But as good as the 2005 draft was, it isn’t remembered for all the talented players that came from it, but rather it is remembered for having the richest crop of high school outfielders we possibly have ever seen in one draft. We’ve had drafts that were deep at certain positions before, but none with high schoolers the caliber of the four studs in center field that came from this one. All four of them appear to be can’t miss players which is so rare to have in kids so young, at the same position, in the same draft. To give you a better understanding of the talent, here’s a look at the four center fielders that still have the baseball world talking:

10th Pick / Cameron Maybin / Detroit Tigers / TC Roberson High School
Cameron Maybin has since brought his lighting quick bat and long, power generating arms to the Marlins organization. Because of his power potential he projects to be a 20-plus home run hitter down the road once he pulls everything together. Also due to his speed and stellar base running instincts, look for this kid to steal 30-plus bases as well. Drafting a future 20/30 guy right out of high school isn’t something you come across everyday. Maybin also has great range and powerful arm in center field. This guy is an all around superstar and will hopefully be able to stick at the major league level very soon.

11th Pick / Andrew McCutchen / Pittsburgh Pirates / Fort Meade High School
Andrew McCutchen is an exciting player with a stellar glove in centerfield. Despite his great defensive prowess, his impact bat may be his best skill. McCutchen has quick hands and a compact swing which produces a surprising amount of power for someone of his stature. He is a line drive hitter due to his quick bat speed and is able to hit consistently to all fields. While he did struggle a bit in the Minors at times, the Pirates organization is hoping he will still be their shining star in center for many, many years and continue to build off his early success in the majors.

12th Pick / Jay Bruce / Cincinnati Reds / Westbrook High School
Jay Bruce is a five tool player who can impact the game with his power bat, speed, and defense. He needs to work on his plate discipline and he also tends to struggle against lefties and off speed pitches, but those are adjustable. If he can learn these items the next few years and combine that with his current skills, he will be a monster. Bruce has already shown his masher capabilities in three levels for the Reds as well as the majors but he needs to figure things out at the plate. With his talent and power, look for him to crush 35-40 HR in the hitter friendly Great American Ballpark.

28th Pick / Colby Rasmus / St. Louis Cardinals / Russell County High School
Colby Rasmus is the superior, impact-type prospect the St. Louis Cardinals organization has been waiting for ever since Albert Pujols was plucked from it. Rasmus is a perfect example of a five-tool player as he can run, throw, field, hit, and hit for power. Excellent bat speed, good pitch recognition, and plus runner. He has shown a lot of his skills this year in a part time capacity, but look for things to really come together next season when he can pull it all together.

As you can see, despite the great amount of talent that was available in this draft, the four center fielders who at the time were just barely old enough to buy a pack of cigarettes are the ones that people still mention when the 2005 draft is brought up.

I for one can not wait to see how these young players develop and who will rise to the top as the best of the high school center fielders in the class of ‘05.

Matthew Whipps is a writer for Baseball Daily Digest and his blog The Diamond Cutter. If you would like to contact him via email you can reach him at diamondcutter[at]columnist.com.

Name: Brett Wallace | Organization: Oakland A’s
Position: Third Base | Drafted: 2008 1st Round (13th)
Bats: Left | Throws: Right | Height: 6-1 | Weight: 245

Scouting Report: When discussing Brett Wallace’s game we have to first start with his bat. There really isn’t any other direction to go since it is what makes him worth talking about. As I have mentioned before, despite people who have strongly disagreed with me, I believe Wallace is one of the best offensive player that came from the 2008 MLB draft. While he may not have as much power of some of his fellow draftees, his overall offensive game is the strongest.

First let’s start with his approach at the plate. Wallace has very good plate discipline considering his age as it generally takes some time to get everything in synch. But Wallace is the type of hitter who refuses to expand his strike zone and waits pitchers out, forcing them to throw him something he can make solid contact with. Wallace also does a great job in plate coverage thanks to his batting stance which crowds the plate. With his advanced approach, Wallace has the potential to translate his success to the pros and could end up being a perennial on-base machine with OBPs around .400.

With having such a fine tuned eye at the plate, Wallace’s ability to be productive in the pros is pretty much set. But when you include his swing and the power he generates, you end up piecing together why he has the potential to be so special.

We now move on to what happens when Wallace finds his pitch. As I mentioned earlier, Wallace tends to crowd the plate which gives him great reach for the entire plate. This allows him to reach the outside corner and his short stroke allows him to turn on inside pitches. He also keeps his hands held high in the air and keeps his weight back allowing him to help generate power and use as a timing mechanism. Wallace’s short stroke goes right through the ball which follows up with a very hard uppercut swing. His swing is built to be a line drive, gap-to-gap hitter but he is strong enough and has the bat speed to hit homer totals into the 30’s.

If I were going to portray his skills to what they would translate to in the majors, I would say he is a .280-.300 hitter, around .380-.400 OBP and a slugging percentage in the upper .500’s. Then add in his 25-30 homers and 100+ RBI and you have a pretty strong offensive weapon that the A’s will love to have in the middle of their lineup.

On the defensive side however, things aren’t quite as rosy. Wallace’s offense has never been questioned but his defense has always been something he’s criticized for. Wallace would be best suited to play first base and may have more of an opportunity to do so now that he’s out from under Albert Pujols. Many don’t think he is athletic enough to stay at this position but after the trade he now has the DH option as well.

By simply looking at him you would automatically assume he won’t be able to play the hot corner. Sometimes I wonder if this is as deep as many scouts dig into his defensive abilities and just label him as a liability there. But the truth is Wallace does have some quickness and the feet to play an average third base. He also has pretty good hands and a fairly strong arm. Not exactly a glowing recommendation, but it is what it is.

While all this translates to an average third baseman, where I worry is in his ability to react to hard hit balls. I mentioned earlier how he has some quickness, but perhaps not enough to compensate on balls that are smashed in his direction. This could partially be counteracted by where he positions himself depending on the hitter, count and situation, but you really can’t coach reaction time which could be a giant flaw in his game. Basically I don’t see him killing his team with his defense, but I don’t see him helping at all either.

Overall Brett Wallace is going to be a solid player for the A’s for many, many years. If they can just get adequate defense from him at third they will have found themselves an All-Star offensive weapon that they have been looking for since the loss of the real Eric Chavez.

Matthew Whipps is a writer for Baseball Daily Digest and his blog The Diamond Cutter. If you would like to contact him via email you can reach him at diamondcutter[at]columnist.com.

Name: Kevin Youkilis | Number: 20
Position: First/Third Base | MLB Debut: May 15, 2004
Bats: Right | Throws: Right | Height: 6-1 | Weight: 220

Scouting Report: Kevin Youkilis has one of the most advanced approaches at the plate in all of baseball. He has a game plan each and every trip to the plate and adjusts it on the fly accordingly depending on how the pitcher is trying to attack him. He will work every count and sit on pitches until he gets what he wants. Youk has superb bat control and uses his hands and wrists a lot in his swing. He is a gap-to-gap hitter and generates most of his power to the alleys. What makes him so valuable is his ability to hit anywhere in the lineup you need him and has a solid glove at first and third base. At both corners he has great instincts and can get to the ball easily and control it with his soft hands. Combines a fantastic baseball mind, hardcore grit and a never-give-up attitude making him one of the game’s elite.

Matthew Whipps is a writer for Baseball Daily Digest and his blog The Diamond Cutter. If you would like to contact him via email you can reach him at diamondcutter[at]columnist.com.

But after an up-and-down career as a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees, it was becoming more and more difficult for the young right hander to find a spot on the big league club. That was until they Yankees needed a new set-up guy.

There has never been any question that Hughes has the stuff to be a big time major league pitcher. But for some reason he has never been able to grasp the consistency to stick in the Yankees rotation. Here’s a look at how Hughes has broken down on the mound as a game has gone on…

As you can see Hughes has not made the necessary adjustments as the game has gone on and as he faces hitters even as soon as the second time through the lineup. Of course part of this falls on Hughes but one has to wonder why the Yankees coaching staff hasn’t better prepared Hughes and taught him how to make adjustments as the game progresses. I for one have never been a fan of how the Yankees organization handles young pitching and their obsessive control of pitch counts. But that’s a story for another day.

In the mean time Hughes has been able to fill the role of set-up guy for Mariano Rivera. This has been a huge, gaping hole in the Yankees bullpen for quite some time. It has almost been a rebirth for Hughes as his fastball has shown more life (averaging 91-92 in his starts this year and 95-96 out of the bullpen), his curve his showing more bite and he is helping bridge the gap to Rivera and essentially giving opposing teams no hope for the final two or three innings rather than just the final.

Here is a look at how he has done as a reliever versus a starter…

Looking at that you can see how lights out Hughes has been since taking over as the late innings guy. Hopefully this can be a learning experiment for Hughes and either be a transition tool back to the starting rotation or as a passing of the torch to Hughes to step in as the legendary Mariano Rivera’s replacement.

I guess only time will tell.

If you would like to contact Baseball Daily Digest writer Matthew Whipps, creator of The Diamond Cutter, you can reach him via email at whipps15@gmail.com.

With that being said, I wanted to take an opportunity to explain the things wrong with the game as well as how to fix them. After all, there’s no sense complaining about something if you aren’t going to bring a reasonable solution to the table. Now I know this is going to sound negative (you should have read my original draft), but it’s not meant to criticize as much as it is to help shine light on its flaws and to work on fixing it. Remember, this is the only All-Star game of the four major sports that players actually care and where there are consequences at stake.

1.) If you are going to make the game count for something, you can’t have uneducated fans decide who plays.
I figured this was just a common sense item. Let’s face it, most fans, particularly the ones that will vote the maximum 25 times, are going to vote on name recognition alone. I know that is a sweeping generalization, but I’m ok with it because year after year I am proven right. Take Josh Hamilton being voted in to start this season despite missing most of the year and being ineffective when he has been in the lineup. Game, set, match.

Basically if the winner of the All-Star game is going to decide home field advantage in the World Series (which is a huge thing), you need to make sure the best players are out there for each side. I understand why having the fans involved is a good thing as it gets them into it. So if you must have them part of the decision making process, here is how the voting should be broken down:

> 1/3 of the final vote is by the fans
> 1/3 of the final vote is by the announcers and press
> 1/3 of the final vote is by past and present players and coaches

Make each of the three parts weighted equally and average everything together to get your All-Stars. I think you’ll see you will get the best players just about every single time.

2.) Cut the number of All-Stars on each side to 25.
Really, we need 33 All-Stars on each side? I remember when each side had a normal 25-man roster and everyone got in the game. Now each manager has to practically deal with an entire 40-man roster and we end up having guys at the end each year who don’t get in at all.

Oh and while we’re at it, can we have some consistency of how many positions make it? What on earth is the NL going to do with four first basemen, especially when Pujols will most likely play most of the game. Meanwhile the shortstops and third basemen will each play halves. Doesn’t make much sense to me. Especially since Ryan Howard doesn’t even deserve to be there.

3.) Get rid of pitchers hitting in NL parks.
Do we really need to see pitchers hit during All-Star games? This is especially ridiculous because a.) no one wants to see it, b.) there are plenty of hitters available and c.) why even risk the potential for injury? If you cut down the roster to 25, you won’t need to have so many pitchers available to replace them after they are pinch hit for. This one is a no-brainer.

4.) Eliminate having a mandatory one All-Star for each team rule.
This one is just plain dumb. So let me get this straight. To make sure that the Oakland A’s get their one All-Star, Andrew Bailey and his 9 saves gets to go over Brandon Inge, Ian Kinsler, Chone Figgins, Adam Lind or Carlos Pena? Really? And this logic makes sense?

I just think the idea that thousands of Oakland A’s fans will not watch the game just because they don’t have a representative on it is ridiculous. If that’s the case then they should be ashamed. In fact, nothing against Bailey, I would also be ashamed if that was the best thing my team could trot out to represent us in an All-Star game.

Well those are the four main things I would change right now about the All-Star game. I thought about going into something about not having the game end in a tie but that seems so obvious and asinine that anyone should be able to figure that out.

Right?

The names of the impact bats that may be available this summer are beginning to dwindle due to injuries which will end up making the cost of the ones remaining climb.

With the injury to Xavier Nady looking more grim the Yankees now can’t afford to part with a Nick Swisher and with the inevitable need for surgery for Adrian Beltre (bone spurs in his shoulder) along with a big price tag, teams will most likely be hesitant to pull the trigger and part with prospects. So who is it that teams are coveting?

The biggest name that may be on the move is a guy who already changed area codes once since the end of last season, Matt Holliday. While most teams would love to have him, the number of teams that may be eyeing him are most likely limited in large part because of what it will take to reign him in.

Putting the Angels aside (who are rumored to be suitors and always looking for a bat this time of year), I think there is one team that would be a perfect fit for a Holliday swap. In my mind there is one team that may be willing to take a plunge due to their position and assets and could use help in solidifying the middle of their lineup. I personally haven’t seen their name mentioned anywhere in the Holliday talks but may be able to offer the best situation for all parties involved. That team is the Cincinnati Reds.

Take a look at my reasoning:

• The Reds are only 3.5 games out of first. They could use a left fielder, a veteran who’s been there before and another big bat to help fill the void left by Adam Dunn and to wedge between Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto.

• The Reds may have more leverage than many suitors with prospects like Drew Stubbs, Homer Bailey, Matt Maloney, Todd Frazier and others to help sweeten the offer.

• I’m not saying all Holliday’s numbers are thanks to the “Coors Effect” but it undoubtedly made a difference. He’s currently hitting .269 with a .790 OPS and only 8 homers in a very hitter unfriendly stadium in Oakland. Last time I checked the Reds had a very hitter friendly ball park.

Looking at it that way, all three sides win. Reds get the leadership and impact bat they need, the A’s get some solid young prospects they always clamor for and Holliday gets to join a playoff hunt in a hitter happy park. Sounds like a win-win-win situation to me.

Now whether or not my logic makes sense to the parties involved is a completely different question.

This has not been the case.

The fact of the matter is the Cubs have underachieved greatly here in 2009 in a division that is begging for someone to take command. As it stands on the morning of June 23, the Cubs are currently sitting alone in third place with a mediocre 34-32 record, a mere 2.5 games out of first place. The playoffs are hardly out of reach but at this point, it should hardly be their main concern.

Right now what the Cubs have to do is figure out how to fix some of the many, many things that are broken. If you watch the Cubs closely (I admit I am a fan) or even take a look at their roster closely, it’s no wonder why they are struggling. It’s because of this that some comments I have heard recently from commentators on sports networks even more confusing.

On numerous occasions over the past month I have heard baseball analysts and commentators make comments regarding their confusion as to why the Cubs have been struggling so much this season. Really? It’s that confusing to you? They can’t score runs. It’s that simple. But, even though you are the so called “experts,” I can take time out of my schedule to help explain it to you (after all some of these people are the same ones who find it necessary to rip on bloggers or Internet writers).

So to make things easy on everyone, here is a current list of exactly why the Cubs aren’t the team everyone thought they would be (in no particular order):

· Last year’s NL Rookie of the Year, Geovany Soto, has hit a major sophomore slump. Once expected to be a big part of this offense after hitting 23 HR, 86 RBI and .868 OPS last season, Soto has struggled all year to get in a groove. His current stats sit at .225/.343/.355 with a .130 ISO.

· Arguably their best hitter, Aramis Ramirez, has been limited to only 18 games this season due to a horrible shoulder injury from diving for a ball at third. His 27 HR, 111 RBI and .898 OPS from 2008 have been missed.

· Because of Ramirez not being in the lineup, the light hitting Mike Fontenot has taken over at third. If this was the Fontenot from last season (.909 OPS) it wouldn’t be so bad. But this version of him (.703 OPS) is not cutting it. Especially since I have turned the Cubs on and seen him batting fifth one too many times.

· Although he has started to show some life recently, the man anointed the savior for the Cubs this offseason has been anything but. When not injured or suspended, Milton Bradley has had to fight his way up to a .248/.353/.398 line after being below the Mendoza line for much of the year. As I stated last winter, the Cubs should have gone after Bobby Abreu rather than the fragile Bradley.

· The Cubs have had a scrap heap of second basemen trotted out day-in-day-out. While they have received some good defense out of them (which is most important from a second baseman), their offense has killed them. Players by the name of Blanco (.612 OPS), Miles (.500 OPS), and their best, Scales (.799 OPS) have just hurt an already weak offense.

· And the last item I will mention is that of their “leadoff” hitter Alfonso Soriano. Listen, I like Soriano as a player. I hate him as a leadoff hitter. I’ve said this so many times before, he does not have what it takes to be an effective leadoff hitter. He has an OBP of .291 this season which is even below his lowly career mark of .327. A time must come when Pinella tells Soriano that he needs to do what is best for the team and that is not at the top of the lineup.

Now those are a lot of things to be wrong with an offense that was supposed to run away with a division. Some of the issues have been out of their control, but many have been of their own doing. As a team they are hitting .246/.324/.400 this season and are one hot streak by a division rival away from falling out of the race. They need to figure out how to fill the holes and fast because there isn’t any help in their system and Ramirez won’t be back until the All-Star break. They need to act now before it’s too late.

Now why is it that these “experts” can’t see that?

If you would like to contact Baseball Daily Digest writer Matthew Whipps, creator of The Diamond Cutter, you can reach him via email at whipps15@gmail.com.

Heading into Friday’s games, baseball’s best hitter Albert Pujols had walked 51 times on the season which was good for third in all of baseball. Very understandable as not only do teams like to pitch around him whenever possible, he also has an incredible eye at the plate.

Now where the problem comes in for the Cardinals is in his intentional walks category. Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones has been walked intentionally nine times here in 2009 which is good for second in the majors. Albert Pujols on the other hand has been walked 21 times.

That’s a huge difference.

In fact, here is a look at some data I found regarding how Pujols is treated when he comes to the plate:

As you can see, pitchers are consistently taking the bat out of his hands with runners in scoring position. Sure this makes sense as he is the most dangerous hitter in baseball, but at some point the Cardinals have to give him some protection in the lineup.

So far this season the Cardinals have backed up Pujols with the likes of Ryan Ludwick. Now if this was the Ryan Ludwick of 2008, I’d be all for it. But here in 2009 Ludwick has had a miserable time at the plate posting measly .729 OPS (nearly 240 points lower than last season) with only 13 XBH (7.1%). That’s hardly enough to protect Pujols from losing more and more at-bats as the season rolls along.

Remember how I mentioned that the lack of protection could cost the Cards even more than a few at-bats? Well Pujols has been very vocal in trying to get management to bring in some offensive help. From ripping management in the papers regarding their efforts to bring players on board and saying maybe he should play somewhere that wants to win to pleading his case for the Cardinals to sign Manny Ramirez, it just seems time after time Pujols is ignored and his concerns swept under the rug.

Well in 2011 the Cardinals have an option on Pujols and after that he’s fair game. If they don’t want to lose him to the Red Sox, Cubs, Yankees or Angels they better figure out something to make him happy fast. Not that Pujols is money hungry, but those teams are willing to spend money and can give him the protection he needs. The Cardinals need to make a move to add a bat to protect Pujols both to help him and to help win the division.

I just don’t want to see a smaller market, midwest team lose a player the caliber of Pujols.

It’s not exactly easy to replace the best player in baseball on your roster.

If you would like to contact Baseball Daily Digest writer Matthew Whipps, creator of The Diamond Cutter, you can reach him via email at whipps15@gmail.com.

Before we dive into looking at what is wrong with Joba Chamberlain, let’s take a look at my scouting report I wrote on him in the spring of 2008:

Pitch Repertoire

• Fastball: Chamberlain is a power pitcher with a big frame whose fastball sits in the mid to upper-90’s and occasionally hits triple digits. He also has very good control of his fastball and is able to locate it anywhere in the zone. This also helps set up his slew of secondary pitches.

• Change-up: Chamberlain has been working on improving his change-up and it is getting better with time. As of now it is sitting in the low-80’s and is lacking enough movement to make it a stand out pitch. It is effective enough of a pitch to incorporate into his game plan but it will take more work to be a solid major league pitch.

• Curveball: Chamberlain doesn’t use his curve too much for a couple of reasons. For one it’s not nearly as good as his fastball or slider which he predominantly uses coming out of the bullpen. Secondly it just isn’t that effective of a pitch for him yet as he doesn’t have reliable control over it. It is more of a slow looping curve that generally sits between 79-82 mph. This approach is ok during his time in the bullpen when a dominating fastball and hard slider will work great, but he may want to fine tune it a little more before joining the Yankees rotation.

• Slider: Chamberlain’s other dominating pitch is his plus slider. It sits in the neighborhood of 85-89 mph and is used just as much (and effectively) as his fastball. As a power pitcher, Chamberlain uses his hard slider as his strikeout pitch as he keeps it low in the zone and constantly over matches hitters as they swing and miss. When he has it working it is a simply devastating pitch that even if you know it is coming is almost impossible to hit.

Pitcher’s Makeup

• Delivery: Chamberlain grades very high when it comes to his delivery despite the fact that it at times can seem a bit violent. But anytime you have a pitcher trying to hit triple digits on the gun you are going to see some sort of effort put into it. Chamberlain’s strong frame and powerful legs are used very prevalently in his delivery which is where he generates his dominating stuff.

• Mechanics: While Chamberlain has a very good delivery, he does have a little room for improvement in his mechanics. The real test will be when he moves from the bullpen to the rotation and has to go 6 or 7 innings versus one or two.

• Big Game Factor: Chamberlain is perfect to pitch in a big time city like New York for a big time team like the Yankees. It has been said numerous times that he has ice water running through his veins and has shown it coming down the stretch run last season.

As you can see he has all the makings to be a true stud pitcher for the Yankees. So now let’s take a look at a few of the signs (other than horrible stat lines) that Chamberlain just hasn’t been the same pitcher he once was. For starters, Chamberlain’s once electric fastball that consistently was hitting 97 mph and above is now lucky to reach 93 mph. Take a look at the two PitchFX graphs courtesy of BrooksBaseball.net.

July 25, 2008

June 12, 2009

The first chart is against the Red Sox from July 25 of last year. As you can see his fastball was sizzling throughout a game in which he went seven innings, gave up zero runs, three hits and struck out nine. But then when you compare it to his last start against the Mets in which he threw 100 pitches through only four innings of work, you can see he wasn’t in the upper 90’s, but rather in the low 90’s. This also made his slider less effective as the difference in velocity wasn’t there as it once was.

Speaking of Chamberlain’s slider, that too has been a huge issue for him. Once his unhittable out pitch, it has now become flat and much more ineffective. Take a look at the PitchFX graphs from the same games and see how they compare.

July 25, 2008

June 12, 2009

Look what a huge difference there is in the vertical movement of his slider. Last season the drop was sudden and severe. This season is sort of lazily hangs there with no real bite. Up until this season his slider was considered a “plus-plus” pitch which made him incredibly dominant when combined with his upper 90’s heat. But with neither one of those pitches to reach back for when he needs it, it’s no wonder he’s struggling so much to pitch deep into games.

Now we know what the issues are but we still don’t know why. There’s no logical reason a 22-year old stud should all of a sudden lose his velocity that much and forget how to throw his devastating slider. This leads me to believe one of two things. Either it’s a.) he’s injured or b.) it’s his mechanics.

I’ll scrap the injury part right away because there is no way the Yankees would be trotting out the man who was anointed their future savior if he was injured. Especially the way they keep him on such a short leash with pitch counts. This option just doesn’t make sense.

I have spent a lot of time scouting and analyzing Chamberlain the past couple of seasons. My initial analysis of Chamberlain this past spring and early on in the year is that he wasn’t pitching the same as he did in the past. He is a mess right now with his delivery. Here’s what I have most notably seen:

• He isn’t tucking his front shoulder in causing his shoulder to fly open.

• That in turn is messing up his arm action which hasn’t been consistent all season.

• When he rears back to throw his slider his arm is trailing behind him too much which is why his slider isn’t coming out of his hand properly and generating as much spin causing it to be flat.

• Then to finish things off he isn’t landing with ease anymore as he plants his foot. His leg is locking up as he lands causing his body to not give a full follow through.

Those are the main pieces as to why his mechanics are currently messed up. Now these things aren’t happening consistently with every single pitch, but it is happening enough to where it is severely affecting his performance.

The Yankees how have a huge dilemma on their hands. They have a pitcher who is lucky to give them 5 or 6 innings each time he takes the mound as a starter (and still hits the 100 pitch mark). This isn’t just inconvenient as a “superstar” pitcher, it also kills their bullpen which has enough problems as it is.

Based on all of this, I’d say the Yankees have no option but to put Joba back in the bullpen. It has been the only place he has consistently been effective and he seems to be so much happier out there. New York needs that intensity back. They need the “Joba Rules” back. Maybe, just maybe, a return to the bullpen is just what he needs to get himself back on track. If Joba can’t find his velocity he is in some pretty big trouble as he doesn’t have the accuracy to be a control pitcher. He needs the gas and the hard slider in order to be an effective major league pitcher.

And in New York who knows how long his leash will be before they move onto someone else.

If you would like to contact Baseball Daily Digest writer Matthew Whipps, creator of The Diamond Cutter and the new Minnesota Sports Guys, you can reach him via email at whipps15@gmail.com.

5.) Apparently there is some salt in the wounds of New York Yankee manager Joe Girardi as he proclaimed Boston pitcher Brad Penny’s pitch that found Alex Rodriguez’s back Thursday night was intentional. It also appears as if the Yankees contacted the commissioner’s office about suspending Penny for his actions despite the fact that New York has hit nine Sox players this season. Could they be a bit salty that Boston has owned them to a tune of 8-0 here in 2009? I think so!

4.) Tim Lincecum pitched a brilliant game against the A’s in last night’s ball game as he pitched a complete game shutout in front of his home crowd. Lincecum struck out eight A’s en route to winning his sixth straight decision. The win has now brought the Giants to 19-9 at home and makes you wonder just how good they would be if they would have signed some offensive help last winter.

3.) I never want to hear Milton Bradley complain about how he is treated by the media or fans again after his incredibly stupid play in yesterdays game against the Twins. My explanation won’t do it justice. Just go watch the video with the link provided and enjoy. Hey Milton, just count your blessings you don’t play in New York. Speaking of which…

2.) The Mets’ difficult season appears to have taken yet another stomach punch last night as Luis Castillo dropped an easy two out pop-up off the bat of Alex Rodriguez allowing the go ahead and winning run score. The 9-8 loss to the Yankees was devastating and brings into question if this type of thing will end up hurting their already fragile psyche even more. I don’t even have a joke to end this as the video says it all.

1.) One of baseball’s best pitchers, Jake Peavy, is headed to the DL as an injured ankle looks to keep him out of action for at least a month. This may push San Diego’s ace for a return after the All-Star break and dangerously close to the trade deadline depending how everything goes. Could this derail the almost inevitable trade of Peavy this summer? Will teams be willing to take on a pitcher whose health is in question? The answer is a definite yes. Trust me, any team looking to add an ace to their staff for the stretch run will make the move. That is if Jake gives the ok with his iron clad no-trade clause. Sorry White Sox.

If you would like to contact Matthew Whipps, creator of diamondcutterbaseball.com, you can reach him via email at whipps15@gmail.com.