"My dad was a really good athlete (Kenny Ross, who played safety at New Mexico in the late 1960s)," said Ross, the Marlins' right fielder. "My dad was all right[-handed]. My mom's a lefty, so maybe I got that gene from her."
Ross and St. Louis' Ryan Ludwick are the only two active position players who throw left and bat right. Just 14 such players in baseball history have gotten as many as 1,000 at-bats -- and that list now includes a Hall of Famer, Rickey Henderson.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
The team might not win a lot of games, but it sure is fun watching the Washington Nationals hit.
In yesterday's 8-3 win against Milwaukee, the Nationals received dingers from Christian Guzman, Adam Dunn, and Ryan Zimmerman. The round-tripper was Guzman's fifth of the year. Seeing Dunn and Zimmerman display some power is nothing new for Nationals fans; in fact, the pair has hit homers in the same game four times in August and the seventh time this season. The round-tripper was Guzman's fifth of the year.
We're roughly 35 hours short of the MLB deadline for teams to sign their draft picks, and in spite of what's reported as a record-breaking contract offer to Washington Nationals first pick Stephen Strasburg, the two sides have yet to come to an agreement. It could just be another instance of Scott Boras wanting to wait until the last minute in hopes of forcing his opponent to crack, or Strasburg may just be dead set on not wanting to pitch for the Nationals.
We won't really know until late Monday, early Tuesday, but after reading some comments from Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman on the subject, I'm wondering if the Nats might be better off having him handle the negotiations. The man speaks the truth.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
The Nationals of all teams are the hottest club in baseball. They've won five straight games, scoring no fewer than five runs in each of their six games in August. Mike MacDougal recorded saves in four of those five wins, but the real hero in Washington is Ryan Zimmerman.
WASHINGTON -- In the middle of a dismal year, it's been a banner week for the Nationals.
Actually, a banner couple of weeks.
Washington has won five straight and 11 of its last 16 games. That new-manager bump the club expected when Jim Riggleman replaced Manny Acta over the All-Star break seems to have taken hold after Riggleman lost his first five games out of the gate.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Nearly a month ago, we ran out a roundtable on Jimmy Rollins, advising you to trade for the underperforming shortstop. Well, his struggles seem like a distant memory now. Rollins is not only back, he's one of the hottest middle infielders in fantasy baseball. Oh, and he's also one funny dude (great Dick's commercial if you've never seen it).
Just how hot is J-Roll? Let's go to the statistical tape ...
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
In 2005, Tom Gorzelanny pitched in the majors for the first time. He was just 22. Two years later, he went 14-10 with a 3.88 ERA -- logging more than 200 innings in 32 starts for the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates. He did allow too many hits, but he was only 25 years old, so it appeared he would settle in as an anchor for the ever-rebuilding Pirates.
Instead, he had a disastrous past two seasons and had been relegated to the minors. Last week, Gorzelanny was traded to the Cubs, and Tuesday night he passed his Cubs debut with flying colors.
ST. LOUIS -- Ryan Zimmerman, the Nationals' only All-Star, said Manny Acta wasn't to blame for the team's 26-61 record. But Zimmerman said that with Acta's firing Monday, some players might benefit from no longer having to wonder if Acta would survive.
"I think we're a pretty young team, we're a close-knit group," Zimmerman said. "Obviously as bad as we've played, as rough as a season as it has been for us, we show up to the park every day [in] good spirits and we have fun. And we look forward to getting better. As far as it being a relief -- I don't know if it's a relief but it's kind of getting rid of the distraction, maybe, for some people. ... I think for some of the younger guys, maybe it was wearing on them."
Acta's job status came into question a month ago. Now the Nats are just two games ahead of (behind?) the pace of the 1962 Mets, the only team in modern baseball history to lose 120 games. Those Mets were 24-63 through 87 games.
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
The most remarkable thing about this season as we hit the not-halfway halfway point of the All-Star break isn't Albert Pujols' RBI total. Or Zack Greinke's ERA. Or the PED suspension of one of the game's biggest stars.
It's the standings. And they not only reflect the season so far, they give us a clue as to the weeks head leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline.
The Phillies and Dodgers are the only first-place team with a lead of more than 2 1/2 games. And 21 of the 30 teams are within 7 1/2 games of a playoff spot: nine of 14 in the AL and 12 of 16 in the NL.
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
We're roughly 35 hours short of the MLB deadline for teams to sign their draft picks, and in spite of what's reported as 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
WASHINGTON -- In the middle of a dismal year, it's been a banner week for the Nationals.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
ST. LOUIS -- 
