Fan News

Don't look now, but Nick Markakis has a 16 game hit streak going. 

Tomorrow night Nick the Stick goes up against Roy "Doc" Halladay, against whom he is 7-30 lifetime, good for a not-so-good .233 average. On the season Markakis is hitting .381, good for a very good third best in the American League.

The Mets—erm, the 9-12, 4th place New York Mets—have been shaky to say the least so far this season. 

But May is a new month, and if there was a time for the Mets to get pumped, it's this weekend, as they visit Philadelphia for the first time in 2009 to play the Phillies—erm, the 2008 World Series Champion, Philadelphia Phillies ( if there needed to be any more reason for the Mets to hate the Phillies, there it is).

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We aren’t even a full month into the 2009 MLB season and we’ve already seen scandals, big innings, great games, and unexpected division leaders. Baseball’s recent purge of steroids has considerably lowered the league’s offensive output, as well as attendance.

However, the sport is still surviving and looks to bring fans yet another great year. Here are a few things worth noting so far this season:

1. Check the Standings

As the first month of the 2009 season ends, with a two game losing streak to division rival Florida and our first nine win month since 2004, we're forced on a day off, to look at this club that we thought was a playoff team and discuss what's wrong.

The 2009 baseball season has started off with a splash. Thus far many teams have had good starts to this season, such as the Marlins and Blue Jays who have had solid hitting and good quality pitching.

Then we have the New York Yankees. The most active team this offseason; thus far their big time acquisitions haven't been up to the caliber of the 26 time world champions.

Sabathia and Burnett have not been able to lead a predicted top five rotation in the league.

Questions about Wang and his injury, as well as Joba's future in bullpen does raise eyebrows.

Time to put on your John Denver CD and take a look at Colorado’s baseball history. Rocky Mountain High, Colorado. As you might expect, the lineup looks formidable while the pitching staff looks ridiculous.

Face of the Franchise:  Todd Helton

Manager: Clint Hurdle 

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As I was watching the Mets painful debacle yesterday, I couldn't help but notice just how bad this team is with runners in scoring position.

I have yet to find a statistic that reflects just how bad this team is when they have runners in scoring position, especially late in games.

But trust me folks, it's ugly.

It's Thursday, and the weekend is almost upon us. If you're like me, you start looking forward to the weekend on, well, Monday. But before we dig into this full plate of steamy weekend baseball, why not look back and reminisce about the pitchers that flat out got it done last week. These guys are already looking like Cy Young contenders, with stat lines that make baseball fan's eyes go wide upon first view.

AL:

Before this season began, we wondered what exactly National League Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum could do for an encore.

After two starts to begin the year that left people scratching their heads, The Franchise is back to what he looked like a year ago and everybody is enjoying the show.

His ERA may be almost one-and-a-half runs higher than it was through five starts a year ago and half the number of wins, take away the two dismal starts to begin the season and Lincecum has been everything a staff ace represents.