What’s Wrong With Jimmy Rollins?

Several top sluggers have struggled through the first month and a half of the season. Grady Sizemore is batting .220, but has 7 bombs and 6 steals. Mark Teixeira is batting a paltry .238 in Yankee pinstripes, but remains on pace for 39 HR. Lance Berkman has battled just to stay above the Mendoza line, […]

For the Nats, April was Forgettable

For the Washington Nationals, April 2009 was a month to forget. March was a bad sign of things to come. The club opened camp with the revelation that the future of the franchise, 19-year-old Esmailyn Gonzalez, was in fact 24-year-old Carlos Alverez Daniel Lugo. A resulting scandal broke out, the FBI got involved, and before […]

April’s Top 9 Hitters By Position

Here’s a look at the top players per position for the month of April. We have included the top 3 outfielders rather than list them by LF, CF & RF. Admittedly this is a little late and next month I’ll try to get this to you quicker, but for now, I hope you enjoy this […]

Brewers Solid Through 32 Games

At 18-14, and having won 16 of their last 21 games, the Milwaukee Brewers are quickly making their fans forget about their 3-8 start and have them thinking more about a return trip to the post-season. While it shouldn’t be overlooked that this team is 11-12 against teams above .500 and is 5-0 against Pittsburgh, […]

New Bullpen, New Ballpark, New York Mets

The boys who used to play in Shea finally figured it out it seems. Fix the back-end of your bullpen, shorten the games to accommodate an under-performing starting rotation and find yourself leading a mildly competitive National League East. Mix all of these factors, shaken, not stirred, in a margarita shaker, along with the Mets […]

The Giants Road Struggles

The Giants road struggles have little to do with the road. The Giants are struggling on the road this year, just 2-8 entering Tuesday’s game in Chicago. So the easy excuse is to blame the ivy on the brick walls of Wrigley field for being out of bloom, or the cavernous alleyways of Petco Park. […]

Diamondbacks Fire Manager Bob Melvin

Bob Melvin has been fired as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks and replaced by A.J. Hinch, the club’s director of player development since 2006. Melvin was a good guy and a great interview. What he did with the 2007 Diamondbacks was incredible, leading that team to the best record in the National League despite fielding […]

Arizona Wants Ex-Diamondbacks Back

On Sunday, Randy Johnson no-hit his old team through six innings, finishing with seven strikeouts and just three baserunners allowed through seven frames. Adding to the insult, the Big Unit erased both of the runners he let on base via free passes, picking off Chris Young and inducing pinch-hitter Mark Reynolds into an inning-ending double […]

The Cardinals: Two Weeks in April

While it’s not been the Dickensonian “best of times, worst of times” for the St. Louis Cardinals so far this season, 2009 has already had plenty of high points and low points in the first two weeks.  The Cardinals sit in a virtual tie for first with the hated Chicago Cubs in the NL Central, […]

Reds Looking for Results in 2009

After spending the last few years rebuilding their minor league system, the Cincinnati Reds are ready to reap some of the rewards for their efforts in 2009. Though Cincinnati has not posted a winning record since the 2000 season, there is a renewed sense of optimism in 2009 that the decade of disappointment may finally […]

Atlanta Braves Looking for Rebound Season in 2009

Following their worst season since Bobby Cox became the manager in 1990, all signs point to the Atlanta Braves returning to their typical spot near the top of the National League East in 2009. Rather than signing high profile free agents, the Braves have made strategic additions designed to solidify the weaknesses exposed during their […]

Marlins Must Prove That Talent Trumps Experience

Considering that only the Red Sox and Yankees have won as many World Series titles in the last 12 years, you might think the young and talented Florida Marlins would be considered a trendy sleeper pick for a playoff run this season. After all, the squad did win 84 games last year and were in […]

World Champions Reload, Reorganize, for Repeat

The start of this offseason brought about a bevy of unwelcomed, albeit unsurprising news to the 2008 World Champions. Left-handed reliever J.C. Romero, who had a 0.00 ERA in four World Series appearances, finally learned the fate of his appeal for violating the league’s steroid-abuse policy. Romero was sentenced to a 50-game suspension to begin […]

2009 Season Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers

Last year: 84-78 Projected 2009 record: 91-71 Projected finish: First Place, National League West Key additions: Manny Ramirez, Orlando Hudson, Randy Wolf Key subtractions: Jeff Kent, Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, Takashi, Saito, Greg Maddux, Andruw Jones Quick-hit synopsis: Joe Torre will have an almost embarrassing level of riches in his 25-man roster — a hard-hitting […]

Ahhh, the Astros

Coming off a year in which almost the entire team was overhauled and still were one big hurricane away from carrying a playoff chase into the final days of the season, the Astros were the first team this off-season to plead economic downturn, and it showed. GM Ed Wade, under orders from legendarily hands-on owner […]

Reflections on the Rockies Past, Present & Future

Looking at the 2009 Rockies is a lot like looking at the 2008 Rockies. Only with a bit more urgency attached. Urgency in that if these Rockies don’t get off to a solid start, Clint Hurdle may not be in charge for long. This is Hurdle’s eighth season, and for the first time, he is […]

NY Mets: A Look Back at 2008 & What to Expect in 2009

Coming off yet another regular season collapse in 2008 the New York Mets are looking to bounce back in 2009.  Trying to shake the monkey that is Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard off their backs and finally live up to their potential and hype.  Following their most recent regular season collapse the Mets took action […]

D-Backs Fantasy Impact

The Arizona Diamondbacks have won more games than any other National League team over the past two seasons.  Considering that, you would figure that they would have a myriad of impact Fantasy Baseball players from which to select, but that really isn’t the case.  General manager Josh Bynes and company have created a team for […]

Stadium Review: PNC Park Home of the Pittsburgh Pirates

Even though the Pittsburgh Pirates carry a history that goes back to 1887, they are often forgotten in historical conversations about baseball these days, perhaps because they haven’t really done anything of consequence in decades. This may be the reason, then that their immaculately built stadium seems to be overlooked when discussions about the great […]

What to Expect From The Cubs in 2009

To say that this is probably the beginning of the end for Derrek Lee would miss the point – we have likely reached the end of the beginning of the end.  The beginning of the end came in 2006, when he broke his wrist in a collision with Rafael Furcal.  Lee has had two good […]

Baseball Reflections on the Cardinals

The 2008 offseason promised to be an exciting one for Cardinal fans. There was quite a bit of salary coming off the payroll, there were surpluses to trade from, and GM John Mozeliak promised to be “aggressive,” taking care of the “low-hanging fruit” first and moving on to other things. That was before the worst […]

Baseball Reflections on the Brewers

Any preview of the 2009 Milwaukee Brewers will invariably contain the names CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets early and often. The two combined for 24 wins in 2008 and the run CC went on after his trade from Cleveland has been well documented. With the “workhorse” Sabathia now in New York, and the oft-injured Sheets […]

The Giants pitching needs to be perfect in 2009

Pitching is the strength of the 2009 San Francisco Giants. It’s the one hope they have for being competitive this season. Well, that’s at least what’s been bought and sold thus far by the organization and the media. Truth is the staff could be pretty good. But the Giants may be in for a surprise […]

Welcome to Mannywood 2009

Image by Getty Images via Daylife The frustrating courtship between Manny Ramirez and the LA Dodgers is finally over. Manny’s a Dodger again, signing a contract on Wednesday. The slugger with Predator hair is expected to be in uniform and on the field by Friday (editor’s note: this was written on Thursday). Frank McCourt flew […]

Reflections on the Cub’s Off Season

The Chicago Cubs and their fans can congratulate themselves on a page-turning 2008 season. In what was the centennial year of World Series drought for the lovable losers, the Cubs managed to convince their fans that this was “The Year” before being summarily dismissed from the post-season by the Los Angeles Dodgers.  In the process, […]

February Diamondbacks Reflections

Image via Wikipedia Generally speaking, when a team enjoys a productive offseason, you should predict good things for that team in the following season. Conversely, a team’s poor offseason will lead to pessimism for the upcoming campaign. Seemingly simple enough, it doesn’t always work that way. Last winter, the Detroit Tigers acquired Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle […]

SF Giants Offseason Report Card

Image via Wikipedia This is why I’m not a teacher; I’m sort of a pass or fail guy. So since the Giants seem destined to have Bengie Molina bat cleanup for the second year in a row, I suppose they have failed (or at least come close) in their off season mission to improve the […]

An Interview with Chad Durbin, Phillies RP

Today we’d like to welcome 2008 World Series Champion relief pitcher from the Philadelphia Phillies, Chad Durbin to Baseball Reflections.com. We contacted Chad to talk about the World Series, his career and to discuss ShowcaseU.com which he co-founded. Showcase U gives high school student athletes a way to showcase themselves so that they can increase […]

San Francisco Giants Off Season Report

Season Wrap Up 2008 saw the Bond-less Giants tied for the 6th worst record in baseball at 72-90, but I actually thought they had a chance of reaching 100 losses so they did better than I thought they would. They went into the year without a solid closer, which effects the rest of the bullpen, […]

San Diego Padres Off Season Report

Season Wrap Up Like most of the NL West, the Padres had a disappointing 2008 season going 63-99, the third worst record in baseball last season! Who would have thought that the Giants would finish higher than San Diego at Spring Training last year? I for one did not even think it possible. Granted, 2008 […]

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