Oakland Athletics
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reports Oakland Athletics SP Dallas Braden is likely to start on opening day.
Our Instinct: If you have Braden, I guess this means you have at least one starter going in the first scoring period. This doesn’t make him an Ace though. Braden should probably be a number 4 in most rotations. Don’t take this news to your auction and overpay for him. This means nothing.
Tampa Bay Rays SP Matt Garza went 5.2 innings while striking out 3 and walking 3 in a 4-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles Friday night. Our Instinct: Garza is on a pace to win 17 games on the season, and might pull off 18. He's 14-7 with a 3.46 era, 133 k's, and 54 walks in 176.2 innings on the season. He's hanging in there with the likes of Ricky Romero and Yovani Gallardo as a top 25 starting pitcher.
Chicago Cubs SS Starlin Castro went 2 for 4 and scored a run in a 7-6 win over the New York Mets on Friday Night. Our Instinct: The 20 year old is in the midst of a 5 game multi-hit- hitting streak, going 11 for 22, while raising his batting average from .308 to .319. He's a keeper.
New York Mets 3B David Wright went 3 for 5 with a solo hr in a 7-6 loss to the Chicago Cubs Friday Night. Our Instinct: Wright is hitting .295 with 23 hr's, 90 rbi, 76 runs, and 18 sb. The 27 year old is on a pace for .295-28-108-92-22. While this is certainly a bounce back season for Wright, it's not where we thought he would be at age 27. Still though, he should be a good bet to be productive for many years to come.
Chapman has gotten the call to Cincinnati and Chapmania is taking hold. Chapman was popping 103 mph and controlling his slider in his first action. Let's take a look at his Prospect Breakdown.
Washington Nationals SP Stephen Strasburg saw Dr. Lewis Yocum today to get a second opinion on his right elbow. It doesn't seem to be a matter of "if", but "when" the surgery will happen. Our Instinct: This is the point in these stories that I love to pull out a flash back to when I told you so, but in this case it wasn't me that told you so. Oh, no, it was our Minor League expert Tom Belmont who pointed it out in his Prospect Instinct: Stephen Strasburg article back in February. "He’s a once in a generation talent. How long he can showcase that talent will be up to the doctors, not up to him." I really hate when he's right (which is a lot), there will be no living with him now.
