MLB: Cheers and Jeers From the Bleachers

With another week of the season in the books it is time for another round of cheers and jeers.

St. Louis Cardinals

Thus far the Cards have completed four series and have won all four winning two of three from the Reds, Brewers, Astros, and Mets. They own the league’s best record at 9-4 and are just one game off the Rays major league leading pace of 10-3.

Albert Pujols is in a bit of a mini-slump getting just three hits in his last 18 at bats.  He did, however, break Eddie Mathews record for most home runs in the first ten years of his career with his fifth homer of the season last Monday.  If all goes well Pujols should become the first player ever to hit 400 home runs in the first ten years of his career.  He needs to hit just 29 more over the remainder of the season to hit that mark.

Third baseman David Freese has been red hot of late going 8 for 16 in his last five games including a three game stretch last week that saw him go 7 for 12.  Freese leads the Cards with a .353 average headed into Monday night’s contest against the Diamondbacks.

A concern right now for the Cards is the team is hitting only .245 with Brendan Ryan both hitting below .200 and Yadier Molina and Colby Rasmus struggling to stay above the Mendoza line.  Rasmus does appear to be coming to life though going 3 for 9 in his last two games with a homer and 3 RBIs.  Only Pujols, Freese, Matt Holliday, and Ryan Ludwick are hitting above .250.  New hitting coach Mark McGwire seems to have his work cut for him in the early going.

Fortunately the pitching has been lights out as Brad Penny, Jaime Garcia, and Adam Wainwright have combined to go 6-0 with a 1.24 ERA in their eight starts.

Chris Carpenter bounced back from a so-so start against the Brewers to hold the Mets to just one unearned run over seven innings while racking up 10 Ks.

Ryan Franklin has been a bit shaky out of the bullpen allowing two runs in two of his seven appearances.  He has yet to blow a save, but it is a bit disconcerting to see him struggle like this in the early going given the way he finished last season.

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox are in a complete tailspin right now having lost six straight games.  Kevin Youkilis, Victor Martinez, David Ortiz, and J. D. Drew are all hitting .217 or worse and have combined to drive in just 14 runs in the Sox first 13 games.

Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Beltre, and Marco Scutaro are the only regulars hitting above .233 for Boston right now.

Jon Lester has yet to allow fewer than 4 runs in each of his three starts.

It is not all bad for the Sox though.  Josh Beckett appears to be getting on track with back-to-back 7 inning outings.  After a shaky opening day start Beckett is 1-0 with a 1.92 ERA in his last two starts.

Philadelphia Phillies

Ryan Howard has struck out only six times in his first 55 at bats.  Quite an accomplishment for a guy who strikes out roughly once every three at bats and has more strikeouts than base hits over his career.

The Phillies have four players with 11 or more RBIs after 12 games: Placido Polanco, Chase Utley, Howard, and Shane Victorino.

Cole Hamels has struck out 14 and walked just one batter in his last 13.2 innings of work.

Roy Halladay has not walked a batter in 20 innings of work.

Cheers

Florida’s Jorge Cantu started the season with a major league record of at least one hit and one RBI in each of his first ten games.  On the year Cantu is hitting .288 with 16 RBIs after 13 games.

Ubaldo Jimenez became the first pitcher in Rockies history to throw a no-hitter on Saturday.  On the year Jimenez is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA for the Rockies who may have developed their first legit ace in franchise history.

Ivan Rodriguez is hitting .450 with 7 doubles for the 7-6 Nationals.

Livan Hernandez has been lights out for the Nats starting the year with 16 scoreless innings including a complete game shutout against the Brewers last week.

Matt Capps is 6 for 6 in save opportunities with a 1.23 ERA for the Nationals.

Atlanta’s Jason Heyward has emerged as an early favorite for Rookie-of-the-Year hitting three homers and driving in 15 runs over the Braves first 12 games.

After two weeks Martin Prado is hitting .426 for the Braves.

Matt Garza continues to dominate for the Rays putting up his third straight start of 8 innings against Boston on Sunday.  For the year Garza is 3-0 with 0.75 ERA.

David Price is starting to mature into the type of starting pitcher the Rays thought they were getting when they drafted him.  Price has started the year going at least seven innings in both of his starts, which he won, striking out seven in each.

Casey McGehee and Ryan Braun have combined for 7 homers and 22 RBIs for the Brewers after 12 games.

Scott Podsednik has started the year white hot for the Royals hitting .457 with seven stolen bases in his first 12 games.

Jose Guillen is also in the midst of being reborn in KC knocking five homers to go along with a .377 average for the Royals.

After a pair of so-so outings to start the season Ben Sheets posted six scoreless innings against the O’s last week.

Robinson Cano is off to a hot start for the Yanks hitting .340 with four homers and 10 RBIs in his first 12 games.

Andy Pettite, C. C. Sabathia, and A. J. Burnett are a combined 6-0 with a 1.85 ERA in their 9 starts for the Yankees.

Vernon Wells is back to hitting like an All Star again with a .333 average and six homers in the Jays’ first 14 games.

Magglio Ordonez seems to be bouncing back from a sub-par season hitting four homers over the first two weeks of the season after hitting just 9 all of last season.

Nelson Cruz has been a monster for the Rangers with a major league leading seven home runs after two weeks.

Barry Zito is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA after three starts for the Giants.

Jon Rauch is 6 for 6 in save opportunities for the Twins thus far.

Francisco Liriano is showing signs of being all the way back from his arm issues turning in two solid starts for the Twins to begin the season.

Joel Piniero is building off of last season’s success in St. Louis for the Angels this year.  After a so-so first start Piniero went 2-0 allowing just one run in 14.1 innings in his two starts last week.

Rookie center fielder Austin Jackson has been just about everything the Tigers could ask for in a lead off hitter.  Jackson is hitting .333 with a .379 OBP and has had two or more hits in six of his first 12 games as a big leaguer.  The biggest knock on him right now is he has struck out a whopping 17 times in 54 at bats.

Shin-Soo Choo has been a one man show in Cleveland with a .350 average, four homers, and 12 RBIs over the first two weeks of the season.

Is Ty Wigginton becoming the next Matt Stairs?  He is about the lone bright spot for the Orioles this season with 5 homers and 11 RBIs in 11 games.  It seems like everywhere he goes Wigginton gives a team 20 homers and 70 RBIs and hits around .270.

David Huff is off to a hot start for the Indians going 15 innings with a 1.80 ERA in two starts for Cleveland.

Carlos Silva has allowed just one earned run and has not walked a batter in his first 13 innings for the Cubs.

Jeers

Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence are hitting a combined .129 and have driven in just two runs for the Astros.

Tampa’s Dioner Navarro is mired in a 4 for 36 slump and is hitting just .162 on the year.  He is in danger of losing at bats to Kelly Shoppach.

Is Josh Hamilton’s career going to be that of a one-year wonder?  After struggling to stay healthy last season he has gotten off to a bad start hitting just .220 with no home runs and two RBIs after the first two weeks of the year for the Rangers.

Mark Teixeira is hitting just .114 with home run in the Yankees first 12 games.

Javy Vazquez continues to struggle for the Yanks giving up four runs in five-plus innings in his second start.  After two starts Vazquez is 0-2 with a 9.52 ERA.

Clevland’s Jhonny Peralta is mired in a 2 for 27 slump and is hitting just .135 for the season.

White Sox catcher A. J. Pierzynski is in the midst of a 2 for 19 slump and is hitting just .171 for the year.

Gavin Floyd failed to get out of the first inning for the White Sox in his last start allowing 7 runs and walking four batters in just one inning of work against the Indians.

Rich Harden has struck out 15 batters in his first 13.1 innings for the Rangers, however, he has also walked 14 batters and has failed to win a game.

Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder has yet to hit a home run and has struck 15 times in his first 12 games.

Adam Dunn is hitting just .179 with home run and 2 RBIs for the Nats.

John Maine has failed to get past the fifth inning and has given up at least three runs in each of his three starts for the Mets.

Jose Reyes has gone hitless in his last four games and is hitting just .150 on the year for the Mets.

Doug Davis has failed to reach the fifth inning and has allowed at least 4 runs in each of his three starts for the Brew Crew.

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