Sports This and That. Will the MBL Season Continue?

Aaaand another one bites the dust, bum, bum, bum, another one bites the dust. Yes, another one does bite the dust. The St. Louis Cardinals bit the dust.

Two St. Louis Cardinals got infected forcing the team to postpone its game. This comes after the Marlins team got infected and their season was postponed. My guess is that the whole season shuts down in the middle of next week. They should restart with a bubble or cancel the season entirely. The NBA and NHL handled this beautifully, with zero positive tests and a happy start to the season.

Speaking of the NBA, the NBA had a really nice restart. The DPOY, Rudy Gobert, who played great defense in shutting down the league, played a good game. Adam Silver, who’s Zionsexual, gave him the easiest schedule in the league and they blew it, I would say thank to Brandon Ingram, but he had a great game. But Ingram missed the game winner so they blew one of their games. The Lakers and the Clippers played and that was just fun. It was such a close game and Lebron (wait is that the GOAT who’s 37 years old, because I could’ve sworn he plays like he’s 25) James played badly, shooting 22% from the field but playing clutch by locking up Kawhi Leonard and making the game winner. Anthony Davis got 34 points and Kawhi and Paul George played under expectations. More NBA games coming tonight, stay tuned.

And from the World of Hoops

The NBA is coming back tomorrow and there are really high hopes for basketball fans.

Bol Bol is a beast all of a sudden. The 7’ 2” mammoth, who was a little clumsy and not polished before the big break, comes back and is looking like 7’ 2” Lebron James. Rookie Ja Morant is ready to tear up the whole league. James Harden is still tearing up the league. And, the Sacramento Kings Instagram is still the best in the NBA.

We’ll have to see if covid-19 fouls out the season.

The scrimmages were OK, but I didn’t watch any because you need to pay for them, which adds insult to injury at this point (injury being NBA fans’ eyes being parched with no basketball).

So, here are my prediction for the season. It’s a confusing process, but, the seeding games will begin, to see who will make it into the play in tournament (which I don’t really get) Thennnnnn, the playoffs.

East: The Nets and Magic will make it. The Wizards won’t make the playoffs, without John Wall, Bradley Beal just isn’t enough. The Nets don’t have a star studded lineup either but I think they’ll somehow hold on. The Magic have the best lineup out of these three teams, so, all three teams are bad, so it’s going to be competitive.

West: It’s a lot more competitive as there 7 teams fighting for two spots. Here I think the Mavs and the Trailblazers will get it. This might cause controversy as Ja Morant of the Grizzlies is acting like point guard Michael Jordan but the Blazers have Jusuf Nurkic, plus a nasty back court in Damian Lillard and CJ Mcollum. The Pelicans, Kings and Spurs all have a chance, but not with Damian Lillard and Luka Doncic standing in their way. And the Suns, well the Suns have no chance, as Devin Booker is playing badly.

This is the playoff format according to me.

East:
Bucks vs. Magic = Bucks

Raptors vs. Nets = Raps

Celtics vs. 76ers = Celtics

Heat vs. Pacers = Heat

No upsets here

West:

Lakers vs. Trailblazers = Lakers

Clippers vs. Mavs = Clips in 7

Nuggets vs. Rockets = Rockets

Jazz vs. Thunder = Thunder in 7

Bucks vs. Heat = Bucks

Raps vs. Celtics = Celtics

Lakers vs. Thunder = Lakers

Clips vs. Rockets = Clips in 6

Bucks vs. Celtics = Bucks in 6

Clips vs. Lakers = Lakers in 6

Bucks vs. Lakers = Lake Showwwwwwwwww in 6

Well, now let’s see, what newsworthy on the diamond?

The Dodgers and Astros played, haha.

There were fireworks, like expected, Joe Kelly threw 97 and Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa and then Joe Kelly struck him out with a mean “slurve.” Afterward, he said, “Nice swing b***h.” This man is not the man we deserved, he the man we needed. Oh yeah, and he got an 8-game suspension. Which is weird, because Rob “Bozo” Manfred gave no suspensions out to the cheating Astros, but Joe Kelly called a b***h a b**ch but the whole Astros team got none. Really? Manfred getting paid off? 

NFL tidbits next time.

Say It isn’t so, Metsies

The Amazins played yesterday a rubber game versus a good Braves team. So, it could have gone 50-50. Newly acquired Rick Porcello started the game, so, based on how much hype has been going around him, this should be a good game. But, a 2-0 start was rough, so, let’s see the second inning, maybe it was a fluke. No, as it turned out, it wasn’t. By the third inning it was 7-1. When it was all said and done, and there was a whole lot done, it was 14-1. The series went from a commanding win, then a loss, and the third game finished 14-1. Well, without Porcello, it would’ve been 7-1 (theoretically), still no morale boost for the Metsies, but it could have looked better than 14-1. Michael Conforto had a hit, and he’s just always been solid. The two best hits on the Mets were Brandon Nimmo’s double and catcher Tomas Nido’s. I wouldn’t say that Rick Porcello is going to perform like this all season, it’s only a fluke, but, boy, were the Mets amazingly bad yesterday.

The MLB season is back in jeopardy as I noted in my previous blog. The Marlins had a covid outbreak in their organization today, and if that spreads, bye-bye baseball. The truncated season could be canceled if more ballplayers and teams succumb to the virus. I’ll fall back into being desperate for things to write about and the world will go back into a dark place. So hopefully, covid-19 is controlled by the healthcare workers.

Sorry for my silence about the NFL and NBA. Thoughts coming tomorrow. 

The Boys of Summer are Back!

The long-awaited 2020 baseball opening day is finally here. Despite covid-19 still affecting society and ballplayers, the words “Play Ball” are yelled – not really heard ‘cause the stadiums are empty. What would America be without sports, especially baseball? The boys of August, the tingle in the air in September, the All Star Game, the home run race. These are things that regular people don’t notice, only fans do, but for those people who buy hotdogs in the stands, it’s amazing. However, there are many questions that still have to be answered by every team for them to be successful.

This truncated season with one-third the usual number of games is going to be debated forever. Does the Commissioner’s Trophy count? Are 60 days enough to determine an MLB champion? Should the stats count? Should there be trades? Should there be this? Does this count? Where will this happen? Where will that happen? How will covid affect the players? What happens if a team gets infected? Will teams be eliminated if they have too many sick players? What happens now? Why can’t Dr. Anthony Fauci pitch? What is the meaning of life?

But, for the teams, owners, managers, coaches, players and fans, there are still questions. So, here are my questions for every team and suggested answers. I will also do a summary of the teams that have no questions.

It wouldn’t be opening day at Citi Field if Jacob DeGrom didn’t pitch and win in a 1-0 shutout, first the Marlins, now the Braves and next year whatever team they’ll play. Yoenis Cespedes, who, as insert Quick Pitch person said, has a streak of homers, it’s only three, but in the past three games that he’s played, he’s hit a homer, he didn’t hit one on Saturday, and that’s pretty funny.

In game 2, the Mets had another beautiful win on tap, but, Edwin Diaz had to give up a homer to Marcell Ozuna when the Braves were on their final strike. Nothing good happened. Hunter Strickland, who won a UFC brawl with Bryce Harper two years ago, (who’s now earned my utmost respect) gives up 3 runs to make the Mets lose a game when every game counts. The Mets tried to mount a comeback but they couldn’t … I am horribly disappointed in the bullpen, even though it’s only two guys (so far), but every game counts and everyone thought that the Mets bullpen is impeccable. Disclaimer!!! It’s not.

As for my Q&A

New York Mets: What will they do at the leadoff spot? The Mets are a really good team by a good-sized margin, and, no bias, I think the Mets will win the NL East. The leadoff spot is up for grabs by Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo. I think Nimmo should win the spot because his on-base ability is unparalleled. Jeff McNeil should go to the five spot because Pete Alonso has occupied the second spot.

Oakland Athletics: Who needs to go in the outfield? I know the limit for players on a roster is now 30, but having as many outfielders as the Athletics have? No. I think 5 is the max for outfielders on a team, and they have 7. I must say that they have a good fight for the right field position, with Stephen Piscotty, Chad Pinder and Robbie Grossman. I think that Piscotty should win, and Grossman should come off the bench with Tony Kemp. Chad Pinder and Seth Brown should go, they could be trade bait or just get sent down to the minors.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Are they going to make the playoffs with their young, powerless and inexperienced lineup? Definitely not, I give them 3 or 4 in their division. Their rotation is led by old man Madison Bumgarner. They are very young in the hitting department, they’re led by Ketel Marte but they don’t have power. Wait maybe two years for their even younger guns to come up and a few more changes by the man upstairs and then the Dbacks are going to be good.

Atlanta Braves: Is this team, that looks amazing on paper, really that good on the field? Yes, yes they are. Freddy Freeman is getting a little old, but you don’t have to be the most athletic to play first base. They have an amazing young infield, great outfield led by Ronald Acuna and Marcell Ozuna. The Braves pitching can pass as average because their offense is going to make up whatever their pitching allows.

Baltimore Orioles: Are they really that bad? Yes, they are extrrrrrremely bad. No salary cap, no bad players, their starting pitching is atrocious, their bullpen is disgusting. The position players on this team are so bad probably none of the players even were thought about to be in the Top 100 in baseball and none of them hit more than 15 homers last season. Oh yeah, sorry Anthony Santander hit 20, team leader, yeesh. Not to mention they own the worst contract in baseball in Chris Davis. Davis doesn’t perform and he’s getting paid 30 million a year. They are in a dark place right now, and I don’t see a light at the end of this tunnel.

Boston Red Sox: Can the core of the lineup hold up the weak pitching? The core of this team is really young, Rafael Devers, Alex Verdugo, and Andrew Benintendi, there’s also Xander Bogearts but that’s the core. The pitching is weak, that’s definitely a weak spot going into the short season, but I don’t think that the hitters can handle it. They’re still a playoff team, but Wild Card, if that’s even a thing in the new playoff format.

Chicago White Sox: Can the Sox handle some injuries to still make the playoffs? I think that they can, but it would definitely be borderline, in or out. They have a stacked lineup and great starting pitching, so that can hold up. And their AAA team is good and has depth for all positions especially outfield and catcher. Their pitching took a hit when Michael Kopech says he’s not going to play.

Chicago Cubs: Who are they going to roll out at the top of the lineup? Is David Ross going to follow in Joe Maddon’s footsteps and go with the really unorthodox approach, putting a first baseman leading off or is he going to change some things up? I would put either Jason Kipnis or Ian Happ leading off, both are contact hitters and both have speed.

Cleveland Indians: Are they going to make a run at the chip? Their lineup took a lot of hits, now being led solely by Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor. Their bullpen is solid as always, their minor league teams are loaded and ready. Starting pitching is about a 3/5 rating, not the best, not the worst. And, in a 60 game season, they could go off and get lucky. So, yes, they could win the whole thing.

Colorado Rockies: What moves should the Rockies make in the season? Immediately I see their bullpen concerns, for them to make a run deep in the playoffs, they need a middle bullpen because bullpens are very important for the playoffs. They could trade with the Yankees, they have good middle relievers. They could also go with starting pitching, but relievers are their primary concern right now.

Detroit Tigers: I couldn’t think of a question for them but I see the hitting is weak and the pitching is still bad, but it’s better. The Tigers really need hitters, like badly. Tigers probably don’t have any playoff hopes, at all. Maybe next year, if they have an amazing offseason.

Houston Astros: How many HBPs will the Astros have? Just kidding. The Astros have no questions, they are the most complete team in the MLB, they are just great. Their hitting is great from 1-9 and their pitching got worse but still great. The bullpen needs help, but for how this team looks, that’s a concern, but I wouldn’t worry about that too much.

Kansas City Royals: How many years until they go deep into the playoffs again? The Royals virtually had to start from scratch after 2015, so many of the players left, so their team is very young. If they could acquire a power bat, preferably a lefty, that’s a start to coming back into the playoffs. So I give them three years until they come into the playoffs again.

Los Angeles Angels: How will the top of the lineup look now? The Angels had a great offseason, bringing in Anthony Rendon so, the only question for the top is who’s leading off because I see Shohei Ohtani batting second, Mike Trout third and Rendon fourth. Maybe Andrelton Simmons or Tommy La Stella leading off. But, the Angels have a great season ahead of them.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Now this is a complete team, they have everything, hitting, but not at every position, but good players that hit. They have a young and fiery rotation. The only thing I would cleanup is their closer, but no one wants an aging, overpaid closer.

Miami Marlins: Will the team make the playoffs? I see potential in this team, it got much better than last year. Their rotation is young and shaky, not my cup of tea though. I would not roll out the rotation; the bullpen was never good. So l would hold off on the playoffs, especially in an absolutely stacked division in the NL East. The Marlins definitely won’t make the playoffs until the NL East cools down. 3-5 years, sorry Marlins fans.

Milwaukee Brewers: Who needs to step up in order for the Brew Crew to have a good season? I think Ryan Braun needs to come back to the dead (oldness) and have like a 10-12 homer season. Christian Yelich is going to show up no matter what. My third offensive player is Orlando Arcia, I know, he’s a wild card, but I want to see him have a breakout year. A pitcher is Brett Anderson, I want him to anchor the rotation and propel them into a good season.

Minnesota Twins: How far in the playoffs will they go with a new and improved team? The Twins got Kenta Maeda and Josh Donaldson to probably finish off their careers in Minnesota. The starting rotation is going to have to step up to the plate, they are very old except for the ace Jose Berrios. I want to see Marwin Gonzalez have one more great season as the best utility man in baseball, then he could regress, because I feel like then the Twins will have their young players step up. I think they will definitely win the division and maybe beat the next opponent depending on how good they are, so I would say the ALCS is when they’ll make their exit, or get lucky and make it to the World Series.

New York Yankees: No questions for the Bronx Bombers. They have an outstanding team, led by Gerrit Cole, who signed the biggest contract in pitcher history this offseason and Giancarlo Stanton, whose mammoth home runs are jaw-dropping. Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres all line an amazing team who’s definitely a favorite to win the AL.

Philadelphia Phillies: They showed it in their exhibition game against the Yankees, they’re good, but are their hitters good enough to hold through the whole season? I doubt it. They have depth and solid contact hitters, but in 60 games, they look great on paper, but I just don’t think that they’re going to hold water-tight. I feel it in my gut, like Gibbs on NCIS.

Pittsburgh Pirates: No questions, this team isn’t good, but they’re straightforward. The Pirates are like the runt of the litter. The NL Central is the easiest division in the NL, but they’ve never really had a solidified spot at the top. The Brewers and the Cubs always dominated the NL Central, and now the Reds are perking up. This season isn’t looking amazing now, the hitters are all average to bad, the only thing looking up is the pitching, maybe next year.

San Diego Padres: Can they not get swept under the Tsunami of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. Can they make it competitive for the Dodgers? Yes and Yes. They can, they’re young guns are inexperienced but good, they don’t have every position filled up with superstars, but name a team that does. Their starting pitching is highlighted by Chris Paddack and Joey Lucchesi, so that’s good, but the 3, 4, 5 in their rotation is rough.

San Francisco Giants: Can their senior citizen players step up and make them respectable? No, they can’t, Pablo Sanchez, Brandon Crawford, Hunter Pence, Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto top the list of AARP members. They have a bad team, they’re old, no young talent in the minors and a bad GM. This is a hurting unit and won’t be good for a few years. This is the cause of bad management only, nothing else.

Who will win the Commissioner’s Trophy? Stay tuned, sports fans.

Play Ball! (Finally)

Ladies and gentlemen, we have baseball back. Play Ball! Six teams played exhibition games over the weekend in three, two-game series. Let’s start with the other games and then finish with the battle of New York.

The Phillies routed the Nationals 7-2 with…. wait for it…… Max Scherzer on the mound. Maybe Max is losing his touch. He gave up a first-inning homer to Didi Gregorius, a sac fly and another homer to Bryce Harper. Aaron Nola proved again to be one of the top pitchers in the NL East, behind DeGrom, and he could have dethroned Scherzer as the second best. As Phil Jackson said (coach of the “Last Dance” Bulls), “You’re only good as your last season,” (or game in this case). I’m bursting with excitement to see how the sweaty, competitive, intense, and many more adjectives NL East Race evolves. The Braves, Mets, Nationals and Phillies all have the same chance to win and it’s just going to be so great to watch. The Marlins are just bad.

The Indians beat the Pirates 5-3 and I have to give it up to the Pirates, they’re going to be competitive. Zach Plesac went five innings before breaking and allowing a two-run single. The Indians bullpen was superb but the Pirates bullpen was the opposite. Kyle Crick blew the game, so it’s really only Crick to blame but the Pirates don’t really have anyone flashy. The Indians are exactly like the NBA Nuggets, amazing in the regular season and then beaten to a pulp in the playoffs, but now, with their great young depth, the Indians may very well make a run deep into the playoffs, like in 2016. The most important thing in this game I think is that Francisco Lindor… made an error. Lindor is the smoothest player in baseball, nothing gets past him, but, he booted the ball yesterday, yikes.

Now, the battle of New York. The Mets and the Yankees had a very competitive game until the Yankees blew away – for some reason. The Yankees jumped out to a hot start, 1-0, then Clint Frazier went deep with a mask on and a bizarre batting stance. Rick Porcello was responsible for both runs, I always liked Michael Wacha more, but Porcello is OK. Then, the two hottest hitters on the Metsies last year, JD Davis and Pete Alonso drove in two runs. Then Jeurys Familia, gave up a run which made the score 4-2. In the 9^th inning, Daniel Zamora, who I thought was a lockdown pitcher, let me down – big time. He gave up three straight liners which translated into four runs. Then, salt into the open wound, a sac fly to make it 9-2. Newly acquired Eduardo Nunez tried to make it a little more respectable – but failed. Final score, 9-3.

JD Davis and Pete Alonso continue to hold down the fort with their consistent hitting. Yoenis Cespedes, my third favorite player in my 13 years as a Met fan (David Wright and Pete Alonso are the first two in that order), failed me, 0-4, but I think that he’ll bounce back and have 7 homers, 41 RBIs and a .267 batting average in our short season. Errors were in abundance yesterday. Atrocious Max Moroff swung through countless pitches and can’t make a normal throw to Pete Alonso, who can’t scoop everything in the world. I’m really happy with what I saw, a little glimpse of speed, Brandon Nimmo stole a base. There was a dilemma on the pregame show today, on who should be batting leadoff for the Mets this year, Brandon Nimmo or Jeff McNeil, I trust Luis Rojas’ judgment, but I think that Brandon Nimmo should leadoff and McNeil should be second, with Alonso third and Cano or Cespedes in the cleanup spot. Amed Rosario should bat 9^th as the universal DH is implied for the short season.

The Metsies continue their pretty bad “start” to the season. Even though it’s only exhibition games, they got their faces again rammed into the gravel by the Bronx Bombers. The Mets experiments down in the minor leagues didn’t do well at all. Drew Smith came back from a major injury which cost him all of last year and he went out and threw darts until he met Aaron Judge who took him 440-feet deep left and Luke Voit took him into dead center. Yeesh. Corey Oswalt, the starter yesterday, was never supposed to be a white Pedro Martinez, but he was supposed to be solid. He wasn’t too solid, giving up two homers, to Aaron Judge in the first and Gary Sanchez in the fourth. I have nothing to be happy about, no offensive production, luckily Max Moroff didn’t play or else they’d be in the negatives at this point. Our usual studs didn’t do much, this whole game was pretty much a disappointment. It was Yanks all the way with 6:0. Let’s see what awaits us on Friday.

Who knows how the 2020 season will play out, whether ballplayers will fall out with coronavirus, but I think that this season should have an asterisk next to it, and the playoffs and World Series should take place. If last year’s season was only 60 games, then the Nats wouldn’t have made it to the playoffs. I think it’s going to be interesting to see who’ll be lucky this season and who’s just consistently good. 

Some Thoughts on the Gridiron

Indianapolis Colts: Yeesh, why would they pick up Philip Rivers in free agency, that’s probably the worst player they could’ve picked up? Tom Brady? I understand, but Philip Rivers. He can’t run, doesn’t have an arm and they were developing Jacoby Brissett. Brissett didn’t have a bad year, almost 3,000 passing yards, 18 touchdowns and only 6 picks, that’s good for a guy that didn’t see the field for most of his career and probably wasn’t going to if Andrew Luck didn’t disappear into the night leaving the Colts desperate. Rivers on the other hand had a good season, actually. 4,600 yards and 23 touchdowns, but, 20 picks. But, Rivers is old and can’t run, Brissett is just starting out his starting career. Rivers is good now and will probably fall to average.

Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes is going to be the greatest QB ever in a few years, historic years back to back, an MVP, a Super Bowl, a Madden Cover and just recently, a 10 year, $503 million extension. Add it all together plus a few more great season and possibly more Super Bowls and/or MVPs and he’s the GOAT, not comparison, no nothing, Mahomes is the best. He could scramble, throw accurately and his arm is classified as a lethal weapon and America is planning to sign this guy to the army, not as a soldier, but rather as a missile launcher. Mahomes is the best in the league now and will definitely be the GOAT by the end of his career.

Los Angeles Chargers: Justin Herbert is really underrated. Herbert is the future of this franchise, and I applaud the Chargers GM for this. I don’t know if this is by chance or if this was planned. They didn’t re-sign their running back so now the Chargers are an all passing team, so Herbert could evolve. Justin is going to have a great season and the Rookie of the Year race is going to be legendary. Herbert has a great arm and he can even scramble a bit. The Chargers stole Herbert in my opinion. Herbert is average right now and he will probably be great.

Los Angeles Rams: Jared Goff is a BUST. The number one pick that is underperforming so badly. He’s a pocket passer for life, if he scrambles then he turns into Mitchell Trubisky standing, Goff overthrows or underthrows the receiver by 8 feet. Goff has an OK arm and that’s about all I see that would prompt the Rams to draft NUMBER ONE. Also, all of this “talent” is definitely not worth $33.5 million, maybe $3.35 million. Goff is average now and will maybe top out his career at good.

Miami Dolphins: Tua Tagovailoa was going to be the number one pick no matter what, even with the injury, if Joe Burrow hadn’t gone into a phone booth and turned into Super Man minus the flying near the end of the season. Tua has it all, accuracy, arm strength, scrambling, height, and IQ. He is literally the guy that all aspiring QBs should be looking at or Lamar Jackson. Tua is going to lead a legendary Rookie of the Year race and is hopefully going to win it. The Dolphins are a hurting unit in general so Tua isn’t exactly the savior but he’s really close. Tua is average now and will probably be elite when he’s at his peak.