Players of the Day for Sunday, March 14, 2010
American League
Despite the possibility that closer Joe Nathan could be lost for the season, the Minnesota Twins are optimistic about their prospects in 2010, mostly because they have some very live, young arms in their starting rotation. One of those youngsters is
Kevin Slowey, who got his second start of the Spring facing Boston on Sunday.
The Twins lost the game,
6-4, but it certainly wasn't Slowey's fault, as the 6'3" righty held Boston batters hitless over the first three innings of the game, striking out four. Slowey sat after that, leaving his Spring marks at 8 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs and 8 Ks.
In three seasons with the Twins, Slowey is 26-14, with a 4.39 ERA. He only pitched 90 innings in 2009, compiling a 10-3 record before going on the DL in July. Later, he had bone chips removed from his right wrist, but looks to be fully recovered, a very positive sign for Twins fans.
National League
If the Diamondbacks are going to improve from last year's last-place finish in the NL West, one of the players that will make a difference is
Justin Upton. On Sunday, Upton got his swing into a groove against Texas pitching, helping the D-Backs down the Rangers,
9-3.
Upton banged out his 3rd homer of the Spring, added a couple of singles, drove in three runs and score three times, boosting his pre-season totals to .367, 3 homers and 13 RBI in 8 games. The Arizona right fielder is just 22, but is expected to have a banner year. Last season, he hit an even .300, knocked 26 home runs and drove in 86 runs in 138 games.
If his Summer is anything like his Spring, expect to see Justin Upton in the All-Star game.
MLB Preview: Texas Rangers
For the better part of the 2009 season, the Texas Rangers were chasing the LA Angels for the AL West title. They never got there, as the Angels got hot in September while the Rangers faded.
Their finish at 87-75 was only good enough for second place in the division, 10 games back and well short of the wild card, but the Rangers signed
Vlaimir Guerrero away from LA and hope to capture the division in 2010.
As usual, Texas will have plenty of offense. Along with Guerrero, who will DH most nights, the Rangers boast a lineup chock full of dangerous hitters. Along with Guerrero, there are 6 position players capable of hitting 20 or more home runs. In the infield, 1st baseman Chris Davis, 2nd baseman
Ian Kinsler and 3rd baseman Michael Young each did it in 2009. Kinsler was second on the team with 31, behind outfielder
Nelson Cruz (33), who returns along with a healthy
Josh Hamilton and David Murphy, who knocked 17 out of parks in 2009.
Throw in rookie Julio Bourbon, who is fighting for a starting outfield job and the Rangers appear to have a bona fide murderers row for a lineup. Unless injuries decimate their starting players, the Rangers should lead the league in homers and RBI, as well as pitchers who don't want to face them. Shortstop Elvis Andrus provides plenty of speed at the top of the lineup. He swiped 33 bases as a rookie in 2009, being caught only 6 times.
Pitching is the area in which the Rangers hope to improve. Kevin Millwood went to Baltimore, but Texas grabbed
Rich Harden, who will likely be the #1 starter. Scott Feldman (17-8) and Tommy Hunter (9-6) each had solid seasons in 2009. Brandon McCarthy is expected to fill out the rotation.
Frank Francisco took over the closer role in 2009, and converted 25 of 29 save chances. He will be the closer to start the year, but the Rangers have other options should he falter early on, including Neftali Feliz and Chris Ray.
With a glut of power and a respectable pitching staff, the winter future book odds of 30-1 that the Rangers win the World Series, may be a worthwhile wager.
It isn't often that a pitcher gets yanked when he throwing a no-hitter, but there are sometimes more important matters which need to be addressed, such as a hurler's health and the implications of a pennant race.
Such was the case with Kevin Slowey (left) of the Minnesota Twins on Sunday, who tossed seven innings of on-hit ball, allowing only three walks and a hit batsman, before manager Ron Gardenhire decided his man had done enough. Slowey was up to 106 pitches and had missed his last start, due to elbow tendonitis, so Gardenhire didn't want to cause any recurrence of inflammation. Besides, the Twins had just recently managed to secure a little space between themselves and the White Sox, and the team could certainly use the win.
When Slowey finished the 7th inning, the score was 1-0, in favor of the Twins. In the bottom of the inning, Jim Thome (right) jacked a three-run homer to put the Twins up 4-0, which added to the angst of pulling the starter. Twins' relievers allowed two runs, but the Twins came away with the 4-2 victory over the A's and a 3-game cushion over the White Sox in the AL Central, as Chicago was outhit by Detroit, 13-8.
Slowey improved to 11-5, and Thome's homer was his 16th this season and the 580th of his career. He is 10th on the all-time list, having passed Rafael Palmiero and Harmon Killebrew earlier this season, and is just three long balls shy of Mark McGwire.
National League
The Braves just keep on winning, clinging to their slim, 2-game lead over the three-time defending NL East champion Phillies.
On Sunday, Atlanta's bats did the heavy lifting, pounding four Dodger pitchers for 16 hits in a 13-1 romp. All of the starting players had at least one hit, including starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens,
Troy Glaus went 2-for-5, including a three-run homer and an RBI single. Glaus is probably not everybody's fantasy first baseman, but he's had a solid year for the Braves, with 16 homers and 69 RBI, despite a .242 batting average. The Braves have taken two of three from the Dodgers and will wrap up the series on Monday. Philadelphia has been dogging Atlanta for months, and remained two games behind with a 3-1 win over the Mets.
The Dodgers have lost four of six on their road trip, which ends Monday, and have fallen out of contention in the NL West and the wild card race. They trail San Diego by 10 games in the division and are 6 1/2 behind the Giants and Phillies, with the Cards and Rockies also ahead of them for the wild card.
