2023 Rival Preview: Bobby Witt Jr. and other youngsters look to bring the Royals back to life

Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at each American League team and discuss their 2022 season, their offseason moves, and their 2023 outlook. 

2022 Season Recap…
Kansas City’s 2022 reminded me a lot of the 2019 Toronto Blue Jays — a mix of veterans and young players, with no legitimate expectations for the season. While I am in no way comparing the talent of the two teams (because the Jays definitely win that category), the overall goal of the year was that the young studs needed to get their feet wet in the MLB.
They were able to accomplish that, although it did come with its hardships, as the Royals finished 65-97 and fifth place in the AL Central. Since their World Series title in 2015, the Royals have finished third place or below each season in their division.
Last season featured the much-anticipated debut of 3B Bobby Witt Jr., who was a top-10 prospect in all of baseball entering the year. Witt was thrown into the fire from the jump, as then-manager Mike Matheny had him batting second on Opening Day. Witt answered the call; his RBI double in the bottom of the 8th gave Kansas City the lead for good, leading the Royals to a 3-1 win over the Guardians to open the season.

Bobby Witt Jr. the hero in his debut with the go ahead RBI for the #royals #OpeningDay pic …

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Author: Evan Stack / Blue Jays Nation

Internal options for the Blue Jays 40-man roster when Hyun-Jin Ryu and Chad Green are place on the 60-day Injured List

In the upcoming weeks, the Jays may be adding two players to their 40-man roster.

Although the 40-man is currently full, both Hyun-Jin Ryu and Chad Green will need to be placed on the 60-day Injured List, freeing up two spots. The question is, which players will the Jays add to the 40-man roster? Let’s look at a few internal options:
Bowden Francis:
Before the cancelled Rule 5 draft early in 2022, Bowden Francis, among others, was added to the Blue Jays 40-man roster. In fact, he actually pitched two thirds of an inning with the Jays early in the 2022 season, posting a 0 ERA and 0.11 FIP with a 33.3 K%.
Looking at a larger sample size which is his time with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, he had a 6.59 ERA and 6.02 FIP in 98.1 innings pitched, with a 24.3 K% and a 9.5 BB%. That doesn’t really tell the entire story though, as from July 6th onwards, he had a 4.47 ERA and a 3.42 FIP in 46.1 innings pitched. His K% also increased to 29.8%, while his BB% dropped to 8.3%.

Here are Bowden Francis (@Bowdenpoint0)’s strikeout and whiffs from his Jan 2 game.
4 P, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K.
Rocking a 1.51 ERA, 34.6 K% and a 6.6 BB% in 35.2 innings pitched in the Puerto Rican Winter League!#BlueJays pic.twitter.com/HnCvLNTKHA
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) January 5, 2023

Francis continued to pitch well in the Puerto Rican Winter League, where he had a 1.51 ERA in 35.2 innings pitched. His …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

2023 Rival Preview: The Texas Rangers had another spending spree this winter

Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at each American League team and discuss their 2022 season, their offseason moves, and their 2023 outlook. 

2022 Season Recap…
Valentine’s Day just passed us, and if there’s one thing we love, it’s belittling the entire Texas Rangers franchise. Another year has gone by that the Rangers have not won a World Series, and still, the best thing they have to their name is “The Punch” from 2016.
Thankfully, although they finished in fourth place in the AL West last season, the Rangers are starting to develop a core of established veteran players that have elevated the team’s competitive status.
After the 2021 season, the Rangers went out and acquired free agents 2B Marcus Semien, SS Corey Seager, and SP Jon Gray, and the contract numbers on them are quite opulent. Semien signed for seven years and $175 million, Seager was 10 for $325 million, and Gray was four for $56 million. Yeah, Texas had some money to play with.
It was an abysmal start for Semien during his first year with the Rangers. Semien had a .157 batting average through the month of April and didn’t hit his first home run until May 28th (keep in mind he hit 45 in 2021 with the Blue Jays).
The hole Semien dug himself was a tough one to emerge from, and he finished the season with a .248 batting average, 26 …

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Author: Evan Stack / Blue Jays Nation

2023 Rival Preview: All eyes on Shohei Ohtani as the Angels roll into another non-competitive season

Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at each American League team and discuss their 2022 season, their offseason moves, and their 2023 outlook. 

2022 Season Recap…
Although finishing in third place in the AL West, the Angels were four games worse in 2022 than they were in 2021. The Angels missed the postseason for the eighth straight season, even in the face of another set of stellar seasons from their two stars: Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.
Let’s start with Ohtani, who, if it wasn’t for Aaron Judge hitting 62 homers, would’ve (and should’ve) won his second consecutive AL MVP. Ohtani hit 34 home runs and 95 RBIs, with an .875 OPS and a 145 OPS+. On the mound, Ohtani was 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA. The win total and ERA was a career-best, and his 11.9 K/9 led the American League.
Ohtani was also featured in one of the best matchups played at the Rogers Center this past season; on August 27th, Ohtani and Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah went shot-for-shot, combining for 14 innings pitched, 17 strikeouts, and only one earned run, which was unfortunately given up by Manoah.

This pitchers’ duel was as good as advertised
Shohei Ohtani: 7 IP, 0 R, 2H, 1BB, 9K, up to 100 mph season-high 109 pitches
Alek Manoah: 7 IP, 1 ER, 4H, 2BB, 8K, up to 96 mph, 105 pitches
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) August …

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Author: Evan Stack / Blue Jays Nation

2023 Rival Preview: The Orioles had a surprisingly quiet winter after their breakout season

Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at each American League team and discuss their 2022 season, their offseason moves, and their 2023 outlook. Let’s start with the Baltimore Orioles…

2022 season recap…
The Orioles exceeded everyone’s expectations during the 2022 season. Despite being a shoo-in to finish last in the AL East, the Orioles entered September only 1.5 games back of a Wild Card spot. They would ultimately miss the playoffs, but a 4th place division finish and an 83-79 record made the Orioles seem a year or two ahead of their rebuild. They were also no longer the Blue Jays’ punching bag, clearly handing that role over to the Red Sox.
2022 featured the much-anticipated debut of C Adley Rutschman. Rutschman was baseball’s top prospect at the time of his call-up and would finish second in Rookie of the Year voting. Rutschman owned a .254 batting average, 13 homers, and 42 RBIs through 113 games, and it looks like he’ll be the Orioles’ backstop of the future.

Who else is looking forward to a full year of Adley Rutschman?pic.twitter.com/bbV6zxYPVl
— MLB Caught Stealing (@MLB_CS) January 24, 2023

Many knew about Baltimore’s sluggers: 1B Ryan Mountcastle, RF Anthony Santander, and CF Cedric Mullins are all established major league players who have developed well during their first few years in the league. Mullins was an All-Star in 2021, and although his production regressed a little in 2022, he still finished 3rd in the MLB in stolen bases, profiling as an ideal leadoff man for the Orioles.
Blue Jays fans are more than aware of Mountcastle’s presen …

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Author: Evan Stack / Blue Jays Nation

Ranking Every Blue Jays Pitcher for 2023

A few weeks ago, I released a list ranking each of the thirteen position players projected to start the season on the Blue Jays’ active roster. This time, it’ll be pitchers.

This one’s gonna a be a little more difficult, however. For those of you who either didn’t read or didn’t notice, the position players were ranked based on how much WAR I thought they’d produce. In this case, relievers are disadvantaged in a ranking based on WAR, because they’re not going to pitch even close to the same number of innings.
I’ve had to think about how to do this. Adjusting per IP doesn’t really make sense because WAR doesn’t measure value for relievers as well as I’d like it to. Unfortunately, I think the best way to do it is to rank based on ERA. Volume contributes heavily to value, but I want to rank relievers and starters on the same scale, so this is how I’ll do it.

Keep in mind, just like last time, I’m going to assume that each player stays fully healthy. Even though it’ll never happen, injuries are too hard to predict, especially for pitchers. With that being said, let’s jump in once again, with number 13.
13. Trevor Richards, RHP, Relief
Richards really struggled at the start of 2022, but he got his homer problem under control and finished strong. The issue is that he’s basically always been the same guy when it comes to having a long ball problem. His sudden drop in HR/9 rate at the end of last year doesn’t have a large enough sample to assume that it’s really who he is. Until h …

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Author: Tate Kispech / Blue Jays Nation

10 Things to consider about the Leafs and the trade deadline

10 Things to consider about the Leafs and the trade deadline

We are less than five weeks from the trade deadline. It feels like we are at least halfway through the nonsense that starts around the beginning of the calendar year and so far has yielded just a Ryan Merkley/Matt Nieto trade. It’s an interesting time that never lives up to the hype that goes into it, but the trade deadline is the last barrier between Leafs fans and confronting the existential dread that is playoff time, so admittedly I try to enjoy it even knowing that it will be underwhelming.
There are a lot of quantitative elements that go into the trade deadline and throwing mass quantities of numbers at you about random players on random lottery teams is fun, but today I thought I’d just ramble on about 10 qualitative things that warrant a bit of discussion heading into the trade deadline as well.
1. If a player’s numbers say they are playing badly, trust the numbers
There is always a belief that the player that you want the Leafs to acquire who is having a down year is having that down year because they are playing on a bad team. There is one major flaw in this way of thinking and that’s the obvious, “what if the player I like i …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Raptors trading multiple picks for Jakob Poeltl would be a big mistake

Raptors trading multiple picks for Jakob Poeltl would be a big mistake

The NBA trade deadline is a couple of weeks away, and the Toronto Raptors are one of the teams who have been in the rumor mill regularly. The Raptors must make a decision to either go all in to make the playoffs or tank the season to get Scoot Henderson or Victor Wembanyama, potentially. Toronto […]
Raptors trading multiple picks for Jakob Poeltl would be a big mistake – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Pirasanth Gunasekaram / Raptors HQ

Raptors: Fred VanVleet getting his mojo back vs. Lakers is perfect for this team

Raptors: Fred VanVleet getting his mojo back vs. Lakers is perfect for this team

The Toronto Raptors have underperformed in the last few weeks, and the poor offensive production of Fred VanVleet was one of the main reasons why. Even against a beaten-up Los Angeles Lakers, confidence in VanVleet’s abilities wasn’t exactly permeating through Scotiabank Arena. VanVleet went over two weeks without scoring 14 points in a game, and […]
Raptors: Fred VanVleet getting his mojo back vs. Lakers is perfect for this team – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Holmberg earns praise, man-advantage Minten, Niemelä’s numbers: Leafs Prospect Roundup

Holmberg earns praise, man-advantage Minten, Niemelä’s numbers: Leafs Prospect Roundup

In last week’s Prospect Roundup, we took stock of a number of Leafs prospects and how they have performed through the first couple of months of the season. One of those players was Pontus Holmberg, focusing on his rapid ascension to becoming an NHL regular. Fast forward a week, and his case for staying put in the Leafs’ lineup has only gotten stronger.
Holmberg scored his first NHL goal in last Wednesday’s win over the scorching hot New Jersey Devils, a goal which stood as the game winner. He found the back of the net once again in Saturday’s victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins – a great shot into the top corner over the glove of Casey DeSmith – and established a new career-high with 12:01 of ice time.

GOALBERG. pic.twitter.com/rB4A9bGcdf
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 27, 2022

Holmberg now has two goals and an assist through his first eight NHL contests, but it is his play away from the puck that has really endeared him to head coach Sheldon Keefe. He was even trusted with a couple of shifts on the penalty kill this past week as he continues to grow into a regular role on the team.

Sheldon Keefe on the play of Pontus Holmberg, says as a rookie they always try to go through tape about what they can show players to improve …

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Author: Nick Richard / The Leafs Nation