Stats

Matt Harvey's line of duty in 2012 has come to an end following a strong outing a couple of nights ago against the Philadelphia Phillies. 

It's hard to complain about Harvey's performance in his rookie season. In fact, he was one of the Mets' few bright spots in the second half. 

In the majors, Harvey is 3-5 in 10 starts with a 2.73 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 70 strikeouts in 59.1 innings. 

Harvey's stats alone tell you a story about the pitcher.

Third place doesn't doesn't seem like much of a prize, particularly in the National League Central. But it could mark the way to bigger and better thingsin the future. Relative to the past few years, Pittsburgh is on its way up. Milwaukee has seen better days, although this relationship is the reverse of what has happened this year.

One St. Louis Cardinal is rapidly making his way toward a rather exclusive club this season. Carlos Beltran is within hitting distance, no pun intended, of the 300-300-2000 club.

This status is reserved for players who have hit 300 home runs, stolen 300 bases and amassed 2,000 hits over their career. Lots of talk has floated about Beltran hitting 300-300, but the 2,000 hasn’t gotten much attention.

After Bryce Harper feasted on the Boston Red Sox Friday at Fenway Park, LA Angels rookie outfielder Mike Trout went to work against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

Batting average is not an overvalued statistic. When you compare Ichiro Suzuki's 2004 season with Eddie Stanky's 1950 season, it illustrates the importance of a player’s batting average when you evaluate him.

Suzuki batted .372 with a .414 on-base percentage and a .455 slugging average.

Fans of the Milwaukee Brewers have watched many of their favorite players on the All-Star Game stage since the team came to Milwaukee in 1970.

There is a difference between being a great baseball talent, being a great player and having a great career.

Thurman Munson and Carlton Fisk were great baseball talents. Munson and Fisk were great players. Fisk had a better career than Munson did. As Helen Gamble of The Practice might say, "I wonder why."

Take a look at the MLB standings today, and you'll see a few surprises.

Baltimore, not expected to make much noise in the AL East, has a two-game lead in that division. The Cleveland Indians are three games up in the AL Central, and not surprising is the Texas Rangers' five-game lead in the AL West.

Mickey Mantle won the Triple Crown in 1956, batting .353 with 52 home runs and 130 RBIs. My brother and I often heard some of our friends that didn't exactly root for Mantle or the New York Yankees claim that Mantle usually hit home runs when the Yankees were well ahead or far behind.

Now that Derek Jeter has reached (and then quickly surpassed) the 3,000-hit mark, I think it’s time to see how Robinson Cano’s young career stacks up to the New York Yankees captain's early years.

Jeter is halfway through his 17th season (16th full season), whereas Robinson Cano is halfway into just his seventh season in the bigs.