Quick Hits
By Joe

Heading to the Kentucky Derby later today and wanted to jot down a couple quick thoughts since I likely won't post again until early next week.

Couldn't watch the Phillies game against Atlanta Tuesday, but followed most of it via MLB.com's Game Day feature. Once again, Cole Hamels impressed.

Not because he had 15 strikeouts like he did against the Reds a couple weeks ago. Not because he threw a shutout. Not because he looked flawless. Actually, Hamels barely made it out of the first inning, yielding five hits and three runs. It could have been worse except that Philadelphia threw an Atlanta runner out at the plate to save a run.

Hamels impressed me because he would have been shelled last year in a game like this. Hamels wasn't as mentally tough and didn't know how to control his emotions if he had a bad inning. There was one game in 2006, against these same Braves, where Hamels had something like 11 strikeouts through five innings. But in the sixth, he gave up a couple dinky hits and fell completely apart allowing seven runs to score.

This year that didn't happen. Sure, Hamels fell behind too much in the early going. But he stayed composed, settled down and worked into the eighth to pick up the victory. If Hamels can surrender just four runs during a game where he obviously didn't have his best stuff, the N.L. better watch out. This kid is going to be special.

David Wright has homered twice this week, which allowed me to breath a huge sigh of relief. I felt like the father of an expectant baby. I knew Wright would homer soon, but each day that passed without a dinger made me more nervous. Thankfully Wright seems to be turning the corner after his slow start.

Too bad New York's Phil Hughes got injured. He's got some nasty stuff. The Yankees look like they finally have an outstanding young pitcher in their farm system. The question now is whether they will let Hughes pitch in the majors once he gets healthy. At the rate which New York is losing pitchers to injury, they might not have much choice.

The Indians are 17-8 and playing ridiculously great baseball. I love this team. I think one more solid relief pitcher and they are set. The rotation is very good from top to bottom and the offense is excellent. It's early still, but I like that the Indians have built a lead on the rest of the tough Central Division.

The Brewers are also playing exceptionally well, although I'm not sure they can keep it up with their pitching staff. Jeff Suppan is pitching out of his mind and Ben Sheets isn't striking out many, which leads me to believe that his back is still bothering him.

I do like the lineup, especially with shortstop J.J. Hardy hitting well. The interesting thing about Milwaukee is that they play in the worst division in baseball. This gives them a legitimate shot at the playoffs for two reasons. 1. They get to play a bunch of crappy teams a bunch of times. 2. They probably only need to win 85 games to take the division, much like the Cardinals did last year. It's a good time to be a Brewers fan.

That's all for now. I'll post next week after hopefully winning some money in Louisville.