Uncustomed Heroes of 2020: Angels

Well, as is custom [HA] on the first day of December, I begin my tradition of showcasing the players from each team who I couldn't get to making customs of during the regular season. The 2020 season will have expanded versions in relation to usual, as it was much more difficult to cover all of a team's big stars in a 'one player every two weeks' model. So there will be a lot of big ones here, suffice to say.

Of course we begin with the Angels' massive rookie call-up of 2020, Jo Adell. Adell, despite only hitting .161 in 38 games, still was the team's starter in right, and made up most of his goodwill in defensive numbers. 

Prediction for 2021: Adell, in a full season, becomes one of the players to watch in LA, finally figures out how to hit for average, and makes his first All-Star team. 

The other big rookie in 2020 for the Angels was Jared Walsh, the first baseman and occasional pitcher whose bat came to life in September, hitting .293 with 26 RBIs and 9 homers. His work allowed the Angels to have a more substantial answer to the question of who takes over 1st in 2022, the post-Pujols era of Angels baseball.

2021 Prediction: Has his first 30-homer year, though sacrifices a few average points to do so. 

Though Andrew Heaney and Dylan Bundy were definitely the aces in Anaheim, Griffin Canning wasn't too far behind with a pretty cool sophomore season. In 11 starts, he held a 3.99 ERA with 56 strikeouts, despite a 2-3 W/L ratio. 

2021 Prediction: Hits 150 strikeouts despite losing 10 games. 

One of the rare figures this season to opt out after half the season had already elapsed, Andrelton Simmons saw the moment he realized the Angels would not be making the playoffs as the moment he decided to go back home and not risk catching COVID. Wise move. Despite that, he was still healthier than he's been recently, and hit .297 with 31 hits. Not the most graceful way to end one's tenure on a team you've been playing for since 2016, but still a good enough season for Simmons.

2021 Prediction: Signs a three-year deal with the Reds, makes it back to the playoffs and gets an ASG-nod out of it.

Justin Upton has become a very hollow, one-dimensional hitter, which is a sad progression for a guy who was so entertaining in the early 2010s. This season, he only barely hit above the Mendoza line, with 9 homers and 22 RBIs. Upton has 2 more years left on his contract with the Angels, and had better return to his earlier numbers if he wants to keep his credibility.

2021 Prediction: A slight return to form, but will eventually be transitioned over to become the Angels' permanent DH. 

It took a bit for Joe Maddon to figure out how to use him, but once he popped back into the starting rotation, Jaime Barria got back to his old tricks. In 5 starts, he had a 3.91 ERA with 19 strikeouts and a win- not much in this truncated season, but definitely a good sign for the future.

2021 Prediction: If the Angels compete in 2021, he's a solid fourth starter. If not, he'll be the solid second starter by the end of the season. 

At first glance, the presence of Max Stassi as the Angels' starting catcher felt disheartening, as the Houston backup seemed like a placeholder until a more seasoned backstop came along. Stassi put those preconceptions to rest by hitting .278 with 20 RBIs and 7 homers, becoming a strong starter over options like Anthony Bemboom and Jason Castro. 

2021 Prediction: Will have to fight with a newcomer for the catching spot, and may end up becoming a backup yet again.

The Angels took a chance on Julio Teheran after his numbers in Atlanta petered off over the next two seasons. The risk didn't exactly pay off- Teheran, in 10 games, held a grisly 10.05 ERA with 4 losses. He was eventually phased out of the rotation in favor of Jaime Barria and plugged into the bullpen.

2021 Prediction: A low market team signs him as a reliever and it pays off.

 We end on Albert Pujols, because why shouldn't we? In his penultimate season in Anaheim, as well as in baseball, the 40-year-old Pujols continued his pattern of slumming it, hitting .224 with 25 RBIs and 6 home runs. Pujols did pass Willie Mays on the all-time home run chart this year, but it took him quite awhile between home run #660 and home run #661. He can't exactly belt them out consistently like he used to anymore, which is understandable.

2021 Prediction: Pujols ends his career on a dignified note. In between achieving gifts for the mantlepiece from competitors, he will add a few more statistical milestones to his career achievements before he's done.

Coming Tomorrow- They nearly cracked another World Series, and there's still enough Houston Astros to cover in this series.

Is The Braves' Rotation Ready for This?

So...it's been established that the Braves are the best team in the NL East, and are probably heading to the playoffs. It's also been established that their lineup is pretty damn unstoppable, now aided by healthy, prominent turns by Ender Inciarte and [double takes] ADAM DUVALL? DUVALL'S HITTING??? OH GOD, I FEARED THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

anyway

After the release of Kevin Gausman (or...DFA-assisted trade, because if the hard deadline is a thing, then teams still want to do silly trades anyway because sure), the Braves rotation seems to have settled on the combination of Julio Teheran, Max Fried, Mike Soroka, Dallas Keuchel and Mike Foltynewicz. So how smart is this combo?

Well, the surest signs of success have to come from Teheran and Soroka, who've pitched like pros this year. Yes, it's worrying that Teheran's not quite as untouchable as he was in 2014 or 2016, but he's still a powerful ace who has 119 strikeouts and a 3.46 ERA so far. Soroka's 10-2 with a 2.45 ERA, so he's definitely an asset. And then you have Max Fried, who, despite a 12-4 record and an impressive start, has a 4.02 ERA and leads all active starters in earned runs. So there's some shakiness here, which shouldn't be a huge issue, but could be.

And then you have Dallas Keuchel, who's back to pitching like himself for better or worse. Good news is that he's got 42 strikeouts and a 3.86 ERA in 9 starts. Bad news is he's got a 3-4 record, and it may be the second year in a row where his tendency to give up runs may stop his otherwise-fine numbers from boosting his name. I do think Keuchel is capable of good September starts, but...he's a very streaky, Jekyll/Hyde kind of pitcher.

...and then you have Mike Foltynewicz, who clearly doesn't have it this year, with a 6.26 ERA and 45 earned runs in TWELVE STARTS. And yet he's been trusted with a rotation spot, solely because he'd been solid in 2017 and 2018, and because the Braves don't want to risk Bryse Wilson or Kyle Wright again. Don't be shocked if some DFA'd pitcher winds up in Atlanta over the next few weeks.

Good news is the bullpen's finally impressing me. Yes, people like Jerry Blevins, Anthony Swarzak, Sean Newcomb, Luke Jackson and Josh Tomlin were already tight, but now the additions of Shane Greene, Chris Martin and Mark Melancon (sadly only the latter has done well in Atlanta so far) make me feel a lot better about this team's depth.

I like the Braves' chances. They still have some work to do, but they could be a sleeper hit this October.

Coming Tonight: If there's one thing the AL needs more of, it's hard-hitting catchers that aren't, like, striking out 100 times. Yeah, the Twins have one of those.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2017: Braves

The Braves, for most of the season, were caught in the 4-team blockade that made up the rest of the NL East (not including Washington). None of these teams were truly ready for prime time, and the Braves showed early on that they were pretty shoddily-made up. The pitching was too old, the infielders were too inexperienced, and once Freddie Freeman got injured there wasn't really a point to anything.

Julio Teheran, for once, had a comparatively down season, with an inflated ERA and some stuff that didn't stack up to his usual material. Hopefully this won't be a trend.

Nick Markakis, who's one of the most surprising potential candidates for the 3000 hits club, did his usual amount of work in Atlanta this year- great outfield work, ton of hits. He's gotten to the point where he's not really making headlines anymore, but it's just a measure of his consistency.

Tyler Flowers has become a nice everyday catcher since leaving Chicago, though he did split his job with Kurt Suzuki this year. He was one of the Braves' few offensive highlights, as he's doing what he can in a lower spot in the lineup.

However, this year was mainly about the massive youth movement- Johan Camargo came in at shortstop halfway through the year, when Dansby Swanson wasn't pulling his weight, and did a pretty nice job there before getting injured. Could be the starter for 2018, depending on what the Braves want to do with Swanson.

Lane Adams was another nice rookie call-up, who hit really well in September, fitting into a limited role that still worked well for him. I don't know if he'll be starting in 2018, but expect him to be an insanely potent bench player.

Luiz Gohara was called up in August, and touted as one of those 'OH MY GOD HE'S GOING TO BE AMAZING' type of prospects. So far, he's shown that he's capable of being Williams Perez 2.0, as well as making for the rotation's weight imbalance since the departure of Bartolo Colon. I think he's capable of improving, though I'd rather not be wrong.

Coming Tomorrow- They came out of nowhere and nearly made the playoffs. Wonder how they'll shock the world next year.

Custom Card of the Night: Teheran Edition

The Braves are playing to lose this year, and after a good couple seasons of being either right up there with the Nationals for #1, or being the third place line indefinitely, it's kinda weird to see them shooting for last.

The big bundle of youth in the lineup they had a few years ago. The only one that's left is Freddie Freeman. The farm-system aided rotation that people were excited about in 2012? Julio Teheran is the last man standing. Those two guys are still excellent, but they can't carry an entire team.

People like Jace Peterson and Adonis Garcia are coming up and performing well, and they're getting some spare parts like Bud Norris and AJ Pierzynski to at least perform adequately to at least get more wins than the Philadelphia 76ers did this year (10, I believe).

Teheran probably isn't going to be excelling in the wins category, but he's probably going to give you 150+ strikeouts, and still be pretty awesome, and potentially some hefty trade bait in July for someone that clearly is not Toronto to try and snag.

Assuming the Phillies don't completely deflate, Atlanta will probably end up in last this year, but not due to a lack of trying.

Coming Tomorrow- We thought he was done being productive. Then 2015 happened. Needless to say, the Bronx might be sad to see this guy go after this year.

Barveless

(Yes, I know I spelled it 'Barves' on the title. I'm allowed to reference my influences every once and a while, aren't I?)

It's become one of those seasons where the Braves...just don't feel like the Braves.

The guys that made them great last year are all gone. The pitchers that all came up in the system are either injured or toiling on somebody else's DL. Julio Teheran and Freddie Freeman are the only real people who stuck around, and both are trying to stay off the DL. The closer they grabbed after giving away Kimbrel, Jason Grilli...he's now on the DL! The guys that were hitting this season, like Jonny Gomes, Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe, have all been traded away.

This is a sad looking team that is falling further and further from the rafters.

I mean, I can say that people like Cameron Maybin or AJ Pierzynski are doing well, but it's not likely that either of those guys will still be around come next year. It needs to ride on Andrelton Simmons, Julio Teheran and Freddie Freeman. Those guys are the youth, and they need to be strong. And when they're not...there isn't much left.

I hope the Braves can eventually reform the farm system, because that is where the power needs to come from. They need to rebuild from there, or else they're gonna have more cookie-cutter years like 2015 when half the roster was imported from the dregs of other rosters.

The Braves deserve better than this. I wish they'd be able to do more.

Coming Tomorrow- He may not be the holder of the 'Best Pitcher in Baseball' rank anymore, and his team may be circling last, but you can't deny that the guy can shut down batters like nobody else.

Semi-Nostalgic Box Break: 2014 Stadium Club

I broke a TON of hobby boxes of cards while I was at college. Just getting around to posting most of them. This one yielded some really nice results, so I'll do this one today.

I know it's a stretch to call a set that was released less than a year ago 'nostalgic', but dammit, I'm doing it anyway! Besides, this set is very 90's-at-heart, with unconventional pack-grouping and full-bleed photos. It's a very young set that wants more than else to hang out at the adults table. So, I will treat it as such.

To any newcomers to this time period, let's remind us all how this fun lil' product worked in 2014. Instead of getting 18 packs, you get 3 mini-boxes containing 6 packs a pop, with 5 cards per back. If you do the math properly, which I am not in the mood to do, you can justify a single base card in this set being worth more than a single base card in the 2015 edition. Because technically, 2014 Stadium Club is a PREMIUM product. As in 'one autographed card per mini box and priced quite a bit higher than your average 1990's SC hobby box. So, all of y'all complaining about really bad pricing and card-per-pack ratios in this year's set, be thankful, at least, that they're selling it retail this year.

Anyway, 3 mini-boxes, one auto per, 6 packs per. Yada yada yada. Let's dive into the first mini box.

Pack One- Base cards are fairly straightforward. It is, however, nice to see Yoenis Cespedes in his brief appearance in a Red Sox uniform.

Pack highlight is this base card of Jackie Robinson, regarded by many bloggers as one of the best cards of last year.

Pack 2 started with these two stars, one a legend, the other a modern legend.

Also, it had these two rookies. One of which has been doing really well for Boston, the other hasn't had too much time above the minors this season.

Our insert in this case was a Legends insert, which is probably one of the more boring inserts in SC that year. I mean, you don't really need a set showcasing legends when you pepper them into the base set. Anyway, it's of George Brett, who's still a great pull. Besides, it's a die cut. I can't be too mad about die-cuts.

Pack 3 had these nice shots. My favorite is the Pence. Just the right angle. The Gwynn is pretty nice too.

This pack, however, had a bit of a steroid addiction, as I received both a base card and a Field Access insert of Mark McGwire.  Again, the photography on both is crisp, but...I don't collect McGwire. He cheated his way out of my books awhile ago.

Pack 4- I think all five of these were doubles for me.

Pack 5- Fairly simple base cards. Castro's is probably the highlight, for that throwback.

Funny, the more I rip of this set, the more I realize that the 2015 version kicks the pants off it.

Now THIS is more like it. This is an insert I can get around, a Luminous insert of Yadier Molina, looking pretty awesome, and die-cut as a puzzle piece, probably waiting for Matt Holliday and Adam Wainwright to join him.

Pack 6- three base cards I have already, though the Mays is still pretty nice.

Definitely a picture highlight. Wide enough that it works, especially with the filtering. It works too because it's Jordan Zimmermann.

Four cards into the last pack means we've gotten to the first hit. And...it's a good one.

JULIO TEHERAN, EVERYBODY!

The guy who saved the Braves rotation from crumbling, and...is the only thing that's keeping it standing right now. This is a pretty nice auto, and I'm glad I pulled it.

Onto Pack 1 of mini box 2, and it's a great start. Two hall of famers, a near-HOFer, and a knuckleballer that I love collecting.  I love the detail on the Schmidt one.

Pack highlight is another Hall of Famer, one of the best ones to pull, a Field Access insert of a really crisp, cool looking Hank Aaron. great card.

Pack 2- Two awesome Mets arms, and a stellar shot of Carl Crawford looking for a catch.

Onto the 'black-and-white' portion of the pack, two legendary stars, Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio. I think, in the case of Cobb, the black-and-white photography really suits it.

Pack 3- The big mojo pull of Jose Abreu's rookie card, as well as an awesome double play shot of Jose Altuve.

AWESOME SHOT! Roy Halladay throwing out the first pitch at a Jays game. Mounties in the background and everything. THAT is how Stadium Club is done.

And another nice insert, a Beam Team insert of Miguel Cabrera, always a nice player to pull.

Pack 4- A really nice throwback-rookie, and a really well-filtered Carlos Santana card.

I love this shot. Especially the decision to focus on Napoli, and sort of semi-blur everything else around. The jubilation on his face, and the shine on the trophy, is pretty great. A shame that Napoli might get traded in the next few days.

We end the packs with two Puigs, a base Puig and a Future Stars die-cut Puig, both of which are pretty cool.

Pack 5- Love the Molina. That is a pretty awesome slide.

And of course, the two most famous sideways shots in the entire set. I still love both of them, and I might give a tiny edge to the Ortiz, for the jovial expression on both Papi's and Obama's faces.

Pack 6- Two more awesome shots. Again, I still think the 2015 set trumps this one, because there are too many photos that seem plain and boring by comparison, as cool as they are.

Two sideways shots.

And, of course, the auto.

Sure, it's a Cardinal, but it's a pretty nice Cardinal, in Matt Adams. He's been injured for a bit this year, but he's still a great bat, and will be a big piece of what will inevitably be the 2015 Cardinals playoff run.

Again, not as good as Teheran, but it could have been worse.

Onto the third and final mini-box:

Pack 1- Kind of hard to compare these two, one being a guy just starting out, the other being one of the greatest ballplayers of the last 30 years. But...they both, uh, wear orange?

Two awesome shots. The Clemente must be a classic. The black-and-white, the wide shot, the stands. It just seems so cool.

Annnd our Field Access is another nice one, of a very young looking Stan Musial. I think here the B/W is a little off-putting, but I can definitely deal with it.

Pack 2- The Sale is the only one I didn't have. And that's a really nice one, too, throwback and all.

Two sideways shots. The Pujols is the better of the two, as it gets the catcher and the umpire in there too.

Pack 3- A guy that might be traded this week, Johnny Cueto.

Three really cool horizontal shots. The Victorino is the best one, as it's got a whole ton of happy Red Sox celebrating with Shane.

Nice, another Luminescent insert of Andrew McCutchen, a guy who I love pulling cards of. Excellent stuff.

Pack 4- A trio of rather subdued base cards.

Two highlights, including an incredible shot of Johnny Bench, and a foil parallel of Mike Piazza.

Pack 5- The Choo does the job better here, not to discount the Myers.

Annnd three hall of famers, including a gold parallel of Willie Mays. The Banks is a really good one.

Pack 6- As this is the auto pack, it is a bad omen for it to begin with a Cardinal.

Three more great shots. The Kinsler is the best, as there's a ton of depth in that crowd of Tigers. The Johnson is a nice one too.

And now...the auto:

Junior Lake.

Eh. If he was hitting better, I'd react with more confidence. Not a lot of appeal to this one. I would have preferred a Jorge Soler.

Anyway, that's the box. Two decent autographs, and one Junior Lake. Plus, a host of great base cards and inserts. Not as good as the 2015 version, but still a fun rip altogether.

One of these days I'll post a box that actually counts as nostalgic.