The Amazins are still Strugglin’

55. Cody Bellinger is a homerun masher and he was throughout this season and his past two, but somehow they put him in 55^th place. He is versatile in the field, he could play right field, first base and has a cannon for an arm. He’s first in homers in MLB, first in runs and first in total bases. This guy likes the XBH but can also hit singles and for average (he’s second in MLB in that category). He and his sweet home run swing aren’t all hits, he improved on his batter’s eye over his career and he’s on pace for his career high in walks (99), which smokes his previous record of 69 that broke his record of 64. Remember, he only came on the scene two and a half years ago and he already has 98 homers and he’s going to break 100 and all MLB fans and associates think that he’s going to win MVP. I think he should be in the 10s, around 13 or 14.

54. All-Star Whit Merrifield is next, he’s a 1930s type player, I’m sorry Royals fans, maybe you agree with me, maybe not, but he is. Only 12 homers this year, a .316 batting average and 15 steals (last season he had 45, leading the majors). For Merrifield, people think he doesn’t hit extra-base-hits, but no, he has 207 total bases, leading the AL and he has 47 XBHs. Last year, he beat out Jose Altuve for most hits in MLB, this year, he’s also leading this year by 7 hits, beating Boston’s Rafael Devers. Though the Royals’ playoff chances are very slim, Whit is doing everything to keep them alive. For a little guy like him, he has a .511 slugging % and he’s getting career highs in almost all batting categories. His batter’s eye isn’t too shabby, he’s not on pace to set a career high there but 32 walks isn’t too bad. I think he should be in the late 30s to mid-40s.

53. Kyle Hendricks is next and he has a few good games, like throwing a complete game shutout with only 89 pitches and then he completely bombs the next game. The 6-year veteran won an ERA title with a 2.13 ERA in 2016, but this year he has 3.46 ERA. He always pitches a lot of innings and this year he already has about 100 innings which isn’t that much this year but in past years he was around 200 innings. He gives up about a hit per inning and what’s crazy is that he only gave up 39 earned runs. He’s 7-7 and he gives up a mediocre amount of homers, 12, his strikeout numbers aren’t too appealing but it’s acceptable, he strikes out 21% of his batter’s, eh. He’s somewhat dependable to give you a good game, like starting the World Series (I’m not saying they’ll make it) or a playoff game but no Cy Young for him in his career. I think he’s good where he is.

52. Veteran journeyman Justin Upton is next. This guy actually knows that his skill level does not supply 35 bombs, 100+ RBIs and stealing 15 or so bags and so does the rest of MLB and the fans and the coaches. He’s only played 20 games this year, which produced 74 ABs. He gets a hit in about a fourth of his plate appearances but this year isn’t looking so good for the left fielder. He has 4 homers and 8 RBIs this season and only 1 stolen base. He was the most amazing in his years in Atlanta and San Diego, the face of the franchise for both teams. Over that stint, 82 dingers, 253 RBIs, 35 bags, 256 runs scored and a .262 batting average, not too bad. Last season was probably his last good one, 30 homers, 85 RBIs, 80 runs and a .257 average. His batter’s eye is actually pretty good, 706 walks over 13 years is about 54 walks a year, not the best but certainly not the worst. I think he should go up to the mid-60s.

51. Gary Sanchez is next. The power hitting catcher only knows how to do…… power hitting! When he came to the big leagues 4 years ago, he hit 20 homers and everyone thought that he would be the new face of the franchise, but then, the Yanks threw a wallet at their problems (as usual) and the problems got solved so Gary Sanchez didn’t go exactly unnoticed but he kind of faded into the crowd. Then, next year, he hits 33 homers, drives in 90 and gets 131 hits and the Yankees slowly start noticing the flaws of Gary Sanchez. He is a well below-average defender but a well above average offensive player, there’s no one to match him this year in the Silver Slugger chase but he’s never going to win a Gold Glove. He strikes out too much, but nowadays, players either hit the ball out of the playing field or whiff. Sanchez is the only good catcher that the Yankees have and they will stick with him all because of his offense. I think he should be in the mid-40s.

IN OTHER NEWS, Pete Alonso won the Home Run Derby, Jake deGrom pitched a 1-2-3 scoreless inning and Jeff McNeil got his at-bat with a wrong name on the board but he made a catch in the outfield. The AL wins again, I personally thought that the NL would win because of the abundance of hitters and power hitters, but, no. The Mets were on a 4-game win streak, but in the 16^th, Alonso hits a go-ahead dinger and then in the bottom of the inning rookie Chris Mazza gives up two runs for the Giants win.

The Trade Deadline is coming up but as we’re 12 days away, not much action is going around the majors, I hope the Mets get a decent hitter and a bullpen piece; we need Van Waganen to be really aggressive. The rest of baseball isn’t going to be that hot in trading, not too many big name free agents next year to trade but everyone likes a big trade. Aaron Boone got really heated yesterday when he thought the ump missed a call and he just exploded, he said that “My guys are savages!” Yes that is true, the red hot Yanks are real savages, they mow down every team in sight and hit homers to flatten their opponents some more. Chris Sale had a nice outing after a very, very rocky start to the season, he blanked them with only allowing 2 hits over 6 frames striking out 12 and walking only 2. Sale is 4-9 this year (again, the very poor start to the season) with a 4.95 ERA and 160 Ks. What really sucks about the Trade Deadline is that Zack Wheeler suffered the biggest shoulder impingement of his career, so, I don’t know why the Mets didn’t trade him before and this will certainly worsen his trade value. Brad Hand isn’t talked about as much as he should be. He is probably the most unhittable closer in baseball because of his filthy, dirty stuff, curveball, slider, changeup all really nasty and last night, he got the save, which is 1^st in the AL, second in baseball behind San Diego’s Kirby Yates. He has 60 Ks in 39.1 IP and a 2.29 ERA which is very good. The NL MVP race is heating up by a lot, Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich are head to head in this one, they both hit dingers, they’re both fast but I think Yelich is going to win it.

What Makes a Team Great?

OK, in addition to runs?

Bad team chemistry can make a team fall apart, even for a team with 20 MVPs on it.

However, good team chemistry can help a team in any sport win a championship even a bad team. You need a little skill to win some games, ok, your team needs a lot but team chemistry is the dark horse in the bag of elements that experts believe creates a championship-caliber team.

Here’s what some pros have said about teamwork in sports:

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.” – Babe Ruth, even though he wasn’t the friendliest teammate to play with.

“The secret is to work less as individuals and more as a team. As a coach, I play not my eleven best, but my best eleven.” – Legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne.

“Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn't do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another.” – World famous NFL coach Vince Lombardi.

To have good team chemistry you must have a captain, eg. David Wright, a sparkplug, eg. Jose Altuve, and a coach who promotes good vibes (I know I sound like a flower child) and brotherhood, eg. Casey Stengel who said, “Finding good players is easy, getting them to play as a team is another story.” No kidding, look at the 1962 Mets, 40-120.

I know this from personal experience. Last year, in Little League, we had sluggers up and down the lineup, great fielders, fast runners, but 6 or 7 of those guys put everyone down for the smallest errors, leaving the other 4 of us in our own world. We only had 5 wins in a 16-game season.

This year, we had a good season, only 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the batting order produced, who were our catcher (me), pitcher, shortstop and first baseman. They were our pitching staff, but we had great chemistry and we won 9 or 10 games.

Team chemistry is better than talent because if you have a whole team of moderate players, and they make a few mistakes, strong team chemistry will pick them up, give them confidence and good vibes (Don’t tell me, I sound like a flower child again, I know) will project the team into winning.

The 2015 New York Yankees had bad team chemistry. A little stroll down memory lane: Babe Ruth and his Yankee teammates, (but mostly him) had absolutely horrible chemistry, Alex Rodriguez was suspended for allegedly using drugs, which worsened the spirits of the clubhouse in 2014 that carried on to the next year. What’s more, the 2015 Yanks were without their captain and great shortstop, Derek Jeter, for the first time in 20 years. You would look to Alex to fill the role, he sort of did, but no one ever compares to DJ. Also, they came in the 2015 season with sky-high hopes, Yankee fans were hoping the 27-time champs would make it 28 (like they do every year), but they only made it to the Wild Card game, ultimately losing to the Astros.

Winning is the thing that improves or fixes team chemistry and GMs usually fiddle with team chemistry because they don’t understand how important it is for their players to get along. If someone gets traded away, that makes the player sad and the whole team plays half-heartedly. If the team chemistry is bad from the beginning and the players are angry at each other, that’s the worst. Then you just pray for the best.

All in all, I think team chemistry is a very important virtue in the clubhouse and that certainly improves how the team performs. 

Coming up to the All-Star Break

60. Yasmani Grandal is one of the most dependable catchers that modern baseball has ever seen. Power, contact, a great defensive catcher, a perfect arm, everything you can ask for. His 15 homers already are 1st in the NL, 2nd in all of baseball for catchers. His power is great for the Brewers because more fire power is always good. His hits are second in baseball for catchers, only two behind in fact. He has 59 defensive runs saved as a catcher in his career, which just proves that he is a perfect catcher. Adding a little speed is always good and that’s what he’s doing, 3 bags in his pocket this year, that’s tied for second among catchers this year, second to a candidate you would never expect, Yadier Molina. If he could strike out 5% less (right now his SO% is 20%). I don’t know a single guy who has fewer runs than walks, that’s how good Grandal’s batter eye is. He needs help with this extra base hits, 62 hits with 120 total bases, that’s just not an appealing ratio. I think he’s good where he is.

59. Tommy Pham has too much hype surrounding him all over. The Rays pretty much think that he’s worthy of the MVP award and more. Last year when he went to Tampa he went off with 7 homers, 22 RBIs and 5 stolen bases in 39 games. This year, he doesn’t get extra base hits this year, only 116 total bases with 73 hits and 21 XBHs. This guy has amazing hustle as he knows he’s in his thirties, most guys in their thirties just absolutely don’t care, dinger or nothing. Pham has just a normal batter’s eye, a normal centerfielder, with a little more speed. He strikes out in about 18% of his plate appearances, if he could make it 15% that would make him arguably the best player on the Rays. He plays very aggressively on the bases, 31 runs, 2 triples and 6 bags. He’s never won a Gold Glove and I don’t think he will, I mean, you know, Mike Trout is right there. He has 6 errors and 13 defensive runs saved in his whole career. I think he’s not horrible but he’s a really good, solid player that brings charisma to his team along with talent. I think he’s good where he is.

58. Two-way star Shohei Ohtani started last year. I think he’s a lot worse than the hype that was around him in the beginning of the 2018 season. He’s a much better hitter than pitcher. He’s not horrible, 4-2, 63 Ks, 3.31 ERA. But hitting is just much better: 22 HRs, 21 doubles, 93 hits, 10 SBs and a .285 average. He was injured in the beginning of the year and he’s played 36 games, with 9 homers and 30 RBIs, that’s some players’ stats even when they’ve played 70 or so games. The Japanese rookie can also put on the jets and aggressive base running into play with 10 steals last year and 2 steals and 1 triple this year. The Rookie of the Year won’t have a chance against the big, power hitting DHs in the league to get an All-Star selection. He has a trained batter’s eye, great want to be the best on the Angels and to try to hit the ball as far as he can. Ohtani strikes out a lot, ¼ of his at-bats are Ks. He gets an extra base hit in 28% of his hits. I think he should go up to the high 40s.

57. Andrew Benintendi is really underrated, the Red Sox needed someone in the outfield in late 2016 and they called him up, not a lot of hype around him, didn’t produce, 2 homers, 14 RBIs and a nice .295 average. In, 2017, kills it, 20 homers, 20 doubles and 20 stolen bases, 90 RBIs and 155 hits and finishes second in Rookie of the Year voting. I think he is a sure All-Star and should be for every season up until he starts hitting only 40 hits a season and playing 100 games. Every good MLB writer knows that he has a bunch of pop, but speed is the factor that sooooo many people overlook. He has gap power, he has homer power, he’s a great contact hitter, he can get on base, and he’s like the player everyone wished for. His only rough spot is that he has as many hits as strikeouts, which really sucks. I think if he could fix that up and get a .300 average he could be one of or not the best overall player on the Red Sox. I think he should be in the high 30s.

56. James Paxton is a lethal southpaw, who makes his pitches dance and fool batters like absolutely nobody’s business. He’s not really showed himself this year, 4-3, a 3.93 ERA, 71 Ks, but the Yanks wanted him for more. In Seattle, he was really good, especially last season, 11-6, 3.76 ERA and 208 Ks, the cherry on top to that season was a no-hitter. He gave up about a hit per inning, 0.83 to be exact, which is actually a lot. He strikes out about 30% of his batters faced, walks only 9% and gives up a hit to 21% of his batter’s faced. He never had an All-Star appearances (Snubbed!), didn’t finish anywhere in Cy-Young voting, this man is really underrated. He isn’t a very faulty defender, no errors this year and only 6 errors in his 7 seasons. Last season would probably be his best season, 11-6, career highs in everything except ERA (3.76), his most innings pitched, 160.1, 208 hits, 134 hits and only, only 67 runs and all of them were earned. I don’t think he has a neon colored flaw in his performance but if I were to ask, then I would say he needs to go a little farther into games, he does pitch a lot, but for a pitcher of his caliber, he has to deeper into games. I think that he should be moved up 5 spots.

Can anyone stop Pete Alonso? Should Barry Bonds think about giving up his crown? He’s already broken the Mets rookie homerun record (26, set by Darryl Strawberry, Pete has 27). I think Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds should have something keeping them up at night. The Mets have done pretty much the impossible, they played a 4-game series against the NL Central leading Cubs and won three, I think after the Mets get Brandon Nimmo and Jed Lowrie back the Mets will have a big chance at the division.

Christian Yelich is just ripping the cover off the ball lately. I don’t even know how he has 29 homers and a .345 average, he has speed, a great glove and he deserves the All-Star start more than anyone in the NL outfield. I just don’t know how Pete Alonso didn’t get the All-Star selection, he has the second-most homers in MLB, that’s just crazy, Pete Alonso is better at every major batting stat except average and OBP, and Pete has .001 less than him in average and .023 in OBP. I think Fernando Tatis Jr. should totally make it to the All- Star Game, his hustle/speed is his strong suit, I absolutely love his passion for the game, I think any team needs this guy. I heard that the Mets are toying with the idea of putting Amed Rosario in center, so, with the empty shortstop hole, I think maybe Tatis could fit in there. Tatis has 8 homers, 9 SBs, a .318 batting average with 50 hits. Another amazing piece on his resume is that he literally tagged up and scored on a pop up to second base, SECOND BASE! Ronald Acuna Jr. really hit the ground running after the Braves put him in the leadoff spot in May, he has 17 dingers, 49 RBIs, 52 runs and a .288 batting average. Albert Pujols had some very special moments when he came back to St. Louis after getting traded 7 years ago, a standing ovation in his first at-bat, greeting with all his former teammates. He had 9 All-Star appearances, 6 Silver Sluggers, a Gold Glove, Rookie of the Year, 3 MVPs and 2 World Series. He had 445 dingers, 2073 hits, 455 doubles and led baseball twice in homers. He’s a great fielder, ranging from the outfield to first base, he only committed 107 errors in his 19 seasons, but everyone knows him for his hitting. It is really surprising that Tommy La Stella is making a case for an All-Star appearance because just 5 years ago, Tommy played 93 games and hit only 1 HR, 31 RBIs with a .251 BA, this season he played 71 games and hit 15 homers, 41 RBIs and a .295 BA. The Yankees have homered in 26 straight games, which rushes past their record, set in 1941. I think Nomar Mazara broke StatCast, he smokes the ball 505 into the last row of the upper deck, this isn’t the first time, he’s done this, and he’s done it a few times. Javier Baez, Cubs shortstop, the Cubs shortstop who can do it all, hits a go ahead homer in the bottom of the 8th inning on a 0-2 count, against, it hurts me to say this, the Mets, but I just had to include it. Mariano Rivera hit an inside the park home run on Old Timer’s Day, it was really cool, a reliever hit an inside the park homer, WOW. 

Mets Still Struggling in MLB Season 2019

65. Nelson Cruz has had a great power hitting career, in Texas, he was a consistent hitter, hitting .268 and 773 hits, his average home run total in those seasons was 20 homers in 100 games played on average, when he got traded to Baltimore, he played 159 games and hit a major league leading 40 homers, a 100% increase. I don’t know why the Rangers traded him away, he was a good piece, but then Baltimore traded him away. In Seattle, he continued his hot hitting and hit even more homers than the year before but didn’t get the home run crown. Cruz has never had a great glove nor ever ran well but his hitting keeps him from being bad. I think he’s a really good piece for the Twins because that just adds more fire power to the Twins organization who already have great power hitters. He pretty much only goes for XBHs, doubles and homers, this year about 46% of his hits are doubles or triples. I think he should be where he is now.

64. Travis Shaw is that stereotypical utility men, really inconsistent, has power, some speed, his batter’s eye is good, his contact is OK and he could play every single position on the field except center and short. This season is horrible for him, 5 homers, 11 RBIs and 15 runs. Only 26 hits with a .167batting average, his WAR is disgusting for a player on the Brewers, -0.7. Last season was a really nice season for him, 32 dingers, 86 RBIs and 73 runs. His contact sucked, .241 average and his OBP and SLG% are .281 and .290 respectively. Only 46 total bases this season, now that just hurts, I think I have more total bases in 16 games in Little League than he has 46 games. He has 59 Ks, like, that’s really high and he struck out in about 33% of his plate appearances, it’s likes he plays for his opponent every time.  I have no idea what happened this year, he just crashed and burned this year. I think all die-hard baseball fans are cheering against the Al Capone of the NL (The Brewers), so if Travis Shaw turns it up, the NL is done. I think he should go all the way up maybe to the low 70s because he just sucks this year but his past backs him up a lot.

63. Here’s a player that I think shouldn’t even be on this list, Patrick Corbin is worse than a lot of the players behind him, he’s one of the 13 starting pitchers to throw 200 IP, which would be elite company in my book. He threw about 6 innings per start but his ERA last year wasn’t amazing, 3.15 ERA, his stamina is really good because even if he gets beat up, he could still go a few more innings. While playing on one of the most mediocre teams in NL, the Diamondbacks, it’s hard to pitch in the tough NL West while having little to no run support. Now, pitching on the Nationals, who are struggling not to fall into the pit of doom, 5^th place in the NL East. Corbin strikes out a lot of players, already has 94 Ks. He only gave up 75 hits in 85.1 innings. If he brings his run and homer total down, then he will qualify for last in the elite pitcher club in baseball. I think he should go down a few spots because of his run total.

62. Jean Segura was one of the best shortstops in the AL. I really like this guy, he’s exactly like the old type of shortstop, speedy, great glove with pretty much no power, but the good thing is, Segura has the power. His contact is great, his batter’s eye is good and his power isn’t the best but for shortstops, it’s good. He makes a great addition to the Phils. He only strikes out in 11.7% of his plate appearances and he hit an extra base hit in about 37.3% of his hits. He’s not a leadoff hitter, he’s more of a 2 hitter, getting a double or a single. His batting average led all shortstops last year, 11^th this year. His SLG% is in the middle of all shortstops in MLB. He’s never won a Gold Glove because there’s always been Andrelton Simmons and Francisco Lindor in his way. He doesn’t touch the plate a whole lot, only 41 runs this year, but in his whole career he only has one season with more than 100 runs (which was his best season) and he only had 102 runs that season. I think he’s good where he is.

61. Rhys Hoskins is only second to Pete Alonso among first basemen that make huge impacts in the first months of their career. Two years ago he came into the show with a quick 18 dingers in 50 games and having a .618 SLG% and a .259 BA, not great and hitting for average. The next year he exploded helping the struggling Phillies as much he can, 34 homers and 96 RBIs in 153 games. His speed isn’t horrible for a first baseman, 8 SBs in his career, speed never hurt anyone. He doesn’t go for singles, he’s more of an XBH hitter, 44% of his hits are doubles, triples or round-trippers. He’s one of the most modern hitter ever, double, homer or punched out. He’s the four hitter and he’s the only four hitter on the team. His OBP is improving every year and he’s already leading the NL in walks. He has 125 total bases which is isn’t a whole lot but now MLB hitters are getting a lot more than that. I think that he should move up into the high 40s.

The Mets are getting gradually better but still struggling. They’re not as bad as getting swept by the Marlins but not as good as sweeping the Yanks. The Mets are also battling injuries and they’re not playing bad teams, so they’ve been clutching out. I don’t know why Pete Alonso isn’t at least 3^rd on the list of NL first basemen, c’mon, he’s tied for second in the home run total for MLB. The Mets farm system isn’t that bad, their pitching is where they focus on for some reason but Brett Baty is on the MLB Draft Prospect lineup and they got him. They need to focus on more hitting and getting a good, young outfield. Wilson Contreras is definitely going to get the All-Star selection unless someone like Brian McCan or JT Realmuto are going to hit 6 homers every game and get a double cycle every game until the All-Star break. I’m really surprised Wilson Ramos is still getting votes, heh-heh. Josh Bell is the equivalent of Iron Man who just drank two shots of tequila. He’s an absolute god, in his past 30 games, he has 9 homers and 27 RBIs. He also looks like Iron Man. Anthony Rizzo and Max Muncy aren’t doing much this year which is really pathetic because they’re 2 and 4 in the voting. I guess all baseball fans just care about last year, maybe the Ghost of Baseball Past visited them, at this point anything works. I think every team wants Ozzie Albies or some guy like him, a power hitting speed burner who was great hustle and want to get a homer. He himself is like a gallon of Death Wish Coffee (The Most caffeinated coffee ever). Mike Moustakas is new in this category and he’s already killing it, he’s a power hitter with no speed and little to no contact outside of making Bernie Brewer slide down his slide. Now, this one I’m really excited about, NL third basemen, it’s crazy, Arenado has taken a very commanding lead, Kris Bryant and he hasn’t been tearing the cover off the ball lately, he’s not being full Bryant, only 14 homers and 37 RBIs. Arenado has been a little more Arenado with 17 homers and 57 RBIs. In the shortstop category we all know who’s going to win, c’mon, it’s Javier Baez. He’s leading by almost 600,000 votes, then there’s Dansby Swanson who’s put on an offensive show for his team this year, 13 homers (It’s not a lot for Barry Bonds, but it’s a lot for Dansby Swanson). Javy has 17 homer and 46 RBIs with only two SBs, he’s supposed to bring a little more charisma to his team. Cody Bellinger has gotten more votes than Christian Yelich who’s obviously been the better player this year. Bellinger focuses on speed, raw power and nice BA hitting with 22 homers, 7 bags and a baseball leading .358 BA. Yelich focuses on those three also but he adds in nice alley hitting in addition to a crazy good glove.  Harper is not going to get the selection because he’s just not lived up to regular Harper, what the Phillies wanted him to play like or his mega contract, just 11 homers and 46 RBIs. The Braves are going to get quite a few guys in for his All-Star Game, I think four guys, McCann, Swanson, Freeman and Acuna Jr. In the AL, Sanchez is going to get the selection with an AL leading 20 dingers. For first basemen, Luke Voit of the Yankees is in a heavily contested first, the next two guys, Jose Abreu and CJ Cron are within 107K of the lead. I want Cron to get the selection because he’s just been so good lately. AL second basemen is a completely rigged race, Jose Altuve will come out on top but in the last ballot update, Tommy La Stella of the Angels, this time, I know the Ghost of Cannabis came to visit all 487K baseball fans that voted for La Stella. Alex Bregman is the obvious favorite in this year’s third baseman race, he’s just too much for any third baseman in the AL. The shortstop race is gonna come down to a photo finish, Jorge Polanco is gonna make it one way or another but the rest of these guys are shaky, like Carlos Correa and Gleyber Torres are going to have to fight it out, don’t sleep on Tim Anderson either. It’s gonna be crazy. Mike Trout is obviously the best player in the AL, so, he’s going to make it. George Springer is 2^nd on the list but all he has is a nice bat with no running speed and pretty much no great glove or arm. Austin Meadows is showing himself in the big leagues, exploding with base hits and an occasional XBH. In other news, Shohei Ohtani is the first Japanese born player to hit for the cycle. Zack Greinke almost had a no-no in his back pocket and then in the seventh inning he gives up a single to Trea Turner. While Wilson Ramos was waiting on deck in the fourth inning against the Cardinals, what an ingenious idea by his wife Yely.  Brodie Van Waganen is flirting with the idea of trading Noah Syndergaard, I mean, he’s hasn’t been at his best this year, but I’m on the fence with this idea, it depends for who they get him, but, they can’t get a few trash minor leaguers, they need a decent to MVP quality player for him.

It’s only a Shallow Ditch

Mets fans are again suffering abandonment as the Amazins are losing more than winning and have dropped out of second place in their division. But have no fear, I think it’s not a slump but rather a shallow ditch. They’ll be back. But first …

70. Gleyber Torres gave the AL a shock last season when he came mid-season and put on a clinic with 24 homers and 77 RBIs in 123 games. He’s not exactly a speed burner on the base paths, with only 6 steals. He got the All-Star appearance but not Rookie of the Year. He had 42 walks, 207 total bases with 122 SOs. He managed to get 14 homers in 54 games this year, 31 RBIs, 3 SBs and 13 walks. He made a huge improvement in his power, his speed and his base hits. He has 60 hits, so that’s more than a hit a game; he has 16 doubles last year and 12 doubles already this year. He has a .545 SLG, .329 OBP and a .287 batting average. He’s showing improvement at shortstop for the Yanks, but they have Didi Gregorius there, now that Didi’s injured, he’s playing short but usually he’s playing second base. I think he should be around 50 because of his offensive explosion in his first season.

69. Marcell Ozuna was on the Marlins for a long time and he was playing really well there, especially in his last season, 37 homers, 124 RBIs, 93 runs and a .312 batting average. Then he got traded to the Cardinals. He’s still a big piece for the up-and-coming St. Louis team. He’s a great five-tool player, a key for any team that gets him. In Miami, he was improving every year, but in St. Louis, he just went all the way down. He’s better this year, hitting homers and getting on base, his strikeouts are low, he has as many hits as strikeouts, which is really ugly and his average isn’t good. He’s only a left fielder now, no more switching around the outfield. He’s the definition of a stereotypical left fielder, big and bulky, doesn’t run but hits bombs. I think he is perfect where he is.

68. Josh Donaldson is not good anymore. He was good, a power hitter, in six years, 173 homers. He was supposed to be something like a David Wright in his prime except slower. Again, he was good, he scored 122 runs, he got 123 RBIs, he hit 41 homers he won MVP. He was always a good fielder but right now, at 33, I think he should only pinch hit or if Brian Snitker is really feeling kind, he’ll let him play left, but that’s where Acuna is so I think Josh should be a pinch hitter because Austin Riley is tearing it up in the field and at the plate. He strikes out a lot and his OBP isn’t that good, he’s just too old, all good things have to come to an end. He was the cornerstone of the Blue Jays for a long time, everyone was afraid of him but now he’s just a guy that is just there. I think he should be moved back into the high 80s, low 90s.

67. Starling Marte probably had the peak of his career last year, 20 homers, 72 RBIs, 81 runs and 33 SBs. A .277/.327/.460 slash line, that’s pretty nice. He looks not that fast of a guy, but then the Pirates play you and he steals one or two bags and absolutely rakes. His eye is good, he’s a good fielder, I think that last year was the peak because he only has 9 stolen bases this year and a .307 OBP isn’t showing the Starling Marte we know. 36.5% of his hits are extra base hits, the only reason that is like it is because he only has 52 hits and 19 extra base hits. He struck out in 18.8% of his plate appearances, if you think about it, that’s good. His WAR isn’t good this year, but that’s not like other teams where they five or six outfielders, no, the Pirates have four!! They need to have him there even if he’s not performing because it’s either him or inexperienced outfielder Bryan Reynolds, who’s not playing well. I think he should go up to the mid-50s.

66. Mitch Haniger is one of those raw power guys that really help the struggling Mariners to get some quick runs. He’s not a fielder, he’s sort of a runner and he loves hitting. Last season he had 13 homers, he’s on pace for more homers this season than last. 38 doubles last year, 93 RBIs, 68 XBHs and 294 XBHs, he’s a hitter. He has a good eye, walking 70 times last year and 27 walks this year. After getting off to an amazing start in the beginning of the year, the Mariners have sank all the way down to the bottom of the AL West, from beginning 13-2, they’re now at 25-35, in 10 of the 12 wins that they’ve had since the 13-2 start, Mitch Haniger has gotten a run or an RBI, that’s a nice fact Haniger can brag and a fact you can use in your small talk with friends. I think he’s should go up to the high 50s.

The Mets have a hit a what I believe is a shallow ditch, losing a lot of games, but then coming back and winning a few. Let me say that Edwin Diaz needs to be more consistent, he’s lights out and then he gives up five runs. A closer shouldn’t have a 1-3 record, that’s just un-aesthetic. Pete Alonso tied the rookie home run total for June with 19, sharing the post with Mark McGwire. He’s on pace for 57 homers, which would be more than Aaron Judge, which would break the rookie homer record. I love Brodie Van Waganen because he’s not afraid to make moves and be aggressive in getting players and DFAing players and everything in between.

It’s crazy that a team hasn’t signed Craig Kimbrel or Dallas Keuchel. The Mets could use Dallas and there are so many teams that could sign Kimbrel because they need bullpen depth and a solid closer. Vlad Guerro Jr. is tearing it up in the bigs, (not as much as Alonso, but for someone who’s 20, that’s good) he has six homers, 27 hits and 11 XBHs. Carl Yastrzemski’s grandson, Mike, really defended this grandfather’s name yesterday, a triple and then a homer. Trevor Story had a huge night 5/31. Three hits, two homers, four runs and seven RBIs, so that means that he contributed 85% of the team’s runs yesterday, big game for him. One of the strangest things happened yesterday in college baseball (yes, I watch the students play ball when there are no MLB games on TV): Adley Rutschman got intentionally walked with the bases loaded as the Oregon State University Beavers were losing 5-2. It walked in a run to make it 5-3. If you don’t know, Adley is the best pure hitter in the MLB Draft. Barry Bonds was also walked May 28, 1998, and about 21 years later Rutchsman was walked with the bases loaded. The MLB draft is happening June 3, so you guys gotta watch the new pack of young, great players get drafted. The All Star Game is also creeping up on us, July 9, and you can already vote for All-Stars on mlb.com.

Are Human Umps Headed to Their 3^rd Strike?

“BALL OOONNNNNEEE,” that’s the sound of a baseball umpire calling a ball on a pitch that was on the outside corner.

The hitter thanked God, the pitcher is steaming red and the catcher is cursing his head off. This could also happen vice versa.

How can baseball reduce bad calls? Is it necessary or do boisterous arguments among umpires, ballplayers and managers add to the “charm” of the game? Does the answer lie in better training for “blues” or in nonhuman devices like robotic umpires?

The most visually challenged ump in the history of baseball is probably Angel Hernandez. He’s missed call after call after call and he’s just one of the umps that glasses won’t help.

I personally had this experience when I was catching a few weeks ago in Little League and our pitcher threw a 0-2 curve. The hitter was completely fooled and I knew it was coming. The ball bounced 2 inches to the right of home (catcher’s view) and I immediately knew it was drop 3rd strike and I quickly got up and picked up the ball and tagged the batter, TWICE!!

The ump didn’t say anything. I was confused so I looked behind me and he said, “No tag.”

So, our furious coach came out and started arguing with the ump, and I also joined the fray. No one realized the play was over until our third baseman yelled that he’s rounding second. Everyone saw that I tagged him, even the other team admitted that I tagged him.

Another instance in Little League (not the majors, Little League). I was on first and our hitter hit the ball to right field and the kid tried to make it look like he was Willie Mays and slid for the ball. Well, it worked for about a half a second. He caught the ball, and then he dropped it. The ump made no call and I was running to second thinking he didn’t catch it. Turns out, he caught it but the ump pretty much whispered “Out.” Then, I was caught in a rundown and was tagged out. Our team’s runner on third was also tagged out, a triple play.

Another piece of evidence for your consideration is that Boston University analyzed 4 million pitches and found out that MLB umpires made incorrect calls 20% of the time in 2018. Keep in mind that one-fifth could be the difference between getting into the playoffs or not.

When the batters had two strikes in the count, the percentage increased to 29%. (Credit: mlbmemes/ig).

I think that robotic umps will never make a bad call again; ejections will go down maybe 80% and the right teams will make it to the postseason. If the leagues and owners don’t want to do all of those things listed above, then using precise technology like Hawk Eye vision or camera’s at eye level to the catcher’s mit, may help reduce bad calls.

I must say, though, it is kind of fun watching Bryce Harper and other players screaming at umps and then getting ejected which add to the charisma of baseball, but, I am all for robotic umps. 

After Month-and-a-half, Mets Need Turnaround

But first to me player analysis …

75. Flame throwing Josh Hader is up next. Throw him in there in the eighth and he will get a six-out save. His arsenal of pitches is lethal to the hitters because he could twirl a curve that would look outside and then turn in, then throw a cutting slider for a strike, and then throw his unique fastball to finish off the batter. He hasn’t pitched like the Josh Hader in his prime with 2 losses with a 2.95 ERA with 6 walks in 18.1 innings and 4 hit by pitches. He has more than a strikeout per inning and gives up less than a hit an inning. He gave up 6 runs this year in addition to his control makes him a godsend for the Brewers with an okay bullpen. He strikes out about 60% of his batters faced and retires 79% of them. I don’t see any room for improvement for him and the Brewers should just let him grow. I think he should be in the mid to high 60s.

74. Chris Taylor. From being a bench warmer (no, that’s not the correct word, more like, bench burner) in Seattle to being a cornerstone of the Dodgers franchise (the Dodgers are like a Rectangular Prism, with 8 corners.) He posted a 17-homer season last year with 63 RBI and 85 runs. He’s definitely improving every single year. He needs to work on just making contact with the ball for hits. His .254 batting average is definitely not what I expected of him. He is a flexible guy that could play center, second, short, but he made most of his appearances as second and left this year with Corey Seager back from injury. He also needs to work on his batting eye, with 55 walks last year, ranking him tied for 68^th in the season. He’s always been fast, with 37 steals in his career, I think that he could exceed 17 steals (his season/career high) this year. I think that he should be in the low 50s.

73. Mike Clevinger is next but he’s not going to have a great year because he’s on the 60-day DL. He’s just not such a great pitcher. Last year he went 200 innings, amazing, only 13 pitchers did that, all of them not what you think of when someone says “elite pitchers.” His run totals are pretty high, 71 in all. He gave up 21 homers last year, which is a lot you might think, but last year, that’s actually tied for 54^th, crazy right? He gave up 164 hits last year with 67 walks. The Indians rotation is good and Mike is really a dark horse. He cruises through innings easily, averaging more than a strikeout per inning. His ERA is above 3, he retires around 80% of his batters faced, when you crunch numbers, you find stuff. I think he should be right where he is.

72. Now it’s Walker Beuhler turn. He’s 4-0 with a pretty high ERA, but let’s really get into his stats. He’s given up 21 runs in about 36 innings. He struck out 32 guys, not a big power pitcher. He strikes out only 22% of his batters faced. He likes to go around and get pop ups and grounders more. About 72% of the guys he faces, he retires. He’s given up only 4 homers and allowed 31 hits. Beuhler really proved himself in the playoffs last year where he emerged as a really good pitcher. In 23.2 innings, he struck out 29, he only gave up 16 hits and gave up only 10 runs, working mostly out of the bullpen. In the World Series, he started one game and pitched 7 solid innings giving up only two hits and striking out 7. He got the no decision and the Dodgers won their only game of the World Series. I think he should be in the 40s.

71. Up next is Brandon Nimmo. I think he’s a five-tool player, he just needs to expand on that and grow. His breakout year was last year, with 17 homers, his RBIs weren’t that great with 47 and 77 runs. He hit 8 triples and stole 9 bases. He walked 80 times with a .404 OBP and got beaned 22 times in 140 games. He hit 53 extra base hits and about 46% of his hits were extra base hits. He led off for the Mets 65 times last year, you could call him the leadoff hitter for the Amazins. He’s off to not-the-best start but I think he has potential this year. His fielding is amazing, he has four errors in his whole career. He makes great catches almost every night. I think he should be in the high 40s, low 50s.

The Mets need to pick it up, lost 5 of their 6, which is not that good. Jed Lowrie will stay in Syracuse for the weekend and then come back Monday. We’re playing the Marlins, a pretty easy opponent, so maybe here the Mets can start a winning rally. Albert Pujols made history and in some amount of style. He bombed a solo shot for his 2,000^th RBI, now, I want to do that. Jackie Bradely Jr. made a beautiful catch literally robbing Trey Mancini of a homer, not the first one he’s caught like that. Francisco Lindor is not off to a Francisco-Lindor-type of start to the season, only four homers, 7 RBIs and 9 runs. He’s stole 2 bags and only 4 extra base hits, rough start for him. Shohei Ohtani is back and he got his first hit and RBI of 2019 against the Tigers. Christian Yelich drank some sort of power drink when he went from Miami to Milwaukee (or maybe it was some good beer). He is raking it in Milwaukee, with winning MVP last season and hitting 16 homers this year with 37 RBIs. The Red Sox are coming out of the dumpster to being third place in the AL East at .500. Something really crazy happened, The St. Louis Cardinals scored 17 against the Pirates, usually, a team who scored 17 runs would’ve hit a home run, but no, they didn’t. Marcell Ozuna, who went 1-4, got 4 RBIs and 2 runs, somehow. Now, one of the most exciting times for baseball fans in the baseball season, the MLB Draft, June 3 to June 5, it’s gonna be lit. The Yankees somehow have the 4^th best record in the AL, some players are coming back, no more Wal-Mart baggers, but no one really good, but JA Happ allowed only 1 hit in 5 innings, what a pickup for the Yankees.

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.