Fish Bites: NL East

You know, it’s not just the Marlins that are having goings on around the world of baseball. Here are some of the most interesting happenings in the rest of the NL East.

Atlanta Braves

– Peter Hjort of Capitol Avenue Club is incensed that the Braves continue to mistreat Kenshin Kawakami. I agree, Kawakami is a major-league caliber starting pitcher. Not a good one, but better than a veteran guy in Double-A.

– Bob Horton of Tomahawk Take brings up his first second guessing of Fredi Gonzalez. Don’t worry Bob, I’m sure there will be plenty more where that came from; Fredi makes some pretty bad decisions at times with regards to his bench and bullpen. As for the situation Bob discusses, I agree with him. Alex Gonzalez is a significantly worse hitter than Chipper Jones, and the Leverage Index for that bases loaded two out situation was 5.13, the highest in the game. Get your best hitters out there for the most important situations.

New York Mets

– I no doubt trust that you saw this funny Family Guy clip regarding the Mets and their problems recently, particularly since an employee of SNY actually snuck in that clip into the Mets broadcast after Opening Night. After all that and some of the problems the team has shown, Eno Sarris of Amazin’ Avenue would like to let you know that it will get better.

– Matt Kaufman of Rising Apple implores Mike Pelfrey to be a better pitcher and to do what he was doing last year.

Philadelphia Phillies

– taco pal of The Good Phight wonders just how Joe Blanton ended up being such a decent pitcher? He doesn’t have great stuff or great control, yet somehow he manages to be pretty good and induce an above average strikeout rate. The results are inconclusive, but it’s a good question.

– Justin Klugh of That Balls Outta Here figured out exactly what happened behind the scenes when Charlie Manuel questioned the Phillies about Kyle Kendrick‘s stolen World Series ring. The answer might surprise you.

Washington Nationals

– Patrick Reddington of Federal Baseball thinks the time for Wilson Ramos to be the catcher in Washington is coming soon. Ramos was once a highly-regarded prospect and honestly, Ivan Rodriguez isn’t putting up much of a resistance these days with his performance.

– Matt Ammerman of Teddy Never Wins notes that, in Hagerstown, Maryland, fans of the Nationals’ Single-A affiliate Suns are excited for the arrival of Bryce Harper. And, as Scott Stewart of TNW reports, Harper’s debut wasn’t a bad one.