Where's Hill? A bit odd, I thought, to have him sit in favour of Russ Adams' bat, such as it is, at second and Shea Hillenbrand's glove, such as it is, at third, not to mention the bizarre Troy Glaus Experiment. Couldn't Aaron Hill have played any of those three positions last night? I understood having Glaus at short when the options were Backup Infielder, Minor League Filler Infielder and Over The Hill Infielder, but Gibbons is really making me think about his decisions lately. Not in a good way.
Adams at 2B: No complaints yet. He does look "different" sometimes, though. You know those plays infielders make that look so smooth, but probably would have the same result if they were just a little bit clumsy and therefore, there's no problem with how they field? Adams does that all the time, from what I can tell. When he knocked down a ball to his left, he probably had no shot at the runner (Borchard, I think) but you couldn't help but think he might have had it if he was a little smoother. Of course, he wouldn't have, but perception often trumps reality, and Adams is an easy target when it comes to his defense.
I Heart Soriano: When he was a Yankee, I wasn't allowed to like him. Then he went to Texas and it was easy to make fun of him -- bad defense, stats inflated by AL Coors. Well, he's right up there with Pujols in HR. And don't look twice, but he's walking now. Yes, Alfonso Soriano is drawing walks.
Anyway, why do I like him now? Simple. With the Jays actually in spitting distance of first place, I've started watching the scoreboard. Now, if only FOX was obsessed with the AL East Beasts, then I could see the Yankees once in a while -- oh, never mind, here they are against the Nationals. About to blow a seven-run lead, but Mariano Rivera is in to nail things down. Sort of. Soriano stole second -- terrible inaction by Rivera, terrible throw by Posada -- then third and home -- Posada again, with a wild throw.
A Daryle Ward walk and Jose Guillen triple later, the Nats are on top of the world, even if their uniforms were beyond bad.
And you know, Soriano's a lot of fun to watch when he's not One Of Them.
I Wonder If Jamie Campbell Saw That: During the game, FOX showed a graphic with the list of players who have led the league in HR and outfield assists in the same year. It's a rare occurence -- possibly because you don't have to be an outfielder to hit homeruns -- and if Soriano does it this year, he'd be the first since Jesse Barfield in 1986. Before him, it was Willie Mays.
Slide, Zimmerman, Slide! Did nobody else notice Ryan Zimmerman bailing out on a 4-6-3 in the ninth? At least make an effort -- you don't have to be Bill Madlock or end up like Gregg Zaun, but at least try.
Something I Didn't Notice: Nomar Garciaparra is leading the NL in batting average? Huh?
Closer Update: It's been a while. The leaders are:
1.9-B.Jenks
1.8-C.Ray
1.6-J.Papelbon
1.4-J.Nathan
1.4-T.Jones
Hmm. Maybe this isn't so great after all, but I'll keep tracking it and see how the rest of the season goes. The Tigers have to stop winning sometime, and Jones won't be that fortunate forever. B.J. Ryan is at 0.7 saves above average, in 9th place in the AL (out of 34 pitchers with a realistic save opportunity in the eighth inning or later).
And If You're Wondering: Using this year's conversion rates for each save category, I found that Miguel Batista was at 0.6 above average through June 2005. But then it started. 0.5 below average after July, -1.2 after August (Felix Escalona!) and -2.5 at the end of the year. That would make him the second-worst closer in the AL this year, ahead of only Francisco Cordero (who has since lost his job to the less-bad Aki Otsuka.)