If Miguel Cabrera wasn’t considered among baseball’s all-time greats after winning the 2012 Triple Crown, he is now.
This season, Cabrera is on pace for 50 HR’s, 267 hits, and 198 RBIs to go along with a Tony-Gwynn-level .391 average. If he maintains this pace he’ll break Hack Wilson’s 1930 single season record of 191 RBI, Ichiro Suzuki’s 2004 record of 262 hits and he could become the first back-to-back Triple Crown winner in Major League history – all the more legendary considering only two players, Ted Williams and Rogers Hornsby, have won two Triple Crowns.
In all likelihood Cabrera’s pace will drop off. He has never batted higher than .344 in a season and we’re only 45 games in. Still, his season has the potential for the best non-juiced performance in a very long time. Recently, ESPN’s Buster Olney put Cabrera’s 2013 in the same class as 1927 Babe Ruth, 1949 Ted Williams, and 1959 Hank Aaron. High praise indeed.
Blue Jays Weekly
Slowly, the Jays are making up ground in the AL East. They’re 7-3 in their last 10 games and have climbed back to within seven games of .500 and seven games of the wild card. If the Jays can continue to play at this level, the season may not be lost after all.
Off the diamond, the Jays said goodbye to long time scout and scouting pioneer Epy Guerrero, who passed away at the age of 71 on Tuesday. Guerrero famously opened up the Dominican Republic to the Major Leagues in the 1980′s. During that time he began the Blue Jays’ Dominican Academy and recruited some of the franchise’s all-time greats, a list that includes Tony Fernandez, George Bell, Carlos Delgado, and Juan Guzman.
Perhaps the best anecdotal symbol of the Jays decline in the mid 1990′s, Geurrero urged newly appointed GM Gord Ash to sign a pitching phenom out of the Dominican. Not willing to go on Geurrero’s word, like his predecessor Pat Gillick, Ash sent then pitching coach Mel Queen to scout the pitcher. Unimpressed, Queen returned and advised the Jays not to sign him and the franchise missed out on a young Pedro Martinez.
A rotation of Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Pat Hentgen, and Chris Carpenter, with Roy Halladay waiting in the wings, could have been in the cards.
Injury note: J.A. Happ, who took a line drive off his head three weeks ago, has begun throwing off the mound. There’s no immediate timetable for his return. Here’s an interesting video on the psychological aspects of his recovery.
Injury note: Josh Johnson will make his first Triple-A rehab start with the Buffalo Bisons on Saturday. If it goes well, he could return to the big club as early as next week.
Mariners Weekly
The Mariners have been shut out twice in their last four games, bringing their season shutout total to four, good enough for second worst in the American League. The offense is sputtering, but at least Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma are up next in the rotation. Hernadez is currently third in the A.L. with a 2.07 ERA, Iwakuma is fifth with a 2.37 ERA.
Former top prospect Jesus Montero hit rock bottom this week, when he was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. This season the slumping Montero is hitting just .208 with three home runs and nine RBIs in 29 games. The Seattle Times is reporting that the Mariners no longer consider Montero a catching prospect. They fear his defensive woes are affecting his offensive confidence. As such they will split his time between DH and first base going forward.
On the plus side, the two players the Mariners dealt to the Yankees as part of the Montero trade, Hector Noesi and Michael Pineda have been busts as well.
Fantasy Player of the week
Miguel Cabrera: He hit .565 for the week, while leading the Majors in runs scored (10), RBIs (14) and home runs (6).
Fantasy bum of the week
Adrian Gonzalez: The Dodgers first baseman batted .087 with one run scored and three RBIs.
Canadian of the week
Joey Votto: Yeah, it’s boring to pick the same player, column after column. But this week is as much about Votto’s success as it is about the dearth of high-end Canadian talent in the Majors. Votto hit a league leading .591, with nine runs scored, three home runs and five RBIs.
