fullcountpitch.com

By Gary Armida

Orginally, the Little League rant was the open to this Fungos column. But, as you can see, the rant went on for an entire column. So, let’s skip the usual introduction and let’s get down to business. Let’s see what’s making news around the world of baseball as we are officially in middle of the “Dog Days” of August.

• The Cubs great season can be attributed to a variety of sources. One key source has been Ryan Dempster, who won for the 13th time last night. Dempster, last night, used some incredible breaking pitches to keep the Cardinals off balance. In his 6.2 innings, he gave up 6 hits, walked 3, but struck out 6. On the season, Dempster has thrown 157.1, given up just 121 hits, 62 walks, and 139 strikeouts. That comes along with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. That spells just flat out dominance. The real key is whether or not he keeps it up. Dempster  was a starter for most of his career before moving to the bullpen in 2003. In fact, he threw over 200 innings for three consecutive years before 2003 and met with moderate success. Nothing indicated that Dempster would break out like this.
• Sticking with the Cubs, they are a good team that looks like they can cruise right into the playoffs. There’s no such thing as curses, so if they do miss the playoffs, the responsibility will land squarely on the rotation. The enigmatic Carlos Zambrano is capable of dominating, but just as capable of allowing 7 runs and 15 walks in 2 innings of work. Rich Harden is one of the best pitchers in baseball when he is healthy. The Cubs need him desperately. With the rest of the rotation an average one, the big three must lead them.
• In an almost tragic ending to a great comeback, Cardinals ace, Chris Carpenter had to leave last night’s start against the Cubs during the 6th inning (he held them to just 2 earned runs in 5+ innings). For the moment, the injury is being called a triceps strain. Hopefully, that is all there is to it as Carpenter looks to have tremendous stuff while trying to build his stamina. He’s a factor in the playoff hunt if he’s healthy. We’ll keep you posted as news filters out.
• Speaking of comebacks, the Rays’ Rocco Baldelli made his debut yesterday, driving in a run while going 1-4. Unfortunately, this addition comes with the subtraction of Carl Crawford who lands on the DL with hamstring issues. Baldelli was slotted in the cleanup spot which is more of an indication of the overall weakness of the Rays offense rather than Baldelli’s offensive prowess. He will be given every shot to provide a spark to the young Ray’s team.
• The Yankees sent Ian Kennedy right back to the minors after getting pounded by the Angels. We’ll have a in-depth look at he Yankees rotation situation tomorrow. Kennedy, meanwhile, looks a bit like a quad-AAA pitcher who needs pinpoint control to be successful in order to get hitters out with a mid-80’s fastball.
• Staying with the Yankees for a second, let’s talk Joba Chamberlain. They seem to have gotten off rather lightly with ”just” shoulder tendonitis. Yes, it could’ve been worse. Someone once said (I’d credit the person if I remembered), that tendonitis is not a diagnosis. Rather, it’s a symptom of something larger. Many have asked me if I thought his injury was because he was in the rotation. The answer is no. Being a middle reliever is much more taxing on the arm rather than the routine of a starter. In fact, his injury could be the result of being in the bullpen for end of last season and the beginning of this one. Hopefully, it is just tendonitis because Chamberlain was on his way to becoming one of the top three starters in the American League this season.  
• Aaron Harang’s comeback start on Sunday proved that he may not have been ready. He gave up 8 runs in just 2+ innings. Harang has been the model of consistency for the Reds, but that heavy worklaodover the past few years (he’s thrown over 200 innings during the last three seasons) may be catching up to him. Withthe Reds out of the pennant chase, they can be patient with him. But, if he doesn’t bounce back, they should shut him down for the season so he can be fully healthy for the start of the 08-09 season.
• The Diamondbacks lost their second baseman, Orlando Hudson, for the season. While he is not a power hitter, Hudson was typically the D-Backs third hitter. This year he was hitting .305/.367/.450. He has the reputation of being a great defensive second baseman so he will be missed. They will go with either Augie Ojeda or Chris Burke for the remainder of the season. Look for Burke to assert himself and win the majority of at bats. The first place D-Backs can’t afford to lose too much offense, so Burke would seem to have the inside track.
• The White Sox suffered a major loss (at least for this season) when starter Jose Contreras ruptured his achilles in his return from the DL. While Contreras’ overall numbers are quite pedestrian (7-6, 4.54 ERA), the Sox have no real alternatives at the moment. Look for them to be in on the Paul Byrd sweepstakes or any other pitcher who manages to clear waivers.
• The David Price watch is officially on. The Rays promoted him to Triple-A after he dominated Double-A with a 7-1 record and a 1.89 ERA. Look for Price to spend a couple of weeks in Triple-A before getting called up for the pennant drive. The Rays are handling this one quite well as Price could already be pitching for the big club yet the Rays are developing him. His first AAA start is this Wednesday.
• Can someone tell Jim Leyland to stop naming his closer of the moment, please?!? Leyland gave the job to Francisco Rodney, but then pronounced that it was Joel Zumaya’s. The very next day, Zumaya is called out by Leyland in the press when he said Zumaya needs to pitch winter ball because he has closer potential. Since the Zumaya proclamation, Rodney has picked up two saves (both were when Rodney entered in the 8th in a save situation. The Tigers would add some runs and just leave Rodney in for the save. Memo to Leyland: Zumaya should be closing.
• Finally, this one is courtesy of our own Bill Campione, Mr. Harry Doyle himself. If you live in New York, you are familiar with the Giuseppe Franco commercials that run here. Well, it turns out the Franco is a real guy who actually owns a Beverly Hills Salon. It’s still up in the air as to whether or not he is friends with Gary Busey. Here’s an interview with the celebrity from Metsblog.com. At least the guy has a sense of humor about his “fame”.

That’s it for today. Enjoy the day and we’ll see you back here tomorrow. Thanks for reading!