MLB

New York Yankees, meet the next Derek Jeter. 17-year-old shortstop Christopher "Cito" Culver was drafted last night by the Yankees as the 32nd overall draft pick.

Rochester native Culver is only the second high school shortstop to get drafted by the Yanks in the first round since Jeter in 1992, and CJ Henry in 2005.

The Yankees will look for the Irondequoit High School senior to develop into the likes of his favorite player: Jeter.

These rankings are based on a 300-point system, 150 for offensive production and 150 for pitching production. 30 points (1 point for each team) is the most points any team can get in a given category. For instance if the Rays lead the league in HR’s they will get 30 points for that category. The 5 offensive categories used:

HR’s, RBI’s, Runs, Average, and SB’s . The 5 pitching categories used: Wins, Saves, WHIP, ERA, and K’s.

With the 16th selection in the 2010 MLB draft, the Chicago Cubs pick...Hayden Simpson? Who?

That's exactly my thought process when I heard of this very strange and unexpected decision by Cubs Scouting Director Tim Wilken.

The only thing more surprising would have been if the Cubs had picked Homer Simpson.

Even ESPN's Keith Law was stunned, saying that "For one thing, it's not scouting director Tim Wilken's style; he loves athletes and hard throwers, guys with upside who have the chance to become stars."

Tonight, the king will finally pitch from his throne.

Stephen Strasburg, the number one overall pick from a year ago, makes his anticipated debut tonight, in the nation's capital of Washington, DC.

If you were under a rock for the past two months, it might not have been a bad thing.

The most hyped prospect in the history of baseball was showcased on every MLB outlet possible.

All of his starts in Triple-A were shown on television around the country, and no one came away not impressed.

Here’s a look at some unheralded players who played well yesterday.

Marlon Byrd, Chicago Cubs

Byrd is heating up again. He went 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI. He has four multi-hit games in a row, hitting .588 over that span. On the year he’s hitting .321 with 33 runs, seven HRs, and 31 RBI.

Carlos Silva, Chicago Cubs

Silva continues to be one of the league’s biggest surprises after giving up one run on four hits with five Ks over seven innings to improve to 8-0 with a 2.93 ERA.

Congratulations and welcome to the 3,287th column, article, blog post, essay, profile, feature, kindergarten-free write, and poem you’ll read about Stephen Strasburg this week.

I started thinking about the Padres, which is a rarity for many people.

They give me an impression of this west coast, easy-go-lucky squad, that Tony Gwynn used to play for.

I would be willing to bet that most people couldn't name another Padre player other than Adrian Gonzalez.

Normally, that's about as far as it goes.

I can't remember the last time they struck me as a team that I was worried about when they show up on the Mets' schedule.

This morning, another thought crossed my mind.

Tonight, one of the most hyped rookies in major league history launches his career. Stephen Strasburg makes his big league debut for the Washington Nationals when he takes the ball to pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The attention and interest focused on him is unprecedented. Besides playing in front of a capacity crowd in the nation's capital, the MLB Network will broadcast the game nationally with their "A" team of Bob Costas, Jim Kaat, and John Smoltz calling the action.

Usually, as the weather starts to warm up around the country, so does baseball season. Division races become a little more solid, and the cream of the crop is starting to rise above the bottom of the barrel. 

In the Bay Area, the situation is as it always is.

The American and National League West divisions are bunched together, with all of the teams seemingly within a nice winning streak of first place (except for last-place Arizona, who recently rattled off a 10-game losing streak and now stands 11.5 back of first place San Diego).

The Nationals may be in last place in the NL East but they were in the spotlight yesterday when they made Bryce Harper, a 17-year-old slugger, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 amateur draft.