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Heckuva game today, Tim Anderson. Heckuva game. That’s how it’s done.
Anderson’s fallen below the radar these past few years I daresay. Is it absurd to say he’s the most underrated player in the game?
Truly might be
Anderson falls off everyone’s radar because he plays for the White Sox and lets be honest, no one cares about the White Sox.
Face it, the Cubs are terrible this season and they still get talked about more than the SisterSiders. People care more about who Contreras gets traded to than Anderson having an MVP caliber season thus far. The only time the White Sox get mentioned is typically in controversy.
Trout really had the same issue playing for the Angels, Mike Trout is hands down the best player of this generation and we barely hear about him. Did anyone realize that his OPS+ is nearly 130 point ABOVE LEAGUE AVERAGE. Not 130… his OPS+ is 229!
Only 1/4 through the season.
Red Sox and Padres both playing very good baseball the past few weeks. Expect other teams to join in – although which ones will are next to impossible to predict.
Rays have got to fix their D. And anyone that thinks that 1B is a position any ML position payer can easily adapt to needs to look at how Choi has hurt the Rays this year. Then there are the disasters that occurred when they tried to play Harold Ramirez there (cost them games) and Joe Madden thought that utility player Matt Duffy could easily handle the position – the first few games he played there were bad, the last one it’s a wonder he wasn’t injured for the rest of the season or possibly ended his career.
Phillies are doing some unorthodox things – playing Herrera and Quinn in the OF at the same time to help their D and rotating 3 SS’s. The coaches have done well so far by straightening out Alec Bohm and getting something out of the bullpen (for now) – Hand and Dominguez have been tuned up and used properly so they’re producing; and the coaches are exercising extreme patience with Jose Alvarado as they have no one else with his stuff. The guy actually had 1-2-3 innings his last 2 appearances…..the first time in a month.
Lot’s of surprises to come.
About the shifts going away in 2023…..
We need to read the fine print.
I’d suspect many teams will be flip-flopping their SS and 2B when a pull-hitting LH hitter is at bat; and not only can I see OF’s be switched between certain batters within an inning, I can see a guys that can play 3B/1B and the OF being switched as well depending on the batter and the game situation.
I said the Cubs should do that exact thing the other day (just before giving up a run due to the shift). Play Simmons at short and put Villar at short but shaded up the middle.
My question is what are the rules really going to entail? Are we banning the fourth outfielder defense that some teams have been using as well? If we are not, then look for teams to utilize verbiage, oh this isn’t a short stop, he is the fourth outfielder and can line up anywhere on the outfield grass…
That would be super cool though!
Does anyone know the logical reason why every play is not reviewable? I.e judgement plays.
I get not reviewing balls and strikes but balls in play should be reviewable. Anderson hit a ball off his foot that rolled fair and they called it fair.
Or how about plays down the left and right field line by the bag? Why can’t those be reviewed?
With k zone, the need to review balls and strike should be negated but I believe teams should be allowed to review clear misses…. Pitches that were clearly in or clearly out. Allow teams to watch in a both with the k zone and if a pitch doesn’t hit the zone at all can be reviewed for a ball or a pitch that is 50% inside the k zone can be reviewed for a strike. We don’t need to argue every borderline pitch but some calls I’ve seen this year have just been bad.
Cody Bellinger is on pace to be a 4+ WAR player this year, despite being a league average bat. Through 40 games played, 1.1 WAR and 96 OPS+.
He’s still an elite center fielder, with well above average speed on base. He’s also been very good at the plate recently, putting together a quiet five game hitting streak with seven hits in his last 19 ABs, plus two walks. Some teams might decide he’s too expensive to wait for, but the Dodgers know what he can do when he’s right. Bellinger has been patient despite the lack of results, and he’s been adjusting his approach when the count is against him. The results will come, IMO.
Perhaps Christian Yelich is turning it around too? I would like these two former MVP’s to come back to life. GOOD for the sport.
Chicago is a Cubs town. Only time it becomes a White Sox town is when the Sox are in the World Series.