Two weeks ago New York Mets third baseman David Wright took a fastball to the head and hasn't played since. It's a scene that was not only scary for Wright, but for anybody who saw him fall to the ground in a heap afterward. It's just one of those instances that nobody wants to see happen in a baseball game, but is bound to from time to time. Just ask Scott Rolen, Marco Scutaro and Edgar Gonzalez.
So it's no surprise that baseball is always trying to further protect its players, and their latest step in doing so involves a new helmet made by Rawlings called the S100. Every team in the majors has been sent a few for players to try out for the rest of the season, and starting in 2010 the helmet will be mandatory in the minor leagues.
Right-hander Aaron Harang's season is over for the Cincinnati Reds, as the team announced he underwent an emergency appendectomy Saturday night.
Harang, 31, went 6-14 despite a not-as-awful 4.21 ERA, thanks to the third-worst run support in the National League. He leads the NL in losses and hits allowed (186 in 162 1/3 innings). He won just one of his final 16 starts, going 1-10 with a 4.78 ERA
To fill the roster spot, third baseman Scott Rolen was activated from the disabled list.
Rolen, acquired from Toronto in late July, had been out because of a concussions suffered Aug. 2 when he was hit in the head by a pitch from Colorado's Jason Marquis. Rolen played in two Triple-A rehabilitation games, going 2-for-6 with an RBI.
After just four games in a Cincinnati Reds uniform, Scott Rolen is headed to the disabled list. The Reds put him on the 15-day DL Tuesday afternoon to give him time to recover from a concussion he received from a Jason Marquis fastball just two days after the Reds acquired him at the trade deadline. Rolen has tried to play through the injury twice, but apparently the team and their doctors have decided that the best thing for Rolen is rest.
With the Reds well out of contention for 2009, it certainly doesn't make sense for Rolen to try and push himself and risk another head injury while he's recovering from this one. The risk/reward ratio in this scenario skews way too heavily to the wrong side for the Reds and so the decision to put him on the DL here seems like the right one.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That it's possible to get ejected by the home plate umpire when you're standing in center field. That's exactly what happened to Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino, who questioned a call by Ed Rapuano in the seventh inning of Philadelphia's 12-3 loss to Florida by gesturing and jumping up and down in center and was then run from the game.
After Rapuano threw Victorino out, the speedy outfielder known as the Flyin' Hawaiian sprinted all the way to the infield to challenge his decision. It appeared he was going to make contact with the umpire, but he denied that was the case, explaining:
It looks unlikely that Roy Halladay will be on the move, but the Blue Jays did shed payroll Friday afternoon, dealing third baseman Scott Rolen to the Reds for Edwin Encarnacion and two minor leaguers, a source tells FanHouse.
Cincinnati has rapidly fallen out of the NL Central race over the last few weeks, losing nine of its last 10 games to slide into fifth place in the division and draw the ire of manager Dusty Baker, who criticized his team for their lifeless play.
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.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
When Paul Konerko finished 2008 with a dismal .240 average and only 22 HRs, most fantasy players were quick to write off the 33-year-old Chicago first baseman as finished. A deeper look into the stats revealed two consecutive seasons with poor BABIPs (batting average on balls in play), alerting the shrewd among us that Konerko might have just been the victim of an unlucky two-year streak. Sure enough, his BABIP is back to its normal level in 2009, and it was kind enough to bring along Konerko's batting average.
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.
It's a funny thing, sometimes, to see how Power Rankings shape up over the course of the season. Just like when we started the year, there are a number of teams from one particular division sitting atop the rankings. Of course, there are plenty of surprises -- WHERE DID THE FREAKING GIANTS AND ROCKIES COME FROM?? -- and some other interesting stuff, like the fact that the Mets and Cubs just haven't been that good, which we discussed on the inaugural BaseCast recently.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Adam LaRoche, he of the longest swing in the majors, is starting to heat up. In the last 9 games, he's hit .387 with 3 home runs, 5 RBI, 4 runs, 2 doubles, a .444 on-base percentage and 1.186 OPS. If his career history is any indicator, we can expect things to continue along this pace.
It's just that he's starting things up a bit early. In LaRoche's career, he's been two different players per season. Just look at his splits. He's a decent hitter with good power in through June. From July on, though, he's a good hitter with great power.
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
I think we can all agree that it's far too early to start voting upon who the best 2009 players are when it's only the middle of May. That being said, there are certainly some shining stars at this point who deserve some props. Plus, Major League Baseball recently released their All-Star ballots for our voting pleasure -- we vote on who will start the All-Star Game. If that's not important, I don't know what is. Let's take a gander.
Two weeks ago New York Mets third baseman David Wright took a fastball to the head and hasn't played since. It's a scene that was not only scary for Wright, but for anybody who saw him fall to the ground in a heap afterward. It's just one of those instances that nobody wants to see happen in a baseball game, but is bound to from time to time. Just ask Scott Rolen, Marco Scutaro and Edgar Gonzalez.
Right-hander 
After just four games in a 
Starting Five
It looks unlikely that 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
