I thought he hadnt lost since May.

And now, for the first time, a revealing look at Belly Butler's IPad. What's he doing this afternoon on line?

http://i57.tinypic.com/dg3v4m.jpg

I don't think the 2nd wc spot comes from the central. Royals have to win the division.

James has been mediocre in his last 10 games, but he is 5-0 with a 4.28 ERA over that time. That's not what you are looking for from a front of the rotation guy, but it's not like his starts are killing us. We are 8-2 over that stretch. His last two games have been really bad. We have lost both and he's carrying a 5.78 ERA over those 14 innings (2 games). Honestly, I don't really care what his stats are, as long as we keeping putting W's up when he takes the Hill.

If he can pull it together in the 2nd half, I like our chances of competing for the Central.

Whoever is up on the rotation schedule. All of our starters are about the same, we really don't have a true ace like a Kershaw, Wainwright, that you would want out there. I feel comfortable with any of them.

And in no part due to his performance.

Right now, I'd want one of Ventura or Duffy on the hill. If Shields regains his form, he'd be in that group as well.

Duffy scares me because his emotions can still get out of whack at times, and if that were to happen during that one-game playoff, I'd be pissed. Ventura is really good, but if his control is off, he's vulnerable, which has happened at times.

If Shields could figure out what's up with his changeup, he'd be a no-brainer.

Why? Te AL Central has some dog teams and we get to play a lot of games vs them whereas the other contenders have tougher divisions

Ventura easily but Ned would never do it.

Also Zimmer has to be our top prospect despite his arm issues. His second half last year was future 1-starter caliber. He may never get past those issues but we don't know that right now and that makes him remain our top player

Going to fire up a game thread unless someone else wants it?

Scratch that, alnorth's got this.

I'll move back to the top of my list the next time he throws a pitch. Just couldn't justify it right now.

Yeah, it's frustrating. He was being mentioned in all sorts of blogs and articles last year. We will just have to wait on him I guess.

How long until he returns to form?