Opinion

Baseball is a fickle mistress.

She doesn't care how much money a player makes, what the numbers on the back of his baseball card says or how many individual awards a player may have picked up along the way.

The lady has one question: "What have you done for me lately?"

Around baseball, a handful of players are struggling to answer that simple query with anything other than, "Not much, dear."

The lady grows impatient.

She has taken notice.

We should as well.

The 2013 World Baseball Classic has officially entered its second week. Twelve countries were still alive coming into Saturday's action in what's been a thrilling first round.

Day 8 began with a high-stakes second-round clash between Cuba and Chinese Taipei. But it will be highlighted by four first-round games from Pools C and D, including the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela and the United States, among others.

Team USA didn't get off to the best of starts at the World Baseball Classic. In a sizable upset, Mexico won 5-2 to earn their first victory of the tournament after losing their opener to Italy 6-5. 

In a tournament that doesn't afford much room for error and slip-ups, this was a huge blow for Team USA. Considered one of the favorites for the tournament, they'll certainly need to improve their performance going forward if they want to advance to the second round. 

The United States continues World Baseball Classic play with a matchup against Italy. Expectations were low for the Italian squad coming into the event, but it's already proven to be a formidable opponent the Americans can't afford to overlook.

After some disappointing finishes in the first two WBC tournaments, it's important for the United States to bear down and take care of the opponents it should beat this time around. Italy falls into that category despite a couple of solid showings.

The first week of the 2013 World Baseball Classic is in the books, and four countries have already advanced to the second round while four others have been eliminated from the 16-team field.

While Japan looks to be in cruise control yet again, other favorites like Venezuela and the United States have fallen behind quickly, each dropping their opening games. The good news for both nations is that there's a whole lot of baseball still left to be played.

Anytime a young player makes his way toward his first crack at free agency, there is no doubt a sense of urgency about getting a big deal done.

San Diego Padres third baseman Chase Headley finds himself in that very situation right now, just a year away from free agency.

The last, best hope for the continued preeminence of cable television is live sporting events.

Live sports are basically DVR-proof television because games are obviously more entertaining to watch for fans when the result is unknown. Everything else on television can be recorded and watched later, which allows the viewer to fast-forward through the commercials.

Heading into spring training, the heavy favorite to close for the Detroit Tigers in 2013 was rookie Bruce Rondon.

Fans and media alike were speculating if Rondon could handle the pressure of closing for a World Series contender. When Rondon began spring training by throwing five walks in 3.2 innings and sporting a 7.36 earned run average in four appearances, several people wrote off Rondon as a candidate for closer.

Times are changing in Chicago, and for the better. The Cubs are going through the rigors of a rebuilding process that started last year when Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer were brought on board to give the front office a makeover. 

In their first year with the team, Epstein and Hoyer made a point to blow as much of the ship up to start over. They did make some smart moves with the big league team—giving Starlin Castro a team-friendly, seven-year extension, for example—but the farm system was the main focus. 

You may have noticed at some point within the last couple years that today's hitters in Major League Baseball just can't stop striking out.

Don't worry. It's not just you. There's an actual trend going on.

As Baseball-Reference.com's records can show, major league pitchers have been striking out more and more hitters every year since 2005. The per-game numbers look a little something like this.