MLB Week in Review

Players of the Week
AL- Jed Lowrie, BOS (.379/.387/.655, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 9 RS)
NL- Ryan Braun, MIL (.483/.543/.862, 3 HR, 10 RBI)

Pitchers of the Week
AL- Daisuke Matsuzaka, BOS (2 APP, 2-0, 15 IP, 0 ER, 12 K)
NL- Cole Hamels, PHI (2 APP, 1-0, 15 IP, 1.20 ERA, 15 K)

The Hot/The Not
C- Russell Martin/Carlos Ruiz
1B- Mitch Moreland/Daric Barton
2B- Miguel Cairo/Gordon Beckham
3B- Adrian Beltre/Mark Reynolds
SS- Jed Lowrie/Alexei Ramirez
OF- Ryan Braun/Corey Patterson
OF- Jose Bautista/Raul Ibanez
OF- Curtis Granderson/Chris Young
SP- Daisuke Matsuzaka/Brad Bergesen
SP- Cole Hamels/Ryan Dempster
SP- Chad Billingsley/Jeff Francis
SP- Jon Lester/Travis Wood

Top 5 MLB Teams
1 Philadelphia
2 NY Yankees
3 Colorado
4 Texas
5 Cleveland

Bottom 5 MLB Teams
1 Seattle
2 Houston
3 Pittsburgh
4 San Diego
5 NY Mets

NHL Playoff Predictions

Washington over New York-  The Capitals have been one of the hottest teams in hockey since the All-Star break, and have the best player in the series in Ovechkin, and Callahan's absense will kill the Rangers.  Only x-factor will Lundvquist.  Capitals in 6.

Buffalo over Philadelphia- Two teams going in the exact opposite direction.  The Flyers have goaltender issues, while the Sabres have one the best in the business between the pipes in Ryan Miller.  Buffalo in 5.

Boston over Montreal- The Bruins have the best goalie and the best defenseman between the two teams.  I see the Bruins physical game being too much for the Habs, but Montreal will put up a big fight.  This is a series that can go either way given the home-ice advantage in the Bell Centre and the Habs success with the Bruins.  Bruins in 7.

Pittsburgh over Tampa Bay- The Penguins are going into the playoffs minus Crosby and Malkin, which will hurt them in later rounds, but their playoff experience will carry them over the Lightning, the surprise team of 2010-2011, who have very little.  Pittsburgh in 5.

Chicago over Vancouver-  The Blackhawks just got in and are carrying that momentum into the playoffs.  Corey Crawford is playing great between the pipes and the Blackhawks are just as good offensively and better defensively.  This is a bad matchup for the Canucks.  And ohh yeah, the Blackhawks are the defending champs.  Chicago in 7.

Los Angeles over San Jose- Another upset, I love this Kings team, who have one of the best goalies in hockey in Jonathan Quick and Drew Doughty, who is going to be a perrenial Norris candidate for many years to come.  Meanwhile San Jose hasn't shown me much of anything, despite their late season surge.  LA in 6.

Detroit over Phoenix-  The Detroit Red Wings will be way too much for the Coyotes, as they help close the curtain on the Phoenix experiment in relitively quick fashion.  Detroit in 4.

Nashville over Anaheim-  The Ducks have the best front line in hockey in Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry, but will miss Hiller big time between the pipes.  Pekka Rinne leads the Preds to a first-round win.  Nashville in 5.

Eastern Conference Finals- Boston over Buffalo
Western Conference Finals- Detroit over LA

Stanley Cup- Detroit over Boston
Conn Smythe- Jimmy Howard

MLB Week in Review

Zach Britton so far has looked to be the surprise of 2011

Players of the Week
AL- Nelson Cruz, TEX (.333/.435/.889, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 5 RS)
NL- Ryan Howard, PHI (.375/.429/.792, 4 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 5 RS)

Pitchers of the Week
AL- Zach Britton, BAL (2 APP, 2-0, 13.2 IP, 1 ER, 8 K)
NL- Jaime Garcia, STL (2 APP, 1-0, 15 IP, 1 ER, 18 K)

The Hot/The Not
C- Russell Martin/John Jaso
1B- Ryan Howard/Dan Johnson
2B- Howie Kendrick/Dan Uggla
3B- Mark Reynolds/Chone Figgins
SS- Maicer Izturis/Alcides Escobar
OF- Alfonso Soriano/Vernon Wells
OF- Nelson Cruz/Jacoby Ellsbury
OF- Alex Gordon/Carl Crawford
SP- Zach Britton/John Lackey
SP- Jaime Garcia/Phil Hughes
SP- Chris Narveson/Max Scherzer
SP- Carlos Gonzalez/Matt Garza


Top 5 MLB Teams
1- Texas Rangers
2- Cincinnati Reds
3- Philadelphia Phillies
4- Colorado Rockies
5- Baltimore Orioles

Bottom 5 MLB Teams
1- Tampa Bay Rays
2- Houston Astros
3- Boston Red Sox
4- Seattle Mariners
5- St. Louis Cardinals

Thoughts from the past week
- On paper, the Sox look like a championship team, but on the field, they look like a last place team
- The Pirates, Orioles, Royals, and Indians are not for real, but they sure are playing good baseball
- Manny Ramirez is an embarrassment to baseball and has no business in being within 100 miles of Cooperstown
- Zach Britton is a star in the making

This Week in Baseball History
April 8, 1974- Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run, breaking the ever-sacred home run record, which had been set at 714 by Babe Ruth for 39 years.  The record would stand until 2007 when Barry Bonds hit his 757th career home run, becoming the new home run king.