Bryce Harper to Start 2012 Season in the Minor Leagues

It seems Bryce Harper isn't quite ready for the big leagues just yet... we're just going to have to wait a month or two to see a preposterous amount of eye black smeared all over his adorable face.

The Washington Nationals cut four players on Sunday, sending the outfielder along with them to the minors. Harper will begin the 2012 season with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, where he'll sign a whole lot of autographs before taking center field.

Unusually humble, Harper had this to say about his demotion:

"I'm just going to take it, and go down there and work hard and try to get up here as quick as I can... Of course you want to come in here and make the team every year. Hopefully, that’s the last time I’ll get sent down. But it’s what happened. I wasn’t expecting it, but it’s okay."

The 19-year-old rookie, who is converting from catcher to outfielder, went 5-for-11 to start spring training, but was just three for his last 17 with 11 strikeouts. Looks like he needs a bit more seasoning.

Aside from Harper just not being ready fundamentally, Dave Sheinin of Nationals Journal pointed this out among other things:

"If the Nationals keep him in the minors for about a month, they get an extra year of his services — in fact, his age-25 season — before he reaches free agency. If they keep him down for about three months, they can save millions of dollars in a few years by keeping him from reaching arbitration eligibility early."

Sneaky stuff Mike Rizzo.

[Nationals Journal]

Cuban Defector Yoenis Cespedes Demands Your Attention with Outrageous Video

Talented Cuban center fielder Yoenis Cespedes defected this summer in the hopes of becoming an MLB free agent. Now, since his agent and trainer made this spectacularly ridiculous video, he is bound to be signed by the team with the best sense of humor, if not for his power at the plate and outfield prowess.

There are no words... just watch for yourself:

Diamondbacks Rally at Home to Bring Game 5 to Milwaukee

It just wouldn't be Arizona Diamondbacks baseball at Chase Field without a grand slam these days. Showoffs.

After returning to the desert staring down an 0-2 hole in the National League Division Series, the Diamondbacks won both of their home games to force a deciding Game 5, including an 8-1 rout Tuesday evening before their 10-6 win Wednesday night over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Thanks in part to Randy Wolf being completely out of control early on, the D'Backs enjoyed a five-run first inning highlighted by a Ryan Roberts grand slam -- the team's fourth in as many home games. In fact, they're just the second team to hit grand salamis in consecutive playoff games since the 1977 Dodgers.

Chris Young went yard twice, and Aaron Hill added a solo shot to Arizona's 13 hits to shift the series back to Milwaukee.

Rallying for a win is nothing new to the D'Backs, and frankly I'm sure they're offended that everyone outside of Arizona pretty much wrote them off after dropping the first two games of the series. In case it's your first day, they had a big league-best 48 comeback wins during the regular season.

They might not have a rally squirrel, but they do have a Kirk Gibson, whose unorthodox managing techniques had fans and analysts questioning his sanity Wednesday night. The second-year skipper pulled starter Joe Saunders for a pinch-hitter in the third inning of his team's must-win postseason game after the lefty surrendered three runs on five hits with two walks. Not a good outing at all, but definitely not something you can't come back from. It was so Tony La Russa... but it worked.

Tampa Bay Rays Rookie Matt Moore Crushes Texas Rangers in ALDS

Matt Moore is a total stud. You know it, I know it. Joe Maddon definitely knows it, and now the entire baseball-watching world knows it.

The adorable 22-year-old rookie left-hander, who joined the Tampa Bay Rays just three weeks ago, had the game of his life Friday night in just his second big league start ever. Tossing two-hit ball, he struck out six Texas Rangers and walked two.

No pitcher in the history of the game had ever started a postseason opener with just one career start under his belt until Moore took the hill at Rangers Ballpark less than 24 hours after being informed he was pitching in the playoffs. Eight days earlier, he fanned eleven New York Yankees over five scoreless innings and surrendered just four hits and a walk... pretty impressive to say the least. Moore had this to say post-game:

"They didn’t give me a whole lot of time to get nervous and to think about it a lot. I didn’t want to be out of it before I was in it… I tried to be as normal, as normal and as calm as possible. And it was just a matter of getting comfortable, and there on it was throwing strikes."

Holy Crap, Wild Card Wednesday Was Nuts

What a finish to baseball's regular season, the greatest show on dirt. That was literally the most exciting night of baseball we have ever witnessed in our entire lives. Sincerely hope you got to see at least one of these games.

The Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox polished off their respective collapses while the Tampa Bay Rays made the most improbable comeback of their young franchise's history. Also, Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals plowed through the Houston Astros like they had the worst record in baseball... oh, wait.

Guys like Nolan Reimold and Robert Andino, who forced Jonathan Papelbon's soon-to-be infamous blown save, are maybe the last two names you'd expect to hear today. Maybe, if you're living outside of Baltimore, you have no clue who the hell they are. They're spoilers. Season-enders. Game-changers for a day.

Many Red Sox fans, already disappointed with Carl Crawford's once-promising season in Beantown, may want to kick him in the nuts today after his disgraceful, missed catch on Andino's low liner to end the game. Pure laziness. David Ortiz summed it all up in his post-game interview:

"Umm....this is... this might be the worst situation that I have ever been involved in, in my whole career."

Then there's Evan Longoria, who enjoyed a two-home run evening -- one being quite possibly the biggest walkoff bomb of his career -- at Tropicana Field as his Rays rallied from a 7-0 deficit in the eighth inning. And Dan Johnson. Batting .183 on the year and the last guy you want at the plate when your team is down to their last strike of the season in the bottom of ninth, goes yard to tie it up and give Tampa a shot at October.

Red Sox and Rays Both Victorious, Wild Card Still Tied

If you watched any of the Boston Red Sox game against the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday night, we hope you caught the Adam Jones at bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with two out and a man on second. What an attention whore.

After ten agonizing pitches, Jonathan Papelbon eventually got Jones to ground out on a slider and end the game. The 8-7 victory, combined with the Tampa Bay Rays' 5-3 win over the New York Yankees, allowed the Red Sox to stay alive another day in the American League Wild Card hunt.

Boston went yard four times in the evening, including two homers off the bat of adorable rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway. The Yale philosophy major who never even played a big league game before this August, nailed a three-run shot in the fourth before adding a solo shot for good measure to give his team an 8-4 lead in the eighth. The O's tried to rally late in the game, but Papelboner was having none of that.

The Red Sox will send workhorse Jon Lester to the mound on three days' rest to face Alfredo Simon in the season finale Wednesday night in an effort to punch their fourth ticket to the postseason in five years.

Phillies Beat Braves for Win No. 100, Cardinals Lose

The Atlanta Braves were enjoying an early two-tun lead against Cliff Lee Monday night, but the postseason-bound Philadelphia Phillies did what they do best, rallying for their 100th victory of the season with a 4-2 win.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals managed to lose to the last-place Houston Astros 5-4 on a crazy squeeze bunt in the 10th inning, leaving Atlanta's Wild-Card lead at one game over St. Louis. The Braves are on quite the skid at this point, dropping their third straight and seventh of their last 10 for a 9-16 September record with just two games left in the regular season.

This marks the third time in franchise history that the Phillies have earned 100 victories, so that's pretty neat for them. Derek Lowe, who has struggled recently, will pitch for the Braves Tuesday evening against Roy Oswalt while Jake Westbrook (12-9, 4.48 ERA) takes the hill for the Cards against rookie right-hander Henry Sosa, who has never faced St. Louis in real life. Good luck buddy!

[MLB]

Carlos Zambrano Snaps Bat After Jordan Lyles Strikeout

Carlos Zambrano was at it again Tuesday night, snapping his bat during a fit at the plate after whiffing on a Jordan Lyles curveball to end the fifth inning of his Chicago Cubs' 7-3 loss to the Houston Astros.

Maybe he was pissed because it was Lyles' first ever major league start in which he happened to dominate seven shutout innings? Perhaps.

This tantrum is the latest in a fairly long line of outbursts during Zambrano's decade-long career. Around this time last season, he was suspended indefinitely by general manager Jim Hendry after going batshit crazy on Derrek Lee in the dugout. Here's a nifty timeline of Big Z's Shenanigans over the years.

Despite being a pitcher by trade, he takes an amazing amount of pride in his hitting. As he should with a .346 average and .538 slugging percentage on the season.

Stephen Strasburg Hindsight is 20/20

$15.1 million dollars and 15.1 million reasons why Mike Rizzo and Jim Riggleman are complete morons.

Get Well Soon, Stephen Strasburg

So much for kid gloves. Stephen Strasburg is headed to the disabled list for the second time this season.

The Washington Nationals $15.1 million investment was removed from Saturday's 8-1 win over the Philadephia Phillies upon wincing after throwing a changeup. He'll have a second MRI exam to see if something is terribly wrong, other than the strained tendon in his forearm that the team has reported.

The 22-year-old rookie phenom, who is 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 92 strikeouts in just 68 innings, had made only three starts since coming off the DL with shoulder inflammation.

Sadly, for all you folks who waited for him to get called up to round out your fantasy rotation, he may be done for the season.

[USA Today]

Strasburg Named NL Player of the Week

Stephen Strasburg was awarded the National League Player of the Week honors on Monday.

Not bad for his first week on the job.

The Washington Nationals’ hard-throwing rookie sensation is 2-0 with an obscene number of strikeouts (22) and a 2.19 ERA in his first two big league starts.

Stephen Strasburg is an Animal

We really don't care that it was against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who some may call a sub-par team. No disrespect intended, of course. Stephen Strasburg's big league debut impressed the crap out of us.

The 21-year-old righty allowed just two runs on four hits, including a shot by Delwyn Young in the fourth, Tuesday evening at Nationals Park. The highlight? He struck out an incredible 14 batters and walked no one through 94 pitches. In fact, the young phenom fanned every single Pirates batter at least once, including the final seven he faced.

Stephen Strasburg: Seat Filler

Normally, little more than 50 folks show up to watch the Washington Nationals’ first practice at Space Coast Stadium. Yesterday, roughly 150 people were in attendance.

This past Sunday, Florida residents and vacationers flocked to see no one but last June’s No. 1 draft pick, Stephen Strasburg, in action. During the nine-minute session, the former San Diego State right-hander threw 37 pitches, showing off his repertoire of four-seam fastballs, two-seamers, a slider/curveball mix and a changeup. Following his bullpen session, he worked on covering first base and even practiced a little bunting.

Continue reading and comment on this story at SportsUntapped.

Coghlan, Bailey Rookies of the Year

Awards Season the most exciting and anticipated time of the MLB offseason, and we're just getting started with Monday's announcement of the 2009 Rookies of the Year among a crowded field of new talent.

Florida Marlins left fielder Chris Coghlan and Oakland Athletics closer Andrew Bailey both had spectacular rookie seasons in the big leagues... so did Philadelphia Phillies pitcher J.A. Happ.

Continue reading and comment on this story at Sports Untapped.

Stephen Strasburg: Flamethrower

Washington Nationals uneconomical prospect Stephen Strasburg's first professional pitch hit 99 mph to kick off 3.1 scoreless innings in his Arizona Fall League debut Friday night.

The 21-year-old righty, who signed a ridiculous, record $15.1 million, four-year deal with the Nationals after the June draft, surrendered just two base hits and a walk, fanning two for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in their 7-4 win over the Scotsdale Scorpions.

"I love to go out there and compete, and it was great to be able to do that," Strasburg said.

He threw just 50 pitches --32 for strikes -- a limit set by the Nats... they don't want to break him, I guess. He's expected make five starts for the Dogs, with his next coming on Thursday.

[MLB.com] | [Project Prospect] | [AZ Hardball]

Marlon Byrd is an Animal

Marlon Byrd set a Texas Rangers franchise record Tuesday after nailing seven hits in a double header against the Cleveland Indians.

After suffering through fifteen scoreless innings, the Rangers took the first game 11-9 and the nightcap 10-5 to pull within two games of the Boston Red Sox for the American League wild card. They should send Eric Wedge a thank you card.

We Heart Matt Joyce

Matt Joyce is a stud. You know it, I know it. Joyce on the other hand, had some butterflies this weekend.

The 24-year-old Tampa Bay Rays outfielder, a local boy who was recalled from the AAA Durham Bulls on Saturday, debuted at Tropicana Field Sunday in center field in front of a dozen friends and family... not to mention the 26,000 strangers. He may have been a little nervous, but the kid went 2-for-3, including a go-ahead solo shot in the fifth anyway.

Of his first hometown longball, Joyce recalled:

Soto is as Soto Does

Cubs' catcher Geovany Soto has been named the NL Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Soto hit .285 this year, with a sexy 23 home runs and 86 RBIs. He is the first catcher to capture the award since Mike Piazza in 1993. The last Cubbie to sport the title was Kerry Wood in 1998.

Soto's RBI record beat out all rookies in MLB. The pitching staff had the third lowest ERA in the league. And, by the way, we're going to try to forget about the playoffs for the moments.

Soto was also behind the plate for Zambrano's no-hitter on September 14. He was also the first rookie catcher to start in an All-Star game.

Muchas Gracias, Puerto Rico. Muy caliente.

Evan Longoria is an Animal

Welcome to our new feature. It's called Evan Longoria is an Animal.

The end.

Brad Ziegler: I'm Your Set-Up Man

With his sixth recorded out Sunday, Oakland Athletics reliever Brad Ziegler set a major league record with 27 scoreless innings to kick off his promising career.

The 28-year-old right-hander who was promoted to the big leagues at the end of May, fanned three and allowed two base hits over two innings against the Texas Rangers in his otherwise perfect outing during the A's 6-5 victory.

Ziegler shattered the previous record of 25 innings set 101 years ago by Philadelphia Phillies long-gone righty George McQuillan in 1907.

[MVN] | [Athletics Supporters] | [Baseball Geeks] | [Oakland Athletics News]