A Look Through the Week - 5 27 13

Happy Memorial Day, everybody! Make sure you go out and support your troops not only today, but every day. Remember, even baseball greats like Ted Williams, Stan Musial, and Warren Spahn took years out of their playing career to serve in the military. Stan the Man even won MVP when he came back.

Anyways, today is Monday, so it’s time to take a look at the week ahead.

Today, the MLB will honor Memorial Day at all 15 home ballparks, with a remembrance of troops at a specific time of day or during the game. Players will wear camouflage jerseys and caps from the US Marine Corps to raise funds and awareness for Welcome Back Veterans, an organization designed to give veterans the mental and physical support that they need.

Now with supporting the veterans comes interleague play. Plenty of matchups will be held that you are going to want to watch. 

The AL East leading Yankees will take on the Mets in a New York- New York showdown. 

The Angels will be heading to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers. After having a terrible start, watch out for the Angels to make a huge statement in this series. I would not be surprised if they sweep and come out about a few games above .500 after the week. Do I think they can catch up to the Rangers right now? No. But can they make a run against the A’s and a wildcard spot? Yes.

The Orioles and the Nationals will square off in at the capital. These two sort of disappointing teams right now look to gain some level against the guys ahead of them. The way Oriole’s closer Jim Johnson is playing, it’s gonna be tough. I think the Nats will take the series in this one.

The Cardinals will take on the Royals, who are slowly falling out of contention in the AL Central. I smell a sweep, but it starts with potentially the best pitching matchup in baseball. Tonight, aces Adam Wainwright and James Shields will take the mounds for St. Louis and Kansas City.

My personal favorite matchup is Detroit vs Pittsburgh. The Pirates are in third place in the NL Central, yet have a record of 31-19. Miggy is on track to break the RBI record, and Verlander will try to get back on track. This series is really a toss-up, but I think that Detroit will take the series. Francisco Liriano and Verlander will face each other, two pitchers that have both pitched no hitters. Torii Hunter might just hit his 300^th home run as well.

Two veterans Mark Buehrle and Tim Hudson will face each other this week in a Braves and Blue Jays showdown. The Blue Jays are overhyped, while the Braves are red hot. I got the Braves taking this one.

The Rangers will take on the D-Backs this week, as Paul Goldschmidt is still tearing up the bat. I’m glad I picked him as my first potential player (see my blog from last Wednesday), because there is talk of him winning the MVP.

The Cubs will host the White Sox in the crosstown classic. Being a Cubs fan and living in Chicago, things can get intense during these times. If the Cubs can start scoring with runners in scoring position (right now are batting .211 with RISP), then they can take this series. If not, the White Sox can try to gain more ground against the Tigers and Indians.

The Giants will play the A’s, who are currently on a 3 game winning streak. I don’t think there will be any special moments in this series, but if the A’s can take the series, they’re one step closer to catching up with the Rangers.

Jonathan Papelbon will make his first appearance at Fenway since he left for Philadelphia, as the Phillies will take on the Red Sox. 

Those are the matchups for this week, now let’s take a look at some other news in baseball.

Ian Kennedy will miss his next start after cutting his finger doing the dishes. That’s almost as embarrassing as Francisco Liriano breaking his arm trying to scare his children, or when Joel Zumaya missed three games in the 2006 playoffs because his throwing wrist and forearm was hurt from playing Guitar Hero. Shit happens, what else can I say?

Red Sox ace and Cy Young contender Clay Buchholz has been scratched from today’s game against the Phillies after feeling discomfort in his right collarbone. Alfredo Aceves will take the mound in his place. 

Pirates outfielder Jose Tabata on the 15 day disabled list with a left oblique strain. Tabata is hitting .272 this season, and really is not a huge contribution to their offense. Jeff Karstens has also been moved from the 15 day DL to the 60 day DL.  Though both players haven’t been much to the club, losing someone hurts, so we’ll have to see how the Pirates will recover without them. They will call up Josh Harrison from Triple-A Indianapolis to replace Tabata.

Indians closer Chris Perez has been put on the 15 day DL after right shoulder soreness. If you watched him blow the game against the Red Sox yesterday, you could tell even before he left the game that something was not good. Perez is 2-1 with 6 saves and a 4.32 ERA. Last year, he had a career best 39 saves.

More on prodigy Bryce Harper, of course. He is out for today’s game against the O’s and will most likely be out tomorrow too. Harper has already missed three games from colliding into the wall against the Dodgers. He’s hitting .287 with 12 homers and 23 RBI’s. Speaking of the Nats, catcher Wilson Ramos will miss another four weeks with a left hamstring injury.

Now moving away from injuries, here’s something that caught my eye yesterday and has more attention today. In yesterday’s game between the Reds and the Cubs, Jonny Cueto threw a ball high over David DeJesus’ head, and Cubs pitcher Matt Garza took it as an offense, and called Cueto “immature” after the game. He also said that  “If he wants to say something to me, he knows where my locker is. If he’s got a problem, he can throw at me, and I’ll do the same.”

Reds manager (and former manager of the Cubs) Dusty Baker came out saying that he doesn’t understand why Garza was so P.O.’d about the pitch, saying that Cueto “couldn’t have hit Wild Chamberlain with that pitch.” He took it a step further, saying that the two pitchers should settle the dispute with their fists. What the hell, Baker? That isn’t how it should be done!

Both teams were warned after the pitch. The Cubs would go on to win the game in the 10^th inning, their first win after trailing in the 8^th. I don’t think that there will be a brawl the next time the Reds and the Cubs play, but who knows.

So that’s what’s going on this week. Have any questions, comments, or concerns for me? Please email me a statsbuddy42@gmail.com. I would love any feedback.

Thanks for reading, and happy Memorial Day.

-Evan Boyd

“Let’s play two” –Ernie Banks