FanHouse Carlos VIllanueva

MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.

Well, that took freaking forever ... but the Blue Jays finally started to stink the joint up. I swear to you, you can't stay long atop the MLB Power Rankings -- our failure by osmosis jinxing ability is just too strong, son. At any rate, it was a weird week for ranking baseball: the Cubs continued to skid, the Padres went on a tear and Toronto fell off the face of the planet. So, yeah, spiciness ensued, and you may take the jump to see how badly your team fared. Unless you're a Rangers or a Braves fan, in which case they couldn't have done that poorly.

It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. Each week The Closer Report will give you that information. And if that wasn't good enough we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.

Here's an interesting statistic. Somewhere between 30 percent and 40 percent of the closers who are listed as the the team's official closer will not be in that role by the end of the season. It's the case every year. Whether a closer loses his job due to injury or just plain can't get the job done, you're going to learn that you can find saves on the waiver wire throughout the season. You just have to know where to look.

It's inevitable. Injuries are going to take a toll on Major League rosters as players get ready for the grind of a long regular season. It's not terribly relevant whether the injury was Spring Training related or the effects of World Baseball Classic games. All you need to know is that most teams are headed into play next week without a few of their key stars.

The Los Angeles Angels have three of their starting pitchers (Escobar, Lackey and Santana) on the disabled list. Cardinals third baseman Troy Glaus suffered a setback and Yankees Alex Rodriguez, while apparently ahead of schedule in returning from Labrum surgery, will be out for a good portion of the early months of baseball. But, those are old news stories.

Let's take a look at the players who have been placed on the disabled list just this week.

With the playoff chase coming down to the wire, our MLB editor rounds up the five biggest pennant race stories in Eye Toward October.

- No Time for Panic: The Brewers finally stopped the bleeding Wednesday night, beating the Cubs to end a five-game winning streak and keeping pace with the Mets, who were also victorious, in the wild-card race. But they might be worse off anyway. Ben Sheets left the game after two innings with stiffness in his forearm. After the game, Sheets revealed he has been battling elbow soreness since late August -- describing it as a "cutting" sensation.

Yikes. Considering this is a team that just couldn't go on with its manager with two weeks left in the season and the wild-card lead, it's hard to imagine that the possibility one of its best pitchers being out indefinitely will go over well. Milwaukee has already made its panic move by firing Ned Yost. Now they're really in trouble, right?

Yes and no. Sheets was slated to make two more starts this season. If he can't make either, you'd be hard-pressed to argue that the Brewers have a better chance at qualifying for the postseason than they did yesterday. That doesn't mean we should bury them entirely, though.

After all, it's only two starts. Sure, maybe they're two of the biggest starts in a quarter century for the franchise, but how many mediocre pitchers, even terrible pitchers, have strung together two good starts in a row in the major leagues. Heck, Carl Pavano even won two consecutive starts at the end of last month.

Stars are born this time of year, but so are unlikely heroes who rise to the occasion at the right moment then fade into baseball oblivion. (See: Spencer, Shane.) Carlos Villanueva or Seth McClung would be in line to start should Sheets be unable to go, and both are capable of turning in a good start or two.

There have been plenty of histrionics about the Mets and Brewers collapsing, but odds are one of those teams is going to the postseason anyway. With or without Sheets, there's no reason it can't be Milwaukee.

If I've learned one thing in all of my years watching the National League Central, it's one simple rule; do not, under any circumstances, insult Albert Pujols. Last night, while holding a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning, Carlos Villanueva celebrated in the Cardinals' faces last night after escaping a bases-loaded jam with a 3-1 lead in the seventh. The Cardinals responded with a season-saving four-run rally in the ninth. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

"I guess he did us a favor. He woke up a sleeping giant, obviously," said first baseman Albert Pujols.

[...]

Rather than coolly walk to his dugout, Villanueva struck a flex pose that did not escape Pujols' notice. Villanueva further inflamed the situation, according to Pujols and several teammates, by pointing and screaming at the home dugout. Pujols quickly rose from a crouch in the on-deck circle and responded to Villanueva, who replied by cursing Pujols in Spanish.

Pujols started the resulting eighth-inning rally with a double and as a result of the comeback, the Cardinals are still 3 1/2 games behind the Brewers in the wild-card race instead of the 5 1/2 game deficit a loss would've given them. Given the two teams' schedules the Brewers probably still have the upper hand in the race, but it feels like they may have awoken the sleeping giant last night. Giving Albert Pujols more determination to destroy you is always a bad idea.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Arizona Diamondbacks (22-12) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (20-15) - 3:40PM Est.

If I were a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, I'd probably just skip the trip to Chase Field and go straight to the airport to catch my flight to San Francisco. I mean, Brandon Webb is starting for the Diamondbacks this afternoon, so you already know you're going to lose, why waste your time?

Webb has won his first seven starts of the season, which makes him 7-0, and has an ERA of 2.49 while doing so. Now he's looking to get off to the fastest start ever by an Arizona pitcher, as he's already tied Randy Johnson's mark with his first seven starts. The Big Unit accomplished his feat in 2000, and then went on to win the second of the four straight Cy Youngs he won for the DBacks.

The crazy thing is, if Webb does win today and move to 8-0, it may set a team record for the quickest to eight wins, but it won't even be the first time in Brandon's career he's started a season 8-0. He did it in 2006, though it took him eleven starts, and went on to win his own Cy Young award.

If there was any doubt left in what the Brewers' rotation was going to look like today, they took care of it by cutting Claudio Vargas and ensuring spots for Manny Parra and Carlos Villanueva. It's a fairly surprising move given Vargas's strong spring (3-1, 3.86 ERA) and decent year last year both out of the pen and in the rotation.

I suppose Milwaukee's rationale here is that when Yovani Gallardo comes back in the early part of the season, either Villaneuva or Parra goes back to AAA and becomes the de facto sixth starter. Still, with guys like Jeff Suppan and Ben Sheets, who either suck or will probably get hurt, and young guys like Parra and Villaneuva, having one more arm like Vargas in the 'pen can't hurt, especially when someone like Guillermo Mota could easily be replaced by Vargas in the bullpen

Of course, it may simply have come down to a math equation for the Brewers. They're going to save almost $3 million by cutting Vargas and $3 million is an expensive insurance policy to stow away in the pen or keep in in the minors. Doug Melvin says money isn't the reason he did it and I believe he would've kept Vargas if he thought he was best starter, but once he decided Vargas wasn't in the top five, money always plays a part for small market teams.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Pittsburgh Pirates (63-80) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (73-69)-7:05PM Est.

Congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers for finally learning one of the NL Central's deepest darkest secrets: You can play like crap and still win the division. That's right, despite all their struggles of late, the Brewers have reclaimed first place in the NL Central. Now they move on to Pittsburgh to take on a Pirates team that just knocked the Cubs out of first. Will the Brewers be subjected to the same fate? The key for the Brewers lately has been the return of the home run to their arsenal. The Brew Crew is knocking the crap out of the ball, much like they did at the beginning of the season, and they're hoping it continues this afternoon. Carlos Villanueva will make the start for the Brewers today, and he'll be looking to match his last start. Villanueva held the Astros to one run in a 5-3 Milwaukee victory last week. He'll be going against Tony Armas who has had success against Milwaukee in his career. In five starts, Armas is 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA.

I know, I know. It's May 3rd. And the best record in baseball on May 3rd doesn't mean anything on October 1st, but it certainly has to mean a lot to the Milwaukee Brewers right now. Last year the Brewers picked up their 18th win on May 12th, giving them an 18-18 record. This year they got #18 a full 10 days earlier, beating the Cards 4-0 last night to improve to 18-9 on the season.

The win completed a three game sweep over the grieving Cards and was especially impressive because starter Chris Capuano was forced to leave the game after three innings due to being hit in the calf by a comebacker off of Aaron Miles' bat. He was relieved by Carlos Villaneuva, who tossed four shutout innings and continued the magic act started by Claudio Vargas a couple nights ago. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

With the Brewers holding a 4-0 lead, Villanueva had just survived a bases-loaded jam, and the escape route was scary.

St. Louis catcher Gary Bennett's fly ball to deep left fell into Geoff Jenkins' glove a step or two short of the wall.

Instead of a game-tying grand slam, the Cardinals saw their only great scoring opportunity fizzle, and the Brewers went on to a 4-0 victory and a sweep of the reeling defending champs at Miller Park.

You know what? When you're 18-9 you're probably getting some breaks. Prince Fielder lead the Brewers offensive attack with a two-RBI single in the fifth inning that gave the Brewers their 4-0 margin of victory, though the play of the game probably came in the fourth when Corey Hart and Bill Hall pulled the old "Hart steals second, Hall steals home" routine that works every time in Little League and never again after you turn twelve. Well, it worked for the Brewers last night. That's right. They stole home. Don't mess with the 18-9 Brewers, people.

Previously at the Fanhouse
Claudio Vargas Is Like a Magician Or Something

After a step back last year, the Brewers are understandably excited about their chances in 2007. They're in what seems to project to be a fairly weak division and they still have most of the roster instact from their 81-81 season in 2005. But the thing that has them most excited this year is probably their starting rotation:

Beginning with last Monday, the Brewers starters have gotten into a run of strong performances that has to have manager Ned Yost smiling.

Dave Bush pitched four innings of one-hit ball in a "B" game Monday, and Carlos Villanueva pitched four innings of two-hit ball in the "A" game. A day later, Ben Sheets threw five innings of two-hit, shutout ball. On Thursday, Jeff Suppan threw five innings of no-hit ball. On Friday, Claudio Vargas became the first Brewer to go six innings, turning in the first "quality start" (at least six innings, no more than three earned runs) of the spring.

The only bad start of the week came from Chris Capuano, who is probably the least of Yost's worries. Of course, health will be a big issue here as well. Sheets has had a very hard time staying healthy the past couple seasons, but if guys like Villanueva can step up, they'll be a lot less dependent on Sheets in the past.