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Tuesday June.11/2013

David Ortiz is providing the kind of difference at the DH position that is an automatic advantage for the Boston Red Sox. The 37 Year Old has hit for a 3 Slash Line of .314/.395/1.018 – accounting for 13 HRs and 48 RBI in his 46 Games. The DH position was created for one-dimensional players like ”’Big Papi”, however teams are not imploring awesome players for the slot.  Most teams use the Designated Hitter for position players that are nursing injuries.  The Red Sox have seen their best run in franchise history with the big man.  Later in this article, I will post a link on how valuable DH’s have been in the last 20 years in Major League Baseball AL Pennant Winners.  More often than not, you need a great DH.  Ortiz is signed through 2014 at $13 MIL for the next 2 campaigns.  One of the better deals signed in the offseason

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024

Another Week has come and gone in the MLB.

(MLB Reports) AL Hitter Of The Week – David Ortiz has come up clutch in leading the Bo Sox to a season – high 15 games over .500 with many game changing hits like last week. 

Having the best offensive DH is a decisive difference compared to the rest of league.  If everyone remembers, the 2012 Red Sox actually skirted near .500 until ‘Big Papi’ went down with his injury.

DH article from 1992 – 2011 here

Runners up were: Howie Kendrick, Josh Donaldson, Adam Lind, all had strong weeks – especially for Batting Averages, but Ortiz had late inning heroics that changed the outcome for his team out of his 3 HRs and 9 RBI.

(MLB Reports) AL Pitcher Of The Week – Jarrod Parker

The Oakland A’s Chucker went 2 – 0, with a 1.35 ERA.  He has thrown 6 Straight Quality Starts – and has won 5 of his last 6 decisions after starting the year 0 – 5.

Runners Up were  Jeremy Hellickson and Clay Buchholz,

Yasiel Puig lit it up for his 1st week in the Majors. He had a Grandslam and 4 HRs in his 1st 5 games. He doubled a guy off to end his 1st game. He his up to a .500 Avg (16 – 32) in his 1st 8 Games Played for his Career. Puig also has 2 Outfield Assists. In a season marred by lethargic play from Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, Puig has ignited the lineup.  In these 8 games, he has Multi – Hit games in 5 of them – including 3 – 3 hit games already.  The Cuban Outfielder signed a 7 YR/$42 MIL dollar deal prior to 2012 – and makes $3.72 MIL this season.  Puig also hit over .500 in Spring Training.  In my honest opinion, baseball needs to come up with something to stop teams from not calling their players up due to service time on their Arbitration/Free Agency clock in the next CBA.  Puig should have been with the club all year.

NL Hitter Of the Week – Yasiel Puig.

Runners UP:  Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Carpenter, Domonic Brown, Everth Cabrera.

NL Pitcher Of The Week – Kris Medlen,

Runners UP:  Cliff Lee, Bronson Arroyo

Team Rankings (Last Week in Parenthesis) and Moving of spots up or down.

* Denotes Division Leaders

1. St. Louis Cardinals 41 – 22* (1) Even  The Cardinals are stacked and play a winning brand of baseball.  Yadier Molina should be an NL MVP candidate with his near .350 Batting Average,

2.  Atlanta Braves 39 – 25* (2) Even – Evan Gattis coming up large as the ultimate late inning guy.  He is Slugging .603 – based on 14 HRs and 37 RBI in just 156 AB. 

Dan Uggla and Jason Heyward had Multi HR games this week which means trouble for the rest of the NL if they heat up.  Atlanta has already played 36 Games on the road – so in their final 98 Games, (53 are at home where they are 21 – 7), and they play 45 on the road.

3.  Detroit Tigers 35 – 27* (4) + 1 -The Tigers are situated in the best division to run away with and have the best pitching staff in the AL with the best hitter.  Dombrowski needs to find a Closer for this bunch.  Look for them to start separating from the pack.

4.  Texas Rangers 38 – 25* (3) – 1 – Year in and Year out Adrian Beltre is playing himself into Baseball Hall of Fame consideration.  In 2013, he has 15 HRs, 14 2B, a BA of .304 with 38 RBI.  He is en route to a 500 HR, 650 2B Career.  Jeff Baker is the ultimate fill in guy – with 9 HRs in 78 AB. Rangers also have played 9 more games on the road thus far.

5.  Cincinnati Reds 38 – 26* (5) Even  – The Reds own Chicago, now they just need to play better versus St. Louis.  Brandon Phillips has raked in 52 RBI.  Tough Division.

6.  Boston Red Sox 40 – 25* (6) Even.  Great new team chemistry, the right mix of veterans and young kids, 2013 could be a magical season. 

7.  Oakland Athletics 38 – 27 (8) + 1 – Oakland beats the teams they are supposed to convincingly, have sub par stretches against some of the better teams – and then reel off big streaks of wins.  After going to 20 – 21, they are 18 – 6 in their last 24.  I am not convinced the pitching can hold up all year with 2 straight years of logging career highs.

8.  New York Yankees 37 – 26 (7) – 1 – a 6 Wins versus 1 Loss week, provided the Bronx Bombers a chance to be back on the winning ledger, these were against struggling Cleveland and Seattle.  The team needs all of its injured players back soon.

9.  Arizona Diamondbacks 35 – 28* (9) Even –  These guys are the definition of a team – and could ride it out atop the division all year. 

10. Tampa Bay Rays 34 – 29 (10) Even – Having David Price out is finally catching up to the club.  Matt Moore has fallen back to earth in his last 2 starts.

11.  San Francisco Giants  33 – 29 (12) +1 – Hunter Pence is stealing bases, hitting for power, so his stock is rising.  The club has played so much baseball the last three years, that the pitching staff is showing signs of fatigue. Losing Pablo Sandoval for awhile hurts.

12.  Pittsburgh Pirates 37 – 26 (11) – 1 – Who would of thought the pitching would be this dominant?

13.  Baltimore Orioles 36 – 28 (13) Even – Pitching Staff is killing the club – in particular with the Starting staff (13th in the AL – with a near 5.00 ERA).

14.  Colorado Rockies 34 – 30 (16) + 2 – Best 3/4 Tandem in the National  League with Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki.

15.  Washington Nationals 31 -31 (14) – 1 – There is something off about this whole year for the Nats. Maybe they should have gone for it when they had the chance in 2012 – because you never know.  You could suffer 1 – 2 Career ending injuries in your franchise, and it would be game over for competitiveness anyway.  Let this be a lesson to other clubs.

16. Philadelphia Phillies 31 – 33 (21) + 5 – Domonic Brown is carrying the club, and now he needs the cavalry to help.

17.  Kansas City Royals 29 – 32 (22) + 5 – A 6 game win streak has them back to respectability, however the pitching is doing it and not the hitting.

18.  Cleveland Indians 30 – 33 (15) – 3 – Third year in a row where the club has started to free fall after a good start.  They are 4 – 16 in their last 20, after a 26 – 17 start.

19.  San Diego Padres 29 – 34  (18) – 2 – Jason Marquis at 8 – 2 should net the club a player or 2 for a trade offer.  Jedd Gyorko out now is a shame with how he was swinging lately.

20.  LA Angels 27 – 37 (17) – 3 – Moving Josh Hamilton to 2nd is a good move.  Howie Kendrick and Mark Trumbo are having good years, too bad Albert Pujols isn’t.  Mike Trout has 35 Extra Base hits. These guys will need to win 65 games out of their last 98 to have a shot at the 2013 playoffs.  Not sure they have it in them.

21.  LA Dodgers 27 – 36 (19) Even – Yasiel Puig can’t do it alone fellas.  A .500 BA in 8 games, yet the club is only 4 – 4.  Too many injuries to the Starting Lineup and pitching staff.

22.  Chicago White Sox 28 – 34 (20) – 2 – Fog Bowl game last night a classic example of club.  Adam Dunn went 4 – 4, with 2 HRs and 4 RBI, yet only raised his season BA to .181. (also his Career BA with the Pale Hose).  He is on pace for 42 HR. “The Mendoza Line Masher!”

23. Minnesota Twins 27 – 33 (24) + 1 – This club smells of a 75 win team. Liquidate all veterans and re-build!

24. Toronto Blue Jays 27 – 36 (26) + 2 – Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion both will hit 40 HRs and the club will still finish last in the AL East.

25.  Seattle Mariners 28 – 37 (25) Even – Kendrys Morales having a nice bounce back season.  Hisashi Iwakuma is the best pitcher no one has heard about.

26.  Chicago Cubs 25 – 36 (27) + 1 – Anthony Rizzo has struggled with power lately.  Nice Starting Pitching is being wasted.  The young players need to learn plate discipline.

27.  Milwaukee Brewers 26 – 37 (28) + 1 – The Ryan Braun (Biogenesis Scandal) may have finally slowed down #8.  The Starting Pitchers have the worst ERA.  The Bullpen is actually not half bad.

28.  New York Mets 23 – 35 (23) – 5 – The Mets released Rick Ankiel and sent Ike Davis to the Minor Leagues.  Marlon Byrd playing much better than anticipated – but the collective Outfield numbers still hurting.  How soon before we see a slow down on Matt Harvey‘s Innings?

29.  Houston Astros 22 – 43 (29) Even – Bo Porter has done a great job having these guys compete.  They will still lose 100 games and pick in the top 2 selections for the 2014 MLB Amateur Draft.

30.  Miami Marlins 18 – 44 (30) Even – Giancarlo Stanton is coming back soon.  They would love to play the Mets every game of the year.  That 20 Inning triumph will be their best win all campaign.

Kris Medlen allowed 0 ER in 2 Wins over the last week. He beat the Dodgers and the Pirates – only allowing 13 Baserunners in 13.2 IP – while fanning 12 hitters. Medlen is 3 – 6 for the year, with a 2.87 ERA. The 27 Year Old from Artesia, CA – is 12 – 6, with a 1.82 ERA over the last calendar year – spanning 25 Game Starts.  Medlen is Arbitration Eligible after this year.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners.***

Chuck Booth – Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner and author of the Fastest 30 Ballgames:   To learn more about my  “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book” and how to purchase it, click here .

You can also follow my Guinness Book of World Record Successful Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 Days – click here.  I am happy to be part of such an awesome Magazine-Style Baseball Website and am looking forward to talking to all of the fans of the MLB.  You can reach me on Twitter here Follow @mlbreports

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