Can of Corn: Ollie Oops?

I expected to wake up this morning, turn on the radio and catch the end of the Red Sox Yankees sock hop. But alas, the game that would not end did in fact end with a 15-9 Yankees win. How bad was the pitching? I had stopped at a local watering hole to take in a few innings but only lasted 1.2 innings myself.

My early predictions regarding Oliver Perez haven’t had much on-field support over his last two outings but I’m not about to change them. In his previous two starts, Ollie hasn’t looked very good, issuing 6 walks over just 10 innings of work. So why am I still high on Perez? He has improved significantly over the past year and a half to minimize damage when he loses his control.

In 2006 Perez was best with the bases empty (.262 BAA) but imploded with runners on base (.332 BAA). Last season he was able to improve upon those numbers posting a .225 BAA with nobody aboard and a .235 with someone on base. In his three starts this season Perez has shown the ability to stay mentally focused and fight through his control issues, currently yielding a .306 BAA with the bases empty and a mere .208 BAA with runners on (.167 BAA with RISP). Taking the next step as he has shown early in 2008 will translate to fewer bad starts and better poor starts to go along with his dominant outings.

Perez will take the hill Saturday in Philadelphia where he is 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA at Citizens Bank Ballpark. What better test than to face a division rival on the road coming off two sub par performances.


Buyers Market


Kenji Johjima – He’s scorching the ball after starting the season in a 2-week slump. He’s a middle-tier catcher that might be on your waiver wire.

Prince Fielder – This guy will mash. If you are lucky you just might be able to pry this HR-machine away from a disgruntled owner.

Yovanni Gallardo – He’ll be back in the rotation this weekend to begin what should be a very solid 2008 campaign for the Brewers young hurler.

Oliver Perez - Couple of poor outings have deflated his value (see above).



Sellers Market


Gabe Kapler – Nobody thought Pena would keep it up all season, but Pena was a decent prospect and perhaps more significantly, wasn’t coaching in the minors the year before.

Hunter Pence – A .161 AVG without a HR, a 2:16 walk to strikeout ratio and dropping in the batting order.

Fausto Carmona – Getting value based on last year’s success. His 7 GIDPs have kept his ERA down but his 1.65 WHIP will catch up to him. By the way, if you are looking for news and insight on the Indians, check out Lets Go Tribe!

Chuggin' Along: Boxing Has A Pulse

I’m not a boxing fan myself and am in no way knowledgeable enough to analyze the sport, but I’ll watch a good fight. For the first time in a long time, there seems to be a little buzz coming from the sport of boxing. A couple nice fights, quality Tarver smack talk and what appears to be some interesting potential future bouts might actually reel in the casual sports fan.

Looks like Tiger will have to head to Denny’s for that Grandslam. Trevor Immelman played solid golf from the opening tee just months following surgery to remove a tumor from his ribcage. I happen to like Tiger but I’m all for seeing someone new winning a tournament. Augusta looked beautiful and even on television those greens looked like the Appalachians.

At the start of the 2007-08 men’s hoops season hardly anyone knew had heard or knew of Keno Davis. Despite losing to Western Kentucky in the opening round of the 2008 NCAA tournament, Davis earned numerous Coach of the Year accolades. Last week, he cashed in on his Cinderella season by accepting the head-coaching job at Providence. While I believe the MVC is a great conference, the chances of Davis maintaining success at a school most noted for its scholarly achievements would be slim at best. The situation at Providence will certainly be a challenge, but it offers more money and a chance at long-term coaching success that Drake simply can’t match. Good Luck Keno!

I’m planning on covering the NHL Playoffs next week so I’m not going get into too much detail here, however the Canadiens are looking awfully tough behind Carey Price who just notched his first career playoff shutout and is now 15-4 since Montreal traded away Cristobal Huet. There’s a lot of hockey to be played but I’m having a hard time believing the Stanley Cup Finals won’t be played in Montreal this season.

The train’s final stop brings us to College Football where the NCAA went out of its way to avoid its own version of SpyGate. I am shocked! You mean to tell me that nowhere in the current thousands of pages of rules, regulations, and bylaws there wasn’t any mention of such an act of cheating?

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