Thursday's Roundup
April 25th 2008 15:23
Is anybody going to tell the Rockies, Dodgers, Padres and Giants that the regular season started. If somebody doesn’t speak up and say something the Diamondbacks are going to have the NL West clinched by June. The D-backs are six games ahead of the Rockies and winners of seven of the last nine games. Tonight they are in San Diego for a rematch of last Sunday’s matchup between Randy Johnson and Randy Wolf. The Padres won 9-4 and Johnson allowed six runs (four earned) in the loss. The Padres might win tonight but they face Micah Owings (4-0, 2.42 ERA) on Saturday and Brandon Webb (5-0, 2.31 ERA) on Sunday so it might be difficult winning this series.
The Astros are starting to get on fire. They are winners of five straight games. Lance Berkman had three hits and drove in three runs Thursday to increase his batting average to .360 at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park. He also has 18 career home runs at the ballpark, most of any opponent. Now they head to St. Louis for a weekend series against the Cardinals. The Cardinals have been dominant at home so look for this streak to come to an end soon. The Astros will pitch Shawn Chacon on Friday while the Cardinals counter with Braden Looper.
The Twins choice of letting Francisco Liriano rehab in the major leagues might not have been the smartest move. He allowed six runs Thursday against the Athletics and couldn’t get himself out of the first inning. He is 0-3, 11.32 ERA this season. It’s obvious he hasn’t fully recovered from Tommy John surgery. Fantasy owners start dumping Liriano now because who knows when he is going to start pitching to his capabilities. The organization should send him down to Triple-A so he can rehab that arm and build up his confidence. He might never be the same again. This has to be affecting his confidence on the mound.
Frank Thomas returned to the Oakland Athletics after being released last week by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was in the lineup Thursday as the designated hitter and went 0-3 with a run scored. He has only one multi-hit game this season and is now batting .159. The purpose of this move was to increase the power in their lineup. They only have 11 home runs as a team. He is going to take at-bats away from Mike Sweeney and Daric Barton, who are now going to rotate at first base. This could turn out to be a good move for the Athletics if Thomas can hit .260 and have 30-plus home runs, but this team is in a rebuilding mode and younger players like Barton are going to lose valuable experience. A questionable move by Billy Beane, especially after the moves he made this offseason to get younger and build up his farm system for the future.
The Astros are starting to get on fire. They are winners of five straight games. Lance Berkman had three hits and drove in three runs Thursday to increase his batting average to .360 at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park. He also has 18 career home runs at the ballpark, most of any opponent. Now they head to St. Louis for a weekend series against the Cardinals. The Cardinals have been dominant at home so look for this streak to come to an end soon. The Astros will pitch Shawn Chacon on Friday while the Cardinals counter with Braden Looper.
The Twins choice of letting Francisco Liriano rehab in the major leagues might not have been the smartest move. He allowed six runs Thursday against the Athletics and couldn’t get himself out of the first inning. He is 0-3, 11.32 ERA this season. It’s obvious he hasn’t fully recovered from Tommy John surgery. Fantasy owners start dumping Liriano now because who knows when he is going to start pitching to his capabilities. The organization should send him down to Triple-A so he can rehab that arm and build up his confidence. He might never be the same again. This has to be affecting his confidence on the mound.
Frank Thomas returned to the Oakland Athletics after being released last week by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was in the lineup Thursday as the designated hitter and went 0-3 with a run scored. He has only one multi-hit game this season and is now batting .159. The purpose of this move was to increase the power in their lineup. They only have 11 home runs as a team. He is going to take at-bats away from Mike Sweeney and Daric Barton, who are now going to rotate at first base. This could turn out to be a good move for the Athletics if Thomas can hit .260 and have 30-plus home runs, but this team is in a rebuilding mode and younger players like Barton are going to lose valuable experience. A questionable move by Billy Beane, especially after the moves he made this offseason to get younger and build up his farm system for the future.
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