On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups
It's been a week of change for Mr. CC Sabathia. Not only did he decide that former Cy Young Award winners don't need to subscribe to the rules of the english language and drop the periods from his initials, but tonight he'll also be taking a pitchers mound in a Brewers jersey for the first time.
Whether or not this move ends up in a playoff appearance for the Brewers this season, it was a move they had to make. After deciding to stand pat at the trade deadline last season--save for adding Scott Linebrink--the Brewers faded down the stretch before losing the division to the Chicago Cubs. To not make a move this season would have told the fans that while they don't mind winning in Milwaukee, it's really all about making a profit.
Now everybody knows that the Brewers only have on goal, and that's to win a championship.
Will CC be the man to help them get there? I'm not sure, but we'll start to find out tonight. Really, the only thing I'm truly interested in during tonight's game will be whether or not Sabathia can restrain himself from trying to eat any contestants in the sausage race.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups
Toronto Blue Jays (16-17) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (16-15) - 7:07PM Est.
It's been a few weeks since the Blue Jays cut themselves loose of slugger Frank Thomas because he just wasn't contributing anything on offense for them. Since that move, the Blue Jays still haven't scored very many runs, pushing only 37 runners across the plate in the 14 post-Thomas era games. Generally when you're only scoring 2.6 runs a game, you aren't going to win much, and the Blue Jays haven't going 6-8 in those games.
Over the last few days, though, Toronto has figured out how to win without scoring runs, and that's just not letting your opponent score any either.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups San Francisco Giants (6-9) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (10-4) - 3:45PM Est.
Seeing as how the theme of the day here at FanHouse is new rivalries to replace the Yankees/Red Sox one we've all been force fed for years (Hey, did you know that the Yankees and Red Sox are playing again today? And that's it's on ESPN? It's only like the 18th time already this season! Don't miss it!) I'd like to dedicate today's On Deck to our friends on the left coast.
I'll start if off with the only day game on the slate today, as the unstoppable force that is the Arizona Diamondbacks look to bury the San Francisco Giants a little deeper in the NL West. It's also the only game on today's docket that features two Cy Young Award winners, though both pitchers are headed in completely opposite directions. Brandon Webb starts for Arizona tonight, and he's looking to get off to the first 4-0 start of his career. Webb is coming off another stellar performance against the Rockies and is 3-0 with a 2.14 ERA this season. He's also 4-0 with a 2.96 ERA against the Giants since 2006. The Giants will counter with Barry Zito's ghost, and though Barry pitched well against the Cardinals in his last start, he's still 0-3 and trying to avoid the first 0-4 start in his career. Zito has a record of 2-3 in his career against the Diamondbacks, but his ERA of 2.73 indicates he hasn't gotten much support from his teammates in those starts. If he doesn't show up tonight, don't be surprised if he's drowned in McCovey Cove after the game.
You might just take a look at the headline and find it to be boring at first glance. Maybe it is. But mark my words, the aforementioned decision by Clint Hurdle will influence the series in some way or another. Remember Dave Roberts in 2004? Yeah, that could be Willy Taveras. I'm sure that's what Mr. Hurdle had in mind when he left his opening day starter off the NLCS playoff roster.
In what manager Clint Hurdle called "the hardest decision that I've had to talk [about] with a player since I've been in uniform," the Rockies will not activate right-hander Aaron Cook, their staff leader and Opening Day starter. Cook has not pitched since Aug. 10, because of a strained oblique muscle.
Southpaw Mark Redman was also left off the playoff roster. Currently, the Rockies have Jeff Francis slated to pitch game one, followed by Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Fogg, and Franklin Morales. Judging completely by NLDS performance, this rotation makes perfect sense. And frankly, I can't blame Hurdle for not wanting to take a chance with Cook. Sometimes the tough decisions are the ones that need to be made, rather than the sentimental ones.
Like a ship losing its steam, the Atlanta Braves aren't afraid to lose cargo to move faster. First, it was Craig Wilson with his .172 batting average and $2 million contract. Tonight, it's Mark Redman who got "chopped" (sorry) off the Braves as -- like Wilson -- he failed to put up any sort of numbers that made him a better option than anything the Braves had in Richmond. You'll remember that Redman was originally signed to help ease the pain of losing Mike Hampton for the first two months of the season (which turned into the entire season). But Redman's numbers were atrocious: an 0-4 record, an ERA of 11.68, and 38 hits in 21 and 2/3's of an inning.
But the story here isn't so much that Redman got cut ... the story is that the Braves aren't afraid to cut veterans who aren't providing anything. It not only speaks of a good farm system, but of a team not afraid to use it. They never have been afraid as players constantly come up out of seemingly nowhere to fill whatever holes they might have, from Jeff Francoeur to Chuck James to Jarrod Saltalamacchia to Scott Thorman and on and on and on. Look at the outing Kyle Davies had tonight: eight solid innings (and a three run HR!) against the New York Mets to bring them to within one and a half games behind them for first place. 2005 first round pick Joey Devine will be the next Braves farm guy to show he's worthy of sticking with the Braves as he was called up in Redman's place.
A good farm system means you don't ever have to be afraid to cut your losses and say you're sorry for making mistakes in free agency (although Redman was a mistake out of necessity). The next player on the chopping block is surely Andruw Jones and his .212 average.
April should be renamed Dontrelle Willis Month. That's how dominant Willis has been in his career in the month of April. After tonight's 11-4 victory over Atlanta, in which Willis got the win after pitching seven strong innings, he's now close to matching Babe Ruth's record for best career win percentage in the month of April. The Bambino went 13-1 in April (.929), and Willis is nipping at his heels at 12-1 (.923).
Baseball is great because numbers have special significance, but you'll forgive Dontrelle if .929 doesn't hold quite the same hold on America's psyche as 714 once did.
Willis never thought about the record because he had no idea of it. "Not at all. No disrespect to him (Ruth), but I didn't know about it," said Willis, who was well aware of his April handiwork. "Yeah. It's one of those weird things in baseball. I wish I could pitch like I do in April for six months," he said. Willis' only loss in 18 April starts was last season, a 3-1 setback at Chicago. The 25-year-old will try to match Ruth's record next week - probably Wednesday - at the New York Mets.
As much as Willis is cash money in April, he's just as much money in the bank against the Mets. Lifetime, Willis is 11-2 with a 2.02 ERA against the Flushing Nine. Looks like the Babe will be setting a place at the record table for the D-Train.
The Braves, meanwhile, are starting to miss Mike Hampton more than I thought they would. Mark Redman couldn't get out of the third inning, giving up seven runs in 2 and 2/3's of an inning, and his ERA is so large it's sponsored by the Good Year Blimp (12.96).
For the first time in practically a year and a half (technically a year and three days), the Atlanta Braves have returned to the tip top of the N.L. East with their late inning 3-2 victory over the Mets. Who knows how long they will stay there ... but beating the defenders of the division two out of three certainly makes a statement. The statement, in case you thought I was just throwing out the "statement" cliché, would be that they now have the bullpen to shut down people in the late innings in Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano, and Bob Wickman. Meanwhile the Mets have to do at least a little bit of worrying about theirs, as it was Aaron Heilman who gave up the lead in the eighth to Atlanta on three straight doubles to help give them their victory.
The bad news for Atlanta is that Mike Hampton's recovery might not be as quick as first thought, as a sore throwing elbow curtailed his bullpen session today...
"We shut down due to discomfort in his elbow," Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell said. When asked if Hampton was frustrated, McDowell said "Probably so. I think anybody would be."
With starters five deep in Smoltz, Hudson, James, Redman, and Kyle Davies who pitched well today, the Braves aren't going to miss Mike Hampton all that much as long as their bullpen keeps pitching as well as they have been. Mike Hampton will merely make a good team better when (if?) he makes his grand return in 2007.
The Braves pitching corps got a boost when Bobby Cox revealed that Mike Hampton might not miss two months with his oblique strain after all.
After evaluating how Hampton rebounds on Sunday, Braves manager Bobby Cox will begin to set a timetable for his return.
"We're trying to get one that gets him here around May 7," said Cox, who has been amazed by the surprising improvement Hampton has realized over the last week with his strained left oblique muscle.
Even if the Braves were to miss Hampton for the full two months, they seem to have enough starting pitching depth to get them by with John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, and Chuck James up top ... along with Kyle Davies, Mark Redman, and Lance Cormier at the back of the rotation. Two of them will eventually strengthen an improved bullpen when Hampton does return. A scenario which only sees Hampton miss five starts is good news ... the only question would be how long it would take Hampton to shake off the rust.
Mark Redman made his Braves debut on Saturday, giving up three hits and a run in three innings against the Blue Jays in Orlando. It's a good thing Mark Redman finally found a job, his life was taking a turn for the worse as he obsessively monitored the web trying to figure out which team would finally sign him.
"I'm so sick of ESPN and MLB.com and FoxSportsNet.com and SI.com," Redman said. "No offense, you guys do great coverage and everything. But I tell you what, my eyes hurt from looking at those computers so many times."
I can see it now, Mark Redman lands on the DL with eye strain. Maybe he'll wind up getting some advice on corrective lenses from Jayson Werth like Pat Burrell does.
His daily search always began with MLB.com, which he has set as his home page. Because so many of his searches proved futile over the past four months, he's now joking that he should begin his days with something that provides him a little less stress.
"I turn on my computer and the darn thing pops up MLB.com," Redman said. "I should have it on eBay or something."
You think eBay is less stressful? Are you kidding me? Mark, you don't know stress until you're staring down an eBay listing for a cheese toast with Jesus' face burnt into it with 2 minutes left and you're in a battle with someone with a high speed connection and you have dial up. I've lost many a cheese toast that way. Less stress? May I suggest a website about kittens?
How often do you lose a pitcher to injury and are able to find an all-star on the free agent market to fill the void?
All right, so he was an all-star only because the rules of the game state that every team has to be represented in the game, but Mark Redman was more intriguing to the Braves than some of the options that were made available to them. Thus, Redman now fills the void left by Mike Hampton's oblique injury instead of Rockies starters Byung-Hyun Kim or Josh Fogg.
I could sit here and give you stats upon stats that really aren't going to impress you all that much, but keep this in mind: Including 2007, Mark Redman will have spent six seasons with six different clubs. How many all-stars do you know who have spent six seasons with six clubs, and nine seasons with seven clubs, and also got himself a World Series ring along the way (Florida, 2003)? Not many. And how many all-stars do you know that has to wait until March 9th to be employed the following season?
Not to make Mark Redman feel bad, but Steve Trachsel and his 4.97 ERA in the National League found a job sooner than Redman did (although that was due to injury as well). But good luck to Mark Redman ... the Braves could have done worse.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups
You might just take a look at the headline and find it to be boring at first glance. Maybe it is. But mark my words, the aforementioned decision by 
Like a ship losing its steam, the Atlanta Braves aren't afraid to lose cargo to move faster. First, it was Craig Wilson with his .172 batting average and $2 million contract. Tonight, it's Mark Redman who got "
April should be renamed Dontrelle Willis Month. That's how dominant Willis has been in his career in the month of April. After tonight's 
For the first time in practically a year and a half (technically 
The Braves pitching corps got a boost when Bobby Cox revealed that Mike Hampton 
Mark Redman made his Braves debut on Saturday, giving up three hits and a run in three innings 
How often do you lose a pitcher to injury and are able to find an all-star on the free agent market to fill the void?
