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FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2009
Tragedy struck Pittsburgh yesterday when we learned that catcher Ryan Doumit's career was over at just 28 years old. Third in the NL with a .340 batting average, Doumit was well on his way to his first All-Star appearance. He will be sorely missed. Since mid-May he had been the hottest hitter in major league baseball with an average of .410, 9 HR and 24 RBI in his last 29 games.
To try to fill his spot in the lineup we claimed Baltimore catcher Gregg Zaun off waivers. 38 years old, Zaun is a poor defensive catcher but a decent hitter. He is a career .250 hitter with 79 HR. Hopefully the Orioles won't pull him back.
Our starter will be Jason Jaramillo. He has been having a pretty good season, batting .252 with 3 HR in limited action. Doumit's injury makes our first round draft selection Gilbert Lavoie out of Canada an even better choice. We hope the 22-year old native of Vancouver can develop quickly. He is currently playing rookie ball in the Gulf Coast League.
Even with Doumit's injury we are not yet out of contention. We are 37-37, 7.0 games behind Milwaukee for the division lead and 5 games behind the Dodgers for the Wildcard.
In other news, last year's AL MVP Dustin Pedroia (.314 BA, 4 HR, 35 RBI) will miss the rest of the season and more for Boston with a ruptured ulnar collateral ligament. Also, the Oakland A's have traded minor league SP Chad Reineke to KAN for minor league LF David Lough.
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