2014 MLB Weekly Recap #1

Billy Hamilton

 

What we all feared might happen has become even more devastating than even predicted. Prior to the beginning of the year, all scouts and analysts touted Hamilton’s speed as one of the fastest the game will ever have seen. But he forgot that you need to get on base to utilize that speed to the fullest. It was pretty common knowledge that he wasn’t the greatest hitter in the league, but 1/17 (.059) is worse than we expected. Not to mention that he was caught stealing on his only stolen base attempt of the season. He’s lucky that Chris Heisey and Roger Bernadina didn’t excite during the Mets series where he missed three games from a jammed finger. It’s still early though and the only team he has faced is the Cardinals who not only have a great rotation, but arguably the best defensive catcher in the league in Yadier Molina. He’ll definitely be getting his chances, but if I was Bryan Price, I wouldn’t just leave him out there if he’s struggling. When the Reds brought him up from Triple-A at the end of last year, he only really saw significant action when he was pinch-running. Maybe that’s all he’ll wind up being in the MLB? If the Reds can find a reliable outfielder behind Hamilton that can hit the ball, I wouldn’t hesitate moving him into that role. Maybe give him a start every once in a while and see if he can possibly get on a role. Fantasy-wise, I wouldn’t really hesitate to drop him at this point, especially with outfielders like Emilio Bonifacio and Angel Pagan who have started off the season on fire.

 

C.C. Sabathia

 

I guess Sabathia ended up not working on his slider in the offseason like I mentioned. He just isn’t the same pitcher he was. He currently stands at a 7.50 ERA and he’s lucky to have that 1 in the win column. And it’s not like Sabathia has had really had any tough matchups. His two starts have been against the Astros and Blue Jays; both last place teams in 2013. So what is the problem? Is fatigue setting in? Not at all. He’s gone a solid six innings each start hovering right around 100 pitches. And the damage being done isn’t even late in the start, it’s right in the beginning. It’s almost like he’s struggling to get settled in out on the mound. Batters are hitting a whopping .455 against Sabathia on pitches 1-15. Is he struggling to hit the strikezone? Not really, Sabathia has only allowed one walk on the season compared to 12 punchouts. He’s definitely pitching to contact and has remained quite stable in his pitch locations. But even though he’s not all over the batter’s box, it doesn’t mean his finesse is perfect. He’s definitely leaving some mistakes out there, but rather than miss wildly, he’s missing right over the middle of the plate. Any hitter these days can pound a 90 MPH fastball when it’s delivered right down the middle. His velocity is way down. His stuff isn’t fooling anyone. When you look at guys like Greg Maddux, who were able to be successful in the MLB for a long time even though they didn’t throw it in the upper 90’s, you wonder how they endured. Even though they didn’t throw it hard, they knew where to place the ball so that the hitter couldn’t get a good piece of it. They mixed there pitches up so no one in the ballpark except the catcher and manager knew what was coming next. For Sabathia to continue being a good starter in this league, he’s going to need to realize that he can’t overpower the hitters anymore. He needs that control to deceive the hitters or at least not let them get good wood on the ball every outing.

 

HOT

1. Carlos Gonzalez .333/2 HR’s/8 RBI’s
2. Giancarlo Stanton .333/2 HR’s/10 RBI’s
3. Mark Trumbo .286/4 HR’s/7 RBI’s
4. Josh Hamilton .524/2 HR’s/6 RBI’s
5. Brandon Belt .269/3 HR’s/6 RBI’s
6. Jose Fernandez 6.2 IP/0.00/8 K’s/1 W
7. Felix Hernandez 8.1 IP/1.08/8 K’s/1 W
8. Chris Sale 8.0 IP/0.00/6 K’s/ 1 W
9. Craig Kimbrel 0.00/3 SV
10. John Lackey 13.0 IP/1.38/11 K’s/ 2 W

 

NOT

1. Robbie Grossman .077/0 HR’s/1 RBI
2. Billy Hamilton .077/0 R’s/0 HR’s/0 RBI’s
3. Chase Headley .158/0 HR’s/0 RBI’s
4. Colby Rasmus .100/0 HR’s/0 RBI’s
5. Zack Cozart .053/0 HR’s/1 RBI
6. Miguel Gonzalez 3.1 IP/18.90/1 K/0 W
7. Ricky Nolasco 4.0 IP/11.25/1 K/0 W
8. Clay Buchholz 4.1 IP/12.46/3 K’s/0 W
9. Erik Johnson 4.2 IP/13.50/2 K’s/0 W
10. Paul Maholm 4.1 IP/10.38/1 K/0 W

 

MLB Preseason: AL West

Hey guys, welcome back for another week! Sorry to sort of throw off the consistency here by posting on Sunday, but as I mentioned last week, I am going on a school trip this week where I will most likely not have an Internet connection. Most recently, the Orioles agreed to a one year deal with Nelson Cruz, which is a huge pickup. Combine that with Ubaldo Jimenez and the Orioles are now right there with the Yankees and could overtake them for that third spot in the AL East. This week, we’re going to round out the American League by discussing the AL West.

 

Houston Astros 2013 Record: (51-111; 5th)

Acquisitions: Matt Albers, Scott Feldman, Dexter Fowler, Jesse Crain, Chad Qualls, Jerome Williams, Jesus Guzman

Losses: Brandon Barnes, Jordan Lyles

Projected 2014 Lineup

C Jason Castro

1B Jesus Guzman

2B Jose Altuve

SS Jonathan Villar

3B Matt Dominguez

OF Robbie Grossman

OF Dexter Fowler

OF L.J. Hoes

DH Chris Carter

Projected 2014 Starting Rotation

SP Scott Feldman

SP Brett Oberholtzer

SP Jerome Williams

SP Jarred Cosart

SP Brad Peacock

What is there to say really? Everyone knows about the Astros and their long, drawn out plan to bring all their prospects into the majors and have the lowest payroll in the MLB. I’ve seen a projected lineup and rotation for Houston in a few years and the only players still on the team were Altuve, Castro, and Cosart. They actually made a couple decent signings this offseason grabbing Dexter Fowler in a trade with the Rockies and signing reliever Jesse Crain. Although I definitely laughed a little to myself when I saw that Scott Feldman will now be making $10 million per year. There’s nothing to see here.

 

Los Angeles Angels 2013 Record: (78-84; 3rd)

Acquisitions: David Freese, Raul Ibanez, Fernando Salas, Brandon Lyon, Hector Santiago, Tyler Skaggs, Joe Smith

Losses: Jerome Williams, Peter Bourjos, Jason Vargas, Mark Trumbo, Tommy Hanson, Ryan Madson (unsigned)

Projected 2014 Lineup

C Chris Iannetta

1B Albert Pujols

2B Howie Kendrick

SS Erick Aybar

3B David Freese

OF Kole Calhoun

OF Mike Trout

OF Josh Hamilton

DH J.B. Shuck

Projected 2014 Starting Rotation

SP Jered Weaver

SP C.J. Wilson

SP Garrett Richards

SP Tyler Skaggs

SP Hector Santiago

The Angels really didn’t learn their lesson with Albert Pujols. After signing him to a 10-year contract, Pujols struggled with the game and his health. But the Angels decided to go out and sign Josh Hamilton to an equally binding contract. Everyone thought this was going to be the catalyst for the Angels to retake the AL West. But Hamilton responded with a pretty dismal season for his standards, along with more injury struggles from Pujols. Based on that, I would NEVER sign a player to that big of a contract even if Babe Ruth was in the free agent pool. With the Cardinals, Pujols was arguably the best player in baseball and since then, he has dropped considerably! That many years can be so unpredictable for a player in the MLB especially one who is just around the 30-year-old mark. When that contract is over, they will be almost 40! Anything can happen in that time span whether it is significant injury or simply declining numbers. And you’re stuck with them short of a trade. Then you’d most likely need to continue paying him despite him playing on another team. But even with that, the angels still have a pretty solid lineup and I can definitely see Hamilton having a comeback year. They still have two aces in Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson along with some younger arms who have a lot of potential. Tyler Skaggs is the most intriguing for me. He had some major league experience with the Diamondbacks, and although the American League can be a little more difficult for pitchers, I’ll think he’ll end up being a solid No. 3 starter. The hype isn’t as enormous for Los Angeles this year, but I think they jump up a spot in the standings and could compete for a Wild Card spot if they get on a roll late in the season.

 

Oakland Athletics 2013 Record: (96-66; 1st)

Acquisitions: Craig Gentry, Luke Gregerson, Jim Johnson, Scott Kazmir, Eric O’Flaherty, Drew Pomeranz, Nick Punto

Losses: Chris Young, Jemile Weeks, Kurt Suzuki, Seth Smith, Brett Anderson, Grant Balfour, Jerry Blevins, Bartolo Colon

Projected 2014 Lineup

C John Jaso

1B Brandon Moss

2B Eric Sogard

SS Jed Lowrie

3B Josh Donaldson

OF Yoenis Cespedes

OF Coco Crisp

OF Craig Gentry

DH Josh Reddick

Projected 2014 Starting Rotation

SP Jarrod Parker

SP Sonny Gray

SP Scott Kazmir

SP Dan Straily

SP A.J. Griffin

This team continues to surprise year after year with players that don’t exactly impress on paper. They don’t have a lot of household names especially in comparison with fellow West teams, Texas and Los Angeles, but they hang in there and have been able to fight their way into the playoffs each of the last two seasons. However, I feel like it has to stop some time, and this year is just that time. They lost a decent amount of their key players in the offseason and I don’t know if that will fly when other teams in the division made significant pushes. They’re swimming in experienced youth. By that, I mean guys who are still young, but have been in those big moments late in games or in the playoffs. But I don’t think that’s enough to take over for example, Texas, who went out and got superstars. The A’s lost All-Star closer Grant Balfour. Granted, they got Jim Johnson who has been in the tops of saves the last couple years. However, I don’t trust Johnson too much. He got a lot of saves simply because of the number of times the Orioles were in close games rather than always having quality outings. He had a lot of blown saves and on a team that doesn’t score a ton of runs, I don’t know if Johnson can rack up as many saves as in the past. Additionally, I am a little confused with their signing of Scott Kazmir to a decently sized contract. He didn’t really have a dazzling season in his first year back in the MLB. It could’ve just been rust, but coming back like that certainly isn’t easy even after you’ve gotten settled back into the game. I don’t see this team getting 96 wins again and I feel like this may be an off season for them. The Rangers were nipping at their heels and definitely have the talent to overtake them along with an Angels team that could resurge in the division. I see Oakland hovering a little over .500 and finishing third this year.

 

Seattle Mariners 2013 record: (71-91; 4th)

Acquisitions: Robinson Cano, Logan Morrison, Willie Bloomquist, John Buck, Corey Hart, Fernando Rodney

Losses: Joe Saunders (unsigned), Jason Bay (unsigned), Raul Ibanez, Kendrys Morales (unsigned), Carlos Peguero, Oliver Perez (unsigned)

Projected 2014 Lineup

C Mike Zunino

1B Justin Smoak

2B Robinson Cano

SS Brad Miller

3B Kyle Seager

OF Dustin Ackley

OF Michael Saunders

OF Logan Morrison

DH Corey Hart

Projected 2014 Starting Rotation

SP Felix Hernandez

SP Hisashi Iwakuma

SP Erasmo Ramirez

SP Taijuan Walker

SP James Paxton

The Mariners made arguably the biggest splash in the MLB offseason signing Robinson Cano to a 10-year deal. Like I mentioned earlier, I wouldn’t support giving anyone this type of contract. Cano is the best hitting second baseman in the league and having him can be extremely valuable since that position isn’t really known for its power and offense, but it’s definitely not worth giving a guy over $200 million. Going along with that, I feel like they definitely missed out by not signing Nelson Cruz. Signing one big name guy isn’t going to lead your team to the playoffs. It’s a team game and the Mariners definitely don’t have enough around Cano offensively for him to be as big of a contributor. If they would’ve signed Cruz, they would’ve had another big scary bat in the lineup that could drive in runs. Right now, you can’t really even pick out a guy who is going to compliment Cano. They all seem pretty average to me. Cano will give them a few more wins and bring more fans to the stadium, but he isn’t enough to lead them to a division title. They still have King Felix and Hisashi Iwakuma really exploded onto the scene, but beyond that, their pitching situation is really up in the air. It seems like every other pitcher is a guy you have to look up because you’ve never heard of him before. The Fernando Rodney signing is definitely a plus because they finally have a solid closer to end games. Ultimately, the Mariners made some good offseason moves, but it just wasn’t enough. The hole was already too deep for them to be relevant. They’ll most likely finish fourth again. On the bright side, they aren’t the Astros!

 

Texas Rangers 2013 record: (91-72; 2nd)

Acquisitions: Shin-Soo Choo, Tommy Hanson, J.P. Arencibia, Prince Fielder, Daniel Bard

Losses: A.J. Pierzynski, Joe Nathan, David Murphy, Jeff Baker, Lance Berkman (retired), Nelson Cruz, Matt Garza, Craig Gentry, Ian Kinsler

Projected 2014 Lineup

C Geovany Soto

1B Prince Fielder

2B Jurickson Profar

SS Elvis Andrus

3B Adrian Beltre

OF Shin-Soo Choo

OF Leonys Martin

OF Alex Rios

DH Mitch Moreland

Projected 2014 Starting Rotation

SP Yu Darvish

SP Martin Perez

SP Matt Harrison

SP Alexi Ogando

SP Nick Tepesch

The real big winners of this offseason, the Rangers, are the frontrunners right now in the AL West. The acquisitions speak for themselves. They lost a lot too, but they were in positions that weren’t as big of a factor for them. They lost Kinsler, but now Jurickson Profar finally has a home in the infield. They lost David Murphy, but he was going to be the odd man out anyways. They lost Nelson Cruz, but similarly, they still have a strong outfield core with the addition of Shin-Soo Choo. They lost Lance Berkman, but added Prince Fielder and were able to move Mitch Moreland into the DH slot. Their lineup is one of the best in the game. Their rotation can get a little fishy however. Darvish has been great for them, but the others behind him have struggled to either stay healthy or stay consistent. If Matt Harrison and possibly Derek Holland can come back and be themselves, it’ll make the Rangers that much more dangerous. That’s a big “if” though. Injuries are always tough to come back from, especially significant ones obviously. I think their younger arms will be able to compensate though especially with such an explosive lineup to back them up. I also think it was a good decision to move Neftali Feliz back to the bullpen as I think it better suits his style (throw it as hard as I can). And who knows, maybe even Joakim Soria will make a return from the dead and increase the bullpen depth. This team is looking great for the 2014 season and can battle the Tigers for that AL spot in the World Series.

 

-Robert