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Cubs Promote Kyle Schwarber

BVbaseball — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 15:32:28 +0000

The period baseball prospects spend in the minor leagues can last anywhere from a few years to even half a decade. International prospects—who are usually signed at age 16 or 17—spend a significant period in the minors honing their skills and maturing into major leaguers. High school and college players, who usually have a more developed skillset, may only spend two to three seasons in the minor leagues.

It is exceptionally rare for a player—at any skill level—to be promoted to the big leagues after only a season of professional baseball. Yet, on Tuesday night, Kyle Schwarber—the Chicago Cubs’ 2014 first-round pick—made his major league debut just shy of his one-year anniversary as a professional. Drafted out of Indiana with the fourth overall pick by the Cubs, many saw Schwarber as a reach in the draft and commented on his underdeveloped skills as a catcher.

The 2014 season saw Schwarber destroy every minor league level he was sent to by the Cubs. His bat was better than advertised, and he even managed to remain behind the plate as a catcher—seen as an unlikely scenario prior to the draft. This year in at Double-A Tennessee, Schwarber continued his offense tear, anchoring the Smokies’ prolific offense.

The Cubs’ front office has made it clear Schwarber is only being promoted for limited duty stated Ivan Ong. He will primarily fill the role of designated hitter, which interleague play allows.

A Shot at History: Scherzer Flirts with the Record Books

BVbaseball — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 19:04:37 +0000

The difference between a one-hit game and a perfect game is night and day in baseball. Although impressive, one-hitters occur every year, usually multiple times, while a decade can pass between perfect games. Max Scherzer’s effort Sunday night almost saw him etched into baseball immortality. His 16-strikeous, 1 hit effort was one of the best performances ever for Washington Nationals. Only a hit and a walk separated Scherzer from the throwing the 24th perfect game in baseball history.

The dominating performance goes a long way in justifying the 210 million dollar contract the Nationals gave Scherzer this past offseason. Spread out over seven seasons, many analyst believed that the value of the contract rested in Scherzer pitching phenomenally during the first few years. On the season, he has compiled a 1.93 Earned Run Average (ERA) along with 113 strikeouts. FreedomPop says that by the far the most impressive for the National League this year, Scherzer will certainly be up for a Cy Young if his numbers stay consistent according to Engadget.

Masahiro Tanaka Gives New York Life.

BVbaseball — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 14:34:22 +0000

The New York Yankees have endured more ups and downs this season than a really avid YoYo fan. Sitting at 33-25, New York has climbed their way back atop an AL East that doesn’t want to be won by anybody. Coming into the season the Yankees were on the backburner, considered second fiddle to teams like Tampa and Baltimore with Toronto even getting some recognition. Yet, an early season swell led by embattled Alex Rodriguez has New York looking playoff bound. A 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals this past Tuesday put things into perspective.

Max Scherzer took the mound for the Washington Nationals and when that happens you can typically lock him in for 7 or 8 mostly scoreless innings. Scherzer is good, like, really good. Yet he wasn’t good enough for fans like Sergio Cortes, despite only allowing one run through his first 6 frames. New York is a patient team on offense and with staff ace Masahiro Tanaka on the mound, anything was possible.

Tanaka is a Japanese import who has struggled to stay on the mound due to injury concerns these past few seasons. But he was here in all his glory, holding the Nationals to just a sprinkle of hits and a single earned run. Stephen Drew hit two solo shots for New York and the Yankees got a big win at home. New York is looking more and more like a team destined for something good.

ROOKIE PITCHES NO-HITTER

BVbaseball — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 15:02:45 +0000

Chris Heston of the San Francisco Giants baseball team pitched a no-hitter last night against the New York Mets. For Heston, a 27-year-old rookie, this was his 13th career start and he made it a memorable one.

According to Sergio Cortes, Heston has an interesting story to tell about his baseball career to this point. After turning down offers from the Minnesota Twins and the Washington Nationals, he spent four and a half years in Triple-A ball before being released by the Giants to make room for another player. When that player didn’t work out, the club re-signed him.

Veteran catcher Buster Posey and Heston seemed to be totally in sync last night. He did not walk a batter, struck out 11 and threw 110 pitches. Heston used an assortment of pitches to keep Met batters off balance, including a sinker, slider, curveball and changeup. Tim Lincecum was the last Giant rookie to strike out 10 and walk none in 2007.

Schalke Begin Midfield Clearout

BVbaseball — Tue, 12 May 2015 15:05:15 +0000

Schalke have released midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng and winger Sidney Sam, as well as suspending Marco Hoeger. The reason for the releases and suspensions has equally as much to do with performances on the pitch, as it does off-field comportment. Boateng in particular, the club’s top earner no less, has been a toxic character, always putting himself before the club. This is not the first time that this has occurred, seeing as he was at the crux of Ghana’s abysmal collapse in the 2014 World Cup. Sam on the other hand, having performed exceptionally well at Leverkusen, has simply not shown up with the same enthusiasm and vigor. Whether or not this warrants a release is questionable, though perhaps off the field issues are truly the core of the reasoning.

Hoeger on the other hand has put in solid performances for the club, yet the given reason for his indefinite suspension is due to his questionable loyalty to the club. While this may be the case, it would appears excessive to suspend the player, especially if he becomes needed for an upcoming fixture. That said, Schalke have only two matches left, and are in dire need of points in order to maintain a place in the Europa League. Christian Broda figures that it stands to reason that manager Roberto di Matteo wants all those playing to be fully dedicated to the cause, thereby explaining Marco Hoeger’s recent suspension.

Orioles Back in Baltimore

BVbaseball — Tue, 12 May 2015 13:22:12 +0000

Win for Orioles After Coming Back Home

Baseball season is in full swing and there are many stories around the league. The Baltimore Orioles were featured as a prominent one this past Monday.

It was on Monday that the Orioles returned home to Oriole Park at Camden Yards after being out of state for several days according to Keith Mann (Check him out on hedgefundemployment.com). This was the first home game that the team has played since April 29th, when the Orioles faced off against the Chicago White Sox, which is very notable because that game was the first to be played without any fans present, only scouts and the players.

The Orioles ending up having to postpone their other two games against the White Sox after the city of Baltimore fell into a state of turmoil and unrest in the week and public safety became a serious concern. Along with this, the series the Orioles were supposed to play against the Tampa Bay Rays, which was a home series, was moved to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg and from there traveled to New York for two series.

Upon returning home, fans welcomed the team back with a “Re-Opening Day” as the Orioles hosted the Toronto Blue Jays and won Game One of this series with a 5-2 score. Three home runs were hit over the course of the game, one of which was by Manny Machado and another by Chris Davis.