Is Barry back with the Giants?

I think so. It seems as if Barry Zito has reworked his approach to accommodate the loss of velocity from his years with Oakland.

According to Aaron Gleeman at HardballTalk:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/did-you-know-barry-zito-has-a-246-era-since-last-seasons-all-star-break.html.php

what's interesting about Zito's turnaround is that it actually dates back to last season. In fact, since last year's All-Star break Zito has the sixth-best ERA in all of baseball among pitchers with at least 100 innings

The FB velocity numbers are about the same as when Zito signed his huge Giants deal, but apparently Zito is going back to "pitching backwards"--or using his curveball to set up his fastball instead of the other way around.

With Zito revitalized and Jonathan Sanchez continuing his development, the Giants may have the most potent pitching staff in the National League. Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain continue to pitch like elite top of the rotation starters.

Now if only the bats begin to come around......maybe we can shake off the surprising Padres and run away from the competition. It looks like the Rockies may come around once the weather warms up and overtake the Padres as the main competition. The Dodgers may be close to pushing the panic button along with Milwaukee and Atlanta in the NL. In the AL, it seems like the Sox--both Red and White--are also close to panic-button pushing mode.

The Cubs and D-Backs may be close to being in panic mode as well. The Cubs, with the Zambrano shuffle, are showing early signs of fraying around the edges. Zambrano moving from the rotation to the bullpen does nothing to address their need for a significant left handed bat in the middle of the order.

On the plus side, the Rays, Twins and A's continue to do the most with the least and solidify their reputations as the most well run organizations in baseball. The Mets, Nats and Padres lead the surprise list in the NL.

But it is early, the weather is still football-like in many areas, so while firm conclusions cannot be drawn, trends are beginning to develop and bear watching.

Once a target for contraction, now proud owners of Target Field

The Twins christened Target Field with a victory yesterday. It seems like only yesterday the franchise was on Bud Selig's short list of franchises worthy of being contracted.

It may not be the house that Joe Mauer built, but it will be his job to help keep the yard filled.

It's great to see another indoor park fall by the wayside as well as one of the last artificial turf fields. Are you listening Tampa-St. Petersburg?

If the St. Petersburg city leaders don't get to work, don't be too surprised if MLB starts turning the screws to get an open-air yard for the Rays, "or else". Because seemingly every time Bud and his merry men play the "or else" card, they are rewarded.

Twins - Tigers: Let's get this party started

Maybe a poor choice of words. For the Tigers, maybe it should be "let's get Cabrera sober".

What was this jackass thinking? His team is involved in a down-to-the-wire pennant race with the Twins--and by being involved I mean gagging up a lead the way a cat gags up a fur ball--and this guys is carousing with his buddies on the White Sox until after 2 a.m.

With an alcohol reading three times the legal limit at 6 a.m. it would be amazing if dude sobered up entirely by game time that evening. AYFKM??

If I were a Tigers fan or Jim Leyland, he would sit tonight. I would rather lose without him than win with him at this point. His shenanigans helps explain his late individual late-season slump which has contributed to his teams slump. Put someone else in.

One good thing that may come after tonight is the Twinkees may get the respect and recognition they deserve as the best run franchise at this point.

They CONSISTENTLY get the most out of the least in terms of payroll resources.
They play the game right fundamentally and can play small ball or power ball.
They lose key guys for extended stretches (like Morneau this year) and keep on winning.

Maybe they need some Wall Street financial writer to fall in love with them or their GM and write a book about how they do it in order to get the respect they deserve. But knowing the way this organization operates, they'll probably just win tonight and let the results speak for them.

A very old school approach that works. HOW ABOUT THAT!!!!