Around the League - 5/14/10

Away we go....


EAST


- Atlanta finally got it's first taste of divisional play and didn't like it. After beating up the West and World divisions, the Flyers got swept by the Jackals, giving up 21 runs. The good news is that Hanley Ramirez is ready to rejoin the lineup after a brief injury. Atlanta goes on a 6 game road trip this week, visiting Columbus and Miami.

- Jersey City went 3-3 this week, sweeping Atlanta after being swept by Columbus. Cliff Floyd has been on fire, slugging .747 with 9 HR since Aramis Ramirez's injury.

- Columbus has ridden an 8-2 division record to close to 3 games of Atlanta in a highly competitive East. Josh Anderson hit for the cycle this week (the league's second of the season), but had his league leading 19 game hit streak broken. Everyone in the starting lineup not named Alicides Escobar is slugging over .500!

- New York is within a game of .500 despite basically no offense whatsoever. The Knights have just 25 HR through 35 games. The starting pitching is keeping them together right now.

- Miami has lost 7 straight to fall 10 games out of first. It's worth pointing out just how awful reliever Arthur Rhodes has been; he has allowed 30 baserunners in 9 2/3 innings. That's amazing.


WEST

- La Brea screamed back into first place with a 6-1 record. Cristian Guzman has reached base in 14 straight games (with a .507 OBP in that stretch...unreal). Ryan Howard leads the league in multi-HR games, and the rest of the offense (outside of Adam Jones) has been very strong. Eddie Guardado was released this weekend.

- OKC went 4-2 this week, but fell to a game and a half behind the Dire Wolves. Ted Lilly has proven to be an invaluable late round pickup, but second round pick Evan Longoria is slugging (yes, SLUGGING) .358 right now. Unacceptable.

- Kansas has been on a huge power surge, just as the pitching has gone into the crapper. Ichiro has reached base safely in 32 straight games (wow!) and Justin Upton leads the league with 16 HR. Strikeout machine Mark Reynolds (46 K's vs 6 BB's) was benched in favor of newly signed Michael Cuddyer.

- Sioux Falls looks out of it, but don't blame the offense. Adrian Gonzalez has homered in 5 straight games, while Upton and Kendrick join him in the double-digit club. The lowest ERA in the entire pitching staff (aside from Nolasco and Meredith's 4 2/3 combined innings) is Justin Verlander at 5.06.

- Springfield was 3-3, but there doesn't seem to be much to cheer about for Isotope fans. Time for a shake up?


WORLD

- Brisbane clings to first place, but might have a tough time riding out Jason Marquis' injury. Clayton Kershaw got blitzed in his first start (7 walks and only 1 strikeout in 3 2/3 innings).

- Caracas went 4-2 and is now above .500 (and 1/2 game out of first). Jacoby Ellsbury is a dark horse MVP candidate, leading the league in SLG (thanks to 32 of his 52 hits going for extra bases). Johan Santana continues to dominate, but the team is another starting pitcher away from being taken seriously.

- Quebec continues to slide, despite great starting pitching. 8 losses out of the bullpen explains some of it.

- Fremantle went 3-3, but remains 12 under .500. They continue to battle with Springfield and New York for most inept offense. The bullpen's not helping matters.