Summary:
Bud Norris was the NL pitcher of the day with his 11-strikeout effort, while Jordan Zimmerman showed great improvement with six strong innings. ... Ubaldo Jimenez saw his ERA continue to rise, while Dustin Moseley continued to outpitch his true talent level, and Hong-Chih Kuo returned to less than stellar (.1 IP, 4 ER) results. ... In case you haven't figured this out, the Cardinals are going with a closer-by-committee approach, resulting in a lot of wasted FAAB money on Mitchell Boggs. ... A pair Matts, Kemp and Holliday, continue to sizzle, while a guy at the opposite end of the spectrum, Hanley Ramirez, finally hit homer #1 on Sunday. ... In Milwaukee, Nyjer Morgan's impending return should be worrisome to Carlos Gomez owners, while another potentially pending returnee, Domonic Brown, was activated and optioned to Triple-A. The .161-hitting Raul Ibanez could see his playing time slashed soon. ... In Triple-A, Ian Stewart and Brandon Belt are batting over .400 and could eventually spell trouble for Jose Lopez and Aubrey Huff. ... Injuries to Pablo Sandoval and David Freese open the door for additional playing time for Mike Fontenot and Daniel Descalso, with the former having more upside than the latter we think. ... Down in San Diego, Brad Hawpe had a couple hits on Sunday, but he still sports an abysmal .422 OPS while ex-Boston prospect Anthony Rizzo is batting a cool .400/.471/.744 for Triple-A Tucson. We could see Rizzo in June or earlier at this rate.
Hong-Chih Kuo (RP-LAD) - Kuo was activated from the disabled list on Sunday after missing time due to a sore back. His command was rather spotty in his minor league rehab stint, but with the LA bullpen in desperate straits, he was needed. A healthy Kuo has always been a dominant Kuo, and with Jonathan Broxton struggling, he could see a few save chances in the near term. Manager Don Mattingly still considers Broxton to be his closer, but Broxton has a 5.6 BB/9 and 1.94 WHIP, and several documented cases of causing extreme stress for Dodgers fans when he enters the game. Go ahead and grab Kuo in deeper leagues if you want to speculate on saves. Update: four runs in .1 innings for Kuo on Sunday, though he certainly was not helped by the guys who followed him.
Matt Kemp (OF-LAD) - You don't really need us to tell you how good Kemp has been this year. Two more hits on Sunday leave Kemp with a .373/.448/.609 batting line on the year. After striking out 170 times a year ago (71.8% CT%), Kemp is making better contact in 2011 (76.4%), making a .300 average a real possibility. Kemp also has 19 RBI, but think about this - how many would he have if the Dodgers actually had a legitimate leadoff man and #2 hitter? Sunday, the Dodgers' #1 and #2 men both finished the day with a .288 OBP. .288!! Meanwhile down in the eight-hole was Jamey Carroll (.355 OBP) , and down in Triple-A you have Trayvon Robinson (.402 OBP). I have a simple fix here - bench James Loney, move Jerry Sands to first base, call up Robinson and make him the left fielder, and use this order: Robinson, Carroll, Ethier, Kemp, Sands, Uribe, Sands, Barajas. Thanks Mattingly - you know where to send my check.
Carlos Gomez (OF-MIL) - It's simply incredible that Gomez and .273ish OBP continue to bat in front of Ryan Braun and company in the Brewers' lineup. I'm too lazy to calculate how many runs/games this has already cost Milwaukee this year. By the way, Jonathan Lucroy has an OBP greater than .400 and he's hitting eighth on Sunday. Simply asinine. Anyway, Gomez's time as an everyday player is coming to a merciful end. Nyjer Morgan (thigh injury) is being activate from the DL on Monday, so a fully healthy Brewers outfield should consist of Braun, Morgan, and Hart playing nearly every day, with Gomez as the fourth outfielder. If you're using him as your primary source of steals (he has eight), hopefully you have a contingency plan.
Ubaldo Jimenez (SP-COL) - In case you weren't worried about Jimenez before Sunday's game, it's time to get worried. Facing the lowly Pirates, Jimenez surrendered four runs on six hits in just four innings. He walked four and struck out an encouraging six, but a year after being 5-0 with a 0.79 ERA on May 1, Jimenez is 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA this year. It gets worse when you look at Jimenez's average fastballs the last three years: 96.1, 96.1, 92.3. In a cursory review of the pitch data from Sunday, Jimenez looks to have averaged around 93, as I saw a few 95s, 96s, and a 97 mixed in there. So, maybe velocity is part of the issue, but it's not the entire issue. Jimenez's GB rate is also way down (from a 49% career mark to 40% entering Sunday's action). I'll give Jimenez the benefit of the doubt and say that the thumb is still an issue and that good things are on the horizon, but I'm also a little worried.
Mitchell Boggs (RP-STL) - Master of the obvious Tony La Russa said Sunday that he's going with a closer-by-committee approach. That rarely lasts more than a couple weeks, so watch this one closely. In the past week or so, Boggs, Eduardo Sanchez, Fernando Salas, and Trever Miller have all recorded saves for the Cardinals. Jason Motte could even be in the mix at some point as well, and don't forget about Miguel Batista (though most of us would like to). Boggs, Batista, Sanchez, Salas, and Motte all have sub-2.00 ERAs, making this a race that's tough to handicap. If I had to pick one, I'd speculate on Salas over the others, and also Sanchez, particularly in keeper leagues as a probable closer of the future. Sanchez has an incredible 17:2 K:BB in 10 innings.
