In a way, this is all Ian Stewart’s doing. After spending the beginning of spring training on the shelf, he opened the season in abysmal fashion, hitting .074/.138/.074 through his first 29 PA. Of course, anything can happen in 29 PA, but Stewart was getting nothing done. He either struck out or hit the ball on the ground in 20 of his PA, and hit no line drives. He might have been out of whack, having missed the start of spring training, so the Rockies optioned him on April 19th. But by then he was hardly playing anyway. That’s at least in part because Jonathan Herrera was capturing Colorado’s attention.

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It happens every year. A manager gets an itchy trigger finger early in the season and buries a guy before he even gets a chance to earn the faith the manager put in him to start the season. This year is no different, and with an idea sparked from Eric Seidman’s piece yesterday on Brad Emaus — an article that the Mets completely ignored when they waived him today — I present the 2011 Brad Emaus All-Stars.
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Troy Tulowitzki’s been on a tear this season. But this isn’t some small-sample, month-long streak. He’s been raking since last July, after he returned from a wrist injury that sidelined him for nearly five weeks.

Usually when a hitter returns from these types of injuries it takes awhile to hit at pre-injury levels. It’s pretty obvious to understand why: Batters use their wrists to swing through the ball. In Tulo’s case, though, it’s almost as if he never suffered the injury.

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At least Nick Punto could fly.

Today’s edition of One Night Only contains:

1. Previews of two games, with sexy, updated Team NERD scores and sexy, updated ZiPS projections.

2. Notes on a third game you shouldn’t watch.

3. A poll on what’s the most depressing thing about the current iteration of the Twins.

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