More games? Okay, if you insist:

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 12:40 p.m. PT — Hiroki Kuroda looked outstanding in his North American debut. I expected the funky delivery that is characteristic of pitchers who come over from Japan, but the velocity caught me by surprise. He was pumping 93-mph fastballs against the Padres. Micah Owings gets the call for Arizona. He dominated the Rockies in his first start of ‘08 (although he only went 1-for-4 at the plate, LOL). Wasn’t there talk that the Snakes might stick Owings in the field at some point? I think that’s crazy, but it would be …read more

Small Sample Hero? Control Freak? Flamethower? Sounds like a comic book convention gone horribly wrong…

Phillies at Reds, 9:35 a.m. PT — Fire up a pot of coffee and sidle on up to the Internet (really, I’d like to see that). Cole Hamels and Bronson Arroyo square off in Monday’s first game. Plus you get a chance to watch Jeff “Offensive Beast” Keppinger in action. Honestly, I always thought that guy could be useful if given the chance, but .435/.480/.826 through the first week? Man, I love small samples. They’ll show you just about anything you want to see.
Mariners …read more

The lead from this article is classic:
Even after signing Jose Castillo on Christmas Eve, the Marlins may not be done giving themselves third base options.
Only in Miami, where the Marlins’ owner has trained his team’s “fans” to expect nothing and like it, could this even be in doubt. Castillo hit .244/.270/.335 for the Pirates in 2007. Huh, so he might not be the answer at third?
Other players being considered include Jorge Cantu and Dallas McPherson. Cantu hit .252/.331/.357 last season for the Devil Rays and the Reds. McPherson didn’t play in 2007 due to injury, but hit .261/.298/.478 the previous …read more

While perusing my colleague Blake’s poker blog All Poker Addicts, I came across a post about “favorite hands” and it got me thinking (put away the fire extinguisher, my head always does that when I think): what are your favorite plays in baseball? Here are some of mine:

Straight steal of home. Without question the most exciting play in baseball. The last one I saw came in May 1999, when San Diego’s Eric Owens did it against the Reds’ Brett Tomko.
Inside the park home run. This isn’t at the top of my list because a lot of times someone bangs into …read more

While we’re waiting for Kosuke Fukudome to decide what he wants to do with his life, we may as well catch up on some recent transactions, haiku style:
Nats and Yankees trade –
Clippard, Albaladejo,
anonymous arms
Cincy trades Buck Coats
to Blue Jays for Justin James –
who are these people?
Cards drop Taguchi –
they are So over that guy,
you wouldn’t believe
Padres sell Terrmel
to Japan’s Pacific League,
where he will fight ham
(Yes, I know, but don’t ruin the joke.)
Brewers sign Riske
to a big three-year contract –
seems kind of risky
(Ugh, they’re getting worse.)
Cincy waives Cantu –
I sure can understand why
they did that, can’t you?
(Seriously, this is terrible.)
Nationals sign …read more

Still catching up on old stuff…

Rob at Cub Reporter hooks us up with footage from a 1981 game between the Cubs and Reds.
Dan at Get Up, Baby laments the continued decline of Scott Rolen.
Pat at FanHouse muses on the Pirates motives behind hiring John Russell as their new skipper.
Lisa at Astros Dugout discusses the (relatively) recent trade with Philadelphia that netted Michael Bourn.

Let’s see what’s on tap today, shall we…
American League

Tigers at Indians, 4:05 p.m. PT — A showdown between two teams tied for first in the AL Central come mid-August? Two outstanding young pitchers (Jeremy Bonderman, C.C. Sabathia)? Dude, you are so all over this one. Here’s the thing I don’t understand about Bonderman: How can he possibly have a 4.75 ERA? Ah, here it is: Since the All-Star break, opponents are batting .344/.379/.603 against him. The kid’s got great stuff, though; someone should be able to fix that.

National League

Reds at Cubs, 5:05 p.m. PT — The Reds are done, but …read more

Anthony Amobi and Andrew Stebbin pick apart the Washington Nationals’ first half over at Oleanders and Morning Glories. I actually understand what the Nats are doing in terms of gutting the big-league team and rebuilding from scratch, but it’s got to be tough as a fan to watch. Still, Anthony and Andrew manage to keep their heads up:
They aren’t historically bad. In a way not even embarrassingly bad. It was a blessing in disguise when everyone (who didn’t follow the team closely) predicted 110+ losses this season.
They might not even lose 100 games.
Here’s what I don’t understand. Remember how we …read more

Falling behind here. The Reds have taken Pennsylvania high school catcher Devin Mesoraco with the 15th pick overall. The guys on ESPN2 compared him to the Dodgers’ Russell Martin and noted that Mesoraco is the first catcher taken by the Reds in the first round since Dan Wilson in 1992.
More later…