Opinion

Before being faced with a serious elbow injury, Chris Ray was locked in as the O's closer, and deservedly so. At age 24, Chris went on to post a 2.73 ERA and record 33 saves. 

It wasn't until the following season in 2007 that something peculiar began happening. 

Chris lost his dominance, but being the warrior that he is, kept on insisting nothing was wrong. Despite having discomfort in his elbow, even taking drugs to ease the swelling and null the pain, Chris still insisted he felt fine.

Ever since 2001, the Seattle Mariners have relied on one player to consistently get on base and to score runs.

Ichiro Suzuki is now starting to show his age, 35 years old, on the baseball field. Sure, his team in the World Baseball Classic, Japan, is doing rather well, but Ichiro has not done well. Right now he is posting a .214 batting average for Team Japan, not quite his typical .340 batting average.

But, what was his stats in the 2006 World Baseball Classic? Back then, he had a typical .364 average.

The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins by a score of 4-2. Phil Hughes is pitching pretty well this spring.

I went out and just had something to eat at Wendy's and I had a cheeseburger with lettuce, onions and pickles. I was hoping to make it back at a decent time and I did.

A—Phil Hughes

Scott Lauber covers the Phillies beat for the Wilmington News Journal.  He also runs the blog Philled In, an inside take on your WFC. 

I caught up with him, from Clearwater, to talk baseball last night.

SHAY RODDY: Alex Rodriguez admitted to taking steroids from 2001-2003. What does this mean for the game?

Chicago Cubs Manager Lou Piniella officially named Sean Marshall the team's fifth starter, and I'm a big fan of the move.

Looking back over the past few years, the National League Central has had issues against lefties almost across the board. Andy Pettite had success in Houston, CC Sabathia was a beast last year while being rented by the Brewers, and the Cubs' Ted Lilly has had stellar success while with the team.

On Friday, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark enlightened us with his method to "fix" the World Baseball Classic. Now it's my turn.

Before I start, I want to say that I like Stark's ideas (and those of Buck Martinez, the anonymous manager, and Jim Fregosi, as mentioned in his article). But given the numerous injuries so far in this year's tournament, I think my plan is pretty practical.

No, folks, the battle for the last spot in the Phillies rotation is not over.

And yes, Kyle Kendrick is a long shot to make it.

Going into spring training, there was four-way battle for the fifth spot in the Phillies rotation. The contenders were Kyle Kendrick, J.A. Happ, Chan Ho Park, and Carlos Carrasco.

The other four spots in the Phillies rotation are currently held by Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, and Joe Blanton.

In June 2008, the Giants' young lefty Jonathan Sanchez recorded a 5-1 record with an ERA below three. However, in the rest of his starts that came in other months, the Giants hurler went 4-11, including a 1-7 mark in his last eight decisions. For the year Sanchez finished 9-12 with a 5.01 ERA.

I admit to riding the Sanchez bandwagon back in June 2008, but I was also the first one off come July. Apparently I was one of the few that jumped off.

Dontrelle Willis still can’t get the ball over the plate. Maybe he never will.

It’s not looking good for Mr. Willis, who’s desperately trying to show the Tigers—and the baseball world—that 2008 was simply nothing more than a ghoulish, chilling nightmare, not the start of the end.

Willis came to the Tigers in Dec. 2007 in the same trade that brought Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins. He was thought to be a major addition to a rotation that needed one more live arm. Willis wasn’t that far removed from a 22-win season.

Hey peoples,

It's been a minute since I wrote last. Now that there is progress in spring training we can look at what the Yankees have...as far as you can with deceiving Spring Training numbers.

Basically, I am happy A-Rod had surgery. It is good for him, good for baseball, and good for Jeter's peace of mind, because he has been obviously angry with the press over this.

Any idiot can hear it in his replies; they are quick, biting jabs, not mad at A Rod, mad at the press for being gossip column writers instead of sports writers.