Cardinals Miss Chance to Tie Wildcard.



Playoff baseball is near and the chase is on for a spot in the NL Wildcard. With time running out for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Houston Astros delivered a near fatal blow to the team's playoff hopes yesterday with a 5-4 win.  Can the Cardinals rally the troops and pull off a last minute streak of wins and knot up the NL Wildcard race? Jake Westbrook takes the mound  tonight with a 12-9 record this season and an era of 4.48. Cardinal offense will need to strike early and fast to keep the momentum up. Astros will start pitcher Henry Sosa tonight who hasn't seen nearly the same amount of games as Westbrook with a 3-5 record and a 4.68 era. St. Louis will close out the season against the Houston Astros with the next two games in Houston. Tonight's game kick's off at 7:05pm CDT and should be an exciting one to watch!  Click the link for more.

Rookie Watch Pt.2

Every year when the snow melts and MLB camps begin to open up, there is always a buzz about who will take home the ROY hardware, who's the next 'can't miss' prospect coming through the ranks? While this year didn't boast a Strasburg, Posey or Feliz, it definitely has had it's share of deserving candidates. For the record, it's worth noting that in the AL, 4 of the previous 6 ROY winners have been pitchers and some good ones at that (Verlander and Feliz to name a couple). In the NL a pitcher hasn't won since 2003 when Dontrelle Willis won and we all know how that turned out. Coincidentally the previous year 2002 a pitcher also took home the NL ROY, Jason Jennings... who? The NL track record hasn't been the greatest for ROY pitchers. However I believe that is all changing.

A Case for MVP

Living in Canada and watching the Blue Jays and, formerly, the Expos we have been given a chance to see some truly great feats and fantastic players that may be lost on our American counterparts. Whether it was Carlos Delgado’s amazing 2000 (.344/.470/.664/1.134, 41 HR, 137RBI), Bill Stoneman’s two no-hitters (’69 and ’72) or something as small as watching John Macdonald show his range and start a double play. Well, for the past season and a half us ‘Nuckers have been privy to catch first hand the evolution of Jose Bautista. Every season there are numerous players in the league that are deserving of the most valuable player award and this year is no exception. We currently have 8 players who are batting over .320; we have 3 players with a legitimate shot at 30/30, 2 that may catch fire and go for 40/40; 18 players with an ERA below 3! And one with an ERA below 2! (for the record there have only been 20 pitchers who have won the MVP award since 1931 in the American and National league combined; most recent was Dennis Ecklersley in ’92 for Oakland).

Minor Watch

As the 2011 season began MLB listed there top 50 prospects - http://t.co/KKJ9V59, and some of the top prospects have been called up or started in the show this year (Chapman, Drabek, Brown, Hosmer) However, there are many prospects still either just starting their career in the minors or knocking on the door to the bigs. Cans is taking a quick look at 10 of the top 20 remaining on MLB's pre-season list.

Endangered Species: Should The Rays Stay in Tampa?

Over the past 8 years I've had the chance to go to St. Petersburg three times to see the Rays play. Eight years ago on my honeymoon I saw the, then Devil Rays, just starting out with their young up and coming core of players. Led by rookie, Rocco Baldelli, they were perennial AL East doormats, stockpiled with young talent. The stands were half full at best, with the Yankees in town to boot. Last year again I went to a game to see the new Rays, now an unlikely AL East power, against all odds led by all-world 3B Evan Longoria. They were an exciting team loaded with young, incredibly talented players competing against (and beating) teams with 4 times their payroll. A real compelling story. Again, fans in the stands were sparse. This year I had the chance to take in a game in late April, fresh off the Manny Ramirez fallout. The Rays had been playing poorly, Manny was gone, Longo was on the DL, but still they were a pretty decent team with some exciting new players (Sam Fuld anyone?). Again the fans in the stands were sparse.

MLB Draft Pt. 2

Last week Cans of Corn highlighted 6 of the top names looking to go in the first round of this years MLB Draft held in June. If you missed them, please check back and give it a gander. This week we'll be focusing on 5 more talented players that will more than likely be chosen in the first round. In case you're wondering what the draft order is I have listed it below and you can also check out http://riveraveblues.com/2011-draft-order/ for an excellent break down on when and why.

2011 MLB Draft Pt. 1

As the 2011 MLB draft approaches (June), Cans of Corn is bringing some scouting reports on a number of the top prospects expected to go in the draft. This is part 1 of the series and before we get started we should check out some of the teams positions in the draft.

Teams now more than ever are placing higher value on drafting and grooming prospects from within, less likely to let them go through trades or off season signings. This puts a lot of weight on the draft in June and it should be noted that some teams are in better positions than others for sure.

Tampa Bay has an excellent position, drafting 10 times throughout the first 60 picks.
Toronto Blue Jays will select 5 players through the first 60 picks.
Pittsburgh Pirates have 1 pick in the top 60, the first overall, so it best be a good one.
Seattle Mariners will select 2nd overall, their only pick through the first 60.
San Diego Padres have 5 picks in through the first 60, beginning with 10th overall.
Boston Red Sox have 4 picks through the first 60, beginning with 19th overall.
New York Yankees have just one selection and it's the 51 overall.

Rookie Watch

With the 2011 season a month in, it's time to check in on the rookies and see what the ROY race looks like. It is early and this list doesn't have any relievers on it yet, however one certainly can't overlook Kimbrel (ATL) or Chapman (CIN)and next months list will incorporate them for sure. This column focuses on starters and hitters, I've included hitters that have at least over 50 AB's and the starters with at least 4 starts.

Is the Power for Real?

A lot of analysts are "shocked" and "aren't buying" Howie Kendrick's power display so far this year, but why not? Is it that far fetched? Definitely not, the writing was on the wall.

10 Crazy Things so Far in a Young 2011

With the season roughly 8 games in, it's tough to put too much stock in anything just yet. However there are some things that cannot be overlooked no matter how early you are in the season. So feel free to share your thoughts on the following list and even add some if I've missed any. I will say that there is no sign of Manny on this list. I'm done talking about this guy and glad he has decided to call it a career. A great career for sure but became a distraction too often and he's probably happy to be finished. Alright here we go...

What's in a Record Really?

With all the dust being kicked up in Boston throughout opening week about their 0-5 start, I was curious as to how bad an 0-5 start really was? Turns out, it's not that bad at all. There has been plenty of cases where teams that have decent (at best) records still go on to win the World Series. The crazy thing is that it happens more than you think.

Morning Poles: 30 Up and 30 Down

Opening weekend can be emotional. It is where five months of anticipation and speculation finally come together and reach new heights or come crashing down. Although baseball can be known as a marathon rather than a sprint, opening weekend represents the shooting out of the blocks before the long haul of the season sets in.

Rather than doing power rankings, every Monday I will be highlighting the prior week in baseball by going through all 30 teams and seeing who has reason to feel up or down after the previous seven days. Consider this some kind of bipolar lens to the heart of a baseball team, so let's get to it...

What's Going On With Tex?

Mark Teixeira is a slow starter and everyone, by now, knows it. He's a fantasy baseball killer in April and he certainly does no favors for the big league clubs he's played for in April either. So what's the deal with big Tex this year, why the hot start and should we expect this to continue?

An "Ace" in the Hole

One of the recurring themes I had to deal with in evaluating rosters for our season previews was how to define an ace. Additionally, as I was watching Justin Verlander pitch last night I was struck with the notion that while Verlander isn't a poor pitcher by any means, he might not be one of the true 'shut-em-down' aces that teams rely on. Obviously, Verlander is the ace of the Tigers rotation. That being said, being tabbed as a number one starter doesn't necessarily mean you are a good pitcher (Luke Hochevar) or even the best on your team (Ian Kennedy, Mark Buerhle).

If wins were the measure of an ace then Verlander would be in the discussion as he has won 17 or more games in four of his five seasons. Indeed, only Roy Halladay (90) and C.C. Sabathia (88) have won more games since Verlander entered the league. However, if you look at adjusted ERA (ERA+) over that same span for pitchers with more than 600 innings pitched during that period then Verlander slides to 20th in baseball.

Vulture Wins

As per Cam's comment in the Wilbur Wood post, here is a list of last years leaders in pitchers who blow a save but earn a win. It's kind of like convincing your best friend to break up with his girlfriend only to snake in there and starting dating her yourself. I like to refer to this phenomenon as a "snake win" but alas I am not the first person to go down this road. Thanks to folks over at the now defunct Recondite Baseball blog this situation is commonly referred to as a vulture win.

Morning Poles: Opening Day Edition

There literally is nothing better than watching baseball all day long. Just ask these guys. So let's do it one more time today.

Yesterday's highlight was obviously the Reds-Brewers game that ended in dramatic fashion after a 3-run walk off HR by Ramon Hernandez. Similar to last year, the Reds offense looks capable of having a big inning at just about any moment, which means the last minute heroics that typified last season's Cinderella run may become the norm once again.

The Wilbur Wood Start

Watching the Dodgers-Giants game tonight and it appears as though Tim Lincecum is in line for the loss despite going 7 innings and giving up no earned runs. Of course, he qualifies for the loss because Matt Kemp scored on a throwing error during the sixth inning. Now I don't want to get into the ridiculousness of wins and losses, and what they really represent in regards to pitching performance, but I wanted to see how often pitchers take losses under similar circumstances.

Enter the Baseball-Reference.com play index. Since 1970, there have been 389 games where a pitcher has tossed 7 innings while giving up zero earned runs and being tagged with the loss. Five pitchers have actually been hung with the loss four different times during this period; here they are with total career starts in parentheses:

Wilbur Wood (297), Fernando Valenzuela (424), Charlie Hough (440), Nolan Ryan (773), and Tim Belcher (373).

Wilbur Wood appears to be the pitcher with the hardest luck out of this group, by virtue of doing it in the least amount of starts, and has thus earned the title for this manner of start. From now on when a pitcher goes 7 innings without giving up an earned run and takes the loss I will be dubbing it a Wilbur Wood start. Or WW start. Or W squared. You get it.

*Side notes: Yes, this does indeed add further to the mysteries behind knuckle-ballers as both Hough and Wood mastered the pitch. Wood was also the last pitcher in baseball history to both win and lose 20 games in a season (24-20 in 1973).

Happy Opening Day!!

It's Christmas morning for baseball fans and all of us here at Cans of Corn would like to wish everyone a very happy Opening Day!

We've had a busy month here at CoC since launching the site 29 days ago and I would personally like to thank Curtis, Cam, and Matt for all their help. Against all odds we managed to get all 30 team previews up and it looks like everyone here is geared for the upcoming season. If you are new to site please check out the follow predictions and previews for a primer on what each of us are expecting for the next six months.

Enjoy!!

Curtis Cleveland's 2011 Predictions

Musty's 2011 Predictions

Cornhole Jones' 2011 Predictions

Rod Ruff's 2011 Predictions

As a bonus, be sure to also check out Curt's more in-depth thoughts, predictions and surprises for the season here.

Finally, you can check out all of our 2011 team previews by using the right sidebar.

2011 Staff Season Predictions - Rod Ruff

AL East: New York Yankees
AL Central: Minnesota Twins
AL West: Oakland Athletics
AL Wildcard: Boston Red Sox

NL East: Atlanta Braves
NL Central: Milwaukee Brewers
NL West: San Francisco Giants
NL Wildcard: Colorado Rockies

AL MVP: Joe Mauer
AL CY Young: Jon Lester
AL ROY: Zach Britton

NL MVP: Troy Tulowitzki
NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum
NL ROY: Aroldis Chapman

One big surprise of the season: Philadelphia doesn't make the playoffs. After all the hoopla, injuries derail both the offense and the dream rotation as the Phillies fight, and ultimately lose, the wild card race.

2011 Staff Predictions - Curtis Cleveland

AL East: Boston Red Sox

AL Central: Chicago White Sox

AL West: Oakland Athletics

AL Wildcard: Tampa Bay Rays

NL East: Atlanta Braves

NL Central: Milwaukee Brewers

NL West: San Francisco Giants

NL Wildcard: Philadelphia Phillies

AL MVP: Evan Longoria

AL CY Young: Jon Lester

AL ROY: Jeremy Hellickson

NL MVP: Prince Fielder

NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay

NL ROY: Freddie Freeman

One big surprise of the season: Texas doesn't make the post-season. Injuries bite again and the solid progression of Oakland's rotation combined with superb defense gives them the AL West Division.