Here’s my observations about what’s happening around the MLB

So there’s this talk about how shifts are bad in baseball, but no, they’re not, it’s strategy, it’s like if you took the trick plays right out of Bill Belichek’s playbook. It’s like you can’t blitz in football on third down. The shift is a way to defend hits, if that didn’t happen, hits would be hits, a lot of hits turn into runs and the team that didn’t have the shift put on would lose.

The coaches complain about it, well tell your hitting coaches to work with the pull hitters to beat the shift, and if they don’t, well too bad. If the coaches are lazy, then I’ll give a few tips: One way to do it is to step to the ball, which will make the barrel connect with the ball later sending the ball into right/left field. Another way is to bunt against the shift, a definite base hit if you place it right, maybe even a double – if you run hard enough.

Another new controversy in MLB is the DH in the NL, the DH in the NL is the best idea to come into the mind of MLB in a long time. I searched up where the DH came from, so, it turns out that in 1969, the AAA used a DH for the first time, then a few years later, MLB decided to check it out by doing a vote, the AL against the NL, the AL decided, yes, the NL voted against it, so thus, the AL has the DH and the poor NL doesn’t. I want the DH to come to the NL to balance it out, the DH to be abolished once and for all, (that I would like the least most) or the DH to switch between the two leagues every season.

Enough of that, in Mets news, they’re getting worse and worse as on July 6 they faced the Rays in hope of salvaging a win to keep their spot of fourth place. The Mets have a very hard call about one of the pinch-runners, Hunter Wood, slid in as Wilmer Flores throw a ball practically over Devin Mesoraco’s head, and he had to scramble down to put the tag on Wood as he charged the plate like a champion, a really good slide. Then Jeurys Familia strikes out Willy Adames. Now, Bottom 9, Chaz Roe pitching, Todd Frazier gets walked, Mesoraco bluffed a bunt and then gets a single, so, then Dominic Smith grounds out, so now second and third. Brandon Nimmo gets intentionally walked, so now I’m thinking this is his first walk-off homer in his career, he’s gunna hit it. So, first pitch right there, José Bautista sends one over the left field fence and he knew it as soon as it hit his bat.

The Mets will probably be buying a heck of a lot of hitters as we’ll get closer toward the deadline with no trades made yet from anyone. Sandy Alderson is in the hospital, so now maybe the new general managers will be a tinsy-tiny bit smarter than Alderson. The Mets will be getting help in the bullpen as Jenrry Mejia will march right back in to the bullpen as spending about four years away from baseball as he got caught three times using drugs and could return to a Mets affiliate after the All-Star break and can’t join the Mets until Spring Training of 2019. The All-Star ballots are CLOSED!! The only All-Star the Mets will have is probably Jacob DeGrom, maybe Brandon Nimmo will be one after his crazy breakout 2018 first-half. Even though I don’t like the Nationals, I got to give it to them, they had one hell of a comeback. Down 9-0 going into the third, and then BBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOO …

They exploded as they tied it up and take a one-run lead in the bottom of the sixth. They went crazy in the next inning with five runs and they earned themselves a 14-9 lead, then Kelvin Herrera faltered a little, not a lot, by giving up a 3-run homer to Brian Anderson.

I should talk about Brian Anderson. He got called up in 2017; one of those prospects that not much is expected from him, driving in eight. Then, in 2018, gets invited back, telling himself I’m going to be good. He produced, the speed helping him get through 89 games, the most in all of baseball. He has some pop too, with six homers for a rookie. He has a very prosperous future. Shin Soo-Choo has been a threat, an on-base streak of 45 games. Getting a single here, a double there, another double, a homer and sometimes a triple. I could tell you something, do not, under any circumstance do you hit a baseball to Kevin Pillar he could manage left, right and center field all at the same time and still make all the catches look easy. Search up Kevin Pillar latest catch and it will Blow. Your. Mind. So, after Carlos Gomez smashed a water cooler with his bat after striking out and then made a very heartfelt apology too it, what a nice man. Bartolo Colon has been a comedy show for baseball, well now he passed a very honorable milestone – what milestone? Well, now he gave up a homer to 300 different hitters. Mookie Betts also passed a milestone, this one positive, his 100^th home run of his short career. Right now the Yankees have hit a slump, they’re two games back of first place and they’re playing Toronto which has been really good lately, maybe the Yankees will hit a slump and lose the series to their division rivals.

Also Jake Cave of the Minnesota Twins made a terrific catch to rob a homer away from Jonathan Schoop, it seems all centerfielders are making terrific catches. At Kauffman Stadium there was a hot dog race and the mustard one tripped and now he’s going on the 10-day DL. I don’t know if Chris Sale is a human but he has 176 SOs and his SO/9 IP is 13.0 that is leading the AL and MLB. He’s amazing, I don’t think the Red Sox are going to put him on the chopping block as we come closer to the Trade Deadline.

Another ace might get dealt, Jacob DeGrom, the Mets are getting chirping from every team in baseball about and the Yankees and Brewers are the loudest, but, the price for the DeGrom is going to be monumentally high, the Mets are most likely going to keep DeGrom and Noah Syndergaard but will probably deal Wheeler or Cabrera. I dislike that they’re going to deal Cabrera because he has been the cornerstone of the Mets offence.

The Yankees are really closely looking into J.A. Happ because the Yanks need some support at the back of their rotation, also Cole Hamels, another dark horse starter that could prove himself worthy of going the distance, and if Aaron Boone wants this, he could maybe put Hamels in the bullpen. Madison Bumgarner could be a great piece in the three spot of the Yankees’ rotation. A good piece would be Michael Fulmer, the young righty has given up more hits then SOs but I really don’t think that the Tigers would trade him.

I think the Nationals should trade Bryce Harper because right now they’re in a huge slump, I think if they should get some young talent or some aging sluggers would help them, their bullpen is probably second in the NL right behind the Brewers, but the rotation need a little reinforcements. Manny Machado is going to get traded in the next 20 days, right now the teams begging for are mostly on the west coast or the Cubs or the Indians, right now, if the D-Backs receive the 26 year-old, then, the D-Backs are punching a ticket to October.

The Astros get a versatile piece in their already pretty much unstoppable lineup, Kyle Tucker; their No. 1 prospect got called up and laced a single for his first major league hit in the seventh inning. The NL Central is being run away with by the Indians. To tell you the truth, the A’s are big contenders in the AL, only 10 games back of the not consistent (but very good) Astros. They’re 7.5 games back of the Wild Card and Boston is in the lead, but the Red Sox don’t care about the Wild Card, they care about the division, so the A’s don’t have much to worry about, just creating runs. Aaron Judge is a beast if he gets on a good streak of homers, he has 26 on the season, and he could take the MLB lead in a few days.

Enjoy your hotdog and see you soon!

Back to my analysis of this season’s star players.

Andrew Miller was a starter when he got called up in 2006, for the Detroit Tigers, didn’t do anything that year. So, here comes 2007, a great new year, and Miller had a 5 and 5 record with a 5.63 ERA with 56 SOs, a decent year for a rookie that got tossed around AAA and MLB, poor guy wasn’t even in the mix for Rookie of the Year. Then he got traded to Marlins for Miguel Cabrera going to the Tigers and Cameron Maybin going to the Marlins and some other players. He was still a starter, but then a few years passed changed teams a few times. So he got traded to the Red Sox, where he really belonged, I think. A 2.02 ERA in 2014 altogether with BOS/BAL, then over to New York, to the Yankees, a 2.04 ERA, something changed in him as he moved from being a starter to the bullpen. In 2016, an All-Star and finished ninth in Cy Young voting with a 1.45 ERA and 12 saves. In 2016 also was the ALCS MVP and didn’t win the World Series but the Indians were in it. This guy has rebuilt himself but still, I don’t think he should even be on this list, if he should, then he should be like 95+.

Brandon Belt is a thorn in the side of every team with a good starting pitching staff, this guy could do it all in tough situations, a single to tie the game, a double to give his team the insurance run. He is not the power guy with the most homers in a season being 18, a guy that Bruce Bochy can rely on to do anything. His average was never higher than .289; his speed could be really nice with 12 steals and eight triples as career highs in two different years. His OBP has gone up moderately over the years but not really high at all. He is a scoop pro and could fake the pick-off really well. His SOs have marched down in 2017 after two years of +140 SOs. He guards the line like his own child but he has to do something about his error total, that is, if he wants to be an All-Star. I think he should stay where he is on the list.   

Didi Gregorius started off in Cincinnati, you shouldn’t even count that season, eight games and some RBIs. Then, gets hyped to go Arizona, his arms didn’t have power in them, but he always had the glove and the speed, the speed was his key as he was tossed around from batting second in 29 games and 52 at eighth in the lineup and 2 at nine and 14 games at sixth. Though in ’13 only 8 homers but his slick glove and never-give-up attitude on a ball put him in the lineup. Then came December 5, trade day, Didi Gregorius is traded to the Yankees, then all of a sudden, he hits 25 homers in a season and comes right when the Yankees need him and to replace Jeter, but not at the leadoff, but at the middle of the lineup, a really good hitter, exactly to replace Jeter (but hey, who would put Gregorius over Jeter.) Gregorius should go up like 20 spots, he is a real beast.

You can’t trust a guy like Gio Gonzalez when he takes the mound because you don’t know if he will spoon-feed the ball into the hitter’s barrel or will he throw his wicked curveball to make the poor guy in the box feel like a Little Leaguer when he swings at a pitch. I mean, his ERA spikes up like Bugs Bunny but you can’t judge him because his ERA is from 2.80 to 3.60, not very good and not very bad. He is consistent but he is not Clayton Kershaw, he makes a nice piece to the end of the rotation for the Nats. He has 86 SOs already this season, not a lot and he pitched only 17 games. He had 21 wins in 2012 when he joined the Nationals. Gio Gonzalez is one of the Dark Horse pitchers in the NL that amaze every once in a while. He should stay where he is unless the guys behind him or in front of him falter or get better.

DJ Lemahieu, a great second baseman that racked up multiple 170+ hits seasons in his 6 qualified seasons. He is one of the tallest second basemen in the business that means that his reach is a lot better than someone like Jose Altuve, he leaps for balls 3 feet above his head and makes the play or knocks it down in front of him. It also gives him great range to his left or right as those long legs help him run down a ball. His hitting is exceptionally well for a 6 foot 4 whose main spot in his MLB career is far from hitting, but he is three away from his career high and we just passed the half-way point in the season. His main key to success in the box is just base hits and getting on-base in general. He won the 2016 Batting Title posting a .348 batting average and a .411 OBP, amazing numbers. In this decade (2010-present), he has the tied-second-highest batting average among MLB batting title winners.