March 27 is as close to Christmas as you can get. I have a hard time calling it Opening Day since two games have been played already. Be that as it may, our family has been waiting for this day since the last out of the 2024 World Series. Spring Training is done. Free agents have been signed. Trades have been completed. Dreams have been delayed as players get sent down to the Minors. And yes, the weather is getting better.
Let’s celebrate the return of baseball. Credit: USA Today
Welcome back, baseball!
Our group chats are about to become more lively. In six weeks, when Ryan comes home from school, the conversations go from digital to to personal.
It will be mornings watching Quick Pitch.
Evenings will be spent switching the TV from game to game.
My dad putting “the horns” on the Yankees, Mets and Phillies.
There will be the occasional commute home listening to a random A’s-Angels game.
Today is one of the those days where I have decided to turn control over to the three Lynch kids. I have each of them to identify the player from their team who is about to take a big leap forward or play a bigger role. When I first posed the question, I am not quite sure if they understood what I was looking for. Caitlyn said Aaron Nola was her guy and then I had to remind her that he was an established Major Leaguer coming off a solid season. After clarifying my request, their minds went to work. What follows is the finished product in their own words (with a little commentary from me).
Perhaps Brett Baty can stick around for all of 2025. Credit: New York Post
After a great start to 2024, Baty was sent down to Triple A at the end of May. With Mark Vientos firmly entrenched at third base, Baty seemed to a be man without a position. Matthew’s reasoning for Baty to play a big role for the Mets in 2025 is based on his Spring Training numbers. He has three home runs and ten extra base hits in 18 games. Jeff McNeil‘s injury has opened the door to a roster spot where he is getting a long look at second base. Perhaps the role as a swing infielder in the Jose Iglesias mold is where Baty will help the Mets the most in 2025.
The 23 year old right hander became an important piece of the Phillies’ bullpen during their 2023 playoff run. Kerkering had a tremendous first full season in 2024 with a 2.32 ERA in 63 games. He will be asked to expand his role this season with All Star Jeff Hoffman now in Toronto. Hopefully, Kerkering can channel the advice from his former teammate which you can read about here. Not only is Hoffman gone but Matt Strahm may not open the season in Philadelphia as he is dealing with a shoulder impingement. Even more pressure is on him because if he fails, Caitlyn will be requesting to meet him in the parking lot.
The Yanks’ shortstop had an uneven second campaign as his homer output was sliced nearly in half but he raised his batting average 34 points. Volpe’s grand slam in the World Series has fans hopeful that his bat can be much more viable in his third season. His club will need him to improve the anemic less than .300 on base percentage dramatically with the loss of Juan Soto and the potential long term unavailability of Giancarlo Stanton. His defense regressed in 2024 but Ryan looks forward to a Gold Glove caliber season in 2025. If New York wants to win back-to-back pennants, Volpe will have to become a next level player.
It wasn’t the best of Thursday evenings for us. It has nothing to do with mine and Matthew’s brackets being busted by dinner time. A bit of bad news in baseball cast a pall prior to St. John’s beginning their NCAA Tournament run. A week before the rest of MLB teams play their first games came the words no player wants to hear.
Unfortunately, Garrett Stubbs was sent to Triple A. Credit: 97.3 ESPN
The Philadelphia Phillies sent Garrett Stubbs to Triple A Leigh Valley.
Caitlyn is devastated.
After all, she would tell anyone who would listen (whether they wanted to hear her opinion or not) that Garrett Stubbs was the best backup catcher in baseball. On the field, he performed well on the rare days J.T. Realmuto would need a day off or play as a designated hitter. Off the field, he was one of the most popular players on the team. He was the guy that created the “Phils Win” playlist during the Phillies’ 2022 pennant winning season. Callum Scott’s, “Dancing on My Own” is now on Caitlyn’s playlist and frankly, the song is pretty darn good. He would wear red pinstripe overalls and a case of beer on his head whenever the Phillies would have a champagne celebration.
Stubbs was sent down because he still had one Minor League option remaining. Rafael Marchan, who has been in the Phillies’ organization since age 16, is now Realmuto’s backup. He was out of Minor League options and played well enough during Spring Training to stick with the team. For Caitlyn’s sake, let’s hope we see Garrett Stubbs in a Phillies’ uniform again this season.
Well, my Juan Soto prediction was completely wrong. The last time you read my blog, I stated that Soto would not sign until after the New Year and that he would be going to the Washington Nationals. The closest part of my prognostication was that he landed in the National League East. The New York Mets won the Soto Sweepstakes with a contract that has the potential to exceed $800 million dollars. My thought is this. It’s a win-win situation for the Mets if they win two World Series in five years and Soto decides to exercise his opt out clause. They could decline the option, let him walk, and don’t have to pay all that money for the following ten years.
This man is smiling because he just broke the bank. Photo from CBS Sports
As for the rest the family:
Matthew: He’s the one that broke the news to us. “I don’t even know how to feel” was his text to the family group chat. He’s super confident the Mets will win the World Series in 2025 but realizes more work needs to be done. If the Mets fail to re-sign Pete Alonso, Matthew said it would be a bittersweet goodbye. Many people assumed early on that if New York grabbed Soto, Alonso would be gone. Well, there is nothing from stopping the richest owner in baseball from signing both guys for at least the next seven years. I expect Matthew to follow the Alonso Sweepstakes until its conclusion. If it goes the way he wants, he may even enjoy school for the rest of the year.
Ryan: Disappointment is an understatement. According to him, the only reason why the New York Yankees were in the World Series in 2024 was because of Juan Soto. Now he fears it will be another 15 year drought between Fall Classic appearances. He doesn’t like the traitor label Soto is getting on social media but as I told him, he was going to the highest bidder all along. Even with the defection, the Yankees are still the favorite to win the American League pennant. You know they will make other moves to compensate for this huge loss. You can’t fault the Yanks for finishing second. They actually offered an extra year, albeit at less money. Ryan will get over this once Spring Training starts.
Caitlyn: She offered quite the perspective once the news broke of the signing. “He should have joined the Phillies. We are a team full of bag chasers, he would have fit right in” (just kidding). Her main gripe is that the Phillies have done nothing this offseason, at least until today. The Phillies were not considered a serious contender even if they were brought up in the early stages of the offseason as a destination. When news broke of Jordan Romano signing a one year deal with Philadelphia, she had a one word response: “Finally”!
This post meant to come out earlier in the week. However, life occasionally gets in the way of my little writing treats. So, it really doesn’t matter that the World Series has already played a classic game and that the Los Angeles Dodgers hold a 1-0 lead over the New York Yankees. The confidence that Ryan and I both have for the Yankees to ultimately prevail in the Fall Classic remains unshaken. The most important footnote to all this is that out of my three children that had a playoff rooting interest, Ryan is the only one that remains.
Friday was not the last we see of Gerrit Cole. Photo from Sports Illustrated
Because of the gap between the end of the LCS and the beginning of the World Series., it feels as though Caitlyn has been without a team for about two months. She tells me each morning that she wishes the Phillies were playing right now. She half-jokingly says that the Phillies gave up and they are chasing the bag. Opening Day for her can’t come quickly enough. As for Matthew, he couldn’t have been more depressed about how the Mets’ season ended. However, he at least got to see the final game at Citi Field in 2024 end with a victory. He said during the week he was very happy with the season. He keeps saying that the Mets have so many decisions to make but is still optimistic for 2025.
As for Ryan, I am extremely happy to see he finally got a chance to see his favorite team play for a championship. The only drawback for me is that he will be 140 miles away at school during the course of the series. Despite the disastrous loss, his reaction surprised me a little bit. I thought he would lose faith and predict a Dodgers’ victory. However, he assured me there is still a lot of baseball left and was still big on a Yankees’ victory. I’ll take my cue from him. Yankees in 6.
For seven, long seasons Ryan has waited for a moment like this. It’s not the first American League Championship Series he will have seen his New York Yankees play. However, this ALCS represents the best chance the Yankees have had to reach the World Series since he became a fan. New York is the clear favorite this time around; however the Cleveland Guardians are not to be taken lightly. Jose Ramirez is one of the best players in baseball and their bullpen is better and deeper than it was when these teams met in the ALDS two seasons ago. Still, as I’ve told this to Ryan (and everyone else) since August: if not now, when?
It’s all set up for Aaron Boone and the Yankees to win the ALCS. Photo from Yanksgoyard
Ryan is excited but pessimistic. I can’t blame him. Year after year they (for the most part) make the playoffs and then inevitably lose (usually to the Astros). You can talk about Yankee tradition all you want, 27 World Series titles, countless icons of the game, 32 straight winning seasons, on and on and on. However, what does all that tradition mean to him? He hasn’t seen one of those titles. The best player of his generation, Aaron Judge, routinely underperforms at this time of year. The manager who got them the farthest out of any of these playoff runs, Joe Girardi, is no longer here. They haven’t made the World Series in 15 years, one year short of their longest stretch without playing for a championship. There is only so much, “hey this time it will be different” that I can tell him. This has to be the year the Yankees win the ALCS.
Carlos Rodon will be starting Game 1 of the series. Given how his start in the last round went, do you think Ryan (or any Yankee fan) is happy right now? The team is good enough to overcome any potential deficit against the Guardians. I am rooting as hard for the Yankees in this round as I have at any point in my life. After all, my eldest son deserves some good fortune with his baseball team.
Because it is just a two day turnaround for the start of the National League Championship Series, there hasn’t been much time for hype. Not much time for thoughts on the opponent. The New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers are about to clash for the right to play in the World Series. This represents the first time Matthew gets to see his baseball team play in an NLCS. He can lean on his brother and sister for solace in case the Mets’ magical ride comes to an end. If they win, then it’s only Caitlyn that can tell him what it is like to watch your team in the World Series.
Sean Manaea will take the ball in Game 2. Photo from Sports Illustrated
Matthew is ready. We had a talk about the Mets’ rotation. He thought they would use a full five man rotation. I explained that in a seven game series they only go four starters deep. That means David Peterson will most likely pitch out of the bullpen again. Kodai Senga gets the start in Game 1 ; expect to see Peterson go multiple innings right out of the gate. Sean Manaea gets the call in Game 2. After that, it is TBD. Matthew is not nervous. In fact, he is supremely confident that the Mets will win in six games. He predicts Shohei Ohtani will go 7 for 20 with two home runs. Most importantly, he says that Francisco Lindor will win the NLCS MVP.
My only piece of advice for Matthew is that he should enjoy the moment. I told him I was 8 when I watched the Yankees play in the World Series. I had some memories of those games but I didn’t stay awake for all of them. The next time I saw them play in an ALCS, I was out of college. He will be lucky enough to watch the conclusion of all the games. Cherish the next week. Celebrate the wins. Don’t give up after the defeats. Realize that win or lose, you will always remember the journey and how much fun it was.
I write this in anticipation of the New York Yankees clinching their divisional series against the Kansas City Royals this evening. I’ve checked in with Ryan today who, like most Yankee fans is waiting for the bats to wake up. As far as the other two kids go, well, their series is over. The New York Mets next play on Sunday vs. either the San Diego Padres or the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately, the Philadelphia Phillies next play a game in 2025, a fact that Caitlyn is trying to come to grips with.
Giancarlo Stanton is the best Yankee in the playoffs. Photo from Sports Illustrated
I knew this would be a really hard week. Someone has to win and someone has to lose, but knowing that didn’t make it better with the realization that one of my kids would be sad. At the end of each game, no matter who won, Caitlyn and Matthew would shake hands and say, “good game” to one another. It speaks to their excellent character and their love for one another. I firmly believe that if it is the Yankees playing the Mets in the World Series, Ryan and Matthew will exhibit the same affection for one another.
On to the three teams:
Yankees: It’s amazing how much Giancarlo Stanton can disappear in the regular season only to become the Yanks’ best hitter during the playoffs. It happened in 2022 and it is happening again now. Aaron Judge is slumping once again and the barbs regarding this on Ryan’s texts continue. His confidence level is not great but he believes that with just enough offense tonight New York moves on. He might even put in a good word for Gleyber Torres if they win. Ryan will be home next weekend so it represents a great chance to get his facial expression on either a Yankee victory or a Yankee face plant.
Phillies: Well, Caitlyn’s greatest fear came true. A regression from World Series in 2022 to NLCS in 2023 to NLDS in 2024 materialized in the most painful way possible. Now she is convinced they will lose in the Wild Card round next year and then miss the playoffs for the next ten years. I told her that as long as Bryce Harper is around, that will not happen. She doesn’t want them to win the division next year given the track record of division winners in the divisional round. I countered that the Mets were the best team in baseball since June 1. The first goal any team makes is win the division. All is not lost in 2024. I told her to pay attention to the Phillies’ prospects in the Arizona Fall League.
Mets: I suspect that Matthew would have celebrated a little bit more had the Mets beaten a team other than the Phillies. He said that he felt bad for Caitlyn as he knows what she is feeling. With that said, he is amped for Sunday. He would like the Dodgers to beat the Padres Friday as he believes San Diego is the better team. It’s a good thing there is no school Monday as Game 1 will begin at 8:15 PM EST. I think for as long as the Mets are in the playoffs, he can breeze past his bedtime to watch the finish of each game. Just think, the last time the Mets made it this far, he was 4. It’s now official: everyone in my family will have seen at least one League Championship Series with their favorite team playing.
Playoff baseball should be exciting. Playoff baseball should be full of drama. Playoff baseball should be a whole range of emotions as I detailed in this post. When the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets play one another in the National League Division series, there is one emotion that I will be experiencing over the week that, dare I say, not many people will have. Actually it’s not an emotion but rather a state of mind.
Buckle up for a long and exciting week. Photo from USA Today
That word is, “uncomfortable”.
I will be playing the role of Switzerland. I will not be rooting for Caitlyn’s Phillies or Matthew’s Mets. The only definitive thing I can say about this series is that I hope the winner goes to the World Series. Beyond that, it pains me to know that at the end of this round, one of my children will be highly disappointed. One of them will not have the opportunity (again) to see their team win a championship. I have already been told by both of them that if there is any emotion (namely anger) that comes out of them, it is not directed toward the other sibling but rather the team. I am confident (and lucky) in knowing that they will not take their frustrations out on one another. I also know that whoever the winner is, he or she will feel genuine compassion for the loser. And I know that the losing child will eventually come around to rooting for the winning team, even if it takes a game or two to get used to it.
As for my thoughts on the series? This has the makings of going all five games with the winner needing 12 innings in Game 5 to secure the victory. Both teams are very similar. Both lineups are full of players that are (I can’t believe I am using this word) grinders. They battle on every pitch and when the stakes get higher, they fight even harder. The expression, “you have to kill them to beat them” applies to both squads. The Phillies have the higher payroll and more well known players while the Mets have the ultimate family vibe, or as Matthew says, “the power of friendship”. I am prepared for both a long series and a lot of knots. However, my greatest challenge will be how well I can soothe the child whose team comes up short.
Even at 2-0 in the top of the 9th inning, I held fast to the belief that the New York Mets would find a way to steal victory away from the Milwaukee Brewers. I said all during the day and I saw no reason to change my mind. Actually, my faith was made stronger when Devin Williams was only given the final inning as opposed to coming in the game in the top of the 8th. More on that later. Anyhow, as you can imagine, once Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick went deep in consecutive at bats, it was doom and gloom in the Lynch household. Even the mild mannered wife raised her voice in disgust at the sight of Milwaukee celebrating their display of power.
OMG they did it again. Photo from Sports Illustrated
As for Matthew……
Let’s just say he did not take it well. Growing up, Matthew was very hard to console after a loss, even a seemingly innocent one at the beginning of May. The zenith of this was that game in Washington in 2019 when the Mets took a 10-4 lead into the 9th inning only to lose 11-10. Come on, Met fans you know which one I am talking about that. Even non-Met fans remember that. In any event, as he got older Matthew calmed down quite a bit, taking each loss in stride. As I’ve mentioned previously, he went to Game 3 of the Wild Card round in 2022 and though gloomy, was nowhere near the fire breather he was three years prior to that. Maybe it was the stakes of the game last night. Maybe it was how the game unfolded. Maybe it was the thought of a series defeat after working so hard to get that point. THAT Matthew returned last night, but in a different way. He was more measured and though there was an outburst, it was limited to a couple of words. He did send out a very long text to our group chat, letting us all know what he thought of the Brewers, their fans and the fact he wasn’t alive the last time the Brewers made the World Series.
And then…..
Pete Alonso took control. His three run home run sent us into a frenzy. Again, the mild mannered wife showed emotion, this time of a different kind. And Matthew repeated “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness” about 20 times in succession while jumping up and down repeatedly. He was reminded that it was late and his grandmother was sleeping downstairs. He would later tell us he was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Matthew was over the moon and I couldn’t have been happier for him. He and his team deserved to play another series. I think while watching the final out he was thrilled but also relieved. Who knows what kind of teasing he would have gotten from his Yankee friends at school had the Mets lost.
Back to me. I will admit that I got nervous once the Brewers took the lead. I thought manager Pat Murphy would go to Devin Williams to get the final six outs. You know, bring in your best guy immediately to close the deal. Instead, Freddy Peralta retired the Mets in order in the 8th and Williams was summoned for the 9th. Let this be the final lesson to all Major League managers. You are going to get burned when you continuously play Reliever Roulette. It very nearly happened on Tuesday when the Tigers removed Tarik Skubal after six dominant innings. It struck Pat Murphy and the Brewers last night.
As for the Lynch House, these next seven days will be………….challenging.
Threeunassisted 