Jurickson Profar: From Willemstad, Curacao, Profar has already been selected once this past WBC. He played for the Netherlands, who managed to go to the final four in the WBC, only to lose against the WBC champions, Dominican Republic.

Profar is a switch hitter, and the Texas Rangers are trying to move him from the infield to the outfield so that he can have the opportunity of being an every day player.

Profar is the number one prospect in all of baseball, and that comes with no surprises. What makes Profar so great is his versatility, speed and power. If the Rangers are able to move him to the outfield, I expect Profar to stay there for a long time. If the Rangers aren’t able to find a way to play him, other teams have already expressed interest in the 20 year old. You read that right, he’s only 20! Profar’s real position is shortstop, but the Rangers have already locked up Elvis Andrus. One thing is for sure, Profar is one if not the best player coming from the Netherlands.

Grant Balfour: The Oakland A’s really found their closer. Grant Balfour provides this uncanny rage that no one seems to understand. So far, he has 17 saves for the A’s this year. His stuff is very good, as his primary pitch (fastball) can reach 94 and his off-speed stuff (slider, curve and change up) reach the low 80’s. His change-up usually tops 89, and that’s all you need to throw batters off. His pitches also have nice movement. Balfour is from Australia, and he continues to make his mates very proud. He is 10th in the MLB in the saves category this year, and that number should improve as the season goes on. His ERA is at 1.26, which makes him second only to Jason Grilli (ERA of 0.88) in MLB (closers who have more than 17 saves qualify for my analysis). Althout Australia doesn’t have a lot of known MLB players, Balfour is known and respected among all of baseball.

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All statistics are as of the beginning of play on June 18.

Travis Wood, P

Starting pitcher Travis Wood has a 5-6 record, but that does not tell the story. Wood has an ERA of 2.74 in 14 starts, which leads the team.

This ERA is also 12th in the National League among ERA qualifiers. Having watched nearly every Cubs game, I can say that low run support, poor bullpen support, and shoddy defense have kept Wood’s numbers from getting even better. Uncharged errors turn into earned runs charged against him. For example, on June 17, Wood’s line read four earned runs in seven innings. Defensive miscues that did not go down as errors — plus a terrible safe call at home plate — helped lead to those four earned runs. These things have happened to Wood all season. He could have close to 10 wins and a much lower ERA.

Wood can also hit. At the plate, he is at .276 with 2 HR and 7 RBI, including a grand slam. The All-Star game is in a National League park (Citi Field) this year, so if his spot came up, he could get to swing. That’s very unlikely, but I would love to see it.

Wood is not the starter. That honor should go to Clayton Kershaw (5-4, 1.84, for the last place Dodgers), but Travis Wood should make the team and get an inning on the mound.

David DeJesus, CF

Statistically speaking, center fielder David DeJesus does not look like an All-Star. His big three numbers are .260, 6 HR, 21 RBI. He is the best leadoff hitter the Cubs have had in many years, and he is fabulous on defense. He makes my All-Star team for his leadership and his example. DeJesus plays hard every day, runs into walls to make a catch (currently disabled for just that reason), moves runners over, and drives in runs from the lead-off spot. Most fans do not hear of him very much, but Cub fans can agree that he is the team MVP so far in 2013.

I would vote for Milwaukee’s Carlos Gomez to start in center field, but DeJesus should get an invitation and at least an at bat and inning or two in the field.

Borderline candidate

Again, looking at numbers does not give the entire picture. One more player, closer Kevin Gregg, is a borderline case for the All-Star team. Gregg joined the Cubs in late April, and he has filled a huge void in the bullpen. He has saved all nine chances. That’s 13th in the league, but he does not get many chances. He has an ERA of 0.83 in 22 appearances. Hands-down, the All-Star closer should be Pittsburgh’s Jason Grilli with the Cardinals’ Edward Mujica right behind. I do not expect Gregg to make the team, but it would not surprise me if he does.

If only one: Travis Wood

With the Cubs in such bad shape, it is hard to imagine their having more than the one required All-Star. If only one Cub can go, then it should be Travis Wood. He has done all he can to get the Cubs some wins: pitch, hit, field, steal a base, and block home plate. Unfortunately, he has gotten little support from his teammates. The Cubs are not filled with All-Stars this year, but Wood, DeJesus, and possibly Gregg have earned the honor.

Follow Raymond on Twitter @RayBureau.

Like Raymond’s “Baseball Bureau” page on Facebook.

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East race and the series in Boston is followed by a series with the New York Yankees, so if the Rays plan on making a move in the division now would be the time.

Tampa Bay enters play on Tuesday with a 36-33 record while the Red Sox are now leading the East with a record of 42-29. Boston has been able to forget the futility of last season and have played well enough to possess the best record (along with the Oakland A’s) in the American League. Boston’s offense has lead the charge and has some impressive stats to show for it: the team has the fourth-best batting average, the fourth-most homeruns and the most RBIs of any team in the AL. The Sox also have the second-most walks and are tops in the AL in steals. One negative aspect of their offense has been the strikeouts; only the Houston Astros have more K’s than the Red Sox have.

The series will start on Tuesday and features a double-header with the first game beginning at 1:40 PM. The first game of the double-dip will feature Chris Archer for the Rays against Alfredo Aceves for the Red Sox. Archer has made three starts this season and it will be his second match-up with the Red Sox. In his last start against Boston the Rays’ righty pitched only four innings after he gave up four walks and four hits. Jacoby Ellsbury is 4-for-4 against Archer with 2 walks. The Rays have faced Aceves before but only Yunel Escobar, 2-for-6, and Desmond Jennings, 2-for7, have had success against the Red Sox starter.

Jake Odorizzi will make the start in the second game of the double-header and will face Felix Doubront for Boston. Odorizzi will be making his third start and fourth appearance on the season. Odorizzi has struggled this season and in 12 innings of work he has allowed 17 hits and 11 earned runs. Odorizzi has never faced the Red Sox. The Rays have experience against Doubront as Luke Scott is 3-for-8 with 2 homers, Evan Longoria is 3-for-8 with 4 walks, Kelly Johnson is 3-for-11 and Escobar is 4-for-12 against Boston’s southpaw starter.

Wednesday’s series finale pits Jeremy Hellickson against Ryan Dempster. Dempster signed with Boston in the offseason for $26.5 million over two years and the 36-year-old hasn’t exactly lived up to his contract. Dempster is 4-7 with a 4.21 ERA, he has seemingly settled in lately though, lasting at least six innings in his previous four starts. Luke Scott is 3-for-7 against the enigmatic Dempster. Many of the Red Sox hitters have faced Hellickson and David Ortiz is 7-for-19 with 2 homeruns and Jarrod Saltalamacchia is 6-for-20 with 2 homeruns as well. Hellickson has not been nearly as effective in 2013 as he has been in the past but a good start against a tough Red Sox lineup will do wonders for the young righty’s confidence.

Many people pontificated on when and how Tampa Bay should call up Wil Myers and possibly it was the Rays’ front office seeing their former players beat them as members of the Kansas City Royals that prompted the promotion. Light-hitting Elliot Johnson carried the Royals on his back over the weekend series against Tampa Bay and Wade Davis pitched six strong innings to earn his fourth win of the season on Sunday. After trading James Shields, Davis and Johnson to Kansas City for Myers and Odorizzi the Royals have beaten the Rays in six-of-seven games this season. Ryan Roberts was released to make room for Myers on the roster.

The next seven games, three with Boston and four with New York, will be one of the most important stretches of the season and Wil Myers will be thrown into the fire of the AL East. His production may be the catalyst the Rays need to start putting some winning streaks together and climb up the standings, however, the starting pitching really needs to turn it around soon if the team wants to go anywhere.

Pitching Match-Ups

Tue 1- Chris Archer (TB) 1-2, 4.80 ERA vs. Alfredo Aceves (BOS) 3-1, 5.58 ERA

Tue 2- Jake Odorizzi (TB) 0-0, 8.03 ERA vs. Felix Doubront (BOS) 4-3, 4.91 ERA

Wed- Jeremy Hellickson (TB) 4-3, 5.67 ERA vs. Ryan Dempster (BOS) 4-7, 4.21 ERA

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Need to make a pickup today? These players may be available in your league.

Each player is listed with his Rank (among all hitters), according to the stats found in my forward-looking research.

1.    Runs Scored

2.    Component Average

3.    Age

Ownership assumptions are based on ESPN & CBS leagues.

Shortstop

Outfield

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Gaudin had two really good starts in place of the injured Ryan Vogelsong. For two turns through the rotation, he was Chad Gaudin, Staff Ace. That was fun while it lasted, but it was never likely to last long.

After all, Gaudin has 426 innings under his belt as a starter and a career ERA of 4.70.

Over five-plus innings in his third start, he allowed eight hits, a walk, two dingers and four runs while failing to strike out a single hitter. That’s more in line with his career track record as a starter than the 12 brilliant innings he delivered over his first two starts.

Tim Lincecum’s failures aren’t for a lack of effort as they were back in August of 2010 when his current troubles were foreshadowed so well. After winning back-to-back Cy Young Awards in the previous two seasons, Lincecum went 0-5 with a 7.82 ERA in August of 2010. He started working out harder to help propel the Giants to the NL West crown and eventually the franchise’s first World Series title since coming west to San Francisco.

Over the last two years, Lincecum has tried everything to get back to being the ace he once was—or even some serviceable level below that—to no avail. Over his last 47 starts since the beginning of 2012, Lincecum has the sixth worst ERA in baseball at 4.99. On Sunday night in from a national audience, Lincecum battled threw six laborious innings to deliver only his 18th quality start over the past season-plus. The Atlanta heat and humidity forced the sweat to bleed through Lincecum’s jersey all evening as the Braves continually threatened with 11 baserunners. To his credit, he only allowed three to score, and two of those were the result of Andres Torres’ buffoonery in left field.

Torres appears to have caught the yips in the outfield. He’s endlessly losing balls in the lights, letting the ball get through his legs, or struggling to figure out which way to turn his glove as the ball rushes past him and runners sprint around the bases towards home against a pitching staff that can ill afford to allow any free bases. It’s not like Torres is Pat the Bat with the stick.

Burrell is probably out humping for talent for general manager Brian Sabean as an advanced scout for the Giants. Three years ago, his clutch power hitting helped push the Giants over the top despite his defensive shortcomings in left. If Torres isn’t going to catch the ball, the Giants ought to play the gifted defender Juan Perez in center and Gregor Blanco in left. The offensive drop off would likely be nonexistent given that Torres is hitting .261/.304/.376.

Zito is mostly unwatchable, even if the results are sometimes good. Many of his starts are of the noncompetitive variety, to paraphrase Curt Schilling.  His 4.79 ERA is marginally acceptable—less so when you factor in the eight unearned runs he’s allowed. The Giants could live with Zito’s mediocrity if Vogelsong wasn’t terrible before getting injured, if Lincecum was more serviceable, and if staff ace Matt Cain hadn’t delivered four horrendous starts in which he allowed six runs or more. The rest of the rotation has been bad, with only Madison Bumgarner delivering an ERA below 4.00 to this point (3.30). Thus, Zito’s inconsistent performance is no longer as palatable. The other four in the rotation aren’t pitching well enough for the Giants to be able to punt half of their fifth starter’s starts.

That gets us to Sabean—or Sabey-Sabes as he’s derisively called in Moneyball—getting out on the trade market in search of a starter. The early rumors have the Giants looking at Bud Norris and Ricky Nolasco. Both profile as #3-type starters. If the Giants were to acquire a starter to slot in behind Cain and Bumgarner in the middle of the rotation—presumably, Cain and Bumgarner can pitch like top-of-the-rotation arms going forward—and if Ryan Vogelsong can pitch like it’s 2011-2012 again when he returns from the DL, suddenly Zito would be an accetable fifth starter, and Lincecum and Gaudin can strengthen a depleted bullpen.

One trade and one starter coming back from injury can turn this whole thing around. The NL West is wide open with four teams within two games of first place and the cellar-dwelling Dodgers only 7.5 games out. Any team can win this division. The Giants are 35-33 and they’ve been outscored by eight runs. Like Zito, they’re a mediocre outfit at this point without enough juice on the heater.

But, they’re within striking distance and they’re lurking. They’ll eventually get Vogelsong, Angel Pagan, Marco Scutaro, Pablo Sandoval, and Santiago Casilla back. More importantly, Sabean isn’t going to stand pat, he never does.

He delivered Scutaro and Hunter Pence at last season’s trading deadline, and Jose Mijares shortly thereafter. He delivered Carlos Beltran, Orlando Cabrera, and Jeff Keppinger at the 2011 deadline. In 2010, he kept improving the team throughout the year by promoting Bumgarner and Buster Posey from the farm system, trading for Ramon Ramirez, Javier Lopez and Jose Guillen, and picking up unwanted parts in Burrell and Cody Ross.

Sabean is a scout. When he watches this team play right now, he has to know that it isn’t good enough as presently constructed regardless of the injury situation. His team isn’t competitive enough because they don’t have any idea what they’re going to get from the starting rotation on a day-to-day basis.

Sabean will deliver a starting pitcher because he always delivers the goods. This is a man who has brought the organization three World Series appearances and two titles during his tenure. You don’t have that type of success by lying to yourself about what you see on the field.

This team isn’t good enough right now, but Sabean’s history suggests that he’ll do everything in his power to make sure his club is on top when the final bell rings.

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Whoever does not win, will become the most voted for backup in All-Star Game history, along with the creation of some very harsh feelings in either the Bay Area or Midwest.

As of June 16, Posey was leading Molina by just over 600,000 votes, which is not as much as it seems.

Both players are having career years, excelling in different elements of the game and among the top of different stat categories. As the MLB’s leading hitter, Molina has a far higher batting average at .352, while Posey is at a modest .316. As of June 7, Molina had thirteen hits in thirteen more at bats than Posey.

Posey has however accumulated a higher slugging percentage of .515 compared to Molina’s .488. In support of his high slugging percentage, Posey has hit more homeruns than Molina with eight while driving in 41 runs. Not necessarily a power hitter, Molina has hit four homeruns and drove in 36 runs.

Posey has longer, more strategic at bats, while striking out more, but drawing more walks than Molina. In contrast, Molina takes a more aggressive approach, seeing almost 80 less pitches so far.

Molina has been a better defensive catcher, allowing only sixteen stolen bases on 27 attempts As a team, the Cardinals have allowed the least stolen bases in baseball Runners have had their way with Posey, yielding the second most stolen bases in the MLB with 38 on 47 attempts. The Cardinals backstop has also yet to allow a passed ball this year, as Posey has allowed three.

Though this may be a bit of an inaccurate way to measure a catcher’s talent, the Cardinals have been one of the best pitching teams in baseball. With three pitchers with over seven wins, the Cardinal staff also has an ERA almost one point lower than the Giant staff. The Giants have had an average year in pitching, a letdown considering all of their talent on the hill.

Despite being behind Posey, I think Yadier Molina is the more deserving catcher for the starting nod. “Yadi” has played better defensively while being a more complete offensive player. Posey is a good, young player with a lot of talent and potential, but he has more to do to become the National League’s perennial All-Star Game catcher.

Posey, the 2012 starting catcher, is not out of the race, considering the excessive voting habits of San Francisco fans, however Molina has had a better year by the numbers. This semi positional rivalry might be a preview of the MVP question later this year, but I think Molina will win out again, as he has been the heart of the best team and pitching staff in baseball, and as they say, “statistics do not lie.”

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However, I did expect them to fare better than 11 games under .500 after 67 games.

Here is my Chicago Cubs mid-June report card. All statistics are entering play on June 17.

Starting pitching: A-

The Chicago Cubs’ starting pitching is one of the few strengths of this team. Using six starters this far into the season makes the rotation strong, and only Matt Garza’s absence until mid-May caused the necessary sixth man. Starters are 7th in the league in ERA at 3.74 and 8th best in total runs allowed. They have kept the ball in the ballpark (39 HR), and they are fairly stingy in letting runners on base (1.20 WHIP). That is a far cry from recent years in which Cubs’ starters typically had among the highest WHIP and ERA in the National League.

Travis Wood leads the team with a 2.65 ERA, and he is 10th in the National League. Jeff Samardzija (3.46) is becoming a front-line starter, and Scott Feldman (3.05) has pleasantly surprised me. The one blemish is Edwin Jackson (5.40 ERA), but he has pitched better in his recent starts.

Bullpen: D+

Here is the main reason I wish the starters would go deeper into games. The bullpen continues to struggle, and the Cubs have even lost Kyuji Fujikawa for the season to Tommy John surgery. To me, Carlos Marmol has run out of chances. He has blown three of five saves opportunities, including a three-run ninth-inning lead to the Mets on June 16. The + comes from setup man James Russell and closer Kevin Gregg. Both have been brilliant. Russell has a WHIP of 0.98 in 34 appearances, and Gregg is 9 for 9 in saves. The rest of the pen, though has had more than its share of trouble. Aside from Gregg, the Cubs bullpen has 14 blown saves in 18 official opportunities.

Offense: C+

The Chicago Cubs are 9th in the league in runs scored, averaging 4.04 runs per game. That is more then the team ERA of 3.90, so it looks like the Cubs should have a better record. They had a great May, but when 13th in April and June, that does not bode well overall. They have their flashes of brilliance. They have hit 69 home runs (4 from the pitchers) but few with runners on. They also continue to leave runners stranded in clutch situations; that is a recurring theme. The Cubs are 9th in RBI at 257, and 22 of those RBI (8.5%) have come from the pitchers.

Defense: C-

Here is another reason why a rotation with a 3.74 ERA is only 19-29. Defense has let the Cubs down so far this year. The Cubs defense has committed 50 errors, tied for the most in the league. Starlin Castro can make an unbelievably great play and then an unbelievably horrible play on the next pitch. Castro has 10 errors already, and Welington Castillo has seven. That gives the opposition more scoring chances, and the pitchers have to work more, raising their pitch count. Indeed, though, the pitchers must still get out of the inning without those runs scoring, and they often do not. In turn, the bullpen has to turn over more, and we know what happens then.

The outfield has done very well. Alfonso Soriano, David DeJesus, Nate Shceiholtz, Ryan Sweeny, and Scott Hairston have committed only six errors between them from three positions.

Coaching: C

This is tough to grade because manager Dale Sveum can only make the calls, and he needs something to work with. He cannot use Russell and Gregg every day, but he has to keep Marmol out of save situations. I would like to see more bunting, moving runners, and running, but — then again — if the players cannot execute, then he can’t make those calls. He and his staff should find some way to get runners home with less than two outs — reducing the strikeouts would go far in this regard.

I did not expect the Chicago Cubs to win the N.L. Central this year, but I did expect a better showing. Many of the numbers indicate that better showing, but poor defense and relief pitching have interfered with their progress. Improving those two aspects will allow the Cubs to win more games. The Cubs have a lot of work ahead, but they have a top-notch Minor League system. For now, though, they are working on building a winner. Improving these categories will help allow that to happen within a few years.

Follow Raymond on Twitter @RayBureau.

Like Raymond’s “Baseball Bureau” page on Facebook.

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Tulowizki was on route to win the National batting title before he got hurt.

Now the Padres are surprisingly led by their starting pitching which had a bad start but had dramatic improved over the weekend.

So let’s a recap this great weekend for Padres fans who might have witness the miracle they have been waiting for since Jake Peavy was pitching for the Padres and the manger of the team was  Bruce Bochy.

On Friday night, Padres sent Eric Stults to the mound and he had the best game of his career, he was on fire the whole game. He only gave up two hits in his compete game win. The first hit was a double to the leadoff man, Gerardo Parra and the next hit would come by Willie Bloomquist in the ninth with one out. Stults only had three strikeouts in the complete game but he kept on throwing in the 90’s throughout the game. Logan Forsythe was the best Padres hitter as he had two RBIs. The final score was 2-1.

Saturday night, the Padres sent their ace, Jason Marquis to the mound. Marquis had a bad start to the game as he gave up a 3 run homer to Miguel Montero. Montero homer would be the only scored that Marquis would give up. He went six and half innings, giving up three hits and had 3 strikeouts in the win. The best hitter for the Padres was Yasmani Grandal who hit his first homerun of the season and had 3 RBIs.  Hudson Street returned from injury and entered the game in the ninth for his 12 save of the year but it was not a great save as he gave up one earned run and two hits.  Final score was 6-4. The win for Marquis gave him a record of 9-2 this season not bad for a journeyman pitcher.

Sunday afternoon, Padres swept the Diamondbacks. Padres sent former reliever, Clayton Richard to the mound. Richard went 8 innings giving one earned run which was to the Diamondbacks’ pitcher; Ian Kennendy.Richard also gave up seven hits with one strikeout. Street came into the game to close and he received his 13 save and only gave up one hit. The Padres best hitter was Kyle Blanks who broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth with 3 run homer. The final score was 4-1.

Padres now on a winning streak of six games and if they want to keep on winning it will depend on their rotation and their impact players like Grandal and Everth Cabrera who is batting .305 and already has 31 stolen bases, he’s on pace to have 112 according to ESPN.  However Cabrera got hurt on Sunday and is day to day with a hamstring injury. Padres have been playing their best baseball without NL ROY contender, Jedd Gyorko who has been on the 15 DL since last Monday.  Gyorko will start to hit and take groundballs on the field Monday this comes from Padres broadcaster, Andy Masur.   Padres are action this week, starting Monday night, they have a three game series against NL West foe, San Francisco Giants and then a three game series against the Dodgers.  I believe they can win two games against the Giants and they will sweep the Dodgers. Padres sooner than later will be leading the West for a week or two until the Diamondbacks or Giants regain the lead.

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They posted a 5-1 road trip with one game being rained out.

They’ve won 8 of their last 10 games. Over that span, they’ve completed a sweep of the Texas Rangers and extended their win streak to 5 games. That is their longest win streak since July 2011. On Sunday, the Blue Jays gave the Rangers yet another beating. This by the count of 7-2. On Friday they won 8-0, and on Saturday 6-1. The offense has been lead by Adam Lind. He’s put up video game numbers as of late hitting .344 with 5 home runs, 13 RBI over his last 14 games. His average is now .350 however needs a few more at bats to be in contention for the batting title. J.P Arencibia hit 2 home runs in the series against Texas, as did Colby Rasmus. The middle of the lineup has stepped up, and are really contributing to what looks to be the turn around season we’ve all waited for. How about the pitching? Blue Jays starters have gone into the 6th inning or more in all of their past 8 wins. The relievers have been shutting down opponents. The addition of Neil Wagner, Juan Perez, and of course Casey Jansen, they’ve been untouchable. Jose Reyes is playing in AAA and looks great. He hit a couple singles, a triple, and started a double play defensively this weekend. Rickey Romero is starting to pitch well in AAA. He’s had a couple good outings to gain his confidence. He’s looking to come back sometime this year. The Blue Jays will start interleague play against the Colorado Rockies on Monday. They then play the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays. This is the time they need to make a run and catch the teams in front. They are currently 8.5 games behind Boston for the AL East lead, and are only 5.5 back of the second Wild Card position. Once again we will play out this week and see if this is the real turn around the Blue Jays were hoping for. Or is this another “here we go again” theme?

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