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Four wins in nine starts at a track are numbers no one cay stay away from. Denny Hamlin has those numbers at Pocono making him the obvious favorite this coming weekend. Hamlin has won the last two Sprint Cup races at the triangle track in addition to a sweep in his rookie season of 2006. In addition to his four wins, Hamlin has claimed a total of seven top-10’s and twice has finished third.

Coming off a good run at Indianapolis Tony Stewart has some momentum. Aside from two wins at the “tricky triangle” the driver of the #14 Chevy has finished in the top-10 an impressive 17 times in 23 races.  In Stewart’s last four races at Pocono he’s finished second, first, tenth and third.

Jeff Gordon is still looking to break into the win column this year. Gordon who hasn’t won since Texas last year has won four previous events at Pocono. Gordon was involved in a crash at Pocono during the first event this year but had finished in the top-10 in the three events before that. Overall Gordon has 16 top-5’s and 24 top-10’s in 35 starts.

Even with the way Jimmie Johnson and crew performed at Indianapolis it’s impossible to write a race preview and not mention him. Johnson has made 17 starts at Pocono and has won twice. He’s also got 6top-5’s and 11 top-10’s.

After weeks of telling everyone to stay away from the Ford camp my suggestions of Edwards, Kenseth and Biffle last week weren’t too far off. Biffle ran second, Edwards was seventh and Kenseth was a disappointing twelfth after a good early showing.  With that being said I’m saying pick Carl Edwards. The Ford cars have been showing improvements in recent weeks and Edwards does a pretty good job of getting around Pocono with 2 career wins in 11 starts and a total of 4 top-10’s on his resume.

If you really like Fords then you could also go with Kasey Kahne who has a win and 2 poles at the track. Kahne has been up and down all season but has finished in the top-10 in four of the last six Sprint Cup events this year.

As with other tracks with long straightaways Kurt Busch is as good as they come. Busch has two career wins at Pocono and has led laps in the last two races resulting in finishes of ninth and sixth.

Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, and Jeff Burton are all solid bets for 15th or better this week but none have exactly wowed at Pocono. Nor has Dale Earnhardt Jr or Greg Biffle.

It will be interesting to see which Kyle Busch shows up in PA. Busch ran second earlier this year to his teammate Hamlin but in 11 starts has an average finish of 19.6 with a handful of mid 20 runs. Busch is a good gamble for those hoping to win big but you have to be accepting of the risk in picking him if he does poorly.

Last weeks winner Jamie McMurray has just 3 top-10’s in 15 starts while teammate Juan Pablo Montoya has finished in the top-10 in his last three starts. Perhaps this week he avenges a disappointing day at Indy?

Lastly we come to Sam Hornish. Hornish has five career starts at Pocono and has finished 42, 26, 10, 4, 11 in them. With the numbers on the right side being better then those on the left perhaps Hornish is the best of the buy low drivers.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr may only have 5 top-10’s on the year but two of them have come in the last three races. With a seventh place at Michigan, an eleventh at Infineon and a solid eighth at New Hampshire the driver of car #88 is putting himself in position to make the chase.

Let us not forget Earnhardt Jr also finished second in February’s running of the Daytona 500 and has 2 career wins at the track in addition to 12 top-10’s in 21 career starts.

In terms of confidence entering Saturday nights event that of car 88 has to rank at the top. Perhaps only Jimmie Johnson may be higher and even he doesn’t have the career numbers that Earnhardt Jr has at Daytona.

If there’s one thing working against Earnhardt Jr it’s the practice results. The results at practice may not have been what team Hendrick was hoping for with Earnhardt Jr ranking 30th and 29th. But at Daytona it’s often not how well you are getting around the track but who you are getting around it with.

Consider that Robby Gordon, Marcos Ambrose, A.J. Allmendinger, David Ragan and Paul Menard were all in the top-10 during second practice and you can often see why those results are disregarded for a Daytona weekend.

Popularity: 8% [?]

It’s not every season there is a guy who is 10-1 with a 0.78 ERA after 11 starts. That’s 11 quality starts, a no hitter and hasn’t allowed two runs in 9 of those starts. Then again it’s not like you couldnt have seen this coming. Jimenez was a big time prospect in the Colorado Rockies system and despite his big time numbers on the radar is a pitcher perfectly fine with pitching to contact. Since his eventual promotion to the majors Jimenez has been in a class of his own. Even in Jimenez’s lone loss this year he allowed just two runs.

In 94 career games Jimenez is 40-29 with a 3.44 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and a .228 BAA. But you probably knew that about the 26-year-old Dominican.

On Memorial Day he was at it again. This time outdueling two time NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum giving the Rockies a 4-0 win over the San Fransisco Giants. Jimenez threw 128 pitches in the contest striking out 9 just five days after throwing 101 pitches in an eight inning performance in a win against Arizona. Jimenez has went seven or more innings in his last six outings and of his three outings in which he went just six innings two came in his first two starts of the season.

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Last night as I turned on the Braves/Rockies game I told my wife “we’re in for a treat tonight”. Of course the reason I made that comment was because I originally thought the pitching match-up was Ubaldo Jimenez and Jair Jurrjens. I then found myself a little bummed I was watching the Rockies feed but it wasn’t long before the treat turned into a nightmare for my Braves.

That’s because Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the first no-hitter in the majors for the 2010 season. Jimenez threw a major league high 128 pitches in the contest and was still hitting the high 90’s as the eighth and ninth inning came around.

I’ve never been a big one for no-hitters because I’ve always found them to be a little cheap. My reasoning has always been the same no matter who was pitching. “So the pitcher didn’t give up a hit but he walked how many?”

True enough. Jimenez walked six in this contest and one could argue it may not have even been the best pitched game of the day as the Mets and Cardinals raced to a 0-0 tie before the top of the 19th.

But it is a no hitter none-the-less. Troy Tulowitzki provided the Rockies with a run in the top of the first and Jimenez singled in the fourth to drive in a run of his own while Carlos Gonzalez doubled in two as the next batter.

Perhaps the biggest break for Jiminez in his run at a no-hitter was the costly base-running mistake of Kenshin Kawakami in the bottom of the third. After reaching base following bunting into a force out Kawakami was advanced to second on a Martin Prado walk. That brought Chipper Jones to the plate and following the second fastball for a ball Rockies catcher Miguel Olivo threw down to second to catch Kawakami off base.

Those thrill seekers hoping for some heroic defensive play can feel a little left out in this one. The only play even close to a dramatic defensive play to save the day was that of Dexter Fowler who chased down a Troy Glaus line drive in the seventh. Never-the-less it’s being highlighted on MLB.com and other places.

I’ll admit I missed parts of the game. We went out to get some ice cream, I had turned on the computer to compete in a on-line NASCAR 2003 event and didn’t realize the game had no hits until a well after 9.

Not the best game ever pitched. It probably will be beat out by a few others in my opinion this year but still it’s a no-hitter and I can’t change that.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Saltalamacchia had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrone last year.

Saltalamacchia drove in the winning run on opening day with a single in the ninth. He struck out in a pinch hit at-bat yesterday.

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When I first read that Jamey Wright had made the Cleveland Indians roster I shouted out with glee. Ok… maybe not exactly but it did bring a smile to my face and a yell across the room to my wife.

But upon further investigation I’m starting to wonder how so many non roster invitees made the Indians. In addition to Wright infielder Mark Grudzielanek and outfielder Austin Kearns also made the club.

Hmm. While the Indians don’t approach the number of non roster invitees to make the opening day roster that the Texas Rangers did last season (6 ) it’s always odd to find multiple of such players making a club.

It’s not to say that these players are lesser or undeserving it’s just teams are often crammed enough on the 40-man roster to find more then a spot or two it often hard to do.

Wright, by making the team, will earn $900,000 plus incentives. He was 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA in nine exhibition games this spring. He allowed two earned runs on five hits in 11 2/3 innings. He struck out eight and walked five.

He’s actually becoming a legend at the whole non roster invitee thing. Wright has successfully made the opening day rosters of the Giants (2006), Rangers (2007, 2008), Royals (2009) and now Indians in consecutive seasons. In addition he also worked his way up to the majors with Kansas City (2003) and Colorado. (2004). In 2005 he was actually signed by Colorado with a guaranteed roster spot.

Wright, 35, factors in as a durable arm that can provide length, if needed. He made 75 appearances and worked 84 1/3 innings for the Rangers in 2008 and appeared in 65 games and pitched 79 innings for the Royals last year. He finished 2009 with a 4.33 ERA.

“I’ve got a rubber arm,” Wright said in a  report on Indians.com “But I can’t beg a team to give me a guaranteed contract.”

The roster spot for Wright came at the expense of Jeremy Sowers who was ineffective this spring much in the same way he had struggled in parts of the last four seasons. Sowers was 18-30 with a 5.18 ERA in 72 games (71 starts) for the Indians. The 26 year old lefty was placed on waivers and then out-righted to Triple-A Columbus on Wednesday.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Joe Nathan is set to play catch this weekend. Only the Twins know where and when and while that may be fine and dandy there’s a good chance the final roster spots are results of Nathan’s throwing this weekend.

Anthony Slama and Kyle Waldrop have different paths to the majors but one of them likely makes the Twins roster this spring. If Nathan is unable to go both could have been on the Twins roster by the end of April.

I had a tough time here but ultimately choose Slama since Ron Gardenhire was recently impressed with him striking out the side and something about late draft picks really makes you feel the magic of the whole non roster invitee experience.

Slama pitched the last three years in the Twins organization and last season appeared at Double-A and Triple-A compiling a 2.67 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He’s got a powerful live arm and yet has been able to keep the walks at a minimum.

He’s been groomed for the late innings and while I know these numbers are fluky I’ll throw them out there. In 140 minor league games he has 68 saves.

Jon Rauch gets the closers role should Nathan be out fort he year but Slama as much as anyone on the roster could be featured in the seventh or eighth inning leading up to that point.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Will Ohman comes to Orioles camp looking to put the nightmare of 2009 behind him. The veteran left hander was traded by the Chicago Cubs in 2008 to the Atlanta Braves. He had done everything right that season and pushed for a larger 2009 salary.

Things didn’t work out he headed to Los Angeles in a deal worth $1.35 million and a $2.2 mil option for 2010. He had shoulder troubles last year and pitched in just 21 games. The Dodgers then shed him from their roster and he came to Baltimore looking to latch on.

Ohman is nothing more then a steady left handed arm. His 2008 season with Atlanta looks simply like a blip that’s out of place as his ERA and WHIP has went up every season since 2005 with 2008 being the exception.

Ohman has done enough this spring to get another crack at it but don’t expect him to blow the doors off the place. He could provide a stable left handed arm for the Orioles but he could also be completely

useless by April.

Popularity: 5% [?]

It’s time to start the non roster invitee report, a yearly regular here at tireball.com. First on the list is the Los Angeles Angels who really have always provided a tough challenge for me. The Angels have one of the weaker classes of non roster invitees year in and out as there’s little room for cracking the roster of this team out of spring training.

Many of the players on this list are hoping to impress for later on or are hoping to get a shot to stay around for some action in Triple-A.

With that being said the Angels haven’t showed any real qualms with calling up a player from their minor leagues for a cup of coffee at any point in the season.

So with all that being said I was really tempted to just go with Robb Quinlan here as if he says around it’s almost guaranteed he’d get called up at some point but I opted to go with 21-year-old pitcher Trevor Reckling.

Hank Conger and Peter Bourjous may be ranked higher then him in the prospect department but they also have more in front of them preventing them from being on the team this season.

Reckling was an 8th round pick in the 2007 draft who made his way up to Double-A last season. In 23 starts in the Texas League the youngster was 8-7 with a 2.93 ERA in 135.1 innings. The biggest concern with Reckling is that he’s a little wreck-less. His strike out numbers are fair but he really had trouble with walks last season as he had a BB/9 of 5 at Double-A. In addition he threw 14 wild pitches and over three minor league seasons has hit 19 batters.

He’ll need to improve on all three of those if he’s to be successful in Triple-A this year and earn a call up with the Angels. Most see him projecting as a 2-3 pitcher if he can fix his kinks of course it’s just as likely he’d be a 4-5 if he can’t.

For fun I’ve went ahead and posted the entire list of Angel non roster invitees should Reckling not make it I will be able to see who did.

Popularity: 11% [?]

For what appears to be many of the same reasons I mentioned in an article yesterday NASCAR has opted to not suspend Carl Edwards the driver of the #99 Ford Fusion.

Citing discussions with the drivers, car owners and others Mike Helton announced during a press conference that Edwards would be placed on probation but no further penalties would come at this time.

This means Edwards and Keselowski will both be on track when the series heads to Atlanta next weekend.

Popularity: 8% [?]