The Angels Indicator

 Conan O'Brien coined a phrase to cut out the unneeded praise of someone before you cut to the actual critical thing you're saying about them. Chipple, I think he called it. Chipple, but, he's a horrible people person. 

We should have a phrase like that, only it cuts out the time normally spent saying "I know it's early in the season". Because obviously it's early in the season, 3 or 4 games have been played apiece, the picture that's forming may not be the one that develops in September. And a lot of these posts are gonna have a lot of me rationalizing 'I KNOW IT'S EARLY'.

So let's just assume that I have made it abundantly clear that it's the first week of the season and this means next-to-nothing in the scope of the 2021 season.

Okay. Wow, the Angels are doing pretty well, right guys?

In a series against one of the teams slated to run the AL this year, the Angels are holding their own and outscoring even the herculean White Sox offense. Trout, Fletcher and Max Stassi are hitting well, Albert Pujols has a home run at age 41, in what will likely be his final MLB season, and Bundy and Cobb have had nice starts. We're getting to the point where a lot of this roster is beginning to be on the same page and performing together, which has taken WAY TOO LONG with these Scioscia/Ausmus/Maddon Angels teams.

The big indicator of whether or not this Angels team is for real is gonna be tonight [I'm writing this earlier in the day], when Shohei Ohtani takes the mound. In the past two years, Ohtani has struggled mightily on the mound, and has also struggled at the plate. If he fails to secure momentum tonight against the White Sox, then not only will the Angels rethink the emphasis on Ohtani, but the MLB will rethink the emphasis on two-way players, possibly siphoning them back into 'NL pitchers that also hit' like Michael Lorenzen, Madison Bumgarner and ZACK WHEELER [I'm still excited]. 

So everything's kinda riding on this Ohtani start. If he succeeds, the Angels may have a shot amidst the Astros-heavy AL West climate. If he fails, they may have a lot more work to do. And this is even as people like Dexter Fowler, Jose Iglesias and Andrew Heaney are struggling early for the Angels. So it's not as if this is the only thing separating the Angels from competition, but it's a big piece.

Also, I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Mariners might also be a factor this season. YES I KNOW IT'S EARLY but look how polished they look so far. I'm into it. But yes, it's April, they always do well in April and they're no closer to a ring, so I'll take it with a grain of salt.

Still, the Angels doing well this year would be great for baseball and even better for Joe Maddon, and hopefully they're able to keep the momentum going...and hopefully Shohei Ohtani is able to help.

Coming Tomorrow- One of three big additions to the Padres rotation, and so far the only one who's struggled.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2020: Cardinals

I don't have a lot of 2020 Cardinals for you this year. 

Truth be told, the picture I got of this team from the season was not a clear enough one to base a 'who's the unsung heroes' sort of thing off of. The Cardinals brought up like 20 rookies after losing half their team to COVID, then brought half of them down when they refused to hit because, HEY, THEY'RE STILL YOUNG AND UNTESTED, and once the majority of the team recovered from COVID, made the playoffs with a 30-28 record, even finishing in 2nd in the NL Central.

This team...moved way too quickly for me. I can't even say 'oh, Giovanny Gallegos was a star because he saved 6 games', or 'Dylan Carlson was a rookie standout cause he batted .200 covering for Harrison Bader'. I genuinely don't know what this team was supposed to be. So I'm just doing the starters and stars I couldn't get to during the regular season, which is several, because I couldn't do Cardinals customs for a few weeks because they weren't playing.

Look, man...2020 was a weird damned year. So I apologize if I don't do, like, a Max Schrock custom or a Nabil Crismatt custom. 

Anyway, Kolten Wong, on the last year of his Cardinals contract, did more of his usual schtick. He bat .265 with 48 hits and 16 RBIs, and led in WAR among all players not named Goldschmidt. Wong is still an elite defender, a clever clutch hitter, and a useful tool for any team.

2021 Prediction: I really think a contender's gonna sign him, he's gonna keep his good mojo going and the Cardinals are gonna regret not re-signing him.

But a Cardinals infield without Kolten Wong still has his battery partner, Paul DeJong, who...had a really weak year this year, hitting .250 with 25 RBIs and a club-leading 50 strikeouts in 45 games. After several strong, impressive seasons, it's a major misstep for DeJong, who only could muster a .2 WAR this year.

2021 Prediction: A major improvement, but as I'm guessing the 2021 Cardinals might not be contending, an improvement that makes him popular around July.

After the Cardinals got rid of their first pair of homegrown rookies that couldn't hit for average, Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk, two more grew in their place- Tyler O'Neill and Harrison Bader. While O'Neill had a great year, including his first Gold Glove [despite hitting .173], Bader had a marginally better year at the plate...hitting .226, with 11 RBIs and 4 home runs. Running by these year stats, you probably understand my confusion that this was a playoff team. 

2021 Prediction: Either he improves at the plate or he's trade fodder.

After revitalizing himself last year as a bench player in Philadelphia, former Tampa Bay infielder Brad Miller was the Cardinals' starting DH this year, and occasional third baseman, and he drew a lot of eyes in August, where he hit .281 with 11 RBIs. Granted, his accuracy wore off in September, leading to a leveled .232 average, but he was still a much needed strong lineup presence for a team without much in 2020.

2021 Prediction: Bench work for a low-tier team, perhaps a last place team, that lands him a waiver deal to a World Series contender.

In the fourth season of his five-year deal in St. Louis, Dexter Fowler continued to not live up to his Chicago numbers, but in a fun, endearing way I suppose. Fowler hit .233 with 15 RBIs. .233 is also Fowler's total average across his 4 years in St. Louis, 30 points lower than his average with any other team. 

2021 Prediction: A wild start that gets him traded by July [noticing a theme here?]

 While the bullpen didn't have the stars necessary for me to accurately represent them, Andrew Miller had something of as comeback year on year 2 of his Cardinals deal, with a 2.77 ERA, 16 strikeouts and 4 saves in 13 innings. Hopefully this means peak Miller is returning.

2021 Prediction: Someone signs him to a one-year deal and regrets it when Miller has an outstanding, 30-save year with them.

Coming Tomorrow- The Cubs were big this year, and yet they fell early. How and why?

Situation Normal; All Fowlered Up

Meanwhile, in the NL Central, the Cardinals are just barely above .500, and one of their best players, Dexter Fowler, is a guy who they had no idea could actually do well in a Cardinals uniform.

And look, I'm happy for Dexter Fowler. Ever since Colorado, he's always been one of the good ones. He was fun in Chicago, he was fun in Houston, and now that he's in St. Louis, he's...slightly less fun? I mean, I'm glad he finally got it together, and I'm glad he's hitting well enough to quality for a positive WAR, but...the team isn't as good as it was when he was slumping.

I mean, let's be honest with ourselves: Paul Goldschmidt in St. Louis sounded a lot better on paper than the version we've seen so far this year. We were warned Goldy could be this tepid in the first few months of 2018, and we brushed it off once he started hitting again, but this is a very okay performance from a player who's done so much better in the past. And look, 12 home runs is nothing to scoff at, but...we've seen him hit over .300, and a .267 is a bit too okay from what we're used to from him.

Plus, the once-strong old guard of the Cardinals, including Yadier Molina, Matt Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, are showing their age big time this year, with Yadi on the DL, and Carp and Waino averaging a .6 WAR. And the kids are...sort of taking over? This is pretty much Paul DeJong and Kolten Wong's team, while Harrison Bader has been heating up. Thankfully Dakota Hudson has got his ERA back down, but he and Jack Flaherty are the sole promising parts of this rotation.

With the Cubs and Brewers battling it out on top, there's not much left for the Cardinals to do but spoil things for someone. Which they can definitely do.

Coming Tomorrow- Former Cubs bench player, current Angels standout.

I Don't Want to Hate Dexter Fowler...

...but damn, he's not making it easy.

Dexter Fowler's been a favorite of mine since he came up. I cheered when he had a comeback season with the Cubs in 2015, and I cheered louder when he helped them win a World Series last year. Of course...he had to get greedy, and he had to piss me off by signing with the enemy, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Now...he's not having the greatest season so far, and he's been piling up a ton of strikeouts, but he's still definitely a presence in St. Louis. Also, the Cardinals aren't in first anymore, thanks the the absolutely inexplicable rise of the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Cards seem to be coming back down to earth. So Fowler's place in the team might become a bit more needed, and hopefully he'll step up.

To be honest, what may have been helping the Cards get to where they ended up was the rotation- four out of five of those guys had insanely good ERAs and were striking people out right and left- Adam Wainwright was a bit depleted, but Leake, Wacha, Lynn and Martinez have all been great. It's just the lineup that can't seem to get out of the hole they're in. Stats are trying to convince me that Matt Carpenter and Yadier Molina are having good seasons, but they're not giving much. Jedd Gyorko's been playing well, but he's not really enough.

It's tricky- I want Dexter Fowler to do well, but I don't really want the Cardinals to do well.

Coming Tonight: The quintessential Rangers fireballer.

The Unsung Hero of the Best Team in Baseball

I believe I've already talked at great length about how wonderful the Chicago Cubs have been doing this season. Several...several times. To the point where all 29 other teams have got to be sick of it by now.

But here...I need to talk about Dexter Fowler. Because this is a guy that people counted out years ago, and now he's become one of the more unlikely sources of power for the Cubs.

Keep in mind...Fowler wasn't even supposed to be playing for the Cubs this year. Thanks to the Cubbies locking up Jason Heyward, Kyle Schwarber (so they thought) and Jorge Soler, they really didn't need Dexter Fowler back at the top of the season, so he was left to sign somewhere else, and...he almost did. For a few weeks, we kind of assumed Fowler would be suiting up the Orioles, which would have changed that dynamic and potentially brought them a few more wins than they have right now (which is plenty).

However, at the last second, Fowler opted out in favor of going back to Chicago, where he had one of his best offensive seasons since coming up with the Rockies. And that was an amazing decision, because thanks to Fowler, the Cubs have become the best team in baseball by far. Yes, Dexter Fowler, the guy everybody took out of their binders after a quiet 2011 season, is one of the prime players in Chicago.

It's because he was finally given a proper place for his abilities, and because he had the right kind of roster to fit into and thrive with. He's obviously not the star of the show, but he can come in when you least expect it and do something really cool. He's also a nice base-stealer, and a pretty decent defensive outfielder. He's one of those five-tool guys that the Cubs weren't expecting to just have handed to them (thanks to a trade with Houston in '15).

Fowler's probably going to be a huge part of the playoff effort once September comes (in a few days), and will probably be one to watch for in some tough games. I love that he's come this far, and I love that he might go farther.

Coming Tonight- The exact person the Rangers needed to pick up.

Dexter Fowler's Cruel Twist of Fate

I love the fact that even the smallest players can make the biggest moves. Dexter Fowler, who was not really on anybody's mind two years ago, made a decision that impacted two teams at once.

Two days ago, after a week or so of speculation, a deal was made that would secure Dexter Fowler with the Orioles for a couple years. After getting Yovani Gallardo, the Orioles needed some outfield security, so they needed someone like Fowler who could take away some question marks back there, and a Jones-Fowler-(someone else) outfield would be a little better stomach. So people were already saying "man, the O's have a chance this season' and all that.

But then Dexter Fowler decided he would follow the example of his favorite Survivor players and completely jump ship on his plan, and pull a total blindside. Which he did, by deciding, at the eleventh hour, to re-sign with the Cubs.

A couple reasons why this move is amazing. First of which being that it allows Dexter Fowler to remain in the limelight. He goes to Baltimore, he sinks into an 'okay' team that skirts along the .500 line and doesn't make an impact (I assume). He stays in Chicago, he's a member of one of the best lineups in baseball. And last year, he was one of the difference makers. He stayed healthy, he kept hitting, he was a nice little outfield bat, something people were waiting for since he came up in Colorado.

Also, of course this helps the Cubs, because if I woke up one morning and discovered my outfield consisted of Jason Heyward, Kyle Schwarber, AND Dexter Fowler...I'd cry. When Jorge Soler is your BACKUP...you've got it good. They had an extra Chris Coghlan lying around, but they shipped him to Oakland, which is shaping up to a surprisingly coherent roster.

But this especially hurts the Orioles, because this hurts what would have been a sure thing outfield, and now they have to invest in maybe getting Nolan Reimold or someone who isn't as consistent as Fowler to play one of the corners. The Fowler move would have made them legitimate for 2016, and now that he's out...the Orioles are back to circling 4th and 5th.

Huge move that puts the Cubs in more of a sure shot to be a stellar team this season. And this is, like, INTO SPRING TRAINING. Huge roster moves are happening into Spring Training. That's how competitive 2016 is. Crazy stuff.

This is Not The End

You're only gonna get bigger. And better. And stronger.

With this core, it's gonna happen. It just isn't gonna be 2015. But...it could be very soon.

Hell of a run, Cubbies. Made your city proud and everything. Let's work on having an even bigger 2016.



Now...as for me...given the prospect of a Mets-Royals series, I have no idea who to root for.

If it's Mets-Jays, then yeah, go Mets. But the Royals and Mets are both very fun teams, and I could root for either one. Yeah, I wish the Cubs were in on it, but...I guess we're all gonna have to deal.

And another win.

Last night I went to a White Sox game. They won.

Tonight, I went to a Cubs game. Because you play both sides if you're an out-of-towner.

And they won bigger.

I came to see Kris Bryant hit, and he sure as hell did. I came to see home runs, and Miguel Montero and Dexter Fowler certainly hit some.

More details will come later this week, but I'll say it was better than the Sox game.

Uncustomed Heroes of Baseball: Astros

To be fair, the Houston Astros came in fourth this season. Which is a start.

If it weren't for the Rangers, the Astros would probably be last in the league again, and I'm thankful they had some progress this year, especially in terms of their farm system. George Springer was a nice early call up that did some damage throughout the season. He should be a nice player for the next few seasons.

I kind of wish Dexter Fowler had a better year in Houston, as he was a fun player in Colorado, and I was happy when he had a nice start in 2013. It seems like he's on the downslope now, and I hope he has another better season.

The biggest surprise for the Astros was the emergence of a few arms in the rotation, like Dallas Keuchel, who was a nice arm for them for the first half of the year, before refusing to win a game in the second half.

Coming Tomorrow- Dipping into the surplus of Athletics I made in September, intent on them winning the Wild Card game.

Poor Dexter Fowler...

Next season, Fowler, who I saw at the 2008 Futures Game and knew would be a big star, will be playing for the Houston Astros, a team with basically no shot.

I feel pretty bad for him, as he's a great player, and he finally had a great season this year. It's a shame that he'll be one of the few stars to a fledgling team, however him and Chris Carter could make for a decent combo. And I'm not just saying that because I'm trying to find a silver lining in this. I'm saying that because there is none.

Either way, I hope he has something close to a good season next year.

Custom Card of the Day: Fowler Edition

I've only seen Dexter Fowler play once. And it was a good one, too. You see, back in 2008, the All Star game was at Yankee Stadium. And no, I did not go to the All Star Game. I went to the Futures Game two days before. And the lineup was pretty impressive. You had people like Andrew McCutchen, Nate Schierholtz, Brett Anderson, and a bunch of other people whose names I forget offhand.

Then, there's Dexter Fowler. He was the one guy that my dad and I were saying to each other 'he's gonna be big, he's gonna be really good'. I mean, Andrew McCutchen was in the game, and we overlooked him to see Fowler. Think about that.

So then, the 2009 Topps cards come out, and the 2009 rookies get cards. And everybody wants their Tommy Hanson, David Price, Andrew McCutchen rookies. Yet I believe I was the only person on the East Coast who got joy out of pulling a Fowler rookie. Because he was going to be huge, and we all knew it.

It has been four years, and with those four seasons I kept reminding myself 'he's supposed to be good'. And that became 'he was supposed to be good'. And then that sadly turned into 'why the hell isn't he as good as we all thought?'

Well, it's 2013, and Dexter Fowler, the man who we foresaw to be huge, is finally hitting. He's one of the Rockies' best hitters right now. Him, Cuddyer and Tulo are all off to great starts, but Fowler is the one I'm most interested in. Because I have a feeling that if he keeps it up, he'll be onto a few really nice seasons.

I'm not sold on him being absolutely huge anymore, but he's still good right now.

Coming Tomorrow- A third baseman for a team that shouldn't be as good as they are right now.