AROUND THE LEAGUE
I think I've been focusing on the Brewers a little too much lately. The Crew's 4-2 start got me all fired up and now that they're back to .500, I'm going to shift gears a bit here.

...Mike Hampton got rocked for his second straight start. I am biased, I like Mike Hampton. He is the closest player in MLB that resembles my body type, throws left and hits righty, used to wear number 10 like I used to, and just in general seems like a cool guy, so it hurts me to see him struggle. Hampton after two starts is 0-1 with a 16.20 ERA. In 6 2/3 IP, Hampton has allowed 13 runs on 18 hits. He has struck out 4 and walked 4. His 3.30 WHIP would be good if it was his ERA. Opponents are hitting .474 off of him. I know it is only two starts, but I'm sure that the Braves are a little nervous, given Hampton's complete breakdown from after the second-half of 2001 until last season. Hampton struggled because of poor mechanics and a loss of movement on his sinker, not to mention a complete lack of confidence. For those reasons I don't think it is impossible for him to return to his Coors Field form.

...Craig Wilson has been my favorite "why isn't this guy getting more ABs" player, just ahead of Keith Ginter of the Milwaukee Brewers, not to mention I've drafted him on every Stratomatic team I have. So far this season Wilson has been hitting .370/.433/.704. He is a bit of a liability in the field (especially behind the dish), but is versatile and absolutely hammers left-handed pitching. I hope that Wilson performs adequately against right-handers when given a chance, because if he struggles like he has in the past he'll return to being nothing more than a platoon/pinch-hitter.

...The Angels lost with Jarrod Washburn on the hill tonight. The prevailing thought has been that the Angels need to win when Colon, Escobar and Washburn start because they'll be scrapping when Ramon Ortiz and John Lackey take the hill. Still, Ortiz and Lackey aren't two back-of-the-rotation type guys. Plus with the Angels bats, Glendon Rusch probably would've went 14-4 pitching for this team instead of 1 and whatever for Milwaukee last season.

...Ken Griffey, Jr. is off to a good start (318/.423/.682) so far this season. For the fourth year in a row let me ask the question, "is this the year Griffey finally returns to form?". Griffey was swinging the bat a lot better last season right at the time he hurt his foot which caused him to miss the rest of the season.

...The Phillies are 1-6 and all ready the "fire Larry Bowa" campaigns have started up. The Phillies bats have gotten off to a slow start. Marlon Byrd (.200), Bobby Abreu (.120), Mike Lieberthal (.083), Jimmy Rollins (.160). No matter who the manager is, nobody can take an offense like that and make them win. The Phillies struggled with runners in scoring position last season so it'll be interesting to see whether or not that was just a case of bad luck or if some of the Phillies hitters actually do change their approach with runners on base.