Great performances on the field, and disgraceful ones off it. Those are the topics I'll be covering in the world of baseball this Monday.
Nathan Eovaldi has made nine starts and pitched very well. However, he twirls for the Marlins and as a result no one has been paying much attention since he is just 2-2 on the season. People should take note of his 3.19 ERA and 1.23 WHIP and smile. Moreover, if you remove his one July 20th outing – he allowed six runs – his ERA would be in the 2's as he's tossed eight quality starts in those eight outings. Consistency he has brought. Teammate Jacob Turner has been doing the same thing. Through 12 starts he too has a poor record, 3-3, despite some strong ratios (2.68 ERA, 1.20 WHIP). His K/BB ratio is just under 2.00, I don't like that at all, but he's been very consistent allowed three or fewer earned runs in 11 of his 12 starts. Moreover, he's allowed two or fewer earned runs in nine of his 12 outings.
Yan Gomes is the backup catcher in Cleveland, and he's been an immense talent to roster as a second catcher in AL-only leagues. Gomes is hitting .310 with seven bombs and 26 RBIs in just 155 at-bats. Give him 465 at-bats at his current pace and we're talking about a .310-21-78 season. Yowzah's is right.
To see how others are evaluating Gomes and every other player don’t forget to go to Fleaflicker.com where you can check out the owned percentages of all big leaguers.
Dee Gordon hit .228 last season and he hit .175 this season with the Dodgers. Still, the guy has stolen 61 bases in 162 big league games. That should cause you to take notice. He's also hitting .307 with 44 steals in 80 games at Triple-A this season. I bring this up because Hanley Ramirez (shoulder) is injured again. For those that want to speculate...
I look forward to Shark Week every year on Discovery Channel. I get a big ole' bag of popcorn and watch the shows with my Mom. I'm seriously considering letting a two decade tradition go after Sunday night's Megladon fiasco. Looks like Discovery Channel made a “mockumentary†that was only partial truthful about the extinct shark. I won't even dignify this notation with a link to the work, I don't want them to get any more publicity for it (Animal Planet did the same thing a while back with their mermaid special). Disgraceful Discovery Channel.
Scott Kazmir, I admit it, you've shocked me. He didn't throw a big league pitch in 2012 and he was able to rack up a total of five outs in 2011 as his fastball velocity fell from 91 mph down to 86.5. It looked like the career of the once ascending lefty was over. Well, turn that frown upside down folks. Scott's velocity this season is 92.3 mph, the highest it has been since 2005. No idea how he did that. His K/9 rate is sitting at 8.11. That's the highest it's been since 2008. His 3.00 BB/9 mark is a full batter below his career rate. It will also be the best mark of his career. His ground ball rate is 43.9 percent. It would be the best rate of his career. There is no way to explain so I won't really try right now. A tip of my had to you Mr. Kazmir.
Mike Moustakas is hitting .225 with 10 homers and 26 RBIs in 95 games played. Those are hideous numbers for the second overall selection from the 2007 Draft. However, he was a passable big league hitter in July with a .267 average, four homers, nine RBIs and a .831 OPS. Get excited about that all you want but do so knowing that I'm just not seeing it. He's 3-for-17 to start August.
And finally, here is the early list of suspended players from the Biogenesis investigation according to Ken Rosenthal: Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, Antonio Bastardo, Jordany Valdespin, Everth Cabrera, Jordan Norberto, Francisco Cervelli, Jesus Montero, Cesar Puello, Sergio Escalona, Fautino De Los Santos, Fernando Martinez. A-Rod will play tonight for the Yankees, he's appealing and fighting, while Bartolo Colon, Yasmani Grandal, Melky Cabrera, Danny Valencia and Gio Gonzalez were all found to be innocent and unworthy of discipline.
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By Ray Flowers