Category: Players

MLB Numbers I Would Like to See in 2024

Major League Baseball is all about numbers. No other sport has the type of rich numerical history and memory recall that baseball enjoys. Because of the way the game is played in 2024, some of the iconic or routine numbers of the past no longer apply today. With that being said, there are some difficult, but potentially obtainable numbers I would like to see take place in 2024. I doubt they will be reached this season but with a renewed emphasis on speed, perhaps we are closer than we think to a couple of these milestones.

Willie Wilson’s 705 at bats in 1980 is one of my favorite stats. Photo from MLB.com

100 as in steals. Since 1900, only four players have stolen 100 or more bases in a single season: Rickey Henderson, Lou Brock, Vince Coleman and Maury Wills. Coleman was the most recent to accomplish this feat, swiping 110 bags in 1985. Growing up, I was spoiled watching Henderson and Coleman dueling to get to 100 and also witnessed guys like Ron LeFlore, Omar Moreno, Willie Wilson and Tim Raines push 80 and 90 steals. While we are a long way from getting back to the go-go 80’s, seeing a superstar like Ronald Acuna steal 73 bases means that perhaps this category is getting renewed attention. Making the bases larger before last season entices runners to take an extra base. The odds are extremely long to get to 100 but 80 from a daring player is not out of the question.

250 as in innings pitched. The days of starting pitchers hurling 300 innings are never coming back. Reasons are varied but the chief factor is the advent of the five man, and in some cases, six man rotation. In fact, the barometer is not 250 innings anymore, it is more like 200. In 2023, only Logan Webb, Zac Gallen, Gerrit Cole, Miles Mikolas and Chris Bassett matched or exceeded 200, with Webb leading the way at 216. Sooner or later, management will trust their eyes more than the analytics and leave a pitcher in for more than six innings when he is throwing well. The game needs to de-emphasize strikeouts which require more effort, and focus on just getting guys out. If and when these two things happen, expect more pitchers to hit 200 innings and maybe, just maybe get to the magic 250.

700 as in at bats. At bats are different from plate appearances. At bats do not include things such as walks, a hit by pitch and sacrifices. Hundreds of players have had over 700 plate appearances in a single season but only four have had 700 at bats: Jimmy Rollins (716), Willie Wilson (705), Ichiro Suzuki (704) and Juan Samuel (701). Whit Merrifield had 681 at bats in 2019 so someone reaching 700 in 2024 is certainly within reach. It has to be someone that plays every day, bats at the top of the lineup and doesn’t walk a lot. Acuna comes to mind as he plays nearly every day and leads off. However, he drew 80 walks last year; in order to have a shot at 700, he would have to cut that in half. In fact, the stars of the Braves play almost every day and they have been one of the most successful teams in baseball over the last five years. Maybe more teams will get the bright idea to play their best players as much as possible. We will have a much better chance to see a 700 at bat player when that happens.

20 as in triples. In my opinion, the most exciting play in baseball is a triple. You can have your home runs with the silly bat flips. Nothing is better than watching the game of will he or won’t he as a hitter flies around the bases. Maybe triples are exciting because they are a little rare. Sam Crawford has the most career triples with 309 and the single season record holder is Owen Wilson (shockingly, not the actor) with 36. 2007 was the last season that saw a player with 20 or more triples as Curtis Granderson had 23 while the aforementioned Jimmy Rollins banged out 21. Rollins’s number is especially interesting as half of his games were in Citizens Bank Park, a rather small ballpark. With the game becoming more speed oriented, it wouldn’t come as a shock if someone lands on 15 or 16 three baggers this season. Maybe we won’t see 20 in 2024 but I have a feeling we will witness it some time before the end of the decade.

Dreaming of Darrell Evans and the Hall of Fame

Dreams are funny. Why do we dream about steak when we had ice cream at 10 PM? Why do thoughts of Winter during a 2 AM snooze in the Summer suddenly arrive in our craniums? And why is it that Sunday night/Monday morning was I having an argument with a faceless individual, insisting that Darrell Evans belongs in the Hall of Fame?

Darrell Evans did not hit 600 home runs as advocated in my dream. Photo from Vintage Detroit

Oh man, I was flipping out. I was insisting that it was a sham that Evans, who had retired with over 60o home runs was getting shafted out of his rightful place in Cooperstown!

Wait, over 600 home runs?

Awake me knows that Darrell Evans didn’t have over 600 dingers. But dreaming me knew darn well he was only one of ten players to ever eclipse that magical number. I was so convinced of this in my dream that when I temporarily opened my eyes in the middle of the night, I just knew Evans had a great case for the Hall of Fame based on his power numbers. I went right back to sleep and right back to my one sided argument. There really wasn’t a lot of dialogue, just me doing all of the talking and gesturing, pleading with this unnamed person to hear me out about Evans’ candidacy.

When I woke up for good, I had to figure out how many home runs Darrell Evans actually hit. I knew it was over 400 so I guessed 450. The number was actually 414. I knew about some of his other accomplishments. For instance, in 1973, he, Hank Aaron and Davey Johnson all hit 40 or more home runs for the Atlanta Braves, the first time three teammates hit at least 40 or more homers in one season. He was the first player to hit 40 home runs in one season in both leagues. He was a World Series Champion as a member of the 1984 Detroit Tigers. Perhaps most importantly, he is my go to guy for a Braves-Giants-Tigers spot in Immaculate Grid.

Upon researching further, I realized Evans was more than just a power hitter. He twice led the National League in walks, while striking out more than 100 times in a season only three times over the course of his 21 year career. He finished with a .361 on-base percentage and at the time of his retirement after the 1989 season, he was only the 22nd player to hit 400 or more home runs. When Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record, it was Evans who was on first base.

It only took up about 1% of my overall sleep that night but it felt like an all-night jam session. I woke up kind of tired because of the energy I put into my argument. No, Darrell Evans did not hit 600 home runs. But he was an even better player than what I remember.

Tommy Pham Needs a Team

This past offseason featured much speculating about where the “big” free agents were going to land. For the majority of the time, we kept wondering if and when Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, Jordan Montgomery, Cody Bellinger and Sonny Gray were going to sign with a new team. All but Montgomery have found destinations and with the regular season less than a week away, we are no closer to finding out his new home. The guy I am waiting for to sign and for whom a contending team really could use is Tommy Pham.

A playoff contender needs to sign Tommy Pham. Phot from the Cincinnati Enquirer

Pham could be working on his eighth team in 11 years. There could be a myriad of reasons to this but perhaps two reasons that seems to make the most sense is that he speaks his mind and that he is intense. I’ll venture to say certain organizations are uncomfortable with a player being so open, honest and serious. However, all I know is that the guy is a winning player. Look at the Arizona Diamondbacks from last year. Is there any doubt that Pham made a difference to the D’backs after he arrived from the New York Mets? He brought leadership and intensity to a team in desperate need of both. If you doubt that he is not a good teammate, do you recall Game 2 of the 2023 World Series? Pham went 4 for 4 in that game, yet when he had the opportunity to tie a record with a fifth hit, he gave up that chance in order to have Jace Peterson get a World Series at bat. Former reps from previous organizations, among them Buck Showalter and Francisco Lindor, have praised Pham as a teammate and leader. This was even after Pham called Showalter’s Mets, “the least-hardest working group of position players I’ve ever played with”. These two articles from the Athletic and the St. Louis Post Dispatch are wonderful resources if you would like more reading on what makes Pham tick.

Any team that is in a position to have a playoff year should want Tommy Pham on their team. I want the New York Yankees to sign him. The Yanks could use someone like him to stir things up. Pham has simple requests: play hard and win. That should be the unofficial motto for every Major League team. Unfortunately, not all organizations subscribe to that philosophy. The one that signs Tommy Pham will not regret it.

Bobby Witt, Jr.: Foundational Signing

I’m a little late to the party on this one. This blog did not begin until March and by then, one of my favorite offseason stories took place at the beginning of February. Bobby Witt, Jr., the young, superstar shortstop with the Kansas City Royals, signed a massive contract extension with his team that lasts well into the next decade. For a franchise that has struggled since their 2015 World Series victory, this signing represents the building block to the next great Royals era.

Bobby Witt, Jr. is the face of the Kansas City Royals. Photo from the Sporting News

OK, so a lot still has to go right for Kansas City, which is coming of a rough 2023 season. It is still a smaller market franchise that will not spend lavishly on free agents. However, the Witt signing is just another indication that the Royals will spend money on their own players. A decade ago, it was Alex Gordon. More recently, it was Salvador Perez. The extension with Witt is by far the richest contract in the organization’s history and it shows their fanbase that they are committed to start the process of becoming competitive for the next ten years. This offseason, in addition to the Witt news, Kansas City signed a number of proven veterans such as Seth Lugo, Hunter Renfroe, Michael Wacha and Will Smith (the pitcher). They will most certainly improve on their 56 win season from a year ago but will it elevate them to playoff contender?

With 30 home runs and 49 stolen bases a year ago, Witt is one of the most exciting players in Major League Baseball. At the end of this contract, he may be considered no worse than the second best player in franchise history behind George Brett. If he leads the Kansas City more than one World Series title, maybe we can debate who is the greatest Royal of them all.

Joey Votto Goes (Almost)Home

Big news out of Spring Training today. Longtime Cincinnati Reds’ star Joey Votto has agreed to a non-roster invitation deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. What makes this a big story is that one of the greatest players born in Canada has a chance to (potentially) finish his career in his hometown of Toronto. Given his decline in production and injuries over the last two years, it seems like the odds are against him. However, with the Oscars looming over us, how great of a script would it be for Votto, at age 40 to break camp with the Blue Jays?

Hopefully, we see Joey Votto in Toronto in 2024. Photo from Cincinnati Enquirer

With Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. entrenched, we wouldn’t see Votto playing his customary position of first base. He may get a start or two per month there but his at-bats would primarily have to come as a designated hitter. There is some competition in that spot with Daniel Vogelbach and Spencer Horwitz also in Jays’ camp. Toronto is a team with playoff aspirations so I do not believe this signing of Votto is a way to generate goodwill with the fanbase. If he doesn’t make it out of Spring Training, so be it. They want to see if the six-time All Star has more ball in him and how he could help the team. Him making the roster would be an added bonus that maybe would generate additional fan interest.

When I’m at lunch with friends, one of the topics brought up this question: is Joey Votto a Hall of Famer? That .409 career on-base percentage is certainly his biggest asset, with his biggest seasonal number a staggering .474 in 2012. He led the league in that category six times. Votto was the National League MVP in 2010 and finished in the Top 10 four other times. He had good power, hitting over 30 home runs three times and finishing with 29 on three other occasions. The only negative about his career would be a .244 batting average in limited playoff action. If that is the argument for keeping him out of Cooperstown, we will see him enshrined five years after his retirement.

Here’s hoping Canada’s great baseball hero has one last run in Toronto. May his next milestone come in a blue uniform, similar to his last one in a red one. Raise a Labatt Blue to Joey Votto coming home to Toronto!

Appreciating Ed Ott and U.L. Washington

Sadly, two men from my baseball childhood passed away earlier this week. Ed Ott, a catcher who played the majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, died March 3rd at age 72. U.L. Washington, an infielder who played primarily with the Kansas City Royals, died the same day at age 70. I was sad to hear of their untimely passing as they were part of an era in which I came to love the game of baseball at a very young age.

U.L. Washington with the toothpick. Photo from Yahoo.

Here is why they matter to me. Ed Ott was the starting catcher on the 1979 Word Series Champion Pirates. It was the first World Series that I remember watching, so long ago that one or two of the games were actually played during the day. “We Are Family” is more than a song by Sister Sledge, it was the anthem for that team. To this day, whenever I hear that tune, I am transformed back to more carefree days….and of course, baseball. As for U. L. Washington, he was an important part of the best rivalry in the game at that time, the Royals vs. the New York Yankees. One of his more famous moments occurred in 1983 when he was the runner on first base when George Brett hit his infamous “Pine Tar” home run. Of course, you can never picture Washington without that toothpick dangling from his mouth.

Ed Ott in the 1979 World Series. Photo from TSN

Neither man will make the Hall of Fame. That’s not the point. Any one of us would gladly take their accomplishments Ed Ott was the starting catcher on a World Series champion. He had nearly 1,800 at bats over an eight year career. U.L. Washington stole 132 bases over 11 seasons. They are examples of why I could never be a talk show host. I could never publicly say someone stinks or shouldn’t be on a team. They are men who reached the highest level of their profession with varying degrees of success. Those who reach the Major League level, no matter how they perform once they get there, are to be commended for their hard work and not the scorn that comes with each failure. We could only be so lucky as to reach Single A ball, never mind the Major Leagues.

Now that you got through this initial post, I will let you know that this will generally be a blog that will (mostly) have fun while touching on more serious topics such as the one you just read. As you may have gathered, I will not be in the business of bashing players for their performance. Privately, maybe. Publicly, no way. They hear it enough from fans fans and media. I am not interested in contributing to the negativity. Most topics will come right off the top of my head, drawing on all of my years of following the great game of baseball. I hope my love, passions and yes, nerdiness comes through each one of my posts!