As goes Nick Markakis so goes the Orioles.

Figgins Finding Disabled List, Again?

He was taken off the disabled list six games ago. His manager waited five games to put him back in the line-up. Chone Figgins rewarded his team with one game of play in which he re-injured his right hamstring. He has not played in the last five games and is likely to head to the disabled list again. For fantasy owners, this should not be a shock considering Figgins’ history; however, it is still painful to see your top third baseman struggle through injuries, likely affecting your teams’ overall stolen base totals and leaving you scrambling for the free agent list to find a suitable replacement.

Markakis Can Affect the Teams’ Production, hot or cold.

Nick Markakis is definitely struggling at the plate over the last 14 days. He has hit two homeruns but the lack of runs (3) and runs batted in (7) all while batting .232 clearly demonstrates where the Orioles organization is right now (lost five of last six). A team like Baltimore, which has limited talent, ultimately will win or lose based on their stars’ actions. Case in point is Markakis and his struggles at the plate. The team could not string together the three most prominent needs for teams’ success, hitting, pitching, and fielding. When Markakis did step up, as he did against the Yankees, the team walks away with a win. Markakis put on a show, going three for four, blasting a solo homerun that broke a scoreless tie, and fueled a five run inning with a key RBI single. In other good news, young Greg Olsen pitched seven strong scoreless innings, further fueling the much-needed win for the O’s.

White Sox Go from Naught to Hot!

In a year where several teams with losing records in 2007 have emerged as division leaders (Tampa Bay Rays, Florida Marlins, and the Chicago White Sox), the Chi-Sox made a mockery of the Cleveland Indians this past weekend.

With Bobby Jenks becoming the second fastest closer to reach 100 saves and Alexei Ramirez took his career into his own hands, shaking off a sacrifice-bunt call and instead swung away, hitting a key single that spurred a three-run, 12-inning surge that ultimately drove the team to a win. Manager Ozzie Guillen was quoted on the chicagosports.com article as saying “He was two seconds away from being in [Triple-A] Charlotte to being a hero”.

The team has an amazing 40+ runs scored average against opponents and is currently third overall in earned run average and second only to the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League. The more this team unites, the scarier they are becoming in the Central Division. They did not win the World Series two years ago on shear luck, demonstrating the talent that they have through the first quarter of this season.

In Other Sox News…

The Red Sox are looking for a win by any means possible. The team has been handed a seven-game losing streak via their road spin through the American League. The team is more than happy to welcome the slumping Mariners as the team tries to use their Fenway Magic to stir up the pot and get them back into their winning ways.

Kevin Youkalis has struggled recently, batting a meager .191 through the past 14 days and besides Diasuke Matsuzaka, the rotation has been less than desirable since Jon Lester’s no hitter against the lowly Kansas City Royals. With Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury heading “home” (both from Seattle), the team finally played like they had the best record in baseball.

From an unlikely source, Bartolo Colon pitched seven strong innings. Colon, now 2-0, out-dueled the young and talented Felix Hernandez to a win. The team appeared to be headed down the same road that they had against the Athletics, scraping together only one hit through the first 12 hitters. Fortunately for the Red Sox, it was David Ortiz pounding a fastball out of center field and getting the horse back on the track. This is exactly what the Sox need to get the confidence back and start to look like the team we all believe they are.

Rays the Best in Majors?

There are records broken every day; however, I do not believe there are many that could claim they saw this one coming. The team with the worst record at the end of the baseball season (2007) now has the best record in baseball (31-20) through Memorial Day.

There are plenty of people hopping on the Tampa Rays’ bandwagon and for good reason. The Rays sport the best fielding percentage in baseball; they have a litany of young, talented arms in their rotation and plenty of young talent both on the major league roster as well as waiting in their minor league system.

Unlike many programs that settle at the bottom of the pack, it appears that the Rays have actually utilized their time to draft well. They have worked their minor league system with great efficiency, and built the talent to either bring them up or trade them off for better talent in the long run (see the Delmon Young trade).

Watch out…this team is for real!!!