-turned-suspects has shown a flash of big league talent. The Giants are winning because, well, they’ve somehow pieced together a team that does things that successful teams do.

The starting pitching is back in gear. Lincecum’s arm isn’t dead. Zito’s coming off a brilliant outing against the New York Mets. Matt Cain reminded fans the other day that only people with no understanding of the game or the patience of a gnat would ever suggest trading him for the ever elusive “big bat” that the Giants always seem to need.

Heck, forget the top three guys in the rotation for a second. The Giants have guys in the fourth and fifth slots who would be in the top three rotation slots for many teams. Madison Bumgarner is flashing signs of being the once-a-generation young pitcher that most teams only dream about. (The fact that he’s the third big-time pitching prospect the Giants have produced in this rotation alone is worth noting before the club loses and someone demands Brian Sabean’s head on a platter.)

And, the pitcher folks feel would be so easily to replace if he was traded for that “bat” pitched well again, too. The idea of messing with this rotation and trading Jonathan Sanchez to get a hitter like Corey Hart is ludicrous. Fans and media types who insist that no team has a good fifth starter and that Sanchez is expendable are loopy. There is a precipitous drop-off from Sanchez or Bumgarner to Joe Martinez. Man, how quickly people forget how dreadful things were when the Giants just had any, old fifth starter and he was Todd Wellemeyer.

The bullpen’s in chaos but the burning need to trade for a set-up man subsided a little on Monday when Jeremy Affeldt looked like he did in 2009. Everybody wants to trade for a vetean set-up man, while ignoring that the new guy would cost a prospect and would come with no more assurance of success than Affeldt does. Affeldt got an NL MVP vote last year. And, folks think just some guy on the Pittsburgh Pirates roster can come west and most assuredly be better than Affeldt could be when, as relievers so often do, he rights himself out of the blue?

Brian Wilson has become a lock-down closer. He’s still not at the level of consistency that Robb Nen was in his prime, but not many closers were as good as Nen in his prime.

The Giants are winning because the pitching staff appears in good shape at the right time of the season.

The biggest reason this this Giants hot streak is the real thing centers around the middle of the batting order. There are three, big-time run producers in the lineup. And, none of them cost the organization Sanchez or a package of prospects.

Aubrey Huff is having a big-time season with the bat and, frankly, playing defense and running the bases so well that teams who labeled him nothing more than a designated hitter seemed to have look right past the things he can do.

Buster Posey has become, well, Buster Posey. The phenom is hitting like a phenom. He’s batting fourth and hitting the devil out of the ball — even with the power some insisted he would never have. He’s handling the pitching staff, in spite of everyone saying he couldn’t do such a thing. And, is he making it tough on would-be base-stealers?

Where are the folks who suggested that Pablo Sandoval be sent to the minor leagues to rebuild his confidence or his swing or both? Patience, man, it’s a beautiful thing. Sandoval couldn’t have had the season he had in 2009 if he was really incapable of breaking the slump that haunted him through the first half of this season.

It was written here that Sandoval would supply the offense that others insisted could only come in trade. He has pounded the ball from both sides of the plate since the All-Star break. And, don’t mumble something about five games being a small sample size. Sandoval crushed the ball through the entire 2009 campaign and — he’s doing the same thing over the last five games. He showed what he can do last year. He’s doing it again right now.

The Giants are for real because they have two home-grown run-producers in the middle of an order anchored by Huff. Again, those who will want Sabean fired again at some point need to realize that four of the five starting pitchers, the closer and two of the top three run-producers came out of the Giants farm system. There are lots of teams with general managers who’d like to be able to boast of that type of minor league production.

Bruce Bochy’s going to get blamed for losing games. There’s no getting around that. He’s found a formula that works for this Giants team and is getting incredible output from first baseman Travis Ishikawa, center fielder Andres Torres and left fielder Pat Burrell. Ishikawa didn’t suddenly wake up a .340 hitter. Bochy’s used him against pitchers where matchups favor Ishikawa. The same has been true for Burrell. And, they’ve produced.

Oh, yeah, when fans are lining up to gripe that Bochy always sticks with veterans or high-paid players no matter what — remember that Aaron Rowand is a reserve outfielder and that Torres has won the center field job and has been a catalyst in the lead-off spot.

Bochy doesn’t have patience? He wouldn’t give John Bowker or Nate Schierholtz a chance? Not so fast. OK? Not so fast.

Torres won the job in center and got the lead-off spot — and kept it. When he slumped, Bochy stuck with him. If Bochy was pulling names out of a hat like his critics suggest, Torres would’ve been out of the lineup before the break.

Just because this Giants team is on a hot streak that makes them real postseason contenders does not mean that they’ll win five of six, 10 of 12, 16 out of 18 and 25 out of 27. They’ll be on a roller coaster, like most other teams in the National League. The bullpen will let some games get away and, eventually, Posey won’t be hitting at a .500 clip. (Of course, by then, Freddy Sanchez could be hitting like the NL batting champion he once was.)

San Francisco beat the Dodgers on Monday because Schierholtz, the guy who many whine never gets a chance, hit a two-run home run. Add Ishikawa and Schierholtz to the list of home-grown Giants contributing on Monday.

Now, really, would it improve the Giants markedly if they could get Jose Guillen from the Kansas City Royals to play right field? Fans have called for Schierholtz to get a chance and Rowand has shown that he can help in spots coming off the bench. Guillen’s a remarkable upgrade? For sure? Even if his arrival means Schierholtz becomes a full-time late-inning defensive replacement and Rowand bumps Torres out of the lineup more often?

Didn’t think so.

Forget getting Hart from the Milwaukee Brewers. No baseball man on the planet would trade Bumgarner to get Hart. So, while they’re at it, the Giants should dismiss out of hand the idea of creating a hole in the rotation and gutting the minor league system to get first baseman Prince Fielder. The San Diego Padres aren’t running away from the pack and, really, isn’t it more fun to be pulling for Giants we know as opposed to some highly-paid slugger who just happens to be wearing the black and orange uniform?

There might be a time, perhaps soon, when everyone groans, “They have to trade for a shortstop,” or “(Pick a reliever) has blown his last game! He has to go!”

Remember, though, that after the first game of the Dodgers series in Los Angeles in late July — the Giants had the pieces in place to be considered a real postseason contender. And, the bulk of the talent making that so came out of the Giants farm system.

Eugenio Velez is on the big league roster so the potential exists for a disastrous mistake that costs the club a game, and brings Sabean’s ability to fill the roster into question. Wilson will pitch — a lot — and the question will come up about how many times the closer can do the job without some help.

This isn’t the first chapter of a fairytale that will certainly end with the Giants winning the World Series. Got it?

It’s just written record that, really, the Giants have what it takes to win.

—

Ted Sillanpaa is a Northern California sports writer and columnist. Reach Ted at: tsillanpaa1956@gmail.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The San Francisco Giants need a big bat to make a big run at a National League playoff berth.

Guess what?

They don’t need to trade starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez (whose still got a 75 percent chance of being a productive big league winner) to get outfielder Corey Hart (who’d come with 50-50 odds that his offensive numbers would diminish in the move from Milwaukee’s cavernous Miller Park to San Francisco’s cavernous AT&T Park).

Odds are far better than 50-50 that Pablo Sandoval will find himself at the plate. So, even while fans foolishly suggest the 23-year-old third baseman be sent to the minor leagues—there’s a 70 percent chance that Sandoval will bump his power numbers up and move his batting average well past the .260 mark he’s hovering around now.

There’s a 50 percent chance Hart would go bust in San Francisco. There’s a 70 percent chance that the real Sandoval is a guy who’ll produce more than he did in the first half and less frequently than he did in 2009.

So the Giants will get the extra run production they need from Sandoval without trading Sanchez. And, the guys smoking dope in the Brewers front office who said they’d take Madison Bumgarner can go back to their bong. Trade Bumgarner? Yeah, sure.

The Giants would be risking losing a productive pitcher in Sanchez and create a hole in the rotation to get Hart, who would come with a 50 percent chance his production would drop. Too much risk. No deal.

Sandoval’s hit his entire career. He doesn’t need to have MVP numbers to help produce more runs. He’s only 23 years old. Why risk a disastrous trade for Hart if the Giants can wait for Sandoval? (Fans who want Pablo traded or demoted are in the Giants Fans Hall of Shame—along with those who booed Tim Lincecum when he struggled.)

Here’s a look at the odds the Giants will get what they need most from the players they have:

The starting rotation has to be strong. It’s absurd to expect all five starters to be lights out at the same time. There’s a 100 percent chance that the Bumgarner we’ve seen will be the lefty we see through September. Barry Zito’s traditionally pitched better in the second half—so, there’s a 75 percent chance that he’ll bounce back to his early season form. Sanchez, in San Francisco, remains a question mark that the Giants can afford to carry. Give the guy 10 starts and he’ll pitch well in more than six of them—so figure there’s a 60 percent chance Sanchez will carry the load.

That leaves it to Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain to make sure that one or the other is the slump-buster, the guy the opposition knows is going to hand them an almost certain loss. There’s a 95 percent chance that one or the other will be pitching like a big-time ace from now until September. However, there’s a 30 percent chance that one or the other will struggle.

The key for the Giants rotation will get ace-like efforts from Cain or Lincecum—consistently.

The bullpen is one area the club has to bolster in trade. The Giants need a left-hander and they’ll get one for, oh, a can’t-miss prospect like righthander Tim Alderson. You remember Alderson? Yeah, the guy that the Pittsburgh Pirates demoted to the Class A Florida State League on Tuesday.

Brian Wilson’s a sure bet to carry his load as the closer. He’ll drive the Giants nuts making things too close for comfort, but there are 95-5 odds he’ll do the job every time.

The rest of the bullpen? There’s a 70 percent chance that it will be the reason that the Giants fall short of the playoffs. Keep in mind, though, that set-up men like Jeremy Affeldt get it together as quickly as they lose it. Something indicates that the veteran will pitch better down the stretch than he has so far—give Affeldt a 72 percent chance of regaining his 2010 form.

The offense?

Buster Posey’s provided the big-time bat the Giants needed. He is who we thought he would be. There’s no chance he’ll hit an extended slump and, surprise, he’s hitting for the power all the nabobs who spend too much time reading minor league scouting reports said he would never display.

Aubrey Huff’s a pro—even if he produces 80 percent of the offense he produced in the first half, he’ll bump up the offense because Juan Uribe is back and healthy and he’ll make Huff more productive.

Travis Ishikawa has found his swing and could, mercifully, be a mid-20s talent who came up through the system. Based on how he’s swinging, and his professional attitude, there’s an 80 percent chance that Ishikawa will significantly help produce more runs.

No new hitters needed.

The chance that Uribe and Edgar Renteria both flop with the sticks in the stretch? Oh, 10 percent chance? Anything’s possible. Freddy Sanchez is a professional hitter who is certain to hit through the season like he’s  hit his entire career—no chance he’ll fail to produce.

Pat Burrell’s going to be key. He’s doing for the Giants what he did for the Philadelphia Phillies—hitting the longball and striking out a lot. Like it or not, though, the odds that Burrell could revert to the guy who couldn’t make contact for Tampa Bay are higher than fans want to admit. Figure there’s a 60 percent chance Burrell keeps doing the job.

The offense actually might live or die with Sandoval’s resurgence and lead-off hitter Andres Torres. There is about, oh, a 66 percent chance that Torres will keep hitting around .275, with some pop and flashing stolen base speed. If the 34 percent odds pay off and he flounders—Aaron Rowand will be the Giants hope.

The odds Rowand gets Giants fans off his back? (Don’t laugh…the guy works at his game.) 60-40…maybe 70-30. Keep in mind, it won’t take much for Rowand to improve his output.

The defense is good enough to win.

There’s a 100 percent chance the Giants won’t trade a current starting pitcher, so that means there’s 95 percent chance they won’t trade for big-time hitter.

That’s not terribly bad news, though. Fans have been calling for the club to develop talent and—the 2010 playoff hopes rest on Sandoval, Posey, Lincecum, Cain, Wilson, Jonathan Sanchez, and Bumgarner.

Ted Sillanpaa is a Northern California sports writer and columnist. Read Ted at tsillanpaa1956@gmail.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Professional baseball has been around for roughly 150 years and the result has been memories and moments that will last forever, talent that shines above the rest, amazing revenue for the national government, and some crazy rules that just don’t make much sense.

Baseball is a game of tradition and honor (minus steroids). Therefore, it can take years to change even the smallest rules in Major League Baseball, and most rules are not important enough to change.

However, here are 10 of those rules that generate confusion and shrugged shoulders.

Begin Slideshow

Bengie Molina didn’t win the the San Francisco Giants’ Willie Mac Award twice because him teammates liked how he looked in his uniform. He was, obviously, a very popular and respected teammate.

Let’s put the idea that his departure to the Texas Rangers will spell doom for Giants pitchers to rest immediately, however.

Molina calls a great game. Tim Lincecum admits often that he feels he should share his Cy Young Awards with the veteran catcher. So, since the pitcher won’t do it, someone should mention that the right-hander should share half of the difficulties he has experienced in the last two months with Molina, too.

Matt Cain struggled early, went through a period where he was the best right-hander in the National League, but has had a couple of rough outings. Cain acknowledges how valuable Molina was to his development as a pitcher and to his success. Again, let’s point out that Molina was doing his job exactly as he did during Cain’s hot streak when Cain pitched poorly.

The Giants pitchers, who have been so fabulous for so long, have hit their first group slump in two years. So, if the hard times continue — let’s remember that Molina was on hand and calling pitches when the starting staff began to pitch like mere mortals, OK?

It’s going to be really tempting, with the Giants at the point where being swept in Colorado could turn them from NL West contenders to division longshot, to look back in two weeks and mumble, “What were the Giants thinking trading Molina? Cain and Lincecum haven’t won a game since he left? Buster Posey can’t handle this staff…”

Buster Posey and veteran Eli Whiteside can handle the staff. The catcher suggests the pitch and the location. The pitcher has to deliver the pitch to the spot where the hitter can make solid contact. And, even though they are still young in baseball years, Lincecum, Cain and Jonathan Sanchez have a good idea of what they need to throw and when to throw it. Sanchez, actually, has had Whiteside catching him most of the season. Barry Zito calls his own game.

Madison Bumgarner’s 20 years old. Posey knows him better than any catcher in the Giants organization. The Giants coaching staff should know every National League hitter Bumgarner and Posey will face. There’s not a reason in the world for Bumgarner’s progress as a big leaguer to be hindered if the guys who get paid to help the players do actually help Posey figure out NL hitters.

This is the point in a season where it’d be really easy for a team to make excuses for losing. Worse, it’s a time when the Giants are fading and really could be looking for one reason to say, “OK. That’s it! We give up!”

That holds for Pablo Sandoval, too. He’s failed to perform at the same level he did a year ago. He hasn’t been the lovable, run-producing Panda all season. So, there’s no reason in the world for anyone to point to Sandoval’s performance going forward and say, “He really misses Molina. The club never should’ve traded the guy.”

The Molina trade is not, and should never be, used as an excuse for any failure the Giants pitching staff experiences. If he had that much to do with the staff success, the staff wouldn’t be struggling today, right? And, Sandoval might miss his good friend — but, Molina apparently wasn’t able to get him going with the bat this season either.

—–

Ted Sillanpaa is a Northern California sports writer and columnist. Reach Ted at tsillanpaa1956@gmail.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Almost as surely as flowers bloom in the spring, great young hitters slump in their second full seasons in the major leagues.  Well, maybe not with that much certainty, but it’s probably more common than not, particularly if you include a few spill-over stars who slumped significantly in their third (Chipper Jones in 1997) or fourth full seasons (Barry Bonds in 1989).

Here are a few good examples: ARod’s 1997 season (career full-season low .846 OPS), Albert Pujol’s 2002 season (career full-season lows of .314 batting average, .394 on-base percentage, and .561 slugging—those are some pretty terrific career lows), and Jeff Bagwell’s 1992 (his .273 batting average and .812 OPS were the lowest of his career until his very last two seasons).

The conventional wisdom on this phenomenon is that baseball at the major league level is a game of adjustments, and after a great young hitter comes into the league and batters pitching staffs for a season, the league’s pitchers and scouts come into year two with a much better idea where the young hitter’s weaknesses lie.  If the young hitter is truly destined to be great, he makes the necessary adjustments in his slump year and goes on to greater glory as he moves toward his age 26-to-31 peak seasons (barring major injuries along the way).

The Panda is slumping big-time so far in 2010.  After entering the 2010 season with career numbers (in roughly 1.25 seasons of play) of .333 batting average, .381 on-base percentage and .543 slugging, Sandoval’s 2010 numbers so far are .282, .343 and .435.  Those are huge drops, although the 2010 season is only about 40 percent of the way through.

The cause of Panda’s 2010 slump is obvious: he’s a free swinger, and the NL’s pitchers have better learned how to set him up to swing at pitches out of the strike zone, on which Panda’s odds of getting a hit or an extra base hit are sharply diminished.

Panda has already earned a reputation, perhaps second only to Vladimir Guerrero or Ichiro among those currently playing, as a great bad-ball hitter.  Nonetheless, no matter how good he is at hitting pitches out of the strike zone, any pitcher will tell you he’d rather take his chances with Sandoval swinging at balls rather than at strikes.

I’m pretty confident that Sandoval will make the necessary adjustments by the time the 2010 season is in the books.  First, even with his major slump so far this year, he’s still hitting well for a player who doesn’t turn 24 until August.

Second, Sandoval has made tremendous progress in his ability to lay off bad pitches and draw walks in a very short period of time.  In 2008, the year Sandoval broke into the majors, he drew only 35 walks in 593 professional at-bats that year.  His previous high before that was 22 walks in 438 at-bats in the Class A Sally League in 2006.

In 2009, his break-through year, Sandoval took enough pitches to draw 52 walks in 572 major league at-bats.  While that’s certainly not great and one has to keep in mind that he hit so well last year that pitchers were pitching around him a lot, it’s still a tremendous improvement over prior years and a solid performance for a young, bad-ball hitter.  He also drew more walks in the second half of the 2009 campaign when he was obviously seeing fewer pitches to hit.

So far in 2010, Panda has drawn 24 walks in 255 at-bats.  This isn’t terrible, but Panda needs to improve on it enough that pitchers are forced to come into him with strikes.

For what it’s worth, here’s a Tim Kurkjian article from 2002 which lists some of the All-Time best bad ball hitters in baseball history.  I remembered Yogi Berra and Roberto Clemente, but not some of the others on the list, which was why I went trolling on-line and found Kurkjian’s article.

Based on the fact that both Tony Gwynn and Ichiro made Kurkjian’s list, I would bet that Rod Carew and Paul Waner deserve to be on the list too, being similar kinds of hitters.

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Ten Points

1. Approach: Sandoval is a hacker and has always been. When he’s hot, look out, but when he’s not, it’s uuuuugly, like the 7 outs on 12 pitches night .

Posey is the polar opposite, a patient, strategic hitter. He takes huge swings ahead, takes some off behind. He has a hit in every game since being called up, except against U-boat Jimenez.

In 2010, Posey sees 3.83 pitches per plate appearance. Sandoval, on the other hand, sees 3.26 pitches per plate appearance. And that’s down from 3.44 last year.

The more pitches a hitter sees the better chance he’ll see a pitch he can do something with.

2. Discipline: Posey routinely works counts. In fact, he rarely swings at the first pitch, and because he’s confident hitting from behind in the count, he’s able to stick to his game plan.

Sandoval routinely swings at first pitches. Last year, when he was raking most of the year, he hit higher on both 0-1 (.383) counts and 1-0 (.519) counts than on 0-0 (.357) counts.

It’s not intuitive to say he shouldn’t swing at the first pitch, but statistically it is illogical to say he should swing at the first pitch.

3. Hitting With Runners In Scoring Position: Posey in 2010 (Fresno and SF): .328 BA; Sandoval in 2010: .183 BA

4. Strike While The Iron is Hot: The Giants finally have a great 1-2 punch in Andres Torres and Freddy Sanchez…they need a guy right now who will deliver while Torres and Sanchez are setting the table (no eating pun intended, Pablo, we know you’re good at eating).

Plus, Posey is raking but getting almost no RBIs. Torres and Sanchez are much more likely to score on a Posey base hit than Huff or Uribe.

5. The Double Plays Are Killing: Last year Sandoval hit into 10 all year. He’s already at 15 right now and leading the National League. Posey has not hit into one this year on the big league club.

6. Protection: Even though Molina came through versus Cincinnati after Baker intentionally walked (pitched around) Posey, better protection is needed other than the seventh hitter. Huff, Uribe, or Sandoval should protect Posey, otherwise, opponents will pitch around Posey more and more.

7. Vision: Sandoval has gone from no eye augmentation, to contacts, to goggles, back to contacts, and clearly he’s been struggling this year with eye/vision issues. If Giants fans should pray for anything, it’s Sandoval’s eyes.

8. Being a Rookie Notwithstanding: Rookie status is not a valid reason to keep someone down in the order.

When Sandoval first came up he raked and instantly hit third. He became the king of the hackers—Molina, Rowand, Uribe all got hacked down.

When it’s obvious, like it was with Pablo, then you’ve got to pull the trigger.

Now the Giants have “professional hitters” like Huff and Sanchez, and Posey appears to be the king of the professionals.

9. Fitness: Posey might not be Jane Fonda, but because the Panda still eats too much and ironically refuses to eat bamboo, Posey gets the edge here.

10. Super Hero Status: Sandoval is the Kung Fu Panda, but Posey is Ironman. Who do you think would win in a battle?

Once Posey does go in the three-hole, Bochy will have more and better options in making his lineup. And if Sandoval heats up Bochy should have no problem putting him back in the three-hole as mixing and matching has been his signature as Giants Manager. But overall, Posey will eventually hit third.

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Evan Longoria was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays with the 3rd pick of the 2006 amateur player draft out of Cal-State Long Beach. Rays fans knew as soon as they heard about this kid that he was going to be great.

After spending two years in the minor leagues, Longoria hit a combined .301/.386/.534 with 44 home runs and 144 RBI, all before his 22nd birthday.

Knowing what they had on their hands, with a team that they felt confident with, Andrew Friedman knew that he had to call up Longoria if the team was going to contend.

Within one week of being called up, the Rays locked Longoria up to the longest contract in team history with a nine year $44 million deal. 

Clearly the Rays had a lot of confidence in Longoria, as they were not afraid to make this large of a commitment to a player with less than 30 career at-bats . So far, Longoria has already outperformed the contract that he signed.

You may be asking how a player that has played fewer than 400 career games could be considered the best player at his position in the American League; especially with Alex Rodriguez still playing. The answer, however, is fairly simple:

Defense

Longoria plays some of the best defensive third base in all of major league baseball. Whether it’s ranging far to his right and making a leaping throw across the diamond, or charging a bunt, bare-handing it, and making the out at first, the kid can really do it all. 

In his second season, Longoria brought home what many people believe to be his first of many Gold Gloves over his career.

Longoria has already made eight errors this year, his RF/G is at 2.77, which is still above the league average of 2.72. So, while he has made a number of errors, he still gets to more balls than a lot of third basemen in Major League Baseball would get to.

Speed

No one is going to mistake Evan Longoria for Chone Figgins, Scott Podsednik, or Carl Crawford, but this kid has some real sneaky speed.

Over his career, Longoria has been successful on 92.8% of his steal attempts (26/28), including ten stolen bases this year.

Right now, Evan is on pace for about 33 home runs and 30 stolen bases. If he is able to maintain this pace, he will be the first third baseman in the American League to complete this feat since Tommy Harper did it for the Milwaukee Brewers back in 1970.

Overall Batting

This is the one spot of Longoria’s game that I feel is only going to get better over the next few years, which is saying a lot because he had a line of .281/33/114 last year.

Longoria’s batting eye has been getting better each year that he has been in professional baseball, because of that he is starting to see which pitches that he can drive, which pitches to lay off, and he is starting to learn when to push the ball instead of always trying to pull it.

Do I think that Longoria is ever going to hit 45 home runs? No, probably not. But, it is certainly not out of reach for him to one day put up .330/39/130, especially if the Rays can keep him surrounded with the talent that they have.

Conclusion

Why did I say that Evan Longoria is just the best third baseman in the American League and not all of baseball? Well, at this point in their careers, I would have to give the edge to Ryan Zimmerman for the best player in baseball. If Longoria reaches the peaks that I set out for him in the next few years, that may sway my opinion. 

However, Evan Longoria is the best third baseman in the American League, right now.

Who do you feel deserves this honor right now? Does Alex Rodriguez still hold this, or is there someone else that I may be forgetting?

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Before the 2010 Major League Baseball season began, I really wanted to put the San Francisco Giants atop the division when previewing the National League West .

Instead, I stuck them in second and gave them the NL Wild Card because I figured the more grandiose vision was the product of the fan in me.

Furthermore, I thought granting them a postseason berth was still setting the bar pretty high. Possibly a little too high.

Well, a month into the season, I’m beginning to wonder whether I might’ve undersold the Gents. I bet I’m not alone.

With their win on Saturday over the Colorado Rockies, los Gigantes have ensured themselves at least a 6-3 jaunt through a nine-game gauntlet consisting of the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, and Rox.

If the fellas can win behind Jonathan Sanchez on Sunday, they’d register a sweep of the team many (including myself) picked to win the division, and would emerge from a trio of series against 2009 playoff teams with seven wins.

Now, it’s true the G-Men missed Chris Carpenter when the Redbirds came through and Phils were short Jimmy Rollins. Meanwhile, the Blake Street Bombers are down starters Jorge De La Rosa and Jason Hammel, along with closer Huston Street.

However, San Francisco isn’t exactly at full strength—Aaron Rowand should make his first appearance on Sunday, closer Brian Wilson is shelved with a mild groin strain as is Edgar Renteria, and Juan Uribe is playing through a hot elbow.

There’s also the matter of Freddy Sanchez, who’s still rehabbing from offseason surgeries, and Buster Posey, who is caught in the Super 2 chains of baseball economics.

So the Giants might not have faced the most formidable clubs in the Senior Circuit at full strength, but they didn’t have all hands on deck either.

Furthermore, they touched up two elite right-handed aces in Adam Wainwright and Roy Halladay while battering a very good lefty in Cole Hamels well enough to win (I’ll leave it at that).

In the finale against Colorado, San Francisco gets yet another tough assignment in Ubaldo Jimenez, but no tougher than what they’ve already seen.

Regardless of the outcome, the Orange and Black will depart for Florida having completed a highly successful home stand against the best the NL has to offer. That’s reason enough to get at least a bit starry-eyed.

Granted, the 2010 season is all of 23 games old for the Giants—that’s not exactly a conclusive sampling, but it is a meaningful chunk.

It’s not crazy to think the general form might hold for the remainder of the slate.

You can etch it in stone that the San Francisco offense won’t hit a collective .280, which is good for third in all of the Show . C’mon, that’s higher than the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, and Philadelphia Phillies—no way it holds up.

Nor will the .768 team OPS, good for fourth in the National League.

A more accurate barometer of the splinters’ prowess is probably the combo of runs scored and batted in—the Gents check in at 12th and tied for 12th in those categories, respectively.

Nevertheless, there are signs that indicate the offense might be better than most observers thought, which would put it somewhere in the mediocre range.

Pablo Sandoval is the real deal so his performance should stay right around its current brilliance—.352 BA, .965 OPS, 12 R, 10 RBI, 3 HR, and 2 SB. Bengie Molina won’t rake all year at his current .343 clip, but the OPS of .871 is sustainable for Big Money.

Likewise, Renteria, Rowand, Uribe, and Aubrey Huff will certainly cool off as the weather gets warmer, but they’ll stay productive so long as they don’t go into the tank and that unpleasant specter would require a precipitous decline from their April output.

The x-factor in the batting order is Nate Schierholtz.

Obviously, nobody is fool enough to believe a 26-year-old getting his first extended taste of regular playing time will hit .373 over 162 games. Additionally the 1.01 OPS will fall.

Yet the kid has every one of his five tools plated in gold —he can fly, the ball jumps off his bat (though AT&T Park will keep his big fly totals down), you see the average, his defense is nice in a difficult right field, and just ask Ryan Howard or Chase Utley about the cannon hanging from his right shoulder.

The relevant question, then, is how far will those gaudy stats drop?

And a reasonable answer is, not that far.

If Nate the Great can keep himself in Big Money/Little Money territory, that would give San Francisco a third genuinely dangerous weapon holding maple or ash.

Given the April just turned in by the pitching staff, a trio of thumpers to go with a host of complementary pieces would be more than sufficient to turn this preseason playoff hopeful into a legitimate World Series contender.

That sounds utterly insane given the comparably weak lumber, but few teams can match the potential suffocation of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, and Barry Zito. Especially if the aces can finish as blindingly as they started.

Again, the first week of May is still much too soon to draw any firm conclusions about a season that endures until October. But it’s not too early to start dreaming.

And the San Francisco Giants have just given us the beginnings of a very sweet one.

**www.pva.org**

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