Strasburg takes first step toward return  —  MILWAUKEE — Stephen Strasburg threw his first bullpen session on Monday since undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow on Sept. 3.  —  “First bullpen in the books,” Strasburg wrote on his Twitter account after throwing off a mound …

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Nationals place ailing LaRoche on DL  —  First baseman gets second opinion on shoulder injury  —  MILWAUKEE — First baseman Adam LaRoche on Monday was placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Washington Nationals to rest a torn labrum in his left shoulder.  —  The move is retroactive to Saturday.

The Annotated WARP Leaders  —  Our collection of BP-flavored single-season WARP scores currently goes back to 1950.  Now that we've added fielding runs to the sortable choices, you can easily see the combination of offense and defense that made the top players during this period so valuable …

Why all the parity in baseball?  —  Your eyes do not deceive you.  The standings do not deceive you.  There is indeed greater parity in baseball this season — so far.  —  Entering Sunday's play, 20 of the 30 clubs were within four games of .500 — the most ever on May 21, according to STATS LLC.

Switch-pitcher?  Ambidextrous HS star on rise … ELGIN, Ill. — Professional scouts are paying increasing attention to a right-handed pitcher and a left-handed pitcher from a tiny school in Elgin, Ill., and it happens to be the same player.  —  Ryan Perez has become a spectacle for fans …

Asdrubal Cabrera's emergence as a star lights the way for first-place Cleveland Indians: Bud Shaw  —  CLEVELAND, Ohio — Only Miss Manners could say for sure, but is it considered poor taste to send a thank you card to a player best remembered now for what his departure brought in return?

A's Josh Outman to return against Angels  —  (05-22) 21:27 PDT — No pressure, Josh Outman.  First major-league appearance in nearly two years, on the road, Jered Weaver pitching for the Angels and the A's stumbling along on a five-game losing streak.  —  That's the assignment Outman …

Braves Sign Julio Lugo  —  The Braves signed shortstop Julio Lugo to a minor league contract that's pending a physical, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes.com.  Lugo will earn $12K per month in the minor leagues and a pro-rated portion of $650K if he makes the Major Leagues, Rojas reports.

BP Announces Free Public Access to Archives  —  Baseball Prospectus, owner of BaseballProspectus.com (BP), today announced it has made its entire archive of premium and fantasy content over one year old completely and permanently free to the public.  —  Hundreds of original articles …

Alexei Ramirez powers surging White Sox past Dodgers 8-3  —  CHICAGO — Alexei Ramirez homered and drove in a career-high five runs, and the suddenly surging Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-3 on Sunday.  —  Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the first inning …