Stuff Worth Noting in 2016

As of May 22...

After starting 25-6, the Cubs have gone 4-7. So shut up.

Bryce Harper had 31 walks. That's four fewer than . . . the entire Kansas City Royals roster.

Last year, Jon Jay managed five doubles one home run and no steals for the Cardinals. As of May 22 he had contributed 12 doubles, two steals and a homer for the Padres.

The Mariners have 18 road wins after 43 games. Last year they didn't get their 18^th road win until game 77.

Injuries limited Hunter Pence to nine homers and 40 RBI last year. He's at seven homers and 32 RBI already this season.

According to Baseball Prospectus calculations, the fifth, sixth, and seventh most valuable hitters on the Phillies are pitchers.

Through August 6th last year, Jackie Bradley had popped one pair of homers and a single double among his six hits. Now in a 26-game hitting streak, he has eight homers and 10 doubles among his 52 safeties. And we're two-and-a-half months from August 6th.

Cardinals rookie Jeremy Hazelbaker is four years older than Mike Trout, who is playing in his fifth season and has 149 home runs. 

Dee Gordon and AJ Pierczynski were stars last season. In 2016, Gordon is banned for 80 games. Pierzynski is hitting .211 without power.

Cameron Maybin hit .194/.313/.367 in a month of rehab games, then .600/.652/.750 in a week of Major League games.

Albert Pujols hit .312 or better for 10 straight years. He hit .244 last season and is at .221 this year.

The Phillies are six games over .500 despite being outscored by 31 runs. 

Tanner Roark won four games all last season and allowed 17 home runs in 111 innings. We're just in May of 2016 but he's already won three games and limited opponents to three homers in half as many innings.

Second basemen are outhitting left fielders this season by 28 points of OPS. That's a 78 point reversal of the norm.

Rockie Rookie Trevor Story was the big story in April with 10 homers, 20 RBI and 19 runs scored in April. In May, he's hit just two homers with 11 RBI and eight runs scored. Of course he's still the Story, but he's also still the story, because this month he's batting .313. Add it all together and annualize it: the 23-year-old shortstop is hitting .285-48-124 with 44 doubles, 16 triples and 108 runs scored. Quite a Story.

Dallas Keuchel (first in Cy Young voting last season), David Price (second), Sonny Gray (third) and Chris Archer (fifth) combined for a 2.71 ERA in 2015. They are at 5.70 today.

Some of this information came from Baseball Prospectus and Sports on Earth.

Forget About Hamiltons, the Kimbrel Trade Was About Millions

Well, apparently John Hart has been Braindrizzling himself. Reliable sources (my gut) report that Hart read this Braindrizzling post and was inspired to consider flipping Craig Kimbrel for a package of young players, salary relief and Twizzlers.

It's actually much more than a simple Superman for prospects swap that Hart pulled off with his San Diego brethren -- and much less. Kimbrel and the sunk cost formerly known as B.J. Upton -- how desperate do you have to be to change your name to Melvin? -- bring back Cameron Maybin, offsetting sunk cost Carlos Quentin, a pair of prospects and an early second-round draft pick.

Pitching prospect Matt Wisler is highly regarded, and Maybin stole 40 bases and owned centerfield for 150 games four years ago, but that's a petty haul for the greatest closer the game has ever known, half-a-decade edition.

Indeed, the Braves have basically flipped Kimbrel for savings. Upton and Kimbrel will now cost the San Diego franchise $80 million through 2017, while Quentin and Maybin amount to just $23 million of albatross. (The Braves immediately ate Quentin's contract and cut him loose.) If that $57 million difference means signing coveted draft picks above slot, coaxing an international star their way and bringing in a useful free agent in 2017, then the deal might work out.

Or, if Atlanta has reason to believe that Maybin's speed and defense can trump his fragility and whiffle bat, perhaps that's a greater return than it appears on first blush. But first blush is underwhelmed. James Shields netted for the Rays Wil Myers, a top farmhand who crushed AL pitching as a rookie. For Kimbrel, the Braves' prospect return is more volume than quality.

For the Padres, who appear to have sacrificed the rest of eternity for a 2015 pennant, this deal makes sense in that it's more of that strategy. A.J. Preller has now stripped the farm, and Kimbrel does nothing for their putrid infield or their porous outfield defense, but none of that will matter if Kimbrel leads the Padres to a crown. And with baseball's most electrifying closer mowing down batters in baseball's offensive cemetery, well, it could resurrect the undead Padres.