Federal agent says Clemens wasnt targeted (Yahoo!
Sports)

post from MLB News Blog on 07 May 2012 12:10:45 PM. © MLB News Blog

WASHINGTON (AP) Federal agent Jeff Novitzky testified Monday that Roger Clemens was not a target when Novitzky began questioning Clemens’ former strength coach, Brian McNamee, about performance-enhancing drugs.

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Warning: Don't Get Your Phil Hughes Hopes Up

post from Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog on 07 May 2012 12:01:50 PM. © Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog

So Phil Hughes didn't get bombed yesterday, against a team with 9 wins and the 4th lowest run total in the AL, and now suddenly everyone thinks the guy has figured it out. Let's look at some headlines, shall we?

- Ken Davidoff says, the "Yankees should keep Hughes in rotation."

- John Harper believes that Hughes is turning things around and turning heads with his newly found velocity. (OMG HE THREW 95 MPH!!! OMG!!!)

- Sweeny Murti also thinks Hughes may have started to "figure it out".

Seriously guys? Hughes allows 3 runs over 6.2 to a terrible team and now this icon of underachievement has "figured it out"? Give me a break. The knee-jerkery in this town, whether positive or negative, is absolutely insane.

Call me when Hughes has a good month, or how about just two good outings in a row against teams that actually know how to score runs. Then, maybe we can start to get excited about the right-hander. But until that happens, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

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Astros Minor League Recap May 7th, 2012

post from The Crawfish Boxes on 07 May 2012 12:01:43 PM. © The Crawfish Boxes

Let's get you caught up on some of the big stories from the weekend! But first, I just want to remind you that Jarred Cosart is set to make his Triple-A debut tonight. I'm pretty nervous about this one as he hasn't exactly pitched lights out in Corpus so far. So, cross your fingers and hopes that Burt Hooten is going to work his magic.

First off, Nicholas Tropeano is a good pitcher. I mean he makes good pitchers look...not so good. He bounced back from two poor performances in his last two starts, to completely dominate Saturday night. You can read the stat line after the jump, but it's his overall numbers that are the most impressive. He currently ranks third in the Sally League in strikeouts (43) and inning pitched (33 2/3) and sixth in ERA (1.87). He's also only walked ten batters, a 4.3:1 K:BB ratio is quite nice.

I thought Trope would be the man to replace Wes Musick in Lancaster since he was promoted to Corpus to fill Cosart's spot, but Tyson Perez was promoted from EST for that spot. You can read about his debut and what he's been working on here.

The last big thing I want to point out is that I can give you a reason to watch ESPN today. I know that ESPN isn't popular around these parts (and for good reason). The sports network doesn't give the Astros much credit, but they did today for the Astros minor leagues. This video made #2 on top plays for last week and put Austin Wates phenomenal catch on national TV. It was quite an impressive catch to say the least.

Saturday Games

Oklahoma City RedHawks lost 10-9

Jordan Lyles-6 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO, 3 HBP, 7/4 GO/AO
Xavier Cedeno-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
Rhiner Cruz-2/3 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
Scott Moore 3B-2-4, BB
Justin Ruggiano LF, CF-2-5, SO, SB
Mike Hessman 1B-2-5, HR, 3 SO
Brett Wallace DH-1-5, HR
Brady Snyder RF-2-3, HR, 2 BB, SO

Corpus Christi Hooks lost 6-0

Brett Oberholtzer-6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO, 3 HR, 9/2 GO/AO
Jake Goebbert RF-2-4
Jonathan Singleton 1B-0-3, 2 SO
Andrew Simunic SS-1-4, 2B
Jordan Kreke 3B-1-3, 2B

Lancaster JetHawks won 8-7

Bobby Doran-7 1/3 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 7/5 GO/AO
Jorge De Leon-1 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1 HR, 0/3 GO/AO
Ben Orloff SS-2-4, BB, SO
Enrique Hernandez 2B-0-3, 2 BB
Telvin Nash DH-0-5, 4 SO
Erik Castro 1B-2-3, BB
Jonathan Meyer 3B-2-4, 2B, SO
Adam Bailey LF-2-3, 2 HR, BB, SO

Lexington Legends won 5-1

Nicholas Tropeano-7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 SO, 10/1 GO/AO
Murilo Gouvea-2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR, 2/1 GO/AO
Zachary Johnson 1B-1-5, 2B
Matt Duffy 3B-1-4, 2B, SO
Drew Muren CF-1-4, 2B
Brandon Meredith DH-2-4, 2B
Chris Epps RF-1-4, 2B, 2 SO

Sunday Games

Oklahoma City RedHawks lost 10-7

Henry Sosa-5 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 8/4 GO/AO
Adalberto Flores-2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 2/2 GO/AO
Brian Bixler 2B-0-2, 3 BB, SO
Scott Moore DH-1-4, HR, BB, SO
Justin Ruggiano CF-2-4, HR, BB
Fernando Martinez RF-2-5, 2 SO
Mike Hessman 1B-2-4, SO
Brett Wallace 3B-3-5, 2B
Diory Hernandez SS-0-2, 2 BB, SO, CS

Corpus Christi Hooks lost 10-0

Jake Buchanan-4 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 3 HR, 5/3 GO/AO
Jonnathan Aristil-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
Kevin Chapman-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO
Jose Martinez 2B-2-4, SO
Jonathan Villar SS-2-4

Lancaster JetHawks won 6-2

Tyson Perez-6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 6/6 GO/AO-Solid debut from EST
Jose Trinidad-1 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
Kirk Clark-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
Ben Orloff SS-3-5, SB
George Springer CF-2-5
Erik Castro DH-0-5, 3 SO
Domingo Santana RF-2-5, HR, SO
Adam Bailey LF-2-5, 2B, SB
Jonathan Meyer 3B-2-4, SB
Ben Heath C-1-4, 2B, 3 SO

Lexington Legends lost 8-5

Luis Ordosgoitti-3 2/3 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 2 HR, 3/2 GO/AO-Not a good debut
Nathan Pettus-3 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO,1 HR, 4/2 GO/AO
Euris Quezada-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 3/0 GO/AO
John Hinson 2B-2-5, HR, 2 SO
Zachary Johnson 1B-1-3, 2B, 2 BB
Matt Duffy 3B-3-4, 2B, SO
Alex Todd SS-2-4, BB
Mike Kvasnicka DH-2-5, 2B, HR, SO

Read The Full Article:
http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2012/5/7/3004078/astros-minor-league-recap-may-7th-2
012

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Baseball Card Show Purchase #5 George Brett 2001
Fleer Greats Of The Game

post from 30-Year Old Cardboard on 07 May 2012 12:00:39 PM. © 30-Year Old Cardboard

Baseball Card Show Purchase #5 – George Brett 2001 Fleer ‘Greats Of The Game’ I paid just one quarter for this card, and I would do it all over again if the opportunity presented itself again. The card is just … Continue reading →

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rett-2001-fleer-greats-of-the-game/

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Baseball Card Show Purchase #4 Rod Carew 1983
Drakes Big Hitters

post from 30-Year Old Cardboard on 07 May 2012 11:00:51 AM. © 30-Year Old Cardboard

Baseball Card Show Purchase #4 – Rod Carew 1983 Drake’s Big Hitters I like oddballs. They make a great part of my collection, and without them many of my larger player collections would be minimized drastically. I particularly like the … Continue reading →

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Clemens trial resumes with more from federal
agent (Yahoo! Sports)

post from MLB News Blog on 07 May 2012 10:46:43 AM. © MLB News Blog

WASHINGTON (AP) Federal agent Jeff Novitzky returns for a third day of testimony Monday in the Roger Clemens perjury trial, while behind the scenes Clemens’ lawyers sought to strike the testimony of former teammate Andy Pettitte.

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Weekly Recap (4/30/12-5/6/12)

post from Marlin Maniac on 07 May 2012 10:34:38 AM. © Marlin Maniac

The month of May has been very kind to the Miami Marlins so far. The Marlins have won every single game that they have played this month, so far. We hope that continues. At Marlin Maniac, what we hope does not continue is the lack of activity lately. This past week was not a good one for the site. In fact, last week may have been the worst month on MM since I have taken over. I will take full responsibility for that. I have been preoccupied by work and have not made time to post articles for you guys. [...]

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Hamels pitches up a storm and interviews up
another

post from Philliesflow.com on 07 May 2012 10:10:34 AM. © Philliesflow.com

The Nationals won the first two games of the three-game set this weekend, but Cole Hamels made sure people wereRead the Rest...

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What should the Royals do with Hochevar

post from Royals Review on 07 May 2012 10:02:40 AM. © Royals Review

Hochevar's ERA is now a nice and glossy 9.00. When your ERA is actually above the average innings played per game of a ball club, you know something's up.

What should the Royals do, though? It's pretty clear that Hochevar is not only a bad pitcher, but a very bad pitcher. Take a look at this list put together by Rustin Dodd over at Ball Star:

Player; ERA; Career starts; Years

1. Kevin Jarvis; 6.03; 118; 1994-2006

2. Claude Willoughby; 5.84; 5.84; 1925-1931

3. Rob Bell; 5.71; 108; 2000-07

4. Bryan Rekar; 5.62; 108; 1995-2002

5. Kyle Davies; 5.59; 144; 2005-2011

6. Luke Hochevar; 5.46; 102; 2007-present

7. Casey Fossum; 5.450; 120; 2001-2009

8. Jimmy Haynes; 5.37; 203; 1995-2004

9. Kevin Ritz; 5.35; 130; 1989-1998

10 Scott Elarton; 5.29; 170; 1998-2008

Those are the ten worst starters with 100+ career starts. Multiple Royals are on that list, which is unfortunate. So. What should the Royals do with Hochevar?

Poll

What should the Royals do with Hochevar?

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Monday Rockpile: Lack of Pitching Further Muddles
Rockies 2012 Goals

DENVER, CO - MAY 6: Starting pitcher Juan Nicasio #44 of the Colorado Rockies reacts after giving up a three-run home run to Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves during the third inning at Coors Field on May 6, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

After a sweep by the hated Atlanta Braves, many Rockies fans are pretty pissed off with the way a lot of the season has gone. The bats have been inconsistent, the bullpen overworked, and the rotation horrible at best. Normally, this is where I would start tweeting something about Jim Tracy being awful or what have you, but the thing is, I can't do that this time around.

If we're going to pin the problems of 2012 on any one entity, I'll put the blame where blame is deserved: The rotation is simply not pulling its weight. This isn't exactly news to anyone, either.

Try this on for size: Through Sunday's sweep, the Rockies bullpen has pitched 96 innings. That's the 2nd highest inning load in MLB to the Royals. Through those 96 innings, the bullpen has sported a 4.30 ERA. When you consider the workload, that isn't that awful. In fact, Fangraphs WAR has the Rockies' pen as the 4th most valuable in the majors, at 1.5 fWAR. Baseball Reference's WAR isn't so kind, at merely 0.8 WAR, but there might be some rounding errors there or something. Those workload numbers shouldn't be so high this early in the season.

Here are some other fun numbers: excluding Sunday, Rockies starters were 3rd worst in MLB in walks-per-nine-innings, 6th worst in strikeouts-per-9, and 2nd worst in HR/9. Drew Pomeranz and Jhoulys Chacin are the worst offenders at gifting the free pass, both walking over 5 batters per 9 innings. Jeremy Guthrie has struck out half as many batters as he has walked - and a 3.70 BB/9, while bad, isn't end of the world bad. The only pitcher in the Rockies rotation who hasn't allowed over 1.30 HR/9 is Pomeranz, whose 0.90 HR/9 has helped him be the 2nd best pitcher on staff in terms of ERA, FIP, and xFIP.

Here's the worse news now: We're going to have to grit our teeth and bear most of this. We need to be patient with guys like Pomeranz and Juan Nicasio as they continue to grow into consistent MLB caliber pitchers. This isn't a surprise, either. The offseason "Acquire ALL the Young Arms!" theme was going to involve giving the young arms the rotation slots. This in turn involves a lot of crappy pitching performances while they learn.

Off Topic

The part that's been the most confusing is whether the Rockies expected to compete with such a generally mediocre/young rotation, or if they planned on it being a build year. After all was said and done, the Rockies assembled a corps of position players that would be good enough to swing in the NL West for a season in the event the pitching came through unexpectedly well.

Pomeranz and Nicasio need to stay in rotation so they can learn. Guthrie needs to stay in the rotation to reestablish value (seriously - he is NOT this bad). Moyer needs to stay in the rotation because he's kind of the best pitcher by ERA right now - I guess. The next spot should go to Alex White or Christian Friedrich, provided they're ready. Should neither be ready (nor Tyler Chatwood), then Carlos Torres can make a spot start or two until they are. Once the trade deadline rolls around, we can reevaluate where the Rockies are with Moyer and Guthrie, depending how far out the team is.

The fact that we're even talking about this further pushes to the "rebuild unless lightning strikes and magic happens" concept.

The bullpen, despite my praises above, has hit some sore points, but FIP and xFIP love them still, so there's still hope that these past few blowups have just been a pothole in the road. Josh Outman may be able to help some of these issues.

The long and short of most of this season is that the rotation needs to get better, and fast. They need to give more than 5 innings. We can't have the entire starting 5 getting yanked 1 batter into the 6th inning. It's asking too much of the bullpen.

Chipper Jones goes after Rockies' Jamie Moyer with sign-stealing at issue - The Denver Post
Oh for crying out loud.

1. Cheating is as old as sports itself. Shut up, Jamie.

2. Getting caught and called out for cheating is as old as cheating itself. Shut up, Chipper.

"I didn't see any signs on the 900-foot homers that were hit." - Chipper Jones

Consummate professional right there, folks.

Rockies' rotation may soon receive boost | ColoradoRockies.com: News

It's kind of funny that Jeremy Guthrie is the model of "a boost to the rotation", considering how "meh" his season has been. I agree with it, but it's still funny.