Ten strong starts that are going under the radar:
1.
Roy Halladay, Blue Jays. He is the epitome of a leader, particularly during this stretch, when he is the anchor of a rotation that is being pieced together from week to week. He excels every fifth day, and Wednesday, he
shut down the Angels, Mark Zwolinski writes, to run his
record to 6-1.
Next week, the Jays will begin the Red Sox-Yankees-Rays portion of their schedule, and when that ends, they may not hang on to first place. But the Jays are officially dangerous because they have started to believe they are good enough, particularly thanks to their dangerous offense.
2.
Orlando Hudson, Dodgers. The big question about him was whether his wrist would be healthy and strong enough after he returned from surgery. The answer: a resounding yes. Hudson is hitting .342 and is a big part of the reason L.A. has the best record in baseball (.724 winning percentage).
3.
Elvis Andrus, Rangers. The shortstop slammed his second homer Wednesday night, and Texas won and
moved into first place. Andrus has done everything the Rangers have asked of him so far this year, and if you haven't started to take Texas seriously in what is a mediocre AL West, you could start today.
4.
Dan Haren, Diamondbacks. Arizona has its problems, but Haren is not one of those. He has allowed just 25 hits and seven walks in 43 innings and has posted
a 1.47 ERA.
5.
Yovani Gallardo, Brewers. He is doing everything the Brewers needed him to do this year in terms of leading the staff, and he just seems to be getting better and better
and better.
6.
Carlos Pena, Rays. After mashing an extra-inning homer to
beat the Yankees on Wednesday, the Tampa Bay first baseman has 12 homers.
7.
David Weathers and
Arthur Rhodes, Reds. Cincinnati's pitching is the best it has been in years. Although guys such as
Johnny Cueto and
Edinson Volquez are a big part of that, don't forget the AARP guys in the Reds' bullpen, who
haven't allowed a run.
8.
Victor Martinez, Indians. Cleveland has bullpen problems, for sure, but the Indians have gotten a big-time comeback year from Martinez, who is hitting .398 and has a
.466 on-base percentage.
9.
Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals. Washington is terrible. Zimmerman is not, with his hitting streak at 24 games. Rival talent evaluators believe he's doing a great job this season of keeping his hands inside the ball in his swing and driving the ball the other way.
10.
Russell Branyan, Mariners. Wrote a
piece about his success on here recently and received a bunch of e-mails cast along the lines of
it's too small of a sample, he'll come back to Earth, etc. Regardless: He's batting .317 with seven homers
and 15 RBIs for the struggling Seattle offense.
The Citi Field effect
From Jeff Bennett of ESPN Research (with assistance from the Elias Sports Bureau): We've been tracking how the new Yankee Stadium compares to the old Stadium in terms of home runs hit through X games each day. A spin on that is looking at how Citi Field compares historically in terms of yielding triples. Oddly, no triples were hit in the first five games at Citi Field, but 12 have been hit in the past seven games, including at least one in each game.
It's ironic to see the original Yankee Stadium on this list, which is limited to the live-ball era.
Last season, only three triples were hit in the first 12 games at Shea. (Looking ahead, though, Jose Reyes hit a triple in the 13th game.)
Illnesses
• Astros hitting coach Sean Berry has a tumor in his kidney that might be cancerous, Jesus Ortiz writes.
• Red Sox announcer Jerry Remy is battling complications from cancer, Michael Vega writes, and is leaving the broadcast booth indefinitely.
Moves, deals and decisions
1. Bengie Molina, who will be eligible for free agency after this season, wants to hear from the Giants about his future. Here's the reality: The future catcher for the Giants is Buster Posey.
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Buster Olney
