Opinion

Before the ink could dry on Ryan Howard's five-year, $125 million contract extension, speculation already was running rampant in Milwaukee on how the deal for the Phillies' first baseman would effect Prince Fielder.

Word had already leaked out that Fielder would likely start his contract talks based on the eight-year, $184 million deal signed by Joe Mauer. Fielder would offer no such "hometown discount" like Mauer did for the Twins.

The San Francisco Giants had a series sweep of the two time defending National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies all wrapped up with a bow on top.

Tim Lincecum had dominated the Phillies all day long and with one out in the ninth inning, he had 11 strikeouts and zero walks.

Without walking a single batter until giving Shane Victorino the free pass in the ninth, Lincecum had thrown just 106 pitches.

And Giants manager Bruce Bochy pulls the best pitcher in the game?

Are you kidding me?

In Tuesday night's New York Mets game against the reeling Los Angeles Dodgers, Hisanori Takahashi came in relief of Oliver Perez, tossing 3.1 innings of two-hit, one-run baseball, while striking out five Dodgers.

Takahashi has the looks of a strike-out machine, fanning 21 hitters in 14.1 innings. While allowing only 11 hits, he has also issued 10 free passes, all good for an ERA of 3.77.

The New York Yankees had started the season red hot but have cooled down as of late. Losers of four of their last five, the Yankees now sit 2.5 games back of AL East leading Tampa Bay. I decided to look back at the past five games and try to find a common theme.

Well, I found one at it was right at the top. The top of the batting order that is. The top four spots in the Yankees batting order have not had much success at all the past five games. These are the guys expected to carry the club and provide most of the pop.

If the Mets need a big strikeout out of the bullpen, Hisanori Takahashi may just be the guy.

Despite giving up at least one run in his past three appearances, the Mets call on Takahashi to eat up some innings out of the pen.

He leads all MLB relievers in strikeouts with 21. That's 21 strikeouts in just 14.1 innings pitched. His last two appearances have especially added to his total.

Last Friday against the Atlanta Braves, Takahashi pitched three innings in relief.

Despite giving up a run, he struck out seven batters.

What a whirlwind first four weeks of the 2010 season the Mets have had.

You could argue that no team in the National League felt more pressure to get off to a hot start out of the gate than the Mets.

After the debacle that was the 2009 season, lots of people believed, and still believe, that there could be repercussions for another poor finish in 2010.

I'll take this as a tongue-in-cheek joke, because it is funny, but I really hope Aaron Harang doesn't really believe this:

“We're close enough to Kentucky. I should be able to find a horseshoe,” Harang said, insisting that bad luck has as much to do with his record as anything else.

This was after Harang tossed the Reds' first quality start in nine games and became just the second starter to pick up a victory this season, which is only a measly 20 games mind you.

The worm is turning.  New York's most beloved franchise is in first place, one-half game ahead of the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies. 

Watching the Atlanta Braves these days is like pulling teeth...no pun intended.

As I recover from mouth surgery this week and try to figure out just what has happened to the Braves, I can’t help but remain flabbergasted by their sudden and shocking downward spiral.

After experiencing one of the most exhilarating wins in franchise history over the Phillies on April 20, the Braves now find themselves in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, in which their offense has plummeted to new, disturbing lows.

Looking at the image with this article, you see that Marcus Thames has great hitting mechanics. Hips opening for power, a stiff front leg, elbow tucked near the hip to keep the swing short and the bat rotating through the zone.

A good hitter who, on occasion, can really mash left handed pitching.