Carl Crawford was in the starting lineup for the first time this season and hitting second in a lineup that featured four lefties at the top of the order. One of those lefties was David Ortiz who happened to be hitting behind Crawford in the Red Sox order. The relationship was working pretty well for Crawford who singled in his first at-bat and eventually scored after an Ortiz single moved him to third. In the 8th inning, the Red Sox first four hitters eventually had to face left-hander Leyson Septimo. Both Crawford and Ortiz walked before the fourth lefty in the crew, Adrian Gonzalez, hit a clutch home run (something he desperately needed - and to the opposite field no less). On the play though, Ortiz came up lame running between second and third. Gonzalez made it back to the dugout well before Ortiz as Ortiz was helped immediately by the trainer. Bobby Valentine looked visibly worried.

As it turns out, Ortiz hurt his ankle on the play and it was recently announced that he will have an MRI although Ortiz himself claims that nothing popped, which is good news. Given that the Red Sox have gotten back Crawford and the fourth lefty in the crew, Jacoby Ellsbury, it would be horrible timing for Ortiz to miss any action. Among qualifying hitters, only Andrew McCutchen and Joey Votto have a better OPS than the 36-year-old, but this is the sort of thing that makes you worry about a 36-year-old having a great season. Here are some other notes on injuries to Bautista, Votto, and more: no comments

Adam Lind was hitting .186 with a .586 OPS on May 16th. The Blue Jays organization had seen enough and Lilnd was sent down as a result. Lind dominated in 32 games with Triple-A Las Vegas. And even though it is considered one of the better places to hit in the hitting heavy Pacific Coast League, Lind's .392 batting average and 1.112 OPS had to be acknowledged as a recovery. The Blue Jays recalled Lind back on June 25th. Since that time he has crushed 4 home runs in just 35 at-bats and hit a respectable .286. He appears to have regained his confidence and could be worth adding in a mixed league depending on what you may need.  no comments

This season has been an excellent case study in valuing hitters over pitchers on draft day. None of the most consistent starters for the past three to five seasons have been themselves. Cliff Lee is one of those starters. Lee has already missed some time due to an oblique problem back in April and aside from that has been cheated in run support from the powerless Phillies. He has not received the kind of fielding behind him and has shown his displeasure openly with teammates. Yesterday he finally got over the hump and improved his record to 1-5. 

From a numbers standpoint, Lee hasn't been as good as he was last year, but he has still been really good. He's striking out more than a batter each inning, the strikeout to walk rate is close to 5, and his line drive rate is down compared to last season. He has simply been a victim of awful luck in the season's first half, but if the Phillies can get healthy and stay healthy there's no reason to believe he can't have one of those months where he simply carries a fantasy pitching staff for a while.  no comments

It happens every year at this time of the season. Contenders are scanning the rosters of teams looking to rebuild, and bullpen arms are probably the easiest movable part. The contender can always get better in this department and given the low level of annual commitments to most relievers, rebuilding teams are happy to get anything in return for a bullpen arm. Here are some arms that could get moved or could see a change in their role.  no comments

Dusty Baker and Joey Votto were not pleased that teammates Johnny Cueto and Brandon Phillips were not selected to the National League All Star roster that Tony La Russa selected. Let's look first at the case of Cueto. Here is how he stacks up with the other starting pitchers on the roster: no comments

Franklin Morales went 7 innings for the Red Sox last night and gave up only three hits against the Mariners. Yes, it was against the Mariners, but Morales has looked good in all three starts that he has made this year for the Red Sox. He has struck out 24 in only 18 innings and has been able to go further in each game that he has started. From a standpoint of get them while their pitching well, he is a must add. It may just go beyond that too. no comments

Chris Young was hitting .410 with an OPS of 1.397 back on April 17th. The season was very young, but he was looking at a career year. Then he crashed into a wall, hurt his shoulder and had to go on the disabled list. He returned a month later and has been awful ever since. Before yesterday, he had not homered in 102 at-bats, had a .147 average, and a .433 OPS since May 18th. Perhaps he is still hurt, but Kurt Gibson made the fairly simple decision at this point to bench Young. Young did not play in the series finale against the Cubs on Sunday, the team had the day off Monday, and Young did not play on Tuesday either. Young had three days off heading into last night's game and finally came in the game as a pinch hitter in the 7th inning. He proceeded to hit his first home run since April. 

That home run is enough to keep Young on a roster for now, but he isn't far from being tossed into the waiver wire depending on the league. He has never hit for average (a career .239 hitter), but when the home runs and steals fail to come in too there are issues. To date Young has just 2 steals after stealing more than 20 each of the last two seasons. The shoulder shouldn't be forcing him to stop running, but the more likely reason that he doesn't have more steals is that he hasn't been getting on base. 

Tonight the Diamondbacks will face Jair Jurrjens and the Braves. Young is 2 for 10 with a home run off Jurrjens in his career. Other noteworthy items from around the league: no comments

Apparently all that Ryan Zimmerman needed was a cortisone shot. After slumping through a 5 for 48 stretch earlier this month, he has busted out the last three days with a 6 for 13 stretch that includes three extra base hits since getting a cortisone shot for his shoulder. Zimmerman elaborated in the story by The Washington Post that all his problems this season have been physical and lately he has the strength to play the game at the level he's capable of playing it at. I'm not as easily sold after such a long slump, but this is one of those 27-year-old players that has always been good and has for no good reason been bad this year. Perhaps a cortisone shot is exactly what was missing. Here are some other notes from last night: no comments