Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Ryan Howard is trying to challenge Albert Pujols for National League MVP.
Howard homered twice, doubled and drove in three runs Friday in the Phillies' 4-2 defeat of the Braves. Philadelphia now has an eight-game lead in the NL East.
"It makes you feel good when he starts hitting," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He's amazing. He'll take two swings and not look too good, then all of a sudden he stays on a pitch and smokes it out of the yard. He's a tremendous hitter."
In case you've been living under a rock for the past 17.2 innings, Dontrelle Willis is back. That frenetic, majestic delivery of his, which you see to the right, was a piece of Major League Baseball canon when he pitched for the Marlins. It was as Bob Gibson as one can get in this decade.
To understand the real-life resurgence of D-Train, I strongly suggest you read Andrew Johnson's piece. To understand his place in the history of The Dugout, I suggest you read our Wikipedia entry. Good Lord, I'm glad he's back.
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
With the recent news that Mark DeRosa is on the trade block and the White Sox have possibly landed Jake Peavy, junkies of major league baseball trade rumors got an early glimpse at what promises to be a very interesting July. It's far to0 early to know exactly who will be in the market for what -- or who can afford to take on temporary payroll in this economy -- but it's certainly fun to speculate. Let's do it.
The 6-foot-5 righty is only one season removed from high school. He pitched in advanced Single-A ball last season. Still, if you got it, you got it. Porcello has "it." So far this spring, he has a better ERA than all the rotation candidates except Verlander -- the staff ace.
MLB Power Rankings:Where we care what you've done for us lately when we break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world each week.
We're almost there. You can smell it in the air, can't you? That's right ... the NHL playoffs! Ha. I kid, of course. No one actually watches hockey (if it even exists). But people do get amped up for baseball, and the season is upon us. So, in that vein, we've got our final installment of preseason power rankings ready for your digestion. Play ball.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.
Meet the... Most disappointing team of 2008. This goes for real and for fantasy. Nearly the entire team was a massive bust last year -- I said nearly, because the man in the picture to the right was immune in fantasy -- as the team finished in last place. They've made some changes, and the players coming back need to just play better.
FanHouse breaks down the who's who and the what's what of the baseball world each week with our MLB Power Rankings.
Spring Training is always a time of year when false hopes or false assumptions are built based on performance. It might Jeff Francoeur lacing the ball, for instance. Or Yovani Gallardo stinking the joint up. But it is also a time of year when season-altering injuries are revealed. For instance, Alex Rodriguez will miss the first 10 weeks of the season because of surgery. Chipper Jones is dealing with an oblique injury. Oh, and this Manny Ramirez guy signed with the Dodgers. So even though it might seem premature to react in a knee-jerk fashion, it's not.
Hence, we have our second installment of preseason MLB Power Rankings, just to keep your jones going for America's pastime.
FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Detroit Tigers.
A preseason favorite to win the pennant a year ago, the Tigers collapsed under the weight of unreal expectations. Trading for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis was supposed to put this team over the top, but in hindsight Detroit's lineup, while potent, was never as good as it looked on paper and the pitching and defense ranked among the worst in the league.
From now until the regular season begins, Fantasy Flings is where you'll find interesting story lines about your favorite teams from Spring Training. If there is a position battle, a nagging injury, a comeback story or a youngster making a surge for the "big club" we'll let you know the fantasy implications.
Chicago White Sox The buzz around White Sox camp is position battles. Up for grabs is the third base position, center field and second base. Josh Fields and Dayan Viciedo are fighting for third and Fields has the leg up. Both hitters can mash the ball and both play suspect defense; although Fields is improving. Fields worked extensively this off-season at Camp Cora and Cora mentioned that everyone would be shocked with what they see out of Fields this year. He has three hits in six at-bats with two doubles so far this spring. Jayson Nix and his four hits in six at-bats with two doubles seem to be taking over as front-runner for the second base job thought to belong to Chris Getz. DeWayne Wise is being called the "best player this spring" and may be taking the center field job from injured Jerry Owens.
Well, that didn't take long. The Detroit Tigers have only had pitchers in Spring Training for a week and a half, but 20-year-old uber-prospect Rick Porcello is already wowing management and teammates. We already knew Porcello had a chance to reach the big club this season, and he's now off to a stellar start.
The Tigers' rotation figures to have Porcello competing with Dontrelle Willis, Zach Miner, and Nate Robertson for the fifth and final spot. If the early returns are any indication, there's no doubt which man has the highest upside for this year and beyond.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
In case you've been living under a rock for the past 17.2 innings, 
The Detroit Tigers 
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
From now until the regular season begins, 
Well, that didn't take long. The Detroit Tigers have only had pitchers in Spring Training for a week and a half, but 20-year-old uber-prospect 
