Uncustomed Heroes of 2024: Nationals

 

The Nationals, with another year of rebuilding after the dissolution of the 2019 squad, came very close to cementing a core for the coming seasons, by combining what worked in 2023 with new rookies who could immediately jump in and keep the momentum. You can definitely say that the 2025 team is gonna have more answers, and more confident answers, than the past few years. Yet at the same time...this team had two all-stars, one of them was just cut and the other was sent to the minors as a punishment for going to a casino to take part in completely legal, non-sports gambling.

And that's what kills me. C.J. Abrams should be in position to lead this team going forward, and yet I have no idea what his 2025 is going to be because I don't know how he'll perform with this level of organizational scrutiny on him. So that's depressing.

More depressing still is the deflation of Keibert Ruiz, from a can't miss prospect to...honestly, a perfectly serviceable catcher with minimal offensive production. This was Ruiz's best defensive season as a National, but he only hit .229 with 13 home runs and 57 RBIs. By most standards, fine. But it just seems like a step down after two seasons that rose in quality. This was gonna be a major centerpiece of the team going forward, and...I dunno, he's sort of evening out on the more 'passable' side.

2025 Prediction: 25 home runs. An improvement. As the team will be.

One of the reasons why I am confident that the Nationals will be better in 2025 is that, for the first time since 2019, they won't have to carry around Patrick Corbin's contract like a dead horse. In six years with the Nats, Corbin had one fantastic year, one okay pandemic-shortened year, and four absolutely miserable seasons, three of which saw him as a league leader in losses. This year he led the league in both earned runs and hits, as he made, like the previous few years, all of his starts. They just weren't very good. He finished with a 5.62 ERA, 139 Ks and a 1.500 WHIP. You cannot say the man hasn't been consistent as a National, as he's missed little to no time with injuries. He just...doesn't really have what made him so desirable in 2019 anymore. And the thing is, there were moments this season where Corbin was actually good, and it made teams mad. Like 'we're really losing to THIS GUY??'. But ultimately, Corbin is finally through with his contract, and the Nats can use his rotation spot to keep Irvin, Parker, Herz and Gore together all year. 

2025 Prediction: I know of nobody who'd actually see any positives in picking Corbin up, but somebody's clearly going to. He'll get his ERA closer to 4 somehow. Cause wouldn't it be funny if Washington was the problem?? Or if it was just the current administration that made him suck from January 2021 til January 2025? That ought to be STUDIED if that's the case, cause Josh Hader didn't drop off like that in this period.

Surprisingly, Trevor Williams, who was an Opening Day rotation member, actually put together an excellent season for the Nats, after a couple years of just bobbing along. In 13 starts, Williams went 6-1 with a 2.03 ERA, plus a 1.035 WHIP. It's without a doubt the best pitching performance on this team, which makes it so unfortunate that after two months, Williams went down with an injury and didn't come back til September. It did pave the way for Parker and Herz, but it also robbed the Nats of a proven veteran starter.

2025 Prediction: A pretty useful back-half starter for a competitor, though he may have to pitch out of the 'pen upon overflow.

The saga of Joey Gallo is becoming less funny and more sad. Whatever this man could pull together in Arlington during the late 2010s just seems far rarer now, and all that remains is a below-average power bat. In an injury-shortened year in Washington, during which he may or may not have knocked up Mark Davis's S.O., Gallo hit .161 with 10 homers and 27 RBIs in 76 games. Thrilling stuff.

2025 Prediction: Wherever he lands next, he's not making it to June.

The single best relief performance of 2024, better than even Kyle Finnegan, belonged to Derek Law, the former Giants reliever who'd been trying to pull together a full season performance for years with no avail. The closest he got was last year in Cincinnati, but even that had its flaws. With the Nats this year, Law finally felt fully untouchable; in 75 appearances, Law went 7-4 with a 2.60 ERA, 76 strikeouts and a 1.9 WAR. The Nats needed a guy like him this season.

2025 Prediction: Nothing as fully healthy as this season.

During the Gallo drought, the Nats brought up Juan Yepez, former Cardinals power bat from the 2022 postseason, to play a similar role. Yepez surprisingly has become a lot more versatile in Washington, and managed to hit .283 with 6 homers and 26 RBIs in 62 games. Far more accurate than Gallo, that's for sure, and in a way that gained him a ton of fans.

2025 Prediction: Similar DH role, though with the occasional dry spell.

Now for a ton of the September/August rookies. In addition to James Wood, Mitchell Parker and D.J. Herz, the Nats brought up their other huge organizational prospect, outfielder Dylan Crews. Crews was brought up in a series against the Yankees, and if that's not a way to welcome somebody to the bigs, I don't know what is. In 31 games, the 22-year-old Crews hit .218 with 3 homers and 8 RBIs, plus a 0.6 WAR owing mostly to his outfield play. He's still new at this, but he's going into 2025 with some major league experience.

2025 Prediction: Oh, him and Wood are gonna set the league on fire next year. Probably not right out of the gate, but it's gonna happen.

Jose Tena was a Lane Thomas return that had no room in Cleveland to play consistently. Thankfully the Nats' infield plan is still in flux, and Tena got some nice time to prove himself there. In 41 games he hit .274 with 43 hits, 15 RBIs and 3 homers. There is some under-the-radar pop hiding in this guy, and he could be a nice piece going forward.

2025 Prediction: The Nats' search for an everyday third baseman is over. Tena has a full breakout year here.

And in a classy move, the Nats brought up Darren Baker for 9 games to end the season. Baker is no stranger to the MLB level, as he was a regular presence in his father Dusty's Giants dugouts. But now, one year after his dad's retirement, Darren finally gets his MLB shot. He got a chance to display his fiery contact work, with 7 hits including 2 doubles, giving him a .500 average to start his career.

2025 Prediction: The only thing about Baker is that I'm not sure if the Nats know where to put him, as the spots are filling up. I say he plays a bench role in limited appearances next year, but there's some incredible moments in there.

Coming Tomorrow- A lot of leftovers from an Orioles team that should have done more in the postseason.

The Twins' Gamble At First

 

It was a decision I didn't get when it happened, and it's a decision I still don't get now. As good as Pablo Lopez is, why trade the infielder of the future for him and then get a risk of a free agent to take his place at first?

The Twins, this season, are working with an infield that consists of Jorge Polanco [or, for the moment, Nick Gordon], Carlos Correa and Jose Miranda. Mostly homegrown, defensively-adequate, contact-hitting and very much on the same page. I think that having Luis Arraez as the 3B, or even 1B, piece would complement this infield...a hell of a lot better than Joey Gallo, who hasn't even been an infielder since, like, 2017. 

And so, while it didn't surprise me in the least that Arraez had gotten off to a great start in Miami, it surprised me somewhat that Joey Gallo was off to an uproarious start in Minneapolis. I saw him in Spring Training, he wasn't hitting then, I assumed he wasn't going to magically figure out how to hit again for the first time since mid-2021. And yet in his first 4 games, Gallo has had 3 homers, 7 RBIs and is batting .308.  And despite not being a natural first baseman, he has yet to give up an error.

The people I've talked to in the last few days are convinced that Gallo will even out and get back to hitting .220 with 175 strikeouts, and while I agree with them, I also think that he's at least due for something of a comeback season now that he's away from larger markets like New York or LA. Like Josh Hamilton, Gallo succeeded in Arlington, a lower-key market, and Minneapolis has a similar amount of sports pressure [even with the 30+ year sports title drought]. So I genuinely think he'll have a decent year at the plate.

But...compare him to Luis Arraez and you still come up short. Arraez is a versatile fielder, meaning he doesn't 'end up' places in the field like Gallo has. He'll do some games at 2nd, some games at third, some games at 1st. So far the Marlins are using him at 2nd, and that's his best position. Arraez is also a superior contact hitter...to Joey Gallo [it's so odd typing that out]. Arraez right now is hitting .478 [Maeda limited him a bit] and has 11 hits through 6 games. And even if the Marlins are looking relatively dire right now, Arraez is far and away the best piece of them, and I can't imagine how much he'd be aiding the Twins right now if they hadn't traded him.

It's not like the Twins will be TERRIBLY wounded without Arraez, as they look like how they'll have a decent team this year judging by how strong the pitching has been, but I just think about how shortsighted that move was, and how sneaky Kim Ng was to make a deal that the Twins thought they won when they really lost. I hope both Arraez and Gallo keep things up, even if it's highly unlikely.

Coming Tomorrow- Speaking of Marlins, a former Marlins infielder who seems to have found his stuff again in a new market.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2022: Dodgers

 

The Los Angeles Dodgers of the 2020s have begun to resemble the Los Angeles Dodgers of the 70s and 80s. Some of the best teams of this stretch, always competitive, the stars are coming out and staying for a while...but there's only one ring to show for it. 

The Dodgers won 111 games this year. If the playoffs only had 4 teams advance, it'd be easier to hold onto that momentum. But a first round bye followed by a series against the red-hot Padres proved to be their undoing, meaning a team that had looked so unstoppable and so formidable all through the year had been stopped before they even got to the NLCS.

What's funnier is they had done this in 2019 already. 

The Dodgers had a ton of big pieces provide them with a successful season, and somehow I only have five extra ones. 

Chris Taylor has been an excellent extra man on this team since coming over in 2016. Since then, he's averaged about a 3 WAR per year in LA. All this being said, 2022 was Taylor's weakest year since joining the team. Thanks to both being a bench man and a brief injury, he only played 118 games, and hit .221 with 89 hits and 43 RBIs, all Dodgers full-season lows. The good news is the Dodgers have Taylor for another 3 years, and there are enough people that can ensure that if he continues his okay stuff from 2022, it won't sink the team.

2023 Prediction: A vast improvement. I also see him starting due to someone getting injured. 

Andrew Heaney is back, folks. We were all really worried 2021 would spell doom for the former Angels hurler, but truth be told he just wasn't a good fit for New York and that tanked his numbers. A year in LA, even if it was injury-shortened, went so much better, with a 3.10 ERA and 110 Ks in 16 games. With Buehler's injury, and short-term outages for Kershaw and Gonsolin, having an extra guy in Heaney come in and overperform was a definite perk for this team, and it's made Heaney much more of a valuable asset for teams. 

2023 Prediction: Another really strong, full season in Arlington. I don't wanna be ballsy and say he's gonna have a better season than DeGrom, but...he certainly could.

The Dodgers' most helpful relief asset this year was Evan Phillips, because anytime a middle relief specialist posts a WAR of a 2.8, higher than Max Muncy to be clear, you've gotta notice. Phillips has bounced around for ages, even being a main piece in the Kevin Gausman to Atlanta deal, but never pitched a full season in relief until now. In 64 games, Phillips shocked batters with a 1.14 ERA, 77 strikeouts and only 8 earned runs. Probably the best Dodger relief season in a while.

2023 Prediction: Well, with Graterol and Bickford and Ferguson, Phillips can have a more okay year without people taking note. I think next year will be a bit more normal for a reliever, but he'll still pitch a ton of innings and be relied upon going into the postseason.

Oh yeah, Craig Kimbrel was the Dodgers' closer this year. They uh...never needed him too often, considering that they had a penchant for pounding the shit out of opposing offenses. Kimbrel only saved 22 games for them, and otherwise he had a 3.75 ERA and a 6-7 record. So...back to my Rod Beck comparison from a few years ago, Kimbrel has reached the point in his career where he's lost a lot of what made him great and he is, more or less, a body for bullpens. Which is all well and good if he can at least work on his control. He figured it out in Chicago, hopefully he figures it out wherever he's going next.

2023 Prediction: He signs somewhere baffling. I fully expect to go 'whaaaat?' when I hear where he's going. 

I...I dunno what to make of this guy. Joey Gallo. Hit home runs with no average for most of his Texas career. Hits home runs with average for one year, Brian Cashman goes HIM, the Yankees trade for him, he, of course, stops hitting for average AND stops hitting home runs. So we get rid of him, trade him to, of all places, the Dodgers. What does he do in LA? He hits .162 with 23 RBIs and 7 homers. Just as anemic as he was in New York. This guy has completely shat away all of his mid-2021 goodwill. HOWEVER,

2023 Prediction: I still think he's gonna sign with a low market team and get something back once he's out of the spotlight and the pressure's off. I think he's just a guy who can't have the pressure on him, like Josh Hamilton. 

Tomorrow, a few members of a Giants team that couldn't live up to their 2021 expectations.

Examining This Deadline's Lateral Selling Trend

 

One of the big aspects of this past trade deadline was watching to see where Joey Gallo would land. We knew the Yankees would be getting rid of him with Benintendi coming to town, we knew that maybe Gallo himself wasn't the problem, and we knew that teams still want a guy like him to compete. Very much like Sonny Gray a few years ago, the demand is there, and New York is happy to let a guy like that succeed. 

So when I found out the Yankees dealt Gallo to the Dodgers, I was a little puzzled.

I was kind of thinking the Yanks would unload Gallo in a deal for another piece, but perhaps he didn't wanna play for a rebuilding team again. Or maybe they would have given him to a mid-level competitor like Cleveland, San Francisco or Seattle. But...the Dodgers. A team that will likely be chasing the Yankees all the way up the league this year? The team that might even meet them at the World Series? THEY get Gallo? I mean, I'm not Brian Cashman, but...doesn't that seem like you're helping out the enemy?

This was a trend I would soon find wrapped around the league entirely this deadline. Teams on the same standing helping each other out and staying even, which isn't always the point of deadline deals to me. Some of these, like trading Josh Hader for Trevor Rogers, I kind of understand because there's looming contractual stuff on the horizon, but a lot baffled me. Here's a few of the others:

Luke Weaver hasn't really found much of a place for himself this year in Phoenix, so the Diamondbacks decided to deal him. It's WHERE they decided to deal him that confuses me- they sent him to the last place Royals, which means instead of the usual upgrade one would expect from someone leaving the Diamondbacks, Weaver somehow got a downgrade. And he was swapped for Emmanuel Rivera, who had been a pretty decent starting 3rd baseman in Kansas City and now is stuck behind Josh Rojas in Phoenix. I sort of get why the Royals would ship Rivera out, the prospects are coming up, Pratto's getting more starting time at first so Dozier's starting more at third, but...two low-rung teams trading with each other vexed me. It vexed me greatly.

Eric Hosmer, like Gallo, I figured would be dealt eventually. The Padres have been trying to get rid of that contract for years, and they tried to even get rid of it in the deal for Soto and Bell, but Hosmer said no. I was honestly expecting Hosmer to take the L, start at DH and ride out the rest of the season, but A.J. Preller decided to dump Hosmer in Boston. Boston is...sort of competitor, though they've been losing ground. And I suppose Hosmer could be an upgrade at first from Bobby Dalbec. But...Hosmer's the kind of hitter that could really work in Boston, and the Padres just sort of gave him away. If the Red Sox come back with the help of Hosmer, even if the Padres also do well...that's gonna look a bit odd. I understand, they needed to get rid of him, and he had 10 teams he didn't want to go to, but this still seems kind of lateral.

This one also confused me. The Astros were easing Odorizzi out of the rotation. The Braves were trying to give Will Smith less innings. I understand both these teams trading these players...but why for each other? Why do the Braves, who just frigging played the Astros in the World Series last year, want to help the Astros get better by handing them Smith? And why do the Astros, who just got BEAT by the Braves last year, want to give the Braves another starter who they can trust? Why are so many teams willing to pat each other on the back all while low-rung teams are tanking and selling? Is there a class metaphor in this?

The Cardinals, as they did last deadline, confused me the most. They hadn't been able to find room for Edmundo Sosa in the infield this year, and had wanted to bring up Paul DeJong again, so they deal Sosa, which is fine. But...the Cardinals also made deals for Jose Quintana and other players on competitors. Why didn't they deal Sosa to Pittsburgh or something? Why did they make a trade with their main NL Wild Card competitor the Philadelphia Phillies by giving them another infield piece they can work with in exchange for a reliever that, unless the Cards know something, isn't gonna really make much of a difference? I mean, I guess Sosa can work in Philly, he's flexible enough, but this mostly felt like an absentminded handoff.

But that's tame compared to what they did to finish the deadline:

This, folks, is the single most baffling deal of the deadline. And we're gonna talk about it.

About 10 minutes before the trade deadline ended the other day, it was reported, out of absolutely nowhere, that Jordan Montgomery had been traded to the Cardinals. The first words out of myself and my father's mouths were the same: "WHY?" Montgomery had been an extremely efficient starter for the Yankees, and it had become clear that, with Severino injured and Domingo German shaky, as well as J.P. Sears now playing in Oakland, we needed as many starter innings as possible.

So we traded him...to St. Louis...where there is currently a rotation of Miles Mikolas, Adam Wainwright, Dakota Hudson, Jose Quintana and Andre Pallante. That makes SIX viable starting options for the Cardinals, and it leaves the Yankees with 4 and a half. Closer to four now after what the Mariners did to Gerrit Cole. When we needed as many innings eaters as possible...Brian Cashman gives one away...

...in exchange for Harrison Bader. Who is currently injured.

Immediately, the Cardinals are going to reap the benefits of Jordan Montgomery, he's gonna be an excellent starting option for them, they may even just release Steven Matz at this point. He'll make the Cardinals even more of a playoff threat. Meanwhile, the Yankees have Bader as an eventual backup defensive outfielder. The Yankees are going with Judge-Hicks-Benintendi right now in Stanton's absence, and when Bader returns, he will likely usurp Hicks's spot, despite Hicks's improved play recently. Then it'll be what happens to Stanton when he comes back, who gets the DH spot, it'll get crowded, and it'll be a whole thing. Good news is we have one roster spot we don't need to devote to a friggin starter anymore, so that'll work.

Which brings me to the million dollar question. If the Yankees wanted Harrison Bader, and wanted to give them a suitable bounty to keep them competing without altering their immediate plans...why not just trade Miguel Andujar? He'd made it clear that he wanted to be traded. The Yanks haven't been doing anything with them. He'd fill an outfield hole, albeit not terribly well, and eventually be a DH after Pujols leaves. Why not do that? Did the Cardinals get too greedy and Cashman just shrugged? Come on.

As good as the Yankees have been, and as smart as they were this deadline, that deal made absolutely no sense and I don't know when it WILL make sense. If we lose in the playoffs because of starting pitching, it will go right back to this deal. Maddening. 

That is the last I'll be talking about trade deadline deals on the blog for a while. Back to regularly scheduled customs tonight. 

Uncustomed Heroes of 2021: Yankees

 

...look, man. I don't know what to tell ya. The Yankees can stock their team with god knows who and god knows what, they can net some of the best talent at the deadline, they can have momentum from a good portion of their big stars, and it's not gonna do anything. And everybody else in baseball's fine with it, cause, well hey, they've won 27 of these, it's not a big loss. Meanwhile, teams like the Rays, with much cheaper payrolls, are getting further and acting like it's nothing. 

It's exhausting, guys. My first year blogging, both my teams played each other in the World Series. Now both of them are just doomed to horrible luck and being outdone by smaller competitors.

Brett Gardner is the last remaining Yankee who remembers the 2009 World Series, and I'd like to think this is the end of the rope for him. We've done the Andy Pettitte thing of just re-signing him on year deals just out of goodwill, but I don't think he has much left at all. Once again, Gardy was intended as a backup outfielder and played 140 games, hitting .222 with 39 RBIs and 10 home runs. 

2022 Prediction: I think he finally retires. The Yankees have signed Ender Inciarte to play the backup outfield role, and Gardy will be 38 next year. Maybe I'm wrong and some low-ball team brings him on. 

With Luis Severino and Deivi Garcia playing little part in the 2021 season, once-disgraced starter Domingo German had a pretty prominent role in things pre-injury. German started 18 games, had a 4.58 ERA, 98 Ks and a 4-5 record. A few shaky starts, but generally a strong option.

2022 Prediction: Well. The 2022 rotation seems to look like Cole, Montgomery, Taillon, Severino barring another injury, and someone else in this post. I don't think German has a spot here because everybody else in that schematic hasn't let the team down as much. So he does relief work and waits for an injury. 

One of the most exciting developments heading into 2021 was seeing Corey Kluber, to this point one of my favorite non-Yankee pitchers, pitch in the Bronx. It went mostly pretty well, as Klu even notched a no-hitter before, conveniently, landing on the IL. In 16 starts he had a 3.83 ERA, 5 wins, and 86 of his trademark Ks. 

2022 Prediction: Will play a similar role to Rich Hill last year when he suits up for the Rays. Some great starts, some human moments, but surprising quality. 

Undeniably, the best bullpen asset of 2021 was Joathan Loaisiga. Not even close. Loaisiga had the 4th-highest WAR on the whole team with 3.3- only Cole, Judge and Gumby had higher. In 57 appearances, he had a 2.17 ERA, 9 wins [more than any starter not named Cole], 69 Ks and only 17 earned runs. 

2022 Prediction: A step back, but still reliable numbers. Might even have to work the ninth once or twice.

Never made a Tyler Wade custom prior to this year? Well damn, here's one. Complete with a cool 9/11 inspired cap. The Yanks' resident super-ute had another nice year, hitting .268 with 34 hits and a team-high 17 steals in 105 games. 

2022 Prediction: I see him making a small team and by the end of the year he's starting. The Yanks kept him hid, he's pretty damn underrated. 

Now a few people who joined the team just barely into the season. Rougned Odor joining the Yankees was a pretty big deal- yes, he hadn't hit for average in a few years, but he's a fun, pesky little hitter who used to infuriate me. Better on our side than theirs. Rougie was a decent replacement during injuries to D.J. LeMahieu and Gio Urshela, and hit .202 with 15 homers and 39 RBIs in 102 games. Not perfect, but capable of some upsides.

2022 Prediction: The O's are going to like him. He might be in the top half of production in Baltimore, given their quality.

The biggest surprise was this guy, Nestor Cortes Jr. A former Orioles low-tier starting prospect, he relieved some games for us in 2019, was cut by the Mariners prior to the season and wound up back here. We initially used him in a long relief role/taking over for a short start, but we eventually gave him a rotation position, and he was honestly pretty phenomenal, with a 2.90 ERA, 103 Ks, and a 1.075 WHIP in 14 starts. During the stretch run, where we were looking for any bit of stability, Cortes was a nice safety blanket that we did not expect.

2022 Prediction: 10 wins, a similar unsung hero role behind bigger names, and hopefully some higher pay for it.

In a moment of starting droughts, the Yankees called up farmhand Luis Gil, to give him a shot. Gil raised some eyebrows early when he went his first three starts before allowing a run, eventually finishing with a 3.07 ERA and 38 Ks in 6 games. A little less than perfect towards the end, but some stellar energy in August. 

2022 Prediction: Not sure if there's an immediate place for him in the rotation, but he will get some starts in the majors eventually. 

And we end on the big deadline deal I didn't do during the season, that one dimensional outfield bat Joey Gallo. Gallo in New York did exactly what I thought- he had some great defensive numbers, but barely hit for average, with a .160! He didn't completely erase his stellar start, but he did stall in place for a bit. Bottom line is his power numbers didn't suffer, with 22 RBIs and 13 homers. 

2022 Prediction: Numbers a bit more similar to his first half, some more defensive dominance, and giving Stanton and Judge a run for their money with homers.

That's Uncustomed Heroes for this year. Regular customs will be back in February [?], and I've got some things cooked up for the next few months. 

Predicting the Home Run Derby [Badly]

 I still have a soft spot for the Home Run Derby. It has morphed from the friendly, Chris Berman-led cacophony of 'BAAAAECK BAAAAECK' etc to a very NBA-esque personality display with the best of the best. This is the closest we get to the panache and flair of the NBA All Star Game, and while we don't exactly get a trap beat and wild lighting, there has been some definite tonal shifting in the last 10 or so years. Which is fine, I like that. But it's less homey. It's a little homey now, but not as much as it was in the mid-2000s.

So what I'm gonna do is try to predict how these brackets are going to go. Knowing, of course, that I'm famously bad at predicting things. But hey, this could be fun, and I kinda wanna do something for the Derby anyway. So here goes:

Shohei Ohtani v. Juan Soto

Who Should Win: Ohtani, because he's having an incredible year and not even Childish Bambino can stop him.

Who Will Win: Ohtani, though Soto will likely go a lot further than we think in his 10. 

Salvador Perez v. Pete Alonso

Who Should Win: Perez has amassed more homers this season, hence his higher seed.

Who Will Win: Alonso, as he's the more traditional home run hitter, and he's famously gotten further in the Derby than Salvy. 

Joey Gallo v. Trevor Story

Who Should Win: Gallo has the higher seed, has crept into the Top 5 Home Run standings, and has the momentum.

Who Will Win: The factor we have to remember is that Story has the homefield advantage, and has the crowd on his side. So I think he'll go on a tear that not even Gallo will be able to stop.

Matt Olson v. Trey Mancini

Who Should Win: Mancini winning would be the bigger story, considering his cancer comeback and the fact that people will be watching.

Who Will Win: Mancini. Yeah, I'm predicting another bracket upset. Olson is gonna hit a great deal. I just see Mancini latching onto some serious momentum. 

Round Two: Ohtani v. Alonso

Who Should Win: Ohtani, because come on

Who Will Win: Again, I do think Ohtani is gonna win the bracket, even if these two are gonna go on for a bit. I know that eventually Ohtani is eventually going to have to disappoint some people, but not here, even if Alonso will try to replicate his former glory. 

Mancini v. Story

Who Should Win: Mancini, as he's slotted higher, and has the bigger story

Who Will Win: Ironically, the bigger Story will win. Mancini's gonna have an unlucky round and Story's gonna squeak into the finals dramatically. The crowd will be going nuts.

Final Round: Ohtani v. Story

Who Should Win: Ohtani. He's the biggest dog in this race, and everyone's gonna be expecting him to take this all the way.

Who Will Win: Trevor Story is gonna go absolutely batshit in this final round, and become the umpteenth home field Home Run Derby winner, and have one last moment of glory before his inevitable trade at the end of the month. 

So yeah, this is what I think is about to happen. I may be very wrong, I probably will be, but this is the coolest outcome for me. 

Gallo Grave

 

Well, the Rangers got what they were looking for after last season, that being more home run hitters and a working closer. And they're still in last. 

Like the Pirates, the Rangers have some definite league standouts this year despite being generally a bad team. Kyle Gibson's still pitching beautifully and has yet to lose a game, Isiah Kiner-Falefa has become a killer infield everyman type, and Joey Gallo and Adolis Garcia's home run hitting has been very helpful in the past few weeks.

But also like the Pirates, the Rangers also have a lot of mehness holding them back. Jordan Lyles and Mike Foltynewicz have had decent starts but still have 5 ERAs. The bullpen has a lot of guys over 5 ERA as well, despite the presence of Ian Kennedy in the ninth [doing well!]. Jose Trevino and Eli White are currently wasting space despite starting roles. With Willie Calhoun and David Dahl injured, there's mobility by way of shrugging and sort of throwing people places. There's also the factor that Joey Gallo might be on his way out.

And look, even though Joey Gallo was an insanely one-sided hitter for a while, he's made a niche for himself as a home run hitter with average abilities. And despite his 136 homers, he's only had one season to date with an average higher than .250. This season he's hitting .225, and even if he has 16 homers so far, he's still...doing his usual one-dimensional thing. And I don't know if it's something that's specific to him or specific to Texas. Like, will trading him to New York or whatever help him? Do teams need another one-sided hitter? 

At least Adolis Garcis hits for average, and least you can see him leading a team without compromising his ability to contact hit. At least you can see Isiah Kiner Falefa and Nate Lowe carrying this team and maybe carrying others. But...Gallo hasn't convinced me that he can lift a contender without just doing his usual low-average schtick.

Even if Gallo leaves, it doesn't exactly bring the best of tidings for the Rangers, though. This team does possibly have a future, but...it's not certain what it'll take to bring this team back to prominence. 

Coming Tomorrow- Pitcher for a team that took a month and a half to get a win on the road.

All That Heaven Gallo-ws

[Yes, it's a stretch, but so is calling the Rangers a playoff-caliber team]

Look...for a brief moment this season, the Rangers had a chance.

August 15, they're 10-9, they've won 6 of their last 7, they christen Rafael Montero the new closer, bank on Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Lance Lynn, and get ready to cruise.

...and then the Padres series happens.

Since the masses have already spoken on the manner, I'll leave it at this- Chris Woodward's insistence on unwritten rules and decency is too little league. You're managing a mediocre AL West team who was supposed to compete this year and then starts getting massacred by another team that was supposed to compete, AND IS. Don't blame the rules. Don't blame customs and decency. Because people also pointed out a moment last year where Woodward's Rangers went for a grand slam on 3 balls while leading by a ton.

If you sign Corey Kluber, Jordan Lyles, Kyle Gibson, Todd Frazier and Robinson Chirinos to help your team compete, none of them perform to standard and said team drops 4 straight to a team managed by a man named Jayce Tingler...the problem is not the rules. The problem isn't decency. The problem is you.

Hopefully it won't be for much longer in Arlington.

Listen, Joey Gallo, Lance Lynn, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Nick Solak and Jonathan Hernandez are the best parts of this team, and they're all doing insanely well. Take them out of the equation, and I imagine by tomorrow some of them might be out of the equation, and this team is just listless, last-place caliber tripe. They've won 2 games since August 15th, and they're currently playing the Dodgers. Seattle might end up in third soon.

I wish it was better, because this team looked so good in February. Sad that it had to come to this.

Coming Tonight: Normal season I'd bench a custom of someone who got injured, but I'm posting this tomorrow because I don't wanna wait til December.

Gallo's Pole

Nice getting to do a custom of this guy during the season again, instead of just waiting until December because he's not even gonna begin to hit for average.

Joey Gallo currently has a 2.1 WAR. Which matches his entire 2018 WAR totals, and is .9 away from his 2017 totals. He also currently has a .269 batting average, which is sixty points higher than his previous season high.

...what I am trying to say here is that Joey Gallo, for the first portion of his career, has not been especially good at all aspects of baseball. He had bad fielding numbers in 2017, has finished twice with over 190 strikeouts, and...well, is already leading the AL in strikeouts with 58. BUT Gallo is finally figuring out how to hit for contact, and for average, rather than just hitting home runs.

And it's not as if the home-run hitting has ceased. He already has 13 of those, which is a nice start, especially given his two straight 40+ homer finishes. But he's never finished a season with over 100 RBIs, which makes his 31 after the first quarter of the season a promising start. He's also doing alright with his positional change (from third to left field). I don't know what happened during the offseason, but new life has been breathed into this once-mediocre player.

And in Arlington, it's not just him. Willie Calhoun has been on fire since been called up from AAA, Danny Santana is playing better than he has since his rookie year in Minnesota, Logan Forsythe is continuing his numbers from the second half of last year, and Mike Minor and Lance Lynn are giving nasty stuff in the rotation. Hell, I thought Hunter Pence was done after last year, and he's hitting better than he has in YEARS. The people that a lot of teams had counted out are the ones leading this Rangers team to a better than expected (read: third place) standing for right now.

Now...with Elvis Andrus back on the DL, things may falter a bit heading into June, and the back half of the rotation is still pretty uneven, but this is still an impressive start for a team everyone thought was going to finish in last this year.

Coming Tonight: Will this year be the year he finally gets an MVP? Judging from the impressive start he's had so far, it's an intriguing guess.