Opinion

I recently wrote an article comparing the Cubs' two leadoff hitters, Ryan Theriot and Kosuke Fukudome, in which I ultimately came to the conclusion that Theriot was the better option to hit atop the batting order in large part because Fukudome might find himself on the bench before too long.

Shortly thereafter, Lou Piniella decided to replace Theriot at second base with Mike Fontenot and said the move might "be more than a one day thing." Suffice it to say that I wasn't feeling too smart when that news came across the wires.

I'm not against the move.

On Monday May 31 the Chicago Cubs called up their 2008 first-round draft pick, Andrew Cashner, and designated him to the bullpen.

Cashner was a closer at Texas Christian University, but the Cubs immedaitely moved him into the rotation. In this new roll, Cashner realized a great deal of success and improved at each level.

This season in a starting roll at Triple-A Iowa he was 3-0, with a 0.95 ERA, and 0.83 WHIP (with a 14:2 strikeout to walk ratio).  

Late in May the Cubs made the decision to convert him back to a reliever.

Great news coming from the U.S. edition of Reuters.com (the latest news from around the world) for all honest, ethical, hard working, intrinsically-driven major league ball players—a new and improved test for human growth hormone (HGH) is just around the corner.

At 26-27, the L.A. Angels have been a disappointment thus far. Although they haven't lived up to popular expectations, the Angels only sit 2.5 games behind the first place Oakland A's in the AL West.

A large reason for the Angels lack of production this season has been their inconsistent hitting, led by sub-par pitching. The Angel's pitching staff currently sits at 24th in the MLB with a 4.63 ERA. Their starters have produced a combined 4.56 ERA and gathered 18 of the Angles 26 wins.

The Angels pitching hasn't been awful, but they certainly haven't lived up to expectations.

Up until 2010 there had been 18 perfect games in the history of Major League Baseball. This season, in one month alone, Roy Halladay and Dallas Braden tossed two perfectos to go along with a no-hitter by Ubaldo Jiménez earlier this year.

Pitching in the big leagues is one of the hardest things to do in sports.

Who should be the Twins' third baseman?

Coming out of Spring Training, Brendan Harris had the edge statistically after batting .326 with three doubles, a triple, and a home-run. 

Punto ended the exhibition season with a .233 average, one double, and 12 strike outs. 

When the season opened Ron Gardenhire named Punto his starting third baseman and the debate began.

The answer now seems obvious—give it to Michael Cuddyer.

Stephen Strasburg was drafted by the Washington Nationals last year with the first pick in the Rule 4 Draft.

Fans, scouts, and players say he has the best stuff they have ever seen. Every eye was on him as he progressed through the Minor Leagues. Some said that he could have just skipped the Minors.

The Washington Nationals made an announcement that Strasburg would be starting on June 8th against the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

He has the potential to become the next Randy Johnson or Roger Clemens.

June is a great month, wouldn’t you agree?  School is out, golf weather has arrived, and we get the pleasure (for some reason) of both the Stanley Cup and NBA Finals.

In short, the first day of June marks the official start of the summer (unless you subscribe to that solar mumbo jumbo), which means months of carefree behavior, baseball and beer, boats, beaches, and ice cream.

However, for the 2010 Milwaukee Brewers, June marks the franchise’s make-or-break moment.

A bad bullpen was something most Diamondbacks are unfortunately used to watching—the unit has an ERA over 6.00 and is unarguably the worst bullpen in all of baseball.

With a bad bullpen, there are a lot of ways for a team to lose and choke in a game with a strong lead—but did anyone really expect a "walk-off balk" for a way the D'backs could lose another game?

Well, I certainly am disappointed, but I really can't say I'm surprised.

Entering June in the cellar of the National League West, the D-Backs are currently riding an eight-game losing streak (including a walk-off balk given up by pitcher Esmerling Vasquez).

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Arizona State University baseball team recently received news that they will be the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming 64-team NCAA Baseball Tournament.

So that got me thinking.