Charlie’s News At Five: 11th June 2013
Charlie takes a look at five of the hottest stories currently in baseball. This week, a hot prospect making a name for himself, MLB makes a huge step into its Biogenesis investigation, 2 NL Central teams who have been hot, plus news of the MLB draft.
1. The debut of Yasiel Puig
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Dodgers called up Yasiel Puig. With Matt Kemp and Carl Crawford both on the DL, and Andre Ethier badly struggling the Dodgers felt that it was time to call up Yasiel Puig.
Since then, he has hit four home runs as well as driving in 10 RBIs in only 23-at-bats. He is batting .435, but more significantly he has an OPS of 1.458. Puig’s best game came on Tuesday where he hit two home runs and drove in five RBIs against the San Diego Padres. One of his homeruns was a grand slam, which even impressed Dodgers legendary announcer Vin Scully.
It’s likely that (as with every young hitter) pitchers will eventually figure Yasiel out. The key for Yasiel (to stay at the MLB level) will be to make tweaks to his swing, to cover up any weaknesses that pitchers may find.
2. MLB gets its “smoking gun”
On Monday ESPN’s Outside the Lines reported that, Tony Bosch founder of the now defunct Biogenesis clinic was willing to cooperate with MLB officials.
In the offseason a list of names of twenty MLB players surfaced amongst Biogenesis documents. These players are alleged to have ordered performance enhancing drugs (PEDS) from the aforementioned clinic.
The two biggest names on the list are Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun. Both players would face 100 game suspensions if found guilty of having ordered PEDS. Braun had been cleared of taking a PEDS substance after failing a test in 2011, after an arbitration panel ruled a test controller could have mishandled the sample. Ryan won the NL MVP award in 2011 in a closely fought duel for votes against Matt Kemp. He is the face of the Brewers franchise, which also owes him $150million through 2020.
MLB has to tread carefully, even though in Bosch, they have a man, who can corroborate evidence, and tie information together. We have already seen a player accused of ordering PEDS, when it has been proven that he didn’t. Although he was also on the list, ESPN has reported that Gio Gonzalez only ordered legal substances from Biogenesis.
3. Raise the Jolly Roger – The Pirates are back
Since 1992, the Pittsburgh Pirates have had zero winning seasons. In 2011 and 2012, it looked like they were finally going to win 81 games, only to fall away after the All-Star break.
Currently the Pirates are 37-25 and tied for second place in the NL Central with the Cincinatti Reds. Led by ace A.J. Burnett (3.12 ERA) the Bucs starting pitching has been very good thus far, they rank 6th in MLB with a 3.56 ERA. Francisco Liriano looks like he may have got his mid-2000’s form back, pitching to a 4-2 record and 1.75 ERA. Top pitching prospect, Gerrit Cole is expected to start Tuesday (11th June), he has the potential, to make an already very good starting rotation even stronger.
The bullpen is led by Jason Grilli who has 23 saves and a 0.98 ERA. Pittsburgh’s bullpen is ranked first in baseball with a 2.74 ERA.
The Pirates weakness has been its offense. Together they rank a lowly 25th in MLB in team OPS with .677. The Bucs offense also ranks 6th in baseball in strikeouts with 514. To further illustrate their offensive issues, no individual Pittsburgh hitter has an OPS over .800.
4. The “Big Red Machine”
The current version of the “Big Red Machine” finds itself tied for second place in the NL Central with a record of 37-25
The two most well known names on the Reds are currently, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce, but to me the strongest part of the team is pitching. Led by ace Johnny Cueto, the Cincinnati starting rotation ranks second in all of MLB with a 3.25ERA. Cueto (2.17 ERA) has been on and off the DL, but Tony Cingrani (3.27 ERA) has filled in well for him.
The Reds bullpen is anchored by elite closer Aroldis Chapman and boasts a cumulative ERA of 3.74, 14th in Baseball. The bullpen cumulative ERA should improve as the season continues on, this is evidenced by 2012, in which they were the best bullpen in baseball, pitching to a 2.65 ERA.
In the offseason, the Reds took care of the one offensive weakness they had. Drew Stubbs had been the worst leadoff hitter in baseball in 2012. A part of a three team trade, the Reds acquired Shin-Soo Choo. Choo may have been the best acquisition of the offseason. He ranks third in OBP in MLB with .433. His team mate Joey Votto ranks second with a .442 OBP. Partly as a consequence of this the Cincinnati offense ranks fourth in MLB in OBP with .334.
If your a Reds fan or would like to know more about them please check out Kurren Tatla’s great weekly column Cin City, which covers the Reds, and can be found here.
5. The MLB Draft
The 2013 MLB draft took place between Thursday June 6th – Saturday June 8th
The top 10 picks were as follows:
1. Houston Astros – Mark Appel (RHP, Stanford)
2. Chicago Cubs – Kris Bryant (3B, University of San Diego)
3. Colorado Rockies – Jonathan Gray (RHP, Oklahoma)
4. Minnesota Twins – Kohl Stewart(RHP, St. Pius X HS)
5. Cleveland Indians – Clint Frazier (OF, Logansville HS)
6. Miami Marlins – Colin Moran (3B, North Carolina)
7. Boston Red Sox – Trey Ball (LHP, New Castle Chrysler HS)
8. Kansas City Royals – Hunter Dozier (SS, Stephen F. Austin
9. Pittsburgh Pirates – Austin Meadows (CF, Grayson HS)
10. Toronto Blue Jays – Philip Bickford (Oaks Christian HS)
A prospect who went later than expected but could turn out to be a great steal for their team is Ryne Stanek (RHP, Arkansas). Stanek, was originally thought of as a top 10 talent but due to an inconsistent year fell into the Rays lap at pick number 29. He could have the ceiling of a number two starter, and given the Rays history of developing great pitchers, this could be a great match.
