Royals Look Solid

Ervin Santana gave the Royals yet another strong outing. The Royals seem to have corrected the starting pitching problem that kept them from contending the past few years. The starting pitching staff is also providing quality, the staff as a whole has an era under 4.00. When you combine the pitching improvements with the young bats, you get an instant playoff contender. Billy Butler may be the must under rated player in the american league. His numbers are pretty much in line with HOF George Brett's start to his career.

Watching this team they have a different confidence to them. The at bats are better, there are less mental errors in the field and when its the bottom of the 9th, you know they are going to pull it out. While we are still in April, I think we are in for an exciting run for the Royals. Watch them when you get a chance.

Valdespin Shows The Heart Of The Mets

Jordany Valdespin's grand slam in the 10th was the type of home run that could propel a team for weeks to come. So far the Met's have been hanging around .500, while suffering the same inconsistencies that plagued them last year. The core of their lineup has been pretty good, with John Buck already having a career year it seems. They were just in need of a spark, and I believe Jordany needs to continue to be this guy. He could be that top of the lineup guy that they have missed since Jose Reyes left. He has been clutch in pinch hit situations, but I think he is a guy that should be playing every day. After what he did lasyt night I expect Terry Collins to ride this hot hand for the next few games at least. Side note, Matt Harvey pitched pretty well and continues to strike out hitters at a awesome rate.

200 More Wins For King Felix?

Last night Felix Hernandez won the 100th game of his dominant career. You have to wonder how many wins he would have if he played for good teams all of these years. At age 27 he is just now entering his prime. In the era of over cautiousness with arms, Hernandez has pitched over 230 innings per year over the past 4 season. I'm not sure if he will be able to keep up this pace into his mid 30's, but I think King Felix could be the only 300 game winner of his time. At some point the Mariners will be competitive again and by time that happens it could lessen the strain that they put on Hernandez. There are only a hand full of pitchers that you can just sit and watch pitch 8-9 innings every time out. It's great to be able to enjoy guys like this in their prime. If you have not sat back and watched King Felix, I suggest you take some time and watch this artist in action.

Coldest Game I Will Ever Witness: Mets-Rockies 4-16-13

Growing up in the mid-west I took part and have watched cold games. The Rockies-Met's games yesterday took the prize for the coldest I will ever witness. David Wright's 2 home runs and Carlos Gonzalez's moon shot were two of the most impressive home runs I have ever seen. At the start of the first game the temperature was manageable, but by the 6th inning the wind pretty much made things miserable. I give both teams credit for playing so well despite the conditions.

A Few Notes From Saturday Baseball

What a start by Matt Harvey. He honestly looks like a young Tom Seaver the way he has started the season. It was almost unfair for the Twins hitters to have to face him in the bitter cold. Last years Cy Young winner, R.A. Dickey also had a good start yesterday. He had the Royals hitters fooled for 6 innings last night. I think this is a good example of a team seeing Dickey's knuckle ball for the first time. After a rough start Dickey should have more starts like this in the future. To finish off the trifecta of strong pitching, Adam Wainwright pitched a complete game shutout against the Milwaukee Brewers. His 12 strikeouts helped the Cards cruise to a 8-0 victory. Is it the cold weather or are we going to see another pitching dominated year?

Zack Greinke Hurt In Brawl

What a over reaction by Carlos Quentin. On the flip side, what was Zach Greinke doing leading with his shoulder?



Video here

Royals Sweep Twins

The Royals are playing some solid baseball. Last night they finished off a sweep of the lonely Twins. These are the type of sweeps that good teams are expected to pull off. Jeff Francoeur and Billy Butler both homered to provide plenty of offense in support of a group pitching effort. Francoeurs homer was the one that really sealed the deal in the seventh. I think it is key that Francoeur gets off to a start like this. He is a leader on this younger team. This lineup could be deadly 1-9..

The Justin Upton Trade Looks Pretty Good Right Now

The sky seems to be the limit for Justin Upton. His torrid start to the season continued last night against Miami. The Braves look like instant contenders in the east this year with his addition to the already solid line up. So, what led to this hot start for Upton? I don't think its hard to trace it to a good change of scenery. I think even without his brother being on the team, Atlanta is a good place to play ball. It is solid organization that has a tradition of winning. With the best closer in the game, Craig Kimbrel, and descent starting pitching, the Braves will be in it for the long haul this year.

Marlon Byrd

Major league journeyman Marlon Byrd came up big for the Met's today. This group looks like it might have some life this year. It's hard to gain attention in New York with only one superstar (David Wright), but Terry Collins has assembled a group of hungry players. Another great story is that of the winning pitcher for the Met's today. Scott Rice was a career minor leaguer until he made the Met's out of spring training this year. At 31, he made his major league debut and picked up his first win, all in the same week. This is what is great about the start of each season. Each team has hope...

Friday night baseball

There is nothing more enjoyable than listening to Vin Scully late into a friday night. The Dodgers look like they might contend this year. Greinke has performed better than I would have thought. Figured he would impload in a big city. K.C. putting up 13 was big today. After their bad start last year, the Royals almost played. 500 ball. I think this team could have double digit games all season. More thoughts later.

New Blog

Welcome to the Pitbull of Baseball blog. My name is Brad Pitzl, I am also a writer of political fiction/theory. The only talk of left and right that will take place on this blog will be about outfielders. Baseball is and always will be America's national past-time. This season I will be hitting the web with a flurry of posts. I have the mlb package and I am ready to go. Just some background on myself. I, like many others was a standout high school player. I played in the bush leagues until I was in my 30's. This all means I know more than you about baseball. No brag, just fact. Here's to another opening day.