After a dominant relief outing in his Major League debut, Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Max Scherzer is heading to the rotation to make his first career start on Monday. If Scherzer is as dirty against the Phillies as he was in his debut, he could stick in the rotation for more than just a spot start. Over the long term, though, look for Scherzer’s rough mechanics to force him back into a relief role.

Arizona sees Scherzer as a future starter, but the club could find itself in a similar situation with him as the New York Yankees were with Joba Chamberlain and the Boston Red Sox with Jonathan Papelbon. Do they keep the most electric arm in their organization at the back end of the bullpen, or do they rock the boat and hope Scherzer can be equally as dominant while eating more innings? Read more »

To less hardcore baseball fans, the name Larry Walker doesn’t carry a lot of clout. If you didn’t see him play or hear numerous, numerous people rave about his immense abilities, his name blends in with a mass of other very good, non-Hall of Famers.

But if you do listen to all of that talk and can appreciate the fact that Walker had once-in-a-generation, five-tool ability, you can appreciate how gifted Texas Rangers center fielder Josh Hamilton is. The reason? Hamilton is raking to start the 2008 season, and he is collecting comparisons to Walker faster than he’s adding to his MLB-leading RBI count. Read more »