Major League Baseball

Washington Post national baseball writer Dave Sheinin was online Thursday, July 3 at 11 a.m. ET to take your questions and comments from around the major leagues.

The transcript follows.

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Dave Sheinin: Hey, everyone. Good to be back with you. I'm not expecting a lot of questions today, with everyone trying to get ready for the long weekend, but hopefully y'all will surprise me. And with that, let's get to it...

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PB: At the end of the season, has a player ever led the majors in most hits while playing for a team that has the fewest hits? Guzman has 114 of the Nats 693 hits for 16.45 percent of the team total. The next highest percent of a team's hit total is Berkman in Houston who has 108 of the Astros 752 for 14.36 percent.

Dave Sheinin: Oh, man... What a great question. I don't know the answer, but I promise you I will attempt to find out -- from the Elias Sports Bureau -- and drop it in a future MLB Sunday page.

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Washington, D.C.: Is there any concern in the Nationals organization as to the number of pitchers who are blowing out their arms? Let's see: Patterson, Cordero, and now Chico. And Hill is probably headed that route also. All he is going to do after this extended "rest" is use the same pitching motion that causes him pain in the first place. Isn't that the definition of insanity?

Dave Sheinin: Unfortunately, pitchers come down with arm injuries all the time, and it's nothing exclusive to the Nationals. Off the top of my head, just take a look at the Braves -- Mike Hampton, John Smoltz, Tim Glavine, Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez, Peter Moylan. All hurt at various points this year, and some of them out for the year. Yes, there is a correlation sometimes between faulty mechanics and being prone to injury, but I wouldn't start looking to blame anyone in the Nationals' organization for what appears at first glance to be a rash of arm injuries.

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Alexandria, Va.: In the Red Sox/Rays game last night a broken bat with a jagged-edge went hurtling end-over-end into the stands.

What should baseball do about this problem and when? Is it worse than it used to be?

Dave Sheinin: The increasing frequency of broken bats causing injury is definitely a concern in MLB right now -- and in fact, the league and the union have been meeting about this very issue. The problem is the popularity of maple bats, as opposed to ash. Maple bats don't necessarily break any more frequently than ash, but when they do break, they shatter into dangerous shards, and we've already seen a couple of incidents of coaches, players and fans being injured. We're lucky at this point no one has been killed -- seriously. I doubt the maple bats will be outlawed, but perhaps there will be some new guidelines about the narrowness of the handle that might prevent them from shattering so frequently.

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Fairfax, Va.: What would you do if you were in the A's shoes? They've just lost two of three against the Angels and the offense is just punchless. Dealing Blanton, Harden, and Street could really help to refurbish the farm system, too.

Dave Sheinin: This is a tough call. As I wrote in last Sunday's MLB notes, the A's actually have a better run-differential than the Angels. But they can't seem to get any closer in the standings, and as you point out, they lost a great opportunity (in head to head action) to gain ground. Personally, I don't think they're going to get much closer to the Angels. The Angels haven't come close to playing their best baseball, in my opinion. Vladimir Guerrero has only recently (in the past month or so) started to produce like he should, and Torii Hunter, Gary Matthews Jr. still haven't.

So if I were Billy Beane, I think I'd stick to the rebuilding plan for this year and trade either Blanton or Harden (but not both).

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Peter Angelos (warehouse): Sheinin quote "The Nats will catch the O's in the standings." What's worse your predictions or columns? By the way chatters, if you have Asbestos problems give my lawfirm a call and I'll get back to you. Unless your name is Brooks Robinson.

Dave Sheinin: Yeah, I am reminded of that prediction with astounding frequency, by bitter Orioles fans. Obviously, I was quite wrong about that, although in my defense (and in the Nationals' defense), I could not have foreseen injuries to the three best all-around players on the team (Zimmerman, Johnson and Kearns [despite his slow start]) and a lineup that often features Dukes-Milledge-Flores in the No. 2, 3 and 4 spots.

And let me say this, too: The Orioles, right now, are 9 1/2 games ahead of the Nationals. By the end of September, I expect that number to be significantly smaller.

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Arlington, Va.: Dave, do you consider Tom Glavine a Hall of Famer? Obviously, he has the wins, but that's what you get when you played for the Braves in the 1990s. Not to mention it seems apparent he was hanging on to reach that milestone. He only has about 2500 strikeouts, which in this era isn't as impressive as it was 30 or 40 years ago. Basically, to me, Glavine seems like a very good pitcher who lucked out by playing on one of the best team's in baseball to help make his win total look gaudy.

Dave Sheinin: Let me start by saying The Post doesn't allow its writers to vote for individual awards and the Hall of Fame. But if I did vote, I would almost certainly put a check mark next to Glavine's name. My sole criterion for the Hall of Fame is one question: Was he the dominant player (or one of the top two or three most dominant) at his position during his era? And in the case of Glavine, he and Randy Johnson were clearly the dominant left-handed pitchers of their era. He had five 20-win seasons and won two Cy Youngs. True, his strikeout totals are somewhat low, because he was never a power pitcher.

Beyond that, from a practical standpoint, Glavine punched his ticket for Cooperstown when he won his 300th game, because most voters (myself not included) still use benchmarks like that to make these decisions for them.

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Arlington, Va.: Hi, Dave. I loved your article on teams that teach their hitters to be patient at the plate, especially the part about the Red Sox giving every hitter in their organization a copy of Ted Williams' book, "The Science of Hitting."

Besides Boston, the Yankees and Oakland, what other teams have "plate discipline?" Are there any in the NL? And, on the flip side, where do the Nats rank? When looking at their hitters' OBP, I have to think that they're one of the worst at it -- and it shows by how few runs they score.

Dave Sheinin: Let's go straight to the numbers...

The MLB leaders in pitches per plate appearance:

1. Indians (3.97)

2. Rangers (3.90)

3. Marlins (3.89)

And the bottom three:

28. Cardinals (3.69)

29. Royals (3.66)

30. Angels (3.64)

The Nationals, by the way, rank 26th.

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Please explain the Rays: Okay, lots of astute drafting, a couple key trades and kids maturing all at once. We get it. But has it ever happened so perfectly and so unpredictably? When do they turn into a pumpkin?

Dave Sheinin: Boy, what a great story. Everyone in the industry knew they were a monster in the making, but most (myself included) expected 2009 to be their big breakthrough season. However, the folks at Baseball Prospectus, using their PECOTA model for projecting future performance, predicted an 88-win season for them this year (an astounding 22-win jump from 2007). So it's not as if they came out of nowhere. They are absolutely loaded -- their farm system ranks No. 1 in the game, according to Baseball America. They could promote lefty David Price, the No. 1 overall pick last year, to the majors in the second half.

They're not going away, folks. I still believe the Red Sox, because of superior pitching depth, will catch and pass them in the AL East, but it's going to be a long fight.

By the way, we'll have more on the Rays on the MLB Sunday page this weekend.

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Alexandria, Va.: Why is there such a disparity between the NL and AL?

The AL has four out of 14 teams under .500, while the NL has 11 (including a division leader) out of 16 teams under .500. It's not like the NL is top heavy either with only the Cubs and Cards over .550 and the best record in the majors residing in Tampa (how in the world did that happen?).

I've seen years where one league has a few stinker teams and the other league has a few more teams staying above .500, but this year seems out of the ordinary. What is causing this strange effect?

Dave Sheinin: With one more interleague game left on the schedule (a Yankees-Pirates makeup game), the AL is ahead in the standings by a whopping 149-102 margin, after going 135-115 and 154-98 in the previous two seasons. This is pretty clear, irrefutable evidence that the AL is simply the superior league, and it's not even close. (The All-Star Game and World Series have also been dominated by the AL in recent years.)

Why is this? Most people in the industry point to the superpower battle between the Yankees and Red Sox, with their huge revenue streams and payrolls, which have forced other teams in the AL to spend big money in order to keep up. But it might also simply be a cyclical thing that will eventually swing the other way.

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Rhode Island: Hi Tom,

Please settle a question that came up in a conversation with a co-worker:

Project ahead four months. The Cubs have just beaten the Rays in the World Series (in six games). Now that the Red Sox, White Sox, and Cubs have all won the WS, who is next in line - which woeful team is long overdue for the honor?

Yes, we are -very- busy at work today . . .

Happy Fourth!

Dave Sheinin: Definitely the Cleveland Indians, who haven't won the World Series since 1948.

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Halfway Mark Surprise: OK Dave, we are past the halfway mark of the MLB season. What's been the biggest surprise to so far? The Rays? The horrible start by the Tigers? Something else?

Dave Sheinin: See above for a discussion of the Rays...

The Tigers' poor start was definitely a surprise to me, as was the Mariners' utter collapse. But let's look at individuals -- Carlos Quentin, Joe Saunders, Cliff Lee, Josh Hamilton, Xavier Nady, Cristian Guzman, Kyle Lohse. All great surprises.

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Cabin John, Md.: On Monday, in an interview with Colin Cowherd on ESPN, Joe Buck said that he no longer enjoyed watching baseball, and watches "The Bachelorette" instead. He's getting flamed for it by those who say it shows, all those years with Tim McCarver, what do you expect, etc. Does this happen to beat writers, who have far more arduous lives than announcers do? How about you?

Dave Sheinin: There's no doubt you can get burned out on covering baseball. It's hardcore, in-the-trenches work. I told young Chico Harlan, when he started at The Post on the Nats' beat, that about 80 percent of your time is devoted to mere survival -- "playing defense" to make sure you're not getting beat on news, making phone calls, traveling and making travel arrangements, and writing your stories. That leaves about 20 percent to devote to (your choice) your personal time, or trying to go above-and-beyond to produce "enterprise" stories. It's a tough gig. I did it for six years and was thrilled when I got off the beat.

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21st Century: Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News just wrote that it's time for the National League to adopt the DH-too many talented hitters being put out to pasture who would give fans more for their money than managers maaking double switches. The reaction has been two words: Hell and No. What say you?

Dave Sheinin: Personally, I hate the DH. But I'd almost rather see it disappear than to maintain a situation where the leagues play by two different sets of rules, which is just asinine.

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O's trades: I'd like you opinion on this statement: Andy McPhail robbed the Astros and Mariners (even after the injuries to Patton and Albers). Second, do you think the O's will be active trading in the second half? Huff is certainly making a case to be traded as, unfortunately is Roberts. If McPhail sticks to the stated gameplan, I'd expect both to be moved. In the former case, the O's might actually get a piece or two for the future and in the latter case, the Cubs will have to acknowledge that the price the O's are holding out for is really worth it.

Dave Sheinin:"Robbed" is a strong word, particularly when you consider Tejada and Bedard are having devent seasons (decent, not great) for their respective teams, and as you pointed out, injuries to Patton and Albers must be factored in. But I do believe the O's got the better of those two deals, particularly the Bedard trade.

I fully expect the O's to trade at least a couple of veterans before the deadline, with Huff, Millar, Sherrill and Roberts among the likeliest to go. I don't think Andy MacPhail is fooled into thinking his team is a contender, despite its overachieving in the first half. If he can improve the team for 2009 or 2010, he'll do it.

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Boston MA: AHHHHH! Talk me down from the Tobin. Are Big Papi and Bucholtz really coming back? Will Becket come out of his funk? Will the Okey-dokey pitch return? Will Manny stop being Manny and quit the Pedro imitation with senior citizens?

Dave Sheinin: As I said above, I still believe the Red Sox will win the East. Buchholz is definitely coming back, and I believe Ortiz will, too. Beckett will come out of his funk. Okajima? I'm not so sure about him. I noticed that Francona is using him in the sixth inning these days -- he used to be the eighth-inning guy, no questions asked.

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Capitol Hill: Do the Nats teach their players to swing at the first pitch (and the second and third), or just not bother correcting that behavior?

Dave Sheinin: This is one of my biggest pet peeves about the Nats. I swear to God, if I see Felipe Lopez swing at another first pitch after the pitcher has just walked two batters in a row, I'm going to scream. There's no way the Nats are teaching players to do that (I assume you were being facetious with that question), but I sure wish they would do something about it.

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Dave Sheinin: OK, folks. We're all out of time. Sorry I couldn't get to every question. But we'll do it all again next time. Enjoy the Fourth.

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