Even the Giants rookies are old.

The Cubs call up Jeff Samardzija to compete with the White Sox Javier Vazquez for best Scrabble name. "Jeff Samardzija" comes in at 46, while "Javier Vazquez" still leads at 53. I like the real reason Lou Piniella gave to have Jeff take Kerry Wood's roster spot:

"We're going to put him in the bullpen and probably use him in the middle to get his feet wet," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "The sooner we get him in, the better. He's throwing strikes and getting people out. We'll give him a nice opportunity and see what he can do."

Strikes and outs is what pitching is all about.

The Yankees are calling up Brett Gardner today.

Brett Gardner is joining the Yankees today. I saw this first on Chad Jennings's Yankees blog in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Times Tribune, but Gardner also spoke to his hometown paper, the Times and Democrat, about finally getting the callup.

No word what the corresponding move is. It could be something with Justin Christian, or perhaps Alberto Gonzalez. I'm guessing Melky Cabrera will be losing some playing time, though. His offense has not been as good as the Yankees would have hoped this season.

Gardner has little power but a great minor league OBA. He's a year older than Cabrera as well. Melky, however, is close to the 1500 PA mark for his major league career, at which point we get a pretty good idea of how he performs. As much as I like Cabrera, I'm not surprised the Yankees might look for another option.

Of course, with Matsui on the DL and Damon's foot hurting, both youngsters could play and Johnny DH. With Abreu likely leaving at the end of the year, there will be a spot open in the outfield for 2009.

Jay Bruce made his first major league out in the second inning tonight, ending his streak of reaching base at six. He's started up again, however, as he's picked up a double and walk since then. He's four for five with four walks so far in his major league career. The Reds are up 9-1 on the Pirates in the eighth.

Jay Bruce is off to a perfect start. He just doubled in the seventh. With two singles and two walks in his five plate appearances, Bruce's BA and OBA are 1.000, and he's slugging 1.333. The Reds lead the Pirates 9-3, and Bruce scored two and drove in two.

Jay Bruce walks in his first at bat for the Reds. He didn't see a strike in the plate appearance, reaching on four pitches.

The Reds are going to call up Jay Bruce for Tuesday night's game. At least his name won't cause confusion in the philosophy department:

Steve Holm was recently called up by the Giants to do some catching. At 28 years old, he's hardly a prospect. He's been in the minors since 2001, only reaching AA twice, in 2005 and 2007. He's posted some decent OBA seasons, but overall his .332 minor league OBA isn't that impressive. His .387 slugging percentage was even less so.

Now, however, he has a major league home run. He entered the game late today after the Giants pinch ran for Molina. Holm homers in the seventh, a two run shot that proved to be the game winner as the Giants drop the Phillies 4-3. Who knows how long he'll last in the majors, but right now he's posting a .375 OBA and a .500 slugging percentage. He's certainly making the most of his opportunity.

Another rare event in the game, Ryan Howard tripled. It's his first since 2006 and only the fourth of his career.

Alberto Gonzalez received the call up from the Yankees. That's a pretty good career, Attorney General and major league shortstop. :-)

Gondeee of Talking
Chop donated $50 or more and dedicates this post to Mike Hampton
-- may he suddenly find an entire baseball season free of injuries.

David O'Brien notes that Gregor Blanco showed maturity this spring and may make the Braves:

Every once in a while comes a player like Gregor Blanco, who has plenty of physical tools, puts up good numbers annually in competitive Latin American winter leagues, but has something that's keeping him stuck in the minor league system, something vague or unspoken by team officials.

Only when the player is shipped out, or brought up to the majors, do we find out more about what it was that had kept him down.

...

Twice in a week, Cox peeled back a layer and revealed his thinking on Blanco, going so far as to say he used to genuinely dislike watching the undisciplined kid play. The second time Cox talked about him, I made sure to write it down.

This was Sunday at Jupiter, when I asked about Blanco:

"He's improved a lot from the first year," Cox said. "He used to swing from the end of the bat and strike out way too much for a speed guy.

"Now he's choked up. He used to swing from his ass. He's leveled that baby [his swing] out so good. I like him."

And this, "For me, he's really grown up."

Blanco doesn't generate much power outside of the triples. He does however, draw a lot of walks for a .371 career OBA in the minor leagues. He'd be a nice complement to Jeff Francoeur. The Braves may want to hold him back a little on the base stealing, however. He's successful just 68% of the time, right on the edge of break even. If someone can teach him to be as selective stealing as he is at the plate, he would be a very good table setter for Atlanta.

Brian Bocock looks like he'll make the jump from A Ball to the majors as the replacement for Omar Vizquel. He appears to be a defensive wizard:

He sure is making a good impression with his reliable defense.

Bocock has shown he has soft hands, a quick release and poise beyond his years. Whether he can swing the bat with any kind of consistency is what scouts and others are most wondering about.

"He doesn't play ball, he plays with the ball," said former San Francisco manager-turned-special assistant Felipe Alou, who meant it as a compliment about Bocock's defensive timing and good hands.

Offensively, he does not hit well. But his walk totals indicate good strike zone judgement, so at least he does something well. With time, maybe that strike zone judgement turns into more hits. Once he's on base, he also steals at a decent clip. He's probably never going to be a great player, but at least the Giants are willing to use the skills he does possess.

The Dirtbag-O-Meter is up to 70%.

With all the talk about "will they or won't they" I would have forgiven Longoria if he opened the spring with a goose egg and an error at third right through the wickets. Now I get a sense very early on that pressure is not something that is going to bother The Dirtbag. Not even a little bit.

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The San Diego outfield is in flux, but Chase Headley took a step toward bringing it into equilibrium:

Headley, a former third baseman who is the Padres' top prospect, was starting in left for the first time as a professional player. Suzuki, the Mariners' leadoff man whose late-swing flicks are notoriously difficult to defend, sliced a liner toward him.

The rookie peered through sunglasses into direct sunlight, charged and caught the ball as he skidded to his knees. "That's a tough ball, man," he said.

Naturally, the next hitter, Jose Vidro, served another ball to left, a high shot. Headley could have panicked when he briefly lost the ball in the high sun. "You just hang with it and go to where you think it will come down," he said.

He caught it, then snared another sun-ball in the fourth inning of Seattle's 10-3 win at Peoria Stadium.

Three chances, three outs. One big boost.

Headley's done a great job getting on base in the minors. If they can get that and decent defense out of a leftfielder, the Padres will have improved that position.

Rays Index examines the idea of Evan Longoria starting the season in AAA because of the experiences of Alex Gordon and Ryan Braun. Evan wants a chance to win the job.

I know the Rays are building a team here, but the job of the organization is to win. If Evan looks like he can handle the job coming out of the spring, they're a better team with him.

Jacoby Ellsbury singles off Pettitte in the second to drive in the first run of the game. It's been a very small sample size but Ellsbury currently has a .424 OBA and a .633 slugging percentage. You don't want to assume too much in 60 at bats, but he'll get a long look next year in spring training.

Derek Nelson looks at how Ryan Braun's 2007 rookie campaign compares to other great ones of recent memory.

Kurt Mensching writes that the Tigers called up their top prospect today, Cameron Maybin:

Maybin was the talk of baseball this spring training. He began the season at Class A Lakeland, but recently moved to Erie and homered in each of his first three games. Maybin has still only played six games at Double-A, going 8-for-20 (.400) with four home runs and eight RBIs. He hit .304 in 83 games at Lakeland.

I like the fact the Tigers are being aggressive here. Maybin has a .394 career OBA in the minor leagues. They're releasing Craig Monroe, someone who never got on base. Once Monroe's power disappeared, his value to the team went way down. Maybin should give Detroit more scoring opportunities down the stretch. And as a 20-year-old regular, he's on the fast track to star status.

Ryan Braun may end up giving Hunter Pence a run for his money for the rookie of the year award. Ryan went three for three in the Brewers losing bid to Washington today, picking up a double and two singles. That puts his batting average at .350 for the season in just 40 games. Pence collected two hits in five at bats and ends the first half with a .342 BA. But Braun is doing much better getting on base, leading Pence .391 to .367. He's also hitting for more power, posting a .663 slugging percentage to Pence's .589. A great second half by Braun helping Milwaukee win the NL Central could throw a lot of votes his way.

And Brewers fans have to be happy to have such a great offensive infield, all young.

The Red Sox decided to solve their centerfield problem by calling up Jacoby Ellsbury. The twenty-three year old has a history of high OBAs low slugging percentages. In 67 combined games in AA and AAA this season, he posted a .396 OBA. For his career through 2006, that number was .391. As the Red Sox showed with Pedroia this year, they're willing to wait for a good youngster to adjust to the majors. If he lives up to expectations, the Red Sox regular lineup will have eight players with OBA's over the league average, with five of those far superior to that. He also frees the Red Sox to use either Crisp or Pena in a trade.

Update: Ellsbury is one for two so far tonight with an infield hit. So his OBA is off to a good start!

The Feed looks at the best of the next generation of players by position.

Jeremy Brown of Moneyball fame made his first major league appearance yesterday, and Ken Arneson at Catfish Stew was at the game. He's put together a slide show of Brown's first at bat.

With a runner on third and one out, Brent Clevlen of the Tigers makes the first play of his major league career. Joe Mauer hits a fly ball to shallow center, Castillo tries to score but is thrown out on a close play at the plate. Clevlen makes a nice throw to nail the runner.

Update: It's a really good debut for Clevlen as he doubles against Santana and scores on a Polanco single. The Tigers lead 1-0 in the top of the third.

The list of baseball family members grew last night as Tony Gwynn and Stephen Drew made their major league debuts. Gwynn grounded out in his pinch hitting appearance, while Drew drew a walk and scored in the 8-1 Diamondbacks victory. Gwynn is the son of the San Diego legend, while Stephen is the third Drew brother to make it to the majors.

U.S.S. Mariner looks at Adam Jones, the new centerfielder for Seattle. They note his great stats at AAA but this word of caution:

From everyone I've talked to, Adam Jones has been killing fastballs in Triple-A, but still struggles mightily with anything offspeed. He's done much better at no longer chasing that pitch, because he's learning he can wait for something better, but he has not yet learned how to actually hit the pitch with any regularity. If he starts seeing a steady diet of breaking balls in the strike zone, he could be in trouble, because his current approach of crush-fastballs-and-lay-off-breaking-balls is rendered moot.

There's also the matter of defense. He's been playing center field for less than a year. While he has all kinds of physical skills, he's still a raw defender. He still makes poor reads at times, gets bad jumps on balls, and runs inefficient routes to the ball. His athleticism will help him become a good defender in time, but he's not there yet.

He's only 20. If he can handle the job in the majors this year, he'll likely be a star. At worse, he turns out to be Melky Cabrera, up one year too early.

An impressive debut for Anibal Sanchez. Called up from double-A, starting in Yankees Stadium, trying to prevent his team from being swept, he pitches 5 2/3 shutout innings against the Bronx Bombers. He gives up seven hits, but does not issue a walk and strikes out two. He threw a lot of pitches, 96, but also a lot of strikes, 63. Just another reason to believe the Marlins are going to be a team to reckon with in a couple of years, or even sooner.

Matt Kemp is making the most of his first week in the majors. Four for ten with a walk in his first four games, Kemp came through with his first major league extra-base hit tonight, a three-run homer. The shot gives the Dodgers a 3-0 lead ove the Phillies after two innings. With Ethier and Kemp, we're starting to see the Dodgers farm system living up to the hype.

The Mets called up Lastings Milledge today to replace the injured Xavier Nady. Milledge had a great April and a not so great June; still his OBAs are high across the board even though his batting average is inconsistent.

Mike Napoli makes his major league debut behind the plate for the Angels this afternoon and homers in his first at bat. The Angels lead the Tigers 1-0 in the third. He's hit 60 homers over the last two season in the minor leagues.

Kevin Frandsen, the recent call up by the San Francisco Giants continues his minor league propensity to get plunked. He's been hit by a pitch in each of his three games. It's his way of helping the team:

Any time the ball comes at me, I'm going to stay there so I can get on base for those big guys behind me," Frandsen said. "I know my job."

I just hope he doesn't get hit in the head too often. :-)

Bob Dutton overheard a group of scouts talking about Alex Gordon of the Royals yesterday:

The talk is rarely low decibel, therefore easily overheard, and today’s round-table topic is Alex Gordon. Five guys in the group, three talking.

“He’s already the best player in this camp.”

“Heck of a pretty swing.”

“I hear they’re going to move him (to another position). I wouldn’t move him. He’s better at third than (Mark) Teahen.”

“And he’s better at first than anyone they have, too.”

It sounds like the high draft choice won't be in the minors much longer.

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It's a gourmet feast of prospects at MetsBlog.com.

The team’s pitching coach, Rick Peterson, was hungry, as well, apparently, saying of Pelfrey, “He's got the ingredients that a gourmet cook would use in making a recipe…Now he just has to make his own recipe and that comes through experience.”

Come to think of it, Lastings Milledge does sound like a breakfast cereal, for people who don't like the sweet stuff, like Coco Crisp. :-)

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Prince Fielder approaches hitting very maturely:

Coaches and teammates talk about the way Fielder hits balls to the opposite field early in batting practice to get his hands loose, and how he's comfortable either gearing up for the long ball or sitting back and taking what the pitcher gives him depending on the situation. He's also adept at working counts and drawing walks, as evidenced by his .398 on-base percentage in the minors.

"Growing up, even in Little League and high school, I never liked to just swing for the fences,'' Fielder said. "I would try to work and have a good at-bat and get an RBI or get an inning started. Don't get me wrong -- 40 homers and 100 RBI are fine. But I wanted to be more like a Mo Vaughn or a Frank Thomas type of hitter.''

If he's 75% of Frank Thomas he'll do just fine.

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Ryan Howard hits his 9th home run of the month, a two run shot to help extend the Phillies lead to 6-1. Ryan's great stretch run will resonate with voters for the Jackie Robinson Award.

Update: Cincinnati fights back with 4 in the 5th and 1 in the 6th to tie the Phillies at 6. Both teams are in the bullpen at this point.

Jeremy Hermida made the record books with his first at bat last night:

Only two players in baseball history had ever hit a grand slam in their first major league game. Only one other had done it in his first at-bat. And no one had ever pulled it off as a pinch hitter.

Yet with one swing, Jeremy Hermida - called up by Florida from the minors about three hours before the game - found his own special corner of baseball history. He had a pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh inning off the St. Louis Cardinals' Al Reyes in the Marlins' 10-5 loss Wednesday night.

He has the perfect career line. 1.000 BA, 1.000 OBA, 4.000 slugging percentage. He's scored a run and driven in four. If, in his next plate appearance, he draws a walk and then steals a base, he should probably retire. :-)

Two youngsters are making a big impression in their first 30 or so at bats. Jeff Francoeur is playing right field for the Braves today. Through six innings, he's two for three, making him 15 for 33 on the season. He hasn't drawn a walk, but if you hit .455, your on-base average is good enough that you don't need to draw walks. Both hits today were home runs, bringing his slugging percentage to an even 1.000. If Jose Reyes were hitting like this, no one would complain about his lack of walks either.

Up in Chicago, Matt Murton is drawing walks. He had five in his first 27 at bats entering today. He had a single in his first plate appearance this afternoon, bringing his batting average to .500. So far his power consists of two doubles, but he'll move plenty of runners if he's getting a hit every other at bat.

I'd be much more interested in Francoeur, however. He's two years younger than Murton. At 23, Matt is not old, but at 21, Jeff could have a tremendous career ahead of him.

Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder each hit his first major league homer in a 7-6 victory over the Twins. They represent the first wave of production from a highly touted farm system. Brewers fans hope to see many more games in which the two go deep.

Alan Schwarz looks at the rookies recently infused into the Brewers lineup. One point of disagreement:

It is amazing how fast these three players – the best triumvirate of rookie talent on any club today – have come through the system, one stuffed to the gills by scouting director Jack Zduriencik. Hardy, 22, was a second-round high school pick in 2001, and broke camp this spring as the starting shortstop. Weeks, also 22, was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 draft out of Southern University, and was tearing up Triple-A Nashville before being summoned June 10. And Fielder, a 2002 high school first-rounder who recently turned 21, showed such terrifying power at Nashville in a three week period that he was called up June 12 to DH in the Brewers' interleague games – and showed enough talent to stick around.

I don't find it amazing at all. Great players do not spend a lot of time in the minor leagues. If these are truly exceptional hitters and fielders, they should have zoomed through the organization. Show me a 19 or 20-year-old starting in the majors and I'll show you a future hall of famer. It's only when organizations screw up, as the Red Sox did with Boggs and the Mariners did with Edgar Martinez that a great player has a long minor league career.

Roch Kubatko provides some background on Jeff Fiorentino, the Orioles A-Ball call up who is 6 for 10 to start his MLB career.

Fiorentino always was among the first players to arrive at U.S. Cellular Field for the four-game series in Chicago, looking young enough to be carded in bars until he's 50. Teammates have nicknamed him "Screech" after the skinny, curly-haired character from the television series Saved By the Bell. At least he's being accepted by the group.

It looks like a pretty good nickname. Nice to see the Orioles are going with a youngster rather than trying to patch holes by trading for veterans. Fiorentino is 22; the advantage of drafting out of college is that these players don't need a lot of development time in the minors before they are ready for the majors. He's likely to be better than Matos over the long term; the broken finger may have pushed Matos out of a starting job for good.

It was bad enough when I was in college and I noticed that people younger than me were playing major league baseball. But they showed Joe Mauer's mom, and she looks younger than me. I'm old enough to be the parent of a major leaguer. :(

Nice to see Joe Mauer draw a four pitch walk in his first plate apperance.

The Padres have made Jason Szuminski the first MIT graduate to play in the majors. This reminds me of a cheer we did at Harvard, based on the famous MIT cheer:

E to the X, dy, dx.
E to the Y, dy.
Cosine, secant, tangent, sine,
3.14159.
Come on, Harvard, give 'em the digit!

Congratulations to Jason!

Athletics nation has set up a Q&A with A's rookie Bobby Crosby. You can leave questions for Bobby here (deadline, noon PST). Crosby is having a very good spring. However, looking at the A's stats, I was reminded of a pet peeve; no walks are listed for batters. Walks are not in the AP boxscores, so they are not in the stats. They have HBP and SF, so you'd think they could find a way to list one of the more important numbers. And of course, since they don't have walks, they don't have OBA. This omission needs to be corrected.

Tim Kurkjian pens a piece on the players facing the most pressure this year. Number 9 on his list is Bobby Crosby, the A's replacement for Miguel Tejada. Crosby had a great year with the Sacramento Rivercats, putting up a .939 OPS (.395 OBP and .544 slugging). His batting on the team was only exceeded by Graham Koonce, who is five years older. Crobsy is 24 years old, entering the prime of his career. I'm a little suspect of PCL numbers, so I would guess he won't put up a .939 OPS. But if he plays well defensively and has a high OBP, he'll be fine. Can wait to see how he does on the road. :-)

It's only been a few games, but the DRays new third baseman, Antonio Perez has been impressive offensively so far. He hit his 2nd HR in 20 games today. He's getting hits (.333 BA) and he's drawing walks (.409 OBA). He's also 3 for 3 stealing. So far, nothing not to like. He had good walk numbers in the minor leagues, but his BA wasn't as high as this. Still, Perez looks like a good addition to the offense.

Update: Ben Jacobs points out to me that this is Perez's first game at third base. He's a middle infielder, which makes his stats more impressive. Ben wrote about Antonio here.