News & Notes

Sosa hasn't been same slugger since beanball

Sammy Sosa hasn't been doing too much celebrating lately. AP

* Sammy Sosa was dropped in the order again and still isn't coming around. I had a couple of email questions about the situation and my quick summation is this: He has not been the same hitter since getting beaned last year. I went back and looked at tapes from this year and last, and if you examine them you see that Sosa's stance is very different post-beaning. He stands a lot further off the plate now, further to the outside of the batter's box. Before, he was much closer and was able to get good pitches on the outside part of the plate and take them to the opposite field. He would hit opposite-field homers when he was dialed in. Now, he can't get to those pitches as well. Don't believe for a second that pitchers don't know that. He has been fed a steady diet of outside stuff that he is chasing and can't get to. I don't think it is an issue of bat speed right now, as some have speculated.

* In prospect news, the Devil Rays will likely call up former Mets farmhand Scott Kazmir to start Monday in place of Mark Hendrickson. Hendrickson, if you look at his stats and some of the stretches of good pitching he has had lately, has been surprisingly useful in AL-only leagues. He'll have returned positive value at the end of the year, which is always a plus for guy who was drafted in maybe 1 percent of AL leagues at best. As far as Kazmir, you all know the deal. He's in my Top 10 pitching prospects in the minors, though others rate him higher. He has the stuff, but is he being rushed? Generally, I don't worry too much about guys with superior talent skipping levels and being accelerated quickly (the Rays have numerous examples of success with this with B.J. Upton, Rocco Baldelli and Carl Crawford), so this is your chance in keeper leagues to tuck him away, and if you're a contender and need another starter, how can you not take a chance?

* The rumors are indeed true that the Yankees are thinking of flipping Esteban Loaiza to the Rangers for a couple of decent prospects. Loaiza's success last year was the result of two things: 1) addition of a quality cutter to his repertoire, and; 2) greatly improved focus and concentration. This year, by most accounts, his cutter just doesn't have the same bite for some reason and I have heard multiple reports from scouts that the focus is just not at the same level as it was last year.

* We have seen a number of shortstops have breakthrough offensive seasons this year, such as Cesar Izturis and Jack Wilson. Is Felipe Lopez such a candidate for 2005? He just finished a 10-game hitting streak where he batted .371 with three home runs and eight RBIs to bring his average up close to .270. Even with Barry Larkin back, Lopez will see significant playing time down the stretch. Lopez will be 24 on Opening Day 2005 and may be starting to develop what scouts have generally agreed is some pretty good offensive potential after being rushed to the major leagues way too quickly by Toronto as a 21-year-old. After a horrible ankle injury last year set him back, he may not run much on the basepaths anymore, but his power potential is more than most people think. Stash him away in keeper leagues.

* Marcus Giles admits his shoulder still feels weak after his recovery from a broken clavicle, which explains why he has not been able to hit the ball with authority since returning. He says it is slowly getting better, though, and hopefully he can hit with some more pop down the stretch and be back at 100 percent for 2005.

* I talked to a couple of scouts this week, who both agreed that Daniel Cabrera is indeed tiring. A 7.76 ERA in his past five starts is only one indicator. The scouts (both of whom have seen him pitch in that time frame) say Cabrera was starting to labor as soon as the third inning. At 23, and with more innings under his belt already this season than he has ever thrown before, it may just be plain old fatigue that is causing Cabrera's recent problems. While his ERA is still a very respectable 4.14 overall, it could get a lot worse at this rate. Obviously, you don't want to let him go in keeper leagues, but if you're counting on him down the stretch this year, there could be some trouble unless she finds another gear over the last month and a half.

* Fatigue is also said to be causing Cliff Lee to plummet down to Earth after a lofty start. After going into the break with a 3.77 ERA (and he has the stuff to support ERA's in the mid-threes), he has had a 9.79 ERA in his past seven starts. The lanky left-hander only packs about 185 on a 6-foot-3 frame so some in the Indians organization are wondering if stamina is the issue right now or if it is some mechanical issue that has caused his fastball to be down a tick and his curveball to lack bite.

Jason Grey is the publisher of Mastersball.com, a site for fantasy baseball analysis, insight, and opinion, and a two-time defending Tout Wars experts league champion.