MLB arizona Diamondbacks

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Mets not only snapped their five-game losing streak, but they did their part to save the world on Wednesday. After manager Jerry Manuel's team meeting in the wake of Tuesday's loss, the Mets all came to the ballpark on Wednesday on buses, instead of players arriving individually in cabs. Although the team-building experience may have actually done more to save on fuel than to actually bond, the result was a 1-0 victory.

Manuel wasn't going to take credit for his speech firing up the team, especially since pitcher Mike Pelfrey missed it. Pelfrey had left the ballpark early Tuesday night to get some rest.

"I told him, 'If he'd been at the meeting, he would have thrown a no-hitter,' " Manuel joked.

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If you've been following the travails of 2006 National League Cy Young winner Brandon Webb this season, the following news won't come as much of a shock. The Diamondbacks are strongly considering surgery as an option for the ace -- sidelined since Opening Day with a right shoulder injury -- after an MRI and a meeting with the team physician Tuesday, according to a report in the Arizona Republic.

Webb has been on the disabled list since April 7 with what the team has called shoulder bursitis, but he's experienced setback after setback in his attempts to return to the mound, most recently canceling a scheduled bullpen session at the end of last week because of pain in the area.

Now the team is hinting that Webb may have a torn labrum -- arguably the most ominous injury any pitcher can have -- while it waits for a second opinion on his shoulder. The injury that would require a surgical procedure and nine months of rehab, according to Nick Piecoro of the Republic.

As we near the halfway point of the 2009 season, the Arizona Diamondbacks desperately need something. Some expected them to contend in the NL West this year, but they're in dead last, 15 games behind the Dodgers and seven behind the Cardinals in the wild-card race. In fact, only the Nationals have a worse record in the National League right now.

They had hoped that that "something" that would kick start their season would be the return of Brandon Webb. Every team would miss a guy that's finished in the top two in NL Cy Young voting in each of the past three seasons. Unfortunately, Webb's Thursday bullpen session was canceled and he's left the team on their interleague trip to Kansas City to return to Phoenix.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That Zack Greinke and Trevor Hoffman are human.

Greinke took the loss Wednesday as Kansas City fell 12-5 to Arizona, allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

And since Greinke went 8-1 in his first 10 starts he has gone winless in four straight starts. Over his past 26 innings, he has given up 31 hits and 20 runs (five of them unearned).

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NEW YORK – Thanks in part to the influence of a 300-game winner, and the brother of a 300-game winner, the Rangers no longer have to try to out-slug people.

In the most remarkable turnaround of the season, Texas' pitching staff is actually pretty good, with a 4.46 ERA after shutouts Thursday and Friday and allowing three runs Saturday. If the Rangers can keep it there all year, it would mark the first time since 1993 the franchise had an ERA better than 4.50.

Not coincidentally, Texas leads the AL West at 35-26, the second-best record in the league.

"This is my third year here," right-hander Brandon McCarthy said, "but in two years I got sick to death of hearing, 'Texas pitchers stink. Texas pitchers stink.'

"Now we can turn those tables a little bit, be the group that maybe changes that whole mindset. It would be an awesome accomplishment."

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That Jose Contreras and Manny Parra took a day between Triple-A assignments to share a mound in Milwaukee. Parra and the Brewers can only hope that he emerges from his demotion as well as Contreras did.

The White Sox veteran righty pitched eight scoreless innings to beat the Brewers on Saturday. In two starts since returning from his voluntary Triple-A assignment, Contreras has not allowed a run in 16 innings.

"I know what Jose went through during the last eight months, and going to the minor leagues was a great thought by him," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Before he left, he told [White Sox general manager Kenny Williams] and myself, 'I need to pitch, I need to go out on the mound, I need to get stronger. When I come back, I'll come back fine.' "He's stepping up to his word, and he's just throwing the ball good."

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It's impossible to really evaluate a baseball draft until years after it's over, when the players have all had a chance to develop and grow into whatever type of big leaguers they are destined to be.

Of course, here at FanHouse we're not patient enough for that. We waited, oh, about an hour after the first day of the draft was over before we hit up three independent analysts to get their take on what transpired.

We talked to John Manuel, editor of Baseball America; Ben Hyman, director of amateur scouting for Real Baseball Intelligence; and John Klima, editor of Baseball Beginnings.

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Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That things got weird, awfully weird, at Petco Park on Sunday. The Diamondbacks carried a five-run lead into the ninth inning against San Diego thanks to seven innings of one-run ball by Dan Haren and a scoreless inning of relief by Tony Pena.

Then the wheels really fell off.

Juan Gutierrez and Chad Qualls surrendered five runs in the ninth, the last three of which came on a game-tying home run by light-hitting David Eckstein. Eckstein has 20 career homers in nine professional seasons, and a career slugging average of .359. So if you're keeping score, one of the most punchless players in the majors went deep in the most cavernous park in baseball, and things were only starting to get interesting.

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More Coverage: Scoreboard | Standings | Statistics

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Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

Everyone knows the No. 1 prospect in Tuesday's draft (and if you don't, read this). But after Washington selects Stephen Strasburg, things get less precise.

"Anybody from [No.] 2 to 15 could be just as good as the other guy," an executive from an NL team with a high pick told FanHouse. "It's really a strange year because it is in the eye of the beholder."

For example, Arizona State right-hander Mike Leake has been discussed as high as No. 3 overall, to the Padres. But he's more likely to go in the middle of the first round, no lower than Arizona's picks at 16 and 17.

I covered Randy Johnson as a beat writer for eight seasons: 1999-2004 with the Diamondbacks and then 2005-06 with the Yankees. (We both moved East the same winter, by coincidence.)

So I figure I saw about 230 of Johnson's starts – hey, I deserved a day off once in a while – and more than 100 of his 300 wins. Off the top of my head, here are the top 10 Randy Johnson moments I witnessed in those eight years:

1. Perfection (May 18, 2004)
Twenty-seven up, 27 down at Atlanta. And after this game, Johnson even smiled. His 117th and final pitch, a called strike to Eddie Perez, was 98 mph. His 14 strikeouts were second-most ever in a perfect game, and at 40, he was the oldest ever to be perfect. "I don't think my stuff has been any better than it was today," Johnson said.