Tomorrow Nationals right fielder Austin Kearns will have arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow. He was placed on the 15-Day Disabled List and is expected to miss three to four weeks.

The elbow seems to have hurt Kearns' offense (.200 EqA, .267 SLG) and defense (1 FRAA, 17 last year) through the beginning of the season.

The Nationals have five other outfielders on their 25-man roster. If they were to call up an outfielder, Harrisburg Senators (AA) Justin Maxwell and Roger Bernadina would be the logical candidates.

I still love my Padres, but this season is becoming unbearable to watch. Wednesday night, Albert Pujols knocked two key players out of the game (broken nose for right-hander Chris Young, sprained left ankle for catcher Josh Bard) in the same inning. Because, you know, being the worst team in baseball just wasn't punishment enough for whatever transgressions the Pads had made against the baseball gods.

In light of my actual team's extreme suckitude, I mentioned a few days ago the possibility of following an American League team this year. I've gotten some good suggestions both in the comments and via email (thanks!), and I've narrowed my choices to three teams:

Cleveland Indians

• Pros: Smart organization, good young talent, great collection of names (Asdrubal, Fausto, and Masahide sounds like the law firm quite literally from hell).
• Cons: Known as the Naps from 1903 to 1914.

Kansas City Royals

• Pros: Joined MLB in 1969, the same year as the Padres; model franchise from 1975 to 1985; good young talent.
• Cons: Contracts of Jose Guillen and Gil Meche.

Toronto Blue Jays

• Pros: Great city, play in only current big-league ballpark I've visited outside of California.
• Cons: Not the most talented bunch of players.

As you can see, I'm biased toward small- to mid-market teams, preferably ones that don't suck. I'll make my choice sometime next week; meanwhile, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What do Carl Everett, Joe DiMaggio and Josh Hamilton have in common?

Stumped?  I just learned that Hamilton now holds the record for fewest games to drive in 50 runs to start an American League career.  DiMaggio and Everett previously co-held the record.

Thanks to the Rangers broadcast team for this nugget!

Pedro Martinez told ESPNdeportes today that he had no plans on retiring and wants to play for at least two or three more seasons.  While there is no word on when Martinez will return from visiting his sick father in the Dominican Republic, Martinez said that his arm felt excellent and that he is throwing in the 90s.

“I feel great physically and for the record I haven't considered retirement.  Retirement would only take place if my arm is badly hurt and if I have to face surgery or something near that nature,” said Martinez in the ESPNdeportes interview.

Major League Baseball announced Thursday that Yankees reliever LaTroy Hawkins has been suspended for three games for throwing at Orioles outfielder Luke Scott's head in retaliation for Derek Jeter getting hit by a pitch three innings prior of a 12-2 Orioles blowout win on Tuesday.  The pitch above Scott's head was the second inside pitch in a row and led to immediate ejection by home plate umpire Chuck Meriwether.  The two players had words and benches cleared because of the incident.

Hawkins denies the pitch was intentional and plans to appeal the suspension.  He was also fined an undisclosed amount.  “If anybody knows me, and a lot of guys around this league know me, I'm not that type of person.  (Scott) thought what he wanted to think.  The way it looked, he had a reason to think like that.  But it wasn't intentional,” said Hawkins after the game on Tuesday.

If the suspension is upheld Hawkins will be the second Yankees hurler to be suspended for throwing high at a player this season.  Earlier in the season, Kyle Farnsworth was suspended for throwing behind the head of Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez. 

…Atlanta Braves closer Rafael Soriano is inching closer to rejoining the back end of the Braves bullpen. He had a successful outing for the Mississippi Braves, pitching 1 inning. He allowed 1 hit, and struck out and walked one.

…After their win over the Orioles last night 8-0, the Yankees announced that they would be moving pitching phenom Joba Chamberlain from the bullpen to the rotation.

…The Seattle Mariners have Designated Pitcher Cha Seung Baek for assignment, no real reason was given. Though the M's have exhausted their bullpen, and need a fresh arm. No announcement as who will replace him in the bullpen - but odds are on Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to take his spot on the roster.

…The Kansas City Royals have signed lefty Horacio Ramirez to a minor league deal. He was last seen in a Seattle Mariners uniform before being released in March.

High Desert (Mariners, High A) outfielder Carlos Triunfel (#4 Seattle prospect, Baseball America) had three hits in his return from an indefinite suspension that started on May 10.

Orioles pitcher Tim Bascom (#13 Baltimore, BA) left minor league camp in Sarasota for High A Frederick. He had been rehabbing after labrum surgery and could see action this week.

Trenton (Yankees, AA) right-hander Daniel McCutchen (#14 Yankees, BA) was promoted to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

It looked as if Dodgers second base prospect Preston Mattingly (#28 Dodgers, BA) was demoted from low A Great Lakes to rookie league Ogden. However, he’s merely avoiding the seven-day disabled list while he rests an injured hamstring.

Florida bumped left-hander Chris Leroux (#19 Marlins, BA) up to high A Jupiter and the White Sox promoted short stop Sergio Miranda (#20 ChiSox, BA) to high A Winston-Salem.

Horacio Ramirez will get another chance to reach
the majors, this time with the Royals (logica77/flickr)

Atlanta    

Yunel Escobar - Right knee injury, day-to-day.
    
Boston    

J.D. Drew - Knee injury, day-to-day.
Bartolo Colon - Contract purchased from Pawtucket (AAA).
Justin Masterson - Optioned to Portland (AAA).
    
Colorado    

Brad Hawpe - Hamstring, day-to-day.
    
Detroit    

Clay Rapada - Bicep injury, 15-day DL.
    
Kansas City    

Joey Gathright - Missed 3 games (sore left shoulder).
Horacio Ramirez - Signed by the Kansas City Royals to a minor league contract.
    
Los Angeles Anaheim    

Chone Figgins - Missed 15 games (hamstring).
Erick Aybar - Finger injury, 15-day DL.
    
Milwaukee    

Eric Gagne - Shoulder injury, day-to-day.
    
NY Mets    

Ryan Church - Concussion, day-to-day.
    
San Francisco    

Travis Denker - Recalled from Fresno (AAA).
    
St. Louis    

Rick Ankiel - Missed 4 games (right shoulder injury).
    
Tampa Bay    

Troy Percival - Hamstring, day-to-day.
    
Texas    

Kameron Loe - Recalled from Oklahoma (AAA).

….. and he is us.

I'm happy to see that my articles on Hughes pitching mechanics have at least one or two interested bystanders were willing to put some time in, do some research and post their opinions.

Specifically this comment by the Phantom

The video of Hughes in high school is skipping and repeating frames.  The video of him at KC was a 66 MPH curveball.

Therefore, the first video is unreliable.  You can say the same for the second as well.  Why compare a fastball to a curveball?

How many mechanics geniuses does it take to figure out what's wrong with Hughes?

Hughes' problem is his “intent” with the lower body.  Specifically, pelvic loading.

http://i25.tinypic.com/2ynmc20.gif

On the left he is “floating” his femur up into leg lift.  Look at how “dead” and limp his lower leg is.

On the right he has a much more aggressive leg lift.  Look at the pelvis tilt upward.  You know that feeling when you have to urinate really bad and try to hold it in?  Well that's what Hughes is feeling on the right.  He is engaging more of his hip flexors and goin muscles.

On the left, he feels like he had just let it all out and his groin region is very relaxed.

Again, about the one on the right.  This upward pelvic tilt gets Hughes into his “sit” quicker and smoother.  He doesn't wait for gravity to get him into the sit as he does on the left.

I think it's instructive to take the points that the Phantom attempts to make one by one.

The video of Hughes in high school is skipping and repeating frames.

The intent of my posting the clip of Hughes high school clip is to establish a mechanics reference point. Hughes was drafted because of what they saw in these high school clips. How many times have we heard the tale of the prospect who was drafted throwing 95 and two with three years later is a pitcher throwing 88? My point being that most often the clips of the player throwing before he's drafted our most representative of his abilities to throw with maximum velocity.

A second reason for posting a high school video clip addresses the issue of pitch control/location. For example I have video clips of Tim Lincecum, front view (you from behind home plate) at four points in his pitching career; high school, junior college, college, and major-league; there is virtually no discernible difference in timing and sequencing of his body from high school to major-league.

My point being that once movement becomes ingrained, especially ballistic movement such as throwing a baseball, any changes to that movement pattern can have significant effects in the result. Therefore I find it very important to have a good idea of what the player “looks” like early in his career. I'm not doing a frame by frame side-by-side comparison with this clip, I'm simply relying upon my experience and understanding of how the body throws to evaluate what Hughes is doing with his body to throw the baseball.

Whether the clip is missing frames and not does not compromise the point that I was trying to make.

I tried to point out in Part 3, obtaining good video information is almost impossible for the “amateur” (yours truly). And even if you can obtain good video, good video being views such as from the third-base side or home plate, that video is only at 30 frames per second. And attempting to differentiate the difference between what the players doing throwing 91 and what the players doing throwing 95 is tenuous at best with 30 frames per second video. This is where experience and understanding of how the body throws becomes very important because it is your knowledge and experience of how the body throws that allows you to fill in the missing blanks (frames).

And as I said I'm not doing a synchronized side-by-side comparison of video clips where missing frames do become a problem. I'm simply trying to establish a visual reference of what his delivery look like in high school versus what he looks like today at the major-league level.

The video of him at KC was a 66 MPH curveball.

My bad. I thank the Phantom for taking the time to research this clip and pointing out an error on my part where I mistakenly identified a clip of a curveball as a fastball. What I should've said was that even though this is a curveball it is representative of how a fastball can go from 95 to 91 mph, my problem was I could not find a clip from the behind home plate view of Hughes throwing his fastball. And based upon my piecing together what I see from Hughes's delivery, the curveball clip mechanics are representative of why Hughes has lost velocity off his fastball. If nothing else they demonstrate that someone with a 95 mph fastball should have better than a 66 mph curveball i.e. the mechanics of his curveball demonstrate how a pitcher can lose velocity.

How many mechanics geniuses does it take to figure out what's wrong with Hughes?

Only one, the key words here being “mechanics geniuses”. To date I haven't seen any thing close to a “mechanics geniuses”. What I have seen is a number of “amateur mechanics geniuses wannabes” attempting to promote themselves as “mechanics geniuses”.

Hughes' problem is his “intent” with the lower body.  Specifically, pelvic loading.

This is the introductory slide from a Pelvic Loading PowerPoint presentation that I helped Brent Strom put together for his presentation at the ABCA:

I believe that I am the first person to describe the importance of and use the terms “intent” AND “pelvic loading” with respect to someone throwing a baseball, my point being that if anyone should know the effect of pelvic loading on throwing the baseball it should be me.

That being said:

On the left he is “floating” his femur up into leg lift.  Look at how “dead” and limp his lower leg is.

This is what I call the classic “using your body to throw the baseball witch hunt”. Exactly how does pelvic loading relate to throwing the baseball? Or more specifically EXACTLY how does

……”floating” his femur up into leg lift.  Look at how “dead” and limp his lower leg is.

make a difference between a 95 mph and a 91 mph fastball? My answer is it may or may not depending upon what happens LATER in the delivery. And for the mechanical genius wannabes it is critical to understand that momentum transfer can be lost instantaneously i.e. you can't see it.

On the right he has a much more aggressive leg lift.  Look at the pelvis tilt upward.  You know that feeling when you have to urinate really bad and try to hold it in?  Well that's what Hughes is feeling on the right.  He is engaging more of his hip flexors and goin muscles.

On the left, he feels like he had just let it all out and his groin region is very relaxed.

Again, about the one on the right.  This upward pelvic tilt gets Hughes into his “sit” quicker and smoother.  He doesn't wait for gravity to get him into the sit as he does on the left.

I do not believe it is possible to understand what the Hughes is or is not doing with his muscles from the video information provided. There are an infinite number of ways to generate any voluntary movement action. And it's been demonstrated time and time again through actually measuring electrical activity of muscles that what appears to be the exact same movement can be achieved with very different muscular actions (muscle sequencing and activation patterns).

As I said previously I really don't see any difference in intent to throw the baseball between what Hughes is doing today versus what he did in high school versus what he did in the minor leagues. In fact I see even greater intent to finish his throw today at the major-league level simply because I believe he's trying to make up for some mechanical inefficiencies I've tried to describe i.e. he's trying to muscle the ball to home plate.

Again I thank the Phantom for taking the time and interest to comment and I hope this little exercise helps others gain a better appreciation for how difficult it is to become a “mechanics genius”.

• Omar Vizquel and Benjie Molina each had 2 hits and an RBI, and Jonathan Sanchez allowed just 2 runs in 6 1/3 innings as the Giants rallied to beat the Rockies, 3-2, in 10 innings. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched 7 shutout innings of 3-hit ball but did not figure in the decision for Colorado.
• Jeff Francoeur went 3-for-4 with a triple, home run, and 4 RBI, Mark Teixeira went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI, and Brian McCann added 3 hits and scored 3 times as the Braves trounced the Mets, 11-4. Jair Jurrjens allowed just one earned run over 7 innings as well for Atlanta.
• Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 runs scored, and Dustin Pedroia added 3 hits and an RBI as the Red Sox won their 6th in a row by doubling up the Royals, 6-3. Bartolo Colon picked up the win for Boston in his 2008 debut, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits in 5 innings of work.
• Brandon Inge doubled, tripled and drove in 2 runs, and Marcus Thames hit a double and a grand slam to lead the Tigers to a 9-4 rout of the Mariners.
• Ricky Nolasco gave up just one run on 3 hits while striking out 7 over 7 innings, and Cody Ross led the offense with a solo home run as the Marlins knocked off Brandon Webb and the Diamondbacks, 3-1. Stephen Drew collected 3 hits, including a home run, for Arizona.
• Michael Bourn had 3 hits, Carlos Lee hit a 3-run home run, and Shawn Chacon tossed 7 solid innings as the Astros hung on to defeat the Cubs, 5-3.
• Jermaine Dye hit 2 home runs and drove in 4, and Javier Vazquez gave up just 2 runs on 4 hits in 7 innings as the White Sox came from behind to beat the Indians, 7-2.
• James Loney walked twice and hit a solo home run, Matt Kemp added 2 hits and scored twice, and Hiroki Kuroda yielded just 2 runs over 8 innings as the Dodgers swept away the Reds, 5-2.
• Dana Eveland threw a complete game 3-hitter, and Jack Cust homered and drove in 4 runs as the A's pounded the Rays, 9-1. Bobby Crosby also had 3 hits and 2 RBI for Oakland.
• Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles, a home run and an RBI, and Darrell Rasner pitched 7 shutout innings as the Yankees blanked the Orioles, 8-0.
• Rickie Weeks had 2 hits, homered, and scored twice, and Ben Sheets tossed a complete game to lead the Brewers to a 4-1 win over the Pirates.
• Vlad Guerrero hit 2 home runs and drove in 4, and Jon Garland picked up his 5th victory on the year as the Angels edged the Blue Jays, 4-3.
• Jamie Moyer pitched 6 shutout innings, and Ryan Howard doubled, homered twice and knocked in 4 runs as the Phillies crushed the Nationals, 12-2. Shane Victorino also singled, doubled, homered, drove in 2 runs, and scored 3 times, and Pedro Feliz had 3 hits and a home run for Philadelphia.
• Sidney Ponson tossed a complete game 6-hitter, and David Murphy, Gerald Laird, and Ramon Vazquez each had 2 hits and 2 RBI as the Rangers pounded the Twins, 10-1. Josh Hamilton and Chris Shelton also had 3 hits apiece for Texas.
• Skip Schumaker had 4 hits, Aaron Miles had 3 hits, and Troy Glaus and Ryan Ludwick each drove in 3 runs as the Cardinals roughed up the Padres, 11-3. Adrian Gonzalez had 2 hits, a home run, and 3 RBI for San Diego.

Wednesday's Scoreboard