What a Difference Seven Years Makes

 

I don't think that, when he initially left the Cardinals, I could have predicted how surprisingly durable Lance Lynn's career would be. Like, he had some strong years in St. Louis but he also missed all of 2016 with an injury [back when that was still a freak thing and not a regular occurrence]. So him splitting 2018 with the Twins and Yankees, and...mediocrely at that, didn't give me much hope for him long term.

And yet since the last time he pitched for St. Louis, Lynn has contended for a Cy Young, led the league in IP, topped his current career single season strikeouts and ERA records, and played for three playoff teams [and, in all three cases, poorly]. For a three year period, Lance Lynn had a second career renaissance and was definitively one of the best pitchers in baseball again. He sort of limped off last year, but he's still in the MLB at 37, and still being relied upon to start games, which says a lot. 

So this season, Lance Lynn has a chance at notching his 2000th strikeout, and potentially his 150th win, while playing for the team he won a World Series with in his rookie season. The only issue is......the Cardinals are not what they were in 2011. In 2011, they had Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina and David Freese. Now they have two Hall of Famers who are refusing to hit well and a bunch of rookies that are just beginning to figure things out.

So that's really gonna be the question. I don't know if Lynn can win 14 games with this team because that would imply the Cardinals win 14 games with Lynn staying in the game long enough to get the decision. Starters don't work like that anymore, and the Cardinals don't work like that anymore either, especially with Victor Scott and Jordan Walker's tremendous[ly awful] defensive play.

The good news is the Cardinals still have some pop, and Willson Contreras, Ivan Herrera, Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman have been responsible for some excellent power hitting so far. It doesn't make the team a defensive giant, nor does it make a team with an especially low median age, considering the number of older players [Goldschmidt, Lynn, Brandon Crawford] pulling it away from all the rookies. The rotation at least has Sonny Gray, Steven Matz and Miles Mikolas playing well, but, again, these are all older guys. If the young guys can't muster up anything then there's no point.

I'm not sure what the Cardinals are gonna turn out to be this year, but it's upsetting to see them having image issues even with all the star power. Hopefully something clicks eventually.

Coming Tonight: A power-hitting outfielder for a team looking to turn the power off soon enough.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2023: Dodgers

 

You can win 100 games, but if you wanna be the last team standing, it generally helps to have some healthy pitchers.

The Dodgers did not have a single starter go all 33 games this year. Their entire rotation was made up of people who got injured for at least 8 or so games this year, and or were brought up to salvage things when everyone else was getting injured, or, worse, people who are healthy and pitching well but do something genuinely awful and may never pitch again. At a certain point, even the Yankees were laughing. Going in, you at least knew they'd be without Walker Buehler, but all of Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Michael Grove, Noah Syndergaard and Clayton Kershaw joined him on the IL at some point this year, and no matter how impressive Freeman, Betts, Muncy and Martinez were this year, it was always going to come down to the pitching. And in the postseason, it certainly did. 

The goal for 2024 is to ensure that there aren't as many injured pitchers clogging the roster. Which would be a lot easier to complete if they didn't just sign someone they know won't pitch until 2025 to a multi-year deal yesterday. But regardless.

Dustin May, prior to the injury, was having another solid season, with a 4-1 record, a 2.63 ERA and 34 Ks in 9 starts. Then, as is routine, May got injured. In May, no less. And the entire rest of the season would be played without him. That means that thanks to the COVID season, and three straight years of injuries, Dustin May has started a total of 34 games since coming up in 2019. For comparison's sake, Rich Hill has started 105 games in that period, and he's 43. 

2024 Prediction: UH, PITCHES MORE THAN 10 GAMES THIS YEAR. That is the bar. 2020 is the frigging bar. And even then I'm like 'well I'm not sure'.

Chris Taylor has been a utility helper for the Dodgers since 2017, and while his peak era of production wrapped up around 2021, he's still useful in a number of ways for these teams. Not only was he still a strong defensive piece at multiple positions, but he had 15 home runs and 56 RBIs, which is not bad at all for a utility man. 

2024 Prediction: Taylor is plugged into a starting role for a large portion of the year due to a big injury, and he continues to display why the fans love him so much.

The Dodgers began the year with some gambles at starting positions, to make up for a few departing guys. One that I think they were banking on more than they should have was Miguel Rojas, who was traded after playing a foundational role in the last half-decade of Marlins teams. Rojas was plugged into shortstop, and while he's still incredible defensively, his .236 average did stick out compared to Trea Turner's strong work the previous year. It's something they'll need to think about as Rojas goes onto the final year of his contract in LA.

2024 Prediction: Another excellent defensive season that the Dodgers ride out, though don't be shocked if an upgrade gets some plate appearances at SS late in the year.

The other gamble was former Diamondbacks outfield mainstay David Peralta, who'd been something of a disappointment for the Rays the previous stretch. Peralta would be making up for the loss of Cody Bellinger, who just needed to get away from LA in order to get his groove back. Meanwhile, Peralta hit .259 with 102 hits, 55 RBIs and 7 homers in 133 games, which was solid, if more suited to the lower third of the lineup. To his credit, though, Peralta's 2023 was his best defensive season to date.

2024 Prediction: Will fill a similar late-lineup role for someone else. Honestly, watch it be Houston.

As I'd predicted during the 2020 playoffs, Brusdar Graterol has become an extremely useful bullpen piece for the Dodgers. Though he's yet to eclipse Evan Phillips in the depth chart, Graterol still led the bullpen in innings with 67 and in ERA with a shocking 1.20. Graterol is a very careful, not-especially-strikeout-reliant reliever who just doesn't let many balls pass, and his 2023 was his best achievement to date.

2024 Prediction: Sets higher marks for himself in strikeouts, and possibly vies for an ASG gig.

The biggest shocker of this team might have been the Dodgers' pitching staff's ability to bring Ryan Brasier back, as they have with countless pitchers long thought washed up. Brasier was a hit both in Japan and in Boston, and was part of that excellent ninth inning platoon for the Sox during the end of the 2010s, but in the past couple years Brasier had looked cooked. The Sox cut him, the Dodgers picked him up, solved the problem and in 39 games in LA, Brasier had a frigging 0.70 ERA, and only 3 earned runs. He did give up a run during the NLDS, but he still struck out 3 D-Backs batters around that.

2024 Prediction: Well it can't be nearly as good as that, can it? What if he returns to his old system in Anaheim and does alright for himself?

For a year and a half, the Dodgers have been playing an infuriating game of peekaboo with Ryan Pepiot. Here's what they do every time: they bring him up suddenly to replace an injured pitcher, have him pitch one or two decent outings, and then immediately bring him back to OKC. And then repeat like 2 weeks later, and then back. I get it, he's a big prospect and they're limiting his innings, but I feel like they've been so afraid to break Pepiot that they're not giving him the MLB rollout he should be having. Also, Pepiot was injured for half the season, which may or may not have been the result of the Dodgers playing Oklahoma Flight Roulette with him. Still, in 8 appearances this year, Pepiot held a 2.14 ERA, 38 Ks and a 0.762 WHIP. 

2024 Prediction: Dodgers, either shit or get off the pot with this guy. I say they do keep him up for a bit, but don't be surprised if they either trade him or yank him back down again if he doesn't immediately soar. [Update 12/14: WELL, THAT WAS QUICK...]

In the midst of the war zone of starters, the Dodgers took a risk on Lance Lynn, who'd been struggling in Chicago. As luck would have it, the pitching coaches figured out what was wrong with Lynn as well, and Lynn pitched beautifully for LA, going 7-2 with a 4.36 ERA and 47 Ks in 11 games. The postseason did not go as well for him, and his shellacking by the D-Backs offense did eventually lead to an early elimination for LA.

2024 Prediction: A lower-key but still consistent year with his old friends in St. Louis. 

The other flyer the Dodgers took at the deadline was picking up Amed Rosario, who'd underwhelmed in Cleveland as a replacement for Francisco Lindor, in exchange for Noah Syndergaard, who'd struggled to keep runs down with his arm very much cooked. Rosario finally looked confident again for the Dodgers, improving his infield play in a reduced role and hitting .256 with 18 RBIs and 32 hits in 48 games.

2024 Prediction: I don't think he's gonna be trusted to start immediately, but given a smaller market with lower pressure he could finally find a niche.

Coming Tomorrow- Some larger pieces of a mostly-unknown Giants team that almost made it happen.

Top 10 Trade Deadline Deals of 2023

 I think I brought this all on myself.

Sometime yesterday, as a few more deals limped into the gate, I said to myself '...kind of a weak trade deadline this year'. And then 24 hours later I'm regretting that. 

In a sense, this was a weaker deadline year, because a lot of the big names on the board were actually kept, as teams that were thought to be dealing ended up competing anyhow. While there was a large volume of deals, especially in the last hours of regulation, a lot of deals were done solely just to make trades rather than to make sense of them. I have a post full of deals that made no sense ready to go after I'm done with the impressive ones. I'm also doing the Top 10 before I do the honorable mentions, as I think it's more sensible to just get this out there before the topic is stale, and then just post the auxiliary ones.

Needless to say, I did have enough for a Top 10 list, and what I tried to do was not just weigh these trades by the size of the exclamation point, but also by the needs they fulfill. There was no obvious blockbuster deal that I had no choice but to top the list with this year. The best trade of this deadline is gonna be the single smartest move, and that may be different than what you may think. In fact, one of the biggest exclamation point moves of the deadline didn't even make this list. I'll...have words on that one soon enough. 

But for now, my picks for the Top 10 most important trade deadline acquisitions of 2023:

#10: Mark Canha to the Brewers, prospect to the Mets.

There will be some Mets on this list, needless to say. Maybe not all of the ones you think will be here, but...there are some here. One that I think might be an underrated roster boost is the Brewers getting Mark Canha. Right now their outfield, Yelich notwithstanding, isn't great. Joey Wiemer's great defensively but he's not there as a hitter yet. Sal Frelick's a decent option but he's still finding the learning curve. Blake Perkins and Tyrone Taylor aren't doing much better. What Canha does is give the Brewers a strong, versatile option that can fill several roles as well as make sure Yelich isn't the only competent player in that outfield. As the Brewers fight to compete, they need more guys like Canha, and they did manage to stock themselves with decent rentals for a run. Ultimately, Canha's the only one that made this list.

#9: David Robertson to the Marlins, prospects to the Mets.

Second Mets deal in a row, not the last. This is, however, the only Marlins deal on this list. The Marlins made a lot of wacky moves, especially today, to bulk themselves up for a wild card brawl, and while a lot of them didn't make sense, this was their best one because it fulfills a gaping need for the Marlins, and that is a competent closer. The Marlins tried A.J. Puk in the ninth, and he was doing well for a while, but he got hurt, and now he's got an ERA around 5. Everybody else in this bullpen is more suited to middle relief work, including the also-recently-dealt Jorge Lopez. D-Rob gives them an excellent closer who's been having an excellent season, and even though this makes his second straight trade deadline venture, and the fifth team he's played for since the 2021 Olympics, his stock is super high and he's already been fantastic even in early appearances for Miami. Hopefully he'll be able to stay strong in October this year.

#8: C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk to the Angels, prospects to the Rockies

A trend I noticed a lot this deadline especially was more cathartic, 'all things as they should be' trades. Mostly players who either came to prominence with or were drafted by teams that brought them back. There's a few further up on the list. But this one charmed me. Not only does it bolster a lineup that was already going in for help in terms of bench support, but it gives the Angels two great hitters in positions where they need help. The Angels just demoted Jared Walsh, and had been using Mike Moustakas and Trey Cabbage at first. Meanwhile, they just lost Taylor Ward and are still without Mike Trout. Both Cron and Grichuk fulfill deep needs, and both return to the organizations they came up with. Grichuk never played a game for the Angels before getting traded to St. Louis in exchange for David Freese, while Cron came to prominence as a Halo before finding fame in Denver. With both back where they started, the Angels have a stronger lineup and way more hard-hitting options.

#7: Michael Lorenzen to the Phillies, prospect Hao-Yu Lee to the Tigers

Nothing like a quaint, respectable addition to denote an otherwise quiet deadline for Sam Fuld. Michael Lorenz's been sharp as hell since becoming a starter, and after a solid year with LA last year, he became an All-Star with Detroit and cemented himself as a starting option. With no offense meant towards Cristopher Sanchez, we needed a trusted fifth man, and Lorenzen will do just fine. Now the Phils have a pretty ironclad rotation, with five guys I'd throw out there against the best of 'em, and while I thought Noah Syndergaard would be similar last year, Lorenzen has shown less signs of wear and tear, and also isn't as hard-throwing as Thor was. It sucks losing Lee, who looked like a fun prospect, but Lorenzen makes me very confident going forward. Also, cool that the Phils have just started adding long-haired lanky guys every July, it makes me feel seen.

#6: Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to the Dodgers, Trayce Thompson and prospects to the White Sox

Not the biggest pitching acquisition the Dodgers thought they'd be leaving the deadline with, but the lack of Cease or Rodriguez aside, adding Lance Lynn to an ailing rotation is a very good move. For one, the Dodgers don't have to start Michael Grove as much. Also, even if Lynn isn't quite as consistent as he was, he's a reliable veteran who can eat innings and give you strong starts, and with the only guys left in this rotation being mostly young guys, that kind of presence will pay off. I don't know what Lynn has left, but I also said something similar when the Yankees got him in 2018, and he responded with some excellent seasons for Texas after that. Also, Kelly is yet another 'let's bring him back' style move this deadline, and I certainly can't argue with the Dodgers having Kelly around again. They love him over there.

#5: Aaron Civale to the Rays, prospects to the Guardians

This was one of those where I had an audible reaction of "oh shit." The Rays have bobbled a huge lead over the AL East solely due to injuries to Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen, Zach Eflin and, albeit briefly, Shane McClanahan. They've had numerous open rotation spots buckling, and as Taj Bradley's learning curve spoils a few more wins, they've needed an upgrade. Aaron Civale is perfect for this Rays team, and he's a strong, durable arm that makes me very nervous for the rest of the season. Even as people start to come back, you have one more basically guaranteed day, as Civale's been having a great season, and doesn't need to lead the rotation to impress you [a lot like Eflin]. The Rays didn't need to do much this deadline, but the thing they did do was make it even harder for anyone else to finish the season atop the AL East. 

#4: Lucas Giolito & Reynaldo Lopez to the Angels, prospects to the White Sox

Though it took him a while to rebound after the tack ban, Lucas Giolito reaffirmed himself as a great pitcher this year, and once the White Sox fell below the Tigers in the standings, a deal like this became inevitable. This deal, however, marked the first real instance by the Angels of deciding to pursue competition this offseason, and it was a hell of a statement to start with. Giolito strengthens that rotation even further, even as Sandoval, Canning, Detmers and, yes, Ohtani roll. He's not quite the ace anymore, but he's an excellent foil to Ohtani as a pure flamethrower, and will hopefully give the Angels some great stretch starts. We do know how good he can be in October, remember that. Also, Lopez gives them another solid bullpen arm, as well as more flexibility if need be.

#3: Max Scherzer to the Rangers, prospect Luisangel Acuna to the Mets

Nope, not #1. Scherzer heading to Arlington may have been the biggest flex of the deadline, but I will admit that there's two moves that I think are more advantageous. But still, you can't deny that handing Scherz over to the Rangers is a boss move. Eovaldi's hurt, deGrom's hurt, so there's room, but with Scherzer and newly-added Jordan Montgomery in there, it gives Dane Dunning, Martin Perez and Jon Gray even more reassurance, and it takes some of the pressure off of Andrew Heaney. Scherzer may not be what he was in Washington, but he was still throwing pretty well with the Mets, with a 9-4 record and 114 Ks in 19 games. He still has some excellent material to work with, and he could be the force that keeps the Rangers ahead of the Astros, despite their similar deadline tactics. While this does have a tendency to backfire, especially considering Scherzer's age and human-ness lately, it's still a big statement that could heavily benefit the Rangers if all goes well.

#2: Jeimer Candelario to the Cubs, prospects to the Nationals

Maybe if I were younger I wouldn't rank this so high, but everything about this deal just screams perfection to me. First of all, Candelario came up in the Cubs system, knows it well, and prospered there before being traded for Justin Wilson and Alex Avila [???]. This is another homecoming deal, and it's gotta be cool that Candelario finally gets to get reps in at third in Chicago. But also...Chicago was a seller till a couple weeks ago, and was looking for suitors for Bellinger, Stroman and Steele. Once they got hot, and realized they did have enough to chase the competition this year, they realized they could net an upgrade for Patrick Wisdom at third. Candelario's a perfect fit for this lineup, and a fantastic upgrade from what they already have. I also think that a lot of the Brewers' panicking in the last 24 hours is due to this deal, because they know the Cubs are gonna be even better with Candelario and need to stay above them. I absolutely love this deal, and I hope he keeps his Nats numbers up with the Cubs, cause this could be the last piece they need to sneak into October.

And so, the #1...it is a pitcher, an extremely good if recently-injury-prone pitcher...going to a market that needs to fight to win a division....but it's not the one you might think.

#1: Jack Flaherty to the Orioles, prospects who are not Jackson Holliday to the Cardinals

This, to me, was the smartest move of the deadline. The Cardinals needed to move Flaherty, the Orioles needed a unifying ace, they needed each other. The Orioles pitching, as good as it's been, has been a series of #2 and #3 men in search of a #1. Bradish, Gibson and Kremer have been good this season, but none have felt like an ace. Said ace would have been somebody like John Means, but he's still injured. I was thinking Tyler Wells would fall into that category, but he's fallen apart since the beginning of the season. The O's did try to get Dylan Cease, but the White Sox wanted Holliday in return, so that didn't happen. That's why I'm so won over by them getting Jack Flaherty, because he can be that ace-type guy, and can deliver OMG starts, and the Orioles have needed a guy like that. The injuries do worry me, but I think he's just on a decent enough pace this year, and won't need to sit out as much as somebody like Means. Flaherty might not be the HUGEST piece the Cards could have dealt, but it's an important piece, and it's even more important that Baltimore got him, because this could keep them ahead of Tampa and give them a healthy spot in the playoffs.

Again, I may be wrong about the promise of some of these deals, but this is how they look right now. Tomorrow, I'll reveal the honorable mentions, and why they didn't make the list.

The Best of the Rest: 2022

 

This is both one of my favorite posts to write each year and one of the least favorite.

It's one of my favorites because I get to have fun with superlatives and the teams that didn't make the playoffs, and you get to be a little mean. But it's one of my least favorites because, well, I get to be a little mean to teams who tried to compete and didn't. Also, I prepare this one a little in advance of the end of the season, and I have to eventually put in the last team cut from the wild card race, and I'm still extremely worried that it's gonna be the Phillies. [It wasn't]

But...at the end of the day, it's proof that the hierarchy of baseball can change on a year to year basis. Every year there are teams that make this post that didn't before, and there are teams that were on last year's post that aren't on this year's. More of that may have to do with Rob Manfred expanding the playoffs from 10 to 14, so I have a little over half the league in here this year, but also a lot of teams that were so close to making the playoffs last year are comfortably in this year. If anything, it proves this post is always gonna have flux. 

To give you the exact variable, four teams who made the playoffs last year are in this post for 2022, while five teams that were in this post last year are playoff teams.

So, with sixteen teams that won't win anything this October, let's see what they did in in The Best of the Rest:

Most Likely to Succeed [According to the Sportswriters in March]: Texas Rangers

Best Example of Banking Too Hard on A Single Free Agent Signing: Colorado Rockies

Best Example of Banking Too Hard on Two Insane Prospects to be MLB Ready: Detroit Tigers

Team That Did Pretty Much Exactly What Everyone Expected: Washington Nationals

Team That Peaked Too Early: Los Angeles Angels

Team That Shouldn't Have Taken a Health-Related Retirement to Realize What Everyone Already Realized Last Year About Their Manager: Chicago White Sox

Best Squanderer of Hopes Their Fans Had in 2021: Boston Red Sox

Best Squanderer of Hopes Their Fans Had in June: In a squeaker, the Minnesota Twins

Most Willing to Settle: San Francisco Giants

Most Underwhelming Use of Other Teams' Top Prospects: Oakland Athletics

Best Pitching Staff for a Team That Didn't Make the Playoffs: Arizona Diamondbacks

Worst Pitching: Pittsburgh Pirates

Biggest Anticlimax: Baltimore Orioles

Most Blatant Victims of a Rough Second Half: Milwaukee Brewers

Worst Trade Deadline Luck: Minnesota Twins

Most Interesting Use of Replacement-Level Players: Chicago Cubs

Most Depressing Team to Talk About Every Few Weeks: Detroit Tigers

Most Comically-Timed Injuries: Miami Marlins, in a heated category this year

Most Fun Last Place Team: Kansas City Royals

Most Unwilling to Recapture the Lightning in the Bottle: Cincinnati Reds

Most Likely Not to End Up on This List in 2023: Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers

It was a hard fought season, and I hope some of these teams aren't on this list next year. 

I'm toying with whether or not I'm gonna do a predicting the playoffs post this year, cause I'm always extremely far off. Maybe I will anyway.

Lynn the Black

 

A stat that confused me the other day is that the Chicago White Sox are the fifth-winningest first place team in the league right now. There was a period where they had the best record in the league, now only the Mets have less wins than they as far as division leaders are concerned. So what happened? Are the White Sox human now?

Well...series' with Houston and Seattle brought them down a little bit last week. And look, neither of those are bad teams, but considering that both the Mariners and now the Astros have been famously conquered by the last place Orioles this season, it looks slightly suspect. But, considering they just kicked the shit out of the Twins yesterday, I'm thinking they're back.

The biggest asset right now is probably the rotation. Lance Lynn is having another incredible season, with a 2.06 ERA and a 7-3 record. Carlos Rodon's having the best year of his career with a 2.06 ERA and a 6-3 record [heh]. Dylan Cease won all 6 of his home starts thus far, tying a record set I believe by Jose Contreras. Lucas Giolito has come around, and has 111 strikeouts to show for it at least. Yes, Dallas Keuchel is still the runt of the rotation, like he was in Houston in 2018, but even he has a 6-2 record despite his inability to strike people out. Hendriks is a great closing options, Kopech is a stellar swingman, Burr, Ruiz and Crochet are having great seasons, and up until recently this team wasn't exactly giving up runs.

The one problem the Sox have yet to really find a solution for is the cure to the outfield injury pileup. Eloy Jimenez started the season on the IL, Luis Robert joined him after a month, and now Adam Eaton has joined them both. The White Sox outfield is currently Andrew Vaughn, Leury Garcia and either Billy Hamilton or Brian Goodwin. Gavin Sheets has been impressive in his first few games in the majors, but we don't know if he's the answer either. Perhaps it's worth trading for somebody? It's a question of how long they'll need someone. Even still, as the injuries spread to the infield [Madrigal first, then Moncada might be heading to the IL], the Sox need to figure out how to keep the momentum going. 

This team thankfully has Yasmani Grandal, Tim Anderson, Jose Abreu, Leury Garcia and Yoan Moncada, injury notwithstanding, all rolling. The holes in the lineup are either temporary or will hopefully be covered up soon. This is a great team that still has a lot of pitching momentum, and a lot of big pieces that are still healthy. I sincerely hope they can ride this stretch out and stay on top, because an Indians 1st place year would be way too boring. Like, they don't even have any healthy pitchers right now!

Coming Tomorrow- That guy that came from out of nowhere to hit all those home runs in Chicago last month. 

2020 Topps Final Edition: Cards #217-225

 Onto another 9 cards of the 2020 Final Edition set. We're very close to having less than 100 cards left to cover in this set, and I'm already setting up more Topps Cards That Should Have Been cards for after we're done here. Still, we have 2020 to keep wrapping up, so onward we go...

Card #217- Clayton Kershaw ASG, Los Angeles Dodgers

2020 marked the beginning of the Kershawnaissiance. After a few seasons of injuries, slightly more elevated ERAs [like 3], and stepping back to let Hyun-Jin Ryu and Walker Buehler excel, Clayton Kershaw finally struck back and had another classic, incredible year. So while I don't think he would have started the ASG for the NL, had the 2020 ASG happened, I think it'd be necessary for the home crowd at Dodger Stadium for Kersh to show up in some capacity. Whatever, it'll happen again soon.

Card #218- David Phelps, Philadelphia Phillies

Phelps was yet another attempt at revitalizing the sorry, pitiful Phillies bullpen last year, and after his impressive Brewers start, he was a fine idea, especially considering his prior connection to Phils skipper Joe Girardi. But...the ineptitude of the Philly bullpen sucked David Phelps in as well, with 12.91 ERA in 10 games. TWELVE...NINETY-ONE. And eleven earned runs a game, meaning 1 earned run per game, which no reliever wants. It was not a good stretch for Phelps. Thankfully, he's doing a lot better in Toronto right now.

Card #219- Jonathan Lucroy, Boston Red Sox

Another zero-year type card. Jonathan Lucroy was a spring training signee, after a disappointing end to the 2019 season with Chicago, in Boston. He'd be fighting for a backup role behind Christian Vazquez, and he was a bit removed from his career peak. So while he didn't make the team, he did squeeze in a single game of MLB service last year, without a place appearance or an at-bat. He was a defensive substitution, then he suddenly wasn't needed anymore. The Washington Nationals used Lucroy similarly in 2021 before setting him aside once Yan Gomes and Alex Avila returned.

Card #220- Brady Singer, Kansas City Royals

One of the big rookies out of camp last season. Brady Singer made the Royals to begin the season, and made the rotation right off the bat. While he took a bit to really get acclimated to AL play, Singer still finished strong in 2020, with a 4.06 ERA and 61 Ks in 12 games. He's currently a trusted lower-tier member of the rotation, behind Danny Duffy and...ERVIN SANTANA? THE HELL'S HE DOING HERE?

Card #221- Lance Lynn ASG, Texas Rangers

[Not sure why the siding isn't in this one. My apologies]

Lance Lynn had an even stronger 2020 in Arlington than he did a 2019. 89 Ks in 13 starts tells you everything you need to know about Lynn, as well as how dominant he can be even in a shortened season. Lynn would have been an easy pick for the ASG, as well as, most likely, the only Texas Ranger on the AL team. Lynn's taken a step down currently with the White Sox, but he's still capable of big games.

Card #222- Carlos Estevez, Colorado Rockies

I shouldn't have to explain to you all why a state known for its use of recreational drugs having a relief pitcher named Carlos Estevez is funny. Do a little research into stage names, maybe. Anyway, hotshot Carlos Estevez had another full season as relief specialist in Denver last year, and things went a little south compared to his usual numbers, with a 7.50 ERA in 26 games. He's off to a better start this year, though. 

Card #223- Brock Holt, Washington Nationals

Brock Holt began the 2020 season as an infield option with the Milwaukee Brewers. Unfortunately, in 16 games with the Brewers, he could not hit for shit. So he was released, then almost immediately was picked up by the Nationals, a team still struggling to land on a competent infield picture. Holt was a pretty strong choice as a 2B/SS type, hitting .262 with 4 RBIs in 20 games. He's been pulling similar numbers in Arlington thus far, though he days of pulling higher than replacement level may be behind him.

Card #224- Framber Valdez, Houston Astros

Something aligned last year when Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy were all active in the same rotation at the same time- other than, you know, the Astros pulling into the playoffs. All three homegrown latino talents were enough to provide an x-factor for the team, which is desperately needed in the absence of Justin Verlander, and Zack Greinke's better numbers. Valdez actually pitched more innings than any other Astros starter, had a 5-3 record with 76 Ks, and had a 3-1 record and a 1.88 ERA during the postseason, with 26 Ks as well. Valdez is currently injured, but like Verlander he'll likely be back with a vengeance rather soon.

Card #225- Jonathan Villar, Toronto Blue Jays

Since leaving the Baltimore Orioles, Jonathan Villar has played for three teams that have absolutely no room for him. The first was the Marlins, who brought him on for 2020, and had him hit .259 while also surrounded by more viable defensive options. So Villar was Miami's sole trade deadline loss, as he was acquired by fellow competitor the Blue Jays...who ALSO did not have a place for Villar, with an already-set infield. So Villar's .188 average really did nothing for them, postseason notwithstanding. And now Villar plays for the Mets, who ALSO kind of had their infield pretty tight before the season, and is mostly a bench bat type. Glad the O's got the last good numbers out of this guy, I guess.

The next 9 cards, which you'll see on Friday, feature one of the biggest rookies of 2021 and one of the biggest trade deadline deals of 2020.