Kansas City Royals pitcher Zach Greinke started the season and could virtually do no wrong. He won his first six starts and by the end of May he was 8-1 through 11 starts with a tiny 1.10 ERA. That's exactly when you should have traded him, at the highest point of his yearly value. I only say this with the benefit of hindsight. It's easy to look back and decide which moves should have been made.
Since the beginning of June, Greinke has made 14 starts and has a record of 3-7. His ERA has ballooned to 2.44. His earned run average is still great, he's top-five in the league, but he's losing half of his starts. How's that happening with such a great ERA?
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Cardinals took the rubber game, 3-2, in a potential playoff preview, sending the sliding Dodgers back toward the pack in the NL West. If the season ended with the standings as they were after Wednesday's game, the Cardinals and Dodgers would meet in the division series.
Actually, the Dodgers would love for the season to be over now, because their lead is looking a bit more tenuous. After the Dodgers lost for the eighth time in their past 12 games, their lead over the Rockies shrunk to 3 1/2 games, the smallest it's been since May 1. Now they've turned to Vicente Padillafor help.
One of the more interesting injury-related developments this season has been the spate of anxiety, stress and other emotional/mental issues cited as reasons for sending players to the disabled list. Dontrelle Willis, Joey Votto and Khalil Greene, who missed two games after a previous stint on the DL, have all been struck with these ailments, which has generated two general schools of response.
The first is sympathetic. Many people in this country have suffered from such problems, or have close friends or family members who have suffered, and they know that being a talented athlete doesn't make you immune. The other camp feels that these are just excuses for teams to stash away players performing poorly.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Joe Torre can manage a little bit. Torre, who for a great part of his managing career was known as a loser, got his 2,195th managerial win Thursday night to pass Sparky Anderson and move into fifth on the all-time list.
Incredibly, Torre has taken his team to the postseason in 13 consecutive seasons, and given the Dodgers' ever-expanding lead in the NL West, he's likely to make it 14 in 2009. Even with the loss of Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles is 13-4-5 in 22 series this season, including taking two out of three from Oakland this week.
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.
So, quick apology on my part: the Power Rankings were supposed to go live Wednesday, but things happened, I'm a jerkstore, excuses, etc., and here we are. It's not Wednesday! So please note that the records reflect Wednesday -- not Thursday, not Friday, not Saturday. Don't freak out in the comments and call me names. Please. I can't take that in my fragile emotional state right now. I might turn into Raul Ibanez, at which point I would yell at you and then strain my groin. And that wouldn't be good for anyone.
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 you think of Chicago Cubs starting pitchers, you first think of Carlos Zambrano. Next is probably Rich Harden, especially in terms of sheer talent -- plus, the injury woes probably keep him fresh in your mind. After last season, Ryan Dempster should be hanging out in your baseball-knowledge-filled brain as well. The best Cubs' starter of 2009, though, has been Ted Lilly. After yet another quality start Sunday, the Cubs' left-hander is 7-4 with a 2.94 ERA and 1.06 WHIP.
When the Detroit Tigers got Jeremy Bonderman back on Monday, it presented somewhat of a problem for the team. If Bonderman pitched well enough to earn a spot back in the rotation, exactly whose spot would he take? Well, Bonderman didn't pitch very well in that first start, giving up six runs in four-plus innings, but Dontrelle Willis followed Bonderman's start by walking five in five innings on Tuesday.
So, really, the decision the Tigers had to make was which one of their two options would do the least damage to the team every five days. Not an easy decision to make, but it looks like the Tigers have made it. On Friday, they placed Bonderman back on the disabled list.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Yankees are a .654 team against everyone else, but a .000 team when they face the Red Sox. Yes, Boston and New York hooked up for their third series of the season beginning Tuesday night, but despite the Yankees' surge up the AL East standings since the last time the rivals met, they dropped to 0-6 against the Sox this season.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Ever since Khalil Greene was a kid, he knew that he took things more seriously than the other kids.
And not in a good way.
On the day that Greene was placed on the disabled list because of social anxiety disorder, the Cardinals shortstop described a long-running pattern of emotional problems in an interview with FanHouse.
Kansas City Royals pitcher Zach Greinke started the season and could virtually do no wrong. He won his first six starts and by the end of May he was 8-1 through 11 starts with a tiny 1.10 ERA. That's exactly when you should have traded him, at the highest point of his yearly value. I only say this with the benefit of hindsight. It's easy to look back and decide which moves should have been made.
Starting Five
One of the more interesting injury-related developments this season has been the spate of anxiety, stress and other emotional/mental issues cited as reasons for sending players to the disabled list. 
Starting Five
MLB Power Rankings
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
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