Yardbarker: Troy Tulowitzki

Have a day Tulo

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:49:16 -0500

Everyone please stand up. OK. Now - put your hands together and start clapping. Why are you clapping? Because Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has finally arrived for the 2008 season. Last night - Tulo went 5-for-5 at the plate........

Under my microscope: Delgado picks it up

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:05:42 -0500

Trade rumors are swirling around Brian Fuentes, but he's pitching impressively in the meantime, says Mike Harmon. Also, fantasy news on the Mets and latest injury updates on Takashi Saito, Chris Carpenter, Bobby Jenks and David Ortiz. How will Scott Kazmir's and Dan Uggla's performance in the All-Star game affect them?

MiLB ... AA-Springfield edges Tulsa with rally in ninth

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:08:38 -0500

News regarding the St. Louis Cardinals' Double-A affiliate Springfield Cardinals.

Second Half Players to Watch

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:23:24 -0500

Every year there's a select group of players that have a great second half. These are the players that can be the difference between you winning your league or finishing in the middle of the pack and having to listen to "Johnny I Didn't Even Watch a Game" brag about how he beat you. Some players tend to warm up when the weather does, and others had such poor first half's that I can't see a repeat in the second half. So let's go around the horn and look at who I think will turn things around post All Star break.

What Makes a Player an All Star?

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:13:30 -0500

Is an all star a one dimensional player who can hit the cover off the ball? I would consider a true all star to be a player that is as above average both offensively AND defensively. Willie Mays was one of those rare players, so was Carl Yastrzemski and more recently, players like Dustin Pedroia, Ken Griffey Jr., the younger Barry Bonds and Ivan Rodriguez. These players either had or have gold glove caliber defensive skills (feel free to add any of the many that I've left out in the comments section) to go along with their superior offensive prowess at their position. It is my opinion that in today's game, offense is more sought after by the fans than defense, just look at the All Star game selections every year, or MLB awards such as the MVP or rookie of the year. For example, the winner of last year's NL rookie of the year should have gone to the better all around player, Colorado SS Troy Tulowitzki. Sure the defensive minded have the Gold Glove awards, but hitters get an unfair advantage for both the silver slugger awards and the MVP. A true MVP should also be an outstanding fielder as well, but that's a story for another post! This year, there was an uproar as to why the players in the AL selected Boston's Jason Varitek to be a reserve selection onto the 2008 All Star team. The main complaint has been that he's not the best "hitting" catcher in the AL. Heck, he's only hitting around .220 and his typically good OBP is either just under or just over .300, but what I think the other AL players were taking into consideration is the fact that Varitek is a darn good defensive catcher. He is the only catcher to have ever caught 4 no-hitters! He caught Hideki Nomo's (2001), Derek Lowe's (2002), Clay Buchholz's (last September) and Jon Lester's (this year). To read up on the accomplishment, just click HERE. 12 other catchers have caught 3 and Varitek came one hit away from catching Schilling's attempt last year in Oakland (before Buchholz), but Schilling did what he almost never does, he shook off Varitek. That would have been the 3rd, which would have made Buchholz's the 4th and Lester's his 5th. Here's what Schilling had to say about his 1-hitter after the game, thanks to an article in the Boston Globe by Gordon Edes: "I had a plan," Schilling said. "I shook 'Tek off. And I've got the big 'what if' for the rest of my life." To read the rest of this article, click HERE. For years, the Cardinal's SS Ozzie Smith, the Wizard of OZ, wowed the MLB with his glove and appeared in many All Star games, even when he wasn't hitting well, but he was SO good defensively, who complained? Somewhere down the road, we as fans have missed that ideal in recent years. I say we should embrace great defense as highly s we do offense. Chicks may dig the long ball, but real fans should have a deep appreciation for good, solid defense once again, too!

NL All Crap Team

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:09:28 -0500

Screw the All Star Game let's put together a roster from those that have been utter disappointments this season.

C: Carlos Ruiz - With a lot of bad awful terrible catchers out there, Ruiz takes the cake this season. He's hitting .206 with only 2 home runs in the band box in Philly.
1B: Todd Helton - His power #s have been in a steady decline for awhile but now he's not even hitting for average, registering in at .266 so far this season.
2B: Freddy Sanchez - The former batting champ is now hitting .226 with a .253 on base % and a .307 slugging %. Ouch.
3B: Geoff Blum - Not that surprisingly Geoff Blum hasn't been very good. He's hitting .219 for the Stros.
SS: Omar Vizquel - Old Man River has been basically the worst hitter in baseball history.
OF: Eric Byrnes - Captain hussle, has not been hustling too much with multiple trips to the DL and only 4 steals and 6 homers to his name.
OF: Andruw Jones - Whatever has happenned to ole Andruw Jones. No longer a beast, he's now a player fans are grateful to have on the DL and not on the field.
OF: Corey Patterson - Somehow still on the roster despite an OPS of .562, but mercifully relegated out of the Reds starting lineup.

Bench: J.R. Towles - Basically you can pick out any bad catcher for the backup position but Towles was the rookie de jour coming into this season and well he's hitting .152.
Bench: Felipe Lopez - A utility man of awful this season. He's mixed time at SS and 2B and is
Bench: Troy Tulowitzki - While not spending massive amounts of time on the DL, Tulowitzki is hitting under .170.
Bench: Khalil Greene - Hitting .222 on a team that needs hitting more than any other in the league.
Bench: Michael Bourn - His massive amount of steals be damned, the guy has an OPS of .571.
Bench: Wily Mo Pena - Wily Mo is having a major major power outage this year with only 2 homers while hitting .210.

SP: Barry Zito - Who wouldn't want to pay 200+ million for 12 pre-all star break losses.
SP: Brett Myers - So bad that the Phillies decided to send him to the minors to get straightened out.
SP: Ian Snell - Looking like an emerging young star after last season, Snell has an ERA of 5.88 before landing on the DL.
SP: Brad Penny - Formerly an All Star game starter, Penny has an ERA well above 5 and is now on the DL.
SP: Mark Hendrickson - The opening day starter for the Marlins now sits with a bunch of losses and an ERA above 6.
SP: Tom Gorzelanny - Gorzo was terrific at times last season. This year he has 7 losses and an ERA above 6.
RP: Guillermo Mota - Former Steroid User Guillermo Mota has been so bad the last month he's gone from closer to be to ERA above 6.
RP: Scott Proctor - The former Yankee who was abused by Torre, is now abused once again in LA where he has called himself out for being so terrible.
RP: Luis Vizcaino - He was a Type B free agent, meaning the Yankees got a draft pick for letting him go. Now he has an ERA above 9 for the Rockies.
RP: Manny Corpas - Corpas went from looking like Mariano in the postseason last year to out of the closers job in a flash.
CL: Eric Gagne - Continued his miserable performances with the Red Sox last year with Milwaukee this year.

Tulowitzki's Freak Injury

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:27:04 -0500

As if things weren't going bad enough on the field for the Colorado Rockies, now they can't even catch a break off of it. Over the weekend, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki went back on the DL with a hurt hand, just three weeks after returning from a torn thigh tendon that cost him 46 games. The most noteworthy and bizarre aspect of this, however, is how Tulowitzki did this...

MLB Injury Report

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:11:39 -0500

Written by Consigliere Troy Tulowitzki Tulowitzki received 16 stitches in his palm and will miss 2-3 weeks. Paul Konerko Konerko is expected to return to the lineup on Tuesday. Alfonso Soriano It's looking less and less likely that Sori will be able to return for the All-Star Game. Jeff Francoeur He's not hurt, but he's been sent to Double-A to work on his swing. Eric Byrnes Byrnes may undergo surgery and miss the rest of the year.

Weekly Fantasy Dish- 2nd Half Preview

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:55:20 -0500

This week's edition is going to take a look at a few players who are either going to have big second halves of the season, or go down faster than Alex Rodriguez's divorce settlement. Yeah, it's a low blow at AROD but who doesn't want to take one at him? 2nd Half Studs Alexis Rios OF TOR- What a disappointment Rios has been so far this year for fantasy owners. At 27 years-old, Rios was expected to have a season of around .290 BA, 25 HR, and 100 RBI with around 30 SB. While the average and steals are there (21 already), Rios hasn't seemed to have found his power stroke this season. Lately, Rios has been heating up with 5 multi-hit games in his last 12 contests, while also stealing 6 bases in that span. In the past, Rios has performed well before the all-star break and faltered afterwards. This season, however, Rios won't let that happen again because his how he has underperformed this year and he is primed to make all the critics bite their tongues. The only way he'll do that is if it hits some balls over the fences in the Rogers Centre (Not Center). Troy Tulowitzki SS COL- I have been making fun of Tully all season long because of how poorly he has been playing since opening day. However, i am pulling for him to make a big turn around after the break, and finish the season like he did last year. Last year, he hit nearly .300, while hitting 15 HR and driving in 61 runs after the break. While it is clear Tully isn't the same as he was last season, he isn't as bad as his paltry numbers have shown this year. It did help that last year all of the Colorado Rockies took some sort of magical pixie dust to help them get to the World Series but something tells me there's some dust left somewhere for them to find with a wide open NL West. Tully is like an unattractive Derek Jeter in the sense that if you go to a bar and you see Jeter, the girls you are with are leaving you and you are taking a taxi alone tonight. If you were at that same bar and Tulowitzki walked in, those same girls would say who is that guy, as you and your buddy would freak out and try and get his autograph. However, if you acted too much like a 5 year-old, you would still be going home alone that night, but the girls wouldn't be going home with T squared. (And yes I do love giving Tully nicknames) Takashi Saito RP LAD- His numbers are a bit high for him, except for saves, but Saito is one of the best fantasy closers out there in the last 2 calendar years. This season he has only committed 16 saves and has a higher ERA than usual. However, with the Dodgers making a push for the NL West title, there will be more close games for Saito to close down and even last season after the all-star break, he was able to get his ERA down from 1.47??!?!?! How do you get your ERA to go down at 1.47??? Saito also strikes out a good number of batters and should expect to see more innings as the year goes along. If he falters, which he shouldn't, expect to see "Serial Killer" Jonathan Broxton mopping up games for the Dodgers. 2nd Half Duds Kevin Youkilis 1B BOS- The starting 1st baseman in this year's all-star game has earned his right to be there. However, in his past 2 season, Youkilis hasn't played close to the same level he does from March to July. Last season, Youk hit .90 points lower that his average in the first half, and also around .40 pts lower the year before. While he hasn't shown signs of slowing down now, it appears his intensity level is too high to maintain all season long and he tends to rest himself until September, when the games mean the most. Youk is also one of the toughest guys to strike out in baseball, but last season he struck out 25 more times in the 2nd half than he did in the 1st half. I don't expect a huge dropoff in production from Youkilis, but there should be a drop in his numbers all around. Cliff Lee SP CLE- With the C.C. Sabathia trade in the news, it appears that the Cleveland Indians have officially made CLEE their staff ace. Lee has never been one to handle pressure and now the team expects to build around him and Fausto Carmona, which can be the best spanish soap opera name possible, and you know some spanish actor trying to make it big got mad when he saw that Fausto Carmona was taken. I digress, the point is that in 2007, Lee completely fell apart after the all-star break, being sent down to the minors with an ERA of around 10. The same probably won't happen this year because of how well he has been throwing but i don't see Lee hanging out to the Cy Young Award for the rest of the year and i can see his numbers slowly rise, start by start. Dan Uggla 2B FLA- Uggla wasn't expected to have the type of season he is having this year and for good reason. The power numbers aren't too ridiculous from Uggla (23 HR, 58 RBI) but it's that plus .280 BA that throws me off. Last year, Uggla didn't hit over .250 and it was deemed his 2006 season was a fluke. Even in that season Uggla's numbers dropped off and did so again in 2007. Uggla isn't going to hit 40 HR and drive in 115 runs, and he probably will finish the year hitting around .260. It would be too much to expect the same type of production from Uggla in the 2nd half of the season and it would be wise to watch him carefully as the year reaches the "halfway" point.

Midseason All-Demotion Team (yea the guys that need to be sent to the minor leagues)

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:34:30 -0500

In lieu of the recent trend of teams demoting established players (Phillies' starter Brett Myers, Indians' closer Joe Borowski, and young Braves' slugger Jeff Francouer -- even though Francouer has scored 40 runs, hit 8 HR, and driven in 41 RBI), we examine those players who have failed to meet expectations and would be well deserving of a demotion including "All-Star" Jason Varitek. See who else joins Varitek, Andruw Jones, and Eric Gagne ...

2008 Fantasy Baseball All-Let Down Team

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 06:29:40 -0500

Fellow fantasy baseball tragics, with the All-Star break fast approaching, I thought it was time to take stock of all those blokes that have collectively made mine and possibly your fantasy baseball season a disaster thusfar.

The dumbest injuries in sports

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:54:23 -0500

This is certainly not a new list but in honour of Troy Tulowitzki's freak accident on Friday, we had to revisit the best of the best in terms of dumbest sports injuries ever.

RockPile Files: Three Legitimate Questions

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:26:40 -0500

Yesterday, while attempting to digest, accept, and move forward from what happened in Kansas City, I wrote down three legitimate questions I think we can ask about this current Rockies team. Granted, there are far more than three questions/concerns that need to be addressed, but these relate to the here and now. I'll list and then answer [...]

Top 11 MLB players that should be traded

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:23:44 -0500

by DMtShooter, Five Tool Tool

11. Rich Harden, SP, Oakland A's. He's dominant when healthy, and not nearly healthy enough for the small market A's to make a commitment to. Even though the team is 7 games above .500 and has an outside chance at the post-season this year, the plan is for 2009, and considering that they've got Chad Gaudin in the bullpen, Harden will go to a rich contender that's willing to overpay for a guy whose shoulder gives off a ticking sound. There's also this: his home park makes him look better than he is, not that he's not filthy.

10. Adrian Beltre, 3B, Seattle Mariners. He's better than you think -- it's no fun to be a right handed power hitter on a Mariner team that seems to be allergic to getting on base, and he's been battling nagging injuries to boot. Despite that, he's got 14 homers, plays very good defense, and even runs a little. If Ortiz and Youkilis are both out in Boston, he'd be a fine stopgap solution, and the Mariners are more than happy to move assets right now.

9. Ken Griffey Jr, OF, Cincinatti Reds. It's Fire Sale Time in Cincy, with everything but the youngest SPs wearing a red tag. Griff has hit his 600th, so there's no more attendance boost to get from him being around. With the team 13.5 games back, he's a prime target to go to any team that thinks he'll be rejuvenated by a pennant race. The only problem is that his .760 OPS might convince many that he's already done.

8. Randy Wolf, SP, San Diego Padres. Another historic injury risk, but a heck of a lot cheaper on the wallet and prospect list. Wolf could be especially effective in the AL, where they haven't seen him much before, and a once around the league novelty burst might give his new team a lot. The Padres being in last in the crowded NL West also might loosen their hold.

7. Erik Bedard, SP, Seattle Mariners. This spring's shiny new penny -- albeit one that took an ungodly amount of time to acquire -- is now the most attractive albatross on a team that loses two out of every three games and has just lost its general manager and coach. Moving Bedard now is sending him out at low value, but he's a proven AL East talent with a lot of upside. Besides, no one wants Carlos Silva.

6. Matt Holliday, OF, Colorado Rockies. The biggest hitter on the list is kind of like this year's Mark Teixeria -- a plus hitter from a hitter haven who's actually still really good. The only thing keeping him in Colorado is the plummeting Diamnondbacks, who have kept every team in the division in the hunt; the Rockies might just hang on to everyone and see if the return of Troy Tulowitzki can get them back in the race. In another week or so, we'll know if Holliday walks before his contract expires.

5. AJ Burnett, SP, Toronto Rockies. The Jays are a hard team to figure. On the one hand, you've got to think that general manager JP Riccardi is on thin enough ice that he's not interested in going out with kids and prospects. On the other, Burnett is clearly not getting better here, and the Jays are 10.5 back in what might be the toughest division in baseball. Burnett has always been a poor man's Josh Beckett, so maybe another team makes Riccardi an offer he can't refuse.

4. Adam Dunn, OF, Cincinnati Reds. Everything you can say about Griff goes double for the Three True Outcome hero, whose .219 batting average masks his reasonably useful .876 OPS. Even Dusty Baker has to be getting tired of playing veterans and ready to give the team entirely over to Jay Bruce and Joey Votto by now, right? Dunn seems to me to be the kind of guy that can help a team provided he's hitting 6th or 7th, and you just aren't counting on him carrying your team. (I realize Dunn is a sabermetric hero, but doesn't it matter that his teams never, ever win?)

3. Dmitri Young, 1B, Washington Nationals. A nice guy and a reasonable stick, but he makes no sense here, especially with Aaron Boone giving them good at-bats and Ryan Zimmerman eventually coming back from injury. By the time the Nats are in a playoff race, Da Meat Hook could be pushing 350 pounds, and probably still putting up above average numbers. The potentially season-ending injury to Nick Johnson (gosh, who saw that coming?) could keep him here, though.

2. Huston Street, RP, Oakland Athletics. Billy Beane loves to move closers for more then they are worth, and that really describes the ex-phenom, whose 4.32 ERA, good defesne and pitcher's park seems to say overrated... but his K/BB numbers, pure stuff and low HR allowed numbers could easily convince a team in need that he's just been pitching in bad luck. The A's have never bought into the ideat that pitching in the ninth is all that different from any other inning, and they'd happily go with Keith Foulke and Alan Embree if someone wants to put prospects in front of them.

1. C.C. Sabathia, SP, Cleveland Indians. Don't let the slow start fool you; he's been very solid recently, and he's an unrestricted free agent next year. With the Tribe 6.5 out and in fourth place in the Central, they are 1-2 weeks away from pulling the chutes on this deal and moving the big lefty for maximum benefit. Ceec is a horse, but he also eats like one, and that next contract is going to be costly.

MLB Buy 'n Sell (6/22)

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:09:44 -0500

Screaming Sports' Billy Smith break out MLB Buy 'n Sell and runs down a short list of players you should be buying or selling. Jermaine Dye? Believe it or not, it's time to sell. Dustin McGowan? Grab him while he's hot!