Tuesday, June 19, 2018


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.

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