No doubt you’ve heard it by now. “Puig.” And if you take the time to look it up, you’ll discover that “Puig” actually means “moon” in Catalan… actually, it doesn’t. But I wanted to make the headline fit here and to say that Dodgers’ and ‘Dem Bums’ fans alike are “over the moon” about the meteoric rise of the young Cuban star, is probably – like seemingly everything else with the kid – an understatement. Not one baseball player in Dodgers history has drawn more Hollywood-script metaphors before and not one Dodgers rookie, including the likes of Fernando Valenzuela and Mike Piazza, has sold more jerseys in his first 20 games in the MLB (and that’s saying something when you consider that the Dodgers have had 12 Rookie of the Year award winners since 1960). In June, Yasiel led the MLB in hits with 44 and was second only to San Diego’s Everth Cabrera with a .436 batting average (Cabrera hit .459), not to mention his constant clutch play and aggressive base running that consistently lights up the crowd and the “W”s on the Dodger scoreboard as the team went 7-1 in their last 8 games of the month and have renewed energy on the field. Such success, at least for Puig – named both the rookie and NL Player of the Month for June – is no shock to the ‘Dem Bums system though right? May I quote from the very first post of this here 2013 season: “Spring Training doesn’t mean a thing, at least that’s what they say. So pay no attention that some new Dodger named Yasiel Puig is leading all batters in the MLB with a .527 AVG on 55 ABs in the Cactus League.” Of course, along with that post about Puig was a comment about the spring success of Niese, who now sits on the DL and will need to learn to accept his future as a “middle of the rotation” guy when he gets back (but I’m getting distracted). More importantly, at least for Team Roberts, is that Puig brings home what looks like his first of many Batting Titles – and Team Roberts third in a row – of the 2013 season. We are just about halfway home, and with 3 total title wins thus far, Josh is quickly taking steady aim at that bonus ‘Dem Bums Pennant that will earn him that extra $60 before playoffs. So, appropriately, the family name of “Puig” actually comes from the Latin word for “platform” to indicate people who live upon hilltops or plateaus – the heights of which Yasiel seems to have no problem reaching in his young MLB career and the very heights he’ll have to get used to.
COVER BOY
Despite the fact that both the Mets and Dodgers are bottom feeders in each of their divisions, each team arguably has the best players in baseball between Puig and Harvey. For reasons clear above, Puig continues to earn “must-see-TV” titles and for reasons that Team Talley can celebrate, Matt Harvey has become the cover boy of NYC. Part of it might be his new super model girlfriend who Daniel Murphy is forced to third-wheel with at NY Rangers games, but really it’s a matter of the heat. Harvey has the fastest fastball average in the league and leads the NL with 141 strikeouts (his closest competition being Kershaw with 126). In June, Harvey went 2-1 with a 2.31 ERA and a knock-down 48 strikeouts – the closest Met pitcher in strikeouts was Gee with 28 – that allowed him to edge our Team Roberts Kershaw and bring home Team Talley’s second Pitching Title of the season. Though Hefner actually out-pitched all ‘Dem Bums available pitchers for the month with a 1.80 ERA on 5 games started, Harvey is surely the pitcher of the present and future for the Mets, drawing comparisons to Seaver and Gooden to the extent that everyone is waiting for that no-no to comedown with each start – a matter of “when” not “if.” Like Puig, there is much talk of Harvey not only making the All-Star Game, but starting it here at Citi Field. When asked about throwing the first pitch for the NL All-Stars, Harvey said that growing up “I don’t think you could want anything better.” And to that I say, “run-support” – you could always want more run-support. So with that my friends – and a big congrats to both Team Roberts and Team Talley – lace ’em up and I’ll see you in the draft rooms for July.
JUNE PITCHING TITLE
1) Team Talley – Matt Harvey (2.31 / 6)
2) Team Roberts – Clayton Kershaw (2.65 / 5)
3) Team Reid – Hyun-Jin Ryu (2.70 / 5)
4) Team Parry – Dillon Gee (2.73 / 5)
5) Team Rybakova – Jonathon Niese (3.07 / 3) (DNQ)
JUNE BATTING TITLE
1) Team Roberts – Yasiel Puig (.436 / 101)
2) Team Reid – David Wright (.343 / 102)
3) Team Talley – Skip Schumaker (.244 / 78)
4) Team Rybakova – Juan Uribe (.234 / 64)
5) Team Parry – Omar Quintanilla (.232 / 95)
It’s been a dismal, dismal May as far as both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets are concerned. The Mets were 29th overall in team batting average at .222 this month and the Dodgers, began May with 8 straight losses and swirling “off with his head” rumors for Mattingly, to end up occupying last place in the NL West. It’s a tough watch whether you’re on the east or west coast. You question your faith and your fandom, but as a bum, you never waver. And yet, to make matters worse, the stars just ain’t shining for either club. Sure, David Wright hit 5 homers (and finally his first this year at Citi Field) and for a .277 average, but Matt Kemp, just put on the disabled list for the second time this season due to a mild right hamstring strain, hit for a meager .242 and only one home run in May while Ike Davis seems utterly lost at the plate and stuck on the interstate with four flat tires hitting–as of May 31st–an exact (really!) replica of his 2012 May of a .154 average on 78 ABs. A little too consistent Ike in all the wrong ways, but I guess we now know what to expect and should keep in mind that Davis warmed to a .265 AVG in June last year. But the excitement, the jubilation, can always be found in the details and this May of 2013 belongs to Adrian Gonzalez, Clayton Kershaw and Team Roberts as they bring home all the cash and prizes. On his way to his first Pitching Title of the 2013 season and (only) second in ‘Dem Bums history, Clayton Kershaw edged out the upstart Matt Harvey by pitching for a 1.97 ERA in 6 starts with 35 strikeouts, second only to the Diamondbacks’ Patrick Corbin in the NL in May ERA. This makes for Team Roberts first Pitching Title of the season as and it sure seems hard to see the Pitching Title race being none other than a Harvey / Kershaw photo finish in the months to come, at least, until Zach Wheeler arrives for the Mets. In terms of the “bat” side of things, outside of near flame-worthy performance from the undrafted Daniel Murphy who hit for a .317 AVG on 104 ABs and a near flame-earning performance from the undrafted Juan Uribe who hit for a .327 AVG but five ABs short of the qualifying minimum, Adrian Gonzalez hit for .314 and repeats as the Hitting Title winner. Gonzalez is fourth in RBIs with 33 and sixth overall in NL batting average on the year and is having his best work at the dish in a Dodger uniform. The key now is for the Dodgers to learn how to hit with the bases loaded as the team average is a pathetic .130 with the bases packed. But let’s not let the darkness crowd out this sliver of daylight. Congratulations to Team Hosho, er, Roberts for a 2-for-2 May, perhaps the only perspective from which a so-far-dire season can look a bit brighter.
Of course, I’d be remiss not to mention the sheer glory that the New York Mets brought to NYC with their first ever sweep of the subway series against the Yankees. However, the sweep of the Yankees wasn’t the only way that the Mets made history this past week. In Tuesday night’s 2-1 bottom of the ninth comeback win against the Yankees, the Mets handed future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera his first ever blown save without getting at least one out. The inning began with a Daniel Murphy double to the left field corner, followed by a David Wright single up the gut to plate Murphy as the tying run. Wright advanced to second on a throwing error and Duda came in with a strong arm single to shallow right field for the walk-off win. From there on, the Mets went to Yankee Stadium to smack a blowout win on Wednesday night and close out the series on a career pitching performance from Dillon Gee who had 12 strikeouts and no walks on 7 1/3 innings pitched, with his only ER coming on a Robinson Cano homerun in the bottom of the 3rd. Gee looked nothing like his usual 2013 self, just flat out making Yankee hitters miss, and part of this might be the fact that he knows that he is playing for his starting role with the pending arrival of top pitching prospect Zach Wheeler in mid-June. So, after a May that featured 6 and 8-game losing streaks, the Mets finished the month with the key to NYC and five straight wins to make reaching a .500 record seem like a possibility. Here’s the breakdown and I’ll see you in the drafting room.
So it ain’t the prettiest picture, but it would be equally as hard to try and dress up the mediocrity of the season beginnings for the Mets and Dodgers who both are in 4th place in their respective divisions, each with less than .500 win-loss records. But as true hard luck fans here in bum-town, we work even harder on finding that silver lining and know darn well that there’s always winners at the end of each month no matter the darkness of the storm clouds. In turn, we should all celebrate as the April Pitching Title and Batting Title surely were destined for Ann and Dylan in honor of their recent matrimony. And, really what better wedding gift is there than the first title wins of the 2013 ‘Dem Bums season. For Team Talley, er Parry?, it was the upstart Matt Harvey who not only brought home the April Pitching Title with a 1.56 ERA, a 4-0 record, and 45 strikeouts, but also was named the NL Pitcher of the Month as he became the first pitcher of the modern era to win his first four starts while giving up 10 hits or fewer. Perhaps even more important is that Harvey is the one shining light at the end of a dark tunnel of the present for the Mets who are now drawing some national attention without the caption of “collapse.” On the other side of the plate and in spite of a close battle with teammate Carl Crawford and a career RBI month for Mets’ veteran catcher John Buck, Team Parry’s Adrian Gonzalez knocked home the April Batting Title by hitting for a .333 AVG on 93 ABs and leads the Dodgers with 18 RBIs. The only player to hit for a higher average in April was the undrafted Mark Ellis who hit for a .342 AVG on 73 ABs and might get more consideration for the May ‘Dem Bums draft. But till death do they part, the 2013 April Batting Title is Team Parry’s alone through the health and sickness of the Dodgers’ and Mets’ early seasons. Congratulations to both Team Talley and Team Parry; we will see you in the drafting room for May.
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