Some notes from the first week of MLB action, including Blackmon, Solarte, Bonifacio, Belt, Eovaldi, K-Rod and more. Charlie Blackmon, CF, Colorado - A 27-year-old who just surpassed 500 career plate appearances, Blackmon hit .309 with an .803 OPS in 82 games last season, and has opened this year with 13 hits in 24 at-bats (.542). As long as he hits, and a minor-league batting average of .309 with an .843 OPS in 2222 plate appearances is an indication that is a possibility, then Blackmon should stay ahead of Drew Stubbs in the Rockies outfield rotation. Josh Hamilton, LF, L.A. Angels of Anaheim - After last seasons flameout, Hamilton is an interesting rebound option in 2014. Remember, hes one season removed from 43 homers, 128 RBI and 103 runs scored for Texas. In the crazy small sample of the first week, Hamilton has at least been showing a touch more plate discipline, with 12.5% swinging strikes his lowest rate since his rookie year in 2007. Yangervis Solarte, 3B, N.Y. Yankees - 26-year-old rookie flew under the radar when the Yankees added veteran infielders Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts in the offseason, but Solarte hit .429, with a 1.061 OPS in the spring, hitting .282 with a .736 OPS at Triple-A over the past couple seasons. Hes off to a nice start (8-for-17, .471 AVG, 1.232 OPS) for the Yankees; certainly fortunate with a .500 batting average on balls in play, but also making a lot of contact, with only 2.7% swinging strikes. Chris Colabello, DH, Minnesota - The 30-year-old DH had his first major league plate appearances last year, when he hits .194 with a .631 OPS in 181 plate appearances for the Twins, but he mashed in the minors (24 HR, .352 AVG, 1.066 OPS in 89 GP at AAA last year) and is off to a strong start this year, leading the American League with 11 RBI while hitting .391 with a 1.112 OPS. Hes been more fortunate (.500 BABIP) than can be expected, but Colabello also has higher line-drive and flyball rate, with a lower groundball and infield flyball rate compared to last season. Xander Bogaerts, SS, Boston - Coming into the year as the leading candidate for AL Rookie of the Year, 21-year-old Bogaerts hasnt done anything to slow down that talk, hitting .381 with a .956 OPS, hitting fifth in the Red Sox lineup. Emilio Bonifacio, CF, Chicago Cubs - Its a wonder that a player with a .628 OPS over the previous two seasons would be playing regularly, but such is the situation with the Cubs, and 28-year-old Bonifacio is off to a blazing start, hitting .500 with a 1.120 OPS and tied for the MLB lead with four steals. Bonifacio has always been valuable on the bases, stealing 98 bases on 120 attempts (81.7%) in the previous three seasons, but he hasnt always been able to hit enough to hold down an everyday job. Mark Trumbo, LF, Arizona - Over the last three years, four players -- Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Beltre, Jose Bautista and Jay Bruce -- have hit more home runs than Trumbos 95, and hes crushed five in nine games to start the year. Trumbo, whose outfield defence is not a strength, is hitting enough that he wont have any concerns over playing time. Brandon Belt, 1B, San Francisco - The progress has been steady, if sometimes slow, for the 25-year-old first baseman, but Belt has mashed four home runs early. Not to rain on his parade, since Belt is a nice breakout candidate, but hes been unusually aggressive at the plate early, seeing fewer pitches per plate appearance (3.65) than his standard (3.96 for his career) and hasnt walked once in 31 plate appearances. Yovani Gallardo, RHP, Milwaukee - Responsible for murdering fantasy teams (including one of my own) last season, when he had a career-high 4.18 ERA, Gallardo emerged unscathed from his first two starts. Dont get too carried away with the praise, however, as his strikeout rate (seven in 12 2/3 IP) is way low and hes been fortunate enough to strand every runner thats reached base against him. Nate Eovaldi, RHP, Miami - A 3.46 ERA in two starts is nice for the 24-year-old, but there are more promising results in underlying numbers. For one thing, Eovaldi has been a hard thrower who struggled to miss bats in the past and his average fastball is still up near 96 MPH, but hes missed more bats, and his 14 strikeouts in 13 innings (9.7 K/9) is far better than the 179 strikeouts in 260 1/3 innings (6.4 K/9) to start his career. Francisco Rodriguez, RHP, Milwaukee - The 32-year-old received the early closing opportunities for the Brewers, while they waited for Jim Henderson to find his form. Even without great velocity, K-Rod has six strikeouts in three innings, with a couple of saves, so its not like the Brewers figure to be rushing him out of the role. Pedro Strop, RHP, Chicago Cubs - A 28-year-old journeyman with four career saves entering the year, Strop is pushing Jose Veras, who has six walks in 1 2/3 innings, for the closers role with the Cubs. Strop throws hard enough, though hes been slider-heavy in the early going this year. Jose Valverde, RHP, N.Y. Mets - With word that Bobby Parnell is undergoing Tommy John surgery, the Mets closer role is open for 36-year-old Valverde, who busted out of the role in Detroit last season after allowing six home runs in 19 1/3 IP. With six strikeouts in 3 1/3 IP, Valverde is off to a good start in that spot, but has spent a career walking the high wire as a closer who rarely makes it look easy. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap Fake Shoes Online . made a diving catch in left field for the final out in a 1-0 victory over the Miami Marlins in a regular-season finale Sunday. Zimmermann (14-5) allowed only two baserunners, finishing with 10 strikeouts and one walk in the fifth no-hitter in the majors this year. Trendy Wholesale Shoes .Brooks, a three-year veteran, was slow to get up after suffering the injury during a 5-yard run by Arian Foster.Brooks limped off the field midway through the quarter and then slowly walked to the locker room a few minutes later. http://www.cheapshoes.us.org/ . It was well worth the wait. Manning and the Denver Broncos waited eight long months, then another 33 minutes to get the season started because of a lightning storm. Cheap Shoes Online Free Delivery . Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who avoided a repeat of Finlands upset at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. Finnish goalie Noora Raty made 58 saves in that one, but the three-time Olympian could stop just 40 of 43 U. Cheap Shoes Outlet Stores . "Its embarrassing what were doing here," leading scorer Phil Kessel said Wednesday. The most recent failed season came with even more pain than the six that preceded it. There was no hint of an impending implosion when the Leafs came roaring out of the all-star break with back-to-back games against Pittsburgh -- a 5-4 shootout loss followed by a 1-0 win the next night.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Charlotte Bobcats arent content with just securing a playoff spot, they want to move up in the Eastern Conference before the playoffs. If they play like they did on Tuesday night, they might just make it. Al Jefferson scored 30 points, Anthony Tolliver added 22, and the Bobcats had a franchise-record 42 assists to earn a rare win over the Dallas Mavericks, 114-89 on Tuesday night. "These guys, you can see it in their eyes. Now, were playing for something and trying to reach our goals," Jefferson said. "I think we can have a chance to make a move when we come back from the All-Star break." First, there is the matter of playing the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night. The Nets are currently seventh in the East, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Bobcats. "It was really important to get this one and go to Brooklyn and beat a seed ahead of us," Jefferson said. The Bobcats had lost 17 of 18 against the Mavericks, but scored 60 points in the paint and tied a season-high with 12 3-pointers. Charlottes 42 assists on 45 field goals was the highest percentage (.933) in the NBA this season. "We were able to make the right play and knock in some shots," said Josh McRoberts, who had a career-high 13 assists. "We shared the ball pretty well, and it helps when youre making shots." Charlottes relatively easy victory came on the night it was announced that the wife of Bobcats owner Michael Jordan gave birth to the couples identical twin daughters. Jordans spokeswoman Estee Portnoy told The Associated Press on Tuesday night that Yvette Jordan gave birth to Victoria and Ysabel on Sunday in West Palm Beach, Fla. Jordan missed his teams fine performance. "I told them we couldnt lose concentration," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. "We had games this year where we were down 16 or 18 points in the third quarter and we came back. In this league it happens all of the time." But there was no comeback for the Mavericks. Dallas Dirk Nowitzki sprained his lefft ankle in the second quarter and was taken to the locker room for observation.dddddddddddd He returned in the second half and finished with 16 points in 25 minutes. The Bobcats went 12 of 24 from beyond the arc, led by Tolliver, who was 5 of 6. Jefferson was 14 of 23 from the field and reached the 20-point plateau for the 14th time in 15 games. He has averaged 27 points per game during that span. Charlotte built a 58-44 lead at halftime behind 16 points each from Jefferson and Tolliver. Gerald Henderson added 15 points, and Bismack Biyombo scored 10 points on 5 of 5 shooting and blocked a 3-point attempt by Vince Carter. Nowitzki had been 16-0 against the Bobcats while averaging 26.1 points per game. But he had just two points in 10 minutes of action in the first half before rolling his ankle when he landed on McRoberts foot. Nowitzki said he will play Wednesday night at Indiana. He wasnt quite sure what went wrong in a game that was never close in the second half. "They really got whatever they wanted," Nowitzki said. "Jefferson on the block scored. When we doubled, he passed out and they shot the ball well. They broke us down on some penetrations. They had 40-something assists, which is unheard of. "Every time there was a breakdown defensively, and they made us pay all night long." Dallas primary problem was stopping Jefferson in the paint. Playing at the top of his game, the 10-year NBA veteran scored almost at will with a series of low post moves, pump fakes and up-and-under moves. And when he wasnt doing that he was moving the ball and helping create shots for his teammates. NOTES: It wasnt all good news for the Bobcats as point guard Kemba Walker left the game with tightness in his Achilles in the second half and didnt return. He is day-to-day. ... The Bobcats handed out a season-high 42 assists. ... Monta Ellis had 16 points and has reached double figures in six straight games for Dallas. ... The Bobcats honoured six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. ' ' ' identify. That led police to apply for the search warrant. ' ' '