I'm amazed at how many serious injuries have taken place already this season. Missed playing time is piling up.

The Dodgers will be without SS Rafael Furcal for quite a while. Furcal broke his thumb and it set off a series of personal emotions for him. He has battled injuries for the past couple of seasons and his frustration had him hinting at retirement from the game. The Dodgers will likely use Jamey Carroll at shortstop because they trust him. Prospect Ivan DeJesus is available to them as is Juan Castro. Aaron Miles and Juan Uribe have also played short. But Furcal is a big loss.

Alexi Ogando has battled through two games with a blister on the finger of his pitching hand. Two great starts indicate that he can probably press on pitch through the discomfort unless it gets any worse.

Lance Berkman belted two homers to the left field bleachers last night at Chase Field. When Berkman has his stroke, the ball just eases off his bat and travels. When he finishes his swing and extends those big arms great things happen. He looks thinner and in wonderful playing condition. The Cardinals are thrilled to have him. And so am I. He's on an important team of mine.

Albert Pujols looked very impatient at the plate last night. He was swinging at the first pitch with runners on base and not being selective. When he got a single up the middle on his last at-bat, he rounded first with a huge grin on his face. He'll hit himself out of this.

What's up with Matt Thornton?

I saw that Jack Wilson crawled out of Eric Wedge's doghouse and he got the start last night for Seattle.

I hope Red Sox manager Terry Francona shaves with an electric razor.

Juan Pierre continues as a liability as an outfielder

The Indians starting pitching remains a great surprise to me and most people in the universe. If they can gain some consistency from start to start it could be an interesting year in Cleveland. But that's a big "if"

Lifetime Nelson Cruz hits .311 at home and .236 on the road. He's played 213 home games and 208 away. I think that's an amazing stat. How about Ichiro? Well, try .332 at home and .329 away. But that's not all. 48 homers at home, 42 away. 276 RBI at home, 286 away. 526 runs scored at home, 523 away. Would you say he was consistent?

A friend of mine called and said his little boy was learning how to pronounce baseball player's names. He said his son was having trouble with Jarrod Saltalamacchia but that Andre was ethier. I told him to hang up the phone and never call me again.

We knew the Tigers would have trouble scoring runs but it may be a bit more serious than we thought. Maglio is in pain and not playing enough to get sharp and everyone not named Miguel Cabrera is scuffling. Justin Verlander pitched good enough to win yesterday but Ogando was just a little better.

And Jared Weaver remains a Cy Young caliber pitcher flying under the radar.

You know the season is young when Yunel Escobar leads the American League in hitting with a .476 average.

Dice K threw 47 pitches in 2 innings yesterday. 8 hits, 7 earned runs. But he only walked two. It was difficult to walk guys when they were clobbering the ball all over the field.

Let me see a show of hands. Be honest now. Hands in the air. How many of us have already dropped Matt LaPorta? I include myself in the group. I cut him at the end of the first week. I promise I won't let the homers influence me to get him back.
There shall be no reconciliation.

Brandon Belt is hitting a buck forty three. Panda is at .382 and showing signs that he's now here to stay.

Jay Bruce struggled at the beginning of last season and came on strong. I believe. I believe.

Vernon Wells is hitting .091. Yikes. I hope general manager Tony Reagins shaves with an electric razor.

How far have the Mets fallen? Jason Isringhausen is 38 years old. He hasn't pitched in the big leagues since June of 2009.
The Mets have called him up from Port St. Lucie where he was getting in shape. They think he can help their bullpen.
I don't know what to think. Certainly there must be a better option available somewhere in baseball. I'm just sayin.

How did Seattle win two games?

Guys in the press box feel Desmond Jennings won't get a call to the Rays until at least June, if not later. The Rays are so concerned about money that they want to get another year from him before his arbitration years. That's why Sam Fuld is playing more and more now that Manny has retired. Sam Fuld hustles on every single play. Love to watch him. While I can't agree or disagree on that word about Jennings, it does make sense.

Mat Latos is back for the Padres.

The dining room at Chase Field serves only Romaine lettuce. And old Romaine lettuce at that. Anyway, I asked the head Chef if he could serve Iceberg lettuce as well as Romaine? "Only one type of lettuce, sir. Learn to like Romaine." Ok. I guess he told me. I hope the Chef doesn't count the cookies because I took an extra cookie from the platter. Yikes!

I hope you'll read my in game tweets from Chase Field tonight as the DBacks face Chris Carpenter for the Cardinals. You can reach me on Twitter @BerniePleskoff.