Things are not cooking right now for Sheffy.

Change is good, or so they say, so we are tinkering a little with the format here for BP. This week, and from here on forward, we’re going to make Bullet Points a Tuesday-only feature, with a few new sections to check out. What will replace it on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays? You will have to come back and see, grasshopper.

• I am officially a jinx. Yesterday, I was pimping Edwin Jackson and his string of consecutive quality starts. That string ended yesterday as he allowed nine hits, a walk, and four earned runs in six innings. He was still in line for the win, though, had it not been blown by Dan Wheeler. Jackson has an excellent arm, but had been set back greatly by having been rushed to the majors by the Dodgers and kept there by the Devil Rays, but he looks to, for the most part, have things finally figured out, or at least close to it.


• While he went 0-for-5 yesterday, it is hard for the Indians, and his fantasy owners, not to be pleased with how Asdrubal Cabrera has been performing since taking over at second base for the Indians. Through 14 games, 12 as a starter, Asdrubal is hitting .286 with one home run, seven RBI, and eight runs, and he has played excellent defense, with no errors and nine double plays turned so far. Josh Barfield, meanwhile, has just 13 at-bats in his last ten games. This move looks permanent.


• Mike Mussina is done – stick a fork in him done. In three innings yesterday, Mussina allowed nine hits, one walk, and six earned runs, and he struck out no one. Mussina has now had three straight starts where he has allowed at least six runs, and two straight starts where he was done in three or fewer innings. Mussina has shown little to nothing in his pitching of late, and his three total strikeouts in his last three starts – he is fooling no one. If you have been holding on to him, hoping things will turn around, stop.


• The 16-0 win over the Yankees certainly was the good news of the day for the Tigers, but the bad news was their loss of Gary Sheffield, who moved from being day-to-day to being placed on the 15-day disabled list. Sheffield’s shoulder has shown little progress, and there is no guarantee that he will be back when the 15 days are up either. At this point, just as the Tigers are looking into a Plan B, so should Sheffield’s fantasy owners.


• J.D. Durbin is starting to get a hang of this starting thing, finally. Durbin picked up his sixth win of the season after holding the Mets to six hits and two runs and he struck out six while walking none. As a starter, Durbin is 5-2 with a 4.19 ERA. The one area he still needs to work on is his mediocre K/BB numbers as a starter, as he has struck out just 25 while walking 16 in 43 innings. Just a few more strikeouts and he could be serviceable.

En Fuego

• After a cold streak that got everyone off the bandwagon, James Shields is on a streak that should have everyone jumping back on. Shields has tossed five consecutive quality starts with 34 strikeouts and only five walks in that time. Shields’ next start comes tomorrow, as he faces off with Steve Trachsel and the Orioles.


• On the National League side, the Dodgers finally figured out that playing Matt Kemp is a good thing. Nice to see that they might actually start listening to their scouts instead of playing nothing but aging, over-the-hill veterans that are “proven.” Over his last ten games, Kemp is hitting .400 with a home run, eight RBI, eight runs scored, and three stolen bases. There should be no question about Kemp having a starting gig, but the Dodgers proved this offseason that they do not always make the smart decisions.

El Hielo

• In a stretch where the Texas Rangers scored 39 runs in a doubleheader against the Orioles, Michael Young has just two RBI in his last ten games. During that stretch, Young also has only a .256 batting average with no homers, four runs scored, and nine strikeouts while walking just twice. Considering how productive every single other Ranger was during this period, this is disgraceful for the offensive leader of the Rangers.


• The Diamondbacks made a serious mistake in rushing Justin Upton to the majors, and it is showing in his numbers of late. Over his last ten games, Upton is hitting .167 with no home runs, two RBI, and one run scored. Upton has shown little patience at the plate, with only one walk and 12 strikeouts in 36 at-bats, and he would have been much better served by having been left in the minors to finish the season. Hopefully, this does not come back to haunt the Diamondbacks by stunting his development, but it very easily could.

What to Watch

• AL fans need to tune in to Wednesday’s Mariners/Angels matchup. The wild card is on the line, as is the American League West, in this one. Jered Weaver (9-6, 3.96) gets the ball for the Angels while the King, Felix Hernandez (10-6, 3.90), gets it for the Mariners. The King has been quite good of late, with wins in his last four decisions and a 54:19 K/BB ratio over his last ten starts. Weaver is good, but not King Felix good. Edge goes to the Mariners here.


• The National League matchup to catch is the Rockies and Diamondbacks on Friday. Can the Rockies hang in the race in the West? Can the Diamondbacks build on their lead? Two young pitchers get the start here, with Ubaldo Jimenez (3-2, 4.03) going for the Rockies and Yusmeiro Petit (2-4, 5.48) for the Diamondbacks. The edge here rests with Jimenez, who has been flawless since being battered by the Cubs on August 9. In his last three starts, Jimenez is 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA, 17 strikeouts, and only 4 walks. I keep harping on it, but it bears further repeating – the Rockies can have quality pitching despite the ballpark if they develop pitchers through their farm system that are used to pitching in environs like those at Coors – the Double-A Texas League and a Triple-A home park in Colorado Springs certainly provide that. Jimenez is just another product of the system that is going to pay off for years to come.

That wraps up today’s Bullet Points. For more from me, be sure to check out the top ten players to watch in the Arizona Fall League that is running in The Farm Report.

Tomorrow, we here at SG go hunting for hidden treasures – see you then.

Questions and comments may be sent at markhaverty@sportsgrumblings.com