Cardinals Rotation Still Dominating

One reason why the Cardinals have raced out to the best record in the MLB, is because of their dominating rotation. Adam Wainwright showed how good the Cardinals starting pitching is, by taking a no-hitter into the 8th inning. Wainwright ended up throwing a 2 hit-shutout against the Colorado Rockies. Wainwright dominated a Rockies lineup that is 2nd in the MLB in Batting Average, 5th in Runs, 4th in Home Runs, 5th in RBI, 2nd in Total Bases, 2nd in Slugging Percentage, and 4th in OPS. Wainwright is one out of 5 Cardinals Starters that are under a 2.75 E.R.A. Before this season started, this Cardinals pitching looked like a mess, after Closer Jason Motte and Starter Chris Carpenter went down for the season. Jamie Garcia struggled and was very inconsistent last season. Lance Lynn did well through early August, before pitching mediocure. Shelby Miller was just an average long reliever, and Jake Westbrook was a question mark. Where the Cardinals are at right now, is very unexpected and surprising. Even though, the Cardinals have only played against 3 good hitting teams, they have registered 9 Team Shut Outs this season. They have allowed 3 runs or less in 23 games. They have recored 25 quality starts, have 3 starting pitchers under a 1.10 WHIP, with at least 8 strikeouts per nine innings, and tied for second, in the NL, with 5 wins. Shelby Miller has surprisingly been the most dominant pitcher for the Cardinals, so far. Miller has a 5-2 record, a 1.58 E.R.A., 51 strikeouts in 45 innings, and a 0.88 WHIP. This rotation of Miller, Wainwright, Westbrook, Garcia, Lynn. If they keep this up, the Cardinals will have one of the best and deepest rotations in 35 years. The Cardinals have shown they can take a part one of the top 3 offenses in baseball, but how will they fair against AL Teams, such as the Tigers, Indians, and Red Sox.

Is Patriots Pass Attack Still Good Enough?

This off-season the New England Patriots lost their top three recievers: Wes Welker, Brandon Llyod, and Deion Branch. The Patriots tried to fill in these holes by adding Donald Jones, Danny Amendola, Michael Jenkins, LaVelle Hawkins via free agency, and Aaron Dobson through the draft. The question is, Who will step up this season? Brady had Welker as his security blanket, in the slot, had a nice deep threat in Brandon Llyod, and a reliable target in Deion Branch. Now there all gone. For the first time since 2006, Tom Brady won't have a Priemer Target to throw to. When Brady and the Patriots won 3 Super Bowls in 5 years, they had only one wide reciever, that went to the Pro Bowl: Troy Brown (Went in 2001). Here are the names, of the recievers, that Brady threw to from 2001-2006: Troy Brown, Terry Glenn, David Patten, Charles Johnson, Belthel Johnson, David Givens, Deion Branch, Reche Caldwell, Chad Jackson, Jabar Gaffney, and Doug Gabriel. Those guys produced, but never put up numbers like Randy Moss and Wes Welker. This season, Tom Brady will have 4 new targets to throw to this season. Amendola caught 63 passes for 666 yards and 3 TD last season and had a career high 85 receptions in 2010. Jones started for the first time in Buffalo last season, catching 41 balls, for 443 yards and 4 TD last season. Jenkins caught 40 passes for 449 yards and 2 TD for the Vikings last season. LaVelle Hawkins caught only 6 passes as Titan last season (Was a 5th stringer). As you can see, none of these guys put up eye-popping numbers, but could be able to do even better with Brady. Brady helped David Givens, David Patten, and Deion Branch become better recievers. Maybe, Tom can get things going with Jenkins, Amendola, and Jones, and try to form a formidable passing game. You need great communication and to make a good passing game and Tom Brady does a great job doing that. Danny Amendola is a great target in the slot, when he played in St. Louis. His quarterback was Sam Bradford, not nearly as good as Brady is, so Amendola should be able to fill in for the loss of Welker. Don't expect a first year 112 catch season from this guy, but he only dropped one pass last season. Compared to Welker, who dropped 10 passes last season, Amendola shows he has great hands. The Patriots should be a little familiar with Donald Jones, since he played for division rival Buffalo Bills last season, they should get some of his strenghts and weaknesses, when he played against the Patriots. Jenkins is a big target at 6'4, which could make things easier for Brady in Red Zone Situations. When Brady won those 3 Super Bowl's though, he had great defense. Right now, the Patriots don't have a Ty Law, a Rhodney Harrison, a Richard Seymour, a Teddy Bruschi, or a Mike Vrabel. Remember Brady does have Aaron Hernandez, but will miss Rob Gronkowski, because he's getting surgery right now. As of right now, I say Amendola is the best target out of all these recievers I've listed.

Hanrahan's Season Is Over

The Boston Red Sox could have some closing issues now as closer Joel Hanrahan landed on the 60 Day DL. Hanrahan will need season ending surgery to repair a torn flxor tendon, in his right arm. The one year deal Hanrahan signed with the Red Sox, was a complete bust. In his very shortened season, Hanrahan had an 0-1 record, a 9.82 E.R.A., 4 saves, 2 blown saves, and gave up 4 home runs in 7 1/3 innings. The Red Sox already lost Andrew Bailey this season, and now losing Hanrahan makes matter's worse. Since the Jonathan Papelbon has left Boston, Red Sox closers have compiled a mediocure 5-11 record and a 4.63 E.R.A., in save situations. As of right now, Boston with have to go with Junichi Tawaza as the closer this season.

James Takes Home 4th MVP Award

Miami Heat Small Forward LeBron James became the youngest NBA player ever to win 4 NBA MVP awards. James was just one vote shy to win the award unanimously. The lone vote went to New York Knicks star, Camerlo Anthony. James was the 2nd player since Shaq to fall one vote short, of an unanimous MVP award. James put up another phenominal performace this season by averaging 26.8 points, 56 field goal %, 7.3 assists, 8 rebounds, and 40.6 percent from 3 point range, per game. James barley got beaten by Memphis Grizzlies Center, Marc Gasol, for NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. LeBron's explosiveness to the rim, his ability to knock down threes, and performing as one of the best defensive players in the NBA, makes him a triple threat. These are the big reasons why LeBron has been taking home MVP, the past 4 seasons. I was very surprised that Kevin Durant didn't recieve any first place votes. He's as good as a player as LeBron. Durant deserves as much credit, effort,  respect, and attention that LeBron James has had for years. On the front page of Sports Illustrated, Durant had quoted how he'd been second place for pretty much his entire life. In my opinoin, Durant should of won that MVP award. If he just improves his defensive play, Durant could even be a better player than LeBron. However, LeBron's hard work, effort, and stats shows why he was a, unanimous vote, for NBA this season.

Dolphins Sign Tyson Clabo

The Miami Dolphins lost their Pro Bowl Left Tackle Jake Long to the St. Louis Rams and were in a rush to find a replacement. They missed out on taking offensive tackle Lance Johnson in the draft (Drafted DE/OLB Dion Jordan at number 3 spot after trading places with the Oakland Raiders), and signing Left Tackle Bryant McKinnie (Re-Signed with the Baltimore Ravens). The Dolphins still had a void at Right Tackle, but needed to find a replacement that suits that run and pass blocking scheme. The Dolphins finally founded their guy by adding free agent Right Tackle Tyson Clabo. The Dolphins and Clabo agreed to a 1 year deal. Clabo is expected to play right tackle, with Jonathan Martin moving from the right side to the left side, where he will replace Jake Long. Clabo had been previously released by the Atlanta Falcons because of a cap move. He helped give Falcons Michael Turner clear running lanes and was part of an offensive line that yielded the seventh fewest sacks in 2012. Clabo is one of the several offensive additions by the Miami Dolphins this season, in order to help Ryan Tannehill's potential next season. The addition of Clabo should help Tannehill become more comfortable in the pocket.