Opinion

Tonight the Phillies will square off against former teammate and fan favorite Jayson Werth. On their way back home to Philadelphia, they stop off in the nation’s capital for a three-game set against the annual basement dwellers in the National League East, who shocked the baseball world last December by inking Werth to a mammoth contract.

So far this season, the Philadelphia Phillies have been good. Great, in fact. For some people, this isn't a surprise. After all, they have some of the best starting pitchers in the league. They also have some great hitters. This was all expected. So why am I writing this article?

For the second time in a row, Clayton Kershaw made Giants hitters look like little leaguers. 

Last night, the southpaw allowed only six hits over 6.2 innings, striking out seven, while not allowing a single run. 

He has now accumulated 13.2 scoreless innings against Giants this season, 22.2 dating back to 2010.

Daisuke Matsuzaka’s outing last night against the Tampa Bay Rays, as well as his tenure with the Boston Red Sox, can be summed up in one word: baffling.

I noticed something peculiar about Albert Pujols' approach at the plate during an at bat last night in Arizona.  He picked up and put back down his normally semi-stationary left leg as the pitch came in.

Much has been made out of Jayson Werth's offseason departure from the Phillies after accepting a huge $126 million, 7-year deal from the Nationals. 

On Tuesday night, Werth will face his former team for the first time as the Phillies travel to D.C. for a three-game series.

Coming into the 2011 MLB season, most fans had noticed only some of the significant differences in the Tampa Bay Rays Roster.

Key players Carl Crawford, Matt Garza, Rafael Soriano, Carlos Pena and Jason Bartlett had departed for other organizations via trades and free agency.

Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon had signed for bargain deals for one season, Ramirez for $2.0 million and Damon for $5.25 million. Both veterans were hoping to make an impact.

Theo Epstein is the general manager of the Boston Red Sox.  He is also a practitioner of sabermetrics. 

At least that’s what we’re lead to believe.

After all, Bill James has been a senior advisor for the Red Sox since 2002.

You see, in the Church of Sabermetrics, Bill James is the deity. Many of his followers believe that he was begotten, not made, and that he will reign eternal in the halls of Strat-O-Matic Valhalla.

The Diamondbacks won their first home series of the year, taking two of three from the Cincinnati Reds in games won by offensive outbursts. The Diamondbacks came back twice on Sunday and survived a ninth inning scare to secure the series win.

If Nick Masset is doing nothing else, he is keeping writers and fans off the back of Coco Cordero.

Last season, I usually became sick in the ninth inning when I saw the wild bull come in from the bullpen. It seemed (although it really wasn’t) as though every time he entered the game he either blew a save or came so close I put a curse on him.