Tim Hudson, one of the best pitchers in the American League changed his delivery Saturday. Hudson has given up more hits this season than normal even though he still has enough on the ball to dominate most batters in baseball.

Lefties were hitting .331 against him and the league .274 going into Saturday’s game, well above his normal lifetime batting average by opponents of .242.

So, Hudson now taps his toe on the ground before delivering the baseball ala Robb Nen. He claims it gives him more balance and keeps his weight back.

You don’t see many big league star pitchers make these kinds of adjustments during the season. Hudson has nerve on the hill and obviously has confidence in his ability to make a radical change in one of the most successful deliveries in the game today.

Let’s see how long it lasts? Probably until he gives up some critical hits and then balmes it on the delivery. That’s the way these things usually pan out.

Pat Hentgen will not be highly sought this July as he was last summer. Hentgen is strictly a five inning guy right now without much on the ball.

I’ll say it again, Scott Hatteberg should get serious consideration for the All Star team. He is carrying this A’s offense with key hits almost every game. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but if you watch the games, he is the MVP of the team.

Click below for more!Ryan Vogelsong gets to show why the Cubs love to hit him today in Wrigley. I don’t care what kind of hitting woes the Cubs are going through, Vogelsong always brings a smile to the Bruins when he goes to the hill. Greg Maddux should get one step closer to 300 today.

Paul Wilson pithced well enough to win for the Reds yesterday, but Danny Graves gave it up to Nick Johnson sending the game into extras where Adam Dunn ended it with a three run jack.

Can the Reds win today? Why not? Todd Van Poppel seems to get through six innings regularly and Livan Hernandez really isn’t fooling the hitters very often.

Roy Oswalt needs to be the man today and beat Jeff Suppan and the Cards. St. Louis is rolling and it is the starting pitching which is keeping them in the game. Scott Rolen is a legit MVP right now.

Jered Weaver won for Long Beach State yesterday now lets see if brother Jeff can beat the Diamondbacks and Steve Sparks. The Dodgers are hitting with Paul Lo Duca and Milton Bradley hot right now. Give the Dodgers Carlos Delgado for four months and they win the west. They need that one horse to lift the rest of the lineup.

Brad Penny is the Marlins best pitcher this season. Carl Pavano and Dontrelle Willis are throwing very well too. The Mets don’t catch the ball often enough and the hitting is still lacking without Jose Reyes in the lineup. The Mets are doing it with mirrors in perhaps Art Howe’s best managing performance. Give the Mets a hitter and one more good bullpen guy, then watch them stay in the race. They are playing the top teams in the East straight up with nothing to be ashamed about. Al Leiter is a big game pitcher, it’s Sunday at Shea, maybe some of the old Met magic will appear.

The Angels are hurting once again. When you get past Vladimir Guerrero and Jose Guillen there isn’t much to scare the pitcher. With David Eckstein on the bench with a hamstring, Chone Figgins and Jeff DaVanon aren’t enough to worry even the Cleveland Indians.

Even though Guerrero can win the triple crown unless some of the walkng wounded get back, the opposition won’t pitch to him as the season wears on.

They say Bartolo Colon had a terrific bullpen this week. I’d rather see him have a good week with a dietician, he looks way out of shape. He and CC Sabathia put fear in restaurants when they walk in.

Rangers throw Ryan Drese in Yankee Stadium. Tough place for Drese to pitch, but he has been ice for Texas this season. Mike Mussina has been less than perfect and the Rangers are riding high form yesterday. Who knows what will happen but when was the last time anyone cared about a Sunday Ranger game in Yankee Stadium?

Derek Lowe tries to break the string of awful starts that has plagued him this season. Kansas City isn’t a bad place to begin especially against the lefty Chris George. Sounds like there will be a Nomar sighting this week in Fenway when the Padres come in.

Mark Redman is a fly ball pitcher, it’s a beautiful day in Oakland today. If the Blue Jays get some upper cut swings they may be able to score four today. Problem for Toronto is keeping the A’s under five with Jason Kershner, lefty, reliever/starter going. They have a chance if they get a late lead and then go to Vinnie Chulk and Jason Frasor to close, they both have been excellent so far.

Minnesota and the White Sox will fight this thing out all summer. Keep a close watch on how they play within the division it will tell the story. Injuries are crtical too. Shannon Stewart is out as well as Magglio Ordonez, no telling how long for both.

Chicago is 11-6 in the Central while Minnesota is 17-13. I’d give the edge to the Sox since the Central will be coming apart at the seams over the next month or so.

Esteban Loiaza against Jamie Moyer. Loiaza wasn’t particulary sharp in Oakland Tuesday and Moyer can give up homers to righties. So this one will be a bullpen game eventually with the Sox on top.

Nate Robertson has pitched some good games for Detroit. Carlos Silva may be falling back. Detroit can get it done today again if all goes well. I always like lefties against Minnesota anyway.

Still too early to make any significant trades even though we have passed the one third mark of the season. Give it another thirty games or so and then we’ll open up the flea market.

Angels especially are keeping a close eye on Garett Anderson’s progress.