It’s finally here. Summer, that is. Now I can fully concentrate on baseball.

Indians’ long-awaited sluggers, Edwin Encarnacion and Mike Napoli. Encarnacion is a serious slugger. When Mike Napoli got released a few weeks ago, Encarnacion was not supported, Napoli was a power hitter, but he and Encarnacion were a great duo. All pitchers were scared of them. With Napoli being the guy with the .257 batting average and 28 homers and Encarnacion with a .290 average and 35 dingers, the duo always getting clutch hits at the right time. Then Napoli got traded away to the Indians. So Encarnacion got Jose Ramirez (19 HRs) and Francisco Lindor (14 HRs), two sluggers, Francisco Lindor is also a really good fielder, so, now I understand why Indians made it to the World Series two years ago. Edwin moved over to the DH position to be the 3rd or 4th place hitter with Lindor leading off and Ramirez batting 2nd or 3rd. Edwin Encarnacion has a nice piece of hitting doubles, his talent of hitting doubles is like the smell of a raw cinnamon stick, ever so slight. The lineup card can show 3B, 1B or DH. The diversity of his position playing shocks me, with only Marwin Gonzalez plays more positions than him. The Indians and Terry Francona lean on him for the power of this team.

Daniel Murphy made probably the worst error of the Mets’ playoff career and he should go down to Little League. He let a ball go under his glove by like 6 inches, then it just went south for the Mets in 2015 in the World Series. He is a pure-batted power hitter with just raw power, not trained power, he just has normal power, born with it, it’s sad that the Nats can’t use the power because he got micro-fracture surgery and has already begun baseball activities but no one knows when he’ll make his season debut. He is mostly a 2B, but could play some LF and could move over and play the corners at 1B and 3B. He concentrates and knocking it down and making an out, doesn’t have to be a double play. He has a lot of power and THAT’S what puts him in front of the other players and should move down to mid-60.

Ervin Santana was a beast when he came into the bigs in 2005, strike out totals were moderately high, playing in the division of AL West, a really good division, then all-of-a-sudden, they didn’t want him so the Angels got a minor leaguer who didn’t even make it to the majors, at all, and the Royals got Ervin and some cash. I guess The Show-Me State didn’t like him and shipped him in a crate to Atlanta where he dominated the east, striking out 179 in 198 innings, then he was a little hot and the Twins Fed-Exed him to Minnesota where it was cold but he was hot, with three shut-outs last year and five complete games, which lead the AL, pitching 211.1 innings which is the fifth-most innings he’s ever pitched in 13 years. He doesn’t throw hard or tries to finish his slider away and way out of the zone, to finish as a poor, poor batter chasing for the pitch or trying to make his sinker the golden egg in a basket of only white eggs. He is just mediocre, right smack mediocre. Just a plain good pitcher, a two-time All-Star and finished in 6th place and 7th place in Cy Young voting. He should move up just a few spots, maybe 7-10 spots.

Brandon Crawford was a baseball-loving, bench-warming kind of guy, with some pop but didn’t hit for average in 2011-14. Then, in ’15, exploded with 21 homers and he was a Silver Slugger, a Gold Glover and an All-Star. In ’16 he turned on the jets and got 11 triples, leading the NL. He’s not a power hitter, but when the Giants need him, he produces; he’s always been probably the best, if not the best fielder on the team. He is reasonably fast, his short little steps that produce speed which is crucial for the Giants because they have a huge chance for the NL West and entering june 18, they are 10th in the Wild Card. He has his weak spots so he should go back some 4 spots.

Jose Quintana is next and he has a devastating sinker which is accompanied by a changeup, a fastball and a curve. Over his career, his SO totals have gone up and his innings have gone down, in my baseball writing career, I have never seen a person with those kind of numbers. His ERA too, has gone up as last year his runs have been the highest ever. His strikeouts per 9 innings (SO/9 IP) but miraculously enough – his hits are the lowest ever in his full seasons. He has allowed the tied-most HRs in his career. I don’t know, looking at his numbers, is he good or is he bad. Last year, looking at the trade that the White Sox did with the Cubs, I thought the Sox were crazy and this is the best thing that happened to the Cubs pitching-wise. This year he has not been good or bad, so I guess I would put him where he is, don’t move him.

And on this year’s diamond …

So now there’s this buzz about the Orioles playing Manny Machado at short and third to raise his trade value which is pretty much kind of bad for the O’s because if they do end up trading Machado, they don’t have anyone to play at short or third, they do have Jace Peterson oooorrrrr Danny Valencia or their no. 2 prospect, Ryan Mountcastle. They have THREE third basemen, and the prospect is only in AA. They have two shortstop prospects, both are in A level. I mean they could trade Machado to the Mets where they would probably get Andres Gimenez, no. 1 prospect for Mets, or Amed Rosario, or someone like Ronny Mauricio.

Speaking of trades to the Mets, Mets are sooo desperate, yes, I’m saying desperate, that they need to accept any trade offers for bats. The Mets actually got out of their slump, a three-game winning streak starting with Brandon Nimmo, in the middle with Nimmo homering against the D-Backs and then leading of the game against the Rockies and launching an inside-the-park homer and running from home to home in 14.7 seconds. This is the fastest home to home time all year this season, then firing another one into the Rockies bullpen, I guess that’s why they call it a hitter’s ballpark aaaand also because hitters hit the most homers here than any other ballpark.

Devin Mesaraco also helped the Mets with his own homer and the Mets annihilated the Rockies, 12-2, DeGrom was on the mound and of course the Mets had to win while racking up 12 runs. So, right now the AL has been blessed with rookies Gleyber Torres, the beast of all beasts, Miguel Andujar - a stud at third base and at the plate providing everything from much needed walks to extra-base hits to round-trippers.  Also, the AL had a two-way phenom in Shohei Ohtani, to hitting bombs in Angel’s stadium to pitching triple digits on the mound, I don’t think he’ll win Rookie of the Year, but he has a good chance to help the Angels win the AL West or at least win the Wild Card.

The Astros are on fire, winning 12 straight. Their rotation is worthy of winning a World Series on their own led by Justin Verlander and finished by Charlie Morton. With all their catchers raking and demolishing the ball right now and Evan Gattis being the best catcher in June so far. Jose Altuve is the beast he is at number two in the game and Alex Bregman grinding those hits from the top of the lineup and Carlos Correa putting on a show at shortstop diving to save singles and getting doubles and homers to keep the cleanup spot occupied for the Astros.

Tony Kemp is the real player in the lineup that really gets the least amount of love, he sprints full speed on the base paths and on the field just to get a single or run down a ball that would be foul anyway. Jake Marisnick and Josh Reddick both are fighting for a spot in the lineup and both don’t know how really good they are. George Springer took the leadoff spot to can-you-catch-me level with hitting a homer on the first pitch of the game almost every game. No doubt their streak will extend.

I think Matt Kemp is from a fairy tale land, everyone thought that he will be DFAed, but really, he has been leading the voting for CF, if you want to check out the leaders in the All-Star voting go ahead and Google or Safari it and it will show you. The real Cinderella story this season is by far the Seattle Mariners. They’ve gone from 0 last season to second place in the AL WEST, a really tough division. I hope they’ll keep it up with the big help from Mitch Haniger and more pieces from the bullpen and the starting rotation and the lineup.

I don’t like the trade that the Nats did with the Royals, Kelvin Herrera???!!! They already have Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson, two great closers, now they want to add a third? So will Madson be moved to the seventh inning man???!!! J. Who needs a seventh-inning man? Who will be the closer, Doolittle or Herrera. Or moving Herrera to the rotation all together. Oyyoyoy, the Nats have a lot on their mind including the pickle that they ran themselves into and trying to stay alive in the NL East. 

Thanks for reading. I’ll return soon.

Welcome back, baseball fans.

Sorry about my silence but I had projects for finish for school. Imagine!

The Space City legend Dallas Keuchel, who they take real good care of, I mean, if they could, they would give him 7 to 9-day rest, but, they can’t because the Astros are a game behind the Mariners. Wait, the Mariners? Wow, I thought they were like third or fourth or even last in their division. They also limit his innings (which they shouldn’t), to limit his arm so he can go longer the next game or so he could put a little more something on his pitches. He has 142.2 innings which is low and 125 SOs which is low for a guy like him. He has a 2.90 ERA and only allowed 50 runs last season over 23 games. Keuchel faced 518 batters and 116 got a hit and 19.9% of batters got a hit. Max Scherzer had a 16.1% of batters getting a hit. He is getting old, and he should be pushed over to a better spot despite his 23 games and 14 wins against only 5 losses, which is stupendously good for a 30-year-old.

Next is, Kyle Hendricks, wait, who is he again? Oh, right, he’s the Cubs’ new guy. That was 2014, well now he’s one of the Cub’s aces (and they don’t have any except for Jose Quintana and that’s stretching it) with 139.2 innings. Hendricks could have had more but his innings were stabbed in the back and the knife was twisted by injuries. Just keep in mind he is pitching in the really tough NL Central, which gives him a really hard time to be good. But he is surviving, he is one of the aces of the NL too, but, not as good as DeGrom or Scherzer. He has a lot of work left ahead of him, he should get a spot closer to the best.

Marcus Stroman of the Toronto Blue Jays is the next up, he is one of the youngest, shortest best starting pitchers in the AL East, with his short delivery and frame. He played in 33 games last year, pitching 201 innings, 13 wins, 164 SOs, giving up only 21 HRs. If your brain wants to chew on something….chew on this, Marcus Stroman allowed 21 homers last year which is the same amount of dingers as Corey Kluber, and one LESS homer than Max Scherzer, those two players that I compared Stroman to, they won the Cy Young for their leagues last year. Those stats speak for themselves. 201 hits, 82 runs. He only plunked six batters and has the occasional bad outing but not as much as most mediocre-to-good pitchers, he should get a spot in the 40’s.

Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. is next and is more than a AL East superstar, he is a AL superstar, he is getting short bursts of hits and could get consistency out of himself. Somehow his average isn’t that high, he could slug too, with a .402 slugging percentage and 118 hits and his rare pop of speed with 8 stolen bases  and has five already in 2018 and he beat out three triples last year and has one this year. To tell you the truth, he could legit fly up to last year until he got a small injury, he could still fly like crazy, just not as much. He got to the offseason, and then rehabbed and he will fly, I bet that this year he will get more SBs than he got last year. He should work on the power, the only thing he should look at is and fix is his power. Last year, John Farrell trusted him so much that he put him in the lead-off spot which is really good, but then you look at this year, batting ninth every single day, it doesn’t mean that he’s bad, it just means that Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi are just better than him (maybe not Andrew). He should stay where he is or move up a very few spots.

The next champ is the greatest Baltimore second baseman that baseball has seen, Jonathan Schoop, who has remarkable power with that really, really upward swing of his bat and the ball has nowhere else to go but out of the park. He was first on his team with WAR and RBI and second in Ruthian Blasts with 32 homers last year and 67 extra base hits, the same with fellow second baseman, Jose Altuve also had 67 XBHs, Altuve had a higher average and more stolen bases, but Schoop had more dingers and more RBI, who’s better? I really don’t know. It’s obviously Altuve but Schoop is not far behind. He could drive in runs with 105 RBIs which is tied for twelfth in MLB last season and was first among qualified second basemen. He can also hit for average with a .293 which is 5th among second basemen, he also has the trained power of plate discipline. These days, who has natural plate discipline? (Weird, natural, really, never heard of it)  He waited for a career high of 35 BBs, and he is really showing to the baseball world that he is one of the most powerful infielders in the major leagues.

As for this season’s diamond …

So the Red Sox DFAed (designated for Assignment which means that the team that has 10 days to trade him or else, he gets released). With Wilmer Flores going to the shelf to join the party that’s not playing and not helping the Mets try and win a game, what do the Mets do? Well, their general manager, can I even call him a general manager, more like a couch potato that gets paid to sit at his desk and watch his team drop “rock bottom” as Mickey Callaway said, from a very high place in his office. He should sign Hanley to play first and you CAN’T let Adrian Gonzalez play every day and Jay Bruce playing first is like letting Mike Trout be the catcher, let Bruce play his natural position in right field (I’m thinking about playing Bruce in left field. Maybe, just maybe.) Adrian Gonzalez not playing every day, but play and put Hanley somewhere because the Mets NEEEEEEEED a bat, any bat and right now, Hanley is their Numero Uno choice.

The Mets lose again, wow; they get swept by the Cubs in a FOUR-game series, wow. I went to the game on Friday with my class and they lost. So you know one of those T-shirt cannons at games, well, I was talking to two of my friends and then BLAMMMOOOOOOOOO, I get hit with a T-shirt flying 50+ mph in my neck, then guess what, the shirt fell down to the people below me and my classmates. Crazy, right? Just crazy and funny.

Back to baseball. Javier Baez actually stole home against the arguably worst pitcher on the Mets, Steven Matz, so when Wilson Contreras played the worm on the hook and Matz throwing to pick him off, Baez in the meantime was sprinting home at full speed and guess what? The throw is a little late, by maybe a millisecond, but Kevin Plawecki pretty much didn’t want to put the tag on him and Baez took advantage of it and swiped home. Wow, the Mets really and I mean really suck on defense.

Most people know that Danny Farquhar had a brain aneurysm, so, Danny came to Guaranteed Rate Field and threw out the first pitch, little off, but he’s a pitcher. I don’t know if it’s just luck or are the Cardinals the super team right now, they have walked off 2 of their last four, Ozuna had a grand slam on June 3 and homer no. 100 on 6/2 and Michael Wacha actually took a no-hitter in to the ninth inning and then Colin Moran singled as a pinch-hitter.

Right now: You can vote for the 2018 All-Star team right now at MLB.com (there are many more cool things on MLB.com than you think, lots and lots of cool stuff every day.) and you click on it and then you can vote and each person that votes could win a RV, pretty nice, the 89th All-Star Game will be on June 17, 2018, at Nationals Park in Washington DC and it will be broadcast on FOX. When Giancarlo Stanton hit his 12th home run of the season on June 2, it landed right in a bachelorette party at Camden Yards, right there, he crashed a bachelorette party, but he wasn’t even there. On June 4, the 2018 MLB Draft will be in Secaucus, NJ, at 7 PM and will airing on MLB Network.

So my question is: How many All-Star appearances plus Silver Sluggers times Gold Gloves did Ivan Rodriguez have in his career? (All-Star + SS x GG=) That’s my question.

Thanks for reading.