Spotlight on Jorge Cantu; looks to continue record streak against Roy Halladay

It is definitely time to give Florida Marlins first baseman Jorge Cantu the credit he deserves. He has arguably been the best player in the majors this season as he takes a 10 game hit and RBI streak to open the season into the Marlins game tonight against the Philadelphia Phillies and Roy Halladay. Cantu has been a major reason the Marlins have opened the season 6-4, good enough for second in the NL East behind the Phillies.

I acknowledge that by writing this, I am potentially jinxing a major league record to open the season. But I am wiping myself clean of any bad mojo based on the fact he will be up against arguably this year's best pitcher in Halladay tonight. The former Cy Young winner has already posted a 2-0 record with a 0.56 ERA through two starts. A big game from Cantu, and a Marlins victory tonight, would go a long way in determining just how good this team could be this year.

But back to Cantu. He is actually riding a 14 game RBI streak dating back to the end of last season. That puts him three games behind the record held by Ray Grimes way back in 1922. Mike Piazza drove in a run in 15 straight games in 2000 for the Mets. Cantu, now a first baseman, was dogged in years past for his ineptitude at second base and sometimes alarmingly low on-base percentage, but if you look at the power stats, Cantu has had three impressive seasons since becoming a full time player for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2005.

In 2005, Cantu hit .286 with 28 homers and 117 RBIs, but only drew 19 walks for a .311 OBP. In 2008 he hit .277 with 29 homers and 95 RBIs and last year hit .289 with 16 homers and 100 RBIs. He even had a .345 OBP last year, the highest in his career.

So why has Cantu been so overlooked as part of this young, dynamic Marlins offense. He's still only 28 and if the first two weeks are any indication, this might be his best season yet. Remember, most baseball players are in their prime from age 27 to 32, so we could expect huge things for Cantu over the next few years. He's hitting .308 with three home runs and a major league leading 15 RBI's, tied with Albert Pujols, through 10 games. Anytime you are tied with Albert Pujols in any offensive category at any point in the season, it's a good season for that player. His OBP is at a career high .378 this year. He is slugging .692, nearly 200 points higher than his best year. He's also 10th in the NL in Runs Created, at 9.6.

Cantu won't give you much more than his offensive production as he lacks speed and defensive ability. But at first base, not much is asked of him, and with speedsters Hanley Ramirez and Cameron Maybin on the team, the Marlins don't need Cantu to steal bases. (He only has 11 steals for his career). He's only struck out more than 100 times once in a season and had 87 strikeouts last year. He's had back-to-back 40+ double seasons and provides a consistent bat in a young lineup.

On a team with just one true offensive star, Hanley Ramirez, Cantu is quickly becoming the second most reliable player on the team. Cantu seemed an afterthought when he followed a strong 2005 season with a clunker in '06 and a nearly non-existent 52 games in '07 between the Rays and Reds. But Cantu has really re-invented himself in Florida and will be a major reason why the Marlins will contend for the National League Wild Card this year.

Upside down out west in the American League

I'm heading out west again, but this time to the American League. The western divisions in each league don't always get the attention they deserve and so far the other divisions pretty much seem to what we expected (the Blue Jays will fade rapidly). So the AL West actually becomes a very captivating division. All four teams at this point have a legitimate hope they could win this division crown.

Let's check out the standings even though it's way too early to take much meaning from it. The Oakland Athletics are atop the division at 6-3 with a +15 run differential. The pitching has been dominant, with a major league leading 2.69 ERA. The offense is averaging about 4.5 runs a game and will have to produce at a similar rate all season for this team to win. The problem is, there aren't many guys you can count on in the lineup. Seriously, I don't know if there is one player I would be thrilled to have on my team. Check out the roster for yourself.


I don't think Oakland will be a contender unless their pitching starts to remind of us of the days of Hudson, Zito and Mulder. So I'm going to say right now that the Texas Rangers are the team to beat out west the rest of the season. The Rangers are 4-3, but have allowed a league-low 24 runs. Also take into consideration, six of those 24 runs were allowed in the 9th inning of two games courtesy of ex-closer Frankie Francisco. With flame-throwing Neftali Feliz anchoring the bullpen now, this team is going to pick up more wins. Texas, as has been the case the last two decades, is loaded on offense with weapons, led by Nelson Cruz, who has already hit five home runs and as far as I'm concerned, might be the most powerful man in baseball.

I predicted at the beginning of the season that the Mariners would win this division with the Angels in second. I still think Seattle is going to be strong once Cliff Lee returns. Felix Hernandez is going to be a Cy Young contender and the back of the rotation has pitched alright so far. They are 3-6 but have a few one-run losses that could have gone either way. Once the offense starts meshing with Chone Figgins, Ichiro and Milton Bradley, the Mariners should get in contention. I expect them to be in this race all year.

As for the Angels, they have to miss John Lackey and Vladimir Guerrero. The pitching has given up an AL high 54 runs and the Angels have the second worst run differential in the American League at -20. They have a potent offensive attack in the past, but rank only 9th in the league in scoring this season. I wouldn't panic too early, but I just don't see enough pitching on that team to come out on top in this division. And all four teams should count out the Wild Card. They will all beat up on each too much. Throw in the fact the Rays look great in the early goings and the Red Sox will be at 90+ wins by the end of this.

Whoever ends up with the best division record may be the team punching their ticket to the playoffs. Stay tuned, the Angels reign could be at an end.

Are the San Francisco Giants National League pennant contenders?

I don't think I had this question on my mind a week ago. And I hate to jump to conclusions in April baseball (remember the Orioles led the AL East in 2005 for two months before finishing 74-88), but man, the San Francisco Giants look good and the NL West looks really good. So, are the San Francisco Giants NL pennant contenders? Their 6-1 record is tops in the majors with the Phillies.

Let's just walk through the Giants start to the season and maybe a few of you will follow this team a little closer this season. And bear in mind, as author of this blog, I reserve the right to completely change my opinion next week.

The first thing that jumps out to me about the Giants is their starting pitching. Two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum looks, surprise surprise, dominting through his first two starts. Try this on for size, 2-0 record with 1.29 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 17 strikeouts in 14 innings. It's possible he gets the three peat this year, especially if he continues on that incredible pace. Barry Zito is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA. Matt Cain had a decent first start and we can expect another great year out of him with a career 3.53 ERA and 163+ strikeouts in each of the last four seasons. Todd Wellemeyer and Jonathan Sanchez may not be the best four or five starters, but neither are terrible and Sanchez has the potential to bring electric stuff out to the mound any given start. Just check out his no-hitter last year.

The Giants have a team 2.82 ERA, first in the National League, and a 40-23 run differential on the year. Their top four bullpen guys, Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo, Guillermo Mota and Dan Runzler haven't allowed a run in 14 1/3 innings.

But the pitching shouldn't be too big of a surprise, even if it still remarkably good through seven games. It's the offense that has caught my eye. Going up against division rivals like the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants knew they were going to have to score runs. Pitching can only take you so far. Sometimes you just have to score some runs. Ask Matt Cain about that, 3.53 ERA, 44-51 career record.

The Giants are batting .294 as a team, fourth in the majors. Edgar Renteria has made an immediate impact. Renteria is hitting .440 with a 1.157 OPS. And that's with an 0-4 yesterday against the Pirates. Renteria isn't the only one raking. Bengie Molina is hitting .421 with 7 RBIs and the panda Pablo Sandoval is hitting .414 with a 1.158 OPS. Not bad considering new acquistion Mark DeRosa is about the only one not hitting on this team with a .217 average. I expect those very high averages to come down to earth and DeRosa to settle in around .285.

Now this offensive output will most certainly not continue, but it's good for manager Bruce Bochy to know his team at least has the capability for an offensive outpouring on any given night. Yes, the Giants started against the hapless Astros, but took 2 of 3 from a quality Atlanta Braves team that they may be competing against for the wild card.

I still like the Rockies to win this division, but if a big injury hits them Jeff Francis can't produce on the mound, the Giants could make a giant leap in this 2010 season and find themselves in the playoffs. But its only been seven games. Stay tuned.

Week 1 Power Rankings

Well we made it through the opening week of the baseball season and I think there is only one team that I feel confident in saying can stop dreaming of the playoffs. Astros fans, you know who I'm talking about. The teams we expected to win division titles have played well for the most part and a couple surprise teams earn a higher ranking in this week's edition of Power Rankings. Who would have thought the Oakland A's would be 5-2 or the Toronto Blue Jays at 5-1? The rankings should even out to what I expect in the next few weeks, but for week one, let's give the underdogs some praise.


1. Philadelphia Phillies (6-1): The offense is unstoppable and Doc Halladay is better than advertised.
2. San Francisco Giants (5-1): The league's last unbeaten has hit surprisingly well.
3. New York Yankees (4-2): Series wins against Boston and Tampa is a great start for the champs.
4. St. Louis Cardinals (5-2): Albert Pujols hit his 5th homer today. Enough said.
5. Minnesota Twins (5-2): 5-2 on the opening road trip with 10 home runs and about to knock off the Red Sox in Target Field debut.
6. Toronto Blue Jays (5-1): Vernon Wells needs more than just a hot start for the Jays to sustain this.
7. Oakland A's (5-2): The pitching should continue to be good, but I really worry about this lineup.
8. Tampa Bay Rays (3-3): Have to pleased with David Price's outing vs the Yankees (7 2/3 innings, 3 runs, 7 strikeouts, win).
9. Boston Red Sox (3-3): This team will hit and pitch this year, but their pitching hasn't really impressed me yet.
10. Detroit Tigers (5-2): Miguel Cabrera while drinking was special. Now that he's not, he's on another level (.481 BA,.588 OBP, 1.292 OPS, 8 RBI).
11. Florida Marlins (4-2): This is going to be a wild year for this young team. Four wins in six games, yet a minus-5 run differential.
12. Atlanta Braves (3-3): Get used to hearing about Jason Heyward. He's the real deal.
13. Colorado Rockies (3-3): Troy Tulowitzki is going to have a monster year, mark my word.
14. Texas Rangers (4-3): Over .500 yet a disappointment with two 9th inning blown save losses for now ex-closer Frankie Francisco.
15. Arizona Diamondbacks (4-2): Doesn't hurt to have the Pirates to beat up. Although ask the Dodgers about that.
16. Cincinnati Reds (3-3): This team should contend for the wild card if they get more efforts from rookie Mike Leake (6 2/3 innings, 1 run).
17. Chicago White Sox (2-4): The starting pitching looks like a top five team. Too bad the offense is nonexistent outside Carlos Quentin and Paul Konerko.
18. Pittsburgh Pirates (3-3): A split on the first week of the season is something to celebrate in Pittsburgh.
19. Chicago Cubs (3-4): Same story in Chicago as the South Side, quality starting pitching with no offensive support.
20. Milwaukee Brewers (3-4): Boy, Yovani Gallardo and Randy Wolf need to pitch better if this team has any chance.
21. Seattle Mariners (2-4): I still dare any team to go up against Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee. It's just that Lee needs to get on the mound for the M's.
22. New York Mets (2-4): +5 run differential, but I'm not thrilled about Johan Santana's last outing (5 innings, 5 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks).
23. Washington Nationals (3-4): Steven Strasburg looked good in his debut...in the minors.
24. Los Angeles Dodgers (2-4): It's become extremely evident the Dodgers needed some starting pitching help in the offseason.
25. Los Angeles Angels (2-5): Looks like a completely different team with some familiar faces gone.
26. Kansas City Royals (3-4): Not a bad week considering Zack Greinke hasn't won a game yet.
27. Cleveland Indians (2-5): Lost four in a row winning the opening series against the White Sox.
28. Sand Diego Padres (2-4): I love to watch Adrian Gonzales play and not much else with the Padres.
29. Baltimore Orioles (1-5): A couple blown saves has the Orioles close to desperation. At least they're not the...
30. Houston Astros (0-7): Not much to say about this team. Outscored 42-13 in first seven games.

C.C. Sabathia loses no hitter in 8th, Yankees climb over .500

I have a feeling we should all get used to the American League East domination. It's the same thing every year, but I think we always hold out hope that the Yankees or Red Sox will ultimately choke, or fail to make it to the playoffs, which seems to never happen. Both teams look sharp already and Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia almost threw a no-hitter on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays in a 10-0 Yankees victory, falling four outs short of the heroic feat.

The impressive thing about Sabathia's performance and the Yankees/Red Sox domination is that the Rays are probably good enough to win every other division in all of baseball except probably the NL East where the Phillies might be the best team in baseball.

C.C. Sabathia did not surrender a hit to a balanced Rays offense for 7 2/3 innings last night before Kelly Shoppach broke up the no-no in the 8th. Sabathia threw 111 pitches and left the game after losing the no hitter. When Sabathia throws well, and this was about as good as ever, the Yankees are pretty much unstoppable. Sabathia's performance last night puts opening day's stinker in the rear view mirror and it's full steam ahead now for the ace and the Yankees.

Sabathia lasted just 5 1/3 inning on opening day against Boston, giving up five runs and 6 hits while walking two and striking out four. Yesterday, he gave up just the one hit and two walks while striking out five.

The Yankees are now 3-2, playing in Boston and Tampay Bay, so expect this team to take off when its schedule gets a little kinder and returns to Yankee Stadium. After Sunday's game against Tampa, the Yankees start a 21 game stretch that includes six against the Angels, six against the Orioles, and three each with the White Sox, Rangers and Oakland A's. Expect the Yankees to be hitting their peak when they travel to Fenway Park May 7.

Through just five games, The Red Sox (4-1), Rays (3-2) and Yankees (3-2) are all over .500. This could be the start of a season where all three teams could potentially challenge to win 100 games. The start of the season has not disappointed for those who enjoy this ongoing AL East battle. It will be A.J. Burnett for the Yankees against Rays ace James Shields on Sunday at 1:40 Eastern in Tampa Bay.