seanjweb

Traveling and blogging.  And they said it couldn't be done.  On to the Game Notes!

"Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera was out of the lineup for the second straight game after hurting his left hip flexor muscle. Leyland said he was available to pinch hit and that he expects him to play Thursday at Seattle."  Great news for Miggy and the Tigers.  Playing against the bad Seattle team should allow Cabrera to pick up where he left off.  Look for a big weekend from him.

"San Francisco C Eliezer Alfonzo, called up from Triple-A Fresno a day earlier, made a wild throw into center field while trying to catch Ryan Theriot stealing second base. Alfonzo started in place of Bengie Molina, who was given the night off."  I could care less about this back up catcher for the Giant.  What concerns me is that the Giants have made it clear that they could care less about the use of performance enhancing drugs and baseball.  First, they harbor the giant asterisk who usurped Hank Aaron's record.  Now they promote the first player who was actually suspended for their use a mere nine days after his suspension ended.   I understand that he apologized and did his time.  I just don't like the idea that the Giants are so indifferent to their impact upon the game.

"Angels RHP John Lackey was named AL pitcher of the month for the second time in his career after going 5-0 with a 1.16 ERA in his five starts in June. He also won the award in July 2006, going 5-1 with a 2.08 ERA and two shutouts -- including a one-hitter against Oakland." Congrats to Lackey on the award.  Fantasy gurus thought Lackey would be his productive self, but certainly not this effective in ERA and WHIP.  The miniscule WHIP and ERA make him a coveted fantasy property.

"Rangers SS Michael Young left the game after the third inning with a mild left groin strain. He's day-to-day."  Reports have been conflicting on the severity of the injury.  Young had a similar injury earlier in the season and only missed one game.  Considering its characterized as a mild strain, he will likely be fine for the weekend.

"Rangers RHP Scott Feldman will skip a turn in the rotation and start Tuesday against the Angels."  Feldman is part of the ongoing major league fascination with converting relievers to starters and starters into relievers.  Injuries have forced Feldman to into the starting role sooner than the Rangers would have started.  Surprisingly, Feldman has been better than his 2-3 record would indicate.  In deeper AL only leagues, Feldman might be a decent sleeper in Week 14.

I wrote about Jay Bruce's hot and cold streaks last weekend.  Yesterday was the reason why you start this rookie every week. He went 3 for 4 with 2 HR, 4 RBI, and a BB. "It was Bruce's first career multihomer game."  I doubt it will be his last.

Speaking of rookie phenoms..."The Dodgers optioned LHP Clayton Kershaw to Double-A Jacksonville to make room for Hiroki Kuroda on the roster."  Oops.  Not so phenomenal, I guess.  Kershaw was tagged for two losses against no wins in eight starts for the Dodgers.  With and ERA of 4.42 and averaging less than five innings per start, I'm not surprised to see Kershaw demoted.  Kershaw will likely be back at the end of the season.

"After the game, Torre said SS Rafael Furcal will undergo back surgery Thursday. Torre said Furcal, already on the disabled list, will miss at least eight more weeks."  This one I don't think anyone outside of the Dodgers organization saw this one coming.  Just last week  Furcal was supposed to join the Dodgers Triple-A team and possibly rejoin the Dodgers next week.  The surgery now targets Furcal for a September return.  I think we can put a fork in him for the year.  He's done.

We have a winner! "Grady Sizemore is the first American League player with 20 homers and 20 stolen bases this year."  Sizemore was expected to have a great year and is not disappointing his owners.  The bonus for his owners is his increased power and stolen bases.  Sizemore is on pace to increase his HR career high by 75%.

"Garrett Atkins leads the majors with a .468 average against left-handers."  Owners who have the opportunity to make daily changes would do well to note this piece of errata.

Streakers! "David Wright is batting .414 (24-for-58) in his last 16 games...Yorvit Torrealba extended his hitting streak to eight games."

Fully clothed! "Slumping Giants SS Omar Vizquel went hitless in three at-bats and is batting .043 (2-for-46) over his last 15 games... Brewers 1B Prince Fielder went 0-for-4 to extend his skid to 2-for-31 over nine games."