Meltdown in Arlington: "The Worst Inning Of Justin Verlander's Life"

Was this the All-Star game? Is it October? Maybe it's just big games, such as the much talked about match up tonight of 'Verlander vs. Darvish', but Justin Verlander choked tonight. Pitching only 2.2 innings, his shortest outing since 2010, and allowing seven runs in the 3rd inning.

Justin Verlander is one of the greatest pitchers of our time, but we do have to admit he can be spotty. When he's bad, he's really bad. His last two outings have been troubling to not just Tigers fans, but fans of baseball everywhere, such as myself. What's going on? It seems the whole world of baseball seems to be a little topsy turvy this season (Stephen Strasberg is 1-5 and the Reds are only 1.5 games out of first place behind the Cardinals? To quote Regina George.. "What is happening to the world?") and the great Justin Verlander's record on the season thus far is 4-4. Not too impressive to me. His ERA jumped from 2.03 tonight to a staggering 3.17.

Verlander was struggling to find his groove, and the Rangers just took no chances with that. They saw the weakness in him, and exploited it as soon as possible. Verlander gave up a career high total of eight hits in his outing against the Rangers.

Tigers pitching is not the best right now, they are currently 12th in the MLB in ERA with a 3.76. The Tigers offense has still been golden though, (Credit where credit is due, a lot of that has to do with Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera), they currently hold the highest batting average in the MLB at .282, the second place team being the current World Series Champion San Francisco Giants at .267.

We will all hold our breath, including Justin, until we see him take the mound again. The bottom line is he needs to regain control of his four pitches, and quickly. He needs to be on top of his game. Not hitting players on a 1-2 counts to load the bases in the 3rd. I hope he will be able to prove himself again in his next outing, or I will be sure the apocalypse is coming after all.

Could Robinson Cano... Possibly Be Saving The Yankees?

"Robbie" Cano. One of the many names that deeply contributed to New York Yankees fail to contend any further than the ALCS in the 2012 MLB playoffs. He batted a meesely .056 in 18 at bats against the Tigers in the ALCS, had only one hit and was struck out 3 times.

Now, with practically the Yankees entire All-Star starting line up on the roster, their ace closer Mariano Riviera on the verge of retirement after his nasty season ending injury early on last season, they're holding tightly to second place in the AL East with a 4-4 record. And so much of the contribution in the last few blow out wins they've had - are in part because of Robinson Cano.

In the Yankees 11-6 win over the Indians yesterday at Progressive Field, Cano contributed 4 runs, one of which being a home run, 3 hits and 2 RBI's with a game batting average of .222. Today, against the Indians again, the Yankees won with a score of 14-6 (The Yankees were allowed 18 hits off of Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco in his first outting of the year, leaving him with a 17.18 ERA) Robinson Cano was allowed 2 runs, 4 hits and 5 RBI's... hitting 3 home runs and giving him a game batting average of .303.

I think it's safe to say Cano is back in business, and may be the solid rock that these Yankees need until their DL list lightens up... and even after. There's a commercial out there currently that puns Cano's name saying "Robinson Cano? More like Robinson Can-YES!" They're right, Robinson definitely Can-Yes, for right now.

MLB Standings Review: Time Is An Interesting Thing

Remember, say, 5 or 6 seasons ago, when the Cleveland Indians were feared in the AL Central? And the last few years... when I could never remember the 5th team in the NL Central... because it was the Cincinnati Reds?

Time changes things. If you would have told me the current MLB standings today, say 5 years ago... I would have laughed. We are currently about one week into the 2013 MLB season and basically the first place standings look a little like this:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

East - 

Boston Red Sox. Last season, for the Red Sox should have been a write off. The year of Bobby Valentine. Their entire team is looking quite different then it has the past few years and we weren't so sure that was in a good way. But they've proven that they are holding their own in this division right now, currently holding a 5-2 record. I wouldn't say they've caught too much of a break either - the Yankees are the only team to be cutting them some major slack in this division so far.

Central - 

Chicago White Sox. I am a proud Sox fan right now! But like any Sox fan I know... we all know that we can fall just as fast as we rise (I'm sure we remember spending something like over 100 games in first place last season only to lose the division in the last month of the season to the Tigers? Yeah, we know.) The Sox lost The Youk this season, which I will always disagree with. He did tremendous things for this team last season and I believe contributed a lot to their success. We also lost veteran catcher A.J. Pierzynski who was always great, solid bat for our lineup. But the Sox are currently holding their own, against the Tigers, who we are always in a tongue and cheek battle with now that the Twins and Indians are less of the threat to us in this division.

West -

Oakland A's - Maybe it's just me, because I don't pay much attention to the A's unless I'm watching "Moneyball"... but I feel like their first place bid at the moment is a fluke. The A's had an off day today, just ending two series with none other than the struggling Mariners and the newest addition to our American League family who are also struggling to find their groove, the Astros. Maybe these are easy breaks for the A's right now? It's pretty early to tell.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

East - 

Atlanta Braves.  The Braves are not looking that bad. Statistically, and also roster wise. The addition of the Upton brothers to their outfield is nothing to flinch at for this team. Justin Upton has currently hit 6 home runs in the Braves first 7 games of the season. Impressive, to say the least. But again, much like with the A's, the Braves did just come off two series with the struggling and ailing Phillies (Roy Halladay, anyone?) and the ever so wonderful Chicago Cubs. <end sarcasm>. The biggest threat to me in this division for this team, will always be the Washington Nationals. They have the two hottest young prospects, the ever so famous Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg. Let's keep our eyes on this team and these Upton brothers though.

Central - 

Cincinnati Reds. Like I said earlier, the Reds?! I'm not sure what exactly is going on here, I think I need to look into it a little bit more, but the Reds are currently blowing this division out of the water. They're coming off two series with the Angels and the Nationals, who are not too shabby! They had a blow out game on Friday night, beating Dan Haren the Nationals (Sounds like a great band name) an astonishing 15-0 shutout. They're currently in a series with the Cardinals on the road, and will be taking on the Pirates after that.

West- 

Colorado Rockies/Arizona Diamondbacks. Again, these two teams may have made their appearances in the post season within the last 5-7 years, but they're not big ticket names in their division which is also home to the spend thrift Los Angeles Dodgers and the 2 time and most current World Series title winning San Francisco Giants. Let's step up guys! Especially the Dodgers. I'd hate to see a Miami Marlins situation all over again for that team. But who knows what could happen, again, it's early in the season and I'm always up for a twist in the division races!

Well, that about wraps it up for me. Congratulations, we've officially gotten through opening week - it's back guys. Baseball is back and it's here to stay though October. Feels so good.

Lock 'Em Down: Verlander and Posey Awarded Large Contract Deals This Week

Justin Verlander. What can I say. He's the best in baseball. He's a phenomena, I have to admit as a loyal White Sox fan, I did leave the house on Friday sporting my Verlander Tigers shirt. I felt like such a hypocrite, but hey... it's Justin! Whenever people ask me if "I'm a Justin girl" in reference to Justin Timberlake, I always respond "Yes... Justin Verlander that is."

Earlier this week, the Detroit Tigers offered their ace pitcher a 5-year contract extension that will, in the end, be worth $200 million dollars. That makes this the richest contract awarded to a pitcher in all of baseball. The Tigers had to face the idea of losing Verlander to  free agency next year and possibly losing him forever if they didn't whip up something satisfying for one of the Top 5 pitchers in baseball. The contract is worth $140 million dollars, and Verlander will still be payed out $40 million that he is already owed on his current contract. The deal also includes an option for the 2020 season with another $20 million. This is definitely a blockbuster deal for the Tigers, who recently also signed Prince Fielder to a 9-year contract.

People are asking if Verlander is really worth that amount of money. I think in the long run it isn't about the money, it's about keeping Verlander in Detroit. At any cost. Some people are speculating that no matter how good he is or isn't in the upcoming years of his contract, that he is a tourist attraction for Detroit and for the team. On many levels, and in many aspects. He is one of the best of the best, and I will say with no shame, my favorite player in baseball. Congrats to Justin, and Tigers fans alike!

Another big deal inked this week: Buster Posey. Signed to a 9 year contract with the San Francisco Giants worth $167 million, with a club option for 2022 potentially making this contract worth a grand total of $186 million - surpassing Matt Cain's 6-year deal signed earlier this year. This is the longest contract awarded in Giants franchise history.

The Giants are placing a lot of faith in their 26 year old team captain. A friend of mine quipped when we learned the news, "Didn't they learn anything from Barry Zito?" Posey is a great catcher, has three notable awards on his resume (NL MVP,  Batting Title and 2010 Rookie of the Year). He has already suffered a pretty large injury during his collision at the plate incident with Marlins' Scott Cousins in May of the 2011 season. He was out for the remainder of the season on the DL. Although he hasn't shown any signs of deterioration since his return, that doesn't mean that he won't suffer for it later on in this lengthy contract. But the Giants have built quite the franchise, with star players such as Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Buster Posey and Pablo "Panda" Sandoval. They have two World Series championships under their belt in the last few years already, and are vastly feared in the National League. They know what they're doing.

Bloggers United!

So earlier this week, my co-founder of The Sports Blogette, Corey, came up to Chicago from Kentucky with a few friends for spring break and we were finally united as a blogging team! This was the first magical moment we share together after five years of friendship and almost two years of blogging:

Unfortunately, the city of Chicago was devout of sports this week. Baseball hadn't started yet, spring training is in Arizona, football is over, the Blackhawks and Bulls were both on the road, so we were unable to share any sports related activities together to update you on. However, we did take a trip down to the United Center anyway and take a picture with the infamous Michael Jordan statue.

Well, until we meet again! More sports blogging to come soon, a big week was had for the New England Patriots it seems.

TSB Audio: Recapping the NBA on March 8th, 2013

MLB Spring Training: My Teams To Watch In 2013 - Part 1

So, if you haven't noticed, in my blogs since I started this website, I've always mentioned "teams to watch" here and there. So this baseball season, I've decided to actually put together a list of my teams to watch for various reasons. For the first part, I've put together a list of teams to watch out for, because they are wreaking havoc already and it's only early on in spring training.

The Kansas City Royals - Current Cactus League Standings:11-1.
Do you remember the Royals, say, five seasons ago? They were awful. They were a joke. They have rallied since, slowly but surely.They have signed ex-Yankee Melky Cabrera (who may have seen going from a Yankee to a Royal as a demotion in the baseball world...until this past and up coming season in the Bronx) to their line up, and finished last season with a 72-90 record in third place. Not too shabby for a team that was considered the bad news bears of the entire American League. Now, in 2013, they are currently in first place in the spring training Cactus League with an astonishing 11-1 record. They've added James Shields to their roster this off season which is a great arm to have throwing for you. They have Ervin Santana, who's ERA was 2.08 with the Angels last three spring training season, Billy Butler in the DH spot who hit .414 in 26 games and 70 at bats in the last three spring training season as well. They have the potentional, maybe not to contend for a place in the world of fall baseball just yet (who knows though, as the commercials say... right now they are all contenders), but are working their way back to a place of more respect than they have seen in the past. Because I mean, time is a funny thing, they finished above the Indians in the AL Central last year... a team that was feared in this division at one time. Look out, if spring training keeps up the way it has been and has anything to predict of the coming regular season... there won't be as many empty seats at Kauffman Stadium as you usually see. Keeping a close watch on them this 2013 season.


The Seattle Mariners - Current Cactus League Standings: 11-3.
The Mariners. Well we all know their ace, Ichirio, is long gone. However, they have signed a large deal with the king of Seattle, King Felix Hernandez, which will be nothing but an asset for this team in the future. There aren't many other prominant names for the Mariners line up though. They have names such as Kelly Shoppach who used to catch for the Indians back in the day and that's as far as my knowledge on that matter goes, Raul Ibanez who was a notable name for the Phillies, and then on a not so positive note, the infamous name and the butt of every baseball meme on the internet, Jason Bay. The Mariners were less than impressive last season, finishing in last place with a 75-87 record. However, they're shocking all in spring training thus far, currently holding second place in the Cactus League with an 11-3 record. I'm just wondering if this will translate flawlessly into the regular season which would be interesting to see. Keeping my eye carefully on them, and especially King Felix's arm.

The Baltimore Orioles - Current Grapefruit League Standings: 8-3.
Finishing second place (93-69) in the AL East two game out of the ailing Yankees in 2012? The O's sure did prove that they've got moxy in this division. This is a team that doesn't have a huge roster of all-star names but they do have a solid team. Matt Wieters (who if you remember correctly, was suppose to the "savior" of the Orioles back when he was signed a few seasons ago) batted a decent .271 in his last three spring training seasons. Not too shabby. Nick Markakis seems to be an impressive bat this spring. Last spring he played in a total of eight exhibition games with a .250 average. This spring, so far, he has only participated in four games, and is already batting a .250. Interesting so early on. What's the Oriole's secrets so the always overpowering Red Sox and Yankees had lost their luster in the division, making the playing field more fair game for the O's, if you will.With the Yankees seeming to be ailing more and more everyday, that leaves a little leeway for this team. But the Red Sox seems as though they might rise from the ashes that were the 2012 season of Bobby Valentine. Definitely one of my team to watch this season in the AL East... hell the whole AL East is on my team to watch list...but we will get to that later.

Next up on my list, teams that may shock you at the bottom of the barrel this coming season. Stay tuned...