Yorvit Torrealba can rest more easily knowing that his son, who along with at least one uncle, is safe and home.  Apparently, his not quite teenaged son was walking to school when he and his uncle were kidnapped.  Government intervention and paying a portion of the ransom helped free them.  A couple of days ago, the Rockies announced that Torrealba was on the restricted list, but listed no details – which, as you can imagine, the team could not do.  Amazing story, and thankfully one with a happy ending.

Speaking of happy endings, Randy Johnson held Washington in check for six innings and earned his 300th career win.  It’ll be a few years before we see this again, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Wow, the Mets are truly snake bit.  You have a bunch of guys injured and sick, and now we hear that Jose Reyes may have a hamstring tear and struggling reliever J.J. Putz is getting his elbow checked out. Putz says he’s felt pain each of the last two days, causing some alarm amongst the Mets brass.  Reyes, originally thought to have a calf injury, is now believed to have torn his hamstring near the knee, which affected his calf.  Either way, the Mets can’t catch a break.  They were even swept by a heart-broken Pirates team.

Since taking on blogging full time, I hadn’t really spent any time on the White Sox.  Of course, being a Cub fan makes this especially difficult, but I’m a journalist, too.  I can be objective.  The Sox have called up last year’s #1 draft pick, third baseman Gordon Beckham.   I know what you are thinking – wasn’t he drafted as a shortstop?  He was, but the Sox have needs and right now they need to know if Beckham can play third.  A couple of years ago, the White Sox had OPTIONS at third base, but one of those (Joe Crede) is in Minnesota, and the other (Josh Fields) is apparently in the dog house.

Beckham was a stud at the University of Georgia and hasn’t done anything to dissuade the Sox from believing he’s ready.  He briefly played at A ball after signing, roared through AA and just got moved to AAA where, in just a few games, he was hitting over .400.  Hopefully this is the beginning of a long career, and not the story of a player rushed too quickly.  Playing at the level he did in the SEC, and continuing it at three levels (albeit for short times), I’m inclined to believe he’ll be okay.

A couple of other guys get the call this week, and one you might want to watch is St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jess Todd.  Todd was drafted in the second round out of Arkansas in 2007 and raced through the minors displaying control, allowing few hits, and improving his strikeout rate at every level and opportunity.  At first glance, he looks like he might stick – and working with Dave Duncan can’t hurt.  He had mostly been a starter, but this year he became the closer at Memphis and knocked out 11 saves, with 32 Ks, only 7 BBs in 24 innings.  That’s serious stuff.  Baseball America says he’s the fourth best prospect in the system.

Tiger Miguel Cabrera left today’s game with a left hamstring injury.  He tried to play through it, but left soon after he injured his leg running the bases in the second inning.  Boston’s Kevin Youkilis has a calf injury and may miss a game or two.  Youk has been knicked up a lot this year.  Today, he woke up with stiffness, tried to play, and left the game against Detroit about the same time as Cabrera.  The Rays think Evan Longoria’s hamstring will be loose enough to play on Saturday.

Just as Carlos Zambrano returns from his suspension, MLB suspended Yankee pitcher A. J. Burnett for throwing inside to Texas Ranger Nelson Cruz.  Of course, he won’t SAY that he was protecting teammate Mark Teixeira, who had been hit twice by the soon to be released Vincente Padilla, but for a guy who throws inside, throwing a little more inside and a bit higher than normal would have been expected.

Struggling Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is getting an eye exam; meanwhile “The Sports Guy”, Bill Simmons writes in ESPN The Magazine (which I finally received today) that Ortiz got old – even suggesting that Ortiz might be older than he says (just like Ortiz’s buddy Miguel Tejada).