All this talk from the MLB Players Association about how it's a "bad day for baseball" because the Chicago Cubs made a business decision to send down the super prospect Kris Bryant is just absurd and for many different reasons. First being that the MLBPA has no right to dictate how any Major League Team makes decisions. Sure Bryant has lead the spring in HR's and is hitting over .400 but lets look at that again, spring training. This is a time when some he saw some pitchers that won't be in the big leagues this year, some pitchers that were working on a specific part of their game and not overly concerned with the outcome of the game. So basically what I am saying is that spring training stats don't always equal regular season success, so there is no guarantee that he continues on his pace of a HR every 4.4 AB.
Next is something that I am surprised that nobody has brought up yet and that has to do with another Cub who was sent down on Monday, Addison Russell. There is no doubt that we will be seeing Russell manning shortstop for the Cubs sometime in the near future and showed he can play there defensively already. So what does that mean for Starlin Castro? The once golden child of the Cubs who is still only 25 and is signed through 2019 with a club option for 2020. Could it mean a position move for him? If so, could he slide over to 3rd base and move Bryant to LF? If the Cubs see that as a possible move in the future wouldn't you want to get Bryant some time in the minors in the OF?
So in the end, even though most people are unhappy about not seeing Bryant on opening day, it comes down to Theo Epstein and his group of supporters and how they see the best interests of the Cubs for today as well as in the future.
The Dark Knight Rises
On October 22nd, 2013, Matt Harvey underwent a surgery that is all to common for pitchers, Tommy John. Recovery for this procedure is typically around 12 months with most requiring more time to feel 100%. If Harvey had his way, he would have been back pitching for the Mets in 2014 in almost meaningless games. However Sandy Alderson and the rest of the front office staff stuck to their guns and were truly looking out for both the Mets and Harvey's future's. They held him back, knowing that he could be of more use in 2015 at 100% than in 2014 where he could have been not ready and possibly aggravate the injury further. Now after a 5 starts in spring training Harvey looks like he hasn't missed a beat. 17K's in 18 innings, a 1.45 ERA, .80 WHIP and the one stat that really jumps out at me is only 1 walk. Many people believe the last thing to come around for a pitcher after Tommy John is the control of their pitches and having only 1 walk in 18 innings shows me that he is comfortable on the mound and is not trying to adjust his mechanics to avoid a painfully delivery.
The Mets should be applauded and copied in how they handled this situation. Unlike a division rival who brought one of their young guns back to the big leagues before a full year off and then had to shut him down during a pennant race and playoffs a couple years back. Yes I'm talking about you Washington Nationals. In these days of wanting to protect young assets, especially young arms, the Mets took a line that many organizations simply have a tough time doing. Having patience, not giving in to player demands and setting themselves up to be better team down the road. Though the Mets will likely miss the playoffs in 2015, their future is filled with bright lights thanks in part to the Dark Knight of Gotham's healthy return.
The Mets should be applauded and copied in how they handled this situation. Unlike a division rival who brought one of their young guns back to the big leagues before a full year off and then had to shut him down during a pennant race and playoffs a couple years back. Yes I'm talking about you Washington Nationals. In these days of wanting to protect young assets, especially young arms, the Mets took a line that many organizations simply have a tough time doing. Having patience, not giving in to player demands and setting themselves up to be better team down the road. Though the Mets will likely miss the playoffs in 2015, their future is filled with bright lights thanks in part to the Dark Knight of Gotham's healthy return.
2015 Projected Standings
American League National League
East Division East Division
Central Division Central Division
West Division West Division
East Division East Division
- Boston Red Sox 1. Washington Nationals
- Baltimore Orioles* 2. Miami Marlins*
- Toronto Blue Jays* 3. New York Mets
- Tampa Bay Rays 4. Atlanta Braves
- New York Yankees 5. Philadelphia Phillies
- American League- The AL East will pull off the rare 3 teams in the playoffs, thanks to the top 3 beating up the aging over priced Yankees and the somewhat defunct Rays.
- National League- This year will see the emergence of the young and talented Marlins. Loaded with young arms and one of the best all around outfields, this team will enjoy the success many expected them to have 4 years ago when they moved into Marlins Park
Central Division Central Division
- Chicago White Sox 1. Pittsburgh Pirates
- Detroit Tigers 2. Chicago Cubs
- Cleveland Indians 3. St. Louis Cardinals
- Kansas City Royals 4. Cincinnati Reds
- Minnesota Twins 5. Milwaukee Brewers
- American League- The Tigers will see just how much they lost letting Max Scherzer go, just enough to have them on the outside looking in.
- National League- The Pirates have been trending up the last few years and this is the year where they will really break through. Gerritt Cole will step up and be the leader of the staff and perennial MVP candidate Andrew McCutchen will be Mc"Clutch" all year long.
West Division West Division
- Seattle Mariners 1. Los Angeles Dodgers
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2. Colorado Rockies*
- Oakland Athletics 3. San Diego Padres
- Houston Astros 4. San Francisco Giants
- Texas Rangers 5. Arizona Diamondbacks
- American League- King Felix will continue his reign in the AL west as well as get additional help from the rest of the Mariners steadily improving staff. Robbie Cano will show that not every 10 year deal is all that bad and continue to find gap after gap in the Pacific Northwest.
- National League- 2015 is an odd year so that means World Series hangover for the defending champion Giants unless MadBum can throw every game. And the Rockies look to hit just enough to get them over the hump and barely squeak into the playoffs thanks to full seasons from Tulo and Cargo.
Battery Mates- Buehrle and Navarro
With all the talk these days about sabermetrics and being able to contribute some sort of data to every detail in a ball game, there will be one thing we will never be able to measure, the reationship between a pitcher and his catcher. No one is showing the value of a good relationship right now like Mark Buehrle and Dioneer Navarro of the Toronto Blue Jays. Buehrle collected his 8th win of the season last night with a impressive 7-2 win over the Red Sox. Last season he didn't get his 8th win until the 10th of August when his primary catcher was J.P Arencibia.
Big things were expected out of the Blue Jays for the 2013 season, especially from the newly revamped pitching staff. However with Arencibia behind the plate the pitching staff struggled as did Arencibia. He lead the leauge with 13 passed balls and add the 54 wild pitches to that and the Jays were the 4th worst in the majors at catching the ball. Now giving up a base due to a passed ball isn't the end of the world, but what it does do is get into the mind of the pitcher and doesn't give him confidence in what he is throwing will be stopped by the catcher instead of the backstop. This leads to hanging breaking balls, pitches up in the zone and lots of runs scored against.
This year seems to be different for the Jays starting pitchers and it's due to one reason only Navarro is a better defensive (and offensive) cathcer than Arencibia will ever be. He is in no way perfect but what Navarro gives to his staff is unfortunately a stat that can't be measured in anything but wins and so far this season the Jays have more wins than at this time last year.
Casey Jansen - Quality Control
Blue Jay fans should be able to breathe a little easier these days with the return of closer Casey Jansen. Last night Jansen locked down the Jays 6-4 win over the Boston Red Sox with a very boring ninth inning, something Jays fans haven't seen as of late. Jansen didn't have good stuff last night as his breaking ball wasn't sharp and his cutter was flying out of the zone. However what he did have was a very controled and well placed fastball, just ask Johnny Gomes, who struck out looking on a fastball that was right at the knees.
With a pen that has been absolutely terrible at times this year, Jansen could be the key to keeping it together. There is no doubt that this team will score a ton of runs this year, it's gonna be how they keep the other guys from scoring that will dictate whether or not this team can end a 20 year playoff drought.
V-Mart shows everyone comes back from injury at their own pace
In January 2012 Victor Martinez tore his acl in his left knee, a devastating injury that according to Victor Khabie, chief of sports medicine at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y., the timetable from surgery to a return to baseball is usually around nine months. People in the Tiger's organization were optimistic that they could have V-Mart back for a possible playoff push that September, but V-Mart had a different timetable. He was not able to return until the Spring of '13, over a full year after surgically repairing his knee and for the first half of the season he was a shell of his past. By the end of June his batting avg. was hovering around .230, well below the +.300 career avg. we were used to seeing from him. But then all of the sudden he started to figure things out, more so he started to feel comfortable again. 17 months it took him to get back to his elite level, well past the 9 months Khabie said it would take and even past the year prediction then teammate Carlos Gullien, who went through the same injury twice, had said. What this tells me is that every player is different, every indivdual has their own unique challanges and their own timetable. So when you hear someone say "he'll be out for 9 months" you have to wonder if they can make it back in that time and if they do will they be close to or even 100%. As for V-Mart there is no doubt he is 100% healthly as his now 12 homeruns and his sterling .333 avg. have shown. It just took a little longer than the Tigers had hoped, but at least he's got it going now.
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