Category: MLB

The Red Sox signed free agent first baseman Carlos Delgado on Saturday to help shore up their first base situation, according to FoxSports.com.

Earlier this week, Boston lost first baseman Kevin Youkilis for the season because of a thumb injury. Youkilis had season-ending thumb surgery Friday. That same day, the Red Sox worked out Delgado.

Delgado, who hasn’t played since May 2009 with the Mets, will be assigned to Class AAA Pawtucket. He is expected to serve as the lefthanded-hitting half of a platoon with Mike Lowell once he reaches the majors.

In his 17-season career with the Blue Jays, Mets and Marlins, the two-time All-Star has hit .280 with 473 homers and 1,512 RBIs.

Stan McNeal analyzes three hot topics in Major League Baseball.

The Astros’ hitters have responded well to Jeff Bagwell’s mentoring.

STRIKE 1: Bagwell’s tryout is going well

Jeff Bagwell isn’t ready to consider his new job as Astros hitting coach as more than a "two and a half month tryout." Maybe he should.

Since Bagwell moved to the dugout from his role as special assistant to the GM, the Astros lead the N.L. in scoring per game. Yes, he’s been in the position barely three weeks, but before the break, the Astros ranked 15th in runs. Bagwell must be doing something right. Such as:

• Fixing swings. Rookie Jason Castro isn’t going to threaten for the N.L. batting title, but after a sit-down with Bagwell earlier this season, Astros assistant GM Ricky Bennett says the 23-year-old catcher improved his average by "about 70 points in a matter of 2 1/2 weeks" in the minors and reached the majors a month later.

• Enhancing analysis. When an Astros hitter is at the plate, Bagwell is dissecting the at-bat in the dugout with other hitters. "This enables them to look for certain things when they go to the plate," manager Brad Mills says.

• Swinging smart. While Bagwell’s predecessor, Sean Berry, favored an aggressive approach, Bagwell wants his hitters to work counts. "That’s my biggest thing: I don’t want them to give at-bats away," he says.

The 42-year-old former slugger has brought an old-school approach to the job. He is not big on video and he doesn’t believe that 100 swings in the batting cage are more beneficial than "10 or 15 good ones." Today’s hitters, he says, "find ways to put themselves in slumps."

The Astros did not fire Berry until they had asked Bagwell if he would make the commitment to coach. Bagwell had spent plenty of time watching Astros minor league hitters, and had impressed Bennett with an ability to notice flaws and communicate how to correct them. Being a potential Hall of Famer doesn’t hurt his efforts to gain his players’ attention.

"He did it at this level for 15 years, so they’re going to listen," Bennett says. "They better."

STRIKE 2: Taking chances in Toronto

When the Blue Jays traded for Anthony Gose on the same day the Phillies moved him to Houston, many wondered what the Blue Jays were thinking. They gave up Brett Wallace for a kid who was caught stealing 27 times in barely half a season.

Wallace, 23, already has taken over as the Astros’ first baseman and is widely regarded as someone who’ll hit .280 with 20-plus homers for many seasons.

Gose, 19, is a leadoff hitter who posted a .325 OBP for Clearwater before he was traded. Yes, he was a second-round pick and possesses plenty of tools: speed, arm, defense and bat speed. But he has yet to show if he’ll learn how to lay off a slider in the dirt. He could be an All-Star; he might never reach Class AAA. At this point, the odds are about the same.

But that’s the point. Under rookie GM Alex Anthopoulos, the Blue Jays are about taking risks. They feel the best way to hang with the Yankees and Red Sox without their checkbooks is to gamble on high-upside players, especially ones at premium positions. So they’ve taken a chance on Gose just like they have on shortstop Yunel Escobar. Give up a solid-to-good player for a young player who could be special.

To improve their chances of being right, Anthopoulos has beefed up his scouting department at a time when some clubs have cut back. Now he’s listening to his scouts and, most impressive, is showing that he’s not just going to talk about taking risks.

"I give Alex a lot of credit," says one Jays scout. "I don’t think any GM would have had the guts to make a deal like that (for Gose). But he’s sticking to his guns. He wants premium guys, and he knows we need to take risks."

Vicente Padilla has had eight consecutive great starts.

STRIKE 3: Quick hits

• When talking about the hottest pitcher going, don’t forget Dodgers right-hander Vicente Padilla. His two-hit shutout of the Padres Wednesday night gave him eight consecutive starts of allowing two or fewer runs. He baffled the Padres by mixing in a 53-mph curve (Vin Scully calls it the soap bubble) with a 95 mph fastball, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

• No injury to a contender could prove more costly than the Cardinals’ loss of rookie third baseman David Freese for the rest of the season. Trading right fielder Ryan Ludwick will look even more ill-advised if the Cardinals don’t come up with a better replacement than sore-kneed Felipe Lopez or Aaron Miles. Freese’s defense has been most missed so far.

• Hitting home run No. 600 was a big deal for Alex Rodriguez, but it might not have been the best news of his day. This could have been: Determining a winning bid in the Rangers’ sale means there should be no legal hangup of the $24.9 million the club owes him in deferred salary. Interesting to hear A-Rod say that 600 is a nice number but the milestones that will mean more are ones when he starts catching the six sluggers ahead of him. Think that has anything to do with the $6 million he’ll be paid by the Yankees for each one he passes?

• Another reason that Torii Hunter is what’s right about baseball: His move to right field was accompanied by little comment except, "If it’s best for the team, OK."

Stan McNeal is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at smcneal@sportingnews.com.

Sporting News Audio is a weekly series of conversations with Sporting News experts during the MLB season. In this installment, Tom Gatto talks about what the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox must do down the stretch to make the American League playoffs.

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez became the youngest player to reach the 600-homer milestone Wednesday. Based on his 162-game career average, A-Rod is on pace to hit No. 700 in August of 2012 and No. 763 in May of 2014.

Alex Rodriguez finally ended his home run drought Wednesday, becoming the seventh player in major league history to hit 600 homers. That club isn’t likely to get many (if any) new members in the next several seasons. The active players nearest the milestone:

As August heats up, here is a look at two hot rookies and two cold veterans and how their hitting figures to impact their teams’ chances of playing when temperatures drop in October.

Giants rookie Buster Posey is on a tear.

Buster Posey, C, Giants
Few things in baseball are as maligned as the Giants’ offense. The schedule. Bud Selig’s refusal to implement more replay. Alex Rodriguez’s sincerity.

But perhaps it is time to stop bashing Giants’ hitters. Since July 1, the day Bengie Molina was traded and San Francisco made Posey its full-time catcher, the Giants lead the majors in runs scored. That’s right. Not the Yankees. Not the Phillies. The Giants, with an average of 5.4 runs in their past 30 games.

Posey isn’t the only reason, of course. Aubrey Huff and Andres Torres have provided plenty of offense. But they don’t lead the majors in batting average and on-base percentage since the end of June. Posey does, at .414 and .468, respectively. They didn’t reel off a 21-game hitting streak. Posey did.

The 23-year-old rookie has done his damage from the middle of the order, too. Since the club (finally) handed him the catcher’s job, the Giants lead the NL with a 22-8 record. Their pitching has been as good as advertised during that stretch, with a 3.18 ERA that is third-best in the N.L. behind the Reds and Braves.

The Posey-led offense has made the difference. Scouts believe Posey’s swing is so polished that he should avoid prolonged slumps. He hasn’t had an 0-for-4 performance since June 27. He is striking out only once every eight at-bats. He is hitting to all fields.

If Posey keeps this up, he might not only help the Giants to their first postseason appearance in the post-Barry Bonds era but he could wrestle rookie of the year honors from the Braves’ Jason Heyward.

Jon Jay, OF, Cardinals
When Ryan Ludwick went on the disabled list in early July, the Cardinals called up Jay. When Ludwick came off the disabled list, the Cardinals didn’t send down Jay.

Instead, they soon traded Ludwick. The Cardinals say a need for starting pitcher led to the move, but they don’t deny Jay’s play in Ludwick’s absence made the move more doable.

All Jay did was lead the NL in hitting last month with a .431 average while posting a .500 on-base percentage. The 25-year-old rookie played so well that Cardinals manager Tony La Russa couldn’t take him out of the lineup. "He’s a player," La Russa says. "He does something good every game."

Jay will be counted on to keep up the strong play. With Ludwick in San Diego and Colby Rasmus having an up-and-down second season, the Cardinals need Jay’s offense in front of Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday. The club went 8-1 when Jay started and scored at least one run in July. When he didn’t score, the Cardinals were 3-6.

When the inevitable rookie slowdown comes — Jay is 1-for-12 since Ludwick was traded — the Cardinals have Randy Winn and Allen Craig to play in the outfield. But Jay figures to get the majority of the at-bats in right field and perhaps some of Rasmus’ in center. "He’s earning them," La Russa says of the Cardinals’ second-round pick in 2006.

If Jay is concerned about any added pressure, he hides it well. "I don’t take anything for granted," Jay says. "I’ll still come in every day to see if my name is in the lineup."

Troy Glaus has been struggling since mid-June.

Troy Glaus, 1B, Braves
In his first month with his new team and at a new position, Glaus hit .194 with two homers and nine RBIs. The Braves didn’t fare much better, going 9-14 and finishing April in last place.

It was no coincidence that when Glaus got hot in May, so did the Braves. "After he started hitting, that was our big turnaround," righthander Tim Hudson says. "Other guys just seemed to fall in line."

The Braves moved into first place in late May and have remained there, though their seven-game lead over the Phillies on July 22 has dwindled to two. You can point to Glaus as the reason for this reversal, too. He is hitting .163 since June 15 and was worse in July (.182-0-5) than he was in April.

Glaus had legitimate reasons for his awful April: He was on a new team at a new position (first base) and he was coming off a season mostly lost because of shoulder surgery.

As for July, who knows? Hitting coach Terry Pendleton says the slugger is tired. Bobby Cox gave Glaus off Tuesday night for what he told reporters was a "breather." Glaus insists his shoulder is sound but doesn’t offer a better explanation for his slump.

The Braves could use reserve outfielder Eric Hinske more at first base, but he hit only .212 in July and likely would be more exposed as an everyday player. They have used second baseman Martin Prado there a bit but he is on the disabled list. Another possibility would be to call up first base prospect Freddie Freeman before the rosters expand Sept. 1, but counting on a rookie in a playoff race is hardly ideal.

Vladimir Guerrero, DH, Rangers
One of the feel-good stories of the first half is not feeling so fine these days. Perhaps the Texas heat is slowing down Guerrero. After all, he spent the previous 14 seasons in Southern California and Montreal. Perhaps he is feeling his age (35) or perhaps the knee, shoulder, back and chest injuries that plagued him the past two seasons are acting up.

Whatever the reason, Guerrero has slowed after his All-Star first half. He entered today’s action with a season-low .304 average, a drop of 35 points since June 30. Only one of his 21 homers has come since the All-Star break. He recently went nine games without an RBI.

And he has just begun the hottest two months of the year in Texas.

The good news for the Rangers: A lot more would have to go wrong than a Guerrero slump for them to lose their lead in the AL West. Josh Hamilton has ensured that their offense has remained potent. The arrival of Cliff Lee has improved the pitching. They have continued to build on their division lead despite Guerrero’s slowdown.

Guerrero wouldn’t be the first to feel the drain of August in Arlington. The Rangers have gone 52-62 from August on since 2008. The difference this season: They have an eight-game cushion.

Stan McNeal is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at smcneal@sportingnews.com.

Nationals righthander Stephen Strasburg will be activated from the disabled list to start Tuesday against the Marlins, according to The Washington Post.

Strasburg hasn’t started since July 21 and was put on the D.L. after he had trouble getting loose prior to his scheduled start July 27. He was diagnosed with shoulder inflammation.

The rookie is 5-2 with a 2.32 ERA and 75 strikeouts in nine starts (54 1/3 innings) this season.

What to expect in the major leagues today:

Bottom feeders?

Both NL Central contenders are trying to take advantage of soft spots in their schedules. The Cardinals outscored the last-place Pirates 21-2 during a three-game sweep this past weekend and will play the finale of a three-game series against the Astros tonight. 

St. Louis is leaning on Chris Carpenter after getting hammered by the Astros on Tuesday.

St. Louis, which lost 18-4 to the Astros on Tuesday and 9-4 on Monday, will have Chris Carpenter on the mound, though Houston handed him one of his three losses this season. Starting for the Astros: newly acquired J.A. Happ, who shut down Milwaukee this past Friday to win in his Astros debut. 

Meanwhile, the Reds will try to win the rubber game of their three-game set against the Pirates before heading to Wrigley Field this weekend. Ten-game winner Johnny Cueto, who is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in three starts against Pittsburgh this season, will start for Cincinnati.

Milestone watch

With Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez still stuck on 599 career homers, it is fair to wonder whether the Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista will reach the 600-homer plateau before A-Rod. OK, maybe not, but Bautista does lead the majors in homers this season.

If A-Rod is unable to go deep tonight against the Jays—right-hander Shaun Marcum will start for Toronto—it would add some intrigue to this weekend’s series against Boston. A-Rod would have four games at Yankee Stadium to hit No. 600 against New York’s biggest rivals.

Masterful Masterson

Prior to making the trip to the Bronx, Boston will host Cleveland for two more games. Tonight, former Red Sox right-hander Justin Masterson will start for the Indians. Masterson is just 3-10 with a 5.55 ERA this season but he tossed a complete-game shutout against the Red Sox back in June in his most impressive outing of the season.

Boston will counter with Jon Lester, who was roughed up (six earned runs in six innings) by Cleveland in the teams’ previous series.

Chris Bahr is Sporting News’ baseball editor. E-mail him at cbahr@sportingnews.com.

The New York Daily News reported the Mets will not ask pitcher Oliver Perez to accept a minor league assignment. Nor will it simply release the left-hander, who signed a three-year, $36 million deal prior to the 2009 season.

The team attempted to convince Perez to go to the minors earlier this season before eventually placing him on the disabled list because of a knee injury. Perez began the season in the rotation but now is among the last options in the Mets’ bullpen.