With the 2011 MLB All-Star Game a little more than a week away, we head toward the unofficial halfway point in the baseball season with the Rookie of the Year races in both leagues heating up.

In the National League, a trio of hitters has stood out offensively while a handful of young pitchers are aiming for the crown.

While Domonic Brown drew all the praise before the season started, Danny Espinosa, Freddie Freeman and Darwin Barney are the leading position player candidates to take home the award.

Espinosa leads the group at this point despite a low batting average. Espinosa is the rookie leader in homeruns, stolen bases and RBIs in the NL and has posted an impressive 3.0 fWAR already this season for the Washington Nationals.

Freeman started off slow but has come on as of late. Since the beginning of May he has hit .299 with an .811 OPS. The Braves first baseman started last year in AAA off slowly before eventually turning things around to win the International League Rookie of the Year Award.

Barney has had a solid season for the Cubs but falls behind the other two because he lacks impact power or speed to compliment his solid batting average. While he has a solid .676 OPS he falls well behind Freeman and Espinosa in that category.

The top two pitching NL ROY candidates both come from the Atlanta Braves.

Brandon Beachy has arrived out of nowhere (he was undrafted just a few years ago) to be the best fifth starter in the NL. Although he has spent some time on the DL, his 1.2 fWAR leads all NL Rookie starters and he is striking out batters at a tremendous (10.54 K/9) rate.

Finally, Craig Kimbrel is trying to follow Neftali Feliz and take home the Rookie of the Year award as a closer. Kimbrel has been one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball this year, leading all relievers (not just rookies) in fWAR with 1.8 and striking out 14.27 batters per nine innings. His 1.47 FIP and 2.09 xFIP confirm that he has been dominant thus far.

Other NL candidates include the aforementioned Brown (he has the talent to turn things around), Josh Collmenter, Dillon Gee, Vance Worley and Juan Miranda.

In the American League, there are five strong ROY candidates thus far.

Offensively, Angels’ first baseman Mark Trumbo leads AL Rookies in homeruns, OPS and fWAR (with 1.3). Trumbo has shown a little speed on the base paths as well and could establish himself as the top rookie hitter if his on base percentage rises.

Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia is another strong candidate. The catcher is right behind Trumbo in homeruns and OPS while putting up 0.9 fWAR thus far in about 50 fewer plate appearances. Like Trumbo, Arencibia has a low OBP but his should start to rise. He hit over .300 in AAA last year and has just a .253 BABIP thus far in 2011.

Three AL pitchers stand above the rest of the field.

Jeremy Hellickson, rated as the top pitching prospect by some heading into the season, has put up solid numbers thus far. He is below the other pitchers because his strikeout and walk rates have been significantly worse than in the minors and his 4.13 FIP is unspectacular. He has put up 0.9 fWAR and could still catch the others with a strong second half.

Orioles prospect Zach Britton has been fantastic so far in 2011. His 3.38 ERA and 3.83 FIP are solid but what puts him ahead of the other candidates is his 1.5 fWAR so far. Britton is just below the 100 innings mark and could have his innings scaled back because of where the Orioles are in the division standings. If he can improve his strikeout rate to its minor league levels, Britton could make a run at the current leader.

The current leader would be Michael Pineda of the Mariners. Pineda leads all AL Rookies with 2.2 fWAR and has an impressive 2.65 ERA and 3.01 FIP. Pineda has solid peripheral ratios (including a 3.09 K/BB ratio) and won seven games for the offensively challenged Mariners. If there is a knock on Pineda, it’s his low .245 BABIP which could lead to a regression as the year progresses. Thus far, Pineda is the clear leader in the AL.

The most notable other candidates are Royals teammates Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas. Neither has produced much yet (Hosmer has 0.0 fWAR in 198 at-bats while Moustakas has just 57 total at-bats) but has the talent and opportunity to hit their way into the race.

As the season moves on, other candidates could emerge. A number of players have only 100 plate appearances so far but have played well. If they continue to perform with more playing time as the season progresses new names could challenge the current front runners for the Rookie of the Year award.

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

While the Phillies and Braves have battled their way to the best two records in the National League and the Mets have stayed in the news because of financial problems, the Nationals and Marlins made headlines this past week when both teams had their managers unexpectedly resign.

Florida Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez resigned last Sunday while his team was in the midst of a nine game skid that dropped them from second to last place in the division.

Rodriguez spent less than a year leading the Marlins as he took over last year when Fredi Gonzalez was fired. The Marlins season started off well enough but the team eventually faded with Hanley Ramirez struggling and Josh Johnson landing on the DL.

According to team sources, Rodriguez would have kept his job if he hadn’t resigned. That’s somewhat hard to believe given that Marlins owner Jeff Loria is known for rash moves including getting rid of Joe Girardi after he won NL Manager of the Year.

The Marlins quickly moved to bring Jack McKean, who guided the Marlins to a World Series title in 2003. McKean, 80, is the oldest active manager in baseball.

If the Marlins were caught off-guard when their manager resigned, the Washington Nationals must have been blindsided. In the midst of a nine game winning streak which got the team’s record over .500, manager Jim Riggleman resigned due to unhappiness with his contract.

Riggleman, who is more than 100 games under .500 in his managerial career, wanted to team to discuss his option for the 2012 season but GM Mike Rizzo declined his request.

While Riggleman simply wanted to ensure his future with the Nationals, he instead finds himself out of a job and is being called a quitter by some for leaving in the middle of the season.

GM Mike Rizzo has stated that Riggleman refused to get on the team bus unless his option was picked up, Riggleman said he simply wanted to talk about it.

Riggleman stated:

“I know I’m not Casey Stengel, but I do feel like I know what I’m doing. It’s not a situation where I felt like I should continue on such a short leash.”

Nats bench coach John McLaren will take over as interim manager but the team is expected to begin searching for its next manager during the season.

With Riggleman and Rodriguez resigning, Charlie Manuel is now the only manager in the division to be with his current team for a full season or more.

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Amid the continuing NFL lockout, pro football has again received some unfavorable attention, this time with the league announcing that it is investigating at least 25 players in connection with an Alabama casino that has recently been shut down.

Terrell Owens, Santana Moss, Santonio Holmes and Adalius Thomas are said to be among the players that have invested in the Country Crossing Casino; a practice their league policy forbids. In addition to those current players, former NFL players Javon Kearse and Cornelius Griffin and boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. who is preparing for a championship fight,  are also investors in the now defunct gambling facility. Mayweather is said to be fighting to regain his $5 million loss in the investment.

In the meantime, the owner of the casino, Ronnie Gilley, and two of his associates have plead guilty to offering millions of dollars in bribes to state legislators.

NFL rules prohibit employees from being involved with any sort of gaming operation. These involved players could face fines and suspensions (as well as losing their investment) depending on the outcome of the investigation.

People in charge of County in which the casino resides are unsure of who the casino’s investors are, but did say there were rumors of professional athletes investing from the beginning.

Whether or not the players are actually in violation of league rules, the situation is sure to add more tension between players and the league. The sides have yet to come to a new collective bargaining agreement and the league has struggled to get good press. Also not helping in the P.R. area is the fact several players have made it into popular Sports Mugshot Galleries during this offseason, most recently Seahawks DE Raheem Brock and Titans WR Kenny Britt.

Because of the ongoing lockout, the players cannot be disciplined right now but Commissioner Roger Goodell will surely be reviewing the case and thinking of punishments for anyone in violation of league rules once a new CBA goes into effect.

Additionally, the players will likely be forced to divest which could result in huge losses, especially with the casino currently closed. With players already facing the possibility of not getting paid in the coming year, these athletes could continue to have financial losses even after the lockout is lifted.

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

On the brink of a career milestone, Derek Jeter has landed on the disabled list and will put his pursuit of 3,000 hits on hold for the next two weeks.

Jeter recorded his 2,994^th career hit on Monday but suffered a Grade 1 strain on his right calf and was forced out of the game.

The injury isn’t severe, and typically it takes players about a week to recover. However, the Yankees training staff thought that Jeter might take a little longer, and the team decided it was best to place him on the 15-day DL.

Jeter was frustrated by the injury because he couldn’t play, not because of the milestone he was chasing.

“It’s frustrating but even if I wasn’t at this point I’d still be frustrated. I don’t like not to play. Whether I’m going for 3,000 hits or 100 hits, it really doesn’t make a difference to me. I’d rather be out there playing.”

The 36 year old shortstop (who will turn 37 during his DL stint) has spent his entire 17-year career with the Yankees and should become only the 14^th player to collect 3,000 hits with a single team.

Jeter, a career .312 hitter, has struggled so far this year. He is hitting just .260, his lowest mark since 1995 when he played in only 15 games. He has gotten 200 or more hits seven times during his career and led the league once (in 1999).

The Yankee captain can return on June 29^th, while the Yankees are in the middle of a home series with the Brewers. Following those two games, the Yankees head to Citi Field to take on the Mets before moving onto Cleveland. Following a six game road trip, the Yankees return home for four games against the Rays.

While Jeter has struggled so far this year, the team still might be giving him an off day or two if they want him to record his 3,000^th hit at home.

Jeter also leads in AL shortstops in All-Star voting and should be able to play in that game as well.

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

After a 2-10 start this season the Boston Red Sox weren’t about to write their chances off regarding making a run for the American League East division. Continuing their turnaround with an offensive outburst in the seventh inning and a strong start from the rejuvenated Josh Beckett, the Boston Red Sox completed a sweep of the New York Yankees and kept control of first place.

Following a long rain delay, the Yankees got on the board first when Curtis Granderson hit his eighteenth homerun of the season to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

Nobody scored again until the seventh inning, but there was plenty of excitement in the fourth when David Ortiz was plunked by CC Sabathia and both benches were warned. Ortiz blamed the media for getting hit, as they had pointed out the Yankees had never plunked him in the past.

Going into the top of the seventh both pitchers were on cruise control when the Red Sox started to rally off Sabathia. The Red Sox got six hits and four runs off Sabathia before forcing him out of the game with two out in the inning.

David Robertson couldn’t stop the bleeding, allowing three more runs to cross the plate (two of them charged to Sabathia). The biggest blow came from Ortiz, who had a two run double to cap the inning (after starting the inning off with a single).

Down 7-2, the Yankees gave up another run in the top of the ninth and needed to make up a six run deficit against the Red Sox bullpen to avoid being swept and tie the Red Sox atop the division standings.

They managed two hits and a run off of Dan Wheeler, but lost 8-3 and fell two games behind Boston.

The sweep of the Yankees puts a nice exclamation point on Boston’s resurgence as the weather warms up. The Red Sox have now surpassed all other teams and have the best overall record in the American League.

Just as important to Red Sox fans, it’s an opportunity to celebrate a sweep over a hated rival.

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Lenny Dykstra’s mugshot says it all. Amid numerous financial problems the former Mets and Phillies superstar was taken into custody by police and charged with multiple accounts of grand theft auto, identity fraud and drug possession after using phony information to lease a car in California.

If convicted of all charges, Dykstra could face up to 12 years in prison.

Dykstra quickly stated his innocence:

“Of course I’m not guilty.” “That car got stolen alright – stolen by them. I don’t have it anymore.”

Dykstra and two others were arrested after trying to lease cars in Southern California by claiming credit through a non-existent business. Dykstra was also found in possession of cocaine, ecstasy and HGH.

A three time All-Star who finished second in the 1993 MVP vote, Dykstra finished his 12 year career with a .285 batting average and 285 stolen bases. He was cited in the Mitchell report for taking steroids (which could explain why is batting average was about 30 points higher in his time with the Phillies).

In Moneyball, Billy Beane said that “Nails” had “no concept of failure,” which made him perfectly designed to play baseball.

It didn’t, however, make him well-suited for the life he would lead after.

Dykstra dreamed of an extravagant life after his playing days were over; which explains his multi-million dollar mansion and gulfstream jet. He wanted to start an investment company and magazine that would help him manage other celebrities wealth, but his business never took off.

Dykstra’s financial status seemed in jeopardy early in 2009. Stories surfaced (first in GQ and then later on ESPN) that Dykstra was the subject of multiple legal actions and had trouble making the payments necessary to keep his business afloat.

He filed for bankruptcy in 2009, claiming only $50,000 in assets and between 20 and 100 times that in liabilities.

Dykstra was charged with federal bankruptcy crime a day before his latest arrest this year as he reportedly hid and destroyed some of his assets. He was also accused of a lewd act while interviewing a woman for a job who said the former player exposed himself to her.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on June 16^th. For the once bright star in big baseball markets, the future likely holds time behind bars.

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Catcher has always been one of the most physically demanding positions in the MLB. From squatting down to receive every pitch to collisions at home plate, catchers know they will have more stress on their body than any other position player in baseball.

Yet somehow in the past year the San Francisco Giants World Series title turned Buster Posey into Tom Brady.

When Buster Posey made a poor attempt to block the plate without the baseball, Scott Cousins ran threw him on his way to scoring the winning run. On the play, Posey got caught in an awkward position and ended up breaking his leg.

Along with being blasted by just about everyone in the San Francisco Giants organization, Scott Cousins is now receiving death threats for playing hard.

In a season that has already seen a fan hospitalized for the team he roots for (a Giants fan, no less) and a pitching coach suspended for threatening to break someone’s teeth Giants fans somehow managed to overreact to a situation more than anyone else.

While baseball holds a special place in many people’s hearts, it is just a game at the end of the day. To threaten a players life because of a certain play (and a completely legal play at that) is just insane.

And if you thought the Giants organization would react with more class than their fans, you’re wrong.

Posey and his agent have already started whining to the MLB about rule changes. They claim that catchers need to be protected.

However, there are already rules in place to prevent things like this from happening. The official term is obstruction, which is when a player attempts to block the base without controlling the ball.

Giants General Manager Brian Sabean, who has witnessed his own team run over catchers many times (Pablo Sandoval took out Ryan Doumit last year), has completely lost his mind about the situation. Despite witnessing many of these hits in the past he just now decided that catchers aren’t protected enough.

Sabean went as far as to say that he would be happy if Cousins never played in the MLB again, and congratulated Buster Posey on being a jerk and not accepting Cousins apology.

Last year, the Giants organization and players showed a ton of class when halting their NLDS celebration to congratulate Bobby Cox. This year, the Giants are acting like a group of five year olds who want to blame everyone else for something that is their fault.

In the end, former catcher Mike Billmeyer summed the situation up best, “I think it’s just part of the game. And I’ll be honest with you. He’s the cleanup hitter in their lineup. I’m not sure they’re talking about it day in and day out if it’s the backup catcher. If it was Eli Whiteside or Dane Sardinha or Brian Schneider, I don’t think they’d talk about it.”

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

With a month to go in All-Star voting Major League Baseball has released the vote totals from players so far and as usual there are some surprising results.

The Yankees are known to rack up All-Star votes due to their enormous following and 2011 is no different with the team currently set to start at six positions this year if the current voting trend holds.

While some guys (Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano) have a valid case, others (Mark Teixeira, Derek Jeter) are simply leading because of the team they play for. Coming off the worst season of his career, Jeter has managed to play poorer and still lead all AL shortstops in votes.

Even when they weren’t leading, the Yankees received strong support (Jorge Posada is third for Designated hitters and both Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher rank in the top 11 for outfielders).

The most surprising part might be that no Red Sox player is currently slated to start. While they haven’t played as well in 2011, they usually receive plenty of votes as well and have one of the best first basemen (Adrian Gonzalez) in the league.

The three non-Yankee leaders in the AL are Michael Young, Jose Bautista and Josh Hamilton ( who was selected to the All-Star game in 2009 despite hardly playing in the season’s first half).

Along with some questionable leaders, there were a couple AL runners up who have no business in the All-Star game. Joe Mauer is second in voting for catchers despite hardly playing this year and Ichiro is fourth among outfielders despite a .640 OPS.

The National League had some questionable selections as well.

Buster Posey was the leading vote getter at catcher. Even before he got injured he was being outplayed by other catcher’s (notably, Brian McCann and Yadier Molina).

Albert Pujols led all National League players in votes despite a rather pedestrian .755 OPS on the season while Joey Votto was over 100,000 votes back in second.

Brandon Phillips and Troy Tulowitski are currently projected to start in the middle infield although both have their flaws. Tulo is hitting just .250 on the season and Phillips has been outplayed thus far by Rickie Weeks.

Placido Polanco currently leads an extremely weak third base class for the NL. (No player has over six homeruns or nine stolen bases).

The National League’s outfield is great all the way around. Ryan Braun and Lance Berkman have been terrific this year and Matt Holliday currently has a .975 OPS. Matt Kemp might be more deserving of a spot but you can make a strong case for all three of the current starters.

All in all, this year is typical of what to expect from the All-Star game. Many players get rewarded for good seasons but some get rewarded simply for being on the right team or having a lot of fans. Although the All-Star game “counts” now, the best players still won’t get to go.

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

In 2010, the San Diego Padres surprised everyone by leading the NL West for most of the year despite being predicted to finish fourth or fifth. While the Padres eventually fell short, teams picked to finish near the bottom of the division would love to be this year’s surprise team.

That team so far has been the Cleveland Indians. Despite dropping two in a row, the Indians have the best record in baseball (30-17) despite being picked to finish fourth or fifth in the division by just about everyone.

The Indians are fourth in the MLB in OPS, a huge surprise for a questionable offense heading into the season. Travis Hafner has been terrific (.345/.409/.549) but the biggest surprise is Asdrubal Cabrera. In the past, Cabrera has been a solid hitter; but nobody expected him to be leading the team with 10 homeruns (his previous career high was 6).

Pitching wise, Josh Tomlin and Justin Masterson have performed well over expectations thus far. With ERAs of 2.41 and 2.50 (respectively), they have stepped up while Fausto Carmona has struggled and the fifth starter spot has been a revolving door.

The Indians currently have the largest division lead in baseball and will look to make their first playoff appearance since 2007.

The Indians division rival, the Minnesota Twins is on the opposite side of the spectrum. Despite having a pair of recent MVP winners and a solid pitching staff heading into the season, Minnesota has the worst record (16-32) in baseball.

Joe Mauer has played in only nine games this year due to injury and Justin Morneau is hitting just .230, leaving the Twins with a huge hole in the middle of their order. No player on the team has more than five homeruns and Jason Kubel is the only regular with a slugging percentage above .400.

On the other side of the ball, Carl Pavano and Francisco Liriano have been tremendous disappointments after both posting sub-4.00 ERAs last year. Liriano even managed to look bad while throwing a no-hitter (less than half his pitches were strikes) and has walked 32 batters in just 48.2 innings.

The National League hasn’t had the tremendous surprises that the American League has, but some teams are playing better than expected.

The St. Louis Cardinals were expected to play well, but having the second best record in the NL is a surprise given some of the performances they have received.

Stud pitcher Adam Wainwright was lost for the season before it began and Chris Carpenter has looked nothing like an ace. Additionally, Albert Pujols is hitting just .267 and went a month without hitting a homerun.

The Cardinals have held off the Reds and Brewers thus far thanks to the terrific pitching of Jaime Garcia and strong offensive seasons from outfielders Matt Holliday and Colby Rasmus.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have also been somewhat surprising this year. After finishing fifth in their division last year, the team is .500 right now and is improving faster than expected. Their revamped bullpen has shown huge improvements and new closer J.J. Putz is 13-13 in save opportunities.

No team in the National League has been a huge disappointment, but the Colorado Rockies have been playing well below their potential. After surging to the best start in the NL, the team sits just one game above .500 despite a strong young core of players.

Ubaldo Jiminez (5.44 ERA) has struggled when he’s been healthy enough to play. Additionally, Carlos Gonzalez (.251 BA) and Troy Tulowitski (.241) aren’t living up to their lengthy extensions.

With four months still remaining in the 2011 season, there is time for all the underachievers to improve and the surprise winners to fall back to earth. Only time will tell which teams will still be alive in October.

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Tuesday was a career type of off-day for Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann. With an afternoon game against the Houston Astros, the Braves opted to give their All-Star catcher a day of rest and started David Ross behind the dish.

It was a pitcher’s duel with Derek Lowe and Wandy Rodriguez battling it out until the Astros finally took a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning.

With the Astros clinging to the narrow lead going into the bottom of the ninth, Dan Uggla was retired for the first out in the ninth after a terrific defensive play on a hot shot to third. Eric Hinske was retired for the second out on a fly ball that Hunter Pence had to jump into the outfield wall to catch. Twice, the Braves came oh-so-close without getting anything going.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Braves elected to interrupt McCann’s “day off” and called on him to pinch hit. B-Mac , arguably the best hitting catcher in the National League, responded by drilling a 1-2 pitch just over the left-centerfield wall to tie the game to send the Atlanta crowd into a frenzy and send it into extra innings.

The game stayed intense with the Astros nearly taking the lead in the top of the eleventh inning off of Cory Gearrin. One of the stranger plays of the game resulted when Gearrin hit Matt Downs. While the ball clearly struck the batter, umpire Alfonso Marquez forced downs to stay at the plate for moving into the pitch. Despite the argument from Astros manager Brad Mills, replays showed that Marquez was correct and Downs stuck his elbow out into the pitch.

The Astros would eventually load the bases before Gearrin escaped the inning without allowing a run.

Dan Uggla (who went 0-5 and is hitting just .196 on the year) was retired to start off the bottom of the eleventh. Eric Hinske followed with a walk and McCann strutted to the plate again, again with the chance to become the hero. Getting a bead on a 1-0 pitch from Jeff Fulchino, B-Mac sent the ball it into the right field seats to give the Braves a 3-1 walk-off win.

This kind of win is almost commonplace for the Braves. Last year, the team had 25 last at-bat wins (most in the majors) and thirteen walk-offs.

McCann’s final line on the day was 2-2 with two homers and three RBI. Not bad for a catcher who was scheduled for a “day off”.

The win coupled with a Philadelphia loss put the Braves just 1.5 games out of the division lead as they head west to face the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC