Well, straight off the bat, apologies, I have been a little tardy with my weekly matchups of late, and so have managed to skip out 3 or 4 weeks. But fear not, because I've been staying in touch with the Majors and hopefully will stay on track a little better from now on...
So, what's happened since last time? Perhaps the biggest news is Albert Pujols finally hitting his first homer, ending the longest drought of his 12 year career. It appeared that the weight of the $240m dollar deal he signed during the off season was weighing down on his shoulders, but hopefully this will allow him to break out of the slump, because the Angels need him to spark some offense!
The biggest rookie phenomenon in recent years, Bryce Harper, got his call up to the big league after injuries forced the Nats to call him up prematurely. Aged just 19 years old, Harper has not disappointed the incredible hype surrounding his promotion and has hit maturely in his first 10 games for the Nationals, drawing walks and coming up with key hits. He was at the centre of fresh controversy this week when Cole Hamels, Philadelphia starting pitcher, admitted he had deliberately thrown at Harper in the first inning of their game in Washington, when he plunked Harper in the back with his first pitch. Harper exacted his revenge by stealing home a few plays later, and Hamels himself got hit in his next at-bat (although Zimmermann denied throwing at him intentionally). Nationals manager Mike Rizzo called it 'the most gutless act' he had ever seen in baseball, and since Hamels has been given a 5 game suspension (meaning his next start will be pushed back an entire day).
Also called up to the big league has been Angels prospect Mike Trout. The 5 tool center-fielder was raking in AAA and so got the call up to the big leagues, where he struggled early but has started to find his feet. Rays pitching phenom Matt Moore has disappointed so far in his first major league season, with a 1-2 record, an ERA of 5.71 and a WHIP of 1.64. More worryingly, his K/9 rate is down, and his walk/9 rate is up from the small glimpse we got of him last season, and he simply doesn't have the swing and miss stuff that made jaws drop at the end of last season. Personally, I think this is because he is being made to throw too many fastballs. I haven't seen every game he's thrown, but from what I have seen, he is throwing fastballs 80% of the time. Although his fastball is a good pitch, it simply isn't good enough unless he matches it with off-speed and breaking pitches. Hitters have learnt to sit on his fastball, and when he doesn't locate it, he hasn't got the speed or movement to make it miss the bat. Last season, he was mixing in a healthy stream of curveballs and changeups, forcing hitters off balance and getting them to swing at pitches outside the zone. Because his fastball is getting battered, Moore is trying to catch the corners, and as a consequence he's falling behind in the count. And when you're down 3-0 or 3-1, you're asking for trouble. Moore needs to find the confidence he had in his other pitches, and use them more sparingly.
This comes as a strong contrast to the fortunes of Texas rookie Yu Darvish. The Japanese import has had a strong start to the season, with a 4-1 record through 6 starts, ERA of 2.54 and WHIP of 1.46. More impressively, he has K'd 44 in 39 innings of work, and in his last start against the Indians was nigh-on unhittable, with 18 swinging strikes out of his 112 pitches thrown. He struck out 11, 10 on his breaking ball which is one of the nastiest pitches in the league. The only issues he has faced are control issues. He has walked 21 batters, which restricts him from being a top level pitcher. Not only does it put a man on base, but it pushed his pitch count up, and forces him to throw more fastballs. If he can get his command under control, Darvish might be one of the best pitchers in the league. In my eye there's no question, he has the nastiest curveball in the league - check this link if you don't believe me.
Oh, and whilst we're talking about impressive outings, how about Josh Hamilton last night (8/5/12). Try going 5/5 with 4 home runs and 18 total bases. An incredible performance that is made all the better because of Hamilton's career, as he put the team on his back and took every Orioles pitcher deep in one of the most incredible single-game performances in recent history (it was the first 4 homer game since 2003, and the most total bases in AL history). Hamilton is having quite some season so far, and if he can continue his torrid pace without getting injured, we could see an MVP season for one of the most talented men in baseball.
In terms of team standings, there are a lot of puzzling questions. Are the Orioles for real? Are the Red Sox for real? The Orioles top the AL East with a 19-11 record, whilst the Red Sox (who many tipped for the division title) are sitting in last place, 4 games behind 4th placed Toronto. Texas sit top of their division, which is just reward for an incredible start to the season with the lumber. The Dodgers have continued to impress, behind MVP-calibre performances from Matt Kemp, and the Nationals have been very impressive considering their injuries, with their rotation and bullpen boasting the best ERA in the majors. A lot will change before next time, but for Orioles fans, there's no time like the present.
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