Baseball Is Deeper Than Ever

The NBA’s postseason finally arrived this week, but not without drama that lasted arguably the last two to three months: they just can’t seem to figure out the stakes of the regular season.

With a draft class of stars that could change the franchise, teams are incentivized to lose and therefore not play their stars.

Meanwhile, with the 65-game minimum rule for awards, stars are getting injured and may not be able to play in the games that actually DO matter. The regular season down the stretch has made more than half of the games either unwatchable or a cesspool of people complaining about how it’s unwatchable, how to fix it, and the draft lottery process, and no one seems to have a solution.

This sort of completely juxtaposes the state of baseball right now (please ignore the impending lockout next season). Even though it’s 162 games, it feels like there is a reason to watch every team on any given night. The back half of the year, when teams are already eliminated, even gives losing teams the opportunity to call up prospects who may become cornerstones of the franchise in the future and let fans get a first look.

As regional as it has been and as “old-timey” as the sport that once didn’t have a clock is perceived, it’s a star-laden game with well-distributed talent and young stars, and a regular season this year that is shaping up to be so exciting.

We just came off a week where, at one point, ALL OF THIS was occurring:

• Only 3 teams in the AL had winning records because everyone beat up on each other
• A team projected to finish last, the Angels, had a full-on brawl
• 3 out of 4 of last year’s ALDS teams have been in last place
• 4 of the 7 projected worst teams have recorded a sweep 

It is chaos! Maybe we rule it as early-season injuries, weather, or needed time for the greats to get warmed up following the World Baseball Classic and Spring Training. But there is a reason to watch all 30 teams this year, and the gap between the top and the bottom (okay, maybe excluding the Dodgers) has never been smaller.

This is a salute to the bottom-feeders that are remaining in the fight.

Let’s take a look at the teams that were predicted to finish at the bottom half of the league and give you a reason to watch and appreciate how deep this league is.

Colorado Rockies // TJ Rumfield

We laugh at the way they run their organization a lot, but how about those Colorado Rockies to start the year? They got a sweep to start the year against the HOUSTON ASTROS! The team that ran the American League for a decade!

There’s always some Rockie that you’ve never heard of that suddenly is raking and making a name for himself, and that’s TJ Rumfield, the rookie acquired from the Yankees that doesn’t sound like a real person but is hitting over .300 with a couple of homers thus far.

Washington Nationals // James Wood TANKS

James Wood is built like an absolute moose at 6’6 and is just 23 years old. He’s one of those batters where you watch, and it looks like he’s using a toothpick to launch it to the moon, and he’s only going to get more disciplined at the plate with time to launch more of them.

This Nationals team already tore everything down to the studs for the long-term build, hiring Blake Butera at just 33. Still, they try everything with a ton of platoon players, and their offense has stayed in the fight (you know, before the atrocious bullpen takes over and allows 10 runs to the Dodgers).

Chicago White Sox // Munetaka Murakami TANKS

The same thing applies to Murakami here, except he is a smaller, exciting newcomer from Japan who has been everything advertised from a power standpoint. He also loves bidets.

St. Louis Cardinals // The AGENTS OF CHAOS

The Cardinals are young, don’t really do anything well, and somehow have pulled off major comeback wins! This was supposed to be a step back, where they traded everyone away and focused on the youth movement in JJ Wetherholt, Masyn Winn, and a last-gasp of hope in Jordan Walker.

Despite being near the bottom in pitching, having a negative run differential, and Winn not off to a hot start, they really just draw a lot of walks, play good defense, and are full of new faces expected to lose.

Los Angeles Angels // If They Do Well, Mike Trout Is on a Winning Team

There are a few people for whom it feels like the general public would rather see playing meaningful baseball in October than Mike Trout. At the beginning of his career, he was Mickey Mantle before the injuries, and all of us collectively hated the Angels for somehow not winning when he was paired with the likes of Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, and Shohei Ohtani at some point.

He’s got 1 postseason RBI for as exciting a player as he is, and if the bat of Zach Neto and Jose Joriano going out and looking like an ace is enough to keep them in the fight in the AL West this year, it means Mike Trout could be on a winner.

Minnesota Twins // The Taj Bradley Renaissance

The Twins, who essentially traded their entire team at the deadline last year, DID land maybe the only Rays-prized pitcher who didn’t work out: Taj Bradley.

He’s massive, he throws nothing but heaters down the middle, and has a ton of strikeouts in what looks like another fleecing of Tampa by Minny.

Miami Marlins // The Best 1-2 Pitching Punch in Baseball

The Marlins? Oh, you mean the Marlins that are 5th in batting average, score a ton of runs, and steal a ton of bases, have an electrifying lineup where everyone is in their 20s, and have brought back the teal uniforms? Yeah, they’ve been the pleasant surprise of the year. Nothing’s been more fun, though, than the Sandy Alcantara-Eury Perez starting pitching wolf and cub relationship they have, where Sandy is the veteran Cy Young winner that will throw a Maddox, and the lanky young Eury will throw heat. The fish have arms!

Tampa Bay Rays // Chandler Simpson and the Return of the TROP

The Rays have been in desperate need of electrifying stars that want to be there and have the chance to stay (before they trade them for pennies and prospects you’ve never heard of that turn into stars on the cheap). Chandler Simpson feels like he could be the icon there.

Not only is he a football wide receiver with electrifying speed that gets multi-hit games galore, but in the Trop’s return, he was loving every bit of the crowd that was buzzing to have the old ballpark back, and making leaping left field catches. If they can make him the guy next to Caminero, they’re going to finally have some “jersey guys” in Tampa for a while.

Las Vegas A’s // Shea BANGaliers and The Home Run Elephant Celebration

The A’s have been relatively one of the biggest disappointments thus far, in that we thought they were the young team that would make the leap with this level of young offensive firepower in Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker, and the on-base king Jacob Wilson, but they’ve stayed relatively in the fight with a .500 start in a ballpark incredibly hard to pitch in.

Shea Langaliers has taken over the “Catcher that hits moonshots” role from Cal Raleigh so far, and they’ve now debuted a home run bedazzled elephant chain and terrifying mask that I’m certain we’ll see a lot of playing in that sandbox when the bats come alive.

Pittsburgh Pirates // The “Can This Team Look Competent Enough for Paul Skenes?” Question Is Looming

The Pittsburgh Pirates are almost in a reverse Mike Trout situation, where the team is the one trying to perform for HIM. He’s a young Cy Young generational pitcher who is going to command a ton of money when he’s a free agent, and Pittsburgh has notoriously not paid anyone and has had demands to sell the team because of their beautiful ballpark. He’s going to be able to test free agency in 2029 or could even just plainly say, “Yeah, Pittsburgh is not doing enough, and I only have so many seasons I can throw the heater this fast,” and ask out.

They apparently were “in talks” to get Schwarber and Naylor, but the fact that they ponied up and gave their longest contract extension ever to 19-year-old Konnor Griffin sent a message: we are aware of the Skenes window. Griffin is getting playing time and making exciting plays in the field with the expected rookie slow start, but the Buccos have an offense in the top half of the league rather than the bottom to start the year: something we haven’t been able to say often. The pitching staff of Skenes, Keller, Chandler, and Ashcraft are going to twirl the pill, but for them to now also have Oneil Cruz as a competent hitter leading a prolific offense, Skenes may have a better chance of staying long-term than we thought.

Arizona Diamondbacks // Actually Having Pitching!

The Diamondbacks have been HISTORICALLY bad at pitching to the point where Eugenio Suarez and Ketel Marte could hit as many homers as possible for the last two years with a top-5 offense in baseball, and they still couldn’t make the postseason following the World Series. The bats haven’t even woken up just yet, aside from Corbin Carroll looking like his post-injury form at the end of last year, but the starting rotation has been nails! Eduardo Rodriguez is finally looking like the pitcher they paid him to be, 18 innings with just 1 run, Mike Soroka is 3-0, Zac Gallen is back, and they’ll get Corbin Burnes later in the year!

Let’s get the Snakes’ offense hot, and they may be back and true to form.

Cleveland Guardians // Back and Better Than Ever?

We did it again. We doubted the Guardians’ win total when they don’t spend. Jose Ramirez is a slow starter and will only get stronger. Chase DeLauter is called up and is a 24-year-old Barry Bonds. Gavin Williams is a Cy Young favorite amongst a pitching factory. Travis Bazzanna hasn’t even been called up yet.

Stop doubting Guard ball!

Cincinnati Reds // The “What Is Elly Capable Of” Factor

There are a few people who you can look at from the nosebleeds section of a baseball stadium and peer down at a larger-than-life figure and still be able to marvel at how big he is when in person.

Elly De La Cruz is that person.

He is a 6’6, 200-pound NBA player crossed with a mountain lion who can hit the ball all over Great American Smallpark and also has the sprint speed to turn a single into a triple, wearing a million chains. This is supposed to be the year where he lowers his K rate, hits for more power, and provides the offense needed for the Reds’ rotation after they made the Wild Card as a consolation prize last year. The talent on the roster is too great for that to be the goal.

Kansas City Royals // Bobby Witt Jr. Enough Said.

Maybe the biggest five-tool player in baseball right now with the lifetime deal already in Kansas City. In the AL MVP race, the conversation usually starts with him underneath Aaron Judge. That’s largely due to the reality that the Royals have been atrocious with runners in scoring position with a nail-biting rotation.

Witt has been less than stellar to start the year, but the walk rate and the line drive balls he hits will turn into electrifying plays soon enough. Oh, and Vinnie Pasquaintino and Bobby are baseball’s best entertaining odd couple.

San Francisco Giants // The Newest Reality Show in Sports: Tony Vitello

He’s the most divisive figure in baseball right now. The manager hired the young buck with no major league experience, and he is just the “college guy” who is shooting Kanye, who has eyes upon him to see what he does. The spectators can’t wait to either praise him or crucify him in this new era.