fullcountpitch.com

By Gary Armida

With the first trading deadline past and the new players settling in with their new teams, the dog days of August are upon us. With five of the six division races having first place teams ahead by five games or less, a ton of intense baseball action is coming our way. While the non-waiver deadline has passed, savvy baseball fans know that they waiver deadline is at the end of this month. For those unfamiliar, teams can put players on waivers. If those players go unclaimed, they can be traded. If someone is claimed, the team can either pull the player back or let the claiming team take him (which happened a few years ago when the Yankees were stuck with a “bloated” Jose Canseco). There will be plenty of rumors, but until then let’s take a look at what’s making news around the world of baseball. Here are your nine fungos rounds to start your week off.

• To no one’s surprise, Manny Ramirez is loving LA and hitting to prove it. He’s 8 for 13 with two homers since landing in Dodger Blue. There’s never a question about Ramirez’s ability to hit. Outside of Alex Rodriguez, he’s this generation’s greatest right handed hitter. The “knee injury” that Manny suffered during his last couple of weeks in Boston seems to be miraculously healed. Ramirez seems to love LA (hey, just like the song). Obviously, this puts LA way ahead of the D-Backs in the NL West race in terms of talent. Look for Ramirez to go on a tear where he hits 20 homeruns and drives in 60 runs in his 50+ games with LA. Yes, he’s that good. All of that spells a big contract for Ramirez during the off season. But, he probably wouldn’t have needed to have a big second half to get that money. FCP reader Bill Brinkerhoff brought up a good point about Ramirez. He stated that Ramirez could’ve shut it down on Boston for the rest of the season and he still would’ve gotten big money. This is a question we’ll explore later this week.
• The Phillies seem to be getting good results from the demotion of Brett Myers. Since he’s been recalled, he’s thrown 2 games, winning one, throwing 12 innings, giving up 7 hits, and 3 earned runs. The lone trouble spot is his 6 walks and 4 strikeouts during that time. Five of those walks came in his first start, so last night’s start seems to be a move in the right direction. His lack of strikeouts is a problem as he does not have the location to be able to pitch to contact successfully. His 25 homeruns given up is evidence to that statement. Myers is the single most important player to the Phillies for the second half. If he can return to his form from 2005 and 2006, the Phillies will have a solid, yet unspectacular rotation.
• Ken Griffey Jr. has had a solid debut for the White Sox. He’s 3 for 7 with a couple of RBI and has made a couple of great catches in his return to center. The only problem is that the last two games, he was removed late in the game. Saturday, it was a leg cramp. Sunday’s reason is still unknown. The White Sox will have to be careful with Griffey and give him the proper rest. The injury risk is there so Ozzie Guillen must be careful with his 38 year old centerfielder.
• Perhaps Minnesota Twins officials read FCP as they called up Francisco Liriano hours after the article was published (in truth, the article was written earlier in the week and not put up until Friday). The results? Liriano continued his dominance going 6 shutout innings, giving up just 3 singles. This move was made a couple of weeks too late, but now that Liriano is back, the Twins have the makings of a playoff team with their ace in place. It will be interesting to see if the rest of the staff can keep up their torrid pace. By the way, with Liriano’s performance, the Twins took over first place in the AL Central over the Chicago White Sox. Hmm…that didn’t take long.
• When looking at the “winners and losers” of the trade deadline, one has to think that the Mets were losers. After failing to acquire any additional help, the Mets were forced to place John Maine on the disabled list with a strained rotator cuff. The Mets don’t have anyone of significance to replace Maine so they will be hurting for starting pitching. This has a ripple effect on their bullpen as most likely Maine’s replacement as well as the veteran Pedro Martinez won’t be able to get deep into games, causing stress on the pen. Speaking of the pen, closer Billy Wagner will be going for an MRI on his strained left forearm. Mets fans must hold their breath that Wagner’s forearm is fine as there is absolutely zero help to make up for the loss of Wagner. Look for GM Omar Minaya to work some waiver trading over the next month to add some depth.
• From the pretty good pitcher on a bad team department (although not horrible this season), Jeremy Guthrie of the Baltimore Orioles checks in. The 29 year old right hander is 8-8 with a 3.35 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 156 innings. He’s given up just 142 hits and has 98 strikeouts. This follows his excellent 2007 campaign when he went 7-5 with a 3.70 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 175.1 innings. Guthrie was claimed off of waivers (from Cleveland) and has found a home in Baltimore. A late bloomer, Guthrie seems to have figured it out over the past couple of seasons to become one of the best pitchers in the league.
• The Rockies seem to be heating up because Matt Holliday is on fire. Since the break, Holliday is hitting over .400 and has 7 homeruns. Kudos to the Rockies for keeping their players and trying to make a run at the division title, even if they are 10 games under .500. If they can get to .500, that confidence displayed last season (as well as the experience) could give them a leg up over LA and Arizona.
• As I said in the introduction, waiver period trades often bring useful parts. Paul Byrd is making his case for being one of those guys. He’s won his last 3 starts while giving up just three runs in the process. Byrd would make a ton of sense for the Yankees as he would give either Sidney Ponson or Darrell Rasner the boot from the rotation. Across town, the Mets would welcome the veteran right hander to help out their cause too. Look for Byrd’s name to be brought up quite a bit over the next few weeks.
• The Florida Marlins are in second place in the NL East with a 59-53 record. They are a young, talented team, but they are also a very lucky team this season. With a run differential of minus-23, the Marlins should be .500 or worse. If this trend continues, look for the Marlins to fade in the standings.