Braves
The Atlanta Braves start their march to mediocrity Thursday. And no, we do not think that was accepted on the promotional brochures.
Nor was "Braves Fever, catch it. Then send it to the minors, deal it before the deadline or see a doctor and get rid of it."
Nor was "Braves baseball, or something really close to it."
Nor was "Is Freddie Freeman or that Acuna kid batting? No. Where's the remote?"
Nor was "Your Atlanta Braves Remember the good ol' days when Hall of Famer Tom Glavine was our No. 3 starter? Memories."
Nor was "The Braves bullpen, at least John Rocker's not involved."
Wow, those kind of just flowed. Sorry, Braves. (And here's betting that's not the last time a Southern says, "Sorry Braves" this spring and summer, either. Thank you. Try the veal and remember to tip your wait staff.)
Seriously, the Braves start Thursday. What they are starting, however, is as important as the players they are starting it with to be honest.
Some experts call this a bridge year - one more season of assembling pieces and trying to identify which prospects are keepers at the big-league level - and that makes sense. But for a lot of us who watch a fair amount Braves baseball (and 'watch' may be too active a verb; let's say it's on in the background a whole bunch through May, June and July), this feels like the second or third 'bridge' year.
Last year, Atlanta finished 72-90. They kept manager Brian Snitker, who also is in a bridge year of his own in a lot of ways.
This year's bunch, as we speed toward opening day, has three categories.
Who we know? Who we need to know? And what are the remaining holes?
We know that Freddie Freeman is a stud.
We know that the Braves believe that their middle infield of Swanson and Albies is a strength. That will be confirmed if Swanson rebounds from his disastrous start to his rookie season. We think Albies could be a long-term, top-of-the-order type of trouble maker for a while.
We know Acuna looks like an absolute stud. A Bryce Harper-, Mike Trout-level talent to be honest. Wow, that kid is something, and come April 14, will be worth the price of admission on his own.
And that's about it.
A lot of the who we need to know centers around some of the young arms that have been acquired. Arguably the two biggest names on this bridge season season are Sean Newcomb and Mike Foltynewicz. Penciled in as middle of the rotation guys, these cats need to take tangible strides in 2018.
This is year four in Atlanta for Folty, and he is 24-25 with an ERA north of 4.50. Worse yet, opponents are hitting better than .280 against the right-hander, who will turn 27 in October.
Newcomb's numbers are slightly better, especially since last season was his first in the majors. The large left-hander will be 25 in June and showed real flashes last year with a plus-plus overhand curve and a better than average fastball. If his spring numbers - a 2.35 ERA with a 0.91 WHiP and 15 strikeouts in 15.1 innings - are any indication, this could be a banner year for Newcomb, who was a prime piece in the Andrelton Simmons deal with the Angels in November 2015.
Atop the rotation is Julio Teheran, who is the definition of solid. That's not what a contender needs in the No. 1 spot. He's a slider-throwing right-hander who has a very affordable and team-friendly contract. Teheran could be a great 3 or even a very good 2 in a rotation for a contender, or he could be the most popular name in baseball for a contender looking for a starter come July.
Johan Camargo's injury slowed his arc at third, and the Braves are using duct tape and Big League chew to bind the catching duties together.
And, knowing that the Braves have less than $40 million committed on the books for the 2019, there should be a couple of big-named, big-salaried, big talents on the way this offseason.
Whether that leads to another bridge season or a renewed run as a contender will be determined a bunch by the next few months.
Baseball predictions from the inside
This was very interesting reading.
Heading into Thursday's start of the MLB season, ESPN surveyed 43 GMs or assistant GMs. Here are some of the most interesting findings:
Which division favorite has the best chance to be upset and not finish first? Yankees got 17.5 votes; Astros were last at 1 vote.
Of those that answered 15.5 said they think the Nationals will resign Bryce Harper and six respondents believe the contract will be worth more than $400 million. A surprising second-place team in the Hunter sweepstakes? The Phillies, who got 10.5 votes.
The votes were split on Angels rookie Shohei Ohtani, with 23 saying by 2019 Ohtani will be strictly a pitcher and 20 believing he'll still be a two-way player.
When asked which team with modest expectations could make a postseason run, well, the answers were every where: Angels 7; Mets 7; Phillies 4; Giants 3; Athletics 3; Rockies 3; Cardinals 2; White Sox 2; Braves 2; Blue Jays 2; Padres 2; Mariners 1; Twins 1; Orioles 1; Reds 1; Rays 1. No response 1.
Interesting, no?
NFL moves and shakes
Lots of NFL stuff our there.
For those with ESPN Insider access, the Kiper 3.0 mock draft is out. We love the draft you know this. (Kiper has five quarterbacks going in the top 15 and three going in the first three picks.)
There was the NFL rule changes, which included some clarification - but not complete clarity - on the catch rule, banning players from lowering their had and tabling the talks of adopting the college rule that makes defensive pass interference a 15-year penalty regardless where the infraction occurs.
There was news that the Rams new stadium - which has a lot of NFL league office facilities and studios and could host the combine as well as well - could top the $5 billion mark.
And then there was the story of Corey Widmer, the former New York Giants linebacker who says football has ruined his life and refused to be inducted in the Montana state hall of fame.
Here are some strong quotes from the Bozeman paper: "I think if I'd be putting that jacket on right now I'd probably puke. I don't think I'd be able to shake a hand. And that's why I'm doing it this way; I don't want to make some political statement right in the middle of their party and take advantage of some very nice people.
"I can't sit up there and tell interesting stories and how cool it is - the camaraderie, the fame, things like that - and have somebody else say, 'Well, if that local kid can do it, so can I.' It just doesn't work that easy. I'd never want to give somebody the impression that football is safe and that the injuries are short term. They're not. I'm proof of that."
And amid all the talk about all the other issues facing football, that narrative right there may be the most damaging.
This and that
- Because the Astros are like the outlier from The Electric Company - "One of these is doing its own thing, one of these things is not like the others" - of course they are looking at a four-outfielder set defensively in certain situations.
- For the second time in a week, protests outside of the Sacramento Kings game caused the game to be played in front a very sparse crowd.
- Wow, Johnny Manziel and the Patriots are chatting. Man, that seems like a complete win-win for all of us, right?
- Interesting take here from Western Kentucky basketball coach Rick Stansbury, who said his Hilltoppers got more out of making an NIT run to the semifinals than they would have from a first-round NCAA tournament exit.
- Know this: Anthony Davis is doing work. Davis notched his third 35-point, 10-rebound and five-block game of the season. That matches Yao Ming's total in 2006-07 for second most in the last 20 seasons. Only Shaq O'Neal had more, getting four in 2000-01.
Today's question
Hey Rick Barry is 74 today. The Barry clan produced some basketball players, no?
Vince Vaughn is 48 today, and he has a sneaky better than you may expect Rushmore if you include Swingers, Rudy, Dodgeball and
Lady Gaga is 32 today. We're not gaga for Lady Gaga for what ever that's worth.
Side note here: According to our research, legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday married a mafia enforcer named Louis McKay on this day in 1957. Did not know that.
Jim Thorpe died on this day in 1953.
As for a Rushmore, let's go here: It was 33 years ago today that Nike released the Air Jordan, according to Darren Rovell, who is an excellent Twitter follow for what its worth. Jordans retailed for $64.95 and considering we were 14 at the time, let's just say they were a red-hot commodity.
Rushmore of tennis shoes/sneakers. Go, and the Air Jordan, which made Nike a player and Jordan a billionaire, is going to be tough to topple.