Keep in mind that this article was written on July 1, not August 5th.
Baseball’s back this month, and I couldn’t be more excited!
If you haven’t been watching or keeping up with baseball, now is the perfect time. MLB needs all the popularity it can get right now. For example, @mlb has 6.4 million followers on Instagram. Now, if you compare that number to say @nba, they have 49 million followers. If that doesn’t prove anything to you, I don’t know what does. If you are someone who is interested in following baseball this year, here are a few teams that I think you should keep our eye on throughout this season.
Tampa Bay Rays: First, their lineup is pretty good. In the offseason, they acquired a solid power hitter in Hunter Renfroe from the Padres. He nearly had 40 home runs last year. They also signed Yoshitomo Tsutsugo out of Japan and he had a solid year himself. He had a stat line of .272/29/79 for the Yokohama Bay Stars last year. However, their pitching staff is top-tier in my eyes. Let’s start at the top with Charlie Morton. He was 16-6 with an ERA (earned run average) of 3.05. That’s a solid ace at the top, but it gets better as you go down, ironically. Although Blake Snell had an iffy year riddled with injuries last year, I think he can step up and have the ability to get close to his masterful 2018 season in which he won the Cy Young award (it’s basically pitcher of the year). Additionally, if Tyler Glasnow can stay healthy this year, I think he will have a great season. At the bottom, they have a couple guys in Ryan Yarbrough and Yonny Chirinos who can eat up innings and give the other pitchers some rest.
Toronto Blue Jays: Principally, they have a scary young core coming up to the Majors including Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Vladimir Guerrero’s son), Cavan Biggio (Craig Biggio’s son), Bo Bichette (Dante Bichette’s son), Nate Pearson, and the recently drafted Austin Martin out of Vanderbilt. Moreover, they have some serviceable role players in Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (Yuli Gurriel’s brother) and the recently signed Travis Shaw. The biggest downside that they had to deal with last year was pitching, and their front office definitely addressed that problem. They signed some decent pitchers in Tanner Roark and Chase Anderson, but the biggest splash was when they signed Hyun-Jin Ryu. He led the league in ERA last year and beat out some of the best pitchers in the game while doing it.
Chicago White Sox: This team had a dream offseason, addressing both pitching and hitting. First off, let’s talk about hitting. In my opinion, they signed a top 5 catcher in Yasmani Grandal and a top 5 DH (designated hitter) in Edwin Encarnacion. Oh, and they also signed someone who hit a 505 foot home run last year. His name is Nomar Mazara. With the return of the stellar Yoan Moncada, Jose Abreu and Eloy Jiménez, good luck trying to face this lineup. Next, let’s talk about pitching. At the top, you have Lucas Giolito who put himself on the map last year. He had a 14-9 record with a 3.41 ERA. After that, there are some useful arms including the recently signed Dallas Keuchel, Reynaldo López and Gio González.
Los Angeles Angels: News flash: one of the best to ever do it (Mike Trout) FINALLY has some firepower surrounding him. Their front office did a really good job when they signed Anthony Rendon in free agency this year. He had a .319 average, 34 HR, 126 RBI’s, was a finalist for the NL MVP award and won a ring with the Nationals last year. Additionally, now that Shohei Ohtani is able to hit and pitch this year, he’s going to have a scary good year as well. The rotation looks decent with arms like Julio Teheran, Dylan Bundy, Andrew Heaney, and of course Ohtani. Look out for this team to take a wild card spot in the AL this year, that is if the playoffs happen this year.
New York Mets: You’re probably thinking to yourself “you really think the Mets, of all teams, will have a good year this year.” I know, but you got to hear me out here. After the rookie season “Polar Bear” (love that nickname!) Pete Alonso had last year, you can only imagine how high his potential will rise throughout his career. Additionally, they have some great hitters in Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto. In the rotation, they have the best pitcher in baseball in Jacob deGrom. He won back-to-back Cy Young awards. Some other pitchers in that club are Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Randy Johnson (he won 4 consecutive Cy Young’s!!), Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux (who also won 4 consecutive Cy Young’s), Jim Palmer and Sandy Koufax. If you ask me, that’s some pretty good company to be in. Additionally, they acquired a great pitcher in the Long Island native Marcus Stroman. He’s had an up-and-down career with his previous team, the Blue Jays. Hopefully, he makes a good impression in his first full season with the Mets. After that, they have some decent arms in 2016 Cy Young winner Rick Porcello, Michael Wacha and the other Long Island native in Steven Matz. Fun fact: Stony Brook (where Matz is from) and Medford (where Stroman is from) is about 22 minute drive from each other.
Cincinnati Reds: In my opinion, the Reds are the National League version of the White Sox in that they signed some great guys this offseason. First, they signed Shogo Akiyama out of Japan. He’s a great contact hitter that can hit for a little power as well, posting a stat line of .303/20/62 last year for the Saitama Seibu Lions. Along with that, they signed a couple more great hitters in Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos. If you combine both of their stat lines from last year, you get an average of .271, 31 home runs and 80 RBI’s. Long story short, look out for this lineup. Along with the hitting, they have good pitching as well. You have Luis Castillo at the top spot, along with Trevor Bauer and Sonny Gray. If you combine their stat lines from last year, you have an approximate win-loss record of 12-10 and an ERA of 3.58. Look out for those top 3 to make some noise this season.
Arizona Diamondbacks: In the hitting department, switch-hitting phenom Ketel Marte had a stat line of .329/32/92 and was 4th in the NL MVP voting last year. Look out for this guy this year. Along with that, David Peralta could have a comeback season and Eduardo Escobar could be in the top of the league in RBI’s. But, the most important thing they did was make some splashes this offseason. First and foremost, they signed Madison Bumgarner. If you don’t know who he is, look at his 2014 postseason highlights. Then, you’ll know. Furthermore, they addressed holes in the outfield when they signed Kole Calhoun and Starling Marte. Along with these signings, a sneaky good lineup and rotation, the D-Backs will put themselves on the map as a team to be scared of.
San Diego Padres: In my opinion, the Friars are like the National League version of the Blue Jays in that they have a great young core coming up. Also, their farm system (aka minor leagues) is among the top in the league. Since there will be no minor league season, some players (like LHP MacKenzie Gore) and even recent draftees (like Robert Hassell) can come up and play for the big league team. Also, they have a top 3B-SS duo in Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. If they can step up, along with the rest of their lineup and rotation, you have a good team to watch out for this season.
Sources: instagram.com, mlb.com, baseball-reference.com, baseballsavant.mlb.com