In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
There is one lesson that we learn year in and year out as the postseason unfolds. The team that has their bullpen clicking is often the team that wins. Game 4 on Monday night was a microcosm of the series between the Phillies and Rockies. While they were not dominant out of the 'pen, the Phillies were able to slam the door where Colorado could not.
In the final two innings of Monday's game, the Philadelphia bullpen surrendered just one walk against Colorado's four. As close as the Rockies came to winning the game, it is unrealistic to feel confident in winning a contest in which your bullpen surrenders that many free passes to a lineup that hardly needs the help.
SAN FRANCISCO -- You know your team is having one of those magical seasons when an injury to your closer reveals that you had two all along.
Rockies closer Huston Street has been out since Sept. 1 with biceps tendinitis. That injury came just after the Giants swept the Rockies to pull into a tie for the wild-card lead.
In Street's absence, Franklin Morales has emerged as yet another pleasant surprise for upstart Colorado. He has converted all six of his save opportunities as the Rockies' wild-card lead has ballooned to 4 1/2 games heading into the start of a showdown series in San Francisco on Monday night.
Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel replaced Brad Lidge with Ryan Madson once before as the team's closer, but that was due to a Lidge injury. Now Lidge may be losing his job due to poor pitching.
On Tuesday night Lidge gave up a hit, walked one, let loose a wild pitch and hit a batter in the ninth inning while only recording one out. Manuel hopped out of the dugout and took the ball from Lidge, giving it to Madson with the bases loaded. Madson recorded his fifth save as he retired the next two batters, striking out one and ending the game with a ground ball to shortstop.
Manuel said later that he had no idea who would be the Phillies closer moving forward. He was only trying to win games.
It's been a busy week around Major League Baseball. We've seen the first round of call-ups as rosters have expanded. There has also been a recent rash of injuries to players like Huston Street, Mariano Rivera and Michael Young, and we're still unsure as to when or if Jake Peavy will return this season.
In our live fantasy baseball chat today we'll talk about all of these things. We can discuss a strong start Thursday night by Pedro Martinez and a lot of other topics that will benefit your fantasy team. Nothing fantasy baseball-related is off limits. So, stop by at 1:00 PM ET and join the party.
While injuries were the main topic, we spoke about other topics, too. We talked a little about a potential platoon situation for Lance Berkman in Houston and we threw out a handful of household names that most fantasy owners should be dumping at this point.
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
It wasn't a good day to be a top-ten closer on Wednesday. Both Mariano Rivera and Huston Street are on the shelf for a few days.
After the game Wednesday night, the Yankees told the media that Rivera was unavailable due to tightness in his groin. The 39-year-old Rivera, who has battled this injury for a while, sat out the final game of the Baltimore series but feels that he'll be back to full duty after a few days of rest.
Street seems just as optimistic after being shut down indefinitely due to biceps tendinitis in his right arm. He hopes to test the arm this weekend. If all goes well he'll be back to action in short time.
An interesting statistic just flew by me. Over the last two weeks three pitchers have blown two saves. While that's not earth shattering stuff, it is odd that two of these three pitchers play for the Seattle Mariners.
In addition to David Aardsma and Mark Lowe's inability to close out games over the last two weeks, they've also seen spikes in ERA. Aardsma hasn't had a month yet where his ERA was above 2.25. But, in August he's exploded for a 7.36 ERA. And, his 2.16 WHIP is approaching those low ERA's he enjoyed earlier. Lowe's high ERA of 4.34 from April to June has now risen to touchdown status as his post-June ERA is 6.84. These aren't the trends you want in your late inning pitchers.
The 2009 season hasn't gone according to plan for Manny Corpas. He had hoped to act as the Rockies closer, but Huston Street beat Corpas out for that role early on. Corpas also planned to stick around after returning from the disabled list on July 16. Disappointment seems to be the trend for Corpas as it was announced on Wednesday that he'll undergo surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow.
Corpas, who is 1-3 with a 5.88 ERA this season, made two appearances after returning from the 15-day disabled list. The first was a one-inning, one-hit outing. The second, however, didn't go well. He gave up three earned runs on three hits in one inning, including a home run.
One of the more popular discussions over the past few weeks has been what to do with Jimmy Rollins, whether you own him or not. We've spoken about him on a small scale in one of our recent Cram Sessions, but the topic deserves so much more.
I didn't want to trust just my opinion, so I asked the Fanhouse fantasy baseball crew to chime in on the following question:
Jimmy Rollins, a late first-or early second-round draft pick, is batting .229 with seven home runs and 16 stolen bases as we watch the All-Star Game tonight. However, over the past week he's batting .304 with five stolen bases. Most of us agree that Rollins is a superb buy- low candidate, but what would you give up right now to get him?
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.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
SAN FRANCISCO -- You know your team is having one of those magical seasons when an injury to your closer reveals that you had two all along.
Phillies
It's been a busy week around Major League 
An interesting statistic just flew by me. Over the last two weeks three pitchers have blown two saves. While that's not earth shattering stuff, it is odd that two of these three pitchers play for the 
The 2009 season hasn't gone according to plan for 
One of the more popular discussions over the past few weeks has been what to do with Jimmy Rollins, whether you own him or not. We've spoken about him on a small scale in one of our recent 
