If you haven't heard of this kid yet, shame on you

My dad always gives me the job of scouting prospects before Rotisserie drafts. He's never really made it a priority but has always wanted to, and I love discovering new talent so I eagerly volunteer for the job.

Last year, my great call was Neftali Feliz. Can't say I'm upset to see him on the bench while the Rangers are playing the Phillies, but in any other situation, he's my man.

This year, my rookie pick was Michael Pineda. I'm sorry, let me just take a moment here to pat myself on the back, because this kid is boss. Like I said, if you haven't heard of him by now, shame on you. Granted, he is on Seattle, meaning that he suffers from what I like to call Ichiro Syndrome (Felix Hernandez does as well). Basically, it is as simple as: On Seattle, everyone forgets about you, despite the fact that you quietly remain one of the dominant players in the league.

So here are the no nonsense stats. No analysis or filler, just cold hard facts that speak for themselves. Keep in mind: He is on Seattle. This team DOES NOT HIT. (Oh, and did I mention he's 22?)
W-L: 6-2, (1 ND) ERA: 2.16, 58.1 IP, 41 hits, 14 earned runs, 61 strikeouts, 14 walks, .193 batting avg. against, and a .94 WHIP. Enough said, right?

This guy looks like he's trying to become Seattle's ace. You'd think no one would dare challenge King Felix's reign at No. 1, but I mean, Felix's numbers this season? Not quite as impressive. None of his numbers are as good as Pineda's in 2011 at this point, with the exception of strikeouts (he has 64, not really much of a difference). This is not to discount Felix's abilities by any means. It is just to point out that my man Pineda has better numbers than the reigning AL Cy Young and we're almost to June.

And another Cardinal bites the dust

Make that 2.

This must be a record year for injuries. Or at least a record for injuries of star players. Chase Utley, Josh Hamilton, Joe Mauer, Grady Sizemore, Johan Santana, Chipper Jones, Adam Wainwright, Zack Greinke, Evan Longoria, Kendrys Morales and Ryan Zimmerman, have all struggled with injuries at some point this year. And those are just the marquee names.

Tonight, the Cardinals lost their corners. Lance Berkman and Matt Holliday, two guys who have been killing it at the plate this season, left mid-game (5th inning and 3rd inning respectively) after making a pair of impressive catches in the outfield against the Astros (of all the teams to do that against...really??). Holliday is atop the NL in batting average with .357, and Berkman is the leading man in RBIs with 35. He also leads the team with 11 homers.

The Cardinals, who already suffered the loss of Adam Wainwright this season to the infamous Tommy John, have been playing impressive ball without their ace. Sitting at a respectable 25-19, St. Louis is in second place in the NL Central, just half a game behind the Reds.

Holliday left tonight's game with "quad tightness" and Berkman with "wrist discomfort", both of which don't soon too serious, but one can never be too careful. Push a little too hard if you're not quite ready to come back and you've got a case of the Jimmy Rollins on your hands. I know the Cards just swept the Phils, but I like St. Louis otherwise, so let's hope that these little tweaks heal themselves and that neither of these guys land on the DL. It would really be a shame.

YOTR

Last year was the Year Of The Pitcher,  and so part of what sportswriters do after a year like that is examine whether the next year is a repeat of what happened last year (YOTP2). But after examining all the data, it seems pretty clear that this year is the Year Of The Rainout.

Not

I think this Posada thing bears some discussion.

That Bautista guy is definitely a fluke.

The Twins are the class of the AL Central.

The Rays' bullpen is a complete disaster.

Lance Berkman is finished.

Ryan Madson can't close.

This year's big comeback story? Oliver Perez.

Mediocrity on parade

I guess the baseball folks would prefer "parity," but I'm not sure which one better suits a situation where only three teams in MLB are more than 6 games over .500, two in the NL East. Think I'm cherry-picking? I'm sorry, there are five teams more than 5 games over. And we're talking about expanding the playoffs to 10 teams? Wow, that'll be awesome!

Really, what we're waiting for here is someone to take control. There are reputed to be a few really good teams out there, but of those 3 teams, only the Phillies are doing what's expected of them.

Baseball in the underworld

I had a nightmare about a new version of baseball hell. The Yankees and Red Sox are mediocre- say they're 2 games over .500 between them. But they still play 19 times a year, the games still take 4 hours and see-saw back and forth, and there are so many pitches taken that even the baserunners are clearly bored. ESPN tries to liven things up with a box purporting to be the strike zone, even though everyone knows there's no such box. Bobby Valentine is a color commentator and talks more than the other 2 people in the booth combined.

Oh, wait, that's not a nightmare. That's tonight's game.

Apparently, last season was not a fluke.

Who is Jose Bautista? Like really? Someone please tell me, because there's no way it's the same Jose Bautista who averaged 15 home runs a season and a .700 OPS in Pittsburgh.

This guy had three bombs today, bringing his 2011 home run count up to 16. Who cares if they were against a very shaky Minnesota pitching staff? Three homers are three homers, no matter what team you're facing. Not surprisingly, Bautista leads the league in long balls. As of today at the 40-game mark, he's on pace to hit 65 home runs in 2011. I repeat: WHO IS THIS GUY??

It's not even like he's a two/three outcome guy like Jim Thome or David Ortiz. He's doing everything this season. .368 batting average, .520 slugging, a .868 OPS with 35 walks and just 19 strikeouts Ks at this point in the season. When this dude was on the Pirates, a .250 average was a good season for him.

My next question: How in the world is MVP in the AL going to be decided this year with Cabrera and Cano still tearing it up, with the addition Matt Joyce to the mix with his random breakout season on the Rays? That being said, it's only May, but like the title of this post, this is clearly not a fluke.