http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/21249 Recent articles about Jacoby Ellsbury en-us When I am bored, whether it be in the office or at home, I am not one to put on WFAN to listen to what people have to say about the Yankees or the Mets. My friend said he was listening to the incomparable Ann Liguori one night on the radio and she made a pretty bold statement that caught my friend's attention. She said that when the Mets outfield consists of Carlos Beltran, Endy Chavez, and Ryan Church, that it is the best defensive outfield in baseball. Upon hearing this, my friend called me to tell of this blasphemous statement and how she couldn't be any more wrong. While I agree with Ms. Liguouri that that is a very good defensive outfield, it is very hard to say that it is the best. Now I am hoping that she did in fact say this, and that I dont sound like an idiot for the next few minutes, but I am going to bring up other outfields in baseball that can match the previously named trio. Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim- Torii Hunter, Gary Matthews Jr., Garret Anderson: Torii, who for some reason spells his name like a pornstar, is possibly one of the greatest center fielders of all-time and will finish with a trillion Gold Gloves. Gary Matthews also plays exceptional defense and basically any fly ball hit to the right side of the outfield is going to be caught someway, somehow. While Anderson doesn't help the defensive side of the outfield, both Matthews and Hunter make up for the negative Anderson brings. In addition, Reggie Willits, the backup left fielder to Anderson, has a ton of range and a pretty strong arm to go along with it. Arizona Diamondbacks- Eric Byrnes, Chris B. Young, Justin Upton: Talk about a speedy outfield, I am surprised any balls drop in that ballpark. While Byrnes is on the DL, when healthy he plays with reckless abandon and no care for his own personal health. Young and Upton both have cannons for arms and cover so much ground their nickname should be UPS. Scary thing about Young and Upton are that they are still learning to play and will get better on both sides of the ball with time. While Upton does has 8 errors his year, he does have 6 assists as well and in time those errors will go away. Colorado Rockies- Matt Holiday, Willy Tavarez, Brad Hawpe: This Outfield is probably one of the more underrated in the game. Coors field has just as much, if not more, room in its outfield than any other ballpark. Hawpe has one of the top 5 strongest arms in the league and guys don't even run on him anymore. He also covers a decent amount of ground, and has help on his left in Willy Tavarez. Tavarez doesn't have the arm but his glove and speed are just as good as anyone else's. Even Holliday is a good defensive outfielder, but he gets overlooked for his offensive contributions. Boston Red Sox- Jacoby Ellsbury, CoCo Crisp, J.D. Drew: As much as i may hate to admit it, this outfield is just as good as that Mets outfield. Ellsbury and Crisp cover a lot of ground and while Crisp can't get the ball back into 2nd base sometimes, he makes so many great catches it's had to ignore his defense. In Right Field, Drew covers a good amount of ground in that spacious right field of Fenway park and has one of the stronger arms in the league. Ellsbury does it all from fielding to throwing and is only going to get better with more experience. As for the Mets outfield, it is a very solid defensive outfield, but i don't think it can be recognized as one of the best in the league. While it may measure up to these other tandems, it has plenty of flaws as well. Church covers a decent amount of ground and has had an impressive arm this season, though doesn't have the reputation of having too strong of an arm. He also has some difficulty going back on well-hit balls. Beltran plays too deep in Center Field and should maybe bring it in a couple steps. Chavez has great legs but an inconsistent arm. While it is one of the top defensive trios in the league, i think it's hard to say its the best. Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:04:35 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286657 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286657 Screaming Sports' Phil Yoon runs down several baseball Bulls and several baseball Bears in the latest edition of Stock Market. Curtis Granderson? Oh yea, he's definitely a bull. Jacoby Ellsbury? Ehhhh ... not so much. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:29:35 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285464 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285464 Prompted by a few questions on the subject, I decided to do my own version of the AL East player debates. Solely focusing on the three best teams—record-wise at the midway point—in the American League East, here are my picks for the top players at each position among the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:04:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285261 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285261 The Red Sox have lost 3 in a row now by the slimmest of margins... is the absence of David Ortiz finally catching up to them? Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:53:57 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284999 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284999 With first half of the baseball season officially in the books, Fitzy takes a candid look at the Sox and their performance on and off the field so far. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:03:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284904 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284904 Matt Garza pitched well yet again for the Tampa Bay Rays, who now lead the Red Sox by 2.5 games in the AL East. And yet again, Tim Wakefield received the tough loss. It has become a constant trend to see Wake get no run support by his Boston teammates. Most of the Red Sox hitters seemed lost up at the dish tonight, none more evident than one at bat from J.D. Drew. With one out and runners on 1st and 2nd base, Drew looked at three straight strikes without taking the bat off his shoulder. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in a 2-1 game in the top of the 8th inning, you need to get at least one of those runs across. Situations like this is a reason why many don't believe, or even have enough confidence in J.D. Drew. [...] Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:02:59 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284859 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284859 Fantasy expert Tim Williams reviews AccuScore's top 20 stolen base options for the remainder of the season, and gives you five teams who can't stop people on the base paths. Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:23:54 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281816 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281816 So who do you think will be contenders for the World Series this year? I know mine. For the N.L. right now the Cubs are doing awesome with a 47-28 record as of right now and Ryan Dempster with an 8-2 pitching record. Derrek Lee has been doing good with 15 homers also. But that is not my pick. You might not agree but my pick is the Philadelphia Phillies. They might have a lower record from the Cubs (42-33) but there doing fine. They have three very good pitchers. Ace Cole Hamels coming in a 7-4 record same record with Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick 6-3 record. The Phillies are known for there explosive offense. Chase Utley you may say that he is in a 0 for 20 Slump but he'll work his way out of it. Look at the biggining of the year. Utley Blasted 12 Homers for the month of April and has 22 Homers right now. Ryan Howard yes I know he strikes out a lot. But he been hittin homers to with 19 on the year. Pat Burrell is doing remarkable same with Brad Lidge having 18 Saves already. Now on to A.L. Three teams have doing to great Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels. Out of those three I think the Red Sox will repeat back to the World Series. I'm not an A.L. fan and I watch N.L. more then A.L. so I don't know much about A.L. But that's what I'm predicting because they have the best record in A.L. 46-30. So here is what I think the World Series will be Red Sox Vs. Phillies. I think this will go down to game 7 the last game in the series. But I think the Phillies will take it in the end barely with a 5-3 victory in game 7. That's my prediction. Tell me what's yours in a comment below. Sat, 21 Jun 2008 18:01:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280670 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280670 I loved Lou Brock. I love this kid. Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:45:58 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280330 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280330 With baseball season rapidly approaching the midway point, Screaming Sports' Phil Yoon has decided it's time to examine some early fantasy All-Stars. He continues this mini-series with a look at fantasy designated hitters and rookies, who, as you may have guessed, are led by the Rangers' Milton Bradley. Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:54:47 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279785 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279785 IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLSBURY TIME! PEANUT BUTTER JELLSBURY TIME! PEANUT BUTTER JELLSBURY TIME! So the play-on-words between my friends and I continue, the latest…..PB&Jellsbury…priceless. Today the Sox were as smooth as the white bread on my favorite sandwich. JD Drew has gone completely ape-shit, busting out four more hits today including a three-run home run in the first inning, and Papelbon closed the door once again. This Red Sox team is winning without the duties of David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Kevin Youkilis. Here was today's starting lineup: Ellsbury Pedroia Drew Lowell Casey Varitek Crisp (forced to leave with a hand injury, replaced by Brandon Moss) Lugo and the Masterpiece, Justin "don't call me Masterful" Masterson (say that five times fast) This team loves NL pitching, all they have to do is place 9 players on that field and usually a W is put on the board. Justin Masterson was very effective today yielding 2 runs on 4 hits in 5 innings of duty. JD "don't call me Nancy" Drew is on an absolute reckless tear, taking a leak on each pitcher that throws to him. He collected four more RBI's, 3 of them coming off Kyle Kendrick. Hey Kyle, I heard you were being traded to Japan…any news about that? All of this coming against a team that has put up 20+ runs twice so far this season, leads the NL East by 2.5 games, and is arguably the most overpowering offensive lineup in baseball. That doesn't matter, pitching and defense wins games and Justin Masterson delivered today, a day after Jon Lester pitched a masterful game, allowing 0 runs in 7 innings. (Had to use the masterful on him) Just think about this team when they are completely healthy. Ortiz has his cast off and Dice-K is on his way back to the rotation. Give Manny and Youk a week and their's no stopping this team. What a great time to be a Sox fan! Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:33:18 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279589 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279589 The A's and White Sox have been two of the biggest surprises in the American League this season. The two played long ball, and combined for 31 runs on Tuesday. Mike Gonzalez returns just in time to save the Atlanta bullpen, Seattle continues to flounder, Milton Bradley gets injured, and Chase Headley makes his debut. Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:12:21 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279451 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279451 Jon Lester made Ryan Howard and Pat Burell look silly last night... get the recap at The Bottom Line. Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:34:10 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279316 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279316 I haven't been keeping up as much with the Sox during the NBA Playoffs, but I do have to congratulate Jacoby Ellsbury on breaking the Red Sox rookie stolen base record. Right now he's at 33. 72 games into the season, so he could theoretically be in the middle of a 70 steal season. He's hitting .289 going into today. He's flashed a little pop in the bat from time to time. After the short time he had in the bigs last year, he had a lot of expectations placed on him (fairly or unfairly). This year, he hasn't disappointed. He has similar tools to one we used to love in CF: Johnny Damon. Disregarding the whole Yankees issue for a minute, I can look back and be happy about not re-signing Damon. It's almost as if we have Johnny Damon 2.0: The New And Improved version. Let's just hope Boras doesn't spoil this. Maybe Varitek can help out down the line. Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:05:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278608 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278608 Saturday's game started off with Ellsbury singling, going to second on a wild pitch, stealing third and scoring on a wild throw to third. Sunday's game started off with Ellsbury singling, stealing second, stealing third and then scoring on a sac-fly. That first stolen base in today's game gave him the record for most stolen bases by a Red Sox rookie (32) in a season, and the season isn't even half over. The record of 31 WAS set in 1908 by Amby McConnell. Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:44:28 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278404 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278404