MLB

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter reached another milestone this past weekend and did so quietly.

Not much mention was made of baseball's poster boy after he took over the active hits lead.

As of today, Jeter has 2,781 hits and has overtaken Ken Griffey Jr. for the active lead. Griffey has 2,776 as I write this.

It is quite a feat for Jeter to already catch "Junior." Griffey already had over 1,000 hits by the time Jeter came to the Majors.

The Cubs begin May 3 with an average—at best—record of 13-13 and find themselves 4.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals (17-8) in the National League Central.

Starting pitching remains the team’s strong suit. But if you haven’t noticed, the Cubs—outside of Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez—are starting to hit.

Whatever way you want to slice and dice the Mets Sunday-night defeat in Philadelphia, there's no getting away from the fact that Johan Santana struggled.

Struggled is probably the nicest word to describe his shortcomings in Citizens Bank Park. It's like saying that Stalin struggled to understand the merits of democracy or that C.C. Sabathia struggled to fit into a pair or Chinos with a 36-inch waist.

Not yet...

The starting pitching had to let down at some point this season. It’s virtually impossible to keep up the pace.

Mike Pelfrey got the fun started, giving up six runs in the fourth inning on Saturday en route to a 10-0 loss, the first loss for the Mets in eight games.

Things only got worst on Sunday when Johan Santana put up his worst effort in his time with the Mets, as he gave up 10 runs in less than four innings pitched.

With the first month of the season in the books, let’s take a look at which pitchers have benefited most from a lucky BABIP.  Who is most likely to fail?  Who will continue to thrive?  (All stats through Saturday).

1. Livan Hernandez —Washington Nationals — .180

The Cincinnati Reds' starters are pitching like we thought they would going into the season, including, yes, Aaron Harang. 

But the Reds have an unexpected problem. The bullpen, more specifically the middle relievers, are pitching like kids dropped on their heads as babies.

The back-end is fine. Coco Cordero is lights out. And if Arthur Rhodes keeps it up, he may be the first eighth-inning guy to win a Cy Young Award.

Daniel Ray Herrera has been fine for the two or three batters he faces, and Micah Owings is doing alright in the mop-up role.

Since Brian Cashman took the reigns of a championship-bound team in 1998, he has acquired several players who were run out of town following their disastrous tenures in pinstripes. Scathing condemnations written by dozens of columnists questioned these previously successful players' respective abilities to succeed under the bright spotlight of New York. 

Hello, Jason Heyward, so nice to meet you. But as good as you are already, and as great as you’re going to be, you’re not alone.

The New York Yankees finished up a three game series against the Chicago White Sox with a 12-3 win today. The Yankees won the series by winning the opening game as well as the finale, but losing the middle game.

I wanted to share some thoughts that came to mind as the series wrapped up.

New Look Outfield

If the duration of the major league baseball season were a California road trip up the Interstate 5, the Padres would barely be in Oceanside.

Nonetheless, with one month in the rear view mirror, the Padres are in cruise control.

For the third time in four games on Sunday, the Padres shutout the Milwaukee Brewers, this time on a combined three hitter by John Garland and two relievers. The Brewers came into the series leading the NL in scoring.