May 2025 in Review [ft. T.J. Friedl]

 

What a month May was. Went to two games, and combined to the one I just got back from, I'm 3-0 rooting for the home team [those expecting a writeup of said earlier Orioles game will be saddened to learn that I spent most of the game in a suite drinking with a wedding party and only occasionally watched the game, and when I did I'd have sworn there were two men in the batters' box at the same time]. A bunch of divisions saw new leads, new competitors and new mayhem. Acuna and Trout came back, a bunch more got hurt. Such is life. And now we recap, as per usual.

First here are the results of those 5 predictions for May I made last month:

1. One guy who's been terrible in April gets insanely hot and commands the narrative again. Chris Sale and Rafael Devers fall into this category, both had tough Aprils but figured things out this month.

2. Conversely, a team we've seen April success from goes embarrassingly cold. Again, a couple teams qualify. The Mets? The A's? EMBARRASSINGLY cold harkens back to the Rangers, or even the Red Sox.

3. Either another 4-homer game or a genuine no-hitter happens. Nope and nope.

4. A lot of usual Cy Young hopefuls are either hurt or slumping. Either a typical name goes on a tear or a new name enters the fold and makes the case for elite status. Tarik Skubal is having a season that's on par with, if not better than, his 2024 season. Zack Wheeler is off and rolling again, as is Sale. 

5. Something incredible happens at the Pirates-Phillies game I am going to mid-month. Nothing 'incredible'. Good things, yes. Very good pitching from Zack Wheeler. But nothing incredible. 

So, off of that, here are 5 things from May 2025 that no one could have predicted:

1. The Mets weren't gonna stay in first forever. Right now, thanks to a rough weekend for the Phils and a...Rockies series for the Mets [and you're CERTAIN they don't make these schedules like this on purpose?], the Mets have reclaimed the division. But for most of the month it did not look like that. The Phils were surging, with the whole rotation doing well [even Taijuan Walker, now being replaced by Mick Abel apparently], and the whole lineup showing up. Then one Harper injury later things started falling apart. But the Mets, ever since the Yankees series, have been losing even more ground, and blowing some crucial games to the Pirates and Red Sox. But they've battled back in the last week, winning close matchups against the Dodgers, and the aforementioned Rockies series put them back on top. What we've established this month, however, is that it's gonna be one close race for the remainder of the season.

2. Three interim managers by June 1st?? Compared to last season, when nobody really last their job til later on, this was a bloodbath, and one such case, Brandon Hyde, didn't really deserve it. But now the O's are without the manager that arguably brought the team back to 1st, the Pirates are without the manager that...did his best despite Bob Nutting's misgivings, and the Rockies are without the manager that, despite his strengths, got them off to the start they did. Now all three will try and limp to the end with the second in command. I thought one or two could have legged it out another month, but I'm not an owner.

3. The AL Central is now more deadlocked than the NL West. Four teams have 31 wins or more. Two of those teams, the Royals and Twins, have seen tremendous winning streaks this month. And while the Tigers are well ahead now, we now have proof that it won't be easy for them. The Twins won 13 games in a row, in a stretch where two of their biggest stars got injured. The Guardians sped ahead despite losing some crucial games throughout the month. The Royals kept in the race despite losing some big pitching pieces to injuries. The NL West is very close right now, but I can kind of predict how it's gonna go. I'm not there yet with the AL Central.

4. The back half of the Yankee rotation is not, as previously thought, death. Will Warren, barring a shellacking the other night, has figured out MLB hitting instincts, and his K numbers have been very nice, with 69 through 12 starts. Clarke Schmidt got over some struggles and got his ERA back under 4. And look at how Ryan Yarbrough's been doing as a starter again, with 2 wins and a 2.25 ERA through 4 starts. Obviously it'll be cool to get Gil or Stroman or Beeter back eventually, but I'm just relieved we can keep things down.

5. FIFTY LOSSES BY JUNE 1ST, COLORADO??? Obviously we knew they'd be bad, but...FIFTY LOSSES ALREADY? They're hitting .216 as a team, they've got a 5.64 ERA, their best player's a reliever who'll likely be gone by July and their big power guy heading into the season has been demoted after leading the league in strikeouts. This is even more disastrous than the 2024 White Sox somehow.

And on the other hand, 5 things from May 2025 that lots of people could have predicted.

1. Shohei Ohtani does more Shohei Ohtani things. Oh you know, he's on pace to finish the season with more homers than any Dodger, he's still punishing Yankee pitchers like it's his job and he might be on a mound this month. No big deal.

2. Oh hey look the Astros are back guys. There's a chance the Astros challenge 1st this month, as they're a game or so back at the moment, led by Hunter Brown, Isaac Paredes, and too many prospects achieved by sign-stealing, which is the baseball equivalent of casually having a family emerald mine. 

3. The O's without a rotation are gonna lay around for a bit. Again, I caught a win today with Charlie Morton on the mound, and it's mostly because they were playing the White Sox, but there was a while back there, before Eflin got activated, where absolutely nothing got done. You can't be putting Cade Povich, Dean Kremer and a past-his-prime Morton out there everyday and expect the lineup to routinely get out of it. And speaking of Baltimore,

4. The Orioles really shouldn't have traded Kyle Stowers. I think if they still had the Miami God of Clutch Hitting on the team they'd have won a couple more games. Certainly no different with or without Trevor Rogers on the IL there. Stowers is hitting .286, has 10 homers and 32 RBIs, and is the exact kind of power guy the Marlins needed. 

5. Even without consistency, the Reds do have something cooking here. Every week you'll get a different, fun standout. Maybe it's Will Benson, who went on a tear a couple weeks ago. Maybe it's T.J. Friedl, who's been hitting .305 and killing it. Maybe it's Austin Hays, who was doing great before he got hurt again. The Reds, especially with their pitching, have a team you can't exactly rule out, which doesn't bode well for the Cardinals or Cubs.

Now, for my money, here are the 5 Most Valuable Players of May 2025:

1. Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers

2. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

3. Tarik Skubal, Los Angeles Dodgers

4. Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers

5. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners

And finally, here are 5 bold predictions for June 2025:

1. Very big comeback from an injury, and it's 100% worth the wait.

2. There were a lot of streaks coming from mid-level competitors in the central divisions this month. In June there'll be a nice streak from a major metro era with a huge competitor.

3. Topps really doesn't have a big selling point for 2025 Update Series yet, and the rookie cutoff date is fastly approaching. I predict one more mega-rookie jumps in, and even if it ends up being Cole Young I'll accept it.

4. Schwarber in June is as big as advertised.

5. The year so far has been dominated, mostly, by the Yankees and Dodgers again. In June, we may see what the real narrative ends up being. [It make take a couple months to verify this].

Well, that's everything from this month. Let's hope the next one is just as fun.