Lou Blasi - Page 6

I'm sure Cliff Lee is breathing easier as his abdominal strain fades in the rear view mirror, and now his owners can breathe a bit easier as well. Lee held the Angels to 1 one on 3 hits and 2...

Good Morning! We are supposed to be preaching patience to you. We are supposed to tell you not to panic and not overvalue what are still some pretty meager statistical samples when we look at our rosters. That is always...

Hunter Pence – Astros Outfielder – Bats Right – 6-4, 210 – 4/13/1983 The Astros finally figured out that Chris Burke was a problem. It just took them a bit longer than the rest of us.  That brings up...

Matt Cain had his issues with the Phillies on Thursday allowing 7 runs, all earned in 3 IP on 8 hits and 4 walks. Matt struck out 2 while falling to 1-2 on the year. His ERA chinned over...

This week we start with Tom Gordon heading back to Philly to have his painful right shoulder examined. The Phillies say that Gordon will not be with the team this weekend in San Francisco. We are early in this...

Jarrod Washburn was strong against the White Sox on Tuesday, holding them to 2 runs in 7 IP on just 4 hits and a walk while striking out 4. Both runs came on solo homers as Washburn improved to...

Your fantasy offense is an Army. It is, hopefully, a relentless snowfall of stats that accumulates into major problems for your opponents. However, your pitchers are different. Your pitching staff is instead an orchestra. It is helpful to be aware...

The headline news in the bullpen this week comes from Texas where Eric Gagne was placed on the DL with a strained hip/glut. Akinori Otsuka returns to the closer role which he handled quite well last season, recording 32...

Jorge Cantu was recalled by the Rays on Tuesday after a tumultuous spring and a limp minor league stint in which he hit .267 without a homerun. He didn't play in yesterday's game against the Yankees and it's hard...

A little mailbag this morning … This subscriber didn't want his letter published so I will paraphrase his questions to protect the innocent … Dear Lou,   I enjoyed your article about the value of analyzing splits to make...

This week we look at some of the hottest prospects around.    Tom Gorzelanny and Adam Lind are in the majors now but the rest of these guys can best be described by Dennis Leary’s first catch phrase …...

On the trick or treat scale that John Patterson seems to be skipping around so far, this start landed squarely in the "Trick"  area. He allowed 3 runs, all earned, in 4 IP on 7 hits and 4 walks...

The big ninth-inning story in baseball right now plays out north of the border in Toronto where primary closer B.J. Ryan came up with an elbow injury.  Jason Frasor is the man for the Jays for now and he...

Gustavo Chacin out dueled Daisuke at the Roger Centre last night limiting the Red Sox to 1 earned run over 6.2 IP. He allowed 6 hits, including Wily Mo Pena's monstrous third-inning solo homerun, without a walk while striking...

It's not as if we all need to wear name tags or anything, but there's a certain "getting to know you"atmosphere around most fantasy baseball teams this year. Of course, we know most of the names and the stat lines...

Prospect Central Week #3 Welcome to Prospect Central for Week #3. Today we will look at some players doing it … or not doing it … or sort of doing it, on the MLB level. Today it is a...

A Closer Look - Week #2 If you had Brad Lidge in your Closer Death Pool you cashed a check this week but you may have been only days ahead of Jorge Julio in Florida. Manager Fredi Gonzalez has blown...

The new and improved Josh Beckett made his second start for the Red Sox in their home opener in Tuesday pitching very effectively against the Ms. Beckett held Seattle to 1 run in 7 IP on just two hits without...

We talk about numbers all the time here ...   They are important to what we do. The key to this whole game we play is to determine which numbers more accurately indicate performance and which numbers more accurately...

Welcome to Prospect Central for Week #2! Today we look at a few prospects who earned a spot on the major league team's Opening Day roster and some that could have, and probably will before the summer is out....

Jason Marquis who led the NL in losses in 2006 had a solid debut for the Cubs on Thursday limiting the Reds to 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks over 6 IP. He only fanned one but...

There may be trouble brewing in Anaheim. Derek Zumsteg (www.zumsteg.net) has done a Zappruder-esque breakdown of some footage from Monday's game that seems to show K-Rod working with a foreign substance planted under the bill of his cap. The Rangers were on it too and have contacted the Commissioner's Office.

Like Curt Schilling before him on Monday, today's start for Josh Beckett allegedly unveils a revamped and revised edition of the pitcher for 2007.

We spend a lot of time fretting about how well a pitcher is going to adjust to a change in leagues. We treat the AL and the NL like two separate animals when we consider such a switch, and with good reason. The two leagues are two separate animals. In the age of the unbalanced schedule however, doesn't it make as much sense to pay attention to the difference in divisions as well?

Welcome to another season of Prospect Central! Here is where you find breakdowns of Insiderbaseball.com's Top 100 Prospects. Each week you can also check out our Prospect Central Spreadsheet with rankings and updates on our top 50 pitching and hitting prospects. Every Sunday we'll look at a few prospects and get behind the numbers a bit, telling what we think is ahead. During the year I'll be looking at minor leaguers who are making their MLB debuts or knocking on the door to help you get a jump on your fellow owners. Here on Opening day I have done that with NL Rookie of the Year Candidate Troy Tulowitzki however this morning I wanted to get out a little bigger zoom lens and look at the core of what is a great group young players collecting in the low minors.

Rays Manager Joe Maddon was very definitive yesterday when he said that Rocco Baldelli (hammy) "is going to be"in Tampa's Opening Day lineup on April 2nd. Rocco left Tuesday game with what Maddon is terming a "mild"hamstring strain and understandably...

Lets start here ... there isn't too much about baseball I don't love. Baseball is the drama and angst of a great television series like 24, but it's on every day for, perhaps fittingly in this analogy, 24 hours a...

Regular subscribers to Insiderbaseball.com know all about how I feel about starting pitching. No matter how good any given hitter is, even at a scare position, he's still just 1- of -14 hitters in most formats. An elite SB guy...

"The MLBPA says the clause in Barry Bonds contract that would terminate the deal if Bonds is indicted is unenforceable. So they are on board with the farce as well ..."