Have the Amazins Crashed?

But first: 80. Jameson Taillon is the first player for this week who I remember very distinctly because his debut was against the Mets. He pitched 6 times for the about .500 with the Pirates who are really struggling with offense. He’s given up a lot of runs in relation to his IP. Imagine only walking 6 guys in 31 innings, that’s crazy, Taillon has precision control. He just needs to throw the junk (or the speed) away to allow fewer hits and pitches right over the plate that lead to huge hits. Overall, I don’t see why Taillon can’t get an All-Star selection. I think maybe he’s high 60s on the list.

79. J.A. Happ is a veteran pitcher who pitching like he’s 27. In all of his pitches he feels confident as he should, all of them are really good. Hap doesn’t really go deep into games, he’s struck out 24 this year and he’s 36 years old, now that’s old. He gives up about a hit an inning, but his control is amazing, no wild pitches yet, only 8 walks, WOW. He relies on the strikeout to get about 17% of his batters retired and he retires about 70% of batters, I’m telling you, he’s good. With a few other pitchers in the AL, he’s another one that’s just consistent every time out there.  I think he should be in the low 60s.

78. Part of the Yankees, Aaron Hicks, who is a good, consistent extra-base hitter with speed and some pop. He is an amazing outfielder, except he has never won a Gold Glove, there’s always someone better, like Trout or Jackie Bradley Jr. He had a breakout season last year, with 27 homers, but not many RBIs for someone who has 27 homers, 79. His batting average isn’t good, his OBP and SLG isn’t really up to snuff. He had 224 total bases last year, above average for a player on the Yanks, fourth on his team. I would say he’s about in the top 7 on the Yanks for everything, he’s a crucial player for the Yanks to function, some might say Judge or Stanton or Gregarious, but no, it’s Hicks. I think he should be somewhere in the mid-60s or low 70s.

77. Here is a feel good, comeback story. Michael Brantley, a good contact hitter who was injured for a while but then came back and made a feel good story come true. To go along with that contact stuff, in a season where he played 100-plus games, his average has never been below .266, which, if you think about that, that’s good. The Astros signed him in the offseason realizing he’s a smart player and will lead your squad to success because he’s still got some gas in him (to play) and he will lead the young players to be better with charisma and tips. He has a .314 average with 33 hits and 5 homers. One third of his hits are extra base hits and that just proves that he’s in love with singles. I think he should stay where he is if not move up 10 spots on this list because he’s a dark horse in the AL and his talent is smothered by the rest of the amazing and talented ‘Stros.

76. Now here is a very dark horse to be this far down the list, very, very dark. Jack Flaherty didn’t seem no. 76 material, but then, after I did my research, the info reinforced my point. He allows a lot of homers, a lot of hits (more than a hit an inning), and faced 105 batters in only 24 innings. A 5.25 ERA. All of these factors don’t add up to being #76. One thing that I can dig up is that he strikes out a bunch of guys, about 30.5% of the hitters he faces. Only 1/3 of the guys he faces get on, anyway, those are two stats. He needs to work on his control and his precision accuracy not to put the ball right in the sweet spot for hitters. He’s dipped his feet into the water now he needs to put his head down and pitch the god!@#$ ball. He pitched a nice game last night, 7 IP, 4 H, 4 Ks, I mean, that’s a good outing. I think he should be in the high 80s, low 90s.

Ok, the Mets have officially burned out, they lasted about 20 games this year -- they lasted about 10 last year, they burned out. Pete Alonso is literally carrying the ball club now. 5-1 bottom 7d against the Brewers, Pete Alonso hits a three run dinger to put them within one. Then, top eight Jeurys Familia forgot how to play baseball. The ball was literally going foul, so, he picks it up and throws it to first, right when Yelich is about to step on the bag, run comes home and the Mets are within two, another run scores later in the inning, within three. The Mets never stopped fighting and bore down and scored a run, the game would’ve gone into extras if Familia hadn’t choked really badly. But, the Mets won today (4/28), OK, maybe we’re coming back.

Congrats to Albert Pujols on becoming 3^rd on the All-Time List of RBIs, passing the drug addict, but slugger Barry Bonds. Chris Sale is just horrible, making a French waiter just off the boat from France better than him (who knows nothing about baseball). The whole Red Sox organization is horrible, Mitch Moreland is leading the team in homers (7), but then he has only 18 hits, but then the hits leader, JD Martinez, who has 33 hits, has only 4 homers. Then five guys have either 14 or 13 RBIs. JD Martinez has 51 total bases, the leader of the Yankees piecemeal lineup which I will get to later, Luke Voit has 51 total bases. Then they only have five guys with over 40 total bases, then the sixth is 31. The consistency of this team is horrifying. The pitching staff has 109 SOs, only 109, Chris Sale is a 7 time All-Star, who has weirdly never one a Cy Young, this year he most certainly won’t win one now because he’s 0-5, he’s given up 19 runs in 23 innings, striking out 24. The lefty gave up 28 hits and surprisingly only 6 homers. Lucky for them, the Red Sox have a cushion under them, the cellar-dwelling Baltimore Orioles, who are just about saving them from going all the way down to last place. Cody Bellinger is a god, he’s leading or tied for first in homers, RBIs, runs and BA, hits, OBP, SLG and OPS. That is mind blowing, how can any hitter be that good? Brodie Van Waganen has decided to do some spring cleaning, oh yeah, designating Travis D’Arnaud for assignment, oh yeah, good move, Brodie. Now, Brodie has to get a good pitcher in Dallas Keuchel and Ervin Santana and his work is done until the Trade Deadline. The Yankees are 9-1 in their last 10 with a lineup in which I only know 3 guys, that’s insane. Well, a valid excuse is that they’re really only playing the bottom half of the AL, no one really good. 

Alonzo of The Mets knocks ‘em out of the parks

But first the sportswriters’ analyses.

85. Um, I think the SI writers were doing this at 3:36 AM on Monday already Tuesday. Khris Davis, 85????? Ok, fine, he’s batting .247 for five straight seasons, not exactly Ty Cobb but Ty Cobb didn’t hit 40 something homers a year, Davis does. When I think AL power, I think Davis or Judge, this season, Khris is leading the AL in homers, tied with Yelich. Ok, he’s not exactly a five-tool player so I can see where he’s coming from but he has crazy good power. He’s a clutch guy, he drives in runs one way or another. I can definitely see where SI is coming from now but I always love power. He’s only 30 and his power isn’t going down. He’s not 85, but I would put him at about mid-to-high 50s.

84. I can’t stress this enough, Dallas Keuchel has to be signed by the Mets. The Mets are struggling in their rotation currently and Keuchel will definitely smack them into shape. A veteran who will guide the young-guns and the ones who are struggling. He’s getting a little old but his reputation is still really good but I don’t know how he’s still a free agent. His command is still elite with only 343 walks in his whole career, he’s only beaned 21 guys in his whole career. He’s frikin 65 Ks from 1,000 srikeouts, I think he’s still able to compete at a great level and pitch in the NL for the first time since the Astros moved to the AL in 2012. I think he has more value than he is given credit for, amazing pitcher, he should be around high 40s.

83. Even at Buster Posey’s age, he’s still overrated, let me give you an over view. He had a good arm, he was a good hitter for OBP and batting average, he was a good power hitter, he never had speed. The Giants are looking to make a push for fourth place in the NL West or even (this is a long shot) third place, I know, high hopes for the Giants. He could play catcher or first base, he’s a smart player, a thinking baseball player and I can’t say that for everyone. He’s a veteran who will make way for young guys and will guide them to play at their best and mentor them to assess their weaknesses and strengths. He doesn’t have a homer yet this year and only 13 hits this year. I think his career, sadly, is almost over and baseball will lose a veteran.

82. Robby Cano, a Met who, at 36, can still hit like he’s in the prime of his career. Cano is just straight amazing, the Brodie Van Waganen somehow stole him with Edwin Diaz. I actually love Robinson Cano, everyone knows what he could do (hit XBHs and dingers) and he proved himself already in New York, so New Yorkers know him, that will boost his ego and his fanbase. But what Cano is known for is the sneaky good OBP and knack for getting on with singles, really nice, no one notices it but the stat line shows it. He could drive in runs as well as Bryce Harper, and I can’t stress this enough he has the ability to put the ball on the bat a lot, one way or another. He’s old for a second baseman so pulling him over to the NL wasn’t a good choice for him because he can’t play second, he’s not a good fielder anymore, I mean, he can still field the routine grounders but no more Gold Gloves. I love this guy, big part of the Mets and I think he can rap out a few more years in his career, I mean, Julio Franco was a middle infielder and he played until he was 48. Editor’s note: Julio played first and DH when he was in his 40s but was known as a middle infielder.

81. Elite closer Craig Kimbrel is next on this list and I am astonished that no one signed him yet, some teams’ bullpens are so bad, I think right fielders in a Tee-Ball Little League circuit could pitch better. He has lights out stuff that is just straight up cold, his fastball blazes past hitters and the rest of his pitches dance past the hitters and they will never see those pitches again. He has a career 1.91 ERA in nine years, not many pitchers, let alone closers who can brag that they have that stat. His walks are high for closers but for pitchers who throw so hard, it’s hard to have good control. He only goes out there for about one inning a game so you could pitch him for 5 or 6 days and then rest him for a day or two. He is really good and because he’s a free agent they put him so far back, no, that doesn’t matter, he should be somewhere like low 40s on account of being a good closer.

From the ballpark. The Mets’ Peter Alonso is going to win Rookie of the Year hands down, but it will be a tight race with Fernando Tatis Jr. But Alonso will win Rookie of the Year. Eight homers already, crazy, leading rookies in baseball this season and tied for sixth in the MLB this season, Alonso is a huge, lumbering man, 6’ 3’’ 245 lbs., he has 30.6 body fat which just adds more leverage and power to his swing. He doesn’t have much speed, but putting the fat part of the bat on the ball and driving that poor ball far is his specialty. Mets rookies are really good this year, Jeff McNeil, uh, he’s really good, fourth best BA in MLB, fastest to reach 100 hits as a Mets rookie, producing power and speed at the bottom of the lineup, exactly what the Mets need.

Just because I feel like it, here are my early season predictions:

AL MVP: Mike Trout, I mean, it’s pretty much routine now, Mike is the best player in baseball and he’s the perfect combination of speed, hitting and fielding. I don’t think Mookie Betts will repeat because he’s just underperforming thus far in the season, 4 homers, 8 RBI and 1 SB, knock knock, is anyone at home?

AL Cy Young: Really, all eyes are pointing towards Gerrit Cole, insane SO guy, one of the few guys now that are consistent in all their starts. Amazing control, could go deep into games and gives up less than a hit per inning and here’s the kicker, he’s only 28. I don’t think Blake Snell will win again because he only won last time because my dead grandmother could pitch better than the rest of the AL pitchers. His control was always good but the consistency needs to be better.

AL Rookie of the Year: I think I have to go with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. because his bulky size and crazy power that comes out of will surely power him through the Rookie of the Year competition.

NL MVP: I think it’s time for Nolan Arenado to win MVP, it’s definitely his year, first it was Bryce Harper, then Stanton, then Kris Bryant and Yelich, it’s his time. He definitely isn’t looking like it this year, but about getting a hit in about ¼ of his abs. Of course he’s a Gold Glover, could field anything hit at him and could probably nab someone from the second deck of Citi Field at third base, that’s how good his arm is. Only 8 Ks this year, OK, now that’s good. I don’t think Yelich will win again because even though he on pace for about 95 homers this year. Yelich will eventually choke in the middle of the season and homers don’t decide the whole thing, it’s a mixture of everything. Yelich is young, he will have a lot more chances to win and he probably will. I don’t know why so many people are saying Paul Goldshmidt, he is good but all he could do is hit for base knocks and homers, that’s it.

NL Cy Young: It’s not going to DeGrom, it’s not going to Nola, I think it might be going to Scherzer, routine, again, this year is kind of a routine year. Scherzer is leading MLB in Ks, Ks aren’t everything but he’s performed really well, his pitches are devastating. It’s not DeGrom because even though his first two starts were stellar, his last two were not, he’s also on the IL, not that that matters but I just wanted to throw that out there. Nola isn’t going to win, he’s 2-0 with a 6.84 ERA and he’s already allowed 30 hits and 20 runs in just 5 starts, 37% of his batters faced got on base, which seems like a little, but it’s a lot.

NL Rookie of the Year: Pete Alonso, scroll up for my reasons.

I gotta say, poor Yankees for so many injuries, 13 players on the IL, the newest one, slugger Aaron Judge, not a slugging season for him this year with only 5 homers and 21 hits, one third of those hits were XBHs. The Mets have officially burned out, they started off strong but now they’re 11-10, almost 500, not good. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. might be called up soon as the Blue Jays really need a big bat as they’re struggling in their division. A tale of two sluggers, in the bottom of the 8^th, Christian Yelich would’ve hit his 14^th homer of the year and that would’ve eventually tied up the game later in the 9^th, but no, Bellinger steals the homer from over the fence and then hits one of his own to put the Dodgers up 6-5, real nice.

See you next week.

Moving right along with the countdown

90. Next guy up is Carlos Martinez, who still hasn’t made his first start of the season because of a right shoulder cuff strain. Throughout his career, Carlos has loved pitching deep in games, about 700 innings pitched in the past four seasons. He’s started 110 throughout those four seasons, so, that’s like 6.1, 6.2 innings a game, now that’s good. His accuracy is OK, though could be better, 264 walks in those four main seasons of his career and only 30 wild pitches. That number is that low because of 9-time Gold Glover Yadier Molina behind the plate. I know what you’re thinking, catchers deal with passed balls but without Yadi behind the plate, that number would be 50. He only allowed 60 homers. OK, just register that for a few seconds, 60 homers in four seasons. That’s Cy Young quality stats that I just showed you, but the crazy thing about it is that he hasn’t even been in the conversation. Just two All Star appearances, even without the awards, those stats deserve to be higher up on the list. Maybe low 50s, what was SI thinking?

89. Scooter Gennett is the first man in the 80s. He’s also injured with a “severe right groin strain and will miss 8-12 weeks of action.” (quoted from Baseball Reference) His average is pushing .290 for his career, .310 last year. This guy is a really valuable player for the Reds as they’re trying to emerge from the basement. He is a five-tool player without the speed, so, a four tool player. He’s a power hitter with 20 homers or more in each of his last two seasons. More than 200 total bases in each of his last three seasons. Even with the limited action for “8-12” weeks, if he hits 20 homers or more this season, this guy is the best pure hitter on the Reds. 2018 was really his breakout year – no injuries, for the first time in his career, more hits than games played and if you really look into the stats, first or second most everything in his career. He is a mixture of everything and he is really underrated and he is should be higher up on the list, maybe high-40s.

88. Blake Treinen is the next player on this list and this elite reliever has posted a 0.87 ERA (He’s not qualified for the leaders of the ERA, but if he would be qualified, he would be second). He has broken through the ice of being a rookie in a hitting league and struck out 100, career high, last year. He faced 41 batters this year and only 7 of them got on base, 14 of 41 he struck out. He only allowed one run to score on him. He is an elite reliever who can close out games. He has five saves already, that’s half of the wins.  Bob Melvin trusts him to shut out a game, he knows even if he allows a run, the A’s dynamic offense will come back. His fastball is topping out at about 98 mph, which is the speed of a Little League pitcher compared with the new heat the closers are coming out with. I think he should be 99 or 100 or not even on this list.

87. Rockies “ace” Kyle Freeland is coming up next. He’s started four times this year already and pitched 21.2 innings and allowed 21 hits, consistent, if I do say so myself. He struck out 23 hitters this year, so everything is around consistent for the season so far. That’s why I put the quotation marks around ace because he’s not Sandy Koufax but he’s not a mop-up man in the back of the bullpen. He’s the best the Rockies have. He’s allowing about 4-2/3 batters per inning. He has a 5.40 ERA in his five starts; he’s given up 14 runs. Kyle Freeland right now is the best that the Rockies have, they need run support to bear down and power through as their record right now is 3-12, oof. He’s probably mid-90s in my book.

86. Elite closer Edwin Diaz follows. Alright fellas, the first Met player of the year. Let me just start of by saying, were the writers doing something when they were writing this but 57 saves doesn’t go to 86^th best, maybe 30^th or so best. 91 saves in 2017 and 2018 and in those two seasons, 139.1 innings pitched and 85 hits allowed and a 2.58 ERA and 213 Ks with a 13.8 K/9, with those stats, he’s maybe mid-20s. The scary thing is he’s only 25, so then he has a lot of potential and could be the best closer in baseball for many years to come. But man, what were they thinking.

From today’s ballparks – I want to start off saying Fernando Tatis Jr. is an actual stud, hitting for power, 4 homers already, same as Bryce Harper, average .250, speed, he hasn’t shown it yet but the stat lines from the minors do say it, fielding, flew maybe 6 or 7 feet just to catch a line drive and has an arm like every great shortstop should have. Hats off to German Marquez, a complete game and allowed only one hit and rung up nine guys. He had a no-hit bid through 7.1 innings, still no-one has a no-hitter this year. The second Mexico Series happened between the Cardinals and Reds, the last game was today and the series was tied at 1-1. Tim Anderson hit a Grand Slam against the struggling Yanks and they won today. CC Sabathia went five innings, allowed one hit and struck out three, which proves that the big old man can still do it. The Phils went all the way to 14 innings with Miami and then Jean Segura blasts a two-run bomb to send the Phils home happy, I gotta say, the Phillies are putting up a fight for first in the NL East, but the Phils did have a nice offseason and got nice players but on the other hand, so did the Mets. CHRIS DAVIS FINALLY GETS A HIT AND HAS A GOOD DAY, FINALLY!!! He went 3-5 with four RBIs, now, don’t boost your ego too much Chris, take it easy, don’t hurt yourself. Cody Bellinger is on an absolute tear, he is insane, leading the MLB in runs, second in homers, same with Jose Altuve, homer in five games straight, the Astros and the Dodgers really got a run for their money with these two. Ronald Acuna Jr., since Monday has three homers, 9 RBIs and 7 runs, Acuna is really good when it comes to hitting the baseball, he’s got a lot of better years coming up. The Yankees are still without have their lineup and now have signed two new players, the local bartender and that guy that runs the convenience store on the corner, yeesh, injuries really hit them hard.

If you have time, I invite you to follow @yulavhus on Instagram. 

Two Weeks after Opening Day

We’re through two weeks of baseball, and we’re definitely hyped for the rest of the 2019 MLB season.

95. Next on my list is the young stud pitcher Jose Berrios. He really only blossomed last year, pitching in 32 games, posting an ERA to forget, 3.84. He had a record better than the NL Cy Young winner, 12-11. He pitched about 192 innings and because so much pitching he gave up 25 homers and 159 hits, the hits were low, allowing less and he allowed about .83 hits per inning, which is good for a pitcher who just got the starting role. His walks numbers were a little high, averaging 2.9 BB/9. Not the best but hey, this kid’s got a promising career ahead of him.

94. David Price – a pitcher who was drafted in the first round for the Rays lived up to his drafting. Since about 2017, his value has went down, he hasn’t performed in the best way. He is 33, not too old but in the years that he’s been in the Cy Young discussion, he’s been voted at least top 6. Maybe what’s holding him back from being a good pitcher is his injury in 2017 that sidelined him for almost the whole season. His ERA has gone up a lot and he’s giving up a lot of runs. He was always insane at not giving up homers, over his career, he allowed 0.9 HR/9. I don’t know why he can’t have a good season, he has the stuff, he’s definitely got the run support, this could be a comeback season.

93. Miles Mikolas is an overall good pitcher. He had a great season last year but that doesn’t mean anything. He needs to be consistent, like Jacob DeGrom. He won Cy Young and followed up with 24 Ks in 2 starts. Miles, was voted sixth in NL Cy Young voting and was 18-4, most wins in the NL. He had a 2.83 ERA, not the best, but OK. He pitched 200 innings and gave up 186 hits, a lot for both categories. He led the NL in hits allowed. Before he went to Japan, he was throwing all over the place and was a mop-up man in the back of the bullpen. Then, he went to Japan for four years and they gave him a special potion or something and he is on point. This year he pitched 10 innings and has a 7.20 ERA and given up 12 hits. He will have a great career only if he is consistent.

92. This guy who I’m about to size up is an absolute beast when he steps up to the box. Jesus Aguilar is a slugger who just goes up to the box going double, homer or K. That’s literally him. He’s one of the best at what he does. His BA was never really high, a .274 last season, maybe trying to build himself into a more versatile player. He hit 35 homers last year and drove in 108. Probably the best XBH/power hitter on his team, not the best hitter though, that’s Yelich. He had 265 TBH, he doesn’t draw a truck load of walks so that just proves how insane he is at swinging the bat. His slugging percentage will only go up as this will be his breakout year, mark my words. I think he should maybe 40 spots higher on this list.

91. German Marquez was signed with high hopes by the Rockies. The Rockies need a solid ace and Marquez tried to fill that role but he hasn’t really. He struck out 230 batters, obviously a career high. For some reason, every pitcher I’ve written about has had trouble with control. Marquez had 57 walks and beaned 8 guys. His stamina is a weak spot, he should be able to go more innings and no complete games in his career. He has gotten better from 2017 to 2018 a lot. His winning percentage went down but last season he had more opportunities than the season before. He only had five more hits last season than the season before and he pitched 34 more innings, I’m speechless. Even though he’s improved, he deserves that spot.

As for this season’s highlights – Peter Alonso hit his first homer in the first four games as a Met, sounds like a normal stat, buuuuut, that’s the fastest in Mets history. David Wright did it in five, Michael Conforto in 7, Daryl Stawberry in 8. Also, Jacob DeGrom has hit as many homers as he allowed in his last 42 innings, the Mets are shaping up for this season. Let me just start off by saying that Cody Bellinger is an absolute god, leading MLB in homers, runs and RBIs, now that’s hard. Bellinger has probably a top five sweetest swings in baseball, ohhhhhh, that’s a nice swing. He has a .425 batting average, .452 OBP and a .950 slugging percentage (which is also leading the bigs). The Dodgers are going up and they will be the best team in baseball. Off topic though, I want to see the Phillies take on the Dodgers, I just wanna see that so bad. Bryce v Cody, Buehler v Nola, that’s gonna be a great game. Yelich had a great game, hitting his 100^th homer, what a season last season for the 27 year old, I think he will follow up with an even greater game. The beginning of what I’m about to say is a little weird, so just bear with me, new Red Derek Dietrich hit a 2-run homer in the second inning that went 436 feet. After he swung and made contact, he took a few seconds to admire the shot, Pirates’ pitchers Chris Archer didn’t like it. Next meeting between the two of them, in the fourth, Archer throws a pitch behind his back and then the benches clear, Puig obviously in the middle. Trout homered in the fourth straight game, Trout is really looking like the best player in baseball now. He was shaky in the first couple of games and then, four games, five homers including a grand slam. Gary Sanchez is back to looking like his usual self, hitting dingers, having a 3-homer game and becoming the AL homer leader. The Red Sox are really tanking so far this season. The World Series champs are 3-8, they have no one injured and they’re still losing. The Yanks, they have their roster injured but they won 15-3 against the Orioles with a Wal-Mart cashier, a kid on the street selling lemonade and a guy working at Burger King. Wait, Bryce Harper can steal, yeah, his first stolen base comes against the Twins and even if it’s Harper, it’s Willians Astuildo throwing, he’s a hitter, not a thrower.  

Good fight today Mets, never giving up and losing 12-9 after being down 11-1. Zack Wheeler and the bullpen didn’t perform at their best today but it’s ok as the Amazins have now won 2/3 of their games.

See you next week.