Always Be Closing: Some Might Saiyan

 

I think something we're really missing in this era of closing pitching is someone inherently fun. 

I look around at the current breed of closers, and you can really separate them into two categories. The first category is 'intimidating, ferocious people'. People who just throw smoke and scream at the top of their lungs when they notch a save. They deal in abject seriousness and they maintain control of that tone. Kenley Jansen is in this category, Emmanuel Clase is in there, Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott, even Mason Miller to a degree. The second category is 'genuinely unsavory people'. Not just complete intimidation, but just people you don't want to hang around with. Some of them have kind of alarming morals, like Josh Hader and Jason Adam. Some of them broken some MLB laws, like Aroldis Chapman and now Jose Alvarado. 

You may not remember this, but there was once an era where closing pitchers were, across the board pretty much, fun and harmless individuals. Guys like Heath Bell, Troy Percival, Grant Balfour, Fernando Rodney and Andrew Miller. Even if some of them used intimidation, like Trevor Hoffman, they still remembered to smile and have fun. It was really only one bad egg or so, a Jonathan Papelbon here or whichever, that'd standout. And now it's pretty much everybody that's just less than fun to watch. Even once exciting closers like Jordan Romano and Devin Williams have become too infuriating to truly enjoy. Liam Hendriks I figured was the last of the expressive, genuine closers, and that's kind of cheating because he's Australian, and most Australians are pretty chipper on the norm. 

But now here comes Carlos Estevez, intent on turning things around. Estevez has been one of the best closers in the league for the last few years, after spending his upbringing as a relief piece for the Rockies. The Angels signed him to a brief deal, he responded with an ASG-caliber year, then another which became a playoff berth with the Phillies. While a ton of teams looked at Estevez this offseason [Yanks included], the Royals, their bullpen very stocked but lacking in a true ninth inning option, won out.

What makes Estevez fun, in addition to his strong workmanship and consistency, is his calling card in saves. You know what to look for with a lot of these, many closers have their thing they do when they finish a game. Fernando Rodney had his 'archer's position', that's a classic. Many closers address the heavens or do something heartfelt. Carlos Estevez, a true Dragon Ball Z fan, does a kamehameha. For those unfamiliar with DBZ, that's the little 'powering up' motion many of the characters do to 'go full super-saiyan', or achieve full power complete with blonde hair for some reason. I used to watch DBZ as a kid, not because I was that into it but because it was on at 4:00 after school. I remember this, it's a pretty ripe cultural reference, and since Estevez grew up over here, he watched a lot of DBZ, and so he does the kamehameha stance, which is always really fun. I did a custom last year I think of Estevez going Super-Saiyan after a save, I can't just do it in every custom because I want to show his range.

But that's ultimately what we need. Forget the 15 saves by the end of May, forget that he's helping a decent enough team stay in the race. He's a closer that genuinely seems happy to do his job. Too many closers look angry and pissed off and I think we've kinda lost our way. Not everyone needs to be Lee Smith, sometimes you need a Rollie Fingers in there. And I think that's where Estevez skews. I hope he keeps it up, he's been very fun to watch.

Coming Tonight- The Reds have found guys that just go on unbelievable tears and step aside for the next guy to do the same. Here's one of them. 

A Nice Reprieve In Between Brutality

 

The Mets' schedule always seems to line up with the moments where they're feeling the most confident. They had one of the best records in the NL, and then suddenly they had to play the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers, and a bunch of games got dropped. Surprisingly the team the Mets did the best against, of those three, was LA, as they took 2 hard-fought wins from them. Those two are pretty evenly matched, and they definitely have a score to settle after the 2024 NLCS. 

So the bulk of this week has been something of a joyride for the Mets. Three straight series against competitors, and now they get to play the two worst teams in the majors. They just got 2 wins against the White Sox, and now they're hosting the Rockies for a series. So that should help, right?

Well...perhaps losing those games to the Yankees pointed out a lot of the flaws in this team. First of all, there's a lot of holes in this lineup. Vientos really doesn't have it right now. McNeil, Alvarez and Marte are slowly catching up. Nimmo is hitting for power but isn't the guy they signed to a major contract. Tyrone Taylor is *fine*. People have been pointing out lately how silly the Mets must feel that they traded Pete Crow-Armstrong for two months of Javier Baez only to be stuck using guys like Tyrone Taylor in center. But ultimately, a lot of this Mets lineup is guys who are perfectly acceptable, and who aren't really doing a great deal at the moment. 

And then you look at someone like Francisco Lindor, who's one of the team heroes. Lindor's start, by Lindor standards, is a little on the quieter side. He's got a 1.4 WAR, he's hitting .269, he has 31 RBIs and 10 homers. It's not terrible, but you'd expect more. Pete Alonso's doing exactly what was asked of him, he has 11 homers and 43 RBIs, plus he's hitting for average. Lindor hasn't really jumped to full gear yet, and in past New York seasons that's happened closer to like July. I also think that he's slowed down with the team, so when they rev back up again he'll probably boost his average a ton.

And even if Lindor is comparatively kinda human, at least he's racked up goodwill with Mets fans. Juan Soto is being left out to dry for hitting .224, and the New York news media are converging on him like a pack of vultures. Like Lindor, Soto will find his groove, he's just facing a lot of unfair attention just for saying no to the Yankees. Dude can do whatever he wants, even if he's wrong. Maybe lay off him, give him some room to breathe, then he'll play like Juan Soto.

The Mets had better enjoy this Rockies series, and from the looks of things David Peterson is really helping them enjoy themselves there, because immediately afterwards the schedule ramps right back up again. Then they have to play the Dodgers, meaning more very close games, and then a June stacked to the brim with competitive teams like the Braves, Phillies and Rays. The good news is that 3 more Rockies games are hidden in there, and Colorado ones as well, but it's only gonna be a positive stretch for the Mets if they click back into place. The momentum of last fall just isn't there at the moment, and they need to find it before things get even worse.

Coming Tomorrow- Too many closers are insistent upon being ferocious, unlikable people, which is why it's very refreshing to see a closer who's just really into anime. 

Riff Raf

 

Here's how I'd describe the Red Sox' season so far. In April, the team was rather good, but Rafael Devers, who just got a major extension and was recently arguing with the front office about where he's gonna play, took ages to start hitting. And now, in May, the Sox have plummeted, with a 5-11 stretch since May 11th [heh, that's funny], and one of the few players that hasn't slowed down is none other than Rafael Devers, who now leads the league in RBIs with 50.

How does someone go from 'not hitting the first two weeks of April' to 'halfway to a fourth 100+ RBI season before we're even two months in?' Well, Devers just finds ways.

I think the comparison you'd be quick to make with Rafael Devers is someone like David Ortiz. Y'know, moves at his own pace, does what he wants, but makes up for it with the levels of production. Devers is 28, and he already has 212 home runs and 688 career RBIs. He's played his entire career with Boston, and intends to finish it off there as well. And the guy just lives to power-hit. It's become his entire job. When I saw him in his rookie season he did some power hitting but was still kinda well-rounded. No, this is his life now. Power-hitting DH. You have Bregman or somebody in to play third, find, Devers is Ortiz now, he's Edgar Martinez now. Which isn't a bad thing at all, as most teams really need someone that good at producing runs. But I think the issue is that Devers is twisting the hand of the team by continuing to play to his own strengths rather than try stuff out for the good of the team.

Miguel Cabrera moved to third for two seasons when Prince Fielder came over, that worked well for all involved parties. Bryce Harper's said he's willing to move back to right field if they get a better everyday first baseman [maybe an old friend in Milwaukee], that's very much Harper's team mentality speaking. Jose Altuve offered to move to lef-...okay bad example. The point is, there comes a point where you're in it for the good of the team rather than for yourself. And again, what Devers is doing isn't bad, and he's still helping the team after all. I just think the Sox expected him to be the 'team first' kind of leadership figure, and he's really not that. He's not David Ortiz in that respect, at least not yet. 

It's gonna be interesting to see what kind of figure Devers becomes as Anthony, Campbell and Mayer inherit the team. Mayer's already hitting .263 in 5 games, and the fans are begging the team to bring up Anthony to play second in lieu of Trevor Story's truly awful stretch. But once they're running the team, will there be a divide between Devers and the rest of the team? Or will some sort of unity develop, sort of like Ortiz in 2013, or Martinez in 2001. I guess we'll have to see.

Coming Tonight: The Guardians officially are clean out of the people they received when they traded this guy. So I guess they're taking the L.

They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore

 

Logan Webb, since he debuted in 2019, has made virtually all of his starts, averaged a 4.0 WAR per year has routinely kept his ERA below 3.50 and has shown no sign of slowing down or injury. I'm saying this because it seems all too rare nowadays that somebody can just make all their starts for 5 years. Typically someone will throw their arm out or need TJ surgery or have a quadding injury or some shit, but Webb, thus far, has been one of the most consistent and omnipresent starting pitchers of the decade so far. It's been Webb, Wheeler, Gausman, Bassitt, Nola [til now] and Framber Valdez, amongst others I'm probably forgetting. 

Fundamentally I shouldn't like Logan Webb, because buried in his ledger is the detail that at some point during the 2019 system he failed a routine drug test and was nearly suspended for 80 games. Unlike a lot of his contemporaries [Alvarado, Tatis, Profar, Cano], he was genuinely innocent and would be vindicated when it became clear that he had no knowledge of how the steroid got into his system. It's on the side of 'he's innocent', but there's this overall uncertainty, a lot like Mike Piazza or Gerrit Cole, on whether or not there was actually cheating involved. I believe him, though. And seeing as, as good as he's been since coming up, Webb hasn't hit the sensors again, I think he's clean for the long run.

Logan Webb, as it stands, is having a slightly more human year than expected, while also still being Logan Webb. Through 12 starts he's 5-5 with a 2.82 ERA and 84 Ks. The W/L ratio isn't scaring too much because the last two years he's had similar luck with that standard of Giants team, but with a better, more competitive squad he's still 5-5. Robbie Ray, for reference, is 7-0. I think Webb is still the Giants' best starter [though Jordan Hicks and Justin Verlander has made this relatively easy], but he's just come upon some tougher starts than usual. The good news is he still looks good by and large, and is on pace for another consistent, full season.

Also it is odd that JV is on this team, cause he used to be the 'go out there for 35 games every year' guy and then eventually his arm couldn't keep up. The tables have turned.

The Giants are in the middle of a close race for second place in the NL West, alongside the San Diego Padres. On their side, the Giants have an outstanding bullpen, some well spread-out power hitting, breakthroughs from the majority of the outfield, another strong season from Matt Chapman and the sudden RBI powers of Wilmer Flores. The Padres, however...still might have the better team. But the Giants at least have a Marlins series to whet their appetite before the Padres come to town. So we'll see if either one legs ahead.

Coming Tomorrow- He got off to a truly horrendous start and worried a ton of people that the Red Sox' money had gone to the right place. Suffice to say they're a lot less worried now.

Once More, With No Feeling

 

In 2024, the Rangers' hopes to compete, and potentially win a second World Series in a row, were thwarted by their own injuries. deGrom, Scherzer, Seager, Jung, Bradford, Mahle and Gray all spent significant time on the IL, and the replacements could only do so much. Heading towards 2025, and with even more young promise hitting the roster, the Rangers looked to capitalized on a new promise to bring home rings on odd years, as opposed to Bochy's even year runs in San Francisco.

And while many of the injured Rangers of 2024 have factored greatly into this season, new and different injuries have prevented this team from getting ahead, and now they're getting over losing a series to the White Sox. Not even two years after winning a ring they're dropping games to the worst team in the AL. Something has to be up.

I mean, the good news is that Wyatt Langford, a 2023 draft pick who made the majors to begin the 2024 season, is now a fully realized, multi-faceted ballplayer in his second season. He's excellent defensively, combining with Adolis Garcia and Kevin Pillar for a very strong outfield, he's a terrific hitter, with 10 homers and 21 RBIs, and he's stolen 10 bases. He's rounding out several of the categories you need to fill out as a great player, and he's been one of the Rangers' surest bets this year.

But in Langford's stats, you can see a troubling trend with this team. Langford leads the team in homers...with 10. Need I remind you how much of a power-hitting team this was in 2023? You have Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Joc Pederson, Adolis Garcia and Kyle Higashioka on this team. All of them, quite famously, have hit plenty of home runs. But so far, through about 2 months of play, none of them have hit more than 7 of them. That perplexes the hell out of me. And it's not like they're all completely cold either. Seager, through injuries, has hit .300, Garcia has 27 RBIs. Though Semien and Pederson sure are cold, like...worryingly so. And you hope they can eventually get it together, even if that's usually Semien's thing, really slow starts. 

I never thought this team, with these players, would be a 'leave it to a strong rotation' type, but that's where we're at. And luckily they do have guys like Jacob deGrom, Nate Eovaldi, Tyler Mahle, Patrick Corbin and Jack Leiter on excellent runs at the moment. It's a very strong rotation, and it's weird that Corbin has factored so heavily into it. Someone did point out that Corbin's best numbers happened from 2017 to 2020, stopped when a democrat entered the White House and continued at the start of 2025. This sort of behavior I'd expect from Josh Hader rather than Corbin. This rotation has garnered 19 of the team's 27 wins, and a lot of those have stayed exceptionally close, which, again, remember back in 2023 when this team blew everybody out by 10 runs?

They've got to wake up eventually, right? Maybe June is when it happens. A lot of these guys are just waiting to really go on a tear, and if it all happens simultaneously they could even leave the similarly streaky Angels in the dust. How wild would that be?

Coming Tonight: Five years in he's undeniably one of the most consistent, and ferocious, pitchers of the decade.

The May-Clicks

 

The St. Louis Cardinals are 17-7 in May so far. Granted, this does not make them a first place team, due to the existence of the Chicago Cubs, nor does it make them a true successor for the division, due to the Reds only being a couple games behind, but in the span of a month, the Cardinals have gone from disappointing to impressive, and it may set the tone for the rest of the season.

The most notable part of this is the fact that they've ascended this much even with the continuing insistence on older arms in the rotation. But...this year they're kinda working. Miles Mikolas was DOA last year, and now he's a ton better, with a 4-2 record and a 3.50 ERA. The other Cardinals starter who fixed his issues overseas, Erick Fedde, has been even more dominant, with a complete game shutout under his belt in addition to his 3.90 ERA. These two and Sonny Gray at the very least going deep into games and getting the job done is a plus, as a lot of teams have gotten less mileage from starters over 30. And while this is a lesser version of Gray the Cards have signed up for, he's still got 5 wins and 66 Ks, so that definitely beats his Yankee numbers. Matthew Liberatore, however, has finally proven the scouts right and is a fully trustworthy MLB starter at last, with a 2.73 ERA in 10 starts. As good as the veterans have been, they need a guy like Liberatore to build the next stage around, and I can see Michael McGreevy and Tink Hence lining up behind him as soon as next year. 

The difference maker has been the amount of hitters that finally ripened for the Cardinals. Masyn Winn is now hitting .262 after a delayed start. Victor Scott has 16 stolen bases and is a great outfielder. Lars Nootbaar's having an excellent power season. Ivan Herrera, despite the injury, is succeeding as a hard-hitting catcher. Brendan Donovan is a true everyman contact guy. And Nolan Arenado, while not quite peak Arenado, is still hitting for power and has a 1.0 WAR. This team still gets listed as a potential seller a lot, with Fedde, Arenado and Helsley among the list of potential trade targets, but they're all aiding this team now, and helping them stay in the division race. 

And yes, eventually this team needs to have an identity conversation, and has to figure out if the answer is building the team around Donovan and Winn or assuming there's a true marquee guy in waiting [then again they thought Nolan Gorman was this]. But even 'crisis mode' for the Cardinals is working right now, as bizarre as it seems. We'll see if it lasts another couple months though.

Coming Tomorrow- He joined the major league club as they were about to defend their World Series title. Now, only a year later, he's one of the few people keeping them from falling into last. 

Sku Perspective

 

It's got to be a new feeling for Tigers fans to look at their WAR leaders and see...the team's top prospects of the last five years, the major free agent signing, and a couple guys they got for absolutely nothing. That happens all the time with every other team, but the Tigers fans went through 10 years of abject misery waiting to compete again, and now they're in first with essentially everyone they've needed to perform running the team. Plus, their top pitcher does insane things like 13-K shutouts whenever he wants.

2024 proved that Tarik Skubal was capable of greatness, and 2025 is proving that is *is* great. It's easy for somebody to pitch as well as Sky did for one season and never really get there again, and Sku has no real desire to be that guy. So his 2025 is looking a lot like his 2024 so far, with a 5-2 record, a 2.49 ERA and a league-leading 92 Ks after only 11 starts. That 13-K start definitely put him over the edge, and back onto the radars of everyone watching and hoping for predictability. The kind of dominance that got Skubal the award last year has persisted, and he's still one of the best pitchers in the game. People have even started making Verlander comparisons, which is kinda odd considering that Verlander is currently burned out on the bench in San Francisco. And while I don't think Skubal is JV good yet, and considering that Sku got to this point by 28 and JV was there like 5 years earlier, he's the exact kind of guy that the Tigers need.

Pretty much every other starter on this roster fulfills a need without being the full alpha. Jack Flaherty is the K-heavy veteran, Reese Olson is the unassuming fireballer, Casey Mize is the old school deep win guy, and Jackson Jobe is the up-and-comer just taking his reps. All of them fall behind Skubal, and it's interesting because at different points people figured they'd fall behind Flaherty or Mize. But they've been unable to remain 'that guy' the way Skubal has, and they lack that sort of consistency. Meanwhile, Skubal I think just has it figured out and could be this good for a while.

The Tigers are still firmly in first, and after this Cleveland series they're a bit further out than they were. Baez is still on a tear, Greene and Carpenter have had steady power numbers, Torres has been a consistent performer, Torkelson has 13 homers and 40 RBIs, Dillon Dingler might finally be the Tigers catcher that stays above 'passable', and McKinstry has been excellent at multiple positions. There is welcome depth in this team, and the idea that so many different people can step up and keep the team moving. For the Tigers to finally have that is truly fantastic, and a long time coming.

The AL Central will not be easy to stay ahead of, especially with the Twins having occasional streaks, the Guardians being a contact machine and the Royals still lurking in the back. I think the Tigers have the most real weapons, or at least the most effective ones, right now, and if they keep that going this might continue to be a runaway.

Coming Tomorrow- He got out of Chicago and now gets to play for an actual competitor. How about that?

Youth Overload

 

On the current Nats 26-man roster, there are only 8 players over 30. Five of them are relievers. The two hitters over 30 are a guy who made his debut 2 years ago and Josh Bell. This is a very young team, and with some recent call-ups it just got even younger. And while that may not immediately succeed, especially in this division, the Nationals do have a point with trying to plug people into the right positions early.

For instance, they just called up Robert Hassell, one of the few remaining Soto deal prospects that hadn't made the majors. Hassell hasn't had a ton of hitting luck yet in the majors, but with Crews and Young hurt, they need to at least exhaust some minor league options. The other intriguing recent call up is Daylen Lile, a 22-year old outfield prospect with some incredible defensive skills and some early contact promise. In the minors he was trusted for his contact work and his base-stealing, so to have a guy like that would aid the Nats immensely, as they're already filling up with great young power bats [James Wood chief most among them]. 

The team's biggest star, arguably, is a young, consistent hitter netted in the Soto deal. C.J. Abrams was always gonna blossom in the majors, and it was really just a matter of where. San Diego did not have the infield room for him, and Washington clearly did, so of course it worked perfectly. So far this year Abrams is off to another strong start, hitting .294 with 8 homers, 19 RBIs and 9 steals. Even with shortstop being a highly contested position, Abrams has a decent shot of making an All-Star team this year, and it's clear that he's vindicated himself from where he was at the end of last season [from an ownership standpoint]. Abrams can still be the focal point of this team, even as Wood, Parker and Gore fully develop and Hassell and Lile join the fun. 

The Nats, to me, have been among the best of the so-called 'bad teams'. They have a meager record and they're not currently expected to vie for the lead in the NL East, but they're better than you'd think. Last week they had a 5-game winning streak going, against the O's and Braves, and now they're playing teams like the Mariners and D-Backs that they honestly match up well against. Irvin, Gore and Parkers are having great seasons, Ruiz is batting .280, and Amed Rosario has been a terrific bench bat. There's a lot on this Nats team that works, and while I don't think they officially compete this year, people should be paying attention to what they're building, because before they know it they'll be a major force.

Coming Tonight: Oh, you know...that guy that just pitched a 13-K shutout the other day.

The Year Without a Cole

 

At the moment, the injury bug has robbed the Yankees of some of its edge, but comparative to other years during the Aaron Boone era, they still have a lot of key players left. Right now the biggest pieces they're missing are Giancarlo Stanton, who'll be back soon, Jazz Chisholm, who's on track to return soon, Luis Gil, who...I mean hopefully he's not a wash for another year, and J.T. Brubaker, who was inches from being that crucial fifth starter we've needed. The biggest absence so far has clearly been Gerrit Cole, who was even pretty helpful in a half-season lost to injury last year. That comeback soiled his arm, and the recovery from Tommy John surgery should keep him out til midseason 2026. Meaning the Yankees have had to go through 2025 without a solidified ace.

...and yet the way Max Fried and Carlos Rodon are pitching, you'd never know something was off.

Carlos Rodon was expected to step up in Cole's absence, because he was very good last year as Cole's #2, and he's definitely returned to his Chicago dominance as a Yankee. Rodon made all his starts last year and went 16-9. This year he's even better, going 6-3 through 11 starts with a 2.88 ERA and 80 Ks. With Nestor Cortes gone, we needed a true workhorse, and Rodon has definitely been that guy, striking people out right and left and keeping the runs inward. Despite that half-lost first year, Rodon has been one of the most consistent Yankee pitchers since his signing, and the whole fanbase has rallied behind him. I caught a start of his last week, and while the Mets did run through hm pretty quickly, he still kept them from really dominating. It's nice to have a guy like that around. 

Max Fried, though, has been even better. The man is 7-0 with a 1.29 ERA, which is absolutely incredible through 11 starts. He's got 10 earned runs all season, a 0.929 WHIP, and 67 Ks [which, funnily enough, is as many as Will Warren, who arguably exerts himself more in fewer innings]. People just cannot hit Fried when he's on, and since he's healthy and dominant he's having his best season yet. The guy was tailor made for Yankee Stadium [I've known this since he silenced the Yanks last year for Atlanta], and it's been so satisfying to watch him dominate here. Warren and Schmidt have found their groove as well, and I suppose Ryan Yarbrough will do the trick til Clayton Beeter is fully rehabilitated. 

Overall I've been really enjoying this Yankee team. Now Wellsy, Bellinger and Dominguez are hitting. Goldy's still hitting .345. Weaver's still a dream in the ninth and Williams has become a pretty ferocious set-up man. I am waiting patiently for Chisholm to get back so our back third isn't a complete wasteland, but Peraza is beginning to figure things out at least. If this team keeps rolling, and if Judge stays a .400-caliber hitter, that revenge mission may turn out to be a successful one.

Coming Tomorrow- In case you really thought a casino trip would be the end of his reign of dominance in Washington..

Once in a Lifetime

 

I think that right now, we're in a period where there's multiple people in the MLB that could be considered among the all-time greats, and I think it occasionally gets taken for granted. Right now Aaron Judge is sporting an unbelievable stat line, Paul Skenes is more dominant than most pitchers have ever been through a year in the league, and Clayton Kershaw is still pitching 17 years after making his debut. It has been years since it's felt like so much history was happening at once in this league. Maybe the late 90s had a taste of that, probably the 60s had that more consistently. But the 2020s have seen the Acuna 40/70 season, the Judge 62 season, that Skenes rookie campaign and...well, Ohtani's 50/50 season. And I get the sense that when this decade is up, the guy who'll have done the most, and been the most important player to carry into the history books, is Shohei Ohtani.

It's been a while since somebody has felt like appointment television like Ohtani has. Even Judge will have quiet games here and there. Ohtani will make news just by existing. So far this season, he has 17 home runs, the NL lead, 53 runs, the league lead, a .302 average, 31 RBIs and a 1.040 OPS. People have compared his stats with his stats around this time last year, and he's already looking to outdo his 2024 marks, which were already insane. He has 11 steals and 17 homers, meaning 30/30 is within reach and further than that...may also be a possibility. And he's doing this while playing for one of the best teams in the NL, where plenty of other great players can also be the hero and the acclaim is spread out equally. The feeling of being a part of a team that's as good as he is, where the work can be spread around, is ideal for Ohtani. He's one of those hard-working types who just wants to get better every day and doesn't have the ego thing, Ichiro was kind of like that to a degree [though Ichiro was a bit more flamboyant]. 

It's also worth keeping in mind that already, in the US, Ohtani has accumulated 242 home runs [meaning 300+ by the end of his career is very achievable, a 46.3 WAR [meaning 60+ is a possibility, especially between pitching and hitting WAR], and will very soon have his 600th RBI [meaning 1000 is very possibly a thing that could happen]. And for the record, taking his Japanese stats into account, Ohtani has 290 homers, meaning his 300th worldwide will happen this season. And he's only 30, and he's got plenty of LA seasons to go.

Here's how you can tell this is otherworldly- I do have a desire to watch Ohtani play live, somehow. I was able to catch Ichiro live, I was able to see a Verlander start, I was able to watch a Rivera save, and I've seen countless Judge homers. I want to see a game Ohtani plays in. Just to say I did. 

The Dodgers continue to roll through, ahead of the Giants by a couple games but staying on their toes against the Mets. Kershaw is back and limiting his exertion but still himself. Betts is on a tear, Pages is still surging, Yamamoto's still the staff ace and Freeman's still in peak form. They may go deep again, and Ohtani may do even more in October. And I think we're all lucky to see it.

Coming Tonight: Someone who very thankfully got out of Denver yesterday without having to say they dropped two games to the worst team in the majors. 

Woo Soul

 

The Mariners are still in first place. Even without Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller, they are still a first place team, and still have the momentum while the A's and Rangers sink and the Angels and Astros ascend. This is very important. I have no idea how much longer this will be a true statement, but it's good that we're here.

Last year, if you'll remember, the Mariners couldn't hit for shit. This year is something of an improvement. The team has an AL home run leader, Cal Raleigh, who has 17. This team also has Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena, who are both hitting at the moment despite some .230ish averages. Julio has 9 homers and 29 RBIs, Randy is the more well rounded hitter with more doubles and contact fun. You also have guys like Jorge Polanco, Dylan Moore, J.P. Crawford and Leo Rivas hitting really well and lifting the team. Now, granted, the team average is still .237, but it's up from last year. There's still some dead weight refusing to really perform at the plate, like Luke Raley, Rowdy Tellez, Mitch Garver and now Leody Taveras. But this year you can tell there's been a shift, and at the very least there's been more power hitting, which has been getting the job done in the West.

To that end, the rotation isn't QUITE as unstoppable as last year's, and because Gilbert and Miller are hurt and Kirby is just getting back, they've had to rely on some also-rans like the other Luis Castillo and Emerson Hancock. Logan Evans is beginning to figure it out, he's got an ERA around 3, but the ironclad quality of the 2024 rotation isn't there. Plus, Kirby got lit up in his first start back. At the very least Castillo has been himself, but without Gilbert they've lacked that one sure thing. Which is where Bryan Woo has come in. Finally healthy and at full potential, Woo is having another incredible, low-ERA campaign, with a 5-1 record, a 2.65 ERA and 55 Ks. He's definitely the staff ace at the moment, even with Castillo still there. I'd love for him to continue at this pace even after Gilbert comes back, it looks good on him.

Between the surging starters, a powerful lineup and the single best closer in baseball right now, the Mariners finally have a well-rounded roster with a lot of perks. However, they just lost two to the Astros, who are now closer than ever to lapping them, and now they have to play the Nats, always a spoiler at this stage. I'd love them to stay on top, but it requires stopping the current and rising where other M's teams failed. Can they do that, especially to stave off the Astros? Uhh...I hope the answer is yes for once.

Coming Tomorrow- Very few things are inevitable in this life. Death, taxes...and this guy hitting a home run off you. 

One Dans

 

I think in the MLB there's a luxury of just being the best all the time. Like, guys like Jose Ramirez and Max Scherzer and Aaron Judge, they're just consistently really damn good, and even if they do have slumps or injuries you still have that reassurance that they will swing back up relatively soon. But there's also just people who *can* be extremely good, but not as consistently as the greats. Guys who can have solid month stretches where they're leading the team that can come after periods of time where they're a liability. There's honestly a bunch of guys right now who fit this description. Carlos Correa, Marcus Semien, Anthony Santander, arguably Blake Snell. 

And Dansby Swanson might be the most curious one of all. #1 draft pick, traded for a guy who immediately fell off, won a World Series as a starter, signed a big deal with Chicago. His highs have led these teams to greatness, and his lows...have pissed them off.

It is too damn often that I will look at Dansby Swanson's stats and see that he's hitting .189 or something, then check baseball reference again a week and a half later and see he's leading the team in WAR. The man runs hot and cold like nobody else, and he's been doing this for years. The Braves in like 2021, in his age-27 season, were essentially standing there going 'WHEN IS SOMETHING GOING TO HAPPEN?' Now, mind you, this was the season where all four infield spots produced 25 or more homers, and this was also in Dansby's three-year stretch where he didn't miss any games, and this was also the year where Swanson hit 2 home runs in the World Series against the Astros. So things did happen, but instead of being a perennial 7 WAR guy like Freeman or Acuna, Swanson is a 3 WAR guy who will give you some big months. Which is better than nothing.

I checked Swanson's career splits, and I found something I kind of expected. His career average in April is .230. It just takes him a month or so to really get going a lot of the time. And a lot like Kyle Schwarber, he's electric in June; he's cumulatively hit .271 in June, with 31 homers across his career in that month. Some guys just hit their strides at different points, and Swanson is one of them. Which is fine if you have enough guys who are on more consistently, which the Cubs certainly do.

Swanson, at the moment, is hitting .262 with 11 homers and 29 RBIs. Is he the most important hitter on this team? No, because Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Nico Hoerner are here. But he's still very good, and capable of big games and moments, and when the Cubs have a team like this one, that's so varied and multifaceted, they can take some inconsistency with Swanson [and Seiya Suzuki honestly] if it still rewards them inherently.

The Cubs look great, and they're staying relatively hot, though the Cardinals are approaching quickly from behind. We'll see how things look as we head into June.

Coming Tonight: The Mariners had Logan Gilbert surging, then he got hurt. They just got George Kirby back. Luis Castillo has been great but has given them some subpar starts. The rock of their rotation has persisted, and it wasn't at all who I expected.

Kwan Top of the World

 

This has been a very big weekend for the AL Central. The Twins have taken 2 games from the Royals in walk-offs. The Tigers and Guardians have been squaring off, and now things have shifted so that the Guardians have the momentum. And the White Sox are even winning games against the Rangers. It's gotten to the point where the Twins, Royals and Guardians are all within a game of each other, and the Tigers' lead on the division has lessened to 3.5 games ahead. 

And even with the mega-streaks in Minnesota or the epic rise of the Tigers, the Guardians are just doing what they always do. Solid contact ball, impressive pitching, some insane bullpen stuff. I don't think these teams have ever felt the need to be flashy, and I don't think being flashy is gonna get them anywhere, so just...paddling ahead with Kwan, Bibee and J-Ram might do the trick for now.

Steven Kwan is one of those players who everyone sort of expected to peter off after his insane come-up in 2022, but he's persisted, and he's remained one of the best pure contact hitters in the game. He's won 3 straight gold gloves, made an ASG start last year, has hit 140+ hits in his three prior seasons and has a current career average of .289. Right now he's hitting .322 with 18 RBIs, 64 hits, 4 homers and 7 steals. The guy is simply...excellent at baseball. In a way that doesn't get valued as much as it should. He's not a huge power guy [though his SLG is currently .442], he's not built like Aaron Judge, he's just a fantastic hitter and an exceptional defensive outfielder. And the Guardians have the kind of team where someone like Kwan can be the hero.

The Guardians are getting things done offensively in wild ways at the moment. Carlos Santana leads the team in RBIs, but not in homers. Kyle Manzardo leads the team in both triples and homers. Daniel Schneemann and Bo Naylor have the same amount of homers as Santana. Gabriel Arias is doing everything that Brayan Rocchio did last year. A 32-year-old Jose Ramirez leads the team in stolen bases. I think about how good this offense was last year, even with Naylor and Gimenez, and without those two the Guardians are still a force. That's the power of the Vogt regime I guess.

The Guardians, once they finish with the Tigers, have to play the Dodgers. Hopefully they're building up enough momentum to go on a nice little run, because another stop-start week might alienate the fanbase further.

Coming Tomorrow- Former #1 overall pick who's playing for an entirely different first place team, and it seems to be working out for him. 

7 Years Into the Mega-Deal

 

I remember a lot of people, back in 2019 when the Phillies signed Bryce Harper to a 13-year deal, scratching their heads and going 'they will regret this'. To that point, Harper had been scarily inconsistent, with two real highs and a lot of purely okay stuff, and 13 years and 330 million was a high investment for that. My dad was convinced that Bryce would be riding out the end of the contract DHing for the Yankees. The Nats winning the Series the year after Harper left seemed to be an even more crushing blow of reality for the Phils, and for Harper, who'd been fine his first year there but had to overcome a rough start. 

And now here we are. Bryce Harper is a beloved Philadelphia baseball figure who led the team to a World Series, has an MVP to show for his strong work, has made two All-Star teams and is on his way to a third as a Phillie, and got to cross the 1000 RBI mark this past weekend with the team. There was always a possibility that Bryce Harper would blossom in Philly, but there have been lots of big stars who didn't 'get' Philly after signing here, guys like Terrell Owens, James Harden and...well Hector Neris I suppose. Harper is a big personality, and was never a guarantee to really be the hero he's ultimately become. Which is why it's been so exciting seeing Harper become the everyman, the consistent force he's been. Last year he took 1st base out of necessity, and now he's said 'hey, if we get a 1st baseman and I need to move back to left, I'll totally do that. Whatever it takes'. Mind you, there are certain newly-extended players who don't have the same mentality, and so Harper, as talented as he is, is also this humble, understanding professional who just wants to help the team win however he can.

Harper is 32, and he's in his 14th season. Because he came up at 19, he had an extended development period in the majors, which not everyone gets anymore. It does explain some awkward years before he really hit his stride, but it's a way towards a fuller career, also pretty rare now. It's very nice to say that, even at 32, Harper is still in his prime, and is still a reliable hitter and all-around player. I have friends who've worried he's going to drop off his prime like Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols did, and while his average is currently at .275, he's got a 7-game hit streak going and he's still 2nd in homers and RBIs [behind Schwarber] in Philly. Dude is still a doubles machine, and he's very much a starting player, even as the 'aging period' of these Phils teams still beckons.

Also, let's acknowledge that after a really nice stretch against two of the worst teams in baseball, the Phillies are in 1st place and surging. As upsetting as it was that Mick Abel was used as a depth starter and immediately returned to Lehigh Valley, this current rotation of Wheeler, Luzardo, Suarez, Sanchez and Walker is pretty fantastic. Despite giving up 3 runs the other day, Walker was still dominant, and got the win against Colorado in his first game back in the rotation. I am very relieved that the good Taijuan Walker has returned, though I don't think Thomson should hesitate to dump his ass for Abel the second he implodes again. Schwarber, Turner, Kepler, Stott and now Bohm are all doing fantastically, and Jordan Romano is turning around in the ninth in the wake of Alvarado's suspension. The team looks fantastic, and I want this to be the surest picture of the Phils this year, even with the knowledge that some droughts may be on the horizon.

I'm happy the Phils are doing well, and I'm happy Bryce Harper still gets to be the hero for them. 

Coming Tonight: A true professional contact hitter in a market made for them.

A Fish Called Aranda

 

# of Rays with sub-.200 averages who still rank among the team's top statistical performers: Two. And you people wonder why I hate these teams,

The Rays continue to get by using the most cheap and antithetical means possible and only get rewarded for it. Once again they're riding a band of mostly scrubs to a place in the standings higher than a team that was supposed to be competitive, and are reaping the benefits of continuing to have one of the best farm systems in the league. They're playing in a minor league stadium with the hopes of eventually return to their MLB stadium, voted 29th in the league on a scale from 'new' to 'should be condemned'. 

And so whenever people start getting excited about a Rays rookie, I just tell them to temper their expectations. Either this player is going to get traded within a year, stay at the expense of their own health or have some calamity befall them. I think about the people who actually stuck around for a while in Tampa, and it's people like Carl Crawford [arrested for assault], Aubrey Huff [generally abhorrent human being] and Wander Franco [you know]. Or it's guys like Longoria, Kiermaier and Lowe, who stay for a while but can't stay healthy. Even as extensions get handed out left and right, and there exists the possibility of several current veterans, including Aaron Judge, Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout and Jose Altuve, retiring after long, HOF-caliber careers spent playing for only one team, I think a player becoming a star and playing a complete, 15-year career with the Rays is a true fantasy. Just ask Blake Snell, Isaac Paredes and Willy Adames. 

And so you look at this Jonathan Aranda guy, and there's a ton to like about him. Defensive upgrade at first from Yandy Diaz, who's now the full time DH, can play everyday, hit .300 and lead the team in slugging. He's very multifaceted, in a way the fans were expecting Junior Caminero to be. Aranda, however, is 27, and this being his breakout season this late is...somewhat concerning. There's a lot of that in the breakout guys in this team. Misner's 27, Mangum's 29. At the very least actual rookie breakout Chandler Simpson, a base-stealing phenom in the tradition of B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford, is 24. But even for a rebuilding team, the median age is still 29 or 30, and you want to hand the team off to people who'll have 5 or so years of peak play to rest on. Some of these guys will be in their mid-30s by then, and they may not be long term solutions. Then again, Yandy Diaz's best years came after 29, so you never know.

I think what ultimately sours me on the Rays is that they just don't make any logical sense. They do all the things you shouldn't do and they still win. It goes against everything I expect from baseball. And yet it's efficient for them I guess. I dunno, if I had my way I'd buckle the Rays and Rockies in, find better markets and less cheap owners and march ahead.

Coming Tomorrow- He just passed 1000 RBIs, and he may pass 350 home runs in the next month. And he's only 32. 

Meanwhile, In The Basement

 

The Phillies, in Denver this week, feel like they've won the lottery. They already made quick work of the Pirates, they regained first place, and now they get to play the worst team in the majors. Only 8 wins to their name at the moment. Virtually no pitching, a handful of decent power hitters and a lot of mediocrity. The Rockies are already one manager down, and seeing as the new guy, Warren Schaeffer, is 1-6 at the moment, they may be going through more.

Here is how I best sum up the Rockies at the moment. Hunter Goodman is the team's best hitter. He's 25, and he's having a breakout year, hitting .292 with 7 homers, 29 RBIs and 11 doubles. I knew he'd factor into this season, as he got a lot of play last year off the bench. What I did not know was that he's a catcher. I assumed he was a corner infielder. No, his primary position is catcher. Meaning he made the team as starting catcher, Jacob Stallings made the team as backup, and Drew Romo, who many people consider to be the future of the team, is stuck in the minors rehabbing from an injury. Even when he does return to playing shape, which should be soon, he will be confined to Albuquerque. The Colorado Rockies, where literally the only person doing well is stopping the team from progressing. 

And look, you can say, truthfully, that big prospects like Romo, Zac Veen and Adael Amador haven't done shit in the majors. They really haven't. Veen got his shot in April, didn't do a thing and then Jordan Beck took his roster spot and hasn't looked back. Amador has been filling 2nd and is hitting .145 with a -1.0 WAR. Romo is trying, certainly, and if it weren't for that finger thing he'd accumulated after the team foolishly kept him back from the Opening Day roster he'd be factoring into things right now. But instead, in need of an extra catcher for a spell, the Rockies had to call up Braxton Fulford for a series or so, which must have been infuriating for Romo. 

At the very least the rotation has no shortage of starting opportunities, but it's guys like Chase Dollander, Bradley Blalock, Tanner Gordon and Carson Palmquist just thrust right into the ringer. Of course it's not gonna go well, you're not developing them properly, you're just trying to plug holes while the boat's missing a half. Dollander, through 8 starts, is 2-5 with a 6.28 ERA, and he's considered one of the team's better starters. Palmquist gave up 5 runs in his first start. Until the Rockies find a way of leveling their stadium and doing something with the air quality that prevents this sort of thing, these young pitchers are gonna keep getting killed like this. And this isn't a team that can just outhit the competition. These guys aren't exactly Bichette, Walker and Castilla.

The misery will likely keep going at this pace. The Rockies may challenge the White Sox' record they just set last year. Rob Manfred will once again ignore calls to do something to prevent against 110+ loss teams. And Drew Romo won't be the only person in Colorado with an overextended finger.

Coming Tonight: That's odd, usually the breakout hard-hitting infielders in Tampa aren't homegrown..

Athletics Update: So Much For That Edition

 

Did y'all enjoy the brief instance where the Sacramento Athletics were in second place? Wasn't it fun? Well, after a 2-9 skid, that's all a thing of the past. After a good couple weeks of looking pretty decent, the A's have returned to their regularly scheduled mediocrity. Yet...there still exists the slightest chance of a rebound.

The Athletics, for the first time in a while, have multiple people they can seriously count on. J.P. Sears and Luis Severino in the rotation, Soderstrom, Rooker and Wilson at the plate, Holman and Sterner in the 'pen, and potentially people like Butler and Miller if they stop slumping. The core is finally developing, and you can actually see an identity in this A's team. Which is ironic, considering that until this team gets to Vegas, they're in their single most anonymous era of the team's history. Even the Kansas City teams had an aesthetic to this. What are people gonna say about the lasting historical appeal of the No Use For a Location A's? Sacramento has its own basketball team, it has name brand recognition, but apparently not enough for a baseball team to allow the use of it. 

Jacob Wilson is the kind of player a team like the A's can base the next couple years off of. He's an extraordinary contact hitter, already hitting .343 with 26 RBIs, and he's the highest valued position player with a 1.4 WAR. So far he seems to be a reverse negative of his father Jack, who played for the Pirates for most of the 2000s. Jack was a defensive whiz at short but only really contact hit during his peak season in 2004. Meanwhile, Jacob is an excellent contact guy with below-average shortstop ability. Hopefully he works on that as the A's essentially give him the position. I'm excited for the prospect of a Wilson-Gelof DP combo, with no offense towards Luis Urias, who's been above average filling 2nd so far. 

The rookies have also been pretty exciting. Gunnar Hoglund has 3 starts under his belt and has a 3.78 ERA with 15 Ks. With J.T. Ginn down, he seems like a pretty sturdy solution at SP5. Meanwhile, both Justin Sterner and Grant Holman have been excellent bullpen pieces in their first full seasons of MLB play. Not every 2025 rookie has completely met expectations, as Max Muncy needed more time in the minors and Nick Kurtz hasn't gone above .200 yet, but the A's are building this at the correct pace.

Even if the A's got swept in the bay area classic, and lost a series against the Dodgers, they're not exactly out of the race. It's still May, there's still a peak underdog period ahead, and there are still pieces the team can regain that can make them good again. If something doesn't happen this year, I predict there'll be a competitive team once the Vegas residency begins.

Coming Tomorrow- A team so bad, even the breakout catcher seems like a disappointment.

What It Takes To End a 13-Game Winning Streak

 

Of all teams to go from completely joyless to an atom bomb in a matter of weeks, I was not expecting the Minnesota Twins. The last time I checked their WAR leaders to make a custom, there was a lot of shrugging. 'Matt Wallner I guess'. 'Harrison Bader's got a high WAR at least'. Like I didn't get many definitive answers about who was actually leading this team, or where the energy was coming from.

On April 20th, they were 7-15. Now they are 26-21. Something clicked. And as evidenced by that 13-game winning streak, whatever the team hadn't found in the first month of play is powering this team now. But two elements are important here- the Twins being able to go on a 13-game streak, and the Brewers being the team to beat it.

Looking at this run, 7 of these wins were against teams that have been pretty good this season. Two wins against the Red Sox, kicking off the streak, a sweep of the Giants, and two wins against the Brewers to end the sweep. And that's honestly more than I expected, because sometimes when these streaks happen, it's the result of a swatch of scheduling decisions that benefit the streaking team, and a lot of bad teams just lining up. But the Twins going on a 13-game winning streak does not reflect having to play a lot of bad teams. There's only one bad team they really played in this stretch...and it is the Baltimore Orioles. Who they took 6 games from in the span of a week. If you want to root the Brandon Hyde firing to anything, it may have been the two Twins sweeps in a week, including 1 shutout. 

And it's not like, even during the streak, the Twins were this overpowering monolith with no flaws. 6 of those wins were within 2 or less runs. Two of them came in Simeon-Woods-Richardson starts where he gave up the entirety of the opposing teams' runs. In fact, sending Woods-Richardson down to bring up Zebby Matthews was the move that led to the end of the streak. Maybe if they'd have gone with David Festa it'd still be going on? 

And you also have to take into account that during this streak, there was a notorious collision between Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa which led to both being out on concussion protocol. Once again, Buxton and Correa were having terrific seasons, and they just have the worst luck getting through a season without a calamity like this befalling them. Buxton's been incredible, with 10 homers and 27 RBIs, plus he's reliable in center once again. Correa's numbers were just ticking up before his injury break. That's two crucial pieces of the lineup right there, and it illuminates how reluctant a lot of the other guys are to step up. Royce Lewis is only hitting .205, Brooks Lee's only hitting .250, Carson McCusker hasn't lit up yet. There was promise with Luke Keaschall but he immediately got hurt. The pitching is strong enough, and the power core is reliable enough, that a lot of very meh seasons have led this team to 2nd place. They can grow past it and continue at this pace if people start truly stepping up, but that'll take a bit more from Trevor Larnach and Ryan Jeffers.

Now, as for the Brewers ending the streak, it illuminates that despite some of the rough luck the Brewers have had recently, they're still inherently a good team. Right now Jackson Chourio is only hitting .242, Christian Yelich's comeback has been forgettable, Joey Ortiz and Caleb Durbin aren't hitting, Brandon Woodruff still isn't back yet, and the team is in fourth. A huge chunk of what made this team playoff-ready last year is either missing or ineffective, and a lot of other competitors have been taking 2 or more from them on a regular basis.

The most worrying factor in the Brewers' 2025 season thus far has been the impact the rookies have had on this team. So far this season, the Brewers have called up Caleb Durbin, Oliver Dunn, Chad Patrick, Logan Henderson and Craig Yoho. Five really big organizational pieces. Only Patrick and Henderson have made much of an impact, and in a season where Woodruff, Quintana, Civale and Cortes have had injury issues, it's a very good thing. Henderson's won both his starts so far, and has a 2.45 ERA, while Patrick has taken on the Tobias Myers role of 'rookie workhorse' [which...maybe go easy on him next year], and has a 3.35 ERA through 9 starts. But Durbin's struggled, Dunn once again could hit nothing on an MLB stint, and Yoho struggled mightily in 5 relief appearances. Jefferson Quero is still on the 40-man, and honestly they should wait til he's ready given all of that.

Yet there are still pieces of this team capable of greatness. Rhys Hoskins is getting hot, raising his average to .288 with 5 homers and 25 RBIs. Brice Turang is also hitting .288 with 12 steals. Abner Uribe, finally healthy has lived up to the hype and has been a terrific setup man. And once again, Freddy Peralta, the last of the big three standing at the moment, has taken the ace status without cowering, with a 5-3 record, a 2.59 ERA and 57 Ks. Recently he struck out his 1000th batter, and as his 30th birthday approaches he's still one of the most reliable and consistent strikeout artists in the game. 

If the Twins, with all their flaws, are good enough to go on a 13-game winning streak, it's only fitting that another flawed-but-decent team like the Brewers would be the team to end it. These things have a habit of balancing out.

Coming Tomorrow- His dad was a contact machine at short for a low-level competitor, but at least that team wasn't playing in a minor league park. 

The Wrong Team is Under .500

 

One of the things I do not like is when a team begins playing terribly and then midway through decides that they were actually good all along. Especially when said team had every opportunity to be good from the start. The Blue Jays and Cardinals did this all the time in the 2010s, and it would infuriate me to no end. Just pick a direction and stick with it. It's cool when an underdog does this, but when you're already on track for 100 wins and just lose 18 in April just to make it difficult, it's not cute.

That's why this whole Braves thing has been frustrating me. The Braves started the season by losing their first 7 games, and thanks to a scorching May are only now peaking their head above .500. They did this during a series against the Red Sox, an actual good team that's been actually good from the start, and has multiple good players outdoing expectations. Meanwhile, the Braves are still without like 4 or 5 great players and are getting very mediocre stuff from some of their biggest stars, and suddenly they're acting like they were doing this all along. If they were doing this with Acuna and Strider it'd be a different story, but they're doing this on the backs of people like Drake Baldwin, Nick Allen and Grant Holmes. This is verging on Astros levels of skeletal competition.

Like, look at Chris Sale. Chris Sale, after his unbelievable Cy Young season, battled worries that he'd blown his arm out again and would go back to his hurt self. That didn't happen. He did, however, have some very rough starts in April, and now he's gotten his ERA as low as 3.62. He's still a really tough pitcher, and he has 72 strikeouts through 10 starts, but the unstoppable quality of 2024 has lessened a bit. Now he's...a little closer to human, despite still being Chris Sale. And that's what a lot of these guys are, just a bit closer to human. Matt Olson has 9 homers but he's hitting .232. Spencer Schwellenbach had a killer start but has leveled his ERA to 3.31 with 3 losses. Raisel Iglesisas has 8 saves with a 5.89 ERA. Statistically, things are going well for this team, but it's happening in a way that doesn't require the team to actually be good. Like, the team's infrastructure and organization is so strong right now that something that would kill a worse team is only slightly inconveniencing the Braves.

And now you're hearing that Ronald Acuna's killing it in Gwinnett, and he might be back soon, in addition to Craig Kimbrel, who's progressing in the minors. Considering that the only above-replacement outfielder at the moment is Eli White, Acuna's return could not come at a better time. I don't know if it'll save the team though, or elevate them from a hanging-on club to a good one, but...anything to get the Braves out of this 'nominally good' stage they're currently in. If you're gonna compete, compete, don't do whatever the hell this is.

Coming Tonight: A guy who's never had a great start that couldn't be halted by something ridiculous and unfortunate. 

Late Spring

 

The Blue Jays, at the moment, are sort of a mixed blessing of a ballclub. They are doing well, hedging in and out of .500, and have gotten production from Guerrero, Bichette and Springer. Yet one stat that is very troubling to me is that Daulton Varsho, who's only been healthy for 13 games this season, has 6 home runs, a mark that nobody else who has been playing this whole time has been able to top. Vladimir Guerrero, in all his money, has only hit 5 home runs this year. Just as a reminder, every season since we got back from the pandemic he's hit over 25. One year he hit 48. But no, so far he's only hit 5 homers and 20 RBIs, which is a very light total for a month and a half of play.

I also look at George Springer, who has shown that he can still be incredible, but the magic might be going away. In April, Springer hit .306 with 12 RBIs and 4 steals. So far in May he's hit .196. Same pace of RBIs, he's got 6 already, but the production has gone way down, and he's looking more like he did last year. He is, to be far, 35, and isn't as consistent as he was in Houston, but after a start like that where it looks like you've got your leadoff guy back, this drop-off just hurts. Springer obviously wants to succeed, but we're getting to the point where he's clearly past his prime and isn't contributing as much as his younger contemporaries.

The upsetting part is there's a lot of spots on this team filled by people who may have been the answer at one time but aren't performing well enough to earn the designation. Will Wagner and Jonatan Clase were both prime rookie picks heading into the season that aren't hitting. Alan Rosen was given left field out of camp and just couldn't do anything with it. Easton Lucas and Bowden Francis both have ERAs over 5, after all that promise, and Jake Bloss, who was a big piece of the Kikuchi deal, still has yet to make his 2025 debut. And focusing on Vlad and Bo, who were ONCE the big young stars but are now mellowing out while the actual young stars are...sort of there...is an odd tactic. 

I also think about the fact that three of the team's big postseason moves [Anthony Santander, Andres Gimenez and Max Scherzer] haven't really panned out. Tony's barely hitting, and the other two have been hurt. So any attempt to really build this team back up just hasn't worked, and a lot of it really isn't the Jays' fault.

There's always a way for this team to turn things around, and June is famously the month the Jays tend to get hot, but...I don't know if this sort of dysfunction can really be fixed. At least not at this level of it.

Coming Tomorrow- We were all worried, but never fear, this guy still has plenty of time left to strike everybody out.

Pirates-Phillies 5/17: A Thousand Scorching Liners

 

Continuing Rivalry Weekend, which until earlier this week was a weekend that I'd assumed was only going to contain one baseball game, myself and the family made it to a game that was thankfully much closer than the previous one. Being so close to the sports complex in Philly is a very good thing, and it's not a bad drive at all, which is why we go to the occasional game. Phils-Pirates felt like a safe bet, as it was our guys against a much worse competitor. Sometimes you have to take the gimmes when you can.

What was interesting about a Phils-Pirates game is that, because it was inter-state, there were a lot of Pirates fans in the building. Which I'm fine with. They're a nice fanbase, they can be passionate. It's nice seeing some 30s in the crowd, I hope they can rep Skenes for as long as possible. There were some rowdy Pirates fans by where we were sitting. One in particular was over served and seemed to be shouting for the duration of the entire game. It was...not fun. 

But the game itself was at least something to behold. First of all, these were our seats, right down the 3rd base line and much closer than I'd anticipated. We were very close to the action, and had a very nice vantage point of the mound-to-plate line. We were also not far from the Pirates dugout, and at one point I saw Mitch Keller come over and talk to some fans. 

As it is Armed Forces weekend, the pregame ceremony saluted a long line of army vets in the audience, and the teams wore those white, faded-camo caps. Even after knowing the significance of them, I still don't love them. 

The matchup seemed to be pretty straightforward. The Pirates were starting Carmen Mlodzinski, meaning we were like a day off from seeing Skenes. While the Phillies brought in their ace Zack Wheeler to start. I'd seen him start before, and he's always a thrill but I believe the last time he gave up some homers. Still, he's been fantastic this year, so I was prepared for anything.

Zack Wheeler and this Pirates lineup was a match made in heaven. Over six innings he allowed only 3 hits, 1 walk and no runs, in addition to striking out 6. The man was DEALING. There was an occasional base occupation by a Pirates hitter, but it never amounted to anything. He lowered his ERA to 2.57 and got his 6th win. With everything that's gone on with Aaron Nola this season, continuing to see Wheeler's peak years with this team has been very relieving. He really is that dominant, big game pitcher that every great team needs. It's upsetting he never got all the way there with the Mets, but he's been great here.

The Pirates lineup in general did exactly what you'd expect, which is...not much. I don't know if it was Wheeler being on or the Pirates not having much, or both. Hayes, Reynolds and IKF had little hits at some point. Oneil Cruz, the one guy I was worried about, went 0 for 4 with 3 Ks. Cutch also struck out 3 times.

And Carmen Mlodzinski, uh...well he was doing well enough, and then the 4th inning came around and like 20 line drives happened. There were already runs on the board to this point, Schwarber had an RBI double in the first, Bryson Stott had a solo homer. But the fourth was just the contact olympics. Bohm got on, Marsh doubled, then Stott hit a deep single that got them both home, then Harper doubled Stott home once Joey Wentz took over. Like yesterday's, there wasn't much need for home runs, it all came down to hammering the gap. The heroes, people like Stott and Harper and Schwarber, were exactly who you'd expect, and I'm glad they can get the job done.

After that the game coasted by. It was a packed house, but a very happy crowd. Right when Matt Strahm went in during the 7th, they had a 'lookalike cam', and as it turned out me having shoulder-length hair made me look an awful lot like Strahm, so I got on there. That's a compliment. There were people that got up there for looking like Santa Claus or Walter White, but I got on there for looking like the reliever that collects cards. Gotta love that. 

As we were heading to the car, the Phils' bullpen let a 2-run Bryan Reynolds homer go by, but thankfully that was the full extent of the damage, and they got out of there with a 5-2 victory. This was the Phils' second game in a row where they let runs go in the ninth, so thankfully they padded the lead enough that it didn't kill them. 

Despite the efforts of some local drunks, I enjoyed the game, and glad my weekend of in-person baseball experiences went 2-0. Next I'll be going a little further south in a few weeks for a very cool MLB experience. 

Mets-Yankees 5/16: An Army of Boos

 

They call this the Subway Series...but yesterday it was a better idea to avoid the subways altogether. NJ Transit went on strike literally the day I had Yankee tickets, which was the kind of cosmic irony that just tends to happen these days. My dad and I figured it'd just be easier to get parking across the street and just drive in, and barring the obligatory traffic at the GW, it worked out. Just funny that I didn't ride the 4 to get there, as is custom. 

Going into this Mets-Yankees game, the tickets to which were handed to us just days in advance, I was very cautious. Subway series games are the exact kinds of games that the Yankees tend to misplay. Last year we bobbled a lot of games to the Mets, and it's been a couple years of the Mets just figuring out how to get past us. Especially now with Juan Soto on the team, which added an extra dimension to the rivalry. As much as something called 'Rivalry Weekend' should have consisted of a Yanks-Sox matchup, Yanks-Mets is just as important. It's far from tenuous. 

The game itself looked to be a pretty even one, judging from the fact that the majority of both teams' starters were in play tonight [barring Jeff McNeil and Ben Rice], and both teams were starting solid pitchers, the Mets with Tylor Megill, and the Yankees with staff workhorse Carlos Rodon. I was relatively optimistic going in.

So, uh...a word about the response to Juan Soto. You see...Yankee fans aren't particularly happy that Soto took the 10-year mega-deal to join the Mets. Not at all. And literally any chance they got, they let Soto hear it. The boos for this man...were tremendous. Lots of chants of 'f--k Juan Soto'. One guy a few seats over from me who kept bringing shit up about Soto's sister, which, dude, that is personal. You do not bring that to a game. I, and this should be relatively obvious, did not partake in the boos. I'm a little miffed at Soto, to be honest, but the Yanks' management screwed things up and Soto got a better deal from Cohen, so he had a right to call our bluff. I think the boos are gonna go down on a yearly basis, as the wound is gonna be less fresh going forward. But last night they were angry. And I think the Yanks were onto this, as Soto was walked three times but never got a hit. He did steal a base in the first, but his average didn't exactly go up this game. So I guess the Yankee fans won there.

Something to note, as you'll see from the picture, taken from my dad's friend's seats which I really don't like drawing attention to on the basis of my own humility, is that both teams wore white caps for the 'rivalry weekend' thing. I'm not sure if I love that. Like, I get having pink trim for mother's day or camo for Memorial Day or stuff like that, but this is just a flagrant excuse to sell shit. And it's not even something that looks good. Just kinda off-putting. 

[EDIT: I’ve been told this is for Armed Forces weekend. Don’t I come off well from that..]

Also, completely unrelated, my main observation from Yankee Stadium last night was that, more than usual, the concourse smelled incredible. More than ever there was this wafting current of sausages and barbecue that persisted throughout the game. The food still isn't as good as CitiField, but there are worse-smelling ballparks out there. Also, I did not know Goose Island was doing the 'official beer of the Yankees'. Tasted damn good.

The game itself, yes, I should probably explain what happened. So...Carlos Rodon, as he was paid to, pitched 5 strong innings. He struck out 5, he walked 4 [two of which being Juan Soto], and he allowed one run thanks to a Brandon Nimmo RBI single. Rodon cooked himself way earlier than I'd thought, getting to 102 pitches by the fifth. It was still a great start, and a low-scoring one, but it was tinged with a little suspense. Still, the majority of the Mets' lineup couldn't get anything done against him. Even Luisangel Acuna, who's had a nice start this year, was listless at the plate last night. 

As for the Yankees? Well, if I tell you nobody hit any home runs, you might get worried. Because that's one of the things this lineup does best. And I will give Tylor Megill and the Mets' bullpen credit for keeping Aaron Judge at bay, limiting him to a single on the night. But...the bases were loaded a bunch of times. And when you have contact guys like Paul Goldschmidt and Jasson Dominguez on your team...you're gonna score some runs. The third inning is where things really sparked, as with the bases loaded, Goldy smoked a single, and the throw from Lindor to first was overdone, meaning two runs scored. Lindor looked really smooth all night, so a rare error from him was astounding. Then Anthony Volpe hit a sac-fly that scored another run. Then Megill loaded the bases again and walked Oswald Peraza.  Tyler Megill's day ended at 2 and 2/3rds, which was wild. The guy's capable of great things, but he did not have his stuff yesterday, walked 5 people and gave up 4 runs. 

Then, an inning later, Max Kranick got into even more trouble, with Goldschmidt again singling in Judge after a Bellinger double got him to second. This was the moment I officially fell in love with Goldy as a Yankee- he'd infuriated me as a Cardinal, but his contact game is truly excellent this year, and he's hitting .350 at the moment. It's a privilege that he gets to play for my team, and be responsible for big contact runs like this. 

After another RBI from Dominguez, it was now 6-1. From there, the Yankee bullpen went to work, including the long-awaited return of Jonathan Loiasiga, and a truly incredible 3-K setup performance by Devin 'the Airbender' Williams, who may be finding his mojo after all. The rest of the game, needless to say, flew. The atmosphere continued to be pretty even-keel for a near-sellout teaming with royal blue. Two fans that sat in front of us kept reporting the Knicks score every 20 minutes, which was very helpful. At one point they even put it on the Jumbotron, which the fans, Yanks and Mets alike, enjoyed. 

Yerry de los Santos let a Lindor RBI go by as we were heading to the car, but Luke Weaver notched the save, getting Soto to fly out to center to end the game. Honestly, it couldn't have ended any other way, it had to be Soto. 

It was a fantastic night for baseball, and a really nice game. The Yanks can be a contact team this year, which is very nice. Paul Goldschmidt might be a Yankee favorite yet, as I was worried he'd be a Donaldson-esque past-his-prime waste of a contract. And the Soto response...is gonna be like this for a while.

The Other Corbin

 

The Arizona Diamondbacks have two star players named Corbin. One of them is one of the best hitters in baseball and an MVP favorite already. It's weird that a former Cy Young winner and one of the biggest signings of the offseason has been relegated to 'the other one', but there you go.

Corbin Burnes recently missed a start for the first time this decade basically, a slight stumble in his quest to be one of the most consistent starters in the game. It turned out that he was just a little fatigued, and got right back on the horse with a terrific start against the Dodgers, but it was a setback for all the Orioles fans waiting for him to fail. As good as Burnes was with Baltimore last year, he got out at the right time, and arguably has more room to succeed in Arizona, now that the team's still on the up-and-up with Corbin Carroll's excellent peak period. The O's are gasping for good pitching and skidding into last, while the D-Backs, while a fourth-place team, are over .500 and not completely out of the wild card race. 

Having Burnes this season gives the D-Backs even more starting security, which is something they've needed since they went to a World Series with 3 starters and some hope. We are finally seeing what a Diamondbacks team looks like with 5 competent starters...and, yes, it is a 4th place team, it may not always be at this rate. Burnes, Merrill Kelly, Zac Gallen and Brandon Pfaadt have mellowed into excellent seasons after a few crummy starts. Gallen, despite stumbling in a division matchup, eats the Mets for breakfast [as a good Somerdale resident should], and won both his starts against them. Kelly is fully rejuvenated, 4-2 with a 3.72 ERA. Pfaadt, finally fully matured, has 6 wins and a 3.73 ERA. And Eduardo Rodriguez...look, eventually it's gonna click, but it hasn't happened yet. Whatever, 4 out of 5 is much better than like 2 and a half in 2022.

And Burnes, while not exactly central in this rotation, is doing what he always does and just keeping teams down. He's got a 2.95 ERA, a 2-1 record and a 1.0 WAR. Together, he, Kelly and Gallen have 125 strikeouts. This is exactly what they wanted when they signed up.

The D-Backs themselves, while not a 1st place team, have still been pretty strong. Geraldo Perdomo is a .300 hitter with 9 steals. Pavin Smith has finally clicked as a hard-hitting DH. Josh Naylor is still a contact force, with 27 RBIs. Eugenio Suarez has 13 homers, one less than Carroll. And now that Ketel Marte's back his power bat has been boosting things exponentially. 

As strong as the top 3 in the NL West have been, the D-Backs could still be the spoiler and topple some things as we go forward. Especially if Corbin Burnes keeps being Corbin Burnes.

Coming Tomorrow: Yeah, I suppose you can keep leading him off, Toronto..