Tuesday, March 1, 2011

SweetSpot Roundup 3/1

Capitol Avenue Club (Braves): Baseball Returns
Peter's got the recap of the Braves' first spring action, including a big day by NL ROY favorite Freddie Freeman.

Disciples of Uecker (Brewers): Yuniesky Betancourt Displays Plate Discipline
Jack hopes against hope that the trade to the Brewers has inspired Yuni to admit to himself that he doesn't always have to swing the bat.

The View From the Bleachers (Cubs): Game Notes - 2/27
Joe reacts to the first Spring game for the Cubbies.

Dodger Thoughts: Dodgers win with pitching, hitting and no defense
A good Spring start for the Dodgers is marred by the sad loss of Duke Snider.

Bay City Ball (Giants): Oh yeah, Mark DeRosa
It's easy to forget the Giants might have one of the best 10th men in baseball this year.

Mets Today: Ollie, a Year Ago
It's been about a year since the full disaster that is Oliver Perez became fully understood.  And he's got roughly 10 days left to save his career.

Nationals Baseball: Twelve-Sided Bryce
Happy Bryce Harper Day!  Oh, he struck out twice on 7 pitches.  Hmm...not so good.

Ducksnorts (Padres): Has It Started Yet?
Indeed, it has.  Geoff reacts to the first action of the Spring.

Crashburn Alley (Phillies): Albert Pujols Is Not a Fit in Philadelphia
Bill puts to bed the idiotic rumor that the Cardinals would deal Albert Pujols for Ryan Howard and Joe Blanton.

Redleg Nation: Reds talking extension with Brandon Phillips
"Even if you believe the Reds should keep Phillips, I don’t see how it makes fiscal sense for this team or how it’s possible. They just invested big money in Votto, Bruce, Arroyo, and Cueto AND have a multi-year deal on the table with Volquez."

Baseballin' on a Budget (Athletics): Top Fives: Best Left-Handed Starting Pitchers in Team History
This one's a pretty great list -- three Hall of Famers and two Cy Young winners. As I've written before (in response to other pieces in this series), it's kind of amazing how quickly lists like this tend to thin out, but this is a good one.

Ghostrunner on First (Blue Jays): Introducing the ISO Challenge
"Both [Rajai] Davis & [Yunel] Escobar figure to post isolated power numbers right around the .100 mark. When league average is around .160, these two are staring Punch and/or Judy status right in the face."

Pro Ball NW (Mariners): Appreciating Felix Hernandez
"There are certain things in life you can count on, like zany interviews and cultural oddities from Ichiro Suzuki.  There are things you can’t count on, like for Dustin Ackley to be great as soon as he steps on a Major League diamond.  And there are things you can count on not counting on, like Érik Bédard’s health.  Felix Hernandez is a man you can count on to be fantastic at what he does, almost every time he goes about doing it."

Baseball Time in Arlington (Rangers): Monday Morning Rangers Notes: 101s and Heartbreak
Gotta be honest: I'm either not seeing the "heartbreak" or I'm missing the reference entirely. But there is plenty of prospect and injury news.

Fire Brand of the AL (Red Sox): The Ho-Hum Mr. Marco Scutaro
...or is he? (Hint: well yeah, but he's actually pretty good.) But more importantly, Pokey Reese was a fan favorite in Boston? Really? Wow.

Royals Authority: Seriously Zeroing In on 25
The last monthly estimate of what the Opening Day roster will look like before we finally know what the Opening Day roster looks like.

Nick's Twins Blog: Success vs. Failure
A really good point by Nick about how our fanhood affects the way we interpret the things we see on the field.

It's About the Money, Stupid (Yankees): Joba or Nova for Liriano?
Presented without comment for mental health reasons.

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