Major League Baseball in North America is a long slog, spanning many months of the year. It begins in late March and with 162 games for each team to play, there’s no real reason to worry about how your team is doing for that first 4-5 weeks of the season. A slow start can be erased by a hot streak. By October, it will all even out.
One could even wait until June 1 to view the team standings for the first time, but that gets too close to the halfway point. A really bad team can be out of the playoff race by then. I like to look at the standings around late April or early May. There is still time for the hot starts to cool off and the disappointments to redeem themselves, yet more than a month of baseball gives us something to chew on and analyze.
Analysis? “Yuck.” Don’t worry; I’m not one of those sabermetrics people with a PhD from MIT who can forecast exactly how everything can play out on a computer without those games ever being played. I love good statistics, which tell many a useful tale. But to me, if you don’t play the games, no amount of stats can forecast the direction of a season.
When they actually play the games, anything can happen. For every prediction, there’s a team and an individual player overcoming them, athletes playing beyond their means, and teams becoming more than a sum of their parts. There’s clutch hitting, there are pitchers who come out of nowhere to become dominant relievers, and there are injuries that throw variables into those statistical forecasts. Some athletes and teams undershoot or blow right through their projections.
On any given day, any team can win. In any given year, there are a dozen teams that will never come out on top because they don’t have enough talent on their rosters (at best, those will finish in third or fourth place in a division of five teams). But all of the others have a chance to be champions.
By this point, about 25 games are in the books, which is around 15% of the season. It’s time to take a look at how the teams have been doing so far. I’ll go through them by division and focus on the biggest (happy) surprises and (not so happy) disappointments.
Most other sites start with the Yankees. Not here. We commence with the senior circuit, the league in which pitchers hit for themselves.
National League (NL) East
Let’s begin by noting that the top two teams (until the Pittsburgh Pirates recent winning streak) were the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. I don't see the Pirates keeping this up for long. The Miami Marlins, to no one’s surprise, occupy the cellar. The Atlanta Braves are a little over .500; it’s a young team that has future potential but lacks key pieces to compete now. Where the Phillies are over-performing, the division’s fifth team, the Washington Nationals, is underperforming so far.
Happy surprises: For the first few weeks of the season, the Mets were the media darlings for their hot start. We knew their pitching was potentially elite and could keep them in the playoff hunt throughout the season. Much depends on this team keeping more than half its roster off the disabled list, which seemed to be where many of its players landed last year. Experts liked their recent additions, but it should be noted that Jay Bruce, Todd Frazier, and Adrian Gonzalez are not exactly spring chickens. Gonzalez does not plug the hole at first base and may not survive the summer with this team unless he can tap the fountain of youth for a few more months. Michael Conforto is a key player; we may find out this year if he is merely good or a potential star. So I will say that I’ve been a bit surprised at how good the Mets have been, but (unlike some pundits), I question whether they will still be riding high in October.
The Phillies are very good. And that is a surprise to some, including me. Most experts have looked at their young prospects and seen a bright future for this team, but the surprise is for the Phils team to play like a contender so early. It seemed like they were a couple of years away. The team itself evidently believed in itself, choosing to hit the free agent market to bring in top additions, Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta. While Arrieta’s value dropped into reasonable territory by the end of a lackluster offseason on the hot stove, the Phillies’ personal people should be congratulated for spotting the potential of this team and doing what it needed to do to add veteran leadership with that kind of talent. Can the Phillies keep up their winning ways? Manager Gabe Kapler will do his best to screw it up, but they may be better than we thought.
Phillies manager Gabe Kapler. Source: Philadelphia Magazine.
Disappointment: Washington Nationals. For the last several years, this team has often been picked as a World Series favorite. It hasn’t happened, perhaps because this team never seems to quite have ‘it’; the Nats are never more than a sum of their squabbling parts. The most important part, Bryce Harper, will probably leave once his contract is up, so the Nationals’ window to win is closing. And with their talent, I would expect them to turn things around this year by the All Star break or well before. This is the year they go “all in,” so it’s quite likely that if they are close at the halfway point, they will make one or more big trades not only to stay in it, but to get some elusive playoff wins.
NL Central
It’s no surprise that the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals are at the top of this division. Both were picked to do very well this year, and so far, are delivering. Similarly, it’s no surprise that the Cincinnati Reds are the doormat; they already fired their manager and are making opposing pitchers look like Cy Young. The Pittsburgh Pirates are somewhere in the middle of the pack, which is perhaps a bit better than their projections by the end of the season. As for surprises…
Bernie Brewer has been busy. Creative Commons via Wikipedia.com by Spacluch1.
Happy Surprises: None. There is only one real surprise so far in this division. And it’s not on the happy side of the ledger.
*Disappointment: You knew it was coming. The Chicago Cubs got off to a slow start, though they’re already showing signs of improvement. Yu Darvish followed up his World Series woes with a tough start to his season, his first in Chitown, and made people wonder what happened to Arrieta. One would expect Darvish to get back on track soon to the automatic ace he was before. Javier Baez is not just good; he’s quickly becoming a franchise player. Kyle Schwarber keeps hitting bombs. Even with Jason Heyward’s dead weight, this team has so many good players, so much young talent, and so much depth. They can score so many runs that their pitching does not need to be elite. Prediction: early disappointments will soon be a forgotten memory as the team regains its form.
NL West
San Diego is as bad as advertised. So far, the Arizona Diamondbacks have been better than most expected. The Colorado Rockies invested in bullpen depth during the offseason and it remains to be seen whether that is enough to help them materially; so far, they are looking good. The other teams in this division are puttering along. The Los Angeles Dodgers should be doing a little better (which they probably will soon enough...where's Justin Turner?) and the San Francisco Giants are holding up fairly well, considering the injury woes of their top three starting pitchers, and now face some setbacks to hot bats Joe Panik and Mac Williamson (by the way, Pablo Sandoval can pitch). Bear in mind that the early schedule this season has been very imbalanced in terms of the opponents each team has faced, and that's been quite impactful in this division.
Jarrod Dyson was a heck of a pickup for Arizona. Source: Arizona Diamondbacks.
Happy surprises: Arizona was picked by most experts to do well. Few expected it to dominate. Paul Goldschmidt is as good a slugger as there is in the game. A.J. Pollock is the real thing. Jarrod Dyson looks like the perfect ‘missing piece’ addition to this roster so far, but when I look around the diamond, I’m still not quite convinced this team won’t regress to the mean (I don’t know what that means, but it makes me sound smart). Zack Greinke seems to have lost something and may never return to being the elite pitcher he was a couple of seasons ago. They may not need him to be great, but it remains to be seen how far this rotation and bullpen can take the D-Backs. If you can say “Brad Boxberger” ten times without laughing, then you may be on to something.
And now on to the American League…
American League (AL) East
Move along. Nothing to see here, unless you like the epic perennial battle of this division’s two titans, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. There’s nothing to see unless you like watching all the home runs these Yanks will hit with several of the game’s top sluggers (including probably the game’s two most hyped sluggers in Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge…don’t sleep on Gary Sanchez, either). There’s nothing to see unless you like to watch J.D. Martinez bringing the fireworks in Fenway and Mookie Betts developing into a star (one of several very promising young hitters in Boston). Meanwhile, in other news, the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, and Tampa Bay Rays also play in this division.
Mookie Betts. Creative Commons via Wikipedia.com by Arturo Pardavila III.
Happy Surprises: None, really. Even 10 days ago, one could have said that Boston’s hot start was a bit more than expected, but the Yankees are catching up. Stat projectors have forecasted these two teams to finish within a game or two of each other in the final standings and few people doubt that both will be there when Miss Congeniality picks up a wild card berth to put two of America’s favorite teams in the playoffs.
Disappointments: The other three teams. Toronto is never quite good enough and lost some pieces in the offseason it did not adequately replace. Tulo can't stay healthy. These teams all had their chances during a couple of down years while the big boppers were reloading. That window has passed now, so the ‘others’ are back to being punching bags and competing for a chance at a Wild Card berth. Do the Orioles ever develop their prospects? The O's have proven nothing in the last couple of decades except that they have one of the worst owners and some of the most questionable player development people in professional sports, while the Rays continue to field a minor league team.
American League (AL) Central
So far, only one team in this division has a winning record and it’s the Cleveland Indians. Jobu must be getting his rum. We knew Cleveland would be good, as they went deep into the playoffs last year. I thought they might miss Carlos Santana, but not so far. Oye como va. The Minnesota Twins have underperformed and the Kansas City Royals could still be a late blooming surprise after unexpectedly being able to sign back some of their free agents. The other teams aren’t very good, and the White Sox are finally rebuilding, so I don’t count their struggles as too surprising.
Jobu. From the movie Major League by Paramount Pictures.
Happy surprises: The Detroit Tigers, but it won’t last. Aside from a couple of aging stars, they don’t have the talent to keep this up, do they?
Disappointments: The Twinkies are not doing well so far. When I look at the roster, I don’t see a great team, but the Minnesota ownership evidently thought differently because it made noises about paying top free agents during the offseason. In the end, their only major addition was Jake Odorizzi, who came via trade, as even a buyer’s market didn’t enable them to land a Darvish or Arietta. To be fair, they’ve had some pitching injuries so far, but this team still does not look ready to contend. They could surprise by the end; it’s happened with the Twins before.
American League (AL) West
This is one of the most interesting divisions in baseball this year. The Anaheim Angels (sorry, guys, it’s faster to write the name that way) may be the top team here so far. They are very good and could come away with a wild card slot, if not the division crown. And then there’s those Houston Astros, the World Champion Houston Astros. Take one of the most deeply talented teams in the majors and add a full season of Justin Verlander – yikes. The next question is whether any of the others have the power to put together a run against the Astros or Angels. The next best candidate may be the Oakland Athletics, flush with young players named Matt, which has one of the best teams I’ve seen there in a long time. The Texas Rangers may need a rebuild if they can’t keep it close, while Seattle usually ends up somewhere in the middle, but (like Oakland) could be a few games better than people think.
Happy surprises: The Angels are looking great. It was a good team last year and it’s gotten better. I will eat crow and admit that so far, Shohei Ohtani has been every bit the two-way player we heard about from Japan. The dude can pitch and until now, he also can hit major league pitching (which I publicly questioned at the beginning of the season). I think it’s great and I hope he can keep it up through the second and third times he faces some of these teams; once there is a detailed scouting report on a new player, teams sometimes find a way to get him out. Ohtani will soon reach that point where they’ve adjusted to him, so he needs to adjust to their adjustments. I hope he can do so. If he and the rest of the Halos keep clicking, this could be their year.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia might have another winner on his hands, after a long wait. Creative Commons via Flickr.com by Keith Allison.
Disappointments: Maybe Texas, but it didn’t seem like they’d be very good. This team’s window to win included some deep runs and those two heartbreaking World Series losses a few years ago. They added some pieces thereafter, but have subtracted more recently. It’s hard to know whether ownership has embraced a full rebuild or believes it can retool. They probably need the rebuild at this point. Just look at that other city in Texas that tanked for four years and drafted well before turning it all into a championship last year and a contender for many more. The full hog rebuild model can deliver.
Top photo: San Francisco Giants' third baseman Pablo Sandoval pitching a 1-2-3 inning in a blowout game. Source: AP.
Wow, you and @gavvet and @sweetsssj have quite the racket going on these days, don't you??
Thankfully they removed the view counter, eh?
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It's a social network, though I don't know whether those two vote for each other, never looked. Yea, what happened to the view counter? I loved that. Along with a few hundred votes' and a few dollars' difference, it was the only way to know that sports posts get lower engagement than other posts. I must have forgotten that lesson, since a number of my recent posts have been about sports. Look at this one, only 75 comments after 8 hours, and half of them from people I vote for. Something must be off in the world. Maybe it's all of those bidbot posts. Do people comment more on those? Should I invest in some bidbot votes instead?
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Real content and real people, unlike most of the trending page.
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Some of us have invested in SP because we care about this platform and use much of our money to help others (including a lot of people who are in need or are building this platform). Friendships are a positive thing on a social network. If you're not able to understand that, then I feel sorry for you.
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I love this.
Though I didn't read through the whole thread since I wasn't able to view it but this comment here got me all smiles.
Friendships are a positive thing on a social platform.
This obviously is one and should be treated/valued as such.
Too bad most people prefer to deal with the invisible than we humans.
@donkeypong, you are an awesome personality.
Cheers
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I thought Jobu from the movie was looking in the mirror and there was that weird looking doll from hell with blond hair lol.
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Some days, we all look like that.
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Ahaha, I always look like that when I wake up))
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I dont know how the betters do it. The season is so long and unpredictable my heart wouldn't carry it.
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Since I don't bet on sports, I'm not sure how they do it, either. Betting on a single baseball game seems risky, since any given thing can happen on any given day. Over the course of a few months, trends are often more predictable.
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It is hard to believe that we are already almost a full month into the season. I have always been of the mindset that you can't win a pennant in April and May but you can certainly lose one. It is sad that some of these teams are destined to spend eternity in baseball purgatory. At some point, the league might want to address its lack of a salary cap. There are too many teams that are forced to play "Moneyball" and the reality is that teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers don't really care about the luxury tax. Where I grew up, our television channels only had access to three teams. The Red Sox, Expos and the Blue Jays. I was the oddball in my friend group because everyone loves the Jays and I cheered for the Red Sox and the Expos. I'm a big fan of the underdog and I don't often get that experience with Boston but Montreal always inspired. Looking forward to seeing how things shake out the rest of the way. Hopefully, we will see some big runs by little teams.
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Go Expos! We need to start a trend there. #goexpos
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Do we ever!!
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This season, the MLB is burning with a Latin flavor, Donkeypong ... who do you think will win the batting championship in both divisions? My favorite is José Altuve in the American League, and Asdrúbal Cabrera in the national league. what are your favorites?
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It's hard to argue with either of those choices. Both incredible players. Definitely, most of the best these days are from Latin American countries.
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you're right
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Ummmm...talking about baseball today. Never really been a fan of baseball as I seem not to understand the game as much as I should.
As a kid my father used to be a lover of baseball and I tried so much to understand how it's played . At some point I even tried making a local baseball court in which me and my younger brother practiced as kids but soon lost interest as I hit adolecense. It's a great game though but I need to read more about it.
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One of my favorites. :)
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@donkeypong, That's very interesting to read but long time spend for understand team structures in North American baseball league. I'm pretty glad to see this early morning here. I was happened some passion since about baseball 15 years ago. My villages friend selected our country's national team and he wend aboard for play international. But my country not seems best ranking in International level. But now I'm huge fan of baseball. But I've heard before about only National League (NL) East, NL Central and NL west league. Other once today knowledge after read your article. My favorite team wanna Philadelphia Phillies. What about you Tom? I see their performance much better and active. Miami Marlins also my second choice. I prefer their stylish playing. You explained better whole leagues with their setting up position currently. Thanks for most valuable play lists given.
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The Phillies are a good choice. One thing you want to look for is a good mascot.
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To be honest with you... baseball needs to evolve...The fan base is declining sharply...May be some new rules can to do the trick. It's a dying sport!
Things need to be done to get the attention of young blood...
Chicago Cubs broke many hearts...
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Baseball in some countries have even died I wonder why, more baseball competitions should be organised
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I think rules need modification.
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It wasn't as exciting when they brought down the hammer on steroid abusers. Chicks (and apparently also dudes) dig the long ball.
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They juiced the ball a couple of years ago, though, and it's been flying out of parks. Record home runs the last couple of years. It's still not enough to get people interested, but it's helping somewhat.
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Let's hope for the best:)
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Definitely. I'm right there with you on that view. In an earlier post, I mentioned some ideas for changing the game to make it more interesting. A few of us would be sorry if it fades away.
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I'm very happy to see the image of Pablo Sandoval, yesterday I saw the video of how he closed the 9th inning with 3 ground balls. For Venezuelans he has been an idol together with Miguel Cabrera and Jose Altuve but since he went to the Red Sox he had many ups and downs and overweight problems.
Now will he be the closer or the reliever of the team or was it all a simple experiment? For me the best thing is that he continues as catcher, but if I can be a good pitcher it will be ok.
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They usually don't pitch with position players, but the other team had scored 15 runs in Game 1 of a doubleheader, so they wanted to rest their staff. He was good enough that maybe they'll ask him to try again?
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I don't think they'll ask him to do that again unless we're in that exact same situation with another game that evening.
But he did a great job of getting out of the inning, and the guys said he actually provided a bit of a morale boost after a very disappointing game 1
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You make baseball ⚾ seem so fun.....
You like the game a lot.
Sometimes you know a team that we might have no faith in may just be the one to hit the rocks 🤘
So don't give up on them already....
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You are absolutely right! Gotta have faith, even when things are not going as well.
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Exactly.....
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I love sports and more the MLS, where I think everyone has ups and downs, where their coaches are the ones who have the cards of the game as they decide who enter and who does not, for many of these errors of the technicians many teams that They were great are what they are now, being so they can not go back due to bad decisions, I loved this post, it was very complete of the complete news of this year and the past in teams as big as they were before and see what They are now.
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The MLS is great also. My knowledge of it is more limited, though, so I don't write much about soccer. It's probably the world's best game.
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Sorry it was not mls, it's Mlb, I'm a fan of pirates even though they are very bad and detroit, they are my favorites and I watch the news of them constantly. Greetings and thanks for answering
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Fantastic summary of the @donkeypong baseball teams, how many games and games won do you think of, the Japanese of Anahein, shoei ohtani ?. The Japanese hit well and home runs, but also very good picha. I agree with you the best hitters right now, most of them are Latin Americans.
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Definitely most good players are Latin Americans. That's a statistical fact. Many of those countries seem best at producing talented young players. Meanwhile, most young people in my area are at the basketball court, not the baseball field.
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So it is and I know that it will keep adding good talents of Latin America in the MLB, those young Latinos who are shining right now, they will be the future in the Big League, as they were in their time the players of before now are very nominated and honored for being good players, in the future these Latinos will have the same. Oh, you play basketball ?, I personally also play basketball for about 12 years here in Venezuela, I also spend time in basketball courts, but I like baseball a lot and I see it on television or online. Thank you very much @donkeypong
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I am surprised by your versatile work! You combine so much-the writer, the figure, the developer, the fan of artichoke, and now also the keen sports fan! I'm amazed at your active lifestyle.
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Thanks. It's not versatility as much as boredom. I would go stir-crazy if i had to write about the same topic or genre all the time. Next up, flying artichokes?
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Ha ha, flying artichoke, I wonder... It is possible that this will become a bestseller. I love creative solutions.
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Although I am Venezuelan and in my country I love baseball, I don't have much experience or rather no experience in baseball in America, many times I support the teams where my Venezuelan brothers play, but somehow I don't have a fixed team, however it is a passion to watch the games on TV and support every race, hit and even jound rond, one day I will be watching those games live!
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It's perfectly fine to be a fan of the sport and of players. As I've gotten older, I think I've become less a fan of teams than the game itself.
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To be honest we use to play something similar like baseball but I have never get the rules of the game...Your analysis is really amazing...I have always loved movies with baseball...I remember one of the last ones was the one with Kevin Costner...
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Costner cannot get enough of the aging sports hero movies. It's about time for another one...
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Yes, of course....Time for somebody else has arrived...Still I have to watch more baseball matches to get the game better...
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I think I need to be honest with myself, lol
I don't know where to start from, this is the first time I would be reading things as detailed as this on other sports apart from football,.... Smile.
It would have been easier for me to flow along if it were to be football, football is more popular in Nigeria than any other sporting activities but I'm able to pick some of the ideas of baseball in your explanation. That's one of the beauty of steemit it opens your eyes to other important things in life.
Your analysis is detailed enough to have the idea of how the season would go. Like in any other sport, the best team will always go home with the price.
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I remember how i use to hiss and switch channels whenever a base ball game is on. I don't get the rule and I find it boring. Unfortunately, It is uncommon where I come from but you made a good analysis in this post and makes me wonder maybe if one I day, I come across it again, I wont switch channels.. Hopefully😛😛
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It is boring, wonderfully boring, until something happens. It's kind of like soccer (football), waiting for a goal to score, but if you truly love the sport, then everything leading up to that point matters, too.
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Lol, true. Maybe some epic dancing moment too. Players getting schooled by clowns😁😁
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I think that the NL West will be the most exciting division to watch all year as last year it sent 3 teams to the postseason, and this year the Giants should be much improved. This year, NL West is truly a toss up.
But overall, there have been several moves of star players this offseason, and there should be a very exciting and competitive season of baseball all around the league. @donkeypong
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I got to admit to being an American League guy (so I know that probably puts this post behind the 8-ball to start with) and a Red Sox fan. I got to say though, that I am not half the fan I used to be, ever since the Sox became a true "big market" team, and were able to just go out into free agency and get whomever they want to come and play for them. I felt like we had become Yankees lite, and now we actually are getting our fair share of the free agents that used to always go to New York.
There's really no joy in winning when you know it's based more on the owner's pocketbook than it is on good drafting, excellent coaching, internal player development, player's busting their butts, etc.
I actually cheered for the Astros last year against my own team. Part of that was hurricane sympathy to be sure, but a good part of it was that they were more like the Red Sox teams I grew up with--lower payroll, but boosted by great chemistry and a great fan base. Two-three years ago, it was the Kansas City Royals.
Still, even I was a little surprised with the Sox hot streak out of the gate given the problems we've had with Price, given Porcello's horrendous season last year, and given that the J.D. Martinez contract dance took so long, and that he may not have really felt all that wanted here in the end. Plus Pedroia, Thornberg, and others were on the shelf. The past week and a half seems to have brought them down to earth again, but I don't know if they've ever won this many games in April before...
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Yes, I'm not that far from you when it comes to rooting for underdogs and lower market teams. It less about the teams to me now than it is about the sport, which I love. It was great to see the Royals and Astros win in recent years, proving that on any given day or in any given year, most teams has a chance (provided they have tanked for a few years, drafted and developed players brilliantly, and threaded that needle with a championship just before the stars get to expensive to re-sign).
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"...it is about the sport..."
Upvoted!
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Dude that is the Kung-Fu Panda himself pitching! Pablo Sandoval may have a future as a closer (Insert wink emoji here).
I think the team from Major League could actually beat the White Sox. They started their rebuild about 5 seasons too late for my liking but at least they are letting the GM do his job.
More sports posts please!
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@donkeypong I would have sworn you'd be an A's fan. But I see NO evidence of that in your Post ( basing this on the way you went on about the Warriors and their greatness ;) )
Me ?? I'm here in San Antonio so yes I am jumping on the bandwagon, I'd admit. I was ALWAYS a lifelong Braves fan but now root for the Astros as my second Fav team
Anyway, I have to admit a pretty in depth article about every team in baseball. Nice !!
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Those Astros are worth bandwagoning. Unless it's a big budget, big city team, then I think some bandwagoning is fair game. When writing, I try to be fair & objective, though if I have to pick a team it's the Giants.
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Okay the Giants..well that makes sense. And semi- sorry ( yes, cannot be fully sorry if you root for any team other than my Spurs :) ) about my harshness the other week at your Warrior's and Lacob Post. A lot of it was frustration with my Spurs and the Season that could have been. Especially if Leonard had acted... well more "Spur-like".
Not saying they would have beaten your Warriors but it would have been interesting to see if they could have taking it to 6 or 7 Games.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how Pelicans rebound tomorrow. If they can at all
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Realy good article, rep!
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I enjoyed this post so upvoted! Thanks!!
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The performance of the Chicago Cubs was so dissapointing. To be honest, I never expected such from them. I was expecting such performance from The Phillies but it seems they switched skills or something. I hope they improve subsequently
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Hopefully steem will be worth more than the Yankees this year. lol
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Nice to see the baseball review. I didn't know that you were so into sports as I've just noticed some of your posts.
The baseball season is a marathon - 162 games - so there will be many changes in the standings as the season progresses. I am happy to see my Mets doing so well but recently the injuries have started to build up. Now Jacob deGrom is hurt. Uh-h!
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NL Central is my favorite division that I keep following though it has a been a tough season for us. The Reds have been totally off this season with players not showing up in games as expected. Five years since we last won the title and I feel we are a lot far from picking another one.
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The advancement of baseball from more established bat-and-ball games is hard to follow with accuracy. A French original copy from 1344 contains a representation of priests playing a diversion, conceivably la Soule, with similitudes to baseball. Other old French diversions, for example, thèque, la Belle au bâton, and la debutante empoisonnée additionally have all the earmarks of being connected. Accord once held that the present baseball is a North American improvement from the more seasoned amusement rounders, well known in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game (2005), by David Block, proposes that the diversion began in England; as of late revealed recorded confirmation bolsters this position. Piece contends that rounders and early baseball were really territorial variations of each other and that the amusement's most immediate predecessors are the English diversions of stoolball and "tut-ball".It has for quite some time been trusted that cricket likewise slid from such recreations, however confirm revealed in mid 2009 recommends that cricket may have been foreign made to England from Flanders.
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Hi @donkeypong I just start following you, you replay a comment from a spam account, saying that the sports post don't perform so great in Steemit, any idea why is that? I have my blog account @lacongeladora who is a sports and entertainment site, but seeing your post and experience I'm a little worried about sports post here, maybe my posts are underperforming, but any suspect why? Thanks!!
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Hi @donkeypongI like the offensive power of cubs and the whole team of houston. Regards
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Million dollar arm, beautiful game but not quite common in my country. Interesting and never gets boring. Nice choice of game
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Baseball is a game that is full of surprises. So, expect more surprises
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@fatherfaith, one of my friends was arguing that baseball and basketball are extremely similar, please is that true?
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Lol 😂
They are two parallel lines that can never meet
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My favourite is Asdrúbal Cabrera in the national league. what's yours?
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Baseball is a game you would want to play all the time. So much love for baseball.
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Thanks for your share.i like it.your post is very high contests.it very helpfull post.i like sports.
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It's fun to enjoy! You write with an incredible ability. Very happy to enjoy all this. Thank you @donkeypong!!
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I had the opportunity to be part of a base ball training camp back in high school even though the sport isn't so popular around here...it's a fun game especially when you had to make the runs😁...this post just brought back a memory...thanks for sharing @donkeypong
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I like sports...
Thanl for share it...
Success is always for @donkeypong...
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I think that this year the red sox will win the world series from start to finish.
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I hope so too!!
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Thank you brother, got a lot of good information from you, it is very nice, hopefully we will give you something like this, I will always be with you ....
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I do not want to sound anything egocentric but LOS VENEZOLANOS this year are showing off, Miguel Cabrera, Adrubal Cabrera, Jose Altuve and now Pablo Sandoval, Venezuelans had to be.
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the most fun game is to fight together for victory
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A good and accurate follow-up of matches
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I think the Phillies must have worked very hard on themselves. A performance like that couldn't have been achieved overnight
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I see baseball is a sign of America.
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er, go Yanks!
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Great post i like baseball
thanks for sharing
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Wonderful post about baseball
i love this game
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Baseball is a good sport that fills you with excitement to see your favorite team playing and more to the players you admire.
It is a motivating sport.
Good information
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I love baseball, it's my favorite sport. God take care of you and fill you with blessings.
Regards...
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Very cool report about baseball league
It's a very fun and entertaining game I love watching
You really are a wonderful athlete
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greeting from morocco , baseball is not a popular sport in my country we like more soccer thanks for sharing:)
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I like baseball. I interested to watch baseball.
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I could not agree more. with the standings being funky. I cannot fathon the falling of the nationals and being a expo fan back in the day they are my team now along with mariners and blue jays........ i agree very much with your analysis. Thanks
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Funny how baseball is totally unpopular around here. How I wished I know how the game is played. NIce little analysis
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Apparently I see that they are high and low passing all the teams where many know how to stay these good luck gusts to get a good capital and invest in players and advertising to stay in the market and gain lucrative profits to the state and the team, On the other hand it is good to note that many teams start badly but get up without talented players of world size where they give a great show, to see the MLB is the best thing that can be in all the basseball leagues, greetings and this is my opinion.
@calitoo
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Not a big fan of baseball. Just came to say hi :P
PS: Commented my views on your previous post!
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interesting game
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Yes it is! We should support more the sports content in the platform.
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As a kid my father used to be a lover of baseball and I tried so much to understand how it's played . At some point I even tried making a local baseball court in which me and my younger brother practiced as kids but soon lost interest as I hit adolecense. It's a great game though but I need to read more about it.
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Good writing. I appreciate your thought and explanation ability. Thank you for share this article with us. I am following you. Wish you all the best. Thank you.
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Sports baseball very popular in America, it is very pleasant when we watch the big matches
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I like this game
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I actually like the baseball game but am still trying to understand how the game is played. I would try to devote more time to the game. Informative post sir
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I think that until now the teams that have surprised me the most are the D-Backs even though a good core nobody expected anything from them really and look a moment later the first ones in their division and the Mets that are in the tip of a pitching They have been the highlights of the league.
As for players I did not expect Didi Gregorious to be fighting the triple crown even for one day, today we close the first month and he is in the Top 5 of the three main offensive categories and that José "Cafecito" Martinez was the leader in RBI of the Cardinals of San Luis.
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My favorite game is cricket.
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Please Stop
In your your last 100 comments you used 77 phrases considered to be spam and you made this exact same comment 1 times. You've received 0 flags and you may see more on comments like these. These comments are the reason why your Steem Sincerity API classification scores are Spam: 50.20% and Bot: 2.40%
Please stop making comments like this and read the ways to avoid @pleasestop and earn the support of the community.
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Please Stop
In your your last 100 comments you used 77 phrases considered to be spam and you made this exact same comment 1 times. You've received 0 flags and you may see more on comments like these. These comments are the reason why your Steem Sincerity API classification scores are Spam: 50.20% and Bot: 2.40%
Please stop making comments like this and read the ways to avoid @pleasestop and earn the support of the community.
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One of the games am yet to understand is base ball... i dont know how its played but it looks fun. Woulf give it more time
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Yes, I’m sure it’s just a chance you all elect on each other’s content consistently with 100's of money in benefits. Nobody is going to buy that fill of crap.
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I like your posts, the victory anyone can get, otherwise this time maybe the future
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Hmmmm, this is really nice .
I don't really know much about baseball but going through your write up. I think it is really a game full of surprises.
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HI @donkeypong, This is a very informative post, The description of baseball and interconnection with America is awesome. You reflect every single view of your post. Really amazing.Thanks
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In Phillies There could still be growing pains, but the pieces are in place: Not just Odubel Herrera in center and newly signed Carlos Santana at first, but also Rhys Hoskins in left, Nick Williams in right, Jorge Alfaro behind the plate and J.P. Crawford and Cesar Hernandez in the middle infield. Also intriguing is a rotation in which eight young arms -- six of them 25 or under -- will compete for five spots.
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Pablo Sandoval Pitcher! Good job @donkeypong Venezuela TOP!
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I'm amazed @donkeypong and a new steemian...
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nice Post and thank you for all the informations, Im very intersting in US sport .
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This is a good game to follow, unfortunately, it's not been played in my country.
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Thank you so much for your felling you First Look at the 2018 Major League Baseball Standings: Surprises and Disappointments So Far,,,, and also your information is so great Major League Baseball in North America is a long slog, spanning many months of the year. And thanks for sharing with us
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Resteem done
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Go jays
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Is that the Bluejays? (excuse my ignorance, I am a non-baseball educated Brit). Reason I ask is that the only baseball game I have ever seen live was in Toronto. I might still have the 2001 replica shirt somewhere. Thoroughly enjoyed it :)
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dear @donkeypong,the league might want to address its lack of a salary cap. There are too many teams that are forced to play "Moneyball" and the reality is that teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers don't really care about the luxury tax. Where I grew up, our television channels only had access to three teams. The Red Sox, Expos and the Blue Jays. I was the oddball in my friend group because everyone loves the Jays and I cheered for the Red Sox and the Expos. I'm a big fan of the underdog and I don't often get that experience with Boston but Montreal always inspired.
I prefer their stylish playing. You explained better whole leagues with their setting up position currently. Thanks for most valuable play lists given.
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very an attractive and amazing pictures
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A game that is very stressful and requires a high concentration. hit well and hard, running fast. great game. requires a strong, healthy whole body. because the game requires full power.
best regards for you mr @donkeypong.
I do not know enough to speak english, I translate through the help of google translator. I come from Indonesian.
Best regard.
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baseball is a such kind of game which actually plays in America.As I am from Bangladesh,this game is not so popular in our country.
Hope your post will help the people of our country about the glorify history of baseball.
I'll certainly resteem this informative post.
Thanks dear for this valuable post.
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Hey There. Thanks for helping me during my health issues that People did for me here. I need to keep raisingSBD and wondering if when I do would you be interested in heloing me liquify them
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Hey Brian. I'm glad to help if I can. What exactly is it that you need?
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well I still need to raise another 130 SBD but once I do I am hoping you or someonw can purchase it at a better than normal rate via paypal. I thought you might know of someone here since you have lots of contacts. not asking for anything except names you may know who buy SBD
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I don't believe In game prediction too cos anything can happen and not only in baseball ⚾, even in football 🏈 that I play and watch all day
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Great recap of the first half of the season. You were spot-on with your assessment of every division. The Diamondbacks' pitching has been really impressive this year - top ERA in the NL at 2.89 (baseball reference) and tied for first in saves with 10 and third in K's. Will be interesting to see if they can keep all of that up. The Cubbies came on strong this past weekend when Milwaukee forgot how to hit a baseball and only scored 2 runs in 4 games! That division is super competitive and agree with you that the Pirates will eventually fade. The Phillies have been a pleasant surprise as you noted and I think they are actually a contender already which is very surprising. Atlanta's hitting has been really solid - they lead the NL in runs scored and batting average, but ultimately aren't quite there yet with their pitching. Personally, I'm a rare Milwaukee Brewers fan, and hoping they can snag a wildcard spot this year - going to be interesting. Thanks for the insight - enjoyed the read!
Great line by the way - "Meanwhile, in other news, the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, and Tampa Bay Rays also play in this division." - couldn't be more true.
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Sir your post amazing .i like this post .
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Actually, I really never watch basketball match. coordinate which that explorative way, yet I observe here and there, however as I would like to think in sports players confront numerous stages and good and bad times and in some cases they get enormous help now and again they get contempt and feedback, and individuals who handle every one of these circumstances they finally develop as a player and if individuals believe that the life of games individual simple then they should think it in a contrary way since, sports individual need to rise each time at whatever point they tumble down in round of life. What's more, as I would see it, it's the choice of the player as from where he needs to play. A debt of gratitude is in order for sharing and wishing you an incredible day. Remain favored.
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Nice game.....
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Lovely sports...
Nice game..........
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Hello friend, excellent publication, I liked it a lot. Count on me, I invite you to visit my profile and count on you too, Regards
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I posted your posts very beautiful and I always follow your post and I want to learn a lot from your post @donkeypong
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Sir, your posts are very good I like your post a lot. I look forward to your next post. @donkeypong
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Please Stop
In your your last 100 comments you used 32 phrases considered to be spam and you made this exact same comment 1 times. You've received 0 flags and you may see more on comments like these. These comments are the reason why your Steem Sincerity API classification scores are Spam: 76.30% and Bot: 1.50%
Please stop making comments like this and read the ways to avoid @pleasestop and earn the support of the community.
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Your post is very well.It was complete of the complete news of year.Most of the best players in latin Americans.I love this post.
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I really never understand sports.. i don't know what is with sports but, they seem to be so hard to understand for me. HAHA :D :D Volleyball, baseball, basketball. Games like that are so popular but i never watch them. Because I don't understand. HAHA :D I'm really not the sporty type. I only know badminton :D But not that much. :D
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@donkeypong, That's very interesting to read but long time
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