Baseball is back
As I wrote earlier this week, I expect big things from these Atlanta Braves.
The line-up is star-studded. The rules will make the offense even more explosive.
But there are questions, and the answer on whether this a good year or a potentially great (as in a second World Series title in three years) year could be in how these three concerns shake out:
-- First, who is ready to lead this crew? It's the biggest complaint anyone could reasonably muster about AA's hard-line negotiations over the last two off seasons as Freeman and then Dansby Swanson -- two of the better clubhouse guys in franchise history -- left in free agency.
While the decision about Freeman left many puzzled, letting Swanson leave for Chicago was prudent, considering the big picture and the numbers over his career juxtaposed to his great contract season in 2022.
Still, when this team wins, everyone can lead. But this being baseball, when the skid hits -- because in a game where you are a Hall of Famer for failing only seven times out 10, there will always be skids -- who will be that guy?
-- Second, are rookie starters Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd ready to be in the rotation full time? Both are left-handed and have been light's out this spring with ERAs of 1.45 and 2.00, respectively. Each is averaging right at a strikeout per inning in the preseason.
Kyle Wright, the breakout star from 2022's pitching staff, will start the season on the injured list. Ace Max Fried -- who is about to enter the Freeman/Swanson contract-year abyss -- is money. Spencer Strider has "holy bleep" stuff. The rookies will be needed, especially early on, and moreover, if Shuster and Dodd deliver, consider the trade deadline pieces the Braves could offer with all of that rotation depth with Ian Anderson, Bryce Elder and Mike Soroka starting the season at Triple-A Gwinnett.
-- Finally, who will be the closer? Bullpens by committee are very similar to Steve Spurrier's view on QBs. "If you think you have two QBs," the ol' Ball Coach said more times than he slung his visor, "then you really have zero QBs."
A great bullpen has order and defined roles. And the closer must be clear, and in turn, he must be determined. Kenley Jansen is in Boston -- and here's betting his world-class slow delivery will struggle with the new rules -- and projected closer Raisel Iglesias will also start the season on IL.
There clearly are questions for this crew, but there also are clear reasons to believe that these Braves will be a lot of fun -- and have a lot of success -- this summer, too.
MLB by the numbers
It really will be impossible -- at least for me -- to not stare at the pitch clock, at least initially.
In some ways, it likely was this way when the NBA put the shot clock into action way back when.
Now, though, especially in person, the 15-second pitch clock when the bases are empty and the 20-second timer with runners on will be the most critical and discussed numbers in a game that is numbers-obsessed for the foreseeable future.
I saw a Max Scherzer quote that could be a possible talking point if the pitch clock becomes a complete game-changer in terms of outcome and/or impact.
Scherzer suggested an idea that the pitch clock could and maybe should in the future be not unlike putting slow golfers on the clock on Tour. If a pitcher or hitter is consistently slow, put them on the clock, because the intent of the 15/20-second ticker is about pace more than impact.
Or at least it should be.
So 15/20 are clearly the most eye-popping number for this 2023 baseball season, but those are far from the only intriguing digits heading into this season.
100 -- Even with the new rules that will encourage more stolen base attempts, it will be a longshot for anyone to get to 100 steals this season. But that amazing number will allow us the chance to a) remember how truly amazing Rickey Henderson was running the bases and b) how the trio of Henderson, Rock Raines and Vince Coleman were unstoppable from first to second in the 1980s.
30 -- Speaking of jacked up stolen base rates, there are 30 teams in the MLB, and want to guess how many of those 30 teams attempted more steals this spring than last spring? Yep, 30.
.260 -- It has been since 2009 that the MLB batting average across all teams and players was above .260. It was .262 that year, and it was above .260 from 1991-2009. Last year it was .243, which was the lowest number across the bigs since 1968. And people wonder why the banning the shift was such a priority for MLB leadership.
11 -- The number of MLB players across both leagues that hit .300 or better last season. Yeah, that's not a lot.
500 million -- That will be the neighborhood Shohei Ohtani will negotiate for his monster contract. And yes, that's a very nice neighborhood, and considering the A-level pitching and hitting skills he brings, that number may be low.
155 -- As in the number of minutes a lot of MLB games will last this season. That was the average time for spring training games with the new rules and the clock. Man, watching the Braves start at 7 and being in bed well before 10 will be a treat. The last time the average length of a MLB game was as low as 2 hours and 35 minutes was 1978, and that was well before there were eight pitching changes a game, too.
Air-ness
So like most folks, I find the tandem of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to be likable.
Who didn't like "Good Will Hunting" right?
I also like hearing stories about big-time celebs feeling like normal folks, and Affleck certainly sounded that way when he discussed his meeting Michael Jordan to get His Airness' A-OK oin his project "Air," which details MJ's decision to make Nike, well, Nike when he entered the NBA in the 1980s.
I hope that movie will be good.
It also got me thinking, who would be intimidating to have lunch with, because Affleck directly said MJ was the "coolest, most intimidating" guy in the world.
Thoughts?
This and that
-- We have discussed the increased age of today's college basketball players with NIL opportunities that could be as lucrative as playing overseas as well as the extra COVID year. Well, THE elder statesman of THE Ohio State -- Justin Sueing -- has declared to forgo his seventh college season and has turned pro. Hey, in a few years, he'll be ready to retire.
-- You know the rules. Here's Paschall on a UT football transfer who is hoping to go from FCS to SEC to NFL.
-- The Plays went 2-0 last night. War Giannis. How good are the Bucks when your former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo goes for a 38-point triple-double and he's the second highlight after Jrue Holiday went for 51-8-8 on 20-of-30 shooting?
Today's questions
It's an anything-goes Thursday, or AGT as the kids like to say.
So fire away.
That said, I am curious if you guys and gals want to play along, who would make you feel "intimidated" (in the awkward, good kind of way) if you met them for a sandwich for lunch sometime?
As for today, March 30, let's review.
It's Opening Day and the Braves play in the afternoon. That's good times. Plus, all 30 MLB teams are in action today. Also, good times.
Side question: Why are the Braves, who play in Smyrna, playing at the Nationals? Shouldn't all the warmer weather cities be hosting today? Discuss.
On this day in 1867, the U.S. bought Alaska from Russia, giving them $7.2 million, which is roughly 2 cents an acre. Yeah, we won that one.
Also, on this day in 1981, John Hinckley tried to kill President Ronald Reagan.
On the same day, "Chariots of Fire" was released. "Chariots of Fire" overrated, underrated, properly rated?
A trio of all-time great artists share this birthday as Van Gogh would have been 170, Eric Clapton is 78 and Celine Dion -- hey may not be your cup of tea, but that lady has some legit pipes -- is 55. And speaking of dominance, Secretariat would have been 53 today.
Warren Beatty is 86 today. What's his Rushmore?
Go and remember the mailbag.