Monday, March 31, 2014

The 2014 Baseball Season Is Underway

Well, that didn't take so long did it? This off season seemed to go by very fast, maybe it was all of the moves and big deals that went down. You couldn't ask for a better afternoon to start off the season as well. Two games that went into extra innings, including the Pirates winning on a walk off by Neil Walker. This also may be the last time you see the Marlins and the Rockies during prime time! From what I've seen, the entire league looks ready to play. What makes things even better there are no snow outs today either. As I did last year, I will be blogging as a nationwide spectator of any and all games I want to chime in on. I will be covering the Royals and the Met's the most though. Weird combination I know, but I should e able to provide some good insight of both leagues. Here's to another season!

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Billy Hamilton

I saw Billy Hamilton play a little bit last year when he came up and thought he was a nice throwback player. He made me think about the old Cardinal teams with Vince Coleman and company where they would get on base, move runners over and steal steal steal. Good old National league baseball. In the steroid era speed was a forgotten tool in the game. Why try and steal a base when everyone is hitting 30 plus homers right? Teams like the Giants have really bucked that trend as of late and it looks like the Reds are going in the right direction. Below is a link to a nice piece on Hamilton where he talks about his commitment to the bunt. I've always went by the old adage of "if you can't bunt, you can't hit"

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/with-renowned-speed-reds-outfielder-billy-hamilton-improving-bunting?ymd=20140307&content_id=68877732&vkey=news_mlb

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Royals Looking Good Early

We are only about a week into the season but from what I have seen the Royals are pretty quick out of the gate. I guess it should be expected that a team that finished strong last year would be eager to start off well in the spring. Over that past two years it has been slumps early in the season that have really hurt the Royals. Last year it probably kept them out of the playoffs. There is a link below to a good piece on Alex Gordon not being satisfied with his hot start.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140306&content_id=68844468&notebook_id=68844476&vkey=notebook_kc&c_id=kc

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Curtis Granderson Shows Why The Met's Signed Him

I know it's only one spring training game against one of the weaker teams in baseball, but it was great to see Curtis Granderson show his home run stroke this early. This year the Met's just need Granderson to play his game. He can hit .250 as long as he gives them around 40 homers and 100 rbi's. I was also impressed with the pitches that he hit out and the fact he hit one off of a lefty and a righty.The real winner in the end will be David Wright, having a big bat in the lineup with him again will allow him to get back to where he was a few years ago. When Wright was at his best you have to remember that he had Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado in the lineup with him.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Duda Or Davis At First Base?

Having watched the first few games of spring training I can already tell that the battle between Ike Davis and Lucas Duda is going to be a close one. Both players have already gone deep this spring with impressive long bombs. Both look to be in great shape. So what will set these two apart? There is a thought that it may come down to Davis having the better glove. This is a big advantage that is also inline with the Met's scheme of things. But do his defensive numbers off set the big slumps that he seems to go through each year? Looking at Duda's numbers they have been pretty consistent, and knowing what your are going to get each day at the plate can be invaluable. Hard to choose right?

Taking a look at Davis's swing it pretty much looks the same. There is an obvious hitch that he refuses to change. He seems to control the hitch for spans of time, 1 month, 2 months or even most of one season. Looking back I'm thinking that pitchers around the league have his number. This credit, he has been able to be a little bit more productive by swinging at better pitches. Will this be enough for him to be productive? I'm not going to bank on it.

As for Duda, I like the true power and contact that he can provide a team. I'll also add that not having to worry about playing in the outfield will help him concentrate at the plate. There is just something that I like about Duda's swing and approach at the plate. I think that giving him confidence and letting him shine, he will finally break through and have a huge season. You see players with a similar path have big years, usually it's with another organization after being traded.