Daily Archives: May 6, 2011

Let’s See How Far We’ve Come

So I heard that song while doing a little grocery shopping at my local Nugget Market. It always takes me back to my time working for the Sacramento River Cats. It’s probably the only place I ever heard that song, but for some reason they put it on every single promo dvd that I was forced to see thousands of times. Anyway, switching the big league baseball, we’re basically a month into the season, so it’s time to see where we’re at it… who’s overachieving, who’s underachieving, and most importantly, will it continue?

The first guy that jumps out at me is Lance Berkman. I never doubted the guy’s credentials, but it seemed like he was on the decline the last two years. He got off to a slow start last year in Houston, and then after being traded to the Yankees, he never got it going, and quickly became an afterthough. He was far from the most attractive free agent out there, but St Louis was quick to snatch him up. I believe the A’s made a phone call that was never returned, if I remember correctly. (sounds about right). Through 10 games, Berkman has 10 home runs and 32 rbi. In his 39 games as a Yankee, he had just 1 home run and 9 rbi. WILL IT CONTINUE? I doubt it, but NOT because Berkman will fall off, rather as a result of Pujols catching fire and carrying the team for a while, and then Holliday, and maybe Berkman again. The point is, there’s not enough RBI to go around for any of these guys – even Pujols – to have a monster season.

The next thing that jumps out at me is the fact that Alfonso Soriano leads the Major Leagues in home runs, with 11 through 29 games. If he can manage to stay on the field for an entire season… I WON’T say he’s on pace for 59 home runs! But I WILL say it’s not too far-fetched that he could flirt with his career high, his lone year in Washington where he hit 46 bombs. WILL IT CONTINUE? I don’t know, you kinda learn to bet against anything going right for the Cubs. It’s hard to imagine Soriano staying focused, or healthy, or both, for an entire season. What he may be able to do is build up some value to become a trade deadline asset.

Jered Weaver could win 30 games! Okay, it’s highly unlikely, but when you win your first six starts, one can’t help but think about a guy racking up 30 of em. He finally lost a game this week, blemishing his record to the tune of a 6-1 mark. Still, all he has to do is win just 24 out of his remaining 27 starts. WILL IT HAPPEN? F*** no, but as long as you play for my favorite team’s archenemy, anything’s possible. I’ll say this much, if he did win 30, I guarantee four of them would have been against the A’s.