Greetings baseball fans.

Next in the “SI” list is the veteran Nelson Cruz of the Seattle Mariners, who isn’t at all fit to play any kind of field position and he never was. When he was with the Brewers, Rangers, and Orioles he could hit balls that could have hit satellites if there were 3 more feet to them and all the pitchers would be scared out of their wits because of him. Occasionally he could make a highlight reel catch in right field and steal 20 bases in a year sometimes but I think the foursome who did this is really missing the point: HE’S GETTING OLD. He hit 40 dingers, leading baseball 4 years ago, that’s really good, yes, he hit 39 home runs and 119 RBIs last season but that’s not as many as he hit a few years ago. Even last year he hit more and 1 stolen base is a lot for him. I think the “Boomstick” should go to 53^rd and switch with Yu Darvish. But don’t get me wrong, he is really good, like hitting everything outta-here-good.

Justin Upton of the Los Angeles Angels is 47^th on this list and is one of those guys who gets traded around almost each year and has a great few years and then gets traded away again. That started in 2012 when he was in his last year as a Diamondback and then got traded away to the Braves and it goes down the slippery slope down the trading block. Sure he still has the speed of almost Trea Turner and some of the power that remains in him and is a Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, All-Star and 5-tool player all in the same year, but right now almost every good team has one, but still, he is one of the best in the Western division.

Next up is the last of the Bombers’ threats, Gary Sanchez, the very young catcher for the Yankees, who could block the passed balls that no one but him would block but went through a slump – blocking pitches wise and could hit for average with a .278 (more of a power hitter) and for power with 33 Ruthian blasts but doesn’t have the speed the Yanks are looking for. Oh, jeez, I forgot to talk about his arm. This guy’s arm is the best arm I’ve seen since Ivan Rodriguez which is great. There is actually nothing wrong with this guy, how could the writers of the “SI” article have put Sanchez at 48 – he had 33 HRs, 90 RBIs, .278 average and a .531 slugging percent which would put him near the top 25, which is where he should be put.

The Cardinals’ number 1 weapon for pitching Carlos Martinez is next. His curves break so fast and his sinkers break at the last moment which is kind of weird, his fastballs never had the life they had flying at an average speed of 96 mph, a changeup of 87 mph, a sinker at 93 mph, a slider at 84 mph and a curve of 79 mph. His 3.64 ERA, 12 wins, 31 games started, winning records, and 205 innings posted in 2017 put him in the position of top 30.

Marking the half of “SI’s” genius list is Michael Fulmer of the Detroit Tigers who was the Mets’ top prospect until the Mets got Yoenis Cespedes for Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa and the Tigers sent him up to the majors a year later which was a good deal, also Jeff Jones in his last year with the Tigers worked with him so hard that in his debut against The Twins he went 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 SO, 1 BB, 2 ER, and got a win against the power+speed lineup. His 3.83 ERA and 10 wins and 12 losses and innings is really good for a second year player. Fulmer was first in homeruns per 9 IP, 5^th in complete games, 6^th in WHIP, BB per 9 IP and fielding independent pitching. He is great at everything he does and great at his pitches and variety, he should get his spot well next year in the same spot.

Now to this season’s diamond.

There is nothing more to say about the Mets, they lost again and this time by a walk-off bunt single by Ender Inciarte and they just eluded a loss to the Atlanta Braves by a, drum roll please, a rain delay. Yeah, a rain delay, so, okay, down to business. The Yankees are just plain cruising, calling up two minor leaguers in the same week, Miguel Andjuar and Gleyber Torres, Andjuar is on top of his game, a 4-hit game on 4/22 and helping the Yanks power through the Blue Jays. Johnny Cueto got his ERA down to 0.35 as the SF Giants beat the Angels and Brandon Belt had a 21-pitch at-bat versus Jamie Barria, he homered later in the game. Also in that game, Mike Trout finally beat Bryce Harper for the MLB-best leading 9 homers, which I really like, I don’t like his cockiness to the sport. The Red Sox are finally mortal; they lose two in a row against the A’s, the A’s, and wow. Sean Manea no-hit the Red Sox, ok, maybe they’re turning into the Met’s clone. Kris Bryant got hit in the helmet and when I saw that, I was like, “No, no, that’s not right.” So, he did it, but no sign of concussion around him. Carlos Gomez is still a true superstar. The 32-year-old actually walked-off the Twins, he never stopped being a great player, he’s still good, still has speed.

Now for my next challenge, name five 5-tool players in baseball. Please do it this time.

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