Article:Baseball Notebook; Hank Steinbrenner Like Father George

Hank Steinbrenner: His Dad Taught Him Well

I was hoping Hank Steinbrenner would be a little milder version of his dad George but so far that hasn't been the case. I doubt that Joe Girardi appreciated the remarks of Hank as to how Joba Chamberlain would be used this season. That is the kind of decision that is made between the front office and the manager.

It is almost like Steinbrenner is publicly telling Girardi to use Chamberlain as a starter immediately and I am not sure Girardi will put up with this kind of interference very long. Brian Cashman tried to do some damage control by saying they are working on the same plan. Cashman said after the original Steinbrenner statement that he doesn't know what set Hank off a remark which won't be forgotten by Steinbrenner regardless of what he says publicly.

Steinbrenner is remembering how the Yankees were 14 games under .500 before the end of May last season. But the Yankees are not even close to being that bad despite the bad start by the bottom three of the rotation. Mike Mussina, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are a combined 1-8 this season with Hughes and Kennedy still winless.

Taking Chamberlain out of the setup role may create another problem if they they don't have someone that can step in and take the place of Chamberlain. Brian Bruney may be the first to get a shot at filling the role since he has a 1.64 ERA and has struck out 11 in 11 innings.

Armando Galarraga: Whats Happens To Him When Willis Rejoins the Starting Rotation?

Armando Galarraga has pitched so well for the Tigers in his first two starts that it could be a downgrade when Willis comes back from the disabled list. Galarraga is ahead in wins with 2 more than Willis and in ERA with a 1.50 ERA compared to the 7.20 ERA posted by Willis. The most glaring difference in their statistics is that after two starts Willis hasn't posted a strikeout but has walked 9 in 5 innings while Galarraga has 10 strikeouts and 4 walks in 12 innings.

It is highly unlikely that Willis would lose his spot in the rotation since he is making $7 million while Galarraga is probably making the rookie minimum of $390,000. The Tigers made a very good move by trading for Cabrera but they really didn't need to acquire Willis knowing he is not the same pitcher he was in 2005 for the Marlins when he recorded a 22-10 record with an ERA of 2.63. Since then his ERA has been progressively worse by allowing at least a run more in each year since 2005. In 2006 it was 3.87, then in 2007 it was 5.17 and when he went on the DL this season it was 7.20. But then maybe the Marlins insisted of including Willis in the trade to rid themselves of his huge contract.

It will be interesting to see how the Tigers handle the situation when Willis is able to return to the team. If Galarraga were to have a couple of bad games in a row it would make the decision much easier for the Tigers but right now he is showing he deserves a spot in the rotation.

Around the Bases

Dustin Nippert filling in for an injured Kason Gabbard who left the game with back spasms may have bought himself a one way ticket to the minor leagues after his performance yesterday. The score was tied 0-0 when he entered the game but by the time he left 2 1/3 innings later the Red Sox had crossed the plate 8 times and had hammered out 9 hits and walked 4 times. When you allow 13 runners to get on base in two innings bad things are going to happen. Nippert left the game with a 16.62 ERA. The Red Sox won the game 8-3 over the Rangers.

The Braves were happy that Chipper Jones was able to play one day after injuring his right quad and his RBI last night placed him in a four way tie for the NL RBI lead with 19. Now after their win last night they will send John Smoltz 3-0 to the mound tonight needing 4 strikeouts in his quest to reach 3000 strikeouts. The Braves are tied with the Red Sox for the longest current winning streak with both teams winning 5 games in a row. The game will be shown on Sports South at 7PM Eastern time.

Matt Morris 0-3 9.15 ERA continued his tailspin since leaving the Cardinals. He was 29-20 during his last two seasons with the Cardinals but since then he has been 20-29 and has allowed 35 hits in 20 innings and 21 runs in 20 innings this season. The Pirates are last in the majors with a 5.93 ERA. The Tigers are the only other team with an ERA over 5.00 with their 5.45 ERA. The Pirates have also given up the most hits with 221 while the Diamondbacks have allowed a major league low of 131 hits a difference of 90 less hits allowed than the Pirates.

Kerry Wood had an ERA of 27.00 after his first appearance this season. Since then his ERA has been 0.90 and he has lowered his ERA to 3.27. In 9 games in April he has allowed only 3 hits in 10 innings and has struck out 8 and walked one. Kosuke Fukudome hitting .328 and Geovany Soto hitting .306 lead all major league rookies with at least 50 at bats in batting average.

J.R. Towles and Joey Votto lead the majors in home runs by a rookie with 4 each. Soto leads in RBI's with 13 with Votto next with 11....Jacoby Ellsbury leads all rookies with in stolen bases with 8....Nick Blackburn leads all major league rookie pitchers with a 2.49 ERA.

Michael Bourn leads the majors in stolen bases with 13 in 19 games while with the Phillies last season he had 18 in 105 games. ESPN.com projects Bourn to have 110 stolen bases this season....Justin Germano brought a 1.35 ERA into his start for the Padres against the Astros but by the time he left the game it was 5.01 after allowing 10 runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings. He had allowed only 3 runs in 20 innings prior to his start last night.

Chase Utley hit a home run in his fifth consecutive game and in those 5 games he has hit 6 home runs giving him a major league leading 9 home runs. In those 5 games his batting average has climbed from .310 to .354. His slugging percentage has risen from .621 to .823 and he has driven in 9 runs during the 5 game home run streak. Before the streak he had failed to hit a home run in 11 games. Utley is projected by ESPN.com to have 227 hits, hit 73 home runs and drive in 146 runs. It is unlikely he will reach any of those numbers but it gives an idea of how great a start he is off to this season.

Micah Owings 4-0 not only won his fourth game of the season without a loss but also was 2 for 3 at the plate and raised his average to .308 in the Diamondbacks win over the Giants. Owings, Brandon Webb and Micah Owings have made 12 starts combined and have won 11 of those starts with Webb and Owings both 4-0 and Haren 3-0. Haren has an ERA of 1.80, Webb has a 1.88 ERA and Owings has a 2.35 ERA.

The Diamondbacks lead the majors in runs scored with 120 while Giants and Royals are last with 63 which is slightly over half of the Diamondbacks total. Diamondbacks are hitting .280 which is second best in the NL. They also lead the majors in ERA with a 2.93 mark while the Pirates have a major league worst ERA of 5.93 and are allowing 3 more runs a game than the Diamondbacks.

The Reds have allowed the most home runs this season allowing 29 roundtrippers while the White Sox have only allowed 5 home runs for the least home runs allowed. Diamondbacks also lead in least runs allowed with 55 while the Pirates have allowed 116 runs to cross the plate.

Minor League Roundup

International League

Jerry Hairston Jr. who was leading the International League in batting with a .421 average has been called up by the Reds....That leaves Barbaro Canizaro of the Braves Richmond farm club the new leader at .407. Clint Sammons also a Braves farmhand in Richmond is second with a .395 average. If Sammons keeps hitting like this the major league Braves may have to decide whether to keep Corky Miller on their major league roster and let Sammons assume the position as one of the backup catchers if he is called up.

Jason Lane in the Yankee organization now is leading the IL in home runs with 6....George Kottaras a Red Sox catching prospect is leading the IL in RBI's with 16....Darrell Rasner who pitched for Yankees last season and is still in their organization and Homer Bailey are among 11 pitchers leading the IL in wins with 3....Jo-Jo Reyes lead the league in ERA with a perfect 0.00 allowing no runs in 14 innings.

Pacific Coast League

29 year old Terry Tiffee is leading the PCL in hitting with a .493 average. He is playing with Las Vegas of the Dodgers organization. He hit .226 when playing for the Twins in the 2004-2006 seasons but hasn't been in majors since then....Fernando Tatis who is famous for hitting 2 grand slams in the same inning against the Dodgers on April 23, 1999 and both came off of Chan Ho Park is now the PCL home run leader with 8 and Brandon Wood who has been unable to hit in the majors is next with 8....Matthew Brown who is an Angels prospect leads in RBI's with 19.

Shane Loux who will be 29 in August and a Angels prospect if you call a player this old a prospect and Doug Mathis a Rangers prospect lead the PCL in wins with both posting 4-0 records....Max Scherzer is leading the PCL in ERA with a perfect 0.00 ERA and has pitched 17 scoreless innings and allowed only 7 hits while striking out a PCL leading 29 batters and is a pitcher Diamondbacks fans would like to see in the major leagues if they could work him into their rotation.

It would take too long to post the stats in all the other leagues so will only post the stats leaders in the local Southern League where our hometown Tennessee Smokies play.

Southern League

Yunesky Sanchez is leading the SL in batting with a .404 average. Sanchez is another Diamondbacks prospect....Rene Rivera a 24 year old Dodgers prospect and Matt LaPorta a 23 year old Brewers prospect lead the SL in home runs with 4 each....Mariners prospect Thomas Hubbard a 26 year old Mariners prospect is leading the SL in RBI's with 17.

Derek Rodriguez a White Sox prospect is leading the SL in wins with a 4-0 record. Leading the SL in ERA is James Houser with a 0.42 ERA and is a Rays prospect.

Tennessee Smokies Leaders Tyler Colvin the first pick by the Cubs in the 2006 amateur draft and the 13th overall pick is leading the Smokies in home runs with 3. He was also the first outfielder chosen in the 2006 draft. Colvin is also tied for team lead in RBI's with Ryan Harvey with both of them having 9 RBI's. Matt Craig is leading in batting with a .360 average.

Jeff Samardzija, Chris Shaver and Jesse Estrada lead in wins with 2 each. Matt Avery leads in ERA with a 1.50 mark. Donald Veal leads in strikeouts with 15 in 17 innings.