As the baseball season heads passed the quarter pole, the players that are struggling are running out of excuses. Proclamations of bad luck and small sample size simply don't hold much weight anymore. At this point, teams need to make the tough decision of whether or not to stick with a struggling player to hope he turns things around or to cut their losses and move on to someone else. Well, let's help those teams out by identifying some starting pitchers who probably shouldn't have jobs anymore.

Rick Porcello, Tigers - Stop it, Tigers. Just stop it. Porcello was a popular pick to have a breakout season in 2013, but with a 6.68 ERA, that clearly isn't happening. As usual, at least part of the problem appears to be that Porcello induces a lot of grounders but plays in front of what is arguably the worst infield defense in the game which is why he continues to sport that intriguing 3.71 xFIP. Maybe he really is just a bad pitcher, but maybe he just needs the Tigers to finally set him free. There should be no shortage of teams hoping that a change of scenery and infielders can allow Porcello to finally realize his potential.

Joe Blanton, Angels - Blanton's only real marketable skill is that he is durable. That and making a mockery of fielding independent pitching stats with his strong strikeout-to-walk-ratio. His 6.46 ERA is clearly terrible, but consider that Blanton has somehow managed to allow 75 hits and eight homers in just 46 innings of work, including a streak of 33 consecutive innings in which he allowed at least one hit. Why is he still allowed to exist much less pitch? Because the Angels are terrible and have no depth and no farm system. This isn't going to get better.

In his 19th and final season, New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is having a typically excellent year.

His 16 saves are tied for the major-league lead, one of several reasons the Yankees are the surprise of the early season with a 25-15 record (as of May 16) and a two-game lead in the AL East. He has a 1.56 ERA in 18 appearances thus far. If that holds up, it would be the third-lowest mark of his career. 

Rivera will surely be named to his 13th American League All-Star team this year. Not only does his performance deserve the honor, of course, but it would be fitting tribute to the game's greatest closer.

But could Rivera's last All-Star appearance gain even more significance? What if he was asked to be the starting pitcher for the AL on July 16 at Citi Field, in the city — if not the actual ballpark — where he became an iconic figure?

That's what Bill Chuck of Billy-Ball is proposing. (The effort is fueled by the Twitter hashtag #StartMo.) Forget saving Rivera for the ninth inning. Begin the game with him, when the spotlight is at its brightest and the largest audience is tuning in.

Let's put together a brief recap of the Mariners-Yankees game from last night, shall we?

-Yankees starter Phil Hughes didn't make it out of the first inning, allowing seven runs on six hits and getting just two outs. 
-Raul Ibanez drove in six runs. Combine that with his two RBI from Tuesday, and you've got nearly half of his 17 on the season coming in the last two games.
-Dustin Ackley walked three times on Wednesday and once on Tuesday, giving him nearly half of his walks for the season (nine) in the last two games
-Brett Marshall made his major league debut in relief for the Yankees. He threw 108 pitches.
-Because the Yankees needed to get Marshall out of the game in the ninth, the team brought in shortstop Alberto Gonzalez to pitch. They shifted Jayson Nix to Gonzalez's spot at shortstop, and let Vernon Wells play second base. Good for Vernon, ticking second and third base off his bucket list in the span of a week.
-Lost in the mess was a pretty damn good start from Hisashi Iwakuma, who allowed two runs on eight hits in seven innings for Seattle.
-And to top it all off, the game only lasted 2:48.

So, how did you spend *your* Wednesday night?

PIC OF THE DAY

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, contemplating a career change? (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports) 

Game of the Night: Cardinals 4, Mets 2. Here's your winner by default. The Mets tied the game at two in the seventh after a two-run homer by Rick Ankiel. St Louis immediately took back the lead after a Scott Rice wild pitch brought in Daniel Decalsco. The Cardinals tacked on an insurance run in the eighth when Yadier Molina singled in Matt Holliday. The Mets nearly pulled this game out of the crapper despite an absolutely dreadful performance with their bats aside from Ankiel's homer.

After initially being expected to miss eight weeks following a fractured collarbone that he suffered in a brawl with Carlos Quentin last month, Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Zack Greinke will make his return to the team tonight against the Nationals after just four and a half weeks on the shelf.

The Dodgers have struggled this season and are currently 6.5 games out of first place in the NL West and are in last place in the division. Since Greinke's injury on April 11th, the team has scuffled to a 10-19 record and has also lost Chad Billingsley to season-ending Tommy John surgery. Rookie Matt Magill has not performed well in three starts since Greinke's injury, posting a 6.92 ERA in 13 innings, walking ten and striking out 11. Combine that with disappointing performances from Chris Capuano since being activated from the DL and Ted Lilly's two subpar starts before being placed back on the DL, and Greinke's return couldn't come any sooner for the Dodgers.

With Los Angeles scheduled for seven games with the Braves, three with the Cardinals, and four with the Angels over the next 24 games, they're going to need all hands on deck. Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, and Hyun-Jin Ryu will give the Dodgers a pretty fearsome top of the rotation, especially if all pitch like they're capable of.

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You know, maybe it really *is* the American League. RA Dickey started on Tuesday night against the Giants, and his performance was positively DIckey-esque: two runs on six hits in six innings, walking two and striking out ten. Dickey also tallied 15 whiffs on 115 pitches, a little above the rate he sat at last season. Unfortunately, Dickey's next start will come on Sunday...against the Yankees. Good luck with that.

PIC OF THE DAY

Pablo Sandoval looks like he's doing the Gangnam Style dance...or he's throwing the ball. Either or. (John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports)

Game of the Night: Pirates 4, Brewers 3 (12 innings). Pittsburgh trailed 3-2 going into the eighth inning, but ended up tying the game and pulling Jeff Locke off the hook when Russell Martin (of course) doubled in Neil Walker. Pittsburgh put two on with one out in the ninth, but left empty-handed. The Brewers put two on in the tenth with two outs, and couldn't score. The Pirates had a man on second with one out in the tenth, and got bupkis. Milwaukee put the leadoff man on in the 12th, but he was erased on a Ryan Braun double play. Finally in the bottom of the 12th, Andrew McCutchen hit a walkoff solo homer to give the Pirates a huge 3-2 win.

Curtis Granderson is in the starting lineup for the New York Yankees tonight, playing left field and batting fourth for their game against the Seattle Mariners. It's Granderson's first action of the season after breaking his forearm during Spring Training in March, and Granderson is also the first of the highly paid injured Yankees to play this season (in advance of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Mark Teixeira).

Tonight, Granderson is in left field, while Brett Gardner and Ichiro take their usual positions in center and right respectively. Vernon Wells is shifting to DH tonight, and Travis Hafner is on the bench with Granderson's return. Well, that seems like a simple enough solution. Hafner can't hit lefties. His OPS this season is just .720 against southpaws, and Joe Girardi has done a great job not putting him in a position to feed that weakness, as Hafner has logged just 20 plate appearances against lefties this season. His sore shoulder made the decision tonight a little easier, and Hafner's overall frailty could render this entire situation moot.

Going into the 2013 MLB season, the Cleveland Indians appeared to be a fringe contender in the AL Central division.

The Tribe certainly raised eyebrows around baseball by suddenly becoming big spenders and adding significant talent to their lineup. But could the Indians really challenge a Tigers team that not only could be the best team in their division, but in the entire American League?

Additionally, Cleveland had to compete with the Kansas City Royals, viewed as a team on the rise after upgrading their starting pitching.

Yet following a series win over the Tigers in Detroit during the weekend and splitting a doubleheader with the New York Yankees at Progressive Field on Monday, Terry Francona's club has the look of a division title and AL wild-card contender. 

Is it still a bit too early in the season to make that kind of declaration? We're approximately six weeks into the season. 

After Bryce Harper's injury last night, Nationals fans held their collective breath. Harper is the best player on the team and one of the best in the league, and any serious injury to him would spell trouble for Washington over the rest of the year. Thankfully for the Nationals, Harper avoided serious injury, and should be able to avoid a DL stint. But after this incident and one in Atlanta two weeks ago when Harper collided with the right field scorebaord and came away with a shoulder contusion, you really need to wonder just where the Nationals will be if Harper suffers a serious injury.

Right now, it's not really a happy time in DC, despite the Nationals' 8-3 tear in May that has moved them to just one game behind the Braves in the NL East. Even with Harper posting a 1.022 OPS in 35 games, Washington's offense has been pitiful. As a whole, the team's OPS is just .670, and their 82 wRC+ and .292 wOBA are the third-worst marks in all of baseball, ahead of just the White Sox and Marlins. Most of that is due to a .281 BABIP, which ranks in the lower third in baseball, but injuries to other players have also played a part.

Justin Upton played his first game at Chase Field last night as a visitor. His new team (the Braves) smashed his old team (the Diamondbacks) 10-1. More telling was Upton's stat line: 4/5 with two runs, two RBI, a double, and a homer. Chris Johnson, who came to Atlanta with Upton in this winter's trade, went 3/4 with three RBI,, a double, and a homer. But it's not all depressing for Diamondbacks fans: Martin Prado went 2/2 with a walk and a double against his former team, but also committed an error at third base and was thrown out at the plate by the elder Upton brother, BJ.

PIC OF THE DAY

Bryce Harper leaves the field after running into the scoreboard at Dodger Stadium. He needed 11 stitches in his chin and jammed a shoulder, but thankfully did not receive a concussion. (Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports)

Game of the Day: Indians 1, Yankees 0. There really weren't many close games yesterday. Only one of the 11 games on the slate featured a traditional save (and not one of those garbage time three inning saves, and this one wasn't it. But because of the precariousness of the situation over the course of the entire game, I had to give the nod to game one of the Indians-Yankees doubleheader. Cleveland got a solo homer from Jason Kipnis, their second batter of the game, and got nothing over the rest of the game. But that was still a better effort than the Yankees gave. New York didn't get an extra base hit at all during the game, and they didn't have a runner in scoring position with less than two outs all game. Justin Masterson was dominant, and we'll get to his full line after the jump.

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper had to leave Washington's game on Monday night in Los Angeles after running into the right field scoreboard at Dodger Stadium.

Harper was chasing a fly ball hit by AJ Ellis in the fifth inning before simply running out of room and running straight into the scoreboard mounted on the right field wall. He didn't move after initially hitting the wall, and it's feared that he lost consciousness for a brief period. Harper would eventually leave the game, walking off the field under his own power with a decent bit of blood around his neck.

Hopefully, Harper only has scrapes and bruises from the collision and he doesn't have a concussion. He's one of the brightest stars in the game, and more importantly for the Nationals right now, he's their best hitter and the main reason they're putting any runs on the board at all. If he's going to miss an extended period of time for Washington, their chances at repeating their NL East championship just got a lot slimmer.

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