Well, that rate has plummeted to just 7.86/9 this season, yet he’s emerged as a top 10 starter on the strength of improved control and a higher groundball rate.

The big question is where has Gonzalez’s home run stroke gone? Last year, the shoulder he had repaired in 2010 continued to bother him, but he says that’s fully behind him now. In other words, there’s no reasonable reason why Gonzalez isn’t going yard lately. Let’s hope the doubles barrage is a precursor to some long ball exploits.

The Toronto Blue Jays continue to play well lately, but with both the Rays and Orioles rolling, they have now fallen three back of Tampa Bay and two and a half games behind Baltimore in the AL East. On the plus side, the Yanks have been spinning their wheels, allowing Toronto to slide into third place, a half game ahead of New York.

On Sunday, his command was off for the first time, as he managed just one strikeout against six walks, a shocking development considering he had a 22-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio coming into that start.

His two-run double Sunday helped key a huge win for Cleveland and gave him hits in five straight games and a .429 mark for the past week. Cabrera’s extra-base pop – considered somewhat of a fluke last year – has been even more impressive so far in 2012, and he’s also substantially upped his walk rate in the early going. If Cabrera can consolidate his 2011 gains, we’ll have to start considering him an upper tier shortstop real soon.

Still, regardless of Votto’s MVP-calibre play, signing a first baseman to that long a deal and giving him that much money seems unwise to us.

We’re now a couple of weeks into the season, and one thing has become painfully clear. The Chicago Cubs’ offense, which was middling last season, has sunk to among the worse in the majors this year.