Espresso Nuccio

Dan Straily recovers more value for Cincinnati Reds

Dan Straily gave up two runs in the first inning in his latest start for the Cincinnati Reds. Then he settled down to throw five shutout innings. Straily gave up five hits and three walks while striking out eight in his win Friday night over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The effort lowered Straily’s ERA to 4.01 on the year. He also has a 1.17 WHIP and 92 K’s in 114.1 innings. Just a month ago, the…

Tampa Bay Rays can’t mess up a Chris Archer trade

There’s nothing blasphemous about the Tampa Bay Rays entertaining a trade that would ship off staff ace Chris Archer to a contender. Controversial? Unpopular? Maybe. But there’s only one thing that would be truly unacceptable when it comes to any Archer deal – messing it up. The 27-year-old is navigating the perilous waters of a down year and fins of other organizations are starting to break the…

Don’t blame the Baltimore Orioles for rebuilding the Evil Empire

The Baltimore Orioles balked at a chance to bury the 2016 New York Yankees. The Yankees are having a season uncharacteristic of the franchise’s history, coming out of the break with a sub-.500 record for the first time since 1995. The Orioles entered a four-game set in New York on Monday with an 8.5 game lead on the Yankees in the American League East and exited with only a 6.5-game advantage.…

Soft upcoming schedule should benefit the Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are coming off back-to-back series wins against the Texas Rangers and New York Mets, two teams that could potentially contend for the World Series in a couple of months. With a very soft set of opponents coming up, let’s take a look at their opponents through the rest of July and into August. The Milwaukee Brewers (40-53) Cubs record against the Brewers in 2016: 3-2 Runs scored:…

How close is Andrew Benintendi to the Boston Red Sox?

One of the top prospects in the Boston Red Sox organization is making headlines again. Andrew Benintendi is getting a lot of recognition on Friday because he’s begun playing left field for Double-A Portland. Anyone that’s been following the Red Sox this year knows a few things. First off, the pitching has been very hit-or-miss. Second, the offense has been on absolute fire for the entire season.…

Atlanta Braves: Nick Markakis, relievers drawing trade interest

While the Atlanta Braves may not be in for the action-packed, high-profile trade deadline some envisioned, the team is certainly still listening to offers for virtually anyone on the current roster. One veteran and a pair of relievers in particular have drawn some trade interest in recent days. Yesterday, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reported that the Kansas City Royals have shown interest in Atlanta…

Matt Barnes proving his worth for the Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox bullpen has been in ruins lately. Some reinforcements have arrived, as Friday morning came with the announcement that Junichi Tazawa was reinstated off the disabled list. However, they’re still missing Carson Smith, Koji Uehara, and Craig Kimbrel. Due to the amount of injuries, there have been plenty of talks about the Red Sox trading for a reliever. This, despite the fact that…

Perez taking advantage of playing time

On the whole, the Milwaukee Brewers are not off to a hot start in the second half. They’ve gone 2-4 in their first six games back and face their division rivals, the Chicago Cubs, who currently hold the highest winning percentage in the league, to open a 10-game home stand. There are bright spots however. Utility man Hernan Perez, who has been taking advantage of every bit of playing time since…

Organizational all-time top 10: Atlanta Braves

Ranking players can be a tough and argument-inducing task. It’s hard enough to decipher who the best players are today, let alone over the entire history of a franchise. Despite those concerns that is exactly what we are going to endeavor to do today. In honor of ESPN’s recent all-time positional top 10s and Buster Olney’s ongoing all-time top 10 countdown, here’s our ranking of the top 10 Braves…

The Boston Red Sox offense isn’t letting up

Friendly reminder, the Boston Red Sox offense is really good. Look no further than the top of their lineup for proof. The first four hitters in the Boston lineup are all hitting over .300 on the season. Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts, and David Ortiz have been absolute forces in the one-through-four spots. On Thursday, they all collected at least three hits each against the…

Struggling Seattle Marinershave made series of roster changes

The Seattle Mariners made a flurry of roster moves on Wednesday. Starting pitcher Felix Hernandez finally came off the disabled list after suffering a calf strain at the end of May. He pitched right away and threw 6 2/3 innings leading up to a 6-5 win against the Chicago White Sox. On top of Hernandez coming back, the Mariners also recalled outfielder Nori Aoki and catcher Mike Zunino from…

Seattle Mariners send Mike Montgomery to Chicago Cubs

The Seattle Mariners made their first move of the trade season yesterday when they sent starting pitcher Mike Montgomery and prospect Jordan Pries to the Chicago Cubs for Dan Vogelbach and Paul Blackburn. At first it looks like the Mariners maybe deciding to sell at the deadline, but a deeper look into the trade proves otherwise. Montgomery pitched great with the Mariners as he held a 2.34 ERA…

Zack Cozart looks like he’ll remain with Cincinnati Reds

Zack Cozart is having a career year for the Cincinnati Reds. The 30-year-old shortstop already has tied his career-high with 15 home runs. Over the past two years, Cozart is sporting a 162-game average of 28 homers and 80 RBI. The power surge should’ve helped the Reds find a trade partner for Cozart. But that isn’t happening. No contending team needs a shortstop. That is why Cozart remains with…

New York Yankees may cut veterans if they sell at the deadline

Despite winning four of their last five games and finally surpassing the .500 mark, the New York Yankees may very well still be sellers come August 1. And that decision may come with more implications than just swapping players with other clubs. In his latest column, Jon Heyman stated: Some New York Yankees people have discussed whether, if they decide to sell, they might consider releasing great…

Jedd Gyorko continues to crush the San Diego Padres

Jedd Gyorko hit two homeruns in the second game of a doubleheader Wednesday night, making him the eighth St. Louis Cardinal hitter to reach at least 10 homers this season. But, that was not the homerun statistic that everybody was talking about, following the Cards 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres. He went deep in Game One, too. That gave him three long balls all day, but that was not it either.…

New Atlanta Braves draftees performing well

Despite having 14.3 billion pitching prospects, the Atlanta Braves recently used four of their first six draft picks (including their first three) on high-school arms. It was a move that inspired more than a few groans. With those top picks (Ian Anderson, Joey Wentz, Kyle Muller, and Bryse Wilson) having now graduated, signed, and joined their first minor league assignment, what are the (very)…

Milwaukee Brewers C Jonathan Lucroy would fill void for Cleveland Indians

The first-place Cleveland Indians need help at catcher and free-agency prize Jonathan Lucroy of the Milwaukee Brewers would be a big upgrade. Reports out of Milwaukee and Cleveland have linked the two clubs as possible trade partners, but that’s about it. Everything in terms of possible players involved is all speculation at this point. With the Brewers 12 games under .500 and needing a…