Pitching Matchup of the Day: August 17th

     Doug Fister of the Washington Nationals and Edison Volquez of the Pittsburgh Pirates square off today at 5:05 PM ET in a series that could possibly decide whether or not the Pirates have an increased chance of making the 2014 MLB playoffs. ( Last two games were losses to the Nationals )

  Doug Fister has been extremely solid throughout the season, going 12 - 3, with an excellent ERA of 2.34. Born on February 4th, 1984, Fister grew up as a Oakland Athletics baseball fan and a San Francisco Giants fan. Doug Fister attended Golden Valley High School, where Fister was a two year letterman and was a All - Central California Conference selection as a senior.


    At Merced college ( Fister attended Merced from 2003 - 2004 ), Fister was drafted in the 49th round of the 2004 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants, but chose to transfer to Fresno State University to play Division 1 baseball with the Fresno State Bulldogs. Fister lead the Bulldogs with seven ( 7 ) wins. Eventually, he was selected by the New York Yankees in the sixth round of the 2005 MLB Draft, but chose to remain at Fresno State University for one more year to hopefully find his maximum potential as a pitcher. In his final season with the Fresno State Bulldogs, Fister went 8 - 6 with a 4.10 earned run average. However, he was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the seventh round of the 2006 MLB Draft.


         After many solid years in the Mariners farm system, Fister made his MLB debut on August 8th, 2009 against the Tampa Bay Rays, Fister went one inning and issued a hit and a walk. Fister finished the season with a 3 - 4 record with a respectable 4.13 era. Fister was traded from the Seattle Mariners starting rotation to the Detroit Tigers starting rotation, where he went 8 -1 with a 1.79 earned run average. Therefore, Fister ended the 11 - 13 with an earned run average of 2.83.
       On December 2nd, 2013, Doug Fister was traded once again, but to the Washington Nationals, where he remains on the active roster today.

        Edinson Volquez was born on July 3rd, 1983 in Barahona, Dominican Republic. Edison grew up around baseball and began to play when his parents encouraged him to try the sport that he would eventually adore. As a child, Volquez did two things regulary, go to school and play baseball. Volquez signed with the Texas Rangers in 2001, only to provide the Rangers with more depth in there farm system, that had now-solid White Sox starting pitcher, John Danks as a top prospect. After four ( 4 ) long and tiring years in the minors, Volquez was called up to make his MLB debut on August 30th, 2005 against the Chicago White Sox. For the first two years of his career, Volquez struggled, only receiving one win over the span of the 2005 and 2006 MLB seasons.


      Traded to the Cincinnati Reds in the Josh Hamilton deal, Volquez improved immensely, going 7 - 1 with a 1.33 era in nine starts during the 2008 MLB season, earning himself a spot on the All-Star team. Just when Volquez was comfortable, he was traded to the San Diego Padres in a deal that brought star pitcher Mat Latos to the Cincinnati Reds. After a brief stint with the Padres, Volquez shifted to the Dodgers, where he had an unsuccessful year, going 0 - 2 with a 4.18 era. This past year, Volquez has gained the momentum and success to ride the winning train. Currently, Volquez is 10 - 7 with a 3.67 era!


    Make sure to tune into the Pirates against the Nationals at 5:05 PM ET today!

The Underrated Squad: Part One

       Today, I will be introducing a new series which primarily focuses on the underrated professional baseball player in the MLB! Over the course of the next year, we will construct a roster of twenty-five ( 25 ) underrated players that deserve more attention by not only the fans, but by front offices, scouts, and even teammates.


 Catcher : Derek Norris of the Oakland Athletics

       Derek Norris is currently a professional baseball player in the Oakland Athletics organization. Drafted in the fourth round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the Nationals, Norris was traded to the Oakland Athletics on December 23rd, 2011 in the Gio Gonzalez deal that sent many young and promising prospects to Oakland for their ace at the time. Derek Norris is known as a brick and cement wall that has the ability to pick off speedy base runners on his knees or standing up.

 Although there was a lot of speculation about the young, gifted prospect, once Norris was called-up to the majors for the first time, he began to struggle, and injuries only held him back further from more playing time and an opportunity of a lifetime.

                                                                      Gio Gonzalez

 

       In the 2013 MLB season, Norris hit a respectable .246 batting average along with nine ( 9 ) home runs and thirty ( 30 ) runs batted in. Although, many scouts felt that Norris did not live up to the hype and expectations set in front of him. Therefore, many organizations decided he was not the piece of the puzzle for them ( If "Said" team needed a catcher ).  Initially, once Derek Norris was called-up, he was the backup catcher to Kurt Suzuki, who is currently the starting catcher for the Minnesota Twins. Batting .286 this year with ten ( 10 ) homers, forty-seven ( 47 ) runs-batted-in while scoring thirty-five ( 35 ) times, Norris is on fire, being considered as one of the most exciting and talented young players to watch throughout Major League Baseball.

      Derek Norris earned a spot on the 2014 American League All-Star squad and made it loud and clear that he was a solid, stable, young backstop that can now deal with the pressure and expectations of the people around him. In edition, some players, coaches and scouts have began to see that Norris resembles Jorge Posada's and Ivan Rodriguez's type of play and versatility.

        That wraps up part one of The Underrated Squad, tune back into MLB with Evered for further posts!

 *MLB with Evered is on Twitter! @MLBwithEvered!

  

An Interview with Author Dan Gutman

  Hello readers and sports fans!  I have a super-special interview today! I recently interviewed author and New York Mets fan Dan Gutman. Dan Gutman is the author of many books, including his famous baseball series where he writes about a boy who has the ability to travel through time using a baseball card as a time machine! It's a great way series to read for hesitate readers and you can learn many facts and information from the series! Check out Mr. Gutman's website here www.dangutman.com !

                                                                                                                                                                         JE: What was your inspiration to write fiction baseball history books?

DG:  I knew that a lot of kids collected baseball cards (at least in 1995), and I knew that a lot of kids were fascinated by time travel stories.  So, I thought I would simply combine the two and create a story about a boy who has the power to travel through time using a baseball card as a time machine.

JE: As a kid, did you aim at becoming a writer once you were an adult?

DG: No, I actually wanted to be a photographer when I was a kid.

JE: How did you come to writing about baseball?

DG: Your teachers probably like to tell you to write about what you like and write what you know. I was a baseball fan, and I knew a lot about the history of the game. Also, I knew that a lot of boys like sports, and some are actually reluctant readers.

JE: Who is your favorite MLB team?


DG: I grew up as a Mets fan. I currently live near Philadelphia and root for them, but honestly I don't have any strong loyalty to any team.

JE: Should your readers expect more books about baseball?

DG: Yes. " Willie & Me" comes out in February. It's about Willie Mays, and that will be the last baseball card adventure.

JE: If you could interview any baseball player, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

DG: Babe Ruth, because he was such a dominant player of his time and such an interesting person.

JE: Any advice for young reporters, bloggers and journalists?

DG: Sure..

 Don't take rejection personally, the editors are not rejecting YOU, they're rejecting the words on the page. 

They're very possibly wrong anyway.  I had a book rejected by ten publishers. 

 Two of them rejected it TWICE. After the book was published, the kids of California voted it their favorite children's book of the year.

   Dr. Seuss's first book was rejected twenty-seven ( 27 ) time, Harry Potter was rejected. It's an occupational hazard. The secret is... there is no secret. I'm sorry, but it's true. There is no secret.    

  The secret is to bust your butt for ten or twenty years, making mistakes, doing stupid things, going off in all the wrong directions, getting rejected a thousand times, never giving up. The secret is finally, after all that, discovering the thing that you were meant to do. The thing that makes you feel confident and fulfilled.

 

  I had an amazing time interviewing Mr. Gutman! Check Mr. Gutman out at www.dangutman.com or follow him on Twitter!

Pitching Matchup of the Day: August 5th

       Making his Detroit Tigers debut, David Price is set to square off against the Yankees Hiroki Kuroda in New York, at 7:05 PM ET. David Price was recently acquired by the Detroit Tigers on July, 31st, minutes before the 4:00 PM ET trade deadline to increase their pitching depth, due to the Athletics acquisition of Jon Lester on the same day.

         David Taylor Price was born on August twenty-sixth ( 26 ), 1985. Known as a pitching powerhouse, Price earned the feat of being selected first overall ( 1st ) in the 2007 MLB Draft. Called-up to make his professional debut in September of 2008, Price pitched out of the bullpen in the 2008 MLB playoffs to earn a save that propelled the Tampa Bay Rays to reach the World Series, only to eventually loose to the Philadelphia Phillies four games to one ( 4-1 ). Once the 2009 MLB regular season commenced, Price was in the starting rotation for the first time since being in the minors. Little did Price know, that the following year he would be the starter for the American League in the 2010 All-Star Game and finish second in CY Young voting, behind Seattle's ace, Felix Hernandez.

 Hiroki Kuroda began his baseball career in the Nippon Professional Baseball League with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp from 1997 to 2007 ( 10 years ). Signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008, Kuroda threw seven innings against the San Diego Padres, while allowing only one run in his Major League Baseball debut. From the years 2008 to 2011, Kuroda pitched with the Los Angeles Dodgers until the New York Yankees signed Kuroda to deal worth about 10 million dollars for one year. Since then, Kuroda has been the only Yankee starter to remain relatively healthy during the 2014 MLB regular season.

                  Tune into the Tigers vs Yankees at 7:05 PM ET today!

Baez Called Up to Make His Professional Debut

    Javier Baez, the number two prospect for the Chicago Cubs, finally earned the call he had been waiting for. The Chicago Cubs called up the young stud and he will meet them on the road at Coors Field in Colorado, home to the Colorado Rockies. Baez has spent the entire year at triple-A Iowa, hitting .260 with twenty-three ( 23 ) homers that pair with eighty-three ( 83 ) runs-batted-in. Ranked the fifth-overall prospect in Minor League Baseball by Jonathon Mayo, Baez has always lived up to the high expectations thrown in front of him. * Check out my interview with MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo, which will be posted soon!

Drafted ninth ( 9th ) overall by the Chicago Cubs in the 2011 MLB Draft, Baez has moved up the ladder rather quickly. Although his main position is at shortstop, Baez is expected to play second base ( 2nd ) or be played at the hot corner, although third base ( 3rd ) seems unlikely. The Chicago Cubs who are led by General Manager Jed Hoyer and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein. The Cubs positioned themselves to acquire many highly rated prospects that led them to becoming the team with the number one ( No. 1 ) farm system out of all thirty teams in Major League Baseball.

    Not only does Baez have the ability to hit for power, make contact and use his spectacular discipline at the plate to get on base, his glove is also a crucial part of his excellence. Ranked as the third best shortstop in Minor League Baseball, Baez uses his versatility, agility and athleticism to cover the range of a major league shortstop.

     Scheduled to make his professional debut in " The Show" tomorrow against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field against south-paw Brett Anderson, fans of the Cubs have high expectations for the twenty year old ( 20 ).

    Javier Baez is the second highly rated Cubs prospect to be called-up this season, since Arismendy Alcantara was called up in early July.  MLB Pipeline player of the week Kris Bryant, prospects Addison Russell, Albert Almora, C.J. Edwards, Kyle Schwarber and Billy McKinney are expected to be stars at the major league level. For who? Only the Chicago Cubs.