By: Joe Cardoso
Less than 25 games into this new MLB season and we are not short on things to talk about and keep an eye on moving forward. From tornado bats to the young players who are off to a hot start before tape on them gets around to pitching staffs. When dealing with a 162-game season you don’t want to ever get too high, or too low but its hard for fans who love their teams. One thing clear is the National League has a lot of good teams that will have a say in the postseason, The Weekly Word On Baseball column starts now what has my attention two weeks in?
Hot Starts And Missing The Curve:
Their City Connect jerseys might look God awful but the San Francisco Giants are playing good baseball. Jung Hoo Lee is fun to watch as he sprays the ball all over the field. The rotation is holding steady, and Wilmer Flores is off to a good season as well. If Logan Webb and Robbie Ray can be the lead horses things could look good for a while. Right now the team is 4th in quality starts.
Now they are missing some pretty big pieces to the team but the Atlanta Braves are in the basement of the National League East. A record of 0-7 on the road doesn’t help but they don’t want to fall too far behind with the Phillies, Mets, and pesky Nationals hanging around. I give them all the grace with five players on some sort of DL list but again stringing some wins together would be good for the morale of players and fans alike.
The San Diego Padres are off to a good start the rotation is showing up and we already know they have bats for days. If they keep this up they just might get a shot at revenge versus the Dodgers.
Names to remember because of their starts Spencer Torkelson, Corbin Carroll, and Logan O’Hoppe.
Bag Secured:
The Toronto Blue Jays locked up slugger Valadmir Guerrero Jr. with a mega deal that will keep him in the six for a while. No deferred money and he is only 26 years old. Before you scream they overpaid for him he has one of the highest slugging percentages in the game, and he doesn’t strike out a lot like most power hitters. Fun fact he has never been placed on the injury list, look it up. He will be the face of the franchise and when it’s all said and done all over the team record books. Can he get them to the top of the AL East? That remains to be seen and help would do wonders in that goal.
Once again baseball shows that they are never afraid to back up the Brinks truck and pay for stars to stay with the home team or jump ship elsewhere. You didn’t think only the Dodgers could make the math work now, did you?
Now who’s next to get the bag? Could it be his teammate Bo Bichette, Pete Alonso, and Dylan Cease?
Looking Ahead:
As I said can’t stress enough to not jump out the window over anything that’s happening 12 games into the baseball season. But do look at treads from teams that could help or hurt them moving forward. Questions for the week can the Red Sox improve on defense? Remember they led MLB in them last season. When will we see the version of Baltimore Orioles we expected? Enjoy the week’s games and let’s meet up again soon.