Running Out of Magic

Manny Machado, Kevin Gausman, Jonathan Schoop, Brad Brach, Darren O'Day, Zach Britton, Chris Tillman. All gone.

And what does that leave the Orioles with? Well, with the reductions, the person on this team with the highest WAR is Richard Bleier, who is currently injured, for the remainder of the year.

Behind him? Dylan Bundy, with a 1.5 WAR, a 4.50 ERA and a 7-10 record. Thrilling.

The Orioles are expected to rebuild, but with the exception of Adam "I don't want to go to Philly" Jones, Bundy, Tim Beckham and Mark Trumbo, there's nothing to really rebuild with. None of the rookies have lasted long, all the rookie pitchers are stuck doing bullpen or saddled with high ERAs, and the veterans are barely proving their worth. Chris Davis is...so bad it's not even funny. Caleb Joseph is a poor starting catcher. Trey Mancini isn't very versatile. Even Mark Trumbo, as great as he is at hitting home runs, is one-dimensional at best, and isn't a great defender.

I'm not sure if the Orioles have much to go off of for next season. True, they just received a ton of prospects from different teams, including Dillon Tate from NY, but...will they be ready next year? And if not, who will be? Will the 2019 squad be any different, or any better, than this one? How long will the O's have to be in last before something good happens again?

This is all very sad stuff, and it's even sadder when you realize that the Boston Red Sox, the best team in baseball, are prospering...arguably at their expense.

Coming Tonight: Thanks to some infinitely catastrophic events this summer, a lot of the Mets' greatest heroes have disappeared. But Thor still remains.

Unfortunate Timing for an Orioles Custom

I feel like it's a bit mean-spirited to post a custom from a team immediately after your team has just swept the hell out of them by scoring a combined THIRTY EIGHT RUNS against them.

And even worse- I like the Orioles! I've been to a bunch of their games, and I have a ton of respect for the organization and this current roster. But I don't care how good you are- if the Yankees are scoring THAT MANY runs off of you, you need to look deep down into the roster and see if it's less of a referendum on them on more of a referendum on YOU.

The lineup is at 'good enough' levels currently, which is kind of sad. Mark Trumbo hit 47 home runs last year. So far he's hit 8. Nobody's really wowing people, and the big starts that some of the new additions had are beginning to cool off. The pitching staff, with the exception of Wade Miley and Dylan Bundy, is atrocious. Chris Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez, and now Kevin Gausman are all giving up too many runs, and if it took the Yankees taking them for spins the last two games to make that abundantly clear to the front desk, then so be it.

The Rays are getting to the point where they're about to lap the O's, and as a guy whose indifference towards the Rays knows no bounds, I'd prefer that not to happen. The Orioles need to figure out how to fix their pitching staff, and inspire some life in their lineup, and maybe, just maybe, they won't get absolutely mutilated by the Yankees' offense next time.

Coming Tomorrow: Having just as good a season as last year, only with the rest of his team pitching in a bit more.

Nationals vs. Orioles 8/22/16: Not Especially a Pitching Battle...

There were a few reasons why I bought tickets to my third MLB game of the year, this one back in Camden Yards, one of those parks I've been to a billion times:

1. It was a week until I went back to school, and I wanted to fit one more in- my dad and I had planned on going to Fenway this year, but it had become clear due to a few logistical factors that this wouldn't happen. So, we compromised and went to Baltimore.
2. The O's are pennant contending, it'd been 4 years and I wanted to see them, especially in a home stand against the regional rivals the Nationals.
3. The schedule said the matchup would be Stephen Strasburg against Dylan Bundy, and there was no way I was passing that shit up.

So, my dad and I made the brief, by comparison, pilgrimage to Baltimore, and were instantly reminded why we love that stadium. It's just so homey and cool and fun, and there are a ton of elements that just make it a very relaxed place to watch a game- you can see they were trying to replicate someplace like Ebbets Field when they made it.

One of the other reasons why this was such a good game for me was that today, they were doing a giveaway for essentially everybody that made it out- they gave out free Wicker-design baseball caps, with the old 80's logo (like the one on the Britton custom) on it. As a guy who cannot have enough baseball caps, I couldn't refuse.

By the time my dad and I got to our seats, which were pretty nice, especially compared to our usual 'all-the-way-up-at-the-top' seats, we realized that there had been a slight...snag in the plan. Stephen Strasburg had JUUUUUUUST been put on the DL, and in his place, the Nationals were starting a recently-called-up AAA pitcher, A.J. Cole. And...needless to say I felt a bit betrayed. Yes, I'd be seeing Harper and Werth and Trea Turner and all those guys, but...Strasburg pitching would have been so cool.

The O's were starting Dylan Bundy, and, yes, this factor was the same when the O's actually went on the field. But...after an inning of play, it seemed like people were wishing it wasn't- Bundy allowed a run in the first inning, and he was looking more like his wild, clumsy self that he was trying to perfect when he went back to the minors in '14.

And don't get me wrong, Bundy can still throw strikes and be dominant, but when he gets you a win, it's a hard win, and he'll have given up a few home runs here and there- he's not all the way there, but he can still give strikeouts and keep the team down ENOUGH.

Around me in the seats were a nice mix of Nats and O's fans. There was an incredibly excited Baltimore fan sitting next to me, female (which is refreshing), sitting next to her not-quite-as-into-it boyfriend. She said she'd called some Trumbo magic before the game, and she was just waiting for him to do something impressive. Knowing Mark Trumbo, and how he's been this year...I wasn't exactly swatting it down.

Third inning, it wasn't Trumbo that hit the home run off of the surprisingly-dominant Cole...it was Jonathan Schoop, who was batting eighth in the lineup, yet this was his 20th home run of the year. My dad turned to me, and said "when your #8 guy is hitting 20 homers, you're doing pretty damn well."

It was actually a pretty close race- just when Schoop had homered to tie it, Anthony Rendon got up and hit one out himself, bringing the lead by one back.

And then...the magic that the section-mate had been referring to had begun to unfold. Machado hit a double that Ben Revere bobbled, and Chris Davis doubled himself to score Machado. And then...Mark Trumbo got up. The girl next to me already knew what was about to happen. I just didn't believe her yet.

BAM.

The ball looked like it was just reaching an arc by the time it had already crossed over the fence. The entire place went wild, and I turned to the girl, who had this 'what'd I tell ya' look on her face. The score was 4-2, and things were looking pretty nice.

As the game sort of gelled into a routine, and as Bundy began to lose steam, the Nationals fan, bluntly honest with a beer in his hand, sitting in front of us began to throw this game into the routine. When Danny Espinosa hit a one-run home run to bring it to 4-3, he was astonished. 'ESPINOZA hit a homer? Espinosa SUCKS!' he exclaimed, mostly in jest. When Revere got him, he turned to me and went 'this guy's even worse than Espinosa.'

For a while, it turned into a battle of the relievers. Brad Brach did get in there and got himself out of an incredibly tight squeeze in the eighth, after Daniel Murphy fouled up the potentially tie by trying to steal on a play that...he had no business stealing on. After Brach got out of the eighth, to quote the Nats fan, now embittered, 'game's basically over now.'

And then 'For Those About to Rock' by AC/DC began to play at the top of 9...and every O's fan knew exactly what was about to happen. Zach Britton, one of the best, most horrifying closers in baseball, entered the field. And just the stuff he started shelling out when he was warming up...if I had to bat against that, I'd probably wet myself.

It was simple enough, as he shut down Espinosa and Revere pretty easily...but then Trea Turner got up, and he gave up three straight walks. 'Come on now', my Dad said optimistically, 'let's not get off on a bad foot'.

I had a similar approach. "Come on Zach. Show 'em why all those Cy Young talks mean something.'

And then...the strikes began to show up. Until it was full count, and everybody in the house was standing. They wanted to see this with their own eyes.

Strike three. Birdland explodes.

Baltimore's one of those cities where, they win a game, and everybody in your row becomes your best friend. Cleveland's like that too. But everybody around me, every O's fan around me, was slapping high fives. It felt pretty nice.

The fact is that last year, I went to four MLB games, and this year I went to three. And the home team won every single one, all seven. I like to consider myself the good luck charm.

Still...hell of a game all around, and I'm glad I went. I hope the O's can build on this one.

April in Review (ft. Mark Trumbo)

A few years ago, in an effort to stay on top of things in terms of writing, I had a post at the end of every month summing up the big stories, and I kept it going all year. Because I've been very substance-light (again) this year, I figured I'd roll that strategy out again. So, as Mark Trumbo was basically the face of April 2016, let's talk about April under this beautiful custom of his.

To start, Five Things from April 2016 That No One Could Predict
1. First Place White Sox. Seriously, look at them go. The pitching is on point, led by an especially hard-throwing Chris Sale, and the new infield is a success, thanks to Todd Frazier and Brett Lawrie. They've earned one of the best records in the AL, which is something nobody could have predicted before this season. Heck, they're so far ahead that everyone else is at least 3 or 4 wins behind. This is something that's a long time coming, and that had been brewing for a while, and I'm glad they've finally gotten good.
2. Last Place Astros. This one really hurts, especially given the success story of last year, the one that caught the hearts of millions of sports fans. After rising to first and riding into the playoffs, the Astros...are right back in last. Nobody's hitting, the pitching's failing, and the rest of the AL West has taken advantage of this. I'm hoping they turn it around, but this is not a good sign.
3. The bats in Baltimore coming alive. Not just Mark Trumbo, the man at the top of the post. Manny Machado, Chris Davis, JJ Hardy, Adam Jones. All playing beautifully. Hardy has since wound up on the DL, but Manny Machado has come into his own, moreso than he did last year. Trumbo has completely erased the last two seasons of inconsistency, and is hitting like a champ. Even if the pitching is catching up to them, the bats are a huge statement for how the AL East is going to go.
4. The Phillies are winning games! They're not in first, nor did I expect them to be, but they're actually doing pretty well for themselves. Ryan Howard, somehow, has remembered how to hit home runs, as has Carlos Ruiz. They've won their last six games, on the heels of people like Odubel Herrera and Vince Velasquez. Nobody knows how they're doing this, but they're in third right now, and they're actually staying afloat. Here's hoping they keep it up.
5. Greinke and Miller deflate. Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller were brought into Phoenix to bring a whole new era of strong arms to the team, and make the D-Backs a force to be reckoned with. Both are getting absolutely killed by NL batters. It's kind of hard to watch, especially considering how awesome both of them were last year.

Now, Five Things That Aren't Very Surprising at All
1. Surging Nationals and Bryce Harper. Yeah, this isn't too much of a scare. Harper's picking up exactly where he left off last year and the Nats are on his back.
2. Last place Braves. I don't think we knew they'd be THIS bad...but they're pretty friggin' bad.
3. Unstoppable Cubs. Everyone, going into 2016, knew the Cubs would be huge, and here they are ruling the NL. That works pretty well.
4. Disappointing Yankees. The division was stacked against them long before the season began.
5. Some rookie out of Arlington coming up and hitting like hell. This happens every year. This year, it was Nomar Mazara.

Five Most Important Players of April 2016:
1. Bryce Harper, Nationals
2. Manny Machado, Orioles
3. Chris Sale, White Sox
4. Robinson Cano, Mariners
5. Jake Arrieta, Cubs
(Runner Up: Neil Walker, Mets)

Finally, here are Five Things I'd like to see happen in May:
1. Both Chicago teams to keep the momentum going.
2. The phrase "third place Cardinals" to continue to be applicable.
3. Someone in the NL West to come out in front. Right now they're all just fighting for first. I'd like a definitive frontrunner by June 1st.
4. Feel good teams like the Mets and Royals from last year to not be completely out of the race.
5. Someone from the Yankees to start hitting in a big way.

That was April, folks. Let's get onto May.

And now, an episode of THIS TRADE MAKES NO SENSE!

Bet he was pretty surprised to be headed to Seattle.

Ah, nothing like a shitty trade to get the creative blogging juices flowing.

Ah, yes. The trade at hand. Today, for no apparent reason, the Mariners said 'you know what, we need more hitting. Nelson Cruz, Logan Morrison, Kyle Seager and Brad Miller are great hitters, but I can't take that kind of security. We need a crap one to balance out the good ones.' So, out of the goddamned blue, they politely asked Arizona to hand over Mark Trumbo, whose last great numbers came in Week One of the 2014 season, in exchange for Welington Castillo and a couple prospects.

There are several things wrong with this trade. I'm gonna go over all of them.

1. Yes, I understand that Trumbo is no longer the high ticket item he was, but if Arizona wanted to get rid of him, they could have just DFA'd him, instead of jumpstarting the trade season inexplicably in the beginning of June. This was just an incredibly random, and public way, of getting rid of the guy that could have been done a bit more discretely.

2. The main guy that Arizona is getting is Welington Castillo, who, just last season, was the premier catcher for the Cubs. So, the deal was that Arizona was giving up a big hitter and getting a catcher. Now, you would think that the D-Backs would need a catcher. However, that is not the case. The D-Backs, so far this season, have had FOUR people play catcher. FOUR OF THEM. Two are on the DL, and those two are Tuffy Goseswisch and Gerald Laird. The other two are Jordan Pacheco, who's their starter right now, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who is their backup.

It's worth noting that they just signed Saltalamacchia literally mid-last month. And he's played three games in their system. So now, the D-Backs have Castillo, who can definitely play catcher, Pacheco, who can definitely play catcher, and Salty, who, as we're being led to believe at this point, can definitely play catcher.

Okay, Count von Count. How many healthy, perfectly fine catchers does that leave us?

THREE! THREE CATCHERS! AH-AH-AH!

And how many will that make once Tuffy Gosewisch comes back?

FOUR! FOUR CATCHERS! AH-AH-AH!

(Thanks, Count.)

Okay, anyway, back to the list.

3. Also, you would think that, if the Mariners are so eager to give Castillo to a team that already has two healthy catchers, and one other catcher that could eventually come back and start, then they're perfectly fine as far as catchers are concerned. NOPE. NOT AT ALL. Their starting catcher, Mike Zunino, while not doing too badly in terms of hitting homers, is batting below the Mendoza line. And he's started almost all of the Mariners' games. This is because the M's don't have many other options behind the plate.

They have Jesus Sucre floating around on their roster, but they demoted him a little while ago, assumedly when they got Castillo, and when they do bring him back up, he's still not gonna be too spectacular, as before his demotion, he was batting terribly, only getting one hit in six games, and striking out four times.

So, let's examine the facts here. A team with an unreliable starter and a slightly-more reliable backup catcher trades said backup to a team that already has three reliable catchers, two of which are healthy. So, now one team has one catcher that they can't really deal with, and the other team has three catchers, FOUR when Gosewisch returns from the DL, that are definitely overcrowding the playing field. Keep in mind, Welington Castillo was in Chicago earlier this year, with Miguel Montero and David Ross. He is now very familiar with overcrowding.

4. There is no heir apparent in the Mariners' system, other than Jesus Sucre. The only catchers floating around in that system are A.) In the deep recesses of the minors, and B.) Not hitting for jack shit. So it's not like there's another catcher coming in on the horizon. It's not like they're clearing things for a big trade.

5. The D-Backs threw Vidal Nuno into this trade as well. Nuno hasn't had decent numbers since he was with the Yankees. The Mariners are just gonna be getting Hector Noesi again, and LORD KNOWS how well he turned out.

6. The Mariners now have an outfielder/DH type, and nowhere to put him. All three outfielders are hitting well enough to keep their spots, and Seth Smith is a good enough DH that he's definitely sticking around. And they're sure as hell not gonna move him back to the infield. So...now they're screwed, because they have a guy who can hit, but doesn't always, and can't put him anywhere defensively, and then they have to mull over whether they wanna swap out Seth Smith with Trumbo every once and a while.

So there. Six reasons why this trade is nonsensical. And they're six good reasons, too. I mean, maybe this trade is gonna end up doing something for those prospects that Seattle threw in, but...as for Trumbo and Castillo, they really don't need to be on these new teams. It's maddening.

Good news is it makes for good blog material.

Custom Card of the Day: Goldschmidt Edition

Mark Trumbo is becoming the talk of the Diamondbacks this week, because he's already hit three home runs in his first few games. Yet still, Paul Goldschmidt is undeniably the one to watch?

Why? Well, last season he came 2nd in the MVP voting to Andrew McCutchen. Some people still think Goldschmidt should have one. Bottom line- this guy's dangerous.

This also comes as a pretty convenient solution to Arizona's dilemma since its inception. Randy Johnson notwithstanding, the D-Backs never rallied around a single anchor, one guy that would just act as the star of the team, and owe himself to leadership status. Justin Upton came pretty close, but nobody else really got there. If Paul Goldschmidt keeps having seasons like 2013, he could definitely get to that place.

Mark Trumbo-mania will probably die down slightly. He could have a big season, but we're five games in. John Axford is leading the AL in saves. Some guy I've never heard of from Minnesota is leading the AL in RBIs. This is what the first week is for- for the lucky people to have nice weeks before everyone else catches up over the course of the rest of the season. Mark Trumbo, as of now, is lucky.

Paul Goldschmidt is likely gonna go bigger. Just watch.

Coming Tomorrow- Speaking of MVPs, he has two. Will 2014 make three?

A Stadium Club Custom

Given the mood, and the amount of photos that my photo source has been giving me (next to nothing), I'm confined to doing a shot of Mark Trumbo that seemed to me like it'd be found in any classic Stadium Club set.

Specifically the one I've ripped three boxes of.

I know Trumbo's an odd choice for a 2nd custom of the year, but it's a nice shot, and I got it while it was hot. I'm actually kinda impressed with how this turned out, too.

By the way, something I forgot to mention with the Cano custom- this year, unlike any other year, I am actually presenting my custom cards as a year-long set. Series One began with Card #1, Robinson Cano, and will go up until the All Star Break. Series Two will go from there until the end of the season. Series Three will be in December, with anyone left.

I will be numbering the cards, because I put more effort into this crap than Topps does.

(Trumbo: MC14:#2)

Uncustomed Heroes of Baseball: Angels

 Every December, in the past, I've done Year by Year Customs, which is just an excuse to make more customs of people who didn't get them during the regular season. However, instead of organizing them by year, I'm organizing them by team, so that each player can get more attention.

Mark Trumbo had an alright season, hitting about the same number of homers as he usually does, and still not overshadowing Mike Trout. I imagine he'll have another nice year next year.

This, in my opinion, is the best custom here, because of the attention to detail it has, and the sheer awesomeness of the shot. And it's of a rookie, J.B. Shuck, who got some attention this year for his nice speed and hitting ability. I dunno if he's in it for the long run, but next year may prove that, or disprove that.

Tomorrow- two players from the last-place Astros.

Custom Card of the Day: Trumbo Edition

 

Okay, that's probably one of my favorites of the year. By far.

You know...I think most of the country feels really bad for the Angels. They get baseball's biggest star to play for them, and they go absolutely nowhere and end up circling third. That's incredibly sad for a team touted to win the World Series. It's kinda sad, in a way. But I digress.

The two big stories from Anaheim were the rise of Mike Trout and the slow incline of Albert Pujols' power. And yet there was no attention toward one of their bigger hitmakers, Mark Trumbo. That's also pretty sad. He hits home runs, plays his position well, and has two stellar seasons in a row...and all people care about are the aging hitter and the rookie hitter. It's a tragedy.

The good news is that next year I imagine the Angels will do much better, and Trumbo will finally get his due.

Coming Tomorrow- Ya know...sometimes I customize people because they're hip that week, sometimes I customize people because they're a favorite of mine...and sometimes I customize people because they play on my favorite team, and I need another one to put on my wall. Tomorrow is one of those. 

Year by Year Customs: 1975

Since my last Pence was rushed faster than a decision by Andy Reid, I figured I needed to make another one, being that he's huge in Philly these days. Him and 3 other guys make up today's 75s.


Take note of the position marker. I don't think he'll be playing first anymore.


Since Topps doesn't bother to make Wieters cards, I figure I should keep doing so.

Coming Tomorrow- A personal favorite design of mine, with some decent players.